LIVE: Celtics vs. Nuggets Preseason Postgame Show | Garden Report
can you say hard hats folks hard hats lunch pal steal to a boots anything show of a championship this year is a failure look at this Boomer right here you’ve just got so much talent here somebody said we need to apologize for J can I call the John what are we apologizing for what do we say what do we [Music] do what’s going on everybody everyone hear me okay there is Noah dzel covering the uh WNBA semi-finals if you can tell what that backdrop is she’s hanging out at the Mohan Sun casino with the game tonight uh and Bobby Manning here we are none of us made it to Abu Dhabi unfortunately but the Celtics and the Nuggets did and we have our first preseason game in the books and we’re here to do a garden report and talk to you guys all about it so happy to have basketball finally back uh I mean it’s a preseason game so there’s not a ton that we’re going to get too too serious about but it’s always interesting you know what we learn from watching this and things that we were looking at coming in and among those things I think we’re going to be Jason Tatum and his kind of reworked jump shot rotations who’s going to play when and where you know who’s fighting for those kind of like 9 10 11 spot minutes on the team and you know there’s there’s a bit of a cluster at the bottom end of the roster and how that’s going to look you’ve also got a couple rookies you wanted to check them out new free agent Lonnie Walker I don’t know what’s going on with him we’ll talk about Lonnie a little bit too but um outside of the one thing that’s clearly gonna jump out I think for most people which is the 613s if anybody had a question how Missoula ball was doing in the offseason it’s fine it’s all fine and well it’s back uh in full force but um I’ll start with you Noah anything that kind of jumps off the page is first thing you know that you kind of took away from from from today’s uh today’s preseason opener yeah I mean I think the Tatum looked good and shot looked good that was a big story and I’m sure we’ll talk more about that um but then the other one was just I spent so much time in Vegas watching Summer League games um that guys like Jordan Walsh and Drew Peterson who didn’t look great at summer league and we talked about it so much and we watched so much of it and you know then you have the whole summer think about it they both look a lot better today so I think some of those main Celtic players or or some of the guys that struggled in summer league looked a lot better in a very limited sample size today but it’s just a good reminder that uh sometimes it’s just a different environment and some time and a different head space to make the same player that looks totally out of control and kind of hopeless look a whole lot better would have thought both those guys look a whole lot better today yeah I thought a rusty start for the regulars Tatum ended up turning around from three Brown started strong shooting and defending and all that and then kind of faded with his shot I thought holiday white missed some looks early too and that shooting is pretty much what put them behind in that first half H but they got great boost off the bench and you wondered how many of those guys who were great contributors last year Pritchard Hower cornette who gets a spot start here would carry over this year and I thought they all looked pretty good Hower didn’t shoot great but Pritchard probably looked about as ready for the season as anyone here I thought Brown looked great physically at blocking shot playing around the basket stuff like that early and Pritchard came out and looked like he never stopped playing from last year and that pretty much became the difference in this game I mean that Denver bench if this was nuggets postgame would would scare you if you’re them but I liked overall the rotations I liked how cornette fit in with the starters I don’t think that’s going to be a thing but it does signal how much he’s probably going to play with the regulars at the start of the year with porzingis out and some of the deeper guys off the bench obviously I was excited about Sharman KO a lot of people excited about him I thought he was okay and some of the you know Lonnie Walker I know is the whole crowd hyping him up those didn’t impress you as much as some of the guys coming back from the bench last year so not a ton of change here the biggest surprise of the game to me was Jordan Walsh’s role which was pretty consistent early often he’s in this game playing alongside some of the regular contributors of Off the Bench and looking pretty poised out there not with the shot but just some of the other stuff he you thought he’d bring to the table that wasn’t really there early in summer league he looked like the Jordan Walsh from a year ago so that was pretty exciting in terms of the guys who weren’t part of the team last year but other than that you didn’t really see much new that blew you away uh real quick welcoming back everybody here who is watching us on our various platforms and channels and thank you Cobra we’ll say we give a shout out right out of the gate for the Super Chat uh these are appreciated they do go they trickle back down to the hosts um so uh every little bit does help and we do we are thankful for for that but also just for you guys coming back and hanging out with us it’s Friday it’s 2:45 there’s no it’s a preseason game there’s no reason for you to be here yet you’re here so yes thank you uh thank you for joining and hanging out with us uh so let’s let’s go in order of things I real quick on the Jordan Walsh and we’ll get into it in a bit I’m so curious I’d love to see a sliding door situation if that three that he knocked down that he didn’t want to shoot and hesitated and then realized I have to shoot this because nobody’s closing out and I’m wide open and everyone’s gonna laugh at me if I don’t those things Miss 95% of the time and he made that one and then from there I feel like he got a great deal more confidence off of that because I think he was only one of four to start the game and it was that shot which was not an in Rhythm shot and then all of a sudden he looked a little bit looser so that kind of stuff makes a difference we’ll get into wall not just his performance but overall like you know and again Noah you mentioned summer league expectations you entered this year thinking Walsh is making the team outright he’s not on a main shuttle and he might be asked to do stuff and it’s kind of this year or probably not going to happen for him uh in terms of starting to crack the low end of the rotation and earn himself some consistent minutes uh and after Vegas I think he was left dead and gone so kind of what how they view him how they view JD Davidson who again he’s in with the third he’s in with the third string the the third bench unit you know stay way ready crew you know deep deep deep bench and he’s still looking and doing impressive things coming off of a fairly impressive Vegas League stint so you know scal I think at one point said that this might be the most talent that the Celtics main roster could could potentially beat some NBA teams I I don’t I’m not ready for that level of hyperbole this early in the uh in the Celtics season but there’s definitely some choices to be made in terms of who’s gonna get minutes if anyone is kind of in that deep deep bench situation as we know the top eight or nine are very very set on this team even more so when porzingis comes back but in order of you know importance to the team whether or not I don’t know where your Panic level was Noah on the Jason Tatum shot stuff I don’t think Panic is the right term to describe it but I was definitely very curious to see not just how it would look because I can’t tell and if any of you want to put on your shot doctor you know outfits and tell me whether you’re seeing uh discernable differences between what we saw on the broadcast today and what you’ve seen in practice from what he was doing before or um you know it’s kind of more of the same it was more approach you know Not only was he missing over the summer he was he was choosing not to take them he was a little he was reluctant to pull it he was resetting he was looking for it um he made three three-pointers which is great tonight for the people who were concerned but I the thing I like the best is he he was just going for it he was just looking for it let me just kind of do my thing do the pullup do the spot up which is what he’s supposed to do he shouldn’t be worrying about mechanics while when he’s playing the game yeah I would say myself I rank pretty low on the concerned level for Tatum shot I think it’s more of an acceptance that he’s not like a some Sharpshooter like that’s not that’s not his role that’s not his thing he can shoot at times um and I think I look more just the big sample size of like what has he been able to do over the last few years um and certainly once someone’s in a shooting slump for six months like you have to start thinking about that a little bit more seriously but felt like the Olympics was just not goingon to be the one we talked about this on the show but I think just when you’re getting one or two shots per game it’s not enough to really see