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00:00Well, well, well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in.
00:04Look what the cat dragged in.
00:06Back from his Celtics holiday vacation.
00:08Wow.
00:09Justin Turpin.
00:10We call it Pure Hoops with Turp.
00:13I would say every Wednesday at high noon, except we didn't do it yesterday.
00:17Turp, you just got back in Boston.
00:18How was the trip?
00:18It was great.
00:19I appreciate the flexibility, guys.
00:21We are nothing if not flexible.
00:22Delayed flights and whatnot.
00:24So thank you.
00:24All right, rank the three road courts and sort of atmosphere.
00:30You were in Golden State, Lakers, Suns.
00:32Golden State, Lakers, Suns.
00:33Okay, so I've been to two of those.
00:34I've not been to Golden State.
00:37I've not been to any of those.
00:38Golden State's a new one.
00:39And I'd actually probably have that last, that arena.
00:42Wow.
00:43Oracle?
00:44Yeah.
00:44No, no, not Oracle anymore.
00:46Oh, is Oracle the old one?
00:47What are they called the new one?
00:48Oracle is the old one.
00:48Chase Center now.
00:49Open your eyes up.
00:49Chase Center.
00:50Sorry, yeah.
00:51So speaking of name changes, Staples Center.
00:54Now it's the Crypto.com.
00:55That's probably number one.
00:56Then Phoenix, which is now the Mortgage Matchup Center.
01:00Oh, that one's-
01:00A whole different name.
01:01That one's changed a lot.
01:02Yeah.
01:02And that one's really nice.
01:03And then probably the last one was the Chase Center.
01:05Oh, wait.
01:06So is Phoenix new?
01:07It's just a new name.
01:08It's the Mortgage Matchup Center now.
01:09Right.
01:09It's the same old, but wait.
01:10So I didn't like that.
01:11I didn't like that building.
01:12Not the Footprint Center.
01:12Oh, yeah.
01:12That place was great.
01:13Yeah.
01:14Good environment there.
01:14In your face.
01:15Yeah, in my face.
01:16Okay.
01:16Yeah, good environment.
01:17Same with Los Angeles.
01:18Was he a gorilla doing dunks and stuff?
01:19He wasn't dunking, but he was going nuts on the-
01:21Top five all-time mascot.
01:23He was going crazy on the t-shirt guy.
01:26Oh, t-shirt guy.
01:27That's a good prop.
01:28That's a good prop for him.
01:28Lucky just got one of those.
01:29They gave it to him for Christmas.
01:30Lucky has a t-shirt guy.
01:32Yeah, yeah.
01:32New Lucky.
01:33Oh, they wouldn't give one old Lucky.
01:34No, not the problematic Lucky.
01:35No, no, they wouldn't do that.
01:36It was his big Christmas gift.
01:37Why didn't you go to Denver?
01:38Why didn't you just follow him all around?
01:41The back-to-backs.
01:41You know, you could see that stinker coming.
01:43That's why.
01:43You can kind of see it.
01:44It's like, you know what?
01:45This is a tough back-to-back here.
01:47Let's get out.
01:48Let's get home.
01:48You were undefeated on the trip.
01:50Exactly.
01:50Got to keep that record strong.
01:51Pretty good stuff.
01:52So, I don't know.
01:53What did you think of them on this road trip?
01:55Last night didn't end the way anybody wanted it to,
01:57but an overall good road trip despite the disappointing final result.
02:01Yeah, for sure.
02:01I mean, 3-1 coming out of the All-Star break, beating three good teams,
02:05and obviously, you know, that back-to-back in Denver,
02:07I guess a really good team of the Nuggets.
02:09Like, that's tough, and, you know,
02:10you try to preserve Jalen Brown and get him to go be ready to go for that game,
02:14but there was just no one else had anything in that game.
02:17It was really Jalen and Derek carried the scoring,
02:19and the bench had five points until they emptied the bench at the end of the game.
02:24So, you know, it's going to happen in some of those games.
02:26The defense wasn't as great as it had been.
02:28I thought they did a good job defending Jokic,
02:30and that's a big credit to Namiish Kato.
02:31I thought he passed a big test last night.
02:33I think if you're going to look at the bright spots of last night,
02:35he is one of them, and he had a fantastic road trip,
02:37and, you know, he's developed into a legitimate starting center.
