Celtics at the Top: Are They Truly the NBA's Best Team | BIG 3 NBA Podcast

Name: Celtics at the Top: Are They Truly the NBA's Best Team | BIG 3 NBA Podcast
Uploaded: 2024-02-17T18:00:57+00:00
Duration: 48 min 55 s
Channel: CLNS Media Sports Network

CLNS Media Sports Network

2 years ago

In today's episode of The Big 3 Podcast, A. Sherrod Blakely, Gary Washburn, and Kwani Lunis evaluate the Celtics' position as they approach the All-Star Break. They discuss the significance of the Celtics having the best record at the break and identify their biggest concern for the team after the All-Star Break. The conversation shifts to Jayson Tatum, highlighting his fifth All-Star selection, partnership with SoFi, and whether he's back in the MVP conversation. The focus then turns to Joe Mazzulla, who recently celebrated his 100th win as a coach (with a 100-37 regular season record). The hosts contemplate Mazzulla's early success and discuss how he compares to his coaching predecessors in Boston.

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00:00 Up to the layup, oh blocked by James!

00:03 Larry Burns scores 60 points.

00:05 Look at the Boston players smiling.

00:07 Michael Jordan is not only the best basketball player,

00:09 but he's the most exciting basketball player to ever play.

00:12 Retayda fires away, pumps it in!

00:15 51 for Jason Taylor!

00:17 The Big 3 NBA Podcast is powered by FanDuel Sportsbook,

00:21 the official wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network.

00:24 Hello everyone, welcome to the Big 3 NBA Podcast.

00:28 I'm Quanie Lunas, A-Shot Blakely, Gary Washburn.

00:31 I get to spend the most important day of the year, to me.

00:36 The day after Valentine's Day, that's when you get candy cheap.

00:39 Cheap candy.

00:40 Not the day after Valentine's Day, that's your focus?

00:43 Cheap candy!

00:45 This is called a side chick day? No.

00:46 Actually, it's my birthday, so...

00:48 I don't like that my birthday falls on a side chick day,

00:52 I do want to say that because...

00:54 it's just not a good look.

00:56 I wasn't going to say nothing about that particular aspect of your birthday, Quanie.

01:00 I was thinking, does Quanie know that this is like, S-E day?

01:04 It's not, I agree.

01:06 I was thinking about that last week, I don't know,

01:08 it's not a good look for us, so...

01:10 Unfortunately, that's the only flaw with my birthday, but...

01:14 it is a great day, I appreciate that I can spend it with the two of you,

01:17 on our pod.

01:19 I appreciate it, Quanie.

01:20 Gary, again, unimpressed, but it's okay.

01:23 Happy birthday, Quanie, honestly, in all...

01:26 you know...

01:28 in all sincerity, it's a great day.

01:31 It's an alright day, it's been alright.

01:35 I gotta get that clip of Gary saying something nice to us,

01:39 well, to me, really, not you.

01:41 You always got crap to talk about.

01:44 I think, honestly, Quanie, I think Michael B. Jordan just have a birthday too?

01:49 [laughing]

01:51 I think I saw that.

01:54 I'm literally looking it up, let's see.

01:56 He's like 37.

01:58 Yikes, you're right.

02:00 The first article I see also says,

02:03 Michael B. Jordan wakes up at 5.30am and doesn't drink coffee.

02:06 We're the same, oh my gosh!

02:09 You should meet him one day, you should try to meet him one day.

02:13 We've been there, done that, it did work.

02:17 He got the Heisman, he got the Quanie Heisman that day.

02:20 I'm just saying, you should try to meet him one day.

02:22 I feel like in 30 years, this story is going to have evolved to a point

02:27 where the urban legend is that he proposed and I said no.

02:31 Because every time we have this conversation...

02:33 That's how I remember it.

02:35 ...it's not accurate.

02:36 I did not curb Michael B. Jordan, for all those who are listening.

02:40 It's not true.

02:42 I deny those claims.

02:43 She totally did.

02:44 I did not!

02:46 She did.

02:47 That man was like, "Really?"

02:49 One day we'll have him on the podcast to see if he even remembers who I am.

02:55 He definitely won't remember me.

02:56 I'm pretty sure he's going to remember you because I'm pretty sure that

03:00 exchange has not happened to him very often in his life.

03:03 No.

03:04 Alright, we'll see.

03:05 Michael B. Jordan, one day we need you on this podcast to clear up all

03:09 the allegations because I do not...

03:11 He's going to be on a plane flying to Boston and he's going to see

03:14 the hug today and he's going to be like, "Wait a minute!"

03:17 That's that chick!

03:18 That's that her.

03:19 That's her.

03:20 There she is!

03:23 Well look, hopefully we're still on good terms.

03:26 I'm not mad about that.

03:27 If he really does think I curbed him.

03:29 Again, I did not do that.

03:30 But anyway, moving on.

03:32 I know this is not what you guys wanted to listen to, our viewers and

03:35 listeners, but here we are.

03:37 You're stuck with us.

03:38 We're going to talk about crazy stuff every once in a while.

03:40 Let's talk about the Celtics.

03:42 They shredded the Nets.

03:44 It was honestly a very embarrassing game to the point where I felt bad

03:49 watching it.

03:50 I think they should have just stopped the game at that point.

03:52 But the Celtics are officially at the NBA All-Star break.

03:57 They have the best record right now.

03:59 Jason Tatum on and off the court doing so many things.

04:02 Those are the big three things that we're going to talk about.

04:04 And then the fourth one also, big three.

04:06 But four, also we're going to talk about Missoula in this episode.