anything and to me it’s just the confidence it’s just the ability to um to you know whether he’s hesitating like you said you can kind of see on his face honestly I feel like in the Olympics um quite often you could just see like he didn’t really want those shots um and he looked good today as far as like the mechanics I will never weigh in on that stuff because I feel like when shots go in suddenly all the mechanics look good to me and when the he’s short or whatever suddenly you can start to see the hinges or all the things that are going wrong with his shot Bobby yeah I I I I liked it I thought through the practices through the camp it was and sharp a little more condensed and not huge differences but just a little quicker and getting it off quicker I think is the key for anybody to be able to shoot more effectively in this league especially with the pressure he’s facing there and he hit some tough ones I I thought Brown got him a good opportunity off one of the Long offensive rebounds and that was the big thing for them three-point shooting in this game they got so many offensive rebounds especially early those are always going to sit you for good opportunities outside so it’s good to see him start off on this footing I think he split the first two pair finishes 3 to S aggressive from out there hunting it that’s what you want to see from him and says a lot about his role still at this point right they want him shooting a bunch they want him being the guy who draws pressure out there on the three-point line everything funnels from there in fact much of the game plan for Boston in this game looked like an exaggerated version of last year’s the three-point volume offensive rebound they had 17 offensive rebounds in this game big reason they won and Tatum pretty much focused on the three-point line and I think that makes sense for him this preseason right get up as much as possible find a rhym of and put everything behind you so that look that’s my thing is I didn’t know whether he’d be like embarrassed right like not meaning like what if it doesn’t fall are people going to say stuff you know like and and that’s not quite the right term but like it’s a preseason game but there’s no question that like there’s a lot of smoke surrounding Tatum in this coming off this off season with all of the stuff with the you know getting benched in the Olympics and the shot not necessarily follow falling and then you know him consistently addressing the you know I’m one of the best players in the league even if you guys don’t think so sort of thing so he kind of entered it with this weird like defensive Vibe about himself as opposed to someone who should be king of the world right now coming off an NBA title uh you know the best player on the best team and all of that so I was kind of curious is like is he going to get in his own head if the first and the first one was a back rim you know and then he misses the second one too and I was like oh no I was like is he going to start thinking and I’m so glad he didn’t because you know he he did keep shooting it and they did fall the third one fell uh and then it just kind of looked normal from there because Noah as you said I maybe the notion of Jason Tatum you know years one and two or kind of pre you know bubble year Tatum where he was a little bit more of a deadly shooter maybe that’s gone do you think it’s gone gone uh or like are we just reconciled to the fact that it doesn’t necessarily have to be that good for him to be a great player you know because it’s two different things if it comes back and he shoots at volume at a elite clip you know approaching 40% and he’s hitting those step backs he’s all of a sudden the deadliest scorer in the league you know and but if it doesn’t he has to work a little bit harder for his buckets yeah that’s where I land on it um and is my audio better I realize I think I yeah yeah yeah it was a little it was a little low before okay cool um so I think where I land on tum is that he for the you look at the broad you know years of his career he has not been a consistent three-point shooter you know compared to some other shooters that we know in in the league that that’s kind of what their thing is I think if he was gonna try to be an MVP candidate or win MVP next year he needs to be a really good three-point shooter so if that’s your prerogative and that’s the discussion that we’re having and I know people like to have that conversation um then yes he needs to be an elite shooter outside of that conversation I don’t think this I don’t think it really matter matters because we saw how effective he was in the playoffs without being able to shoot and and I think that that was a little bit below what we can come expect of him 28% um but I think there’s a little bit of an obsession with him and his three-point shot that ends up kind of taking a lot of the air out of the other things that he does really well and the only time it would actually matter in my eyes is if we’re talking about an MVP campaign because there are guards that can shoot like that there’s guardes like yoit that he’s never going to be able to rival his efficiency offensively and so that’s the only time that I think that his three-point shot station really should come into play um unless things were to go south beyond what we’ve seen of late and again like I’m cracking up with the graphic here but it’s a little unfair because he I’m sorry I couldn’t help it oh it was you I thought it was Amit or someone okay no I couldn’t help I couldn’t help it I’m sorry yeah no I just I had to say something but I couldn’t help it I’m sorry I know it’s a little bit of trolling true right it is it is it’s it’s it’s mean I’m just it’s it’s Friday 3 o when the last Derek white shot that was made also June I know I know kidding but no I’ll ask you this because Bobby’s mentioned it before too it’s Bobby and I have talked about this and even the Mavericks talked about it I thought the biggest mistake that they made was being so insistent on doubling Tatum and getting the ball out of his hands and leaving what was a really strong shooting lineup you know to open to do different things uh where you do wonder if Tatum isn’t that threat as much anymore you’re packing the paint against him and playing him straight up one-on-one without sending bodies his way when he starts at the point of attack when he starts making his way to the hoop if you’re not respecting the shot it reduces his offensive Arsenal but there’ll be a trickle down effect there too so him hitting those shots and people respecting his ability to I think is important to keep the defense open because he can’t just be a bury your head guy and head to the basket that’s a part of his game but it can’t be all of his game being able to score at multiple levels is important important and we’ve talked about that midi kind of leaving him a little bit too so I do want to see Tatum do hit his pull-ups I do want to see him uh you know kind of lean into that mid-range when he needs it because your best shot makers are supposed to do that the the clock is low there’s no more room to move the ball the ball’s in his hands he’s got to make something happen you want to make sure that he can do that and that’s kind of his thing is you’re a difficult shot taker you have to be a difficult shot maker so again good to see him kind of knocking these down Bobby anything more to add on this convo before we move on because he does need to take he needs to take those difficult shots because that’s who he is on this team it’s gonna happen yeah and he’s he’s a 37 is guy for his life right so we know him he’s made his career to this point by being a little above average from three he’s never been a sharp shooter out there never been a 40% guy on high volume so you have to figure it’s going to be 35 36 37 the concern coming out of the Olympics coming out of the playoffs is that something went wrong and he dipped down to being a guy who’s around 30% that’s where it’d be a problem you can’t have a guy who’s taking as many for this team and is essential for this team having that kind of slump for the year you’d have you’d be readjusting everything you want to do at that point so that’s the encouraging thing here is that this isn’t broken he went back and made some tweaks maybe it’s not Elite maybe it’s not where You’ love it to be for MVP purposes as as Noah said there he’d have to get pretty hot from that standpoint to be in that conversation again but if you’re somewhere in the middle that’s where you can live with it and they’re going to live with the variance a little bit try to negate that with offensive rebounding some other things for nights where they miss it’s just astonishing how they were able to take it to another level in this game you think 40 50 that’s like the max amount of Threes you can get up they’re pushing at another level here is this what they’re going to do in the regular season that’ll be interesting to see I don’t think anyone’s trying to get themselves hurt here either and like you know going kamakazi style towards the rim it was a half feed to the so they they were going through the motions for sure here which is let’s just kind of whip it around I actually thought there was pretty good ball movement