02:40So, I think last night was a big test for him,
02:42and people are going to look at Jokic's numbers.
02:44He had, like, 30 points or whatever, but he was very inefficient.
02:47It took him, like, 26 shots or whatever.
02:49So, that was a big test for Kato, and I thought he passed it.
02:51Vucevic, on the other hand, struggled a little bit.
02:54So, I kept waiting for, like, a Vucevic into the starting lineup,
02:57but I think they're probably just going to keep it where it's at.
02:59I mean, Kato's played so well that maybe they'll just go with that,
03:01and we'll see what happens.
03:02Jalen Brown, another big rebounding night for him.
03:05He's been rebounding up a storm this entire month,
03:07really making a push for not only first-team all-NBA.
03:11I never really, truly considered him, like, an MVP candidate,
03:14but when you factor in the 65-game minimum threshold,
03:18Jokic, SGA, all these guys are kind of teetering on that,
03:22and depending on how they have their minutes managed
03:25and everything the rest of the way,
03:26there might only be so many guys eligible for it.
03:28So, like, he actually has a decent case now.
03:30He has a pretty strong case when you consider who's not going to be in there,
03:34but right now I think in the Eastern Conference it still has to be Cunningham
03:37just because of, you know, what that team's been able to do.
03:40They've had a stranglehold on the first seed in the Eastern Conference
03:44pretty much all season.
03:45He's really spearheaded that, and, you know,
03:47if you look at the beginning of the year, though,
03:49say he's top six, Jalen Brown's top six,
03:51anyone would sign up for that.
03:52Anyone would be like, hell yeah, top six, MVP finish,
03:55absolutely you take that.
03:57So you could – it's not to discredit what he's done this year
04:00to put Cade above him.
04:01Like, he has been incredible this year.
04:03He's a big reason where they're at, you know, in the standings right now.
04:06But I think it would go to Cade right now,
04:09assuming that, like, Jokic, he's averaging a triple-double.
04:11Like, it's him, but he only has one game to miss.
04:13Oh, Jokic is the MVP every year in my mind.
04:15He should have won it the year that Embiid won it.
04:16Like, he should have won it last year over SGA, in my opinion.
04:19Like, he should have won it every year.
04:20SGA's still the betting favorite, right?
04:21Yes.
04:22Which I don't get.
04:23Well, he's – so Jokic is teetering on it.
04:26SGA's played six more games than Jokic,
04:28so I wonder if it's a hedging with that.
04:30Based on the games played.
04:31And then Cunningham is third.
04:32Yeah, and then Wem and Yama.
04:35I think Jalen's fifth.
04:36I think Jalen's ahead of Luka right now.
04:38I think Jalen's fifth.
04:39Jalen's played more than all those guys,
04:41so it's like he's ahead of the curve there.
04:42I think that's one of the more overlooked aspects of the season
04:45that Jalen Brown's having,
04:46is that he's shouldering all this load offensively.
04:49He's still playing great defensively as well,
04:50and he's available every night.
04:51Yeah, he's playing.
04:52And that's all of them.
04:53That's across the board.
04:54Derek White's been out there every night.
04:55And they just rested him on the front end of a back-to-back.
04:57But I understand the point.
04:57He's out there most of them.
04:59More than most guys are.
05:00Especially with just how much he's playing.
05:02So I think that availability and that two-way impact
05:04has been overlooked a little bit this year for him.
05:07All right, you went west,
05:10so there was only so many people, I'm sure, on that trip.
05:13What's the scuttlebutt on Tatum?
05:15What are the people saying?
05:16I mean, they had a practice in Santa Monica
05:18right before the Lakers game.
05:22That was on Sunday, right?
05:23So the Saturday before.
05:24And they did the media availability before practice.
05:27And they were out there getting loose.
05:28Jason Tatum was at the free-throw line getting shots up.
05:31And then they ushered us out right before practice.
05:34Is that the day that Missoula was asked about it?
05:37Yeah, and Missoula death stared Bobby Manning.
05:40Okay.
05:40Next time they talked.
05:41Joe spoke before practice.
05:43And it was like 30 minutes before.
05:45He was asked if Jason Tatum was going to participate.
