Celtics win 2024 NBA Finals: Brown awarded MVP & Tatum silence doubters? | NBA | FIRST THINGS FIRST

Celtics win 2024 NBA Finals: Brown awarded MVP & Tatum silence doubters? | NBA | FIRST THINGS FIRST

God D it h again that’s gentleman sweep just like I told you a lot of people are going to be gloating today there’s going to be a lot of I told you so one not for me one person I’m just here to be a gentleman you’re not even on camera anymore buddy the camera is wherever I think it is it’s first things first stick around congratulations okay Brew what are you going to say now well congratulations and and they proved a lot look one thing they proved is they’re not going to end up Nick obviously like the great Sacramento Kings team and I call them great but Chris Weber Vlad devot Mike they kept getting close Pedra sto yakovich that Portland team that lost to the Lakers with rashed W like we’ve seen something we kind of usually right they got the the Steve Nash Sons with Mari St so they they we talk about teams going you know climbing the hill and eventually you’ll get there not everybody gets there and they did get there and they got there with young guys like 26y old Tatum 27y old Jaylen Brown so they proved that I’m also going to give props to Joe Missoula and I’ve talked about how he should get a contract extension he is off my hot scene officially um but I’m GNA say that everybody talks about their great eight right but when we look at it Al Horford was their starting center in the finals he’s 38 years old Prime right and passes Prime uh porzingis who we know is good and talented but he’s always been injury-prone to the point he became a journeyman this is his fourth team and he’s not even 30 years old I don’t believe couldn’t work out in Dallas and then you got Sam Hower and pyton Pritcher who aren’t like great players but they’re in the rotation and got big minutes and so Missoula has gotten more out of these guys than a lot of coaches have no doubt and then the three-point shooting that’s him now I’m sure Brad Stevens and their Brain Trust has had something to do with that especially last year but under em udoka two years ago when they got to the finals they were ninth in the league in three-point attempts not the Missoula first year last year they went up to Second and this year they led the league in the regular season and the playoffs in three-point attempts and by far they led the league in terms of percentage of your shots attempts that were three can I add add to that from Tom hro took more three-pointers than any champion in NBA history 47% yeah and it’s a kcat league so you’re probably going to see more more and more of it going forward from other teams but of course Tatum proved he can be the best player on the championship team Jaylen Brown proved he should have been First Team all not first team should have been all NBA I had him on my third team but he didn’t he was one of the first guys to miss he he should have been on the all NBA team so I’mma you know they congratulations to them I don’t think and we’ll get into it they’re an alltime great team but this was one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history so they proved another number of things first things first I will say they proved me wrong classic 3 uh I it is rare but that’s why it has to be acknowledged I I doubted them all every step of the way not meaning I picked against them in each round but I’ll be honest there were a lot of teams in the East that if they were healthy I would have picked to beat I was say did you pick them to get to the fight I don’t I did once we saw all the inj you know what I mean once all the theend but so but I doubted him you know what I mean and and I’m not saying that I would have been correct that if those teams were healthy I’m saying I doubted them I picked against them in the finals and if Minnesota made it I would have picked against them if Denver had made it I would have picked against them I was wrong because I overemphasized how good their best was and underemphasized the I should say I overemphasized the importance of how good their best was and underemphasized the importance of their one through five so I’m going to give you a fact that is unbelievable and then I’m going to show you a comp the worst five game stretch as far as scoring goes Boston had all years all year were the five games in the finals they all regular season they didn’t score fewer than 540 over a five-game stretch all playoffs before before the finals they didn’t score fewer than 538 in a five-game stretch they scored 508 points and they rolled yeah they had their worst off offensive stretch of the Season at theoretically the worst time and they won pretty easily you know what I mean as far as 4-1 and blew you know dominated big stretches of every game really except for game four and the comp that Brew first mentioned now that we have seen the finals performance let’s look to the last team to win a title where their best player we don’t even know necessarily who it is but their five Man team is excellent and it’s almost point for point just take three away from White and give them to Horford and the Horford things weird because he was a reserve then he became a starter then and you know what I mean and you know what else Nick that says a lot because that was obviously an error when scoring was way down scoring way down and this is way up right and this and so they defense and selflessness won the day I did think in the second half it was a nice place to be in second half of of last night’s game I did think Tatum and brown were kind of taking turns trying to steal Finals MVP from each other but in a in a not in a bad way it was we have such control of the game we can do it and so I just they and when you talk about them being built out as a team they even have a guy whose role is half court buzzer beers I’m not I mean I’m joking but not really joking it’s like and Mike Breen great job by him calling it out saying he loves these he practices these he obviously has a bigger role than that but for pton Pritchard to be like hey your it’s the finals your minutes are going to be cut significantly but we are going to use you in this thing we know you’re uniquely great at and for him to hit two first player in NBA finals