LIVE: Celtics vs Spurs Postgame Show | Garden Report - video Dailymotion

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The Garden Report goes live for the last show of the year following the Celtics game against the Spurs. Catch the Celtics Postgame Show featuring Bobby Manning and John Zannis as they offer insights and analysis after Boston's game vs San Antonio.  This episode of the Garden Report is  is brought to you by:  Fanduel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering parter of the CLNS Media NetworkRight now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, Official Partner of the NFL. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $5 pregame moneyline wager required. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.  SeatGeek! Use code DREAMERSPRO for $20 off your first SeatGeek order! Visit https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/DREAMERSPRO !  With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Go to https://HelloFresh.com/CLNSFREE and use code CLNSFREE for FREE breakfast for life! One breakfast item per box while subscription is active. That’s free breakfast for life at HelloFresh.com/CLNSFREE with code CLNSFREE!  #Celtics #NBA￼ #GardenReport #CLNS

Transcript

00:00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:00:06 Can you say hard hats, folks?

00:00:08 Hard hats, munch pails, steel tool boots.

00:00:10 Anything short of a championship this year is a failure.

00:00:12 Look at this boomer right here.

00:00:14 You've just got so much talent here.

00:00:17 Somebody said we need to apologize for Taylor.

00:00:19 Can I pull the John?

00:00:20 What are we apologizing for?

00:00:21 What did we say?

00:00:22 What did we do?

00:00:23 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:00:26 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:00:33 What's going on, everybody?

00:00:34 Bobby, you got me?

00:00:35 Yep, gotcha.

00:00:37 What's going on, Bobby?

00:00:38 What's going on, Garden Report faithful,

00:00:41 those of you here who decided to spend New Year's Eve inside

00:00:47 watching the San Antonio Spurs and the Boston Celtics

00:00:49 in San Antonio, which I wouldn't blame you

00:00:54 if it wasn't a lot of you guys.

00:00:55 But hey, maybe those of you around the country, some of you

00:00:58 who've already rung in a new year,

00:00:59 and I'm sure that's many of you already who normally

00:01:02 tune in to the Garden Report, yeah,

00:01:04 you got nothing else to do.

00:01:05 So why not hang out, talk a little bit of basketball?

00:01:08 We'll keep it short tonight and talk a little bit

00:01:11 about the game.

00:01:12 It's just going to be me and Bobby

00:01:14 and kind of just rip through our early observations here

00:01:18 of this game.

00:01:19 And I mean, really, Bobby, this was--

00:01:21 make sure you don't pull a Pistons and the Victor Wemba

00:01:28 Nyama show.

00:01:29 And you got both of those.

00:01:31 You checked both of those boxes.

00:01:33 Yeah, definitely.

00:01:34 And you avoided a disaster.

00:01:36 Again, I didn't like that second quarter, the start there.

00:01:38 I think the Spurs came out shooting 10 to 12,

00:01:41 pulled within four.

00:01:42 So that didn't turn into anything.

00:01:45 They took quick work of the Spurs in the third quarter.

00:01:48 Brown and Tatum both had good nights here.

00:01:50 I thought it looked pretty connected

00:01:51 throughout the flow of this game, too.

00:01:53 I like Brown cutting off Tatum for parts of it.

00:01:55 And they both shot well here tonight, 7 to 12.

00:01:58 So that pretty much did it.

00:02:00 A great shooting night all around for the Celtics here.

00:02:03 Probably just about as good as that Clippers and Kings run

00:02:08 that they had earlier this month that

00:02:10 were the heights of their offensive output this season.

00:02:13 But the Spurs put next to no resistance up against them.

00:02:16 And that seemed to be a reason why

00:02:17 the game started feeling a little bit up and down

00:02:20 early, John, is that it was so easy to score on San Antonio.

00:02:25 Even with Wenbin Yama out there--

00:02:26 I know Zach Collins in this one changes a little bit for them.

00:02:30 But this team's bad.

00:02:32 I mean, Tatum said on Thursday--

00:02:35 I know you weren't on, John--

00:02:36 that the Pistons aren't the worst team in the league.

00:02:41 As bad as that losing streak was for them,

00:02:43 and it came to an end yesterday, he

00:02:45 said some other teams at the bottom of the stand--

00:02:47 This is the worst team.

00:02:48 Yeah.

00:02:49 And it's this team, maybe it's Charlotte,

00:02:52 maybe it's Washington's pretty bad too.

00:02:55 But those are teams-- well, Charlotte aside--

00:02:58 that the Celtics rolled through with no resistance.

00:03:00 The Pistons put up a great game against them.

00:03:02 This was what you would have expected from a team that

00:03:05 lost 28 straight games.

00:03:07 Yep.

00:03:08 And happy New Year to you guys trickling in here.

00:03:12 And it's, as we said, nice to have you guys hanging around

00:03:16 here and checking in this game.

00:03:19 But yeah, look, that's exactly right.

00:03:22 You talk about Emei in his roundabout Emei.

00:03:25 Joe, in his roundabout way, talks about what you do

00:03:28 and don't do and what you get and don't get out

00:03:31 of bad performances and losses.

00:03:33 And he always says weird stuff like, oh, we laughed about it.

00:03:36 But the reality is there are lessons learned,

00:03:39 which is like you F around and you find out.

00:03:42 You're playing real NBA teams and you want to come out here

00:03:44 and you want to not try at all.

00:03:46 That's what's going to happen.

00:03:47 And the first half looked like it could have gone that way.

00:03:51 They were just able to get buckets so easily.

00:03:53 And then that third quarter was ridiculous.

00:03:55 And then you had that string of dunk, dunk,

00:03:58 dunk there between White and Jalen

00:04:01 on those steals and the plays there.

00:04:05 And it just kind of-- everything just took off.

00:04:07 And all of a sudden, 12, 15 points was friggin' 30

00:04:11 and this game was over.

00:04:14 Yeah, and I feel like if they played faster earlier,

00:04:17 they probably could have built a bigger lead.

00:04:20 And going double big probably didn't help them with that one

00:04:22 with Drew Holiday out in this one.

00:04:24 Good to get him some rest.

00:04:25 Good to get Brown and Tatum some rest as well this week.

00:04:27 It's going to be a pretty tough game against the Thunder

00:04:29 on Tuesday.

00:04:31 But they figured it out as the game went on.

00:04:33 They went to some other lineups.

00:04:35 I thought Brissette was pretty good again in this one.

00:04:37 He gave them some quality minutes there.

00:04:38 The single big lineups with Cornette

00:04:40 and even the double big lineups with him out there

00:04:42 were pretty good in this one too.

00:04:44 So they got a lot out of the bench.

00:04:45 And that bench was pretty much what

00:04:47 slammed the door early in the fourth, which was huge.

00:04:49 Because you didn't want to see the starters out there at all

00:04:52 the way this game was going.

00:04:53 And they made sure that you didn't have to do that.

00:04:55 Hauser back with three of five from three.

00:04:58 Cornette building on the 20-point performance, John,

00:05:00 that you coincidentally missed.

00:05:04 You got to sit out that show.

00:05:05 But he made sure to come through with another quality

00:05:08 performance here in this one.

00:05:09 Yeah, but again, let's be real.

00:05:11 I mean, I love Luke and his hands, right?

00:05:16 I like Luke's hands.

00:05:17 I like that he can catch passes in the paint.

00:05:19 I like that he can play volleyball when it's up high.

00:05:22 I like that he knows where to be.

00:05:24 I like his positioning in general.

00:05:26 I like all of those things.

00:05:27 But I mean, even a team like the Spurs

00:05:29 took it to him on like eight or nine straight possessions.

00:05:34 It's always going to be the push and pull, the yin

00:05:37 and the yang, which I'm fine with.

00:05:39 Because we've been arguing this for--

00:05:41 I've been arguing this for years.

00:05:43 If the good outweighs the bad or the good

00:05:45 gets you something that is beneficial,

00:05:49 you can live with the bad.

00:05:50 If Luke Cornette could do everything

00:05:53 and play defense and block shots and rebound,

00:05:56 he'd be making $25 million a year

00:05:58 and playing 30 minutes a night.

00:06:00 But he can't.

00:06:01 He can do these things relatively well.

00:06:03 Namus Keita does different things relatively well.

00:06:06 I don't think it's necessarily an either/or.

00:06:08 I think it's more of a pick your poison sort of situation here.

00:06:12 Every time Luke is going in there,

00:06:14 like sure, he can challenge a shot or two.

00:06:16 But for the most part, people go after him.

00:06:20 And eventually, he gets played off the floor

00:06:22 because defensively, he gets attacked a little bit.

00:06:26 And he can't really do much about that.

00:06:29 So that's always going to be there.

00:06:31 But that stuff that he's doing, and he and D. White

00:06:33 have a great little pick and roll game going in the lobs

00:06:36 and catching it.

00:06:37 And like I said, his ability to collect bounce passes

00:06:40 in the paint, a lot of bigs can't do that.

00:06:42 That's really like coordinated stuff for a guy that height

00:06:46 to be able to collect and to go up.

00:06:49 Horford can't do it.

00:06:50 You know what I mean?

00:06:51 So it's a skill.

00:06:53 It's a legit skill.

00:06:54 Yeah.

00:06:55 And he's getting on the boards a little bit now, too,

00:06:57 with three offensive rebounds in this one.

00:06:59 So all in all, good stuff from him right now.

00:07:01 It's nice to have him back in the rotation

00:07:03 and able to let them go double big a little bit.

00:07:05 And I did write about that over the weekend.

00:07:07 It's that those lineups are actually

00:07:09 producing at a pretty good rate right now, all of them,

00:07:11 actually.

00:07:12 Porzingis and Horford came into this game plus 7.