05:47And he said they didn't have a practice plan,
05:49which is a little wild when it was 30 minutes before the practice.
05:51No way that's true.
05:52It was a lot of practice.
05:52And then the next day was the stare down.
05:55But, I mean, it's very obvious when you piece it together that he's practicing.
05:58Now, the thing is with that and why part of the reason he practiced with Maine
06:02is because at this point of the season,
06:04especially when you consider that they really only have 12 rostered players
06:07because the two 10 days aren't going to be a factor,
06:09I assume once they're up in, what, a day or two now,
06:12they'll let those deals expire.
06:15And they'll carry 12 players for the next two weeks
06:17until they have to pick them up.
06:18That's how they're going to kind of straddle this luxury tax line.
06:21So just given, like, the roster where it's at,
06:24that you have 12 rostered players,
06:25and just the fact that, you know, we're in almost March now,
06:29the practices aren't all that physical and aren't all that taxing.
06:33So that's why he goes down and practices with Maine and stuff.
06:36But those scrimmages that he has, like the five-on-five,
06:38which he admitted he did participate in some five-on-five
06:40against some of the stay-ready guys,
06:42like those I'd imagine are pretty close to full speed.
06:44Two-part question for you, Terp.
06:46Do you think Tatum's camp and Tatum are putting out
06:49that he may not come back this year?
06:51Do you agree with that premise, yes or no?
06:53I don't.
06:54You don't?
06:54I mean, I think the docuseries,
06:56I think we talked about this last week as well.
06:57I mean, Tatum, Ramona Shelburne said she talked to Tatum,
06:59and he's not sure he'd come back.
07:01I think, you know, you have to kind of leave it open, I guess.
07:04Like, you're not going to put a concrete day on there.
07:06Like, that's not going to happen.
07:07And, you know, he says he doesn't have a date circled,
07:09which I find hard to believe.
07:10He said at the beginning of the year
07:11that this was when he wanted to come back.
07:13And, like, it's fine to have those milestones.
07:15Just, like, he's not going to put that out there.
07:17I mean, when you're looking, I mean, was it,
07:19Keith, did you say March 14th against the Wizards?
07:22Well, I said the first.
07:24No, we were, no, there's a theory going around
07:25that the video was 314.
07:26Oh, yeah, there was one of those for the Super Bowl game.
07:28Yeah, the St. Louis area code is 314,
07:30and he took 314 million instead of 315 million.
07:33So the date is 314, yes.
07:35I think just looking at the schedule.
07:36Imagine taking 1 million less
07:37just because it's your area code.
07:39I wouldn't do that.
07:40That's not me.
07:41Although, Vermont's 802, though,
07:43so that's a pretty good payday area code.
07:45603, I'd take.
07:46Yeah, I'd take 802.
07:48I kind of like the March 14th.
07:49It feels like this week,
07:51I know there's a lot of smoke around it,
07:52but it feels like it could be a little bit rushed.
07:54Okay, well, here's why I asked about Tatum's camp,
07:56because I think Tatum's camp and Tatum are putting out,
07:58he might not even come back.
07:59I think Ramona Shelburne blew the cover on that.
08:01I think Chris Haynes did the same thing.
08:02I think Tatum, when he was on the Pivot podcast,
08:04like, is playing games with it.
08:06So then it makes me wonder where the Shams stuff is coming from.
08:09Because Shams is like, he's five on five, he's full go.
08:11And, like, you know, we're inching right up
08:13on sounding like he's about to be cleared.
08:15So do you think there are elements of the team
08:17or parts of the team that are trying to pressure Tatum
08:20to hurry it up and get back out there to help the team?
08:22Absolutely not.
08:22No way.
08:24No way.
08:24They've been very clear that the number one goal,
08:27because, look about it,
08:28like, they want him to be their guy for a decade,
08:30like, more than a decade.
08:32You're not going to risk it for this season.
08:33But what if he's cleared
08:34and he's messing around with his return date?
08:35Don't they want him back when he's cleared?
08:37Whenever he's ready mentally and physically,
08:38that's when he's going to come back.
08:39And I don't think he would do that either.
08:41Like, this is a guy who, you know,
08:42talking a couple months ago saying,
08:44I'm not doing this six days a week for nothing,
08:46not to come back.