history to do anything like that it speaks to you’re right Missoula I owe an apology to I don’t feel like I owe an apology to many people you can be wrong and I owe apologies I do own apology Joe moula I was very hard on him last year and I doubted whether or not he could grow from what I thought were obvious mistakes and the team loves him he pressed the right buttons I thought the Chris stpps playing yesterday could have blown up on him it Willis Rees though right and that so they are an excellent team by the truest definition of team I think Missoula is one of the top coaches in the league right wow from Hot Seat to extension and top three but but up he’s one of the top coach like he he should have security for a long time you want to go Wilds before we move on well I’ve got a few things I’ll float some this is your day man no it’s dressess I would never steal the spotlight from I mean he’s listen he’s trying to have a second wedding while still married so it’s a little not to yeah to Denver how do these Celtics do against Denver you know well so that’s exactly see he’s still he’s at the he’s at the alar talking about for 500 every team except Denver in any event unbelievable uh I’m going to Flo I I talked to Nick about this uh upstairs this was one of my takes regular season matters do you buy that Brew they’re the first team since the 167 Warriors to have the best regular season record and the best and win the championship to the point where the buck social media and I understand it’s kind of like fodder but the social media does not actually run the team but the Bucks put a tweet out like the regular season doesn’t matter now it matters and they were kind of attacked for it do you think that s like you know what we played hard all year we we found our mistakes or we did whatever and we won it versus a lot of teams are like you know what we’ll flip the switch or we’ll do some experimenting or whatever and look we we’ve seen Miami last year they were the eighth seed and um they got to the finals they didn’t win it but they got there but I’m with you I think it’s better when teams take the regular season seriously and you play your best and you don’t worry about resting everybody in injuries and stuff it’s been proven guys can play that long it’s happened throughout the history of the league so yeah I’m with that can I add something else that I think is good for the health of the league if Dallas which clearly was not a regular season I test all these things as good of a team as Boston but had what a lot of people thought was the Transcendent guy if they had won this title it’s a little dispiriting for every team in the league that doesn’t employ wimy yic Giannis guys and so the flip but that’s been the history of the league that is the history of the league that’s why I’m saying this is good because now there is a if you are Houston yeah if you’re the Knicks they’re they the right or Indiana or Orlando or who has like hey we have a guy who could maybe be as good as Tatum at some point we we a proof of concept of even if we don’t have that generational superhero that really you can only get by either locking into in the draft or playing in a warm weather City players choose to go to you know that oh there’s a path like it is if you’re the if you’re the Rockets today I think maybe instead of being like okay what assets do we have to compile to try to trade for the Superstar it’s like let’s build out a team I think that’s EXC if you’re the Pelicans I think that is exciting because of what it means I which was the last decade where we saw this kind of parody Elvin Hayes these are great alltime great but not that upper upper Elvin Hayes and West unell for the bullets the the sonics with Gus Williams and and uh Dennis Johnson they won Championship So to that point maybe we’re in that era which is exciting yeah I like the Knicks example better cuz the Rockets have shenon so it doesn’t quite it was I thought it was a bad example okay uh any event okay uh at time of first age at the time of the first title tatm younger than jannis step LeBron Joker and KD so did Tatum officially silence his doubters well probably not because you two I think might be doubting him still we’ll see we’ll find out but also I would say probably not because Steph had doubters until he won the finals MVP I mean everybody knew he was an alltime great but he he had doubters until that last MVP you know he got their finals MVP which was his fourth championship KD still has some doubters even though he won two championships and was the finals MVP because they were viewed as easy rings so I think he’s GNA have some doubters but I I will and and some of this legit because he hasn’t been played as well as he usually does in the finals I thought last night he played great and I thought last night for him whether he silenced other doubters I think he silenced his own doubt because I thought he came out and played well obviously had 31 points he had had 11 assists he broke the game open in the second quarter when he scored 12 and had five assists and he he assisted right from the get-go and and I thought he played even though he shot poor like my contention is this he shot poorly in the finals he didn’t play poorly his floor game was strong all series long as far as I’m concerned he draws double teams better than anybody else on the team and kicks them out for threes or hits guys at the bucket or or even guys cutting into the lane like he did last night a few times with Drew holiday so I thought last night though was big for him because if we see him again in the finals I feel like he will be much better because last night I thought he was really good and I thought now the finals MVP vote was seven for brown four for Tatum if I had had a vote I would have voted for Tatum I don’t have a problem with with brown winning it because I think it was called this wasn’t egregious like I felt Iguodala getting it over Steph 2015 was egregious Steph averaged 10 more points than any other got zero votes that year yeah yeah that was that was strange but Tatum and I get it I don’t have a problem with brown because he was more consistent he was better earlier in the series but Tatum LED them in every or in the main C points per game rebounds per game assist per game