00:07:16 You had that little Cornette Porzingis run

00:07:17 in this game, which was up close to 20, I think, 17,

00:07:21 even though it was only 10 minutes to put their playing

00:07:23 time together.

00:07:24 You've seen Kada and Al play well together.

00:07:27 You've seen Cornette and Horford win minutes together.

00:07:29 I think they're plus 3.

00:07:30 So every double big lineup that they're putting out there

00:07:33 is winning.

00:07:34 You might not like how it looks.

00:07:36 Might slow them down a little bit at times.

00:07:38 But it's their go-to look when they're down a starter.

00:07:40 And--

00:07:42 It is.

00:07:42 But again, by comparison, their starting lineup

00:07:47 playing single big with that is the best lineup.

00:07:53 They're obviously the best they have,

00:07:54 but the best in basketball by far.

00:07:57 No, I'm a long way past advocating for Horford and John.

00:08:02 But my point was this season where

00:08:05 we thought if they were down a starter,

00:08:07 it's going to get really shaky really fast.

00:08:09 The double big combinations have allowed

00:08:11 them to at least win their minutes in games like these.

00:08:15 In a game like this, you're going to blow the other team

00:08:17 away.

00:08:18 But even against some tougher teams,

00:08:20 you're able to win those minutes there, which is important.

00:08:23 They have a bunch of different looks that they can go to.

00:08:25 The question you're going to have to ask

00:08:26 is if you're in a playoff series against a bigger team that's

00:08:29 hurting you on the boards.

00:08:31 And that was the case big time that Thursday game, John.

00:08:34 I mean, just an absolute beat down

00:08:36 on the offensive glass from Detroit in that game.

00:08:39 Do you go to some bigger looks in that spot

00:08:41 to counteract what the other team's doing?

00:08:43 Or are you just going to roll with what you're doing?

00:08:45 They're probably just going to roll with what they're doing,

00:08:47 as you mentioned there, because it's been so dominant all year

00:08:50 and they have so many different skill sets in their starting

00:08:52 lineup there.

00:08:53 I thought they really missed Holiday defensively

00:08:55 for parts of this game.

00:08:56 They do, because he's super important there.

00:08:58 I think we got into-- we got into Cornett a tad earlier

00:09:03 than I wanted to.

00:09:04 I want to backtrack.

00:09:05 If we're going to talk about individual performances,

00:09:07 the number one takeaway is they played together

00:09:10 in that third quarter when they needed to.

00:09:13 They put their foot on the gas and they distanced themselves.

00:09:16 And they did what they're supposed

00:09:18 to do with a team like this, which is great.

00:09:20 On the individual performances, I'm again

00:09:22 going to look at Brown.

00:09:23 This was so economical and efficient

00:09:26 in what he was doing.

00:09:27 And again, another game where I just

00:09:28 felt like he was doing the right thing.

00:09:30 He didn't settle for weird stuff.

00:09:33 Like, a couple of times I loved--

00:09:35 I can't remember who he did-- backing his way into the point.

00:09:39 I mean, backing his way into the post

00:09:41 and just spinning around guys for dunks who were just--

00:09:44 they're like, I can't guard this guy here.

00:09:47 Whoever it was, was like, this is impossible.

00:09:50 I can't do this.

00:09:51 And stuff like that is just great,

00:09:53 because it's just imposing your physical will on an opponent

00:09:57 in a different way than Jalen's done it in the past, which

00:10:00 is usually, let me just fly through, get into the lane,

00:10:03 and whatever's waiting for me there,

00:10:05 I'll deal with it when I get there.

00:10:07 This was a, I'm going to just back a guy down, iso this,

00:10:11 get my way all the way in, and then I'm just going to work.

00:10:14 It is so hard to stop that when he does that.

00:10:18 And it's controlled and it's patient.

00:10:20 And he did it multiple times tonight.

00:10:22 And it either resulted in spinning around and getting

00:10:25 a dunk or a layup or being able to get

00:10:27 one of those turnarounds from the post, which for him

00:10:29 is just a money shot.

00:10:33 Yeah, and he, I thought, was really good in Friday's game

00:10:37 as well.

00:10:37 I came out of it pretty conflicted

00:10:39 because of the seven turnovers, because of some

00:10:41 of the miscues there.

00:10:42 But when you consider Tatum's out,

00:10:44 you're going against a team that has

00:10:45 some weird, funky defensive abilities and personnel that

00:10:50 can play bigger and pack the paint against you.

00:10:52 It was one of those games where we've talked about, John, yeah,

00:10:55 the turnovers might tick up a little higher

00:10:57 than you want them to.

00:10:58 But his aggressiveness really opens things up,

00:11:00 especially late in that game after the Raptors came back.

00:11:03 So I loved him that night.

00:11:05 I loved his whole month.

00:11:06 The numbers, I have them right in front of me here.

00:11:09 Don't look amazing, like nothing that would catch your eye

00:11:12 on paper, 24, 5, and 4, not including this game.

00:11:15 But 53 from the field, getting up to 37 from 3 this month.

00:11:20 Back to the free throw line quite a bit, too.

00:11:23 That's exactly what you were looking for from him

00:11:26 in this offense because it was going

00:11:28 to look different this year.

00:11:29 Maybe a little bit of a smaller role, sometimes fewer shots.

00:11:33 But the control, as you mentioned, the decision making,

00:11:37 and the consistency, really.

00:11:39 You're not seeing him have those games where he's uninvolved

00:11:42 for quarters at a time or a night where he's just

00:11:45 lost in the shuffle because other guys have it going.

00:11:48 It seems like the hierarchy is pretty well set on this team.

00:11:51 I just think he's making the right decision more often.

00:11:58 It's as simple as that.

00:12:00 I just think he's choosing wisely, like way more.

00:12:04 And a lot of it is, what's funny is, old Jalen to me was,

00:12:08 hey, to counteract Tatum's sleepy,

00:12:11 walk it up the floor stuff, Jalen

00:12:14 was the guy who would attack and get it and go.

00:12:17 And be instant offense in that way.

00:12:20 And just drive the paint when you weren't getting

00:12:23 a lot of paint looks.

00:12:25 And when people were settling for jumpers,

00:12:26 and Jalen would be the guy who would go.

00:12:28 And then you would have to manage his turnovers there

00:12:31 because you'd say, well, that's it.

00:12:33 He's going fast.

00:12:34 And maybe that's what happened a little bit more last game

00:12:36 without Tatum, where he felt he had to do more on his own.

00:12:40 Or was the last game without Tatum?

00:12:42 Yeah, the Raptors.

00:12:43 Yeah, yeah, sorry.

00:12:45 So maybe that's where he kind of did a little too much.

00:12:47 But when he's playing in the kind of--

00:12:51 the setup that they have here with the multiple starters

00:12:53 when Tatum's on the floor, I actually

00:12:55 find that what's better is him slowing it way down.

00:12:59 And he's playing with a lot more patience and a lot more poise.

00:13:02 When he doesn't have it, he sets it back up.

00:13:04 He lost the dribble one time going to the basket.

00:13:07 He just collected himself rather than just kept going

00:13:09 and rose up and tried to make a really high degree of difficulty

00:13:13 shot.

00:13:14 I think that's what he's doing more of is he's doing that.

00:13:18 He's not just like, ah, screw it.

00:13:19 I'm here.

00:13:20 I'll just shoot it and see what happens.

00:13:21 He's passing out of those difficult situations

00:13:23 a lot more than he was before, whether it results in anything

00:13:26 or not.

00:13:26 I know he had the super high potential assist

00:13:28 number the other night too.

00:13:29 But again, I didn't watch those games.

00:13:31 I just kind of followed the box scores there.

00:13:34 Just from tonight, like I said, it just looks patient.

00:13:36 It was an incredibly efficient night for him

00:13:39 in terms of his scoring.

00:13:40 I mean, it was very, very economical in everything

00:13:42 that he did.

00:13:44 Yeah, and when you combine that, some of the defensive flashes

00:13:47 from this first half of this year

00:13:48 before we flip into 2024, and then tonight,

00:13:52 you mentioned him being sometimes

00:13:53 that more aggressive, faster end of the team's identity

00:13:58 compared to Tatum's more methodical approach.

00:14:00 I like how they were able to do both in this game.

00:14:02 Tatum able to set himself up for jump shots when necessary.

00:14:06 Brown able to get ahead in that third quarter,

00:14:08 as you mentioned, with all the dunks and breakout scores,

00:14:10 and even the isolations on guys in the post.

00:14:13 I mean, those were there for the taking.

00:14:14 We've seen Tatum take those.

00:14:16 We've seen Porzingis take those.

00:14:17 And he was weirdly off in this game.

00:14:20 He was.

00:14:20 I kind of wanted to see him dominate the original Unicorn

00:14:23 versus the Wemby.

00:14:24 I wanted to show the whippersnapper--

00:14:26 Those guys were going at each other

00:14:28 and just completely canceling each other out.

00:14:30 But he came in a little cold, and that was too bad.

00:14:33 I wanted to see him do a little something there.

00:14:36 It didn't happen.

00:14:38 Yeah, and he came-- he finished this month 32% from 3,

00:14:41 which he was red hot to start the year from outside.

00:14:44 You'd like to see him get back up next month.

00:14:46 But still, most efficient post player in the league

00:14:50 through the first stint of the schedule here.

00:14:52 You see Brown pulling that out, Tatum.

00:14:55 It's just a nice, well-balanced offense right now.

00:14:57 The entire team in the post, Bobby.

00:14:59 I mean, we begged for that, right?

00:15:03 We begged for that.

00:15:05 It's a way to get paint or post shots off,

00:15:09 because they never do it.

00:15:10 When they're driving, they're always kicking.

00:15:13 They'll get out in transition sometimes,

00:15:15 but they're not a very fast team.

00:15:16 So figuring out ways this season to counteract the bad three

00:15:21 point shooting when it happens.