it wasn’t juste early it wasn’t dribble up and Chuck it they were actually moving the ball pretty well inside outside running some cool stuff they had cornette coming out high and as a screener um you know and still playing playing not quite like playing like you would with cornette but they weren’t they were kind of moving him around and bringing him away from the paint there and you know you know you know using him as a ball screener sometimes so uh I there was definitely an emphasis on like let’s create as many of these looks as you think corette starting right away 11 rebounds three assist no I’m gonna let you have the corette conversation you’re gonna have the cornette conversation with Bobby here we go it’s year five L cornette he was fine he’s I feel the same about Luke as I’ve always felt about Luke but yeah go ahead Noah he’s reached he’s reached see more Luke I think I’m happy for you Bobby I think we are gonna see more Luke in the fall happy for you Bobby I know I really am because I think a just Al I think today Al not playing at all is is expected I mean it’s not shocking but it’s also indicative of I think everything that we’ve come to see with Al in the rest days is only going to be intensified like he’s one year older and he’s off of a finals run and so I think we’re gonna see a lot of Luke in the fall I think especially he’s starting center on a lot of nights and my understanding of Xavier Tillman is that he’s not they’re not he’s not a guy that they’re going to pile minutes on even even if he’s playing well like I think with the knee stuff he’s still somebody that they’re going to monitor um so so yeah more think we’re gonna see both of those guys quite a bit though I didn’t even have tman on my uh on my on my kind of bingo card for today to to talk about in this show because that’s kind of a good and a bad thing you know there wasn’t anything there to discuss but I kind of was hoping to see a different looking Tillman one that looked like completely more athletic than the version that we had last year that I chocked up to knee issues I think it’s I think we do have to point out he did have a procedure that we weren’t aware of until very recently and so he could still be working his way back but I was kind of hoping to see a leaner meaner you know a little bit more my earbud fell out a little bit more uh you know kind of spry Tillman and I didn’t see much of it tonight but I also just he just didn’t do anything that that was that was grabby in any way I don’t think Tillman had the kind of offseason where he was like working on his game all summer like I think he dealt with it he talked about this in practice the other day but he dealt with the death of his father in the spring had a lot of like mental kind of Peace recovery to go through and then had the surgery so I think for him like he’s not one of those guys that’s been all summer like refining his game I think he’s gonna ease back into things um it is a good sign that he had the surgery on July 30th and then he’s already back out there so it wasn’t anything that substantive um but the shot looked good I mean he went two for three I small sample but that’s a big thing that I know that they’re really shot important out there right on Joe’s team if you can’t at least threatened to take that three there’s really not a place for you and if he’s not going to bring you other things that a traditional big does down low where if kayada and we’ll get to k a little bit because he had kind of an adventurous day uh as well and I’ll be hearing that scream in My Dreams by the way I’ve I rewound and listened to that like a hundred times but I need confirmation I don’t know if that that was him it might been a fan or something um I wonder I that was unbelievable it was Drew laughed out loud on the broadcast and he’s floor floor level so I’m guessing he he no Drew’s in Boston oh Drew’s in Boston okay he’s not out there forsberg’s out there he’s the only one yeah yeah okay okay H so I don’t know but anyway we’ll get we’ll get to him in a little bit but you’re right he has to be able Louise what’s going on sorry Lise are you mad yet we haven’t talked about JB should we stick something in here just to commor he’s gonna be like huh I don’t think it was him really I don’t know I I have no idea I’ll have to go back and watch the tape too that’ll be the first thing I look at when I go back and watch watch the game I I rewatched it a ton and I feel like it was him but yeah for tman my big question still where is he fitting in the offense and it’s great that he’s hitting threes in this game I I don’t know if that is sustainable and the tough part for him the part that Joe’s always wary of there is that the Nuggets ignored him I mean that play where he hit the corner three they were all standing in the paint just daring him to fire away and it’s great if he can make them pay in that spot that changes the shape of the floor a little bit I thought he took some tough shots too on the run on the move that you probably don’t want him taking but no he right he didn’t have an off season to work on skills or any layers of his game or even I’m sure conditioning I’m sure he’s still in a pretty early stage in terms of getting back into game Flow and Rhythm so that probably accounts for a lot of how he looked in this one I want to say he got on the court the week before Camp started so he’s pretty early on right now and that KN has been a problem with him for a long time there it’s it’s definitely a luxury to have him because the defense is so effective he’s so versatile out there on that end he’s a great guy to put in there when Horford’s out in fact I think you could see him starting if Horford misses a game just to have that interchangeability in certain matchups but you still wonder where’s his ideal fit in the offense I don’t think it’s firing up threes I don’t know if he’s that kind of guy but if he becomes that that makes him all the more playable out there well Luke’s too much of a coward to shoot threes like he did early in his career so someone has to Bobby right and that might be the only thing he can contribute on that end of the floor I think there was some hope early on he could kind of be like a dump off guy down there and finish some stuff around the rim he was talking when he got here about posting up more we haven’t really seen that but they also didn’t allow him to play the five much last year which I think is probably the best position for him so we’ll see where his role ends up falling I think on the average night it’s going to be Horford starting and cornette filling most of the second unit minutes but they like to play bigger too and honestly with what we saw from the wings today Springer Walsh who was fine but didn’t hit shots I I don’t think there’s a lot of opportunity to go small with what they have right now and shyan oh I was so bummed with how that went I was waiting for fireworks in his debut and we didn’t get them well does uh I I do want to get to him too does he look like a completely different human than the person they drafted like if you if you put them side by side I would never think that the guy right here is sh didn’t they actually do it someone put the side by side of him compared to CR someone did totally different person I’d never he spent the summer in Boston what you know you can you can see it on his face my goodness gracious he’s so different uh so these are these are the mo I’ll say of all the stuff this is the most interesting stuff I’m not a bury the lead guy but honestly like what are you gonna learn about a preseason game from Jason Tatum Jaylen Brown Derek white those guys nothing they’re the same guys over and over it’s really kind of these deeper on the bench guys how they look does anybody look different is anybody going to earn a bigger role than they did last year and so I do think you know of the interesting things to talk about Pritchard uh and again he becomes more and more interesting the myth of pton Pritchard continues to grow just in terms of every time you see him he’s doing something that’s like super impressive uh particularly against bench units or second unit sort of competition or anything that’s kind of a reduced level uh there Jordan Walsh his role here the Lani Walker stuff shyman there’s definitely intriguing players here we’re going to talk about that as we roll on but I do want to tell you and I got to figure out where to find it prize picks uh we want to tell you about a couple of our sponsors here we’re going to start of course uh with prize picks 10 million members billions of dollars awarded in winnings prize picks makes daily fantasy accessible to all I don’t necessarily need to hear this do I no I’m going to turn down the volume on it but um again get in on the action here with prize picks America’s number one daily fantasy sports app uh it’s super easy to use you can win a 100 times your money with his uh little as four correct picks all you have to do is pick more or less on your favorite players and their stats and you are off and running I’ll tell you what right now if you’re if you’re if you’re picking Patriots pick under um under under under under you can’t even set it you can’t even set the overunderish out and do that if you leave that