all right and here’s the guys that have led won a title while leading their team in points rebounds assists I mean no those are the Elite of the elite and they all got Finals MVP and Tatum didn’t and my thing is it was close enough when you lead in those three categories he was the only Celtics that have two 30o games like I I I think again it’s fine that brown won it because it was very close and can I and arguable but I I thought I I would have given it so if I can add a case for brown because I thought Brown clearly should have gotten it um Brown also so I I think it is fair in a series that goes 3 0 to put a higher emphasis on your level of play When the series is in the balance in those first three games and I thought Not only was brown clearly better in those first three games Tatum struggled mightily the first two but also in game three Jaylen Brown hit the the biggest shot of the tournament of the tournament of well yeah of the whole tournament the playoffs but certainly of this series when it was a two-point game with a minute left and he put him up for with that tough 18-footer so I thought it was Jaylen Brown But to answer the question yes and no and I I apologize for the cop out yes he answered this can you win a title with Jason Tatum as your best player by definition yes like now no in this regard now this question does exist well is he their best player that does exist it’s out there that that is it so if after the 2015 Championship Okay so someone been like Klay Thompson is better than Steph Curry that’s not a viable opinion right you like you you could say it but it is not worth engaging on it’s not a viable opinion I don’t think Jaylen Brown is better than Jason Tatum but if someone says Jaylen Brown’s better than Jason Tatum and here’s why you have to listen to it it’s a viable opinion so I it’s like now I also think it’s a bit of a straw man I saw the commercial after and Tatum’s commentary acts as if he is getting just pulled ter torn apart by the talk shows all the time it’s not really true I I think he is not getting discussed a lot prior to this run which is you know kind of damning with faint praise right it’s like yeah you’re you’re you’re in that good not great category so we don’t really go kill we don’t tear you down we don’t build you up I do think there’s been a lot of criticism on on him though like he’s taken he gets the most criticism on the Celtics and I guess cuz he’s their best player right but when they won the Eastern conf final I think it was yeah it was the Conference Finals game one when Brown hit the shot where to save him from losing to the Pacers and the talk was they he saved Tatum there was a lot of talk about he saved Tatum Tatum scored 10 in overtime right but I think that was because in that game prior to overtime he was brutal W brutal again I think I think brutal like people people are saying and I think I don’t know if you guys believe some people don’t think he played well in the finals like I said he led them in three cat okay how do you not how do you lead a team in points rebounds assists score 30 twice which no other player did and play poorly take a lot of shots he missed shots but Kobe Kobe in seven finals games or series Kobe has shot 40% or less in four of them this dude just shot 39% I mean I don’t care about the field goal percentage in the finals when it’s about winning and that’s his role he shoots I would say this glass half full cuz it’s the day to celebrate the Celtics he did go one for seven from three but out of the the Marquee player from the last few Champions it felt like Joker is at his Peak like maybe he can get a little bit better but he’s there at the top of the mountain Steph is at his Peak and he’s there jannis was at his Peak like maybe that’s what I’m saying I’m saying Tatum is is a champion could have been finals MVP and it feels like he can unlock a whole another dimension to yeah that’s all if I’m saying I’m doubting him it’s actually a compliment cuz I think he can go to another level and he’s already a champion this is and this is both finals We going show it real quick hubs he’s still a top this list as far as worst field goal percentage in the finals that’s tough who by the way we did the 04 Pistons thing earlier now he’s a different player right we did different type of player than Rip Hamilton but I just I you just said something that your buddy and congrats to him I’m sure he’s happy today Bill Simmons says a lot lot which is I think Tatum has another level to get to in his game I don’t don’t no I think that I do okay so I think that and by the way I mean he’s First Team all NBA the last couple years like I and he I understand he’s 26 but also the flip side to that is is 108 playoff games or 107 playoff games he’s played whatever it is like I think he’s Mo I think he’s Mo close to a finished product so I don’t think he’s going to LEAP another level even if he is I mean look at look at this graphic of what he’s accomplished by before the age of 27 this is incredible the list we the list that he on of guys that have made at least three all NBA teams first team and one championships before turning 27 I mean and and I could go po pre merger or post merger and you take off Mike and pett every one of those guys is top 75 all time and there’s Jason T and he and Yannis are the only two to win that title without another and Kareem he Honis and Kareem are the only ones to do without a Surefire Hall of Famer alongside Kareem had Oscar okay first champ and I guess bird so yeah bird the yeah and well Brown’s going to be a Hall of Famer too okay fair yeah but I but that’s that’s a list yeah and so yeah okay I think he’s proved a lot good for him thanks for watching subscribe here to get more from the show and to check out clips from other shows on FS that’s one

Nick Wright, Kevin Wildes and Chris Broussard discuss the latest news in NBA including the 2024 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks. The Celtics defeated the Mavs in Game 5 to win their 18th NBA Title in franchise history.

#FirstThingsFirst #NBA #Celtics

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Celtics win 2024 NBA Finals: Brown awarded MVP & Tatum silence doubters? | NBA | FIRST THINGS FIRST

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