00:15:23 I do want to look at what the record is on their bad three

00:15:26 point shooting nights.

00:15:27 And I feel like it's going to be much better than it

00:15:30 was a year ago when they went 13 and 19 in those nights

00:15:33 where they shot below average.

00:15:34 36 in this one, so you're right about average.

00:15:37 But on the nights where they haven't shot well from 3,

00:15:40 you have the offensive rebounding,

00:15:42 you have the post-ups, and you have the transition game

00:15:45 to counteract the bad shooting.

00:15:46 And that's why they've been able to start 26 and 6 here.

00:15:50 Really, when I had Law Murray on last week, John,

00:15:53 before the Clippers game, he put it well.

00:15:55 This team's lost six games, and five of them

00:15:58 were in crunch time.

00:15:59 So it's just a few late game miscues,

00:16:03 some games where Derek White was out

00:16:05 and the offense got a little scattered,

00:16:07 or leads that they blew where they're losing these games.

00:16:10 Otherwise, they could be through 32 games here, 31 and 1,

00:16:15 if they just handle some of those late game situations

00:16:18 better.

00:16:18 So that's the kind of start we're seeing here.

00:16:19 It's just amazing how they're taking care of business,

00:16:22 because they would lose that Pistons game a year ago.

00:16:25 They would have lost any number of games this year.

00:16:28 That happened early in the year, too, Bobby.

00:16:30 But how many games, Bobby, at the beginning of the year

00:16:32 did we say, they lose this game last year?

00:16:33 They lose this game last year?

00:16:35 Heat, the one where Jalen had that meltdown,

00:16:38 and they went all the way to down seven

00:16:40 and came back and won that game.

00:16:42 They had a lot of games where they blew leads

00:16:45 and still won them, or they were in crunch time.

00:16:48 I think in the first 10 games, the first 10 wins,

00:16:51 there were five games where we're like,

00:16:52 that game might go different last year.

00:16:54 They've had quite a few of those.

00:16:56 So they're much better at this stuff.

00:16:58 And they do avoid those, like, oh my god,

00:17:02 I can't believe you lost this game games.

00:17:04 I left this comment up here because I wanted to say,

00:17:06 I love the vacation reference.

00:17:07 And two, because of this movie and because of that scene,

00:17:11 our coach, our all-star coach, when we were like 12, 13,

00:17:15 the truck he would take us in, his big SUV,

00:17:19 we called it the family truckster.

00:17:20 And our name for our team became the trucksters

00:17:24 for this particular reference, because that's what we did.

00:17:28 We went around.

00:17:29 So we were the trucksters.

00:17:32 We were that.

00:17:34 Yes, big money, Brown.

00:17:35 Thank you guys for any and all super chats.

00:17:39 We do appreciate it.

00:17:40 Again, letting you guys know, we're

00:17:41 going to hang here for a short-ish show.

00:17:45 We're hanging for a bit.

00:17:46 More people are flooding in the room.

00:17:48 So we'll try to hang out here for a little bit longer

00:17:50 and give you guys your money's worth.

00:17:51 You've decided to spend the time with us.

00:17:54 So we'll hang out here with you guys as well.

00:17:56 Have to let you guys know, as always, about our sponsors.

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00:18:14 Fantasy season is over.

00:18:16 Bobby and I, work league, we didn't do anything.

00:18:19 I won one championship this year, lost another.

00:18:23 Two first round exits.

00:18:24 All in all, not a terrible year.

00:18:26 But if you do want to get in and bet on some actual games

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00:18:45 What else am I looking for here?

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00:20:14 Back to the game, Bobby.

00:20:15 What else stood out for you here tonight?

00:20:18 And I do want to talk about Wemby a little bit.

00:20:20 I wish Jimmy was here because Jimmy is not a Wemby guy.

00:20:24 I am not not a Wemby guy.

00:20:26 I don't know that--

00:20:27 I believe he could be the chosen one.

00:20:30 I also believe he could be good, not great.

00:20:35 I'm not sure which way he's going to go.

00:20:37 But boy, do you know--

00:20:40 is he different in so many different ways, right?

00:20:43 Like--

00:20:44 That dog stood out, didn't it?

00:20:46 That freaking play when White's going for a chase down

00:20:51 and every Celtics fan's thinking, oh my god,

00:20:53 is he going to do it?

00:20:54 And he's a step outside the three-point line.

00:20:57 He just holds the ball up, takes two steps.

00:21:02 Oh my-- I watched that 100 times.

00:21:07 I fell so far behind the rest of the game.

00:21:09 I just kept going back to watch that.

00:21:11 It was so-- it was like--

00:21:14 it's like playing on the dunk hoop that's

00:21:16 hanging on the doorframe in your bedroom.

00:21:20 It was ridiculous.

00:21:22 Yeah, and you look at the numbers for them,

00:21:24 obviously this game shows they are not a good defensive team.

00:21:28 I think their last in that rating,

00:21:30 their defense is way down there.

00:21:31 But when he's on the floor, they're pretty confident.

00:21:33 And there were plays at times in this game

00:21:35 where the Celtics had to go inside and work their way out,

00:21:37 again, because of his presence in there.

00:21:40 So in terms of being the real deal, defensively he is.

00:21:43 I don't think there's any doubt about it.

00:21:45 He just has too much range, too much size in there,

00:21:48 and too much of an ability to alter shots all over the floor

00:21:52 to not be a game changer on that side of the ball.

00:21:54 But the offense is definitely a work in progress here.

00:21:56 44% for the field coming into today.

00:21:59 He got a few threes to go, but he's 28.

00:22:01 I think you kind of expected that wasn't going to be there

00:22:04 for him, and it's really not.

00:22:07 So that's a big difference between him

00:22:09 and even a guy like Chet right now,

00:22:10 who we're going to see on Tuesday.

00:22:12 That's the thing.

00:22:13 I want to see--

00:22:14 you got to give it a full year to see how that goes.

00:22:16 Because here's the thing with him,

00:22:18 and I think that the indicator with someone like that

00:22:20 is always, there's nothing mechanically wrong

00:22:24 with his shot.

00:22:27 But that was an issue before, too,

00:22:29 is it wasn't falling in Europe either.

00:22:33 That's exactly what he shot, 28%, 29% playing overseas.

00:22:44 Those were the numbers.

00:22:45 It really wasn't-- or where did he play last year?

00:22:49 France.

00:22:50 France, right.

00:22:52 That's what he shot.

00:22:53 So but all you see are Twitter highlight reels,

00:22:55 and all of those shots go in.

00:22:57 And then you look at the numbers heading into the draft,

00:22:59 and I was like, wow.

00:23:00 I was like, that's pretty bad, considering he's just shooting--

00:23:03 those are practice jumpers for the most part.

00:23:05 He's shooting over the top of nobody there.

00:23:08 But look at the free throw percentage.

00:23:10 He's up around 80% this year.

00:23:12 So he's got the stroke.

00:23:13 That thing's going to start falling with more regularity.

00:23:16 It looks like a good shot.

00:23:18 I don't believe that's going to be who he's going to be forever.

00:23:21 But there's definitely concerns, right?

00:23:23 Like is he going to--

00:23:26 can he affect the game down low?

00:23:30 He needs probably 30 pounds of muscle to be able to do that.

00:23:34 What's that going to do to other aspects of his game?

00:23:36 It's going to be weird.

00:23:37 But he can handle the ball.

00:23:39 His passing is otherworldly.

00:23:41 And again, the things that he can do just based off his height

00:23:45 puts him in it-- it's almost like it's not--

00:23:47 this isn't a great analogy.

00:23:49 But remember we were arguing with Rob about what he can't do

00:23:51 and neglecting what he can do better

00:23:54 than any human on the planet.

00:23:55 Like there's probably three, four things

00:23:57 that Wabunyama is going to be able to do better

00:23:59 than anybody on the planet.

00:24:01 That's going to separate him.

00:24:02 And it's going to make his flaws matter less.

00:24:04 And that's where his greatness is going to come from.

00:24:07 Like he might not ever end up doing some of the things people

00:24:09 think he needs to do.

00:24:11 But I don't know that it's going to matter because he can

00:24:13 do so many other things.

00:24:15 And when he puts it together, like he might be great, great.

00:24:18 But I still don't know.

00:24:19 I know everyone's saying Chet is better this year.

00:24:22 But again, you got to factor in, he's

00:24:24 25 games into his pro career.

00:24:27 Yeah, Chet had the chance to bulk up last year

00:24:29 and be in the organization and all that.

00:24:31 That's why the rookie stuff is bullshit.

00:24:32 He's been in a professional environment

00:24:36 with training the right way for a year plus.

00:24:38 He's going to be different.

00:24:40 Yeah, no doubt about it.

00:24:41 And a little bit older too, obviously.

00:24:42 He's got Kimo Minyama coming in at, I think, 19 right now.

00:24:45 But you mentioned three blocks a game.

00:24:48 That's game changing stuff right away at that age.

00:24:51 Like anybody having three blocks a game would be unbelievable.

00:24:55 And he's doing it his rookie year.

00:24:56 So he's probably the front runner

00:24:58 for this Rookie of the Year award.

00:24:59 It's going to be a fun race between he and Chet.

00:25:02 But this is a great starting point.

00:25:05 He's not a rookie.

00:25:06 I agree.

00:25:07 He's not a rookie, Chet.

00:25:09 You would have been thrilled if you were the Sparrows

00:25:11 to see him come in and set the world on fire

00:25:13 and be one of the best players in the league right away.

00:25:16 But the fact that he's one of the best young players

00:25:18 in the league is good enough, I think, for now.

00:25:20 And he's scoring 18, 19, 20 points a game

00:25:23 without the ability to handle.

00:25:25 He's got a 3 to 3, 3 turnover assisting right now,

00:25:28 which isn't great.