04:09 But let's start with the Nets embarrassing themselves, really.

04:14 But, I mean, do we even want to talk about this game?

04:17 Because it just -- what did you guys take away from it?

04:19 Is there anything we can take away from this?

04:21 The Celtics didn't have a let up.

04:23 I mean, to me, that's the big takeaway.

04:25 That they could have easily, you know, had the bags packed at the locker --

04:29 you know, at the lockers before the game,

04:31 thinking about what they're going to do afterwards.

04:33 But rather than succumb to what I think a lot of teams,

04:36 really good teams do this time of year, which is just let their guard down,

04:40 they just went out there and just delivered a smackdown of smackdowns.

04:43 I think they're one of only, like, what, five teams in NBA history

04:46 that have had multiple wins by 50 or more points in the same season.

04:51 They -- the Celtics are -- I mean, it kind of goes without saying,

04:57 but they're pretty damn good when they want to be.

05:01 And we're seeing now, more nights than not,

05:04 they don't just want to beat you, they try to crush you.

05:07 They try to stash your soul and leave you just -- just leave you wondering,

05:12 "Damn, I'm an NBA player, but --"

05:17 Am I?

05:18 "Those are NBA players in Boston."

05:22 And the thing I liked about it is it gave a lot of guys

05:25 who really don't play much a chance.

05:27 I mean, one of the first -- and Gary, one of the --

05:29 you remember, one of the first subs they made was Jordan Walsh.

05:31 I don't know if Jordan -- I mean, you got to go back

05:33 to when he was in college the last time he saw action that early.

05:37 And give him credit, he did -- you know, he did some good things defensively.

05:41 I thought picked up a couple of rookie fouls, that type of stuff.

05:44 But bottom line is they had so many different guys that stepped up,

05:47 stepped in, and just absolutely smashed the Nets all game long.

05:53 Yeah, I think what you can take away is the focus,

05:57 because if you look at the first game, they dominated,

06:01 and then the Nets made a run, and they were able to hold on for an eight-point win,

06:06 although they were up 23 in the third quarter.

06:08 But they took care of business on the road.

06:11 And the Nets, you know, they got talent.

06:13 They're not a -- they're a team that's obviously preparing for the future.

06:18 But, you know, they got Mikael Bridges, Dennis Schroeder,

06:25 the high-scoring Cam Thomas.

06:27 They had Cam Johnson in the second game.

06:30 Dorian Finney-Smith.

06:33 You know, they have capable NBA players, so that team, if you let them, can beat you.

06:39 So I thought the trick game, the trap game, was the Tuesday game at Brooklyn.

06:44 They came and they dominated, and Jason Tatum had 31 in the first half

06:48 and ended up with 41.

06:50 And they were able to hold on.

06:52 And I thought, okay, now with Cam Johnson back for the -- back to back,

06:59 and I think maybe the Nets preparing a little bit and the Celtics maybe having

07:05 that kind of like, hey, we're one game from the end of the first half and we'll be --

07:09 I thought it was going to be a much tougher game.

07:12 But it just wasn't.

07:14 30-15 after the first quarter, then a 22-0 run.

07:18 I think they put them up, I want to say, like 52-17, and it was like, okay, wow.

07:25 And they kind of -- the last two and a half quarters was garbage time pretty much, right?

07:32 So the Celtics focused.

07:35 They played well.

07:36 They got contributions.

07:38 You know, Peyton Pritchard, Tatum didn't have to play a bunch of minutes,

07:42 and he didn't play the fourth quarter.

07:44 Porzingis didn't play the second half to rest his ankle.

07:47 So I think an all-around successful end.

07:50 And I'm not saying that they would have lost the game, the season would have --

07:53 oh, gloom and doom, but it's just always good, and although Missoula tried to downplay it,

07:59 it's always good to go on the break and feel like, hey, we're playing good ball.

08:04 Sixth and throw since that loss to the Lakers, you know, they've responded.

08:11 And, you know, they had a couple of clunkers in that homestand, the Lakers game

08:15 and the Clippers game, but I think they've been able to respond to that.

08:19 And then now they can enjoy their weekends, and Jason and Jalen can enjoy the All-Star weekend,

08:25 and Joe can take his sabbatical and look at game tape and figure out what they can do.

08:32 But it's a good chance for them to take a deep breath, get some rest,

08:36 and then be back next Thursday.

08:38 And I think that that's a good thing when you're winning, when you're coming off a win,

08:42 especially a dominant win.

08:45 So to your point, both of your points, they do have the best record right now.

08:50 I do agree with the fact that, you know, heading into a little mini, like,

08:54 sabbatical break is a good way to keep the, you know, the spirits alive.

08:59 But how do you think when they come back from this break, how do they keep that momentum alive?

09:05 What do you think, Gary?

09:07 Well, I think they need to just continue to do what they do, and also the stretch is coming,

09:14 and they got to start taking every opponent seriously.

09:17 And, you know, they got the Chicago Bulls, and the Bulls have given them trouble.

09:21 Now, the Bulls weren't – didn't give them much trouble earlier this season,

09:24 but the Bulls are a capable ball club.

09:26 They're playing a lot better than they did a couple of months ago.

09:29 And you just got to start punching fools in the mouth, punching first, making a statement.

09:34 They got the Knicks after that on the road, so this is not an easy stretch.

09:38 Then they got the Sixers, then the Mavericks, then the Warriors, then Cleveland,

09:42 then Denver, Phoenix, Portland.

09:44 I mean, so, you know, obviously take away Portland, but those first eight games are difficult.

09:51 No gimme's, even, you know, even the Warriors coming in.