code use that code clns after you download the app boom play five get 50 it’s as easy as that so make sure uh that you do check it out sign up for prize picks today uh also I want to tell you about game time uh I thought it was this week Bobby I was I was pushing people to get their Patriots tickets early because I thought this was Drake May’s first start it’s not I don’t know when that’s coming maybe it’s the next week roll the dice see when you can get in there but it is coming at some point but as of now not yet but again authorized ticket Marketplace great option here if you want to go check out a Pats game or as we said the Celtics are starting up you want to go check out the the sun is that a sellout down there Noah I don’t know that it’s sold out I know the tickets were cheap my brother was thinking about coming down and it’s like $25 on game now but Celtics Celtics tickets you want to see the banner get raised you’re going to need some help there you can get in with game time uh prices typically do go down the closer you get to game time you can’t wait too long on Banner night at the Garden but you can get in and check out the hats or your favorite shows or whatever have you great options Allin pricing so you can see exactly what it is that you’re putting up there you don’t get surprised after the fact with hidden fees uh lowest price guarantee great seat views panoramic uh your ticket is covered with the most flexible customer service policy in the ticketing industry so again check it out 20 bucks off your first purchase when you use the code clns once again download the app grab your seats uh and use that code clns for 20 off your first purchase uh let’s get back to it and the game oh let’s switch to this view um some of the stuff we wanted to talk about uh Noah when I had asked you before before the show would you like the best number one you wanted to talk about Pritchard is that correct that was your guy or you or that was because everything else good was taken no I think I mean I think that’s he’s the guy that stood out the most today and it’s not a surprise and it doesn’t change my understanding of what he’s capable of because we’ve seen him do this kind of thing before in preseason and he’s given the opportunity to do so but um we were talking about davier Tillman maybe not having a summer that was centered around improving his game guarantee that if we had to look at like who took the most shots this offseason I bet P will be up there but he looked great and I think that again it just reminds people that you know when he has the touches and when he had the opportunities he has generally over the last year or so shown that he’s capable of playing a bigger role and I think that the hope and the expectation for him this year uh is to have a a little bit of a larger usage rate and a little bit of a larger role coming off the B um especially because you’re down ping is Al’s not doing much The Bigs are all low usage big so I think p is going to be one of the guys that like maybe creates his own shot a little bit more um and he looked very much ready to go and in shape and at full Full Steam this year to today I mean yeah and he obviously spent quite a bit of time in the facility and Al said when we talked to him at his Camp there that he was the guy standing out the most setting the tone he’s a veteran now I need to think when the gar report started he was a rookie the this version of the gar report so he’s one of the Elder guys on the team at this point and I love some of the energy defensively into the second units we’ve given him a lot of credit for his growth on that part of his game I know he want to work on his pullup three-point shooting that obviously showed in this game and he’s becoming one of the more strong bench players around the league right now in terms of as Jaylen talked about put him in there against a weaker opponent or a weaker lineup or in any spot where he can have some more opportunity to play with the ball in his hands and he always seems to take advantage of it the his consistency in that role and how high of a ceiling he has in that role just continues to Astound me but we remember from the summer league days we remember from his prams where he’s scoring a 100 points this is just who he is and it’s amazing still that’s the question so there to me there’s one question not just with pitard but with anybody that people kind of fall in love with with on the Celtics bench and like we have the deepest bench we have the deepest bench may maybe um you know like I said I my I contested that a little bit last year just because when when fully healthy anybody on the bench was playing with three All-Star caliber players and in most cases you don’t have that you know and sometimes you would have Tatum plus a guard and three bench players um but that was about it there was it’s never just the bench this isn’t Youth League where it’s five in five out you know but so there’s always just so many good other players on there it’s hard to fully gauge how good they are they had that weird number last year for a long I don’t know what it ended up with but for the longest time into the year Noah it was uh lowest bench scoring output but highest bench differen highest bench differential you know so so that’s kind of it is how good are they or are they are they booed by playing in the presence of so many all NBA Olympic level I mean star star star players which the Celtics have at the top of their roster but Pritchard is that one guy who you think and Jaylen Brown had those interesting comments uh in the off season where he you know you know Detroit Pistons got caught in the crossfire a little bit there but like hey we don’t have to go out there and play our guys 30 40 minutes I’m paraphrasing here you know every once in a while and we don’t always have to kind of do the things that we do it doesn’t have to be me or Jason or whatever he’s like we could run a game through pton Pritchard and let him go off for 30 against a team like Detroit like I don’t know if it’s just yeah you know he’s my teammate so I believe in him but like I do Wonder like is there a world in which you could do things like that where you view it less as spot starting or going in there and you know he had a good bench stint and feature people a little bit more prominently in what they do and feel okay to rest somebody and say all right pton or Sam you’re in the starting lineup and I don’t want you to just kind of be there I want you to take 17 to 20 shot oh you know 12 to 15 Shots tonight that’s who you are you’re a scorer on this team tonight like a primary scorer not just a bench unit scorer when you’re out there your job is to do this and how would it look if they did that like could Sam Hower be starting on a on a lesser team could pton Pritchard be starting on a lesser team and putting up 15 16 17 points a game yeah I think for me the bench is less about like there are so many talented players that are more talented than other teams bench but there’s a system in place that is super everybody’s super bought into and there’s chemistry and experience of those guys playing together like we don’t talk enough about how well Sam Hower and pton perrick play together like they know exactly where the other guy is going to be there’s Luke cornette comes in and he really is like the glue for that unit and so I think when I look at the bench it’s again like I I I do get excited about Pon PCH I do think that he could have a larger role on another team um but the fact is is that you know Sam Luke and Pon Noah freeze on us yeah Bobby is she Frozen to you yeah all right we’ll drop Noah we’ll we’ll bring her back in um She is again just for those wondering where is Noah and what’s that background she’s covering uh for for uh for SB for SB Nation she’s covering the uh the uh uh the the Connecticut Sun uh playoff matchup tonight um at Mohan Sun Arena so she jumped out of the Press Room Into the Heart of the casino and she’s out there doing you doing the Lord’s work and doing a postgame show with us so happy to have her on board but yeah Bobby what do you think here like is he real or is he like what is pton Pritchard because again is he is he 91 points in a proam and like you know can light up the summer league you know at will where he looks like the best player out there like he’s playing at Rucker or something like that and just just launching 40 foot threes and making it look easy and schooling people or is he someone who’s actually at this point in his life like if he left Boston he’s in contention for starter minutes somewhere else and would be a legit scorer and contributor on a different team like what do you actually have in pton Pritchard is this is there a version of him that could succeed outside of the the Celtics ecosystem yeah for sure and I think it would have I mean not to succeed of course he could succeed thri Thrive like even more than he’s doing here do they do the Celtics have a starter who’s Rel at 18 minutes a game because they’re so good maybe in their system the way they want to play he’s probably still a little too huntable given the size the Jimmy Butler of the world I know he held up well against Luca but maybe a healthier stronger version of Luca in that spot