00:25:29 He doesn't have a point guard, which is just malpractice.

00:25:33 Imagine if he did.

00:25:34 Imagine if he did.

00:25:35 How many freaking just automatically--

00:25:37 They don't have a point guard.

00:25:38 It's crazy.

00:25:39 Were you watching that offense tonight?

00:25:41 It's ridiculous.

00:25:42 How many lobs, how many easy buckets?

00:25:45 He'd have six to eight more points a game

00:25:48 in just standing by the rim and just dropping it in.

00:25:51 Imagine if they had Derek White.

00:25:53 Get the ball to him.

00:25:55 Yeah.

00:25:56 Oh, man.

00:25:56 They must be regretting that right now.

00:25:58 I mean, it's a bad spot.

00:25:59 You can make the Belichick comparison right now, too,

00:26:01 I think, with Popovich and the way that's going right now.

00:26:04 And they're 5 and 26, John.

00:26:06 It's unreal.

00:26:08 I know their roster's not great.

00:26:10 And they're in their rebuilding stage right now.

00:26:12 But that's horrible.

00:26:13 I mean, there were some people who thought they

00:26:15 might be able to make a little bit of a playoff run this year.

00:26:18 I didn't.

00:26:18 But this isn't even close right now.

00:26:20 I still think this guy's worth the price of admission.

00:26:23 Again, what he's going to become--

00:26:25 You might have to get a credential when

00:26:27 they come in a month.

00:26:29 I think I'm going to go.

00:26:30 I really want to see it in person.

00:26:32 I really do.

00:26:34 Sorry, whoever I bump from the game.

00:26:37 Sometimes I want to.

00:26:38 Hey, I want to give a shout out here,

00:26:40 because this is very nice and very generous.

00:26:42 And we got a few a couple games ago when I was in here.

00:26:45 And we've gotten a few of these roll in.

00:26:47 I really do appreciate these.

00:26:49 And thank you very much, Derek, for watching.

00:26:52 The contribution is nice.

00:26:53 The most important thing is that you guys are here.

00:26:56 And we do appreciate the numbers and the viewership

00:27:01 and the loyalty and you guys hanging with us.

00:27:03 There's a lot of options out there.

00:27:05 And I'm sure you partake in more than just one.

00:27:07 But so many of you are just regular faces

00:27:10 here on the Garden Report.

00:27:12 And we see you.

00:27:13 And we know who you are.

00:27:14 And we do appreciate it.

00:27:15 And everything like this is appreciated,

00:27:17 though not necessary.

00:27:18 But thank you very much.

00:27:20 Favorite Celtics moment of '23, if you

00:27:22 wanted to talk about this?

00:27:24 Bobby, I don't know.

00:27:25 I don't have it off the top of my head.

00:27:27 Anything for you?

00:27:28 Come on, it's easy.

00:27:29 The Derek--

00:27:29 Is it Luke Knight?

00:27:31 No.

00:27:32 And Luke Knight was up there.

00:27:34 It's not Luke Knight?

00:27:36 Obviously, you guys were pretty stunned.

00:27:38 But that Bulls game was a really fun one for me recently.

00:27:42 But for the whole year as a whole--

00:27:44 It's got to be Derek, yeah.

00:27:45 It's that game six where--

00:27:47 I went back and watched it a week or two ago

00:27:49 because we talked a little bit about it on my pod.

00:27:51 But it still doesn't feel real, that moment there.

00:27:56 It was just one of those moments you're

00:27:59 going to remember forever.

00:28:00 I know they didn't pull it off.

00:28:01 And some people might forget about it

00:28:03 when 10 years go by or whatever here because they

00:28:06 didn't get it done.

00:28:08 But it was just still so special, so unique.

00:28:12 There's really not a moment that compares to that,

00:28:14 especially when you consider it almost completing a 3-0

00:28:17 comeback.

00:28:17 It did force a game seven.

00:28:19 There's some other good ones throughout that playoff run.

00:28:23 Tatum's game seven against Philly was pretty amazing.

00:28:27 You had the turnaround in game six for him, too, in Philly.

00:28:32 That whole last regular season was pretty fun, too.

00:28:34 There were a lot of fun Joe moments along the way, too.

00:28:38 Well, what if we were isolating only--

00:28:41 because you're right.

00:28:42 There's so much of last--

00:28:43 what you always forget is the majority of 23 was last year.

00:28:49 It's the majority of it.

00:28:50 So you're always thinking for this year--

00:28:51 And there were a lot of bad moments, unfortunately,

00:28:54 in the playoffs for them last year.

00:28:57 But this part of the year, it's been nothing but good.

00:29:00 And this season, John, I'm still settling

00:29:04 into what this season is, and what it's becoming,

00:29:07 and how we're going to look at it.

00:29:09 But most of it's just been taking care of business.

00:29:14 There hasn't been any dazzling comebacks,

00:29:16 or unbelievable clutch finishes.

00:29:20 There were a few moments that certainly pissed us off

00:29:22 here or there.

00:29:23 But when you have expectations as high as this team does,

00:29:27 and the talent that this team does, a lot of it so far

00:29:30 has just felt like, all right, they did it again.

00:29:32 Now do it tomorrow.

00:29:33 And they more often than not have done it again tomorrow.

00:29:37 So there's a mellowness to that season.

00:29:43 Eventually, they're going to get tested in the playoffs.

00:29:45 Eventually, they're going to have those moments that really

00:29:47 have a lot of turbulence, and debate, and stuff

00:29:49 like that behind them.

00:29:51 But right now, it's just been smooth sailing.

00:29:52 And I think a lot of people like that,

00:29:54 because we certainly have seen the turbulence

00:29:56 since we started this show.

00:29:58 So it's good to not have that.

00:30:00 It's better.

00:30:01 And that's the thing.

00:30:02 And so I guess--

00:30:04 and Deflategate here, thank you for the contribution.

00:30:09 We've talked about doing a game.

00:30:11 We may, at some point, do one or two games.

00:30:14 The reason we don't, I just think it'd be overkill.

00:30:17 We're on here for so long after.

00:30:19 If we're doing the games as well,

00:30:20 I think you guys are going to get sick of us, to be honest.

00:30:24 We'll let Drew Carter handle that.

00:30:27 But every once in a while, it's fun.

00:30:29 Because the way we react live is totally

00:30:31 different than what you're getting after the game.

00:30:34 And it is kind of more organic to get it in the moment.

00:30:37 And also, we would chat about things as we go along.

00:30:40 So I would totally do that as well.

00:30:43 But to your point, Bobby, what you were talking about before,

00:30:47 live stream--

00:30:47 Nick's always wanted to live stream those games.

00:30:50 I'm not kidding.

00:30:50 The reason-- I guess I keep coming back to it.

00:30:57 It's not meant to sound like a-- it's not an "I told you so."

00:31:01 It's not.

00:31:04 If everyone watching this year's team can recognize--

00:31:08 you talk about the ups and downs, Bobby,

00:31:10 and the way we react to things and this and that.

00:31:12 If everyone can watch this year's team and be like,

00:31:14 ah, this is great.

00:31:19 I love what we're seeing here.

00:31:21 They're connected.

00:31:22 The guard play, the defense, the effort,

00:31:26 the different people scoring on different nights,

00:31:29 all of these things.

00:31:31 If you're seeing that and saying how great it is,

00:31:35 you have to remember a little bit that that wasn't happening

00:31:44 regularly.

00:31:45 That's kind of the thing.

00:31:48 There were things wrong and things

00:31:50 that probably were so wrong that they were never

00:31:53 going to be right.

00:31:53 And that's kind of why we react--

00:31:55 the way we react sometimes to things

00:31:57 is I don't believe it was ever going

00:32:01 to get better with the people that they had in place here.

00:32:04 And I think that they needed to make changes.

00:32:06 And that's kind of why we--

00:32:07 why we're kind of all over the map sometimes

00:32:12 in our analysis of these teams.

00:32:13 And now you see it.

00:32:15 And it's like-- and again, I'm not saying it's a referendum

00:32:17 on--

00:32:20 The guys who are gone, yeah.

00:32:21 Yeah, not just them.

00:32:22 I honestly didn't-- I'm still dubious that--

00:32:26 Tatum still worries me a little.

00:32:29 If he ever feels like he's got to be that alpha guy,

00:32:31 I think they can win.

00:32:32 I think it's better as an ensemble cast

00:32:38 than it is Tatum and his running mates or whatever.

00:32:41 I don't like that team because I don't think he's that guy.

00:32:45 I think he does a million things well,

00:32:47 but I think it works better in an ensemble cast,

00:32:52 in a complementary way.

00:32:54 And that's what I like about this.

00:32:56 I never wanted a team where Tatum would just carry it

00:32:59 and you had other supporting players.

00:33:01 I don't think that's who they need to be,

00:33:02 and I don't think he's necessarily that guy.

00:33:04 So I do get a little bit worried still

00:33:06 if it's going to revert to that.

00:33:08 But anyway, go ahead, Bobby.

00:33:11 Yeah, there's obviously three things at play.

00:33:12 Have Tatum and Brown advanced enough to the point

00:33:15 where they can carry them to a championship?

00:33:18 I still think you wonder about that.

00:33:20 Did Porzingis solve some of their most fatal flaws?

00:33:24 I think he's done that to some degree.

00:33:25 But they both--

00:33:26 Well, Deflake, thank you for the contribution.

00:33:30 We're kind of addressing this now,

00:33:31 but we'll talk about it as well.

00:33:33 Go ahead, Bobby.

00:33:33 And then number three, as you mentioned,

00:33:35 the missing pieces or the pieces who have left.

00:33:38 I don't think there's any doubt, as much as we love Smart

00:33:40 and as much as he was important here,

00:33:43 I do think they have benefited from not having him out there

00:33:47 in crunch time.

