Boston Celtics mailbag: Jayson Tatum final shots, Jrue Holiday’s future, and more

Boston Celtics mailbag: Jayson Tatum final shots, Jrue Holiday’s future, and more

We’re opening up the mailbag to talk about meaningless games that might not be meaningless their record versus the best in the west a repeat of 2008 Drew holidays future and more right now on the lockdown Celtics podcast thanks the Blockbuster it’s holiday season drop Drew in the mix and

Three from KP no we not on the knck flushing competition like Allon Yannis juice and big zo still be Town’s finest Ben a r team going up in the rafs watching gameing locked on after car on the breakdown CL like a tip from D white on the breakdown John on the mic docent

Domination m p back B all SE Nation ring J how we started raising B how we finish locked on Celtics P home of the Winners hey there welcome back to the lock on Celtics podcast right here in the lockdown podcast Network wordss your team every day and I’ve got you covered every single day Monday through Friday plus bonus podast on the weekends when they play Hey I was in New Orleans when

They didn’t play on Friday I’m on a 20 game stretch in a row 20day stretch in a row 20 straight podcasts for you by the time this week is over so make sure you are subscribed wherever you get your podcast watch the show on YouTube hop into the comments section let me know

What you’re thinking I’m John corales if you don’t know me by now I used to play a long time ago now I’m beat writer keep an eye on the broadcast as it was going was a good time that was a really good time uh by the way today is the

Most dangerous day in all of sports it’s April 1 be careful out there on April 1 I do not participate in April Fool’s jokes none of this is an April Fool’s joke nothing thing I’m saying even though if you disagree with me like April fools right nope no no April fools

For me watch out on Twitter don’t fall for fake stuff let’s get into the questions Mike says you say these end of season games don’t mean anything and I agree these games are for figuring things out but why then did the Celtics go to the same all play give tum the

Ball at the end of regulation against the Hawks blah blah blah blah blah it’s the number one complaint that people have end of the fourth quarter close game you give the ball to Tatum he takes a fade away three I’m with you I don’t like that shot it’s not the best shot in

The world most of the time sometimes look Tai game in the right situ now they had a file to give in that spot they took it uh that you know get getting tat him the ball with 5 Seconds To Go was difficult I think in that situation what we’ve

Seen since then is I think you can go to a different option option number one Jason Tatum absolutely I get it but run some other things that hey if it’s Jaylen coming off if it’s porzingis getting a post up you can run multiple actions to get the type of you know the

Look that you’re looking for if they want to send two to Tatum and take him off the ball then oh no I’ve got to give it to the O the other all-nba guy Jaylen brown or I gotta get it to Chris tops porzingis former Allstar who’s the most

Efficient player in the post or it’s Drew holiday or Derek white whichever one of them is not inbounding shooting a shot and I trust both of them to shoot the shot that’s a little bit where I want them to go but look at what they

Did in the overtime where they got it to porzingis in the post look what they did against the Pelicans where it was just spamming the Derek white KP actions they are showing some diversity there and the willingness and the trust to go down it’s it’s not the only time

They’ve done that they have gone to other things I remember writing a piece earlier in the season I forget which game it was where the Celtics closed out a game and it’s like oh look it was KP Dereck White Jaylen Brown and this is what they’re capable of they it depends

On how they’re being defended but they are open to getting some other things so but one thing we can’t do and I’ll fold this into Jack’s question do you trust Tatum with the final shot every time Tatum gets the ball I think there’s a a small but vocal

Reaction to be like oh here we go again and yeah he’s he doesn’t hit a ton of shots in those spots I think for perspective most guys don’t hit a ton of shots you remember the shots that people make but you don’t remember the shots that other stars and other teams Miss so

You think Damen Lillard has hit all of his clutch shots this year no he’s probably missed like eight or ten of them right it’s Tatum I agree the same contested fade away to his left you got to get away from that shot but I do trust Tatum to take the

Final shot in a more advantageous circumstance I like him on the Block I do like that fadea away on the left block I do think that’s something that he can get to and I think that’s something that he can perfect and that can be a higher percentage last second