08:47Like, if he's able to come back,
08:48he wants to come back.
08:49He's made that pretty clear.
08:51And they're not going to jeopardize anything.
08:53Well, I think he's made it clear
08:53if it's the right day for his docuseries,
08:55he'll come back and do it.
08:56I don't know that he's made the other thing clear.
08:57I think that the word docu
08:58is carrying a lot of weight in that.
09:00I know I'm hung up on it more than anybody else.
09:02Do you have any idea that they're the ones
09:04that called it a docuseries?
09:05No, I understand that.
09:06But, like, if it was called the video series,
09:08did people put the same kind of weight on it?
09:09It was their word choice.
09:11So I'm taking it up with them.
09:11I'm not disagreeing.
09:12YouTube shorts is what they should have said.
09:14They could have shot the thing vertically
09:16and just posted it to reals.
09:17Tatum vines.
09:18Yeah, is what that was.
09:19This was going to be done no matter what.
09:21Like, there's been camera crews
09:22following Jason Tatum.
09:23Obviously, he's been putting it
09:24on his personal social media pages.
09:26But I guess it does make sense
09:28for a league broadcast partner
09:29to pick this up.
09:30I mean, they picked up a ton of Celtics games
09:32moving forward.
09:33Like, this was going to be done no matter what.
09:35I think just the fact that NBC paid for it
09:37kind of shifted the view a little bit.
09:39But, like, I mean,
09:40I don't put a whole lot of stock into that.
09:42Like, whenever he's ready,
09:43he's going to come back.
09:44Did you guys see DeJounte Murray return?
09:46I did.
09:46From his Achilles.
09:47I'm actually surprised you didn't bring this up
09:48on yesterday's show.
09:49Yeah, I must have been thinking about something else.
09:51I could have sworn that wasn't going to be in the bag.
09:52I was trying to think of random players.
09:54You know what I mean?
09:55Sometimes it's just too much piles on top.
09:56But, yeah, DeJounte Murray,
09:58now he got hurt in January last year.
10:00Against the Celtics.
10:01Against the Celtics.
10:02So it was over a year.
10:03It was like 13, 14 months, whatever, yeah.
10:05But he started, played 25 minutes.
10:07And looked pretty good by all accounts, yeah.
10:09He scored on the first possession, didn't he?
10:10I think you're right.
10:11So, like, I mean, I think we both think,
10:14or do you agree that when he does come back,
10:16he'll start?
10:17Yes.
10:18Yeah.
10:18I actually, did you see Drew Hanlon,
10:20his trainer, had a tweet last night?
10:21No.
10:22It was like, oh, we need Jason Tatum.
10:23Somebody tweeted, I was like, oh,
10:24we need Jason Tatum off the bench now.
10:26Like, one of the guys tweeted that.
10:27I was like, Celtics person.
10:29And Drew Hanlon was like,
10:30like, hell, he's coming off the bench?
10:31Yeah, like, Jason Tatum's going to come off the bench.
10:33Like, Hamlin said that?
10:34Oh, I missed that.
10:35Drew Hanlon tweeted that out.
10:36Okay, Tatum's never come off the bench in his life.
10:38I didn't think he was going to come off the bench anyway.
10:40I mean, especially if you're trying to build rhythm.
10:41Well, not only that, you're,
10:44the way they've tweaked it now,
10:46and Peyton Pritchard's come off the bench,
10:47to me, which is like the biggest sign
10:49that he's definitely coming back,
10:50was them moving Pritchard to the bench.
10:52But also, like, Baylor-Shireman is starting games.
10:54So you have, like, an easy swap out.
10:56It's not like you have a great replacement
10:58having an all-star season,
11:00and you're like, guys,
11:01do we really want to upset this?
11:02It's like, there's an easy landing spot.
11:04He doesn't even have to be close to what he was,
11:06but he deserves to start on the team.
11:08Oh, so wouldn't you want to build that continuity
11:09moving forward to the postseason?
11:10Oh, yeah, yeah.
11:11I have no problem with it.
11:12Bring him off the bench for a little bit to rehab,
11:13and then you're going to put him
11:14in the starting lineup right for the playoffs?
11:16Like, that's just,
11:17the whole aspect of that wouldn't make sense.