00:33:48 And they could have done that when he was here.

00:33:50 They could have pulled him out of those situations

00:33:52 because of how it impacted the offense.

00:33:54 But they weren't able to for one reason or another,

00:33:56 for coaching or ego or just the hierarchy

00:33:59 or whatever it might have been.

00:34:01 So just removing him from the picture

00:34:04 might have had some benefits alongside those two

00:34:06 other things there.

00:34:07 And then we've been debating all year, John, about Grant

00:34:12 and that one, which he was out there last year.

00:34:15 He had some massive ups and downs.

00:34:17 But he was a significant part of the rotation

00:34:20 until Joe pulled him out of it.

00:34:22 And then they were trying to figure out

00:34:23 how to work out the bench from that point on.

00:34:25 The bench this year, it's really been the most pleasant surprise

00:34:31 by far.

00:34:32 I mean, they had a couple of rocky games early on, John.

00:34:37 And then they figured it out a week or two into the season.

00:34:41 And it feels like they've played good as a unit

00:34:43 every single game since.

00:34:45 It's unbelievable.

00:34:46 Like, how many shows have we done

00:34:48 where we were like, man, the bench killed them tonight?

00:34:50 We don't do it.

00:34:51 It's not just the bench.

00:34:53 You're right, though.

00:34:54 The thing is, though, I don't know

00:34:55 whether the bench holds up in the playoffs.

00:34:57 And when it doesn't or if it doesn't,

00:34:59 everyone's going to be like, uh-oh.

00:35:01 So I'm a tad worried the bench is a little bit of fool's gold

00:35:03 because I don't think you're going to go there.

00:35:05 I think there are limits--

00:35:06 excuse me.

00:35:08 I think you go, obviously, tight playoff rotation for sure.

00:35:12 And the minutes are going to be very, very, very limited.

00:35:14 But one guy has to step up.

00:35:15 Yeah.

00:35:16 Is it Pritchard?

00:35:17 Hauser's been good pretty much every game all year.

00:35:19 Is he a playoff guy?

00:35:20 Because remember, he didn't play in the playoffs

00:35:22 at all last year.

00:35:23 I don't know.

00:35:24 I think a little.

00:35:25 But I think Hauser is going to be a guy where he's in there

00:35:27 and he goes 0 for his first three

00:35:29 and he doesn't get second half minutes.

00:35:31 That's not going to surprise me.

00:35:33 So I don't know what's going to happen.

00:35:35 I mean, he might.

00:35:36 But I think he'll be limited to like eight and nine minutes

00:35:38 in the playoffs.

00:35:39 So I don't know what's going to happen here

00:35:41 because I know they really only trust six guys

00:35:43 and then they have to play others.

00:35:45 But it might be quick.

00:35:46 And I don't know what you're going to get there.

00:35:48 What I will say is, like, the most pleasant surprise

00:35:53 is actually-- not pleasant surprise

00:35:55 is that this team could be carried by any of five players

00:36:00 on any given day.

00:36:01 And like, I don't think it's the most ridiculous thing

00:36:04 in the world to say-- and I said it on our text thread

00:36:06 the other day, Bobby--

00:36:07 that like, you can make arguments

00:36:10 that Derek White's the most impactful player on this team.

00:36:12 You can make an argument that Christoph Porzingis is

00:36:14 the most impactful player on this team.

00:36:16 I know it sounds like blasphemy because you've got Tatum

00:36:19 and you've got Brown.

00:36:20 I think it's Derek, right?

00:36:22 But it might be Derek White.

00:36:23 But the counter to that is, could Derek White

00:36:27 be that impactful if he didn't have the gravity of Tatum

00:36:30 and Brown sucking all that attention away from him

00:36:33 because he can operate more freely?

00:36:35 Probably not.

00:36:36 So you're not going to minimize what Tatum and Brown do.

00:36:39 But those guys are so good, they can carry a team.

00:36:44 And to have that many of those guys on your team

00:36:47 is insane right now.

00:36:49 Yeah, and he's had over five assists a game this year,

00:36:52 which we talked to his trainer over the summer.

00:36:54 And they said that was a goal, have

00:36:56 the most assists of his career given

00:36:58 what he's playing around here.

00:36:59 And they've allowed him-- we saw it early in the preseason,

00:37:02 John, and even open the season a little bit--

00:37:04 they allow him to be the point guard.

00:37:06 And over the last three games coming into this,

00:37:09 they closed out those games against the Lakers, Detroit,

00:37:12 and Toronto by letting him run the offense late.

00:37:15 In fact, Joe said as much after the Detroit game

00:37:18 where Tatum wasn't very good.

00:37:19 The key to Tatum's game that night--

00:37:21 and we had a big debate, John, on the show.

00:37:23 You weren't there.

00:37:24 Did Tatum have a good game or not?

00:37:26 I gave him a lot of credit for getting out of the way

00:37:28 and letting White run the show.

00:37:30 Yeah.

00:37:31 I mean, not every--

00:37:32 I know you got crap for basically

00:37:34 kind of backhanded complimenting Tatum of like,

00:37:38 you're not the guy right now.

00:37:39 Let this guy do it instead, right?

00:37:42 No, but he was out spacing the floor in the corner.

00:37:44 And Derrick said after, they're not just going to leave him.

00:37:48 So he was able to run pick and roll with Porzingis.

00:37:50 And they won the game late after being down by 21.

00:37:53 Same thing against Toronto.

00:37:55 And there were two big finishes by him late in that game, John,

00:37:58 in a clutch scenario.

00:37:59 That was their 11th clutch win this year.

00:38:01 And I agree, Cass.

00:38:02 I wanted to put this up.

00:38:03 That's kind of what I said is that they don't get--

00:38:06 everyone else isn't defended or treated

00:38:09 or doesn't get the attention of Tatum and Brown.

00:38:11 It's unfair to just look at it in a vacuum.

00:38:14 I agree.

00:38:15 I did kind of say this, but I agree 100%.

00:38:18 You can look at Derrick White and say,

00:38:20 he's playing better than these guys.

00:38:22 But would he be able to do it if he didn't have--

00:38:26 if he was getting doubled and all of these things?

00:38:28 Probably not.

00:38:29 But I still think he does all the right--

00:38:31 he'd make all the right decisions all the time,

00:38:33 the way that he does.

00:38:35 And so the most cliche argument right now is, oh,

00:38:38 he's an all-star.

00:38:39 Send him to the game.

00:38:41 And that might happen.

00:38:42 It might not.

00:38:43 I've said when we actually have the discussion,

00:38:46 I don't know if he's the kind of guy you go to the All-Star game

00:38:48 to see, which isn't a knock on him.

00:38:51 I mean, I'm the biggest Al Horford fan in the world.

00:38:53 And you don't go to the All-Star game to see Al Horford either.

00:38:56 But it is a nice recognition.

00:38:59 And when you look at a guy's career

00:39:00 and you see, oh, All-Star 2023, you're

00:39:03 reminded of some of the stuff he did

00:39:05 in the first half of this year.

00:39:06 And the stuff he's doing now--

00:39:08 I mean, I just threw my hands up, John,

00:39:10 when he hit those two shots in the lane against Toronto late

00:39:12 and sealed that game.

00:39:13 I'm like, he's an All-Star.

00:39:16 I mean, you just put the--

00:39:18 whether it's the numbers, whether it's the impact,

00:39:21 whether it's the defense, he's right up there

00:39:23 with any other guard in the East right now.

00:39:24 And he just seems to get better every night.

00:39:26 He seems to do more with each passing night.

00:39:29 7 of 11 in this one, 5 assists, 17 points, 0 turnovers.

00:39:36 I mean, he's just perfect.

00:39:37 And we were on the air when they first traded for him.

00:39:41 And I think our first reaction was,

00:39:42 this might be their point guard.

00:39:45 And that didn't happen for a while.

00:39:46 Well, what we said is, he might make Marcus Smart superfluous.

00:39:51 And that too, yeah.

00:39:53 It ended up happening later.

00:39:56 But it's amazing.

00:39:57 I mean, this is what he's capable of when he's empowered,

00:40:00 when he's playing confident.

00:40:03 You look back on last year, John--

00:40:05 I think we talked about this off the air--

00:40:07 he only played in about half of their crunch time games

00:40:10 last regular season.

00:40:11 And then in the playoffs, he only played in 6 of their 11

00:40:14 clutch finishes.

00:40:15 And it blew my mind when I pulled it up on Christmas.

00:40:18 He took one shot in crunch time last postseason.

00:40:23 One.

00:40:24 I mean, they might have cost themselves a championship

00:40:28 by not using him enough.

00:40:30 It's unbelievable to look at.

00:40:31 Unfortunately, that has not happened this year.

00:40:33 You never have any doubt about whether he's going to start

00:40:36 or whether he's going to finish a game.

00:40:38 But when we were kicking things around to begin the year,

00:40:41 John, he would have been the easy guy to put on the bench.

00:40:43 And we all were like, no way.

00:40:45 It can't be him.

00:40:47 Drew Holiday would have been a better fit on the bench,

00:40:49 as much as we got angry about that.

00:40:51 White had to start.

00:40:53 And then they sent Horford there.

00:40:54 And that ended up being the right call.

00:40:56 But oh, man.

00:40:58 It's crazy to think about.

00:41:00 If he was playing like this last year,

00:41:01 it could have been a whole different season.

00:41:03 Yes.

00:41:06 Yep, you're right.

00:41:09 It took a while.

00:41:10 Joe admitted it, too.

00:41:11 He said, that was my biggest coaching flaw last year

00:41:14 was not going to him.

00:41:15 He couldn't figure it out.

00:41:16 And you just said it.

00:41:17 And you were talking about catching crap

00:41:19 in the last postgame for saying Tatum, stepping out of the way

00:41:25 and letting D. White take control.