Shot so yes I do trust Tatum in the situation ball in his hands to take a final shot what I don’t want is contested can’t dribble by this guy uh so I’ve got i’ I’ve dribbled it down to three seconds now I’ve got no no choice but

To just try to bury a shoulder take a step back and and hit a contested fadea away he’ll hit some of those from time to time uh but I’d like to see something in in a better spot that’s the only thing so I do trust him and I do think

That we have to get used to Tatum hitting those shots getting those shots cuz he is their best player it’s a little bit of a give and take I think some people need to calm down I think the Celtics need to expand their repertoire Ben asks how concerning is

The Celtics record against top four teams in the west I’m not that concerned so they split with Minnesota uh they have one loss against OKC they’ve got another game coming up with them this week they split versus the Clippers right and they lost the Denver games by

A combined points the first game in Boston was Denver hit a bunch of tough shots the Celtics got a bunch of good looks that didn’t fall it’s one of those games where maybe you look at expected numbers versus actual numbers you say the Celtics probably expected a bunch of

Those shots to go down didn’t happen it’s going to happen from time to time but you play them in a series over the course of seven games that one game where those shots don’t fall I think three or four of those other games they do fall and you hope

That that fourth game is something that you can you’re not in that situation but okay so you lost two to Denver that’s tough that’s tough but you look at the other way around Denver has split with with uh the East top four Denver split with Milwaukee Cleveland

And New York okay they’ve got two wins against Boston that’s very nice so instead of splitting with Boston they’ve got one more win Celtics have one more loss but Denver has split with Milwaukee Cleveland and New York Minnesota has split with everyone OKC has a good record that’s the good for them that

They have a good record but look at it in terms of the entire not just Boston look at everybody against other good teams good teams win games against good teams good teams lose games against good teams right the overall 500 and above record Boston is 32 and 13 Milwaukee is 25- 20

Cleveland’s 20 and 24 the Nicks are 18 and 27 versus teams that are 500 and above in the west OKC is 30 and 17 so Boston has two more wins Denver’s 28 and 22 against 500 and above Minnesota 30 and 17 the Clippers 24 and 23 so the

Moral of the story is good teams beat each other and that’s no good team is gonna have a stellar record or I shouldn’t say no good team because OKC does have a pretty good record uh we’ll see what they do against Boston if Boston wins that game then Boston will have split against

Every all the other three teams in in the west so we’ll see what happens there and and it knocks OKC’s record down a little bit so good teams they split they they beat each other all right up next we’ll get into a question about the Celtics versus the Hawks in the playoff

And a potential repeat we’ll get into Drew holiday and all of that stuff Brad Stevens looking into the future uh we’ll get all of that coming up next Today’s Show is brought to you by prize picks there are three million members on that prize picks apps playing daily fantasy sports which makes it

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Fire TV channels app it’s all part of the lockdown podcast Network it’s your team every day back to the mailbag and we’re going to get to Caesar who says didn’t the Celtics face the Hawks in the first round in their 2008 Championship run and they were

Taken to seven games in that series I have a bad feeling about this happen happing again all right so Caesar I’m going to apologize to you right now because I’m going to I’m going to use this as a springboard I know Caesar’s probably sitting there in his car you’re

Sitting there listening like oh cool John picked my question so look nothing personal here but I want you to understand the phrasing here because this is not just you this is a lot of people here kind of saying similar things you’re talking about the 2008 Championship

Run and your fear is that the Celtics are going to be taken to seven games in an opening round Series in a in a year that they they they went to the championship what are you afraid of what are you afraid of here if the Hawks and Celtics face off

And let’s say they go to seven games even though I don’t think the Celtics are going to go to seven games in the playoffs let’s say they do you’re referencing a playoff run where look let me tell you something when that run H when that happened I

Remember people going oh my God if this is all going to fall apart these guys that everything was great and now you now you’re struggling to beat the Hawks in the first round how is that possible we’re talking about a championship run that the Celtics made

And how going to seven in the first round doesn’t matter it didn’t matter the Celtics in the playf in 2008 had to go through a different type of Gauntlet they were challenged in a way that they weren’t challenged in the regular season they had to learn things about