09:54 You don't know what Steph is going to do, and Draymond and Klay,

09:57 they can get back to their old form for that one day.

10:00 So you got a challenging schedule, and they're going to need – what you want to do is the work you put in now,

10:09 you're six games up on the Cleveland Cavaliers with 27 to play.

10:16 You want to make it easy on yourself.

10:18 You don't want any intrigue in those final two weeks.

10:22 I think their goal, they should want to go to get to 60 wins.

10:25 I think that would be a good accomplishment for this team.

10:28 I think they haven't won 60 in probably since the '08 team.

10:33 You know, I don't know if they won 60 in '09, but the '08 team, I think, is the last time they won 60.

10:40 So 60 wins, but you also want to be able to give guys some rest in the last two weeks,

10:45 where every game is a, you know, oh, my God, and, you know, you want to get poor Zingas off his feet.

10:52 You want to get Tatum a breather.

10:54 You want to get Brown a breather.

10:55 You want to let those guys like the Jordan Walshs and the Pritchards and even the new guys,

11:01 the Springers and the Tillmans, get some real burn, a real run.

11:06 So that's what you're working at now.

11:08 So I think just come back with a focus because that schedule, everybody says, oh, the schedule is getting softer.

11:15 Like maybe the Brooklyn games, but Chicago is not something to sleep, you know, over,

11:21 and not something that you should look over.

11:24 And then the Knicks on Saturday night, ABC game, and then, you know, I mean, I'm looking.

11:29 Then the Sixers, I don't think M.B. will be back by then, but they're still a challenge.

11:34 And then the Mavericks with Luka, then Golden State, then a road trip, then a six-game road trip or five-game road trip.

11:42 So it's going to get difficult.

11:44 And what you want to do as a Celtics is just put a lot of those wins away

11:49 and then make the last two weeks easier for yourself.

11:53 And I think prepare for the postseason. You have a chance to get the number one seed.

11:59 Something they've had over a couple of a few years, but most of the time they've been the number two seed.

12:06 But you want to be that number one seed, home court advantage, the easiest playoff road.

12:16 Make it easy on yourself, you know, and then go from there.

12:20 Last year they were number two seed. This year you want to be the number one seed.

12:24 You know, get that seed and then be ready for the playoffs.

12:28 So very important stretch from the February 24th, Chicago, for the next couple of weeks.

12:35 Yeah, the next couple of weeks, Gary, you're spot on. It's going to be challenging.

12:39 But when you look at that backstretch of the schedule, my goodness.

12:43 I mean, get Jason Tatum and Napkin, because he might be drooling at the week competition

12:48 that they're going to be able to devour. You've got the Hawks a couple of times.

12:52 You've got the Hornets a couple of times. You've got, you know, Utah plays them scrappy.

12:56 But Utah, they're not they're not a very talented team.

12:59 There's a lot. Wizards, I think they play them twice.

13:02 They've got a lot of just games that they're going to have to take the mindset they had,

13:06 you know, in this last game against Brooklyn at the very end of the season.

13:09 You're playing bad teams. That doesn't mean you got to play bad because they're bad.

13:14 That's they're going to have to keep that edge about them.

13:16 And then that's the one thing that, you know, I think the way the schedule is playing out,

13:20 that really I don't think is going to be a problem because they're going to have to hit the ground running

13:24 because of the talented teams that they got right at the bat.

13:27 And if they're able to hold their own and win most of those, then you get to the point where 60 wins seems like pretty much a given.

13:34 I mean, if you can go 500 the next couple of weeks or better than 500, which is very reasonable,

13:39 that that end of the season run when you're resting guys, even when you're keeping guys like Tatum,

13:45 keeping their minutes down or not playing them at all, you're playing a lot of teams that you could be without.

13:49 And if you're Joe Mazzuolo, the best part about that, not only are you giving yourself a chance to obviously win and rest your guys,

13:57 but you're also strengthening that second unit so that in case you need to go with a Peyton Pritchard on a night where maybe Drew Holiday gets into foul trouble

14:05 and you got to play Peyton maybe 25, 30 minutes, he's going to have some experience and some comfort level playing those kind of minutes

14:12 with that first group or a hybrid version of that first group. Same thing with Sam Hauser.

14:17 Same thing with Lou Cornette. You want to make sure that those guys, these this last 27 games,

14:24 those guys are the ones that you really need to get some run and some rest because you're good enough to where you,

14:30 your starters should be able to build enough of a cushion so that you can go with those guys.

14:35 And for some nights you don't even need them to play and you still should be able to win.

14:39 So it's it's going to be interesting to see how Joe handles that, because in Gary and Quenna, you both know this.

14:44 You got a lot of guys in the Southeast that don't like to miss games.

14:47 I mean, Tatum has made it absolutely crystal clear that he ain't trying to miss that many games.

14:53 And yet, you know that in a perfect world, in a realistic world, he should sit some of these games that they don't I mean,

14:58 they don't need him to be Washington. They don't need him to be Atlanta.

15:03 Well, maybe Atlanta, they could be a little scrappy. But the point is, your best players should be using this time as and this is what load management should be something that's very real for the South is because they're as good as they are and as dominant as they've been this season.

15:19 They're not going to win a championship unless they have that core group ready to roll come playoff time.

15:24 And anything you can do to maximize the opportunities for them to be healthy as possible come playoff time.

15:30 That's the strategy you need to roll it. I love that point that you make.

15:35 I think obviously that blow out to the Nets was a perfect time for them to test their depth.

15:40 Obviously, not the greatest gauge of how good they are, considering the Nets weren't that great either.