00:41:27 But that's kind of it.

00:41:29 It took a while to get the ball out of Tatum's hands.

00:41:32 That's basically what happened.

00:41:34 It didn't matter who.

00:41:35 Last year, you had three freaking point guards.

00:41:39 And you're still running Tatum ball offense

00:41:44 in the last six minutes of games.

00:41:45 And this is why leads are getting pissed away.

00:41:49 And they're slowing down and playing prevent

00:41:52 and running out the clock.

00:41:53 And everything got disjointed.

00:41:56 And teams knew exactly what was happening.

00:41:59 And they would wait.

00:41:59 And then they'd start to move towards the basket.

00:42:01 And the double would come.

00:42:03 Or he'd get blitz, pass out of it

00:42:06 to somebody who would have to shoot some moon ball down.

00:42:09 And that was their late game offense,

00:42:12 because they were just reliant on it.

00:42:14 It felt like way too much.

00:42:16 And yeah, take the ball out of his hands.

00:42:18 Give it to the point guards.

00:42:19 Give it to Derek White.

00:42:20 Let him run the show.

00:42:22 He's making the right decision.

00:42:25 The thing we like best about him,

00:42:27 even when shots weren't falling, is he keeps it moving.

00:42:31 It's constantly moving when he's out there.

00:42:33 Even if he's not the guy who's ball-dominating,

00:42:36 dribbling around, looking for people,

00:42:38 he's moving it always, always, always.

00:42:41 And that doesn't happen with everybody.

00:42:44 Yeah, and we've had that conversation

00:42:47 since the Warriors game about how much they

00:42:49 need to move and run and pass and all that different stuff.

00:42:53 And you're seeing it more now.

00:42:54 I thought this was another good game for the ball movement,

00:42:56 just working the plays around the perimeter, inside-out.

00:43:00 You're starting to see more of that now.

00:43:01 And Joe even admitted after the West Coast trip

00:43:04 that they had to reinvent the offense a little bit out West.

00:43:08 And we saw it in the results.

00:43:10 We saw it in the way they played.

00:43:11 But we also saw that it was getting stale

00:43:13 early in the year, right?

00:43:14 There was a lot of iso ball.

00:43:16 They were succeeding at it.

00:43:17 But then it started to regress a little bit

00:43:19 as the schedule went along.

00:43:21 They were seeing massive shooting success early.

00:43:23 That came back to Earth a little bit.

00:43:25 So that wasn't there to prop them up.

00:43:26 And then, of course, you had the post-ups in the transition game

00:43:29 which aren't always there either.

00:43:31 But they needed more assists.

00:43:32 They were bottom 5, 10 in assists.

00:43:34 The ball wasn't really moving.

00:43:36 I think they were like 28th in passes overall, 27th.

00:43:40 So they needed to shake up the offense a little bit.

00:43:43 And that was part of what Joe talked about in training camp,

00:43:45 was that you're going to have to find ways to keep things fresh

00:43:48 a little bit as the regular season goes along.

00:43:50 And now it seems to be this pace attack

00:43:52 that they're going with right now.

00:43:54 And listen, no one's on this team,

00:43:56 John, is going to be like, Jason plays too slow.

00:43:58 We need him to play faster.

00:44:01 Get with the offense, blah, blah, blah, like we do here.

00:44:04 But you have heard everybody say, all two and including Joe,

00:44:08 we got to play faster.

00:44:09 Get into your spacing quicker.

00:44:11 Get into your sets quicker.

00:44:12 Derek White said that they actually

00:44:14 had a conversation as a team about getting into their sets

00:44:17 with 19 on the shot clock, by the time 19

00:44:20 is there on the shot clock.

00:44:21 So they talked about all this stuff out West.

00:44:24 This isn't us yammering along about them

00:44:27 trying to play faster here.

00:44:28 They're trying to figure it out too.

00:44:30 And it's happening pretty naturally.

00:44:31 As much as we give Jalen crap here sometimes

00:44:33 about his deficiencies, the one thing he's always been great at

00:44:37 is speeding them up.

00:44:38 And Al said that at shootaround on Thursday.

00:44:41 He plays with an infectiously fast style.

00:44:45 Like he said, when Jalen was running the floor,

00:44:47 I'm starting to run a little bit more.

00:44:49 Drew's starting to run.

00:44:50 Derek all the way down the line.

00:44:52 And so you notice that they weren't doing that when he was

00:44:55 out against the Pistons.

00:44:57 He comes back.

00:44:57 They do it a little better against the Raptors.

00:44:59 And then tonight, I thought the pace was fantastic.

00:45:03 Fantastic.

00:45:04 No question about it.

00:45:06 Oh, pardon me.

00:45:07 Sorry.

00:45:09 Something just popped on my screen, started playing loudly.

00:45:12 I didn't know if I got picked up there.

00:45:15 So yeah, it's great.

00:45:16 He's great.

00:45:17 Brown has been great.

00:45:19 Tatum, it's funny.

00:45:21 He's still figuring it out.

00:45:23 And when he has efficient, better shooting nights,

00:45:26 tonight he was hitting those shots.

00:45:28 But when those shots don't fall and you have that 11 for 31,

00:45:31 that's still going to be the issue.

00:45:32 I think if you're talking about issues going into the new year,

00:45:35 Bobby, I think you feel pretty good about everybody's role

00:45:38 in here.

00:45:39 What's the irony-- what's funny is we were curious

00:45:44 how Jalen would react.

00:45:45 I think we've all kind of settled in on,

00:45:48 curious how Tatum's going to play

00:45:50 within the construct of what's going on right now.

00:45:53 It's not bad, but I think he can get better.

00:45:56 I think we do spend a lot of time--

00:45:58 I think it's always been a default to talk about

00:46:01 everything Tatum does and keep saying he's getting better,

00:46:04 whether or not he's actually getting better.

00:46:07 There's no doubt that Jason Tatum can do almost anything.

00:46:10 It's just a matter of doing it consistently with this team

00:46:15 and do that whole give the game what it needs sort of thing.

00:46:19 Nothing is a knock on Tatum.

00:46:21 It's really choices.

00:46:23 What choices is he making?

00:46:24 Is he going to kind of get it?

00:46:26 Is he going to go into stop the ball mode on offense

00:46:29 and I got to get mine?

00:46:30 Is he going to keep relying on the pull up

00:46:32 and just shrug his shoulders when it doesn't fall

00:46:35 and be happy, puff his chest out when it does?

00:46:39 Because to me, that's lack of understanding of what's working

00:46:42 and what you're best at and what you should be doing.

00:46:45 So I think his evolution is really more like up here.

00:46:49 Is he going to kind of fully figure out

00:46:51 what's the best thing for me with this team

00:46:54 right now to use my vast skill set to take us to even a higher

00:46:59 level than they are?

00:46:59 Because what's funny is I actually

00:47:01 do think there's yet another level.

00:47:03 They can whole hum their way through some frigging blowouts

00:47:06 here, and they're just ripping up a buck 20 every time

00:47:09 they go out.

00:47:10 I think there's another level they can reach, too,

00:47:12 which I think is insane.

00:47:14 And a lot of it comes down to Tatum.

00:47:16 Yeah, and what's his best role going to be in this offense?

00:47:19 We see him in spots that look really good as a screener,

00:47:22 posting up, certainly, playing ahead of the offense.

00:47:25 And I think that's where he's been at his best sometimes

00:47:27 over the last two years here in this offense,

00:47:30 as Joe's trying to speed things up and shake open

00:47:33 this offense a little bit.

00:47:34 So you're always torn here, right?

00:47:39 Because he has game-breaking skills that really tear open

00:47:43 a game when he's able to get to them.

00:47:46 If we sat here, John, and said, don't take any more pull-up

00:47:49 threes, don't ISO anymore, don't do all that stuff,

00:47:53 we wouldn't have had that game seven against Philly

00:47:56 and just some of these other great moments that we've seen

00:47:58 from him, game six against the Bucs,

00:48:00 the comeback there in that series.

00:48:02 These are the kind of game-breaking skills

00:48:04 that make him who he is.

00:48:07 At the same time, you see them leave him

00:48:09 with empty performances sometimes

00:48:11 when he tries to go to those and they're not there.

00:48:13 So it really is about decision-making and feel

00:48:16 and knowing when to get aggressive in those areas

00:48:21 and when to back off and let some other guys do stuff.

00:48:24 Because he has a lot of teammates right now that

00:48:26 can do different things that he might be weak at

00:48:29 in certain spots here.

00:48:30 So I think he's relatively good when

00:48:32 we compare him to the other stars around the league

00:48:35 about realizing that and making that call.

00:48:37 But it does get frustrating sometimes, especially

00:48:40 the Warriors game and even a couple others

00:48:42 in recent weeks here.

00:48:44 Him deciding to go versus let some other guys do things.

00:48:49 Even-- I thought he looked so bad in that Detroit game.

00:48:53 And he comes to the podium after, and he's like, yeah,

00:48:55 my ankle's really swollen and painful.

00:48:57 And it's like, why'd you play?

00:48:59 And then he sits the next game.

00:49:01 So just the decision-making there with him,

00:49:07 it has to get a little bit better.

00:49:09 And he started this year so well.

00:49:12 I feel like the last couple weeks here,

00:49:14 yeah, shots fell in this game, the Clippers game, shots fell.

00:49:17 And they just blew those teams away.

00:49:19 But then in the other games where

00:49:20 he took the same approach and the shots didn't fall,

00:49:22 it didn't look as good.

00:49:24 So something's missing right now there.

00:49:26 A little bit.

00:49:27 And I want to agree with this point.

00:49:28 I've always thought this.

00:49:29 I've never thought-- I think some people say things like,

00:49:32 Tatum just wants his stats.

00:49:33 And Tatum-- I've never thought that.

00:49:35 I've always thought that Tatum wants to win.