could have taken more advantage of him but teams are going to go at him and we’ve weighed in the past whether that’s an advantage or a disadvantage for Boston I know in some cases you might feel like that takes the other team out of their offense but in terms of his skill set on offense what makes him so great here is how complimentary he is the catch and shoots uh the secondary ball handling he can play alongside their starters and with them yeah is this a guy who could be like a Sixth Man of the Year sort of candidate somewhere else and also can he start pressing here where his contributions are not small here where he’s earning it it does he could he play his way into 22 to 24 minutes a night here you know that consistently he should this year back to have conversation about the bench and letting them play against the Detroits of the world they should lean on these guys they’ve won so consistantly with that second unit back to what Noah was saying and again I take it back he was he was 22 last year so I’m sorry is a little more than I thought I thought he was I thought he was a little lower so I mean he got the minutes he almost scored double digits is there another level can he go a little bit higher there can he be 13 14 points Off the Bench sort of guy I do wonder I think so yeah and some of its efficiency right he has those cold stretches and he can have a night where he’s always seven from three and you want to balance that out a little bit if he’s going to have a super consistent role and then once you get to the playoff time you always have that conversation of every round that you progress those guys being a little less effective and Hower counteracted that pretty well right through the finals though he had the weaker East finals and pritchard’s the one who besides those two halfcourt shots faded a little bit in that final setting so a lot of its matchups a lot of it’s going to be what they need into different second unit lineups but again back to what Noah was saying they have won game after game after game and those three guys Hower Pritchard and cornette have been playing together scrimmages three years ago the bench unit for that first run last year being the full bench in entirety for this team and Pritchard stepping in in many ways I said it many times last year John he did a lot of Brogden things and we remember how significant of a role Brogden had here playing that role and in many ways I think Pritchard surpassed what they needed into the playoffs at that spot so six man probably a little short in terms of the volume he’s going to get here but did if you did put if you did put him in San Antonio as it looked like was going to happen there for a minute on that version of the Spurs I don’t think close to 20 points per game would be out of the question right can you do the Banton somewhere bad I bet I bet he could look what B did he’s a million said I just said that um by the way I’m emphasizing it by the way I’m not it’s not the the the the humor isn’t lost on me that uh uh in place of joose uh Noah had her Wi-Fi crap out um so yes it happens but it’s not her fault died but I had a computer yeah oh the computer it wasn’t that’s right that’s right my Wii actually Wi-Fi yeah no it’s all good it’s no Noah is so prepared she has two laptops we only had Jo Jose only had half a laptop and it was like it was like from 2009 uh so it’s a little bit different here miss joose yeah yeah uh for those who don’t know Jose Pavone accepted a job to be covering the Oklahoma City Thunder fulltime so we could be seeing Jose in the finals I actually do think that that’s I wouldn’t say likely it’s hard to nail a Finals Prediction this early but those are your two betting favorites final prediction last year I had the warriors with Rob Williams at Center that I had the nuggets the year before by the way and so I’ll just the year they wanted I had nuggets but that’s fine tiny tiny aside are the Nuggets done no I’m a little worried about that I think it’s a little bit of an overreaction the Nugget thing it’s it’s an overreaction I think they hit I think they hit a wall last year definitely a little bit of a fatigue and the kcp thing hurts I mean look I I don’t want anybody to we don’t want to get alarmist now but what what’s happening to the Nuggets is what’s going to happen to the Celtics which is you’re going to be making business decisions um that are going to make your team worse because you’re gonna try to find a way to get under you know aprons and penalties and this and that and that’s what teams are doing right now it’s a it’s a reality that we’re pretending doesn’t exist but it does exist and yeah the Nuggets definitely took a half step back but I have such a faith in their core um and and joic uh that no I mean there’s just it’s hard to get back to the finals it’s hard but I I’m not you know I’m not I’m definitely not uh not uh not out on them uh let’s let’s move the conversation we did want to talk about and again it’s a preseason game so we’re not going to go on forever but uh we did want to get to Jordan Walsh a little bit and I’ll say uh Walsh I so this is you know one of Bobby’s guys and one of Noah’s guys uh Springer you know who you are kind of bullish on Noah and you want to see and you think could potentially because you got that whole like he’s so young you know like you’ve got he’s like three years younger than shyan you know like he’s he’s so young um and still there’s room there and when they made the trade they made it for the future not for last year necessarily which is a strange thing to do with the deadline but a shrewd kind of move but you know it’s got to pay out if it’s going to be worth it at some point uh or another and uh and then Jordan Walsh who’s kind of in that whole make or breakish sort of you know third season of like is he gonna turn into something or is he just forever a 4A player or a g you know riding that main shuttle back and forth is that the kind of guy he’s going to be in this league it was interesting that uh um you know both of these and the way the game went for those who didn’t watch the whole thing starters played nearly the whole first quarter with Tilman coming in um you know to spell Luke I believe for a little bit but the top guys just played and then that second unit was boom was this uh with Walsh and Springer kind of running out there and buried on the depth chart where Davis Davidson and shyan and Lonnie Walker who got in late late late in the game so these guys were the B team right now is that tell you anything about how they’re kind of how the Celtics are approaching this season and again it’s only game one game two shman might get 25 minutes with the second unit and they could be trying things out but can you read anything in into this or do you read anything into it uh in terms of you know their the the prominence that uh you know with those guys were featured tonight I can’t conclude anything until we see the second game because I’m sure I’m kind of viewing this in in a two game span and I’m sure Missoula is as well yeah as far as thinking about the rotations and things um I will say as you mentioned John I’m wasn’t it Banton who did it Banton started one game last year and everyone’s like what or something like that is that what it was and then Hern and Hern and Gomez years ago yeah yeah go ahead but go ahead no yeah yeah no but I think Jaden Springer is somebody that I’ve seen flashes of defensively where it’s like okay this guy not only can be a really good defender in the NBA but he can actually be like a gifted defender in the NBA I really believe that I think he has one of those guys with the defensive ceiling like an Avery Bradley which I know was high praised that being said like flashes doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s going to translate and I I was a little disappointed with the sample siid that we saw today um I thought that he looked he didn’t look great which again I’m never going to overreact to a quarter of basketball but it wasn’t like an opportunity to see him Advance forward um but yeah I think that when we’re talking about Jordan and Jaden Jordan Walsh and this is the second season so John I just want to say like I you mentioned this a couple times I don’t think that he’s going to I don’t think this is a make a break year for him and I don’t think that’s Public’s reviewing it um I think that he has a larger opportunity here and he’s going to spend most of the season in Maine is my understanding um a guy like Jaden Springer like he’s entering his fourth season so he’s more like he’s going to require an opportunity to open up like there’s going to need to be some sort of injury or some sort of extreme resting situation for Jaden Springer to even have a chance and then he’s going to have to capitalize on that chance and there’s going to be other guys like a Baylor shyan I think that are also going to be buying for those minutes and so a lot has to go in dream Springer’s way for him to make a you know to Showcase that he can play in the NBA this season and I don’t know if it’s gonna happen I just I would love to so you mentioned that so again where you’re shaving money when you have so many Star players is kind of here this is the last year that he’s guaranteed