11:19I would have him, you know,
11:20obviously he's not going to play the minutes
11:21that you eventually hope he'll do.
11:22The other question I have, though,
11:24is, like, when he returns is,
11:26you know, you are talking about,
11:28all of a sudden,
11:29a wide-open Eastern Conference.
11:30You have a realistic shot right now
11:33to go to the NBA Finals
11:34with the roster as it stands.
11:37I wonder if there's a number in mind
11:38for Tatum as well as Missoula.
11:40Like, how many games do you want him to play
11:42before the playoffs?
11:43Otherwise, you just say, forget it.
11:45Like, well, see,
11:45I don't want his first game
11:46being game one of the playoffs.
11:48That makes no sense.
11:48I think that's what the holdup's been.
11:50Like, you're going to need time to ramp up.
11:52And possibly you could look
11:53at the first-round series,
11:54because we've been talking about
11:54how bad the Eastern Conference is.
11:56You could look at the first-round series
11:57as another one to ramp up.
11:59The longer he drags out the return,
12:00the less runway there is to get games in there.
12:02If he's indeed dragging it out,
12:04waiting for, like, for instance,
12:05a Peacock game,
12:05which I don't know,
12:06but I'm worried about.
12:07But, like, I don't know what the number is.
12:08I'd want him to play, like,
12:0910 regular season games.
12:10Like, something along those lines.
12:12Probably closer to, like, 15,
12:13because he's not going to play
12:14back-to-backs and stuff,
12:15if you'd imagine so.
12:16Well, right.
12:17Yeah, you know, exactly.
12:17But I'm saying, like, games played 10,
12:20something like that,
12:21and then come playoff time,
12:22you're like, all right, this is your team.
12:23He's got 10 games under his belt.
12:25And then you know.
12:25And it's not just like,
12:26hey, we might play him,
12:27but, like, hey, Shireman, be ready to go.
12:29Like, we might have to give a quick hook here.
12:31Like, I don't think you want that.
12:32I mean, without rushing the process,
12:33if you can get him,
12:34that's the, like, again,
12:35they're not going to jeopardize
12:36anything for the future.
12:37They want to absolutely put it
12:38as, like, a 0% chance
12:40this happens again.
12:41Like, that's the ultimate goal.
12:45Without rushing the process,
12:47like, the sooner you can get him back,
12:48the better, obviously,
12:49with the continuity and everything else.
12:51Just to be clear,
12:51once he's cleared,
12:52you're not rushing anything.
12:53He's cleared.
12:54So, you know, that, I guess,
12:55remains my stance on that,
12:57but whatever.
12:57How would you fix tanking in the NBA?
12:59I kind of like,
13:00I kind of like Keefe's plan there.
13:02Big old lottery.
13:03Big old everybody equal chance.
13:04I think everyone gets an equal chance.
13:06I think that's a good way to do it.
13:08It is a problem across most sports right now.
13:11Oh, yeah.
13:12Baseball's horrible at it.
13:13Like, it's terrible.
13:15Like, across every sport.
13:16But I think the lottery idea,
13:17I like that.
13:18I mean, Charles Barkley
13:18had a good idea the other night.
13:20He said equal chances
13:22just for the lottery teams,
13:24which, that's a start.
13:26So you prevent some tanking,
13:28but I think teams at the end
13:29are playing their way out of the postseason.
13:31This way, you can still go full go
13:32for the playoffs,
13:33and there's no penalty
13:33for trying hard
13:34and actually winning games.
13:35But the other thing he had
13:37was a good point was,
13:38I forget if you have a lottery team
13:41or a losing record,
13:41you can't raise ticket prices
13:43at the next year.
13:44That's a great one.
13:45So that would absolutely be a good one.
13:47That's a great one,
13:48John Henry, if you're listening.
13:49Anyway, okay.
13:50Pure Hoops with Terp
13:51every Wednesday going forward.
13:54Terp?
13:54Going forward, yes.
13:54At high noon?
13:55We'll be here.
13:56Hump day.
13:56Okay.
13:57Terp, good stuff as always.
13:58Check him out
13:58at JustinMTurpin on Twitter.
14:01Terp, we'll talk to you next week.
14:02All right, guys.
14:02Wednesday at noon,
14:03I'll be here.
14:03All right.
14:04Okay.
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