00:49:41 He takes it seriously.

00:49:43 But the thing he's always known to do best

00:49:45 is to kind of go into Kobe mode and score a bunch.

00:49:49 And that's how he affects games.

00:49:50 Doesn't mean he can't affect it in a million different ways.

00:49:53 But I always feel like that's kind of the thing, is like,

00:49:56 this is what I think I--

00:49:58 I want to cook.

00:49:59 And to do that, I got to do some of that difficult shit.

00:50:02 But sometimes it doesn't go.

00:50:04 And when it doesn't go, and we have so many other people

00:50:06 out here who could do other things,

00:50:08 it's detrimental to the team.

00:50:09 And like, should I not do that?

00:50:11 Tatum looking for it and trying to get hot on last year's team

00:50:16 or two years ago's team is essential.

00:50:19 It's just not now.

00:50:20 So it's really more of a change of looking around you.

00:50:25 And again, I got to--

00:50:26 guys, you got to chill.

00:50:28 It's not hate.

00:50:29 You're talking about a team trying to get to an elite

00:50:34 championship level and talking about your elite player

00:50:38 raising his game up to elevate everyone else around him.

00:50:42 It is not hate.

00:50:43 It is-- you are playing for a very--

00:50:46 guys, you just got to stop being so sensitive about this stuff.

00:50:51 You're playing for a title and only a title.

00:50:54 And if it doesn't happen, it's because they

00:50:58 failed to reach their level for some reason.

00:51:01 And listen, John, we don't want to be sitting here in May

00:51:04 if they lose and hear all the chat saying, Joe,

00:51:08 and oh, Drew shot bad, and you know, Hauser was bad tonight.

00:51:12 It's on him.

00:51:13 It's on him and Brown.

00:51:15 They have to play at a level and a consistency that's

00:51:18 going to carry you to the championship.

00:51:21 And that requires being good on almost every night.

00:51:25 And you can't have--

00:51:26 the biggest problem with them is we've gotten in the playoffs

00:51:29 and we've seen them--

00:51:31 oh, Tatum's off tonight, or Brown got lost tonight

00:51:35 and they lost.

00:51:35 And all of a sudden, this five-game series is going six,

00:51:38 or you went down early in this Heat series

00:51:40 where you probably should have won.

00:51:42 And it's that lack of consistency.

00:51:44 And we've kind of made fun of them

00:51:46 when they've been like, oh, we just didn't have it tonight.

00:51:49 It was about Brown and Tatum not having it in those nights.

00:51:54 Again, so that's--

00:51:54 But now you really have a roster here where there's no excuse.

00:51:58 There's no excuse.

00:51:59 That's the thing is like--

00:52:00 and somebody put it up here earlier

00:52:01 and I threw up the comment.

00:52:02 Everyone else is going to do their part.

00:52:04 You feel very confident in it.

00:52:05 There's no-- like, yes, Holiday, White, Porzingis

00:52:09 are going to have good games, bad games.

00:52:11 Every night they go out there, they're

00:52:13 going to play their role.

00:52:14 They're going to do what they're supposed to do every night

00:52:17 to varying degrees of success, but right now

00:52:20 to very high levels of success because they're all

00:52:22 playing extremely well.

00:52:24 And Brown, again, post ESPN graphic,

00:52:28 is playing the best basketball of his career in this stretch.

00:52:30 Brown could have been in this conversation

00:52:32 too if we're talking about the first 15 games of the year

00:52:35 where he was really searching for it

00:52:37 and he was trying to shoot his way into the conversation

00:52:41 and he wasn't necessarily flowing and vibing.

00:52:43 He's completely part of the band right now.

00:52:46 Like, Brown is absolutely playing connected.

00:52:49 And so now it's kind of like that last one along.

00:52:53 And again, Tatum's still having good games,

00:52:55 but oftentimes those good games are when the shots just

00:52:59 happen to fall versus a change in the style

00:53:03 or picking up the pace and meeting

00:53:04 the pace of everybody else, not holding on to the ball.

00:53:08 And just kind of doing that, you see the direction

00:53:10 that it's going, you just want Tatum to be part of it

00:53:13 as well as opposed to, I'm going to get mine in my own way.

00:53:18 Sometimes it works, but sometimes it

00:53:20 kind of doesn't seem to flow with what everyone else is

00:53:23 doing at times, that's all.

00:53:24 Even Joe, and I think Joe can be his biggest defender at times,

00:53:29 he's even given up a little bit.

00:53:31 And I don't have the video on hand here,

00:53:33 but I did have a talk with him pregame.

00:53:37 Pick your spots with the pull-ups.

00:53:39 That's effectively what Joe said.

00:53:42 You have to take them, and I think we even understand it,

00:53:44 John, as much as we don't love those shots,

00:53:46 you have to take them for the gravity.

00:53:48 To keep them honest, you have to.

00:53:50 You can't just put your head down and go.

00:53:53 But you don't need to take 11 in a game,

00:53:55 as he sometimes will here, like he did in that Golden State

00:53:58 game.

00:53:59 Maybe you don't take it on the last play of the game.

00:54:01 He tried to win the game against Detroit with that shot,

00:54:04 and it went to overtime.

00:54:05 So it's tough right now, and I really

00:54:09 don't know what's going on with the shot.

00:54:11 It's great tonight, it's great against the Clippers,

00:54:13 but this is another season where his pull-up three

00:54:15 is at the bottom of the guy shooting it at that volume,

00:54:18 as you've brought up.

00:54:20 I don't know what's going on there.

00:54:21 It seems to become more and more of a trend every season.

00:54:24 But then you look at him barreling through guys

00:54:26 in the lane and drawing free throws,

00:54:27 and you're like, maybe that's just his game.

00:54:29 He's a power player.

00:54:31 Joe Swain and I have had these conversations at the games.

00:54:34 As much as he tries to embody and almost model

00:54:37 his game after Kobe, he's not.

00:54:39 He's almost like-- I hate to throw the name out there,

00:54:43 because it kind of has a bad connotation in terms

00:54:45 of what he accomplished in his career.

00:54:47 But Mello turned into that power forward type

00:54:51 as his career went along.

00:54:52 He had a great post game.

00:54:54 He could really body guys.

00:54:55 He had a nice shot, but it came and went.

00:54:59 He really does have a Mello type game.

00:55:02 It's a very power forward offensive game.

00:55:06 He needs to body guys, get to the rim.

00:55:09 That's the thing is, with Tatum, the pull up shot is fine.

00:55:13 But it's always like-- and I use as an example a guy

00:55:16 like Butler, who's not a great shooter by any regard,

00:55:20 but he knows how to get to his spot.

00:55:22 Tatum sometimes doesn't get to his spot.

00:55:25 He kind of just takes whatever's there with the step back

00:55:30 or the fade away, because he's just decided that's his shot.

00:55:34 That's not a good shot.

00:55:35 But getting into, like I said, Jalen tonight,

00:55:38 backing his way down into the post

00:55:40 to get to a spot that he felt comfortable operating in

00:55:43 is a different story.

00:55:45 So Tatum, the two things he's got to do the most,

00:55:47 not pound the ball.

00:55:49 Make sure-- I mean, if the ball gets in his hand in transition,

00:55:54 he's walking it up and everyone's running.

00:55:55 He's got to pick up the pace a teeny bit there.

00:55:58 And then just simply get to your spots.

00:56:01 You're absolutely fine to rise up and shoot

00:56:03 over the top of people.

00:56:04 You're 6'8", you've got a super high release,

00:56:06 and you're quick and twitchy, and you can create separation

00:56:09 with your step back or whatever.

00:56:11 You should absolutely be taking those shots.

00:56:13 It's just too many of them are just really, really low

00:56:17 percentage.

00:56:18 And they are like hero shots in the sense of when they fall,

00:56:22 everyone on the broadcast and people on Twitter,

00:56:24 oh, when Tatum's got that going, they're unstoppable.

00:56:29 But the reality is, it's like I said,

00:56:31 it's the golfer who shoots 95 every day,

00:56:34 but then he nuts a 7-iron 6 feet from the pin

00:56:38 and thinks that's who he is.

00:56:40 Percentage-wise, they're bad shots.

00:56:42 They're not going in.

00:56:43 They're going in at a very low rate for him.

00:56:45 So you've got to know that and just get away from it.

00:56:48 It's just knowing.

00:56:49 That's all you've got to do.

00:56:50 I think Kes said it well here in the chat.

00:56:52 They've got to play smarter, not harder.

00:56:54 And I think that's what this regular season's

00:56:56 going to be all about.

00:56:57 You've made your accomplishments to a large degree here.

00:57:02 And Jason said this after Thursday's game.

00:57:05 I've done a lot of stuff in my career so far already.

00:57:08 And the championship's that big thing.

00:57:10 And you want to see him do it, John, more than say it.

00:57:15 But the fact that he and Brown have

00:57:16 said a lot of the right things this year

00:57:19 has set a good tone for the team.

00:57:20 And I think--

00:57:21 They're getting it.

00:57:22 Yeah, intention-wise, I think they're both going into games

00:57:26 and each week with the right mindset in terms

00:57:30 of what they need to do.

00:57:31 And Joe's set some good tones for them

00:57:33 in terms of his messaging throughout this year

00:57:35 about doing less, sacrificing, winning in different ways,

00:57:40 all that kind of stuff.

00:57:41 So I think that's resonating.

00:57:42 But the biggest thing is that the two stars are embracing it.

00:57:45 Because if they weren't, you wouldn't be 26-6.

00:57:47 You'd have a lot more rocky nights.

00:57:49 You'd have a lot more inconsistency.

00:57:50 And we're nitpicking, sure, because I

00:57:52 think part of us, John, is scared

00:57:54 that some of the things we've seen in recent playoffs

00:57:57 pop up again.