it’s a team option for him next year and that’s a place where you can shave to again it’s not big money but it’s it’s the fourth year of a second round picks deal at two and a half million that’s where you’re saying I’m not playing him anyway I’m just G to fill this with another second round draft pick who’s making $800,000 and save myself 1.4 here if he has no if he has no like role here it’s not big money for a contributor or someone who can play Rotation minutes but when you’re trying to save a nickel or two that’s kind of where you’re cutting that’s the first Cuts you make that’s why I mentioned make or break by the end of this year you got to determine is this person gonna play any significant minutes for me in the future or or or not or he’s just trade filler you know like you know but again you and they haven’t ruled out they haven’t ruled out taking up the roster later on if if needs AER and that’s all money that could go into a trade I know the trade rules have changed a little bit here but the odds are against these guys given their draft position given what they’ve shown so far in their careers I mean Springer shooting in small samples albe it with Boston last year was pretty abysmal and the Philadelphia side of things that led them obviously to give up on him and save some tax money rather than stay with his developmental track here and that’s the difficulty for these guys I want to see some of these guys this year we’ve talked about in the past John they’re not going to get better without playing they’re not going to improve without those opportunities and as Noah said some of it’s going to have to happen in terms of injuries or other availabilities there rest nights working them in so I do like working those two guys in and they made a pretty concered effort to do that here clearly in this game Walsh took more of an advantage in this spot and Springer the shooting limited him limited him again and that might be what limits him in this league despite the age and Walsh being a young guy too there I wrote this morning about that IDE of playing the youth a little bit more this year starting to take that long view because they’re not going to have these veterans forever that’s the great part about right now we remember three years ago John the Romeos and the Smiths of the world and it drove us crazy and we’re just like get rid of these guys bring in the whites and holidays of the world who you can actually rely on and never think about young guys or draft picks again and Brad didn’t even take a first round pick for three four years so the thought of going back to that a little bit is an ideal but it’s necessary now and I look at what Minnesota’s doing bringing in Dillingham bringing in Terence Shannon even bringing in like divon chenzo in that deal and another pick they’re starting to say all right we have Edwards and all these guys this great starting lineup but as we start to pay these guys and towns obviously goes out the door last week you need some of these guys on the back end and the tough part with the Celtics as you guys just said is they’re just swapping in some of these guys and you know they might be swapp in some again it was Banton last year now it’s Springer Walsh was here the last two years are they taking another second round fire at that point so that’s a tougher way to develop right not investing in topend Talent picks that sort of thing and just looking at flyers and unstung talent and second draft guys which Springer effectively is here and it’s tough to develop those guys for the NBA because much of their development obviously is going to happen here in Maine and look at Davidson today this is year three for him and he’s been so good in Maine but they’re just so little hope of him cracking an NBA rotation and that’s where it feels like Springer and Walsh are right now too yeah it’s again it’s yeah I think I think you know Springer this is this last year right of a of a contract correct yeah they can bring restricted four million option with he’s an RFA next year so again he’s got you know he’s got to kind of figure out make a break time for these guys a little bit even though it’s not here Davis bring all of these guys is there and again this is the toughest part of being on this particular Celtics team it’s um there’s no room to develop at this point you know it’s again what are you doing it’s basically just like Hunger Games you know for like you know the 10th Man minutes right now between five six people and that’s about it you know and we saw it last year it doesn’t work that way even with established NBA players let alone young people who haven’t played at this level trying to find their footing we watched the Lamar Stevens Banton uh you know brette you know shuffle last year unless someone was kind of given 12 to 15 minutes every single game in a particular role and just told to go out and do that nightly there was no way that those people were getting in any rhythm so it’s really going to be difficult so I am I don’t want to say concerned but if you’re going to throw in overreactions for today not not just today but today in the summer and this and that it’s it’s you know you have your first first round draft pick in a while and you don’t know what to uh what to do with them with Sharman uh here uh because I don’t know how he’s gonna see a minute on this team well I think what it comes down to is that this team was unusually healthy along the perimeter last year like really nobody missed time um knock on wood you get that again but statistically speaking they’re probably not going to there’s probably going to be somebody that misses a somewhat extended period of time even if with just an ankle spring or something and so if you look at the current rotation like there really is not an opportunity for anybody to enter and it’s kind of a weird situation even just talking to guys at Camp it’s like you know they kind of know that too they know that it’s the exact same situation as last year and so they’re just kind of looking from the veterans and looking to learn and absorb things um but I think that the only pathway they’re going to have and this happens all the time in the NBA where somebody goes down and all of a sudden somebody else gets an opportunity and that’s kind of what catapults their career so obviously you don’t hope for that but um in the event that that happens I think that there are some guys that they’re they’re aware are are primed and ready to go in those moments and I think Jaden Springer and dlor shyan are two of the guys right now that are Wing players that they want to see out there but there just might not be an opportunity I would say Jordan Walsh is probably a little bit below that in the list um just because of his Youth and the fact that I think he’s just a little bit more raw than those two still um but that’s what it’s going to come down to so least for injury sake something does happen I think it’s going to create an opportunity for people but I’ll go back to the creativity thing John finding ways to get them in there finding ways to utilize them you don’t want theith situation where you’re just throwing a pass to a that’s what I always think back yeah go in you hit if you hit your first shot I’ll let you stay in the game if you miss it you this is your one four minute stint and you’re never going back like that’s not a way to develop and sharman’s kind of in that boat right because this is a guy who we’ve seen in almost every game and again I I’m I’m not going to be able to recall his exact Vegas box score but you guys were there it felt like he came out and he missed his first few shots every single time but it was Vegas he go for in the first game I want to say yeah but it was Vegas and he could keep playing through it and again it’s lesser competition um and and and and and you know he got to kind of play through his issues and then you know some would go down but I mean he he immediately comes in and it’s brick BR turn trying to pass to NAA to kada in transition uh you know at the top of the key and Kay’s like what the are you throwing me the ball for here like that’s I’m not the guy you passed the ball above the arc uh and then you know he misses his shots and you know and badly misses uh that that freaks people out a little bit Not only was he missing to start a lot of those Vegas leag games he was side of the backboard or airball sort of missing and that’s what he that’s what he did again tonight it’s easy to bury the rookie too and that’s what they did in this game I was a little surprised that happened but that’s where he is obviously not fully up to speed with everything yet but like Noah said uh you know I do think it’s in this is the best way to look at it Noah is it’s a two game sample where it would make sense I it would I would be I’m gonna be I’m gonna be like three out of 10 annoyed if it’s if Sharman doesn’t get legit run against actual NBA players in that second game uh you know running with a second unit or maybe even going in there and again here’s what just a quibble I get it but in the preseason you should be mixing in match a little bit too so you do want to see I didn’t love the I you know what I take it all back I get it it’s the first time together you want to see the