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16:18 One, do you think the depth of this team will correlate to my second question, whether or not the Celtics are the best team in the NBA?

16:27 Other than their record, are they the best team? Yeah, they check off all the boxes that you want to have as a championship team.

16:34 They've got the kind of experience having gone through heartbreak and not winning it all.

16:39 And they've had the success that comes about when you exceed expectations and you go deeper than.

16:44 So they know what it feels like from an emotional standpoint. You're not going to rattle them emotionally come playoff time because they've seen all the peaks and valleys that come with playoff basketball.

16:53 You have addressed the two biggest flaws in your roster from a year ago.

16:58 You needed another stretch big and you needed another two way player defensively in that backboard.

17:04 And you got one. You got the best home ball defender and drew holiday and you got Porzingis who has shown time and time and time again.

17:11 He is a mismatch waiting to happen. Teams have had trouble matching up with him when they go smaller guys on him.

17:19 He eats them up. They go up size. He gives a little pump fake and pull up J.

17:24 He goes into his bag and he comes up with winning plays consistently.

17:29 You've added those two elements of your team plus you've got experience. And the thing about Jason Tatum.

17:34 I think Tatum is finally not only embracing the concept that sometimes less is more in terms of points from him, but he's actually making the kind of plays that the really, really great players make.

17:49 He had 20 points the other night against Brooklyn. He could have easily had 30. Everybody on the damn team could have easily had 30.

17:55 But Tatum. Exactly. Tatum made so many just smart basketball players.

18:01 And when you start looking at his numbers in a grand scale, you see the assist numbers.

18:06 Not only are the assist numbers going up, but just the hockey assist numbers are also going up.

18:11 He's just been he's been a more complete player. And that is what I think the scary part for opponents is because if Jason Tatum is giving you buckets.

18:18 And he's finding guys who can also give you buckets. You can't help off anyone.

18:24 Now, all of a sudden you are at the Celtics mercy. And again, like I said, I think that they're built in a way that gives them the most optimal chance of winning an NBA title with this group.

18:36 Yeah, I think. I mean, if you really know, it all depends on how you judge it, but I do think they're the best team in the NBA at this point.

18:45 I mean, I look at their record, their schedule. They've only lost one game in a row, more than one game in a row.

18:52 Once they lost two in a row, once they have not had any prolonged losing streaks this season, not four in a row.

18:59 Every other team has gone through a bad stretch. The Celtics have lost like, you know, they lost to the Clippers.

19:05 They lost to the Nuggets. They're not playing their supreme premium best basketball right now.

19:10 I think they're starting to approach that again. I think that's another good sign for them to kind of, you know, they lost to the Lakers.

19:17 They've lost to some team, you know, they lost some games they could have won, you know, or should have won.

19:23 But I also think, I mean, this team always bounces back from a loss. They always seem to come back.

19:30 Literally, they have not lost more than one in a row since November. They had that two game losing streak where he lost to Philly and Minnesota.

19:40 And that's it. Everything else is just a single loss.

19:44 On their top two, top three in the league in defensive rating and offensive rating.

19:50 You know, they're playing good ball and their depth is coming in.

19:54 Peyton Pritchard has played a lot better than he's obviously had a slow start.

19:59 You know, Hauser, Luke Cornett giving them quality minutes.

20:03 You know, you look at the bench, you look at guys, you know, that can help out.

20:08 And we haven't even seen Tillman yet or Springer.

20:11 And I think that Tillman is going to give them some real quality minutes, especially to spell Porzingis.

20:16 Al Horford still playing well. They're keeping him fresh by not playing him back to back.

20:20 So everything is going the way it should go. Right.

20:25 You look at all the other teams in the East, pretty much the Bucks are kind of a mess.

20:29 They got completely wasted by Miami the other night at home.

20:32 Miami without Jimmy Butler, without Josh Richardson, without Terry Rozier, because two of those guys got hurt against the Celtics.

20:40 Philadelphia just lost at home to Miami.

20:44 And I looked at I couldn't even recognize some of the guys they had on the floor.

20:47 Ricky Council, the fourth and Buddy Heal placed it in there.

20:52 You're like, wait a minute, like who are these guys besides Maxie and Tobias Harris was out.

20:58 The Knicks, you know, after that controversial loss.

21:01 I don't know if you all saw that call against the Houston Rockets.

21:03 The last minute, you know, they're struggling.

21:06 They went lost at Orlando and they don't have Julius Randle.

21:10 Cleveland, you know, is playing well. They're playing the best.

21:14 They held off Chicago. So that'll be a really key game when the Celtics go down to Cleveland in early March.

21:20 But if you're the Celtics, everything is laying out the way you want your six games up of the second place team.

21:28 I think there are 10 games up on Philadelphia like they are.

21:32 I'll say boat racing, but they are making them make themselves nice and comfortable to get that number one seed.

21:39 And I just think the depth should help down the stretch.

21:42 And it's still they have another open roster spot. You don't know what they're going to do with that roster spot.

21:46 They might transfer Kada's contract to a standard NBA deal.

21:51 We'll see if you if you know, I think they're going to take a long look at Tillman to see if they really need Kate on the playoff roster.

22:00 You know, you don't know what how it's all going to work out.

22:04 But I do think that they have everything's worked very well for them.

22:09 And the depth has really helped where they don't need Jason Tatum go 40 points every night.

22:14 And maybe that's why he's not in the MVP conversation, because he's not averaging 48 points a game because he doesn't need to get 20 points in the win over.

22:24 You know, they scored one hundred thirty some points and he had 20, you know, Jalen Brown didn't play.