Themselves they had to learn things about their game they had to grow again even though it was kg and Pierce and Ray and Rondo and all those guys they once you got to that playoffs it was a different animal and they had to learn something new and they had to

Figure things out again and they ultimately did they went to seven in their first two playoff rounds and people were like what what’s happening and finally they won a game on the road in Detroit and then I was like oh okay okay bottom line is this question is

Phrased in a way that a lot of people are phrasing stuff and the fear is oh that that we you can’t go to seven against the Hawks that that’s going to be a disaster it’s like we’re not thinking about it the right way so look Caesar I’m sorry I I don’t

Mean to like get on your case because this is a a question that’s representative of a lot of ways people think nowadays if they go to seven in their first round series like yeah you want it to be a four game uh sweep you want it to be five-game gentleman sweep okay six

We deal with that seven it’s like oh my God because everybody’s anxious and you gotta hopefully they win it’s gonna be at home and all that so I get your point I get your point I really do but also going to seven isn’t necessarily like the end of the world

So just I want everybody to calm down and accept things as they come right don’t wish for something to be any any way other than it is that’s that’s kind of like the lesson here moving on Caesar I really do appreciate you I’m really it’s don’t take it personally I hope you didn’t

Take that personally Eli asks what do you think happens with Drew holiday the next season he has a player option for 37 million do you think he picks it up do you think he declines it get a longer term deal or does some team come over

The top with a $212 million Max contract so scow kind of referenced this in a broadcast the other day and there are teams out there with this new CBA structure there is a risk that a team and he referenced the Detroit Pistons so we’ll just use that

Example the Pistons can get to holidays agent and be like look man I know April 1 is here he’s eligible for an extension in Boston we’re just going to let you know that if he declines if you don’t if you don’t want to work something out there

We have two years at full Max money for you so just keep that in mind and that’s GNA be that’s going to be a consideration it’s going to be more money than Boston’s gonna offer what I think Boston’s gonna try to do it’s the old Al Horford plan when he left for

Philly the first time around can they get him to turn down 37 million next season and say look Drew we want to keep you and we’ll give you your the number you’re looking for we’re going to give it to you over four years right you’ll get all of it and who knows

Maybe that last year is is going to be more money than you would have made anywhere else but if you if you do us a favor and drop to 20 million let’s say next year I’m I’m just pulling a number out at random let’s say 20 million next year and you

Can get us down below that second apron if for some reason somehow the Celtics can get to a number with him that gets them below a number with you know that they can manage and get under that second apron and they can do some business the way they that you know they wouldn’t

Normally be able to do or even if it’s just hey you’re going to save us a ton of money on taxes it’s going to allow us to do some things we’ll get it back to you on the back end I think Boston would love for him to

Decline that player option and sign a we’ll say four-year deal and or three-year deal and have it be kind of like really backloaded and as much as possible so uh that that would be the plan but I would not rule out a team making a play for him and like a Max

Money play the question is what’s he what does he value at that time has Boston won a championship and does he think he’s gonna win another champ I think holiday is much more Championship driven so if you can make the money kind of work close to what he’s looking for I

Think he’s gonna be he’s gonna be good so I predict that he stays and it goes up but I don’t think he picks up that player option that that’s the goal anyway and Steve asks did Brad and the Celtics know ahead of time that all the major pieces we traded away would either

Get hurt or Flop this season no I don’t think they they knew that I think they knew the risk and might have been why they were willing to trade some of these guys away but look Robert Williams got hit on the side of the knee and maybe

The Celtics knew that his knee stability was such that any kind of uh thing that you know an injury like that where he gets hit where other guys might have more stability in their knee they can kind of that would be a sprain and for him it’s a more catastrophic thing maybe

They knew that was possible but you you it’s not like uh he had something going on structurally in his knee and and it popped and they like oh we saw that ACL coming or anything like that that was a that was a you know contact injury and

Uh same thing with Marcus Smart it’s just been just injuries that I think Marcus is you expect him to miss some time so they probably could say yeah we you expect him to miss something but not to this degree I mean this is this is a you know

Extreme so bottom line is when they make a move the Medicals go to the other team the other team has to make a decision whether they are good with the Medicals or not they have an opportunity they have to pass a physical for the other