starters together you want to whatever but you also want to see them mix with other people and starters because as I said is in the NBA you’re not playing Five in five out so you do have to kind of see it so I do want them to get into some regular rotations and then just one day decide okay sharman’s gonna be in here and he’s gonna play with this we’re talking about overreactions though people are already taking a Twitter and calling him a bust okay bust to which Bobby Manning had to come in and vigorously defend it no preseason overreactions are we a little are we all like I said is there enough in your snapshot view to be like huh I kind of was hoping to see a little bit more I’m not going to go as far as to say bum but are you and again I hate using concerned or alarmed we’re not trying to stir a controversy here but as you’re watching shyan what are you actually thinking and feeling deep down that you that you feel like you can’t say out in the open because then people will jump all over you and and and and say that you’re you know overreacting like what’s your non-sensible take mine Noah first you’re non-sensible reac sensible takes job no no no no that’s not how I know I mean that’s not the point of this exercise that’s not how I play this no I know but I mean so Bor I mean Baylor hasn’t looked great but the thing is is I just I feel like he can make a you make two or three three-pointers and all of a sudden we’re having a completely different conversation and I just can’t bring myself to go there even inside I don’t even think he play minutes in this game no what’ you say he came in he came in at the very end when it was just garbage time think about what he did today he did nothing today yes it’s a ridiculous overreaction but between Vegas and now and just seeing yeah he didn’t shoot well in Vegas but seeing how he athletically and any concern over I see people talking about like he looks a little slow slow you know slow footed you know and and this and that and is there anything that kind of like well yeah I kind of need to forget the shot you assume the shots gonna fall he’s a legit shooter but he’s also a good playmaker and he’s a good ball handler he has good basketball skill just what translates to the NBA level it’s hard to see and it’s definitely hard to see in the first time he’s played against anybody who isn’t on a Vegas league roster which is what we’re seeing what we saw for five minutes tonight well the concern is he’s a ball hand Ling player who probably won’t have the ball a ton and I said it there in Sly he just does magical things with the ball in his hands he’s such a great passer he’s a rhythm jump shooter obviously he seems to be more comfortable shooting off the dribble rather than standing in the corner catching shooting what his role will probably be early on in this offense so that’s where I go back to the creativity with Walsh can you get him going downhill a little bit more toward the basket off the ball they actually had him at Point a bit in this game which was weird again back to experimentation so I didn’t really understand that Springer probably another guy who’s going to have to screen and catch the ball inside the arc and do some stuff in between because the three is just not there with shyan probably need some opportunities to be a secondary ball handler I’d love to see him get the ball a little bit on the break you know just do some of the things because he ended up having a pretty effective summer league despite the fact that he didn’t shoot why because he’s a good rebounder he’s a great passer and the defense that’s going to be the biggest hurdle obviously and maybe that’s not at a point yet where they feel comfortable mixing him in with some of the regulars yet but there’s ways to hide guys in that aspect too and you know you brought up the 10th Man race earlier John like Walsh isn’t a great shooter Springer isn’t much of a shooter at all some of these guys were hoping could fill a spot like that don’t have a shot and shyan does and that’s why I think he’s in the best position to run away with that spot if he can just figure out the speed of the game their plays all the stuff they’re trying to do on defense and some of that’s a little bit of a compromise I think with a young player right he’s not gonna do everything right want to compare it to Drake maon there’s gonna be mistakes there’s gonna be some issues here but you have to deal with some of that get want compare a borderline second rounder to a top three pick that’s the thing too right he he felt a 30 for a reason and we’re going to see some of those words yeah again we have to be realistic about it if you go through and you you charted NBA the NBA draft and it’s changed over time you know uh just as the you know the composition of the draft has changed uh and it’s just you know incredibly there’s so much talent out there and it’s it’s just challenging to make NBA rosters but I mean again one to five is where you’re finding the majority of your Allstars five to 15 you’re lucky if you get your rot rotation player is the reality and anything 15 and Beyond if these guys stick on rosters or end up being rotation players it’s usually a pretty big success of course there are stars throughout and you’re you can find them in different places but don’t cherry pick well this one this guy went in the 20s and this guy went in the second round the reality the re the expectation is if somebody if shyman sticks and is a rotation player being drafted at 30 it’s a massive massive success by the Celtics uh front office being able to pluck a player like that at this point in the draft it does it happens every once in a it happens but it’s not the norm what you’re hoping for is a home run right and I don’t think sharman’s a home run player like I don’t think there’s a ceiling here where you’re like there’s something in this guy where he could be a potential you know year in year out Allstar I think what you’re hoping is is you know in some of the comps that have been made with some of the other Lefty Shooters you know uh you know in in in the in the league before him that you know the comparison has been made to that’s kind of what you’re hoping for is a guy who can kind of hold his own not be a liability defensively knock down shots make some plays is it going to happen in year one probably not yeah and I think the other reality with shyan is that he’s not a Sam Hower esque shooter and I’ve said this a couple of times but like when you look at his career shooting numbers which those I’m all I’m always down to look at you know the larger sample size like he’s been a good shooter but he doesn’t rival Sam Hower members coming into the NBA um and so I think they what they like about him is like has said kind of you know he’s done a lot of allaround things and that he he has the feeling of being a better kind of more versatile player um but he’s not a guy that’s gonna come in and I think give you like crazy three-point shooting um that’s not you know that just hasn’t really been exactly what he’s been and it’s really really hard I feel like I feel like we underrate how hard it is to find guys like Sam Hower that can shoot like Sam Hower and it’s why Sam Hower just signed a big contract um and so yeah I I think Baylor charman also like I just can’t imagine the nerves of going into the NBA and having your first NBA minutes and there’s a lot of really good NBA players that look terrible in their first few games and missed their first 20 shots and that’s why I just like caution freaking out about the air balls or whatever because there’s been wasn’t Jamal Murray one of them wasn’t he one of the guys that like missed his first 20 shots or something Trey young I GRE uh didn’t didn’t Pritchard Pritchard go o for like November and just like when when when he first started I thought uh Payton struggled as well grant grant was the oh it was grant grant grant went oh for whatever yeah that that was Grant also yeah yeah I think you never know what it’s going to mean um we’ve heard good things coming out of Camp we’re not going to hear bad things but it sounds like he’s been playing well and doing well and he’s adjusting and I he had flashes in summer league too how about his look he looks like a totally different human it’s not just it’s not just the haircut and everything like that it’s like he definitely I mean he said you know what did he say um you guys were there covering it 15 pounds of muscle and it’s not he does not look bulky he looks like he got lean but stronger which again is good because you often times don’t see that kind of physical development in rookies until year two when they have a chance to kind of go through an entire you know year you know and it’s a whole it’s not just I lifted weights for the summer and I got and I got big it’s the it’s the it’s the it’s the sleep it’s the it’s the eating it’s all of it kind of rolled into one like what it takes to be a professional athlete and and then you know the the right workout regimen that works out for your body and your and what you’re trying to accomplish and all of that stuff he looks physically a good bit better uh than uh than he did before he’s he’s one of the more interesting guys on the preseason roster because it could