22:30 So, you know, that's not going to get you MVP awards when you're not putting up the great numbers.

22:35 But when you're on a great team, you don't put up the great numbers because you don't need that to win.

22:40 They don't need to jump on Tatum's back every night. So kind of a catch 22 for Tatum's MVP.

22:46 But I think he'd rather have a championship. So I think he's OK.

22:53 And I saw an interview with Jamal Murray, who might be the best player ever.

23:01 Never to make an All-Star game. He's on that list of top 10.

23:04 You know, our friend, I talked to him last night, Cedric Maxwell on that list of the best players.

23:10 And Max agreed with me when Murray said, well, you want a guy who's going to have a great first half?

23:16 You want a guy who's going to step up and step it up in the playoffs.

23:19 And that's what that's what I'm about. I'm about the playoffs.

23:22 And that's what Tatum needs to say. Hey, you can.

23:26 OK, we're going to take the MVP and you'll be getting it when you're at home.

23:29 And I'll be, you know, prepared for my next conference finals game, trying to get my team to the finals.

23:36 So that's that's the way Jason has to look at it.

23:40 I know he wants the MVP, but I think a championship will do just fine.

23:44 I think he'll take that instead. I think so.

23:47 So quickly, before we talk a little bit more about Jason Tatum, we'll play a game of fill in the lane.

23:52 Your biggest concern after the all star break is blank.

23:58 Fill in the lane. Boredom.

24:01 That they just get bored of winning.

24:06 Yes. They just take it for granted. I mean, just think that because they're a really good team,

24:11 teams are just going to just show up and maybe put up a little bit of fight and they'll still find a way to persevere.

24:18 I worry about that because. They've been so good for so long that you're just almost like expecting a shoe to fall where they just don't have it.

24:28 They just don't have it for a stretch for no apparent reason. And it's not so much the opponent is more about them.

24:35 They have been able to basically stay engaged, stay focused, stay playing with a hardy and consistent edge.

24:42 More nice than not. But I do worry about that downtime where you've got basically more than a week to just kind of kick back, relax and, you know,

24:50 my ties and whatever the heck you do, you know, dear white changing babies and, you know, changing diapers and stuff.

24:57 Yeah. Changing babies. Changing diapers. I misspoke. I corrected myself before you could speak, Gary.

25:05 Northside can relax. Maybe the chasing diapers.

25:11 Leave me alone because it's your birthday. Anyway.

25:16 Anyway, I worry about guys just getting bored with the process of winning because they've done everything you're supposed to do up to this point.

25:23 And coming off the break, you just don't know whether they're still going to have that that that mindset to just pick up where they left off.

25:29 I worry about that. And so I says this as he has a very sensitive and kind message.

25:36 This looks like it's from his son in the background. Yeah.

25:40 Oh, that's very touching. And right behind right behind his right shoulder.

25:47 So, oh, dear son. Oh, dad. Is it from your love?

25:54 Love that looks like love. Dad, I think it's. Yeah. It's too much time.

25:59 Oh, no. He's not changing babies. He's keeping his.

26:04 So his baby's a grown man. He's a three inch.

26:10 That's man. Yeah. Yeah. That's Isaiah.

26:15 Isaiah, you'll see him this week. He's going to be in Indianapolis.

26:20 Oh, good. What's up? Does he look like whatever that is in your chin, Isaiah?

26:26 Take that off. I don't know what this is. He's got some kind of infection on his on his chin.

26:32 It's just like you said, there's no white in his. Exactly. Exactly.

26:38 Wait, take it off. I got something for that.

26:42 Anyway, the podcast was that the lazy and listen to this podcast.

26:48 Yeah, he does. OK. He's got he's always got feedback.

26:52 All right. So I think you guys, thank you for listening.

26:56 My biggest concern is just not sticking to the to the good habits, not getting the ball in the paint,

27:04 not using poor Zingas enough, falling in love with the three, as I've always said.

27:10 You know, just that would be it. And I don't think that I think that they have been very.

27:18 Good, you know, so what I'm looking for measured in such their moments to shoot the threes,

27:24 and they're a great team when they move the ball around and they get them open threes.

27:29 And, you know, and I just in the concern is just health.

27:34 You want everybody to be healthy, no injuries. The one thing this team has done,

27:38 if you're a Celtic fan, you want to knock on wood, please do that.

27:42 They haven't had any prolonged injuries. They haven't anybody out for any serious amount of time.

27:48 Or Zingas, you know, and they treat poor Zingas like they should with kid gloves when he tweaks his ankle.

27:54 Hey, get your ass out the game. Sit on the bench. You don't we don't need you because he obviously seven foot three guy.

28:00 He's going to have a lot of lower extremity injuries and those type of things and land on people.

28:07 But he seems well, and that said, I just think if they like you, like you said,

28:12 Shariah boredom, but also losing the process, trying to skip some steps or getting away from their game plan,

28:20 you know, because they do have some challenging games.

28:22 So one good thing, they still got Oklahoma City. They still have two games with Phoenix.

28:28 They still have, you know, at Denver.

28:31 So they've got some teams that are going to be looking at them as maybe NBA finals preview, that type of thing.

28:38 They still got two with Milwaukee. They still got two with the Knicks.

28:42 So very challenging games. If they don't, if they get bored, Shariah, they're going to get wake.

28:49 They're going to get woke up real quick. Right.

28:52 They're going to get they're going to get a wake up call if they start getting bored and feeling like they can just walk on the floor and beat teams.

28:57 I don't think they'll have that mentality. I think the schedule, as much as people said, well, it's going to get softer.