Team so the other team has to do an independent kind of study of their own and that all plays into whether the trade goes through so whatever the Celtics knew it was nothing like that would you know foretell this we’ll come back we’ll get into Delano Banton we’ll talk about elevation

In Denver we’ll get to my other potential dream job all right that’s all come up next Today’s Show is brought to you by Amazon Fire TV Fire TV is your destination for sports live games highlights in-depth analysis it’s offering amazing viewing experiences with their Smart TVs so if you’re

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TV thank you for making lockon Celtics your first listen every day go check out locked on NBA rotating host all week long I got the Wednesday show with Jake Madison and uh we will relive some of our New Orleans escapades on that show this week yeah maybe not maybe we don’t

Want to put that out there but we’re going to do a show on Wednesday and it’s going to be a lot of fun so go check it out lockdown MBA covering the league like no one else and having fun while doing it let’s wrap up our mailbag which

By the way John coral.com mailbag if I I didn’t say that before John cares.com mailbag this is how I get my questions it’s the only way I can organize the questions sorry this is how my brain works I can’t I’m just not good at doing it any other way so John cares.com

Mailbag all right Jeremy says it’s crazy how much better Delano Banton has been playing since getting traded did we hold him back should we have kept him uh look opportunities are what they are and Banton has been going off he had like a 30-point game the other night

Opportunities are there for him like they wouldn’t have been in Boston like that’s just I say a million times and maybe if you’re an everyday listener then you know what I’m about to say situation matters and getting in there uh for the Portland Trailblazers and getting 37 minutes against Atlanta and getting a

Chance to play uh you know to to take 23 shots and and hit a bunch of shots that that’s great uh it’s it’s an opportunity that he just wasn’t getting in Boston because who who would he have played over right like he’s he he’s a a quality

Player he’s an NBA level player it’s just on the Blazers he gets 30 35 minutes a game on the Celtics you get no minutes a game because you have drew holiday and Derek white and pton Pritchard who’s playing really well right where in this mix does

He fit he’s not getting this kind of opportunity he’s not getting this you know the minutes that he was getting in Boston so no he the Celtics did the right thing they had to they had to move somebody he wasn’t going to get this opportunity be happy for him for getting

This chance somewhere else uh this happens to every team everywhere they have guys that maybe didn’t get an opportunity in one spot go to another spot you get great chances same thing with Max stru he you know that all that stuff so yeah Jason asks how does elevation truly impact players aside

From the Nuggets being super good will their home games be that much more difficult for the Celtics should we see them in the finals elevation has an impact right away like immediately the air is thinner right so when you’re breathing in you’re not getting as much oxygen right so it takes

A a little while for your body to kind of acclimate to how much oxygen you’re you’re taking in when you’re not taking as much as much oxygen as you’re used to and you’re playing this this sport it’s your breathing becomes heavier you get out of breath faster and it impacts you like at

The beginning in an NBA final series getting there yeah will the elevation do something maybe but by the time you get there and are used to it then you’re fine right these guys play there all the time and it’s the Denver Nuggets are used to it people who live in Denver are

Used to it people who live in Salt Lake City are used to it and so that it has an impact on Celtics are in Minnesota and then they go to you know wherever and then they go to Salt Lake City like Minnesota Portland Salt Lake and it’s

Like oh God the air is so thin the first quarter is like a a drag but you hear NBA players say after that first quarter you start to get used to it and it’s okay the finals you’re going to be in Denver you’re gonna be practicing I

Think might be smart to to get some really hard practices in there uh to get used to it and then once the the game roll rolls around I think they’ll be fine so I’m not worried about that at all let’s get into some more person Al

People I I love when people ask like these personal but not too personal questions so we’ll end the the the mailbag on these three Gary asks what are the last franchises that you would ever work for well I think it’s obvious like just because of my roots could I ever work

For the Lakers probably not but I mean I don’t know it would be it would be very difficult it would be very weird but if it was the absolute dream scenario then and I don’t know what that would be but I I can’t say no uh Philly

I I’ve said too many things about Philly I don’t think they would ever offer me a job there but mostly it’s about bad ownership and that’s that’s where I I would really want to avoid going so it’s the the the Cavs I don’t want to work for the Cavs because they’re owner sucks