go one way and he’s in Maine for a lot of the year and it could go the other way where he sneaks into that rotation and you know what would you call O’Shea last year like 91th in the rotation so that spot’s open for someone to take similar thing when guys were out he would play and he’d actually be pretty effective in that role so can he do that O’Shea had a little more seasoning SP was a veteran there’s a rookie trying to do that in that spot and then you always go back to does he have the coaches trust which is a challenge in almost any situation I think that’s going to be something Joe has to deal with as well is he’ll have his guys he’ll have the people he trust then when you have to go to the third wave of guys who you gonna rely on and that’s a real question here right now because there are going to be nights early on where they’re pretty thin in terms of what they have and who can step in and help them do some stuff here Walsh probably in that conversation Shan maybe Springer this this comment here from Derek Noah said this off off air before we started he he spent a couple months in Boston that’s what happened to shman he he does he he looks like he looks like he’s about to Rob Fenway Park an extra in missoula’s favorite movie yeah it definitely looks like he’s he’s got a little bit of Boston in him now um we ask about those memes we gotta ask him about it yeah uh final thing here here um to uh anything anything for for that’s that that’s left over that you wanted to uh talk about before we wrap it no I just think my my trips to main are going to be more useful this year because I think there’s gonna be a lot of interesting guys over there so I was just thinking about that um I think this I think they are gonna have a lot of the guys that we saw today are going to spend a lot of time in Portland just because there’s really no space for them so um so that’s where I’ll be on my off days your off days that sounds fun I what are you doing on your off I’m I’m working out of state okay for fun I’m acting as the soulle media member at the main sou teams it’s fine we need it B Bobby likes Bobby begs me for these trips and I’m like if you want if you really want to go yeah you can go speaking of M I thought JD looked pretty good at the end of the game too and I don’t know if there’s a pathway for him but he just keeps getting better and better and I’ve heard his summer workouts have been pretty good around the team too there and his summer league was pretty good so is is there scenario where he could sneak into some some sort of role eventually you wonder because they could have just let him go this summer right but Brad for some reason stepped in and was like we need him back he’s got to be part of this thing I know JD wanted to stay a little bit too but he actually looked like he took a step late in that game so I’ll give him some credit for that Lonnie oh yeah I guess we got to talk about it so that’s the other thing I wanted to say is well what are we doing here like um you talk about like not playing fine Sharman you know Sharman started the fourth quarter with what was clearly team three Walker wasn’t even on team three Walker was on Team Four like yeah on whatever’s left at the very end of the game he entered late with four minutes or so uh you know left in the quarter there took a couple shots that’s it so Noah you and I and and several other people uh you know who follow and cover the Celtics our initial reaction to the to the Lonnie Walker signing was like this is this is an actual basketball player like here for nothing like this could be a steal and then immediately the reports started to come out like yeah it’s one of these weird contracts and he might not even make it and then everybody’s been pouring like cold water on Walker like a deluge of cold water on Walker since that kind of initial spark we got after he signed and feels like The Vibes here are like guys don’t don’t overdo it with the Walker stuff I don’t think this guy’s gonna be here is are were we totally wrong is there like is there no place for him here I I’m I I thought this was a flyer to see here and now we’re talking about well if he can put forth a good year in Maine maybe we can make something of him is this is this who he is so first of all I think that people owe Bobby an apology because people were very mad at Bobby for saying that he might not make the team and I do think that’s very likely to be the case now in fact it seems pretty obvious that he’s not going to make the team in the 15th spot and then he’s first going to go to Main and I think the better question is does somebody pick him up and does he find a spot somewhere else um I don’t think that he’s is going to be in Boston honestly because I do think that if he goes to Maine and plays well like there’s going to be a team that’s going to need him and and want him and realize like why is this guy on the market unless he he struggles but um the understanding that I’m getting and all the signals that we’ve heard is that he’s not going to be a part of this team this year at least at the beginning of the season and maybe later on if he’s still in Maine and he’s playing well they pick him up later on um so it’s it’s strange I I still feel high on him as a player like I’ve watched a lot of Lonnie Walker over the last few years I think that he can contribute um but from the financial situation and just what we’re hearing like it doesn’t seem likely um that he’s going to get that 15 spot so just mentally preparing people I think people are going to be a little bit disappointed because I know fans are excited about it and I get it because I was too uh when the initial signing you know was reported yeah yeah you probably want to take a longer look at him than this though and again Sunday you might play no starters who knows why would he go to main that’s the whole point is like but it’s like it’s not just the Celtics and the space on this roster what are we missing here like you’re a pro who’s played legit NBA minutes rotation minutes albeit for not great you know great teams but like what are you proving to people in Maine it’s a it’s you know this is almost like a I don’t audition you know just get offers like you’ve at least if you’re him have you not earned the right to like yeah keep put me on your team if you want but if you don’t I’m just going to go to a different team I I find this odd that like what what’s in it for Lonnie Walker to stick in Maine to prove that he could be the 12th person on this team I I don’t understand the up I don’t understand it at all at that point maybe to be part of this team no I think that he just I mean he couldn’t I don’t think he got any offers like that’s my understanding of it didn’t and there’s plenty of people out there who are getting offers I just don’t think they’re coming back on a deal like there’s other people out there like Lamar Stevens just signed O’s not out there like these are people who’ve played professional Jay Crowder like is Jay Crowder signing with a team to play it in Maine like no he’s signing for someone he’s signing for someone who’s gonna play him or he’s not signing at all that’s what I mean is I’m not saying that Lonnie Walker’s like has his pick where to go I don’t get why he would come to a place where the option is go prove yourself here I just sit at home and do nothing and wait for somebody wait for the phone to ring it’s weird go overseas right or go yeah that’s weird that’s always difficult right because when you go overseas you’re pretty much done in the NBA not many guys leave and come back yabu the rare exception so it’s that last ditch effort to hang on here and you mentioned it John many veterans have fallen out especially this summer for many teams it’s more advantageous financially to just leave a spot open or give it to a young it is that’s what I mean is like it’s more of an economical decision for most teams to make rather than like oh gez I watched some main highlights last night and this Lonnie Walker guy caught my eye like you know what you’re signing if you bring him on I don’t think you need a showcase so I don’t get what he would why he would do that I find the whole situation really perplexing I yeah I I get what Noah is saying you could showcase yourself for elsewhere but the way he’s talked about wanting to be with Derek wanting to be with holiday who he’s worked out with and just wan to be a part of the situation there to me was had to be some acceptance that he might have to go to Maine spend a month or two up there work on reshaping his game and tailor tailoring it to their system because you look at the two shots he took tonight those aren’t shots he’s goingon to be able to take on the floor for the Celtics so you’re forcing it inside and firing up a three off the dribble he needs to be a more complimentary guy and you see him at these training camp sessions he he’s such a great Corner three shooter he knocks him down and droves in the practices that we get to watch and the numbers for him in that spot are really good and you know he’s talked about being able to Guard the guard spots well and that’s something you know I’ve heard positive reviews about when it comes to him and people are excited about that scoring and that’s a real