29:04 You're right to against Washington's Atlanta, a couple against Charlotte, and they got six of their last seven at home.

29:11 But that schedule still is very challenging to long, long road trips.

29:17 They still got to go out west to go play Utah, go play Phoenix, Portland.

29:23 You know, not the biggest challenge, but and they still got Oka, Casey, Sacramento's a tricky team.

29:29 They still they still got them left. So some tricky, interesting games, a lot of West Coast teams still left.

29:35 So if you're the Celtics, like I said, don't lose focus.

29:41 Don't get bored. Trust the process and stay with what you're doing.

29:48 And in the game plan and the strategy, you'll be fine.

29:53 Moving on to Jason Tatum, who we talked about now a five time all star, but earlier this week,

30:00 he announced that he's partnering with SoFi on an initiative specifically for his home city of St.

30:06 Louis to they're committing a million dollars to helping him and help him help others buy homes,

30:15 which is something that was very close to him because he mentioned growing up with his mother that,

30:20 you know, home ownership wasn't something that was easily accessible.

30:24 So this was, I think, a really big deal. One, because he has this big corporate sponsorship.

30:29 But even just seeing him on CBS this morning should have been the Today Show.

30:35 But it's OK. It was tight. It was sharp.

30:39 That was very well spoken. But now at a point where when you think about it, obviously, the sports world knows who Jason Tatum is.

30:46 But when you're on a show like CBS Morning or the Today Show, it is a different platform and a different audience that you're kind of opening yourself up to.

30:55 A lot of people that watch those shows may not watch the NBA, but now they're well informed about this new initiative.

31:01 But what did you two think about this partnership and. And what does it mean for him being more than just an NBA player?

31:10 I think for Jason, it's important not only because of what it means to you,

31:16 but it frankly, it opens the window a little bit for others to see that you are more than just a twenty five point six seven rebound shot maker who's on a max contract making oodles and oodles of money.

31:29 It shows that you actually have things that interest you beyond just dribbling a basketball and making shots.

31:35 You know, we talk a lot about the things that Jason said that Jaylen Brown does and Jaylen does quite a bit of things.

31:40 And he deserves those things to be talked about. And he deserves the praise that comes with that.

31:45 But I think Tatum is Tatum does a lot of things that he doesn't really talk about and doesn't really seek attention.

31:52 And while there's benefits to that, in order to build your base, to get more people to support the initiatives that you are championing, they need to know they exist.

32:04 They need to know that that's something that that's a space that you want people to know that you occupy and you want others to have a similar mindset and a similar approach and and hopefully help expand and amplify those messages.

32:17 So it was good to see Jason in a different kind of space than what people normally see him in and talking about something that was obviously close and near and dear to his heart.

32:27 And to me, it's part of when you become more towards that global icon status that the greats become.

32:36 I mean, think about this. This dude is a five time All-Star who's twenty five years old.

32:40 Most guys are looking to get that first, maybe second All-Star nod by the time they get twenty five.

32:45 And he's on number five already. Clearly he's on. And there are guys in the Hall of Fame who were maybe four time All-Stars.

32:54 And so he's already from a basketball standpoint, positioning himself to be one of the all time greats.

33:00 And with that status comes pressure and expectations to be more than just a basketball player.

33:06 And I think this is part of Jason's, I think, ever expanding platform to show that he will, when all is said and done, be viewed as being more than just a really good basketball player.

33:18 Yeah, I think it's great for Jason to invest in his own community where he's from in St. Louis, helping single parents, you know, single mothers, you know, invest in property and home ownership.

33:31 I think it's very important to Jason to delve into off court endeavors.

33:36 And I like he doesn't. This is his first time. I think he's done some things on a different level.

33:43 But this is for him to to partner with a major, with the league's official bank and for him to kind of take part in this.

33:51 And I'm sure he'll have people who monitor and make sure that it's going to the right people, to the right families, and that this money goes for good, you know, because obviously it sounds good PR wise or whatever.

34:05 But you want but I think Jason will make sure that this happens and he'll continue his crusade to help mothers, single mothers raise their children right in terms of having the financial base to make their kids successful, to make themselves successful.

34:23 And I think that's very important. I think he lived and grew up and he remembers, you know, growing up with a single mother and the struggles that they went through.

34:33 And now that he's successful and his mom is successful lawyer and, you know, he wants to give back.

34:39 And I think that's important because a lot of you know, you know, and I think a lot of the players do that don't talk a lot about it.

34:45 And we rip a lot of these guys for performances and everybody can say something about Kyrie Irving.

34:50 But Kyrie is a giver backer. That dude gives gives a lot of things.

34:56 He's paid for some funerals from some people who were killed by police like Kyrie does it on on on the down low.

35:02 He does not talk a lot about it, but he gives back a lot.

35:06 And so a lot of I think a lot of these guys get a bad rap. You don't care about money and, you know, Instagram followers or whatever.

35:13 But these guys do care about their community. They grew up in the community.

35:16 I think all of us do who came from. A community where not everybody succeeded, not everybody had an even and fair opportunity.

35:24 I think that's what we're all asking for. And I don't know if we'll ever get that.

35:27 But to start to scale at zero, not negative three, where we know.

35:33 So I think we all come to these. We all came from. You know, we see people that just didn't have a chance.

35:39 You know, hey, real smart person just didn't have a chance, made one bad decision or didn't have the support or their parents weren't there, whatever situation.

35:48 So I think this gives Jason an opportunity to really give back.

35:53 And he's a St. Louis through and through. I think for him to start and hopefully it can spread to other cities.