I don’t want to work for the Timberwolves because their ownership situation sucks I don’t want to work for a team where the owners are are just subpar not great I want to work in a place where you feel like a family and you know the Lakers as much as there’s a

Rivalry and all of that they do treat their their team and their employ like there there is a family kind of feel there U it’s the one thing that people talk about so I I would I wouldn’t say the Lakers are at the bottom of the list which is kind

Of weird and listen let me just add this if your dream is to work for an NBA team which I don’t just be clear like people are I don’t work for the Celtics I cover the Celtics but if you want to work for an NBA team you’ve only got 30

Choices so Beggars can’t be choosers right uh if Paul Pierce and Drew holiday and some of these other guys who came up in La can become Celtics and you know live their dreams and and do it in Celtic green then if you have a dream and a team that you didn’t expect offers

It to you you better take that you better take that and live your dream and just be part of a different organization if you want to change teams you can change teams later but you’re not in a position with such limited like 30 teams

That’s it to be like oh no I’m going to wait for another opportunity a dream opportunity with another team because I grew up I didn’t like Kareem and I didn’t like magic and no uh so yeah Ernest says besides the Celtics which teams are you low-key rooting for to do

Well in the playoffs this season uh I’m gonna go with OKC if if the Celtics can’t win uh out west I’m I’m pulling for OKC I just uh I know there’s Emerson basketball Connections in OKC so there’s obviously something there but also like I just

They’re a fun team and a fun story and man that would that would be fun so I I’m definitely rooting for them uh I like the Pelicans I’m definitely rooting for the Pelicans to do well because I would love to go back to New Orleans in

June and uh have some fun there during the NBA Finals in the East uh if it’s not Boston let’s just say okay you cannot pick Boston the only other team that I could sit there and be like okay you know what this would be cool it’ be the Orlando Magic Who hat no

One hates the Orlando Magic you have palaban Caro you know you got some it’s be interesting uh it be that would be fun it would be fun to see Orlando do well and hey maybe maybe Boston Orlando would be a second round matchup that would be fun uh it would be

Tough too but yeah those are my those are my teams and then finally Patton asks besides writing about the Celtics and formally playing basketball what would your dream job be this is interesting um because my I worked towards this job like my dream job here is something that

I worked towards I actually went to school for broadcast journalism I so I know about working around a microphone and a mixer and all of that stuff I I was geared up towards that so if I say I would love to be a great chef well I

Haven’t worked towards any of that so that would be just like a a stab and be like hey you know quit and open up a food truck I can cook I’m Greek I’m legally required as a Greek man to be able to cook I have to own a I think

They kick me out of the tribe if I don’t open up a pizza place by the time I’m 60 so I I’m running out of time there uh so there’s that I would love to be an actor I think I would I think I would be um

I’d have to learn but I would love to be an actor I think that would be fun I think and and and part of why just like here there a lot of pretending there’s a lot of pretending that I know what I’m doing so yeah I’ll be an actor uh I

Think I think the cool thing for me would be to be the uh person who just dies regularly at the beginning of a Law and Order episode like just different Law and Orders and I I’m just a guy that gets discovered or does the discovering in the opening kind of scene that I

Think that would be the Pinnacle or bad infomercials I think that’s about where I would land so thank you for the questions everybody John coral.com mailbag is where you submit I would answer them once a week Mondays if I can uh because we like the alliteration of a

Mailbag Monday but I try to get as many email bags in as I can because people keep asking they want to ask and it’s is fun to get like questions things that I I might not normally have discussed to kind of get those things out there so

Thank you so much for submitting thank you for listening thank you for watching thank you for sharing the podcast spread the word tell everybody they should be listening to and watching the locked on Celtics podcast it’s right here on the lockdown podcast Network it’s your team every day

Mailbag Monday brings us questions about (not so) meaningless games, last-minute offense, trusting Jayson Tatum in those situations, and Boston’s record versus the top of the West. John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal answers all of that, plus whether the Hawks and Celtics will repeat 2008, Jrue Holiday’s future, Dalano Banton’s explosion in Portland, and a non-basketball dream job.

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