00:57:59 But at the same time, I think we can both recognize

00:58:02 that the 2023 portion of the schedule

00:58:04 here couldn't have gone much better for this group.

00:58:07 You're just thrilled with where they're at.

00:58:09 They're healthy.

00:58:09 They're playing together.

00:58:11 They're taking care of business.

00:58:12 They've had some show-stopping nights showing off

00:58:16 what they can do.

00:58:17 And they've improved drastically in crunch time,

00:58:19 I think 11 and 5 in those spots to begin this year.

00:58:23 So we'll nitpick, because the expectation is championship.

00:58:27 And if they don't get there, I don't

00:58:29 think we can just sit here and be like, how'd this happen?

00:58:32 We see different ways that it might not happen here.

00:58:35 Everyone's got to do their part.

00:58:36 Tatum's part is bigger than everybody else's,

00:58:39 because he's Jason Tatum.

00:58:40 Therefore, the expectation and the responsibility

00:58:43 is higher than everyone else's, because he's Jason Tatum,

00:58:46 which means there's going to be more nitpicking, because he's

00:58:50 Jason Tatum.

00:58:50 The time of like, leave him alone, guys.

00:58:53 He's still an all-star.

00:58:54 It's over.

00:58:55 It's a championship season.

00:58:58 You must win it this year.

00:59:01 And enough, that's it.

00:59:03 So again, it's not criticism.

00:59:06 It's can you do it?

00:59:08 There's still people out there who

00:59:09 are dubious, because you've seen them wilt at the wrong times.

00:59:13 And so it's there.

00:59:14 This is the best team in basketball.

00:59:16 It's the best team in basketball.

00:59:19 There's no question about it.

00:59:21 And the role, guys.

00:59:23 And they should win.

00:59:24 I'm not going to say easily, but they could.

00:59:27 Like, they're that good.

00:59:29 So--

00:59:29 No, when you're healthy, when you

00:59:31 have White Holiday in the bench playing like this--

00:59:33 They're that good.

00:59:35 A lot of things are going right right now.

00:59:36 And in the big picture, we've talked

00:59:38 about how expensive and tough this team could

00:59:40 be to keep together.

00:59:41 So you don't have 10 years to do it here.

00:59:43 It's now, or it's going to get more difficult in coming

00:59:46 seasons, either because this team gets worse

00:59:48 or the teams get better.

00:59:50 They're in a really good spot right now.

00:59:51 And they kind of blew it the last two years

00:59:54 in really good positions.

00:59:55 And the fact that they're in an even better position this year

00:59:57 is kind of a miracle.

00:59:59 So this is special, what they have right now.

01:00:03 We kept throwing out the 2008 comparison, John.

01:00:05 And I think more and more, you do

01:00:08 see just how they have this one really nice shot here.

01:00:11 And the '08 team took advantage of it.

01:00:13 And then they had issues in the years after that.

01:00:15 And that was because--

01:00:16 I think this is really similar.

01:00:18 It's really a three-year window.

01:00:20 And again, it'll be expensive.

01:00:21 But it's a solid three years.

01:00:23 And I think that '08 team had it as well.

01:00:26 What people always forget, Garnett

01:00:28 doesn't come down with a freak knee injury in 2009.

01:00:31 That 2019 was better than the 2018.

01:00:35 They were annihilating people.

01:00:38 And then he goes up, and he comes down hobbling,

01:00:40 and everything changed.

01:00:42 The entire trajectory of the franchise changed there.

01:00:44 Because they could and should have, with a healthy KG,

01:00:48 even aging, that core was going to win it again that year.

01:00:52 No question about it, they were winning it that year.

01:00:55 So they got to get it done.

01:00:56 But we are going to wrap.

01:00:58 It's been about an hour.

01:00:59 And we've been going here.

01:01:00 We said we'd go short.

01:01:01 But you guys were hanging out.

01:01:03 I need to do a quick round of thank yous to everybody.

01:01:06 We'll start at the top with the guy Nick Jelso,

01:01:08 the founder, the visionary, the guy who

01:01:10 puts CLNS Media together.

01:01:12 None of us would be here without him.

01:01:13 So thank you, Nick.

01:01:15 Happy New Year there as well.

01:01:17 George Janello, the guy who keeps everything straight

01:01:19 for us and makes sure that we act like adults.

01:01:22 Happy New Year, George.

01:01:24 Guy Near, the guy who keeps the lights on by making sure

01:01:26 that he's selling some of this stuff.

01:01:28 This nonsense that we're putting out there to you guys,

01:01:32 Guy sells it, OK, which is great.

01:01:34 And it allows us to have sponsors.

01:01:36 And it allows us to keep operating and delivering

01:01:39 free content, which we love.

01:01:41 Producers, Joey Caponi, probably not watching,

01:01:44 but that's totally fine.

01:01:45 Super producer, Ahmed Badacharjee.

01:01:48 He's everywhere.

01:01:49 He's here right now.

01:01:51 Ahmed, pop on and say hi.

01:01:53 Pop on.

01:01:54 Do you have a camera?

01:01:55 He might not have a camera.

01:01:58 Nah, he said nah.

01:02:00 Ahmed does it all.

01:02:01 One day, one day.

01:02:02 If I give out a season-long brownie,

01:02:06 it goes to Ahmed every year.

01:02:09 So nobody works harder here at CLNS Media.

01:02:13 Nobody's more devoted and dedicated to what we do here

01:02:15 and make sure that everything is out there in quality, which

01:02:18 is great.

01:02:20 And so again, if you see it, Ahmed had his hands on it.

01:02:24 I guarantee it.

01:02:25 And he's literally like three different people.

01:02:29 Backbone of-- he did ban you?

01:02:32 Oh, God.

01:02:33 He's the backbone of CLNS.

01:02:35 So thank you very much there.

01:02:36 Jimmy Toscano, not here.

01:02:38 My guy from back in the NBC days.

01:02:40 Obviously, Josue Pavone, who has been a stalwart here at CLNS

01:02:44 now for maybe going on a decade.

01:02:46 Bobby Manning, who has been reporting

01:02:48 since he was like a teenager on the Celtics for CLNS

01:02:52 and other outlets.

01:02:53 All growns up, Bobby, right?

01:02:55 Yes.

01:02:56 Good to be here.

01:02:57 All growns up.

01:03:01 Who am I missing?

01:03:02 Am I missing anybody?

01:03:03 Sherrod.

01:03:04 Oh, Sherrod is Sherrod.

01:03:06 Sherrod's a legend.

01:03:06 Sherrod, again, back in my NBC days,

01:03:09 getting to work with Sherrod.

01:03:11 And it was always a pleasure.

01:03:13 And the fact that I get to do that again is tremendous.

01:03:16 I don't want to leave anybody out, and I hope that I didn't.

01:03:19 But last thank you to all of you guys out there who watch us

01:03:24 and who support us and who spread the word.

01:03:28 Great year.

01:03:29 This could be the year, guys.

01:03:30 So it's a good time to be on board with this and with us

01:03:36 and kind of follow the ride here.

01:03:39 And it's great.

01:03:42 And thanks to you, John.

01:03:43 Someone's going to say it here.

01:03:45 Well, not really.

01:03:47 But that's fine.

01:03:51 Catherine had a super chat, and I missed it.

01:03:53 I missed it.

01:03:54 If I missed it, I apologize, Catherine.

01:03:56 But again, yeah, thanks, guys, for hanging out.

01:03:58 I can't believe it's 2024.

01:04:00 We started this thing in 2020.

01:04:02 Four years went by pretty fast here.

01:04:05 Yeah, it did.

01:04:05 It's crazy.

01:04:07 It's crazy.

01:04:07 I'm exhausted.

01:04:08 I need a championship so I can retire.

01:04:11 Yeah, you guys can pick the next host.

01:04:14 Once we win this thing, we'll get it like a Drew

01:04:17 replacement to come in.

01:04:18 I'm Gorman.

01:04:19 I'm on my way out.

01:04:22 We can have Drew on one night.

01:04:23 Maybe he'll do one of the home games or something.

01:04:25 He's a good guy.

01:04:26 Shout out to the chat, for real.

01:04:28 Yeah.

01:04:29 Yeah, we'll have Drew on.

01:04:31 He was pretty good tonight.

01:04:32 What do you say?

01:04:33 The king of the jam with the jelly?

01:04:37 I was dying at that one.

01:04:38 I think a Jalen finished inside or something.

01:04:41 He was like, the king of the jam with the jelly.

01:04:43 Yeah.

01:04:46 He's a prodigy, man.

01:04:48 No, he's a talented kid.

01:04:51 He really is.

01:04:52 He's going to be good.

01:04:54 Blorp, thank you.

01:04:56 Yeah, thanks, buddy.

01:04:59 Happy New Year's to everybody, for real.

01:05:00 We do appreciate you.

01:05:02 Go out there, for those of you on the East Coast,

01:05:04 and try to live it up for the next couple of hours

01:05:07 and hang out and do your thing.

01:05:10 Have a drink.

01:05:11 Kiss your loved ones.

01:05:12 See if you can make it to midnight.

01:05:13 We're back.

01:05:14 When is it?

01:05:15 Tuesday, Oklahoma.

01:05:17 This is where the Celtics gave up 150 in probably

01:05:19 their worst loss last year.

01:05:21 And this Thunder team's been really good.

01:05:23 So I'm looking forward to that one.

01:05:24 Tuesday night, I think 8 o'clock.

01:05:27 Tuesday 8.

01:05:28 It's out there.

01:05:28 And then they're back home, right?

01:05:30 Yep, back for the Jazz on Friday.

01:05:33 Great.

01:05:33 Thunder's fun.

01:05:34 That's a fun team.

01:05:35 We're back here on Tuesday.

01:05:36 Happy New Year to everybody.

01:05:38 We will see you guys in 2024.

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