35:59 Hopefully you can start doing this in Boston down the road. I'm sure I'm sure he'll expand and everything.

36:04 But I think it's great for him to be able to help out his community and help people out and show that, hey, I know I I've been there and I want to help people make sure that they're not there.

36:16 I want to help uplift people. And that's what the athletes I think that's what we ask of athletes.

36:21 And I think that's what a lot do that really don't get talked about. It's not just giving away turkey on Thanksgiving and doing the PR stuff is putting your money where the mouth is.

36:31 And as Jalen talked about, you know, black wealth or wealth of people of color in Boston to raise the wealth to decrease the wealth disparity of Boston from those from the advantaged community to disadvantaged communities, things like that.

36:48 So I think it's awesome for both of those guys to give back, especially for Jason to say, hey, you know, this is what I want to do.

36:56 I'm starting with St. Louis and I'm going to help those people out.

37:02 Moving on from Tatum, we talked about the MVP conversation just a little bit. Gary touched on it.

37:09 We can actually let's quickly talk about it a little more as we transition to our final topic, which is Coach Mazzullo.

37:15 You mentioned that the reason why you think he's not necessarily in the MVP conversation, but do you think the way do you like the way he's been utilized by Coach Mazzullo over the last few months or so?

37:31 One of you can answer.

37:33 I thought you.

37:36 I'll go. I like what he's I like what Joe's doing with him. I think he's trying to unlock Jason to be a multifaceted, multidimensional talent who teams can't lock in on his ability to score the ball.

37:48 You have to worry about him as a passer. You have to worry about him as a ball mover now.

37:52 And when shots go up, you got to worry about him being a rebounder. Doesn't get a ton of offensive rebounds, but defensive rebounding is something that he's got much better at.

38:00 And he just becomes a much more diverse problem for teams.

38:06 And I think Joe is doing a better job of tapping into that. And I think, you know, that's part of Joe's own personal growth.

38:13 Just how do you best utilize your best player? So, yeah, I definitely like what I'm seeing out of Tatum.

38:19 He still takes a few too many threes that I don't particularly care for.

38:24 I'm pulling my Gary Washburn card, talking about threes.

38:27 But for the most part, I like what I see out of the way that Joe is utilizing him and his strengths.

38:34 Yeah, I definitely think Jason's taking a step forward this year to become a better all-around player.

38:39 And I think that's partially because of Mazzoula and it's because of his natural growth.

38:43 And I think Mazzoula's done a good job developing those two guys, him and Jalen.

38:48 You know, and we can, you know, you can pick their games and say, oh, they commit to me turnovers or whatever.

38:54 The thing about it is in this league, when you see somebody every day, you tend to nitpick their games.

39:00 We look at Luka, he's dropping 58. We're like, oh, my God, Luka's great.

39:04 But then when Luka's doing some crazy stuff or got eight turnovers, we don't see those games.

39:09 Right. We we don't really look at those games closely.

39:12 So we don't get a chance to nitpick Luka, nitpick Trey Young or nitpick some of these guys who are, you know, even even Giannis, you know.

39:20 So I think what we do as reporters and the Celtic faithful watch these guys every day,

39:27 we're able to nitpick and really break down their games because we see them.

39:31 We see all 82 games. And so we know the turnovers.

39:35 We see the like Shara referred to the rush threes or the pull up threes in the early in the shot.

39:41 And we're like, oh, boy, that's not a good shot. So we can nitpick their games.

39:45 But I think overall, Jason and Jalen have both had nice quality good seasons.

39:52 Is it MVP caliber? No, because the stats aren't there.

39:56 But you're talking about overall development of being more playmakers, setting this franchise up to win not one title,

40:03 maybe multiple titles down the road, because now you've got two playmakers.

40:07 You've got two guys who can do many of the same things. Yes.

40:10 I think that they're in a good position for that. And that's what you want.

40:13 When you have two cornerstones like this, you cannot blow it.

40:17 You can't, you know, because many teams have and trade away and all that, you know,

40:21 just before a guy maybe developed or, you know, it didn't happen.

40:26 You need to take advantage of this opportunity.

40:28 I think the Celts are really trying to now because they're they're entering the midpoint of their career.

40:33 This is not their young. Jason's young in age, about to be 26, I think, next month.

40:39 But he eight years, seven, eight years in, right?

40:43 2017 was his rookie year.

40:45 And we went back to 2017 and saw how different things were, even though it doesn't seem like that long ago.

40:51 That's a that's a minute ago.

40:53 Like I was watching, I think, one of the Super Bowl, old Super Bowls from 2017.

40:59 I was like, wow, as much as that just seems like a minute ago, it might have been the Patriots Falcons won.

41:06 It was just like, wow, the commercial, the commercial, you look at the players in the field,

41:12 like that dude's retired, that dude don't play no more.

41:15 Like that guy's like, whoa, as much as that doesn't seem like that long ago, seven, eight years ago.

41:22 So time flies in this in this sporting game, as we know.

41:26 So I think Jason and Jalen are trying to take advantage of the apex of their career because they're reaching that and they need to.

41:34 And I think Joe has helped that process.

41:37 All right.

41:38 The perfect set up.

41:39 Our final topic, Mr. Mazzulla.

41:43 On Wednesday, he won his 100th game.

41:45 His overall regular season record right now is a 100 wins, 37 losses.

41:51 It's early. I don't ever want to jinx anyone, but I know Boston takes very a lot of pride in the coaches that they've had in the past.

41:58 So how would you stack Joe Mazzulla so far when it comes to his predecessors?

42:04 Let's hear it, Gary. You got this one right off the bat.

42:09 Well, that's a tall, that's a tall, tough comparison.

42:13 You know, you're talking about Doc, Raskey, you know, we want to go history, the KC Jones,

42:22 our back Tommy, Bill Russell. So, yeah, he ain't in the top five.

42:28 Let's not get that crazy.

42:31 But I think he's developing into a quality NBA coach.

42:34 He's so damn young. 36. He'll be fine.

42:38 I don't know if he'll be coaching for another 20 years.

42:41 I don't think he'll be great, Popovich or whatever, because, you know, this coaching game can burn a lot, you know, can burn you up and get you tired.

42:49 But I do think that Mazzulla is turning into a quality coach.

42:54 He's learning from his players. His players are learning from him.

42:57 He's understanding how to make the you know, how to reach out to guys and how to not be so intense, maybe in situations.

43:05 So I think with I think with Mazzulla, he is turning into a quality coach.

43:10 And that's what you want. That's what the Celtics saw in him when they gave him the job.

43:14 And obviously, you know, we can rip him from last year. And I know I did plenty of times, especially during the playoffs.

43:20 You did too.

43:22 Yeah. You know, that was you know, we all took we all, you know, rightfully so criticized him during that playoff run in the Miami series.

43:31 But that's how you get better.

43:33 What the circumstances in which he got the job coaching with a staff, all the dudes had one foot out the door.

43:40 And I'm sure he may told a lot of those guys, hey, my next coaching job, you're coming with me.

43:45 So, you know, those guys are out there looking for houses and places to live and schools for their coaching the Celtics the same time because they know they're not coming back.

43:54 That's a situation obviously nobody wanted, but it happened.

43:59 Now he's got a comfortable staff, Sam Cassell, Charles Lee, good guys.

44:04 You know, just, you know, our friend Tony Garvin is a really quality coach.

44:10 The other guys on that staff, Matt Reynolds, our friend who tells Joe to review it.

44:16 So it sounds like it's a good family. They're a good structure.

44:23 Don't you see kids now like in the streets?

44:25 No, they do.

44:28 So I think that Joe is taking that next step forward that we, the Celtics fans all hope for.

44:38 Now the next step is the playoffs when he faces elite coaches, the Spolstras.

44:44 Now we'll see how Doc does in Milwaukee and Tibbs in New York when he faces elite coaches who are going to be game planning for seven games.

44:53 How does he respond? We'll see how that goes.

44:56 Yeah, well, so far so good. I mean, with Joe, when you look at just the success that he's had,

45:00 the scenario/situation that he walked into to be the head coach was not only unorthodox,

45:07 but it increased the degree of difficulty to be a good head coach.

45:11 When you go from the second, I mean, you know, back row Joe to like the man calling shots,

45:17 that's for him to make that type of leap is impressive.

45:21 And when you look at what he's done from a winning percentage standpoint at this point for coaches who've won like 100 more games in Celtics history,

45:28 the only guys who have a higher winning percentage are like Casey Jones and Bill Fetch.

45:32 So that's the kind of company that he is in at this point.

45:36 But obviously, the longer he does this, the more credibility he'll have as an elite coach.

45:41 But Gary and Nikoine, you all know it always goes back to winning chips.

45:45 You are not going to be in that upper echelon of coaches in this franchise unless you win a chip.

45:51 As great as Brad Stevens was from an X's and O's standpoint, he never won a chip.

45:55 And that's why when you talk about the great coaches that have been here in Boston, Brad Stevens,

46:00 they may go and be one of them for one reason and one reason only, because he didn't get a chip.

46:04 But now, now he has a chance to put someone in position to get a chip.

46:09 And that person is Joe Mazzullo. And Joe, up to this point, again,

46:13 he's done a really good job of doing the most fundamental thing that you have to do as a coach,

46:17 win games and show growth in the process.

46:20 And that, you know, when it comes to something as little as how you use your timeouts,

46:25 when to challenge, when not to challenge, when to just decide that, you know what, we're not going to win this game.

46:31 I'm taking all my guys off the court. We're just going to pack up and get ready for the next one.

46:35 Versus maybe these maybe my guys have one more run in them and maybe we can make this a game.

46:40 Joe's done a better job of figuring out all those different dynamics.

46:44 He's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but he's definitely better now than he was a year ago.

46:49 And if he continues to keep growing and improving as a coach at the rate that he has from year one to year two,

46:56 he's going to be a top five all time coach for the Boston Celtics if he continues to own the trajectory that he's on now.

47:02 Now, it's a little bit easier to make that happen when you got two guys like Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown who were in their mid 20s.

47:09 So he is in many, many ways set up to have the kind of, frankly, success that would allow him to be among the top tier coaches to ever coach in this franchise's history.

47:24 I think we're all on the same page. Mazula, the ball is in your court.

47:28 Well, I guess the ball wouldn't be in his court. Gary cringe. I wanted to cringe at that one too.

47:35 The ball's in your court. It's your birthday, Kawani. It's your birthday, though.

47:39 It is. I can get away with a lot today. You can get away with that.

47:42 Well, that's all we have for this week's episode.

47:45 We appreciate you listening and enjoying this roller coaster journey as we talked about my birthday.

47:52 And then we talked about the Celtics and then we talked about my birthday some more.

47:56 Did you mention that it's her birthday, y'all?

47:59 I don't know that. I didn't know that.

48:02 If you made it to the end of this episode, you are a real one. I just need you to know that.

48:06 But we appreciate you all. Shout out to our sponsors, Indeed.com, HelloFresh and FanDuel.

48:13 And until next week, enjoy the NBA All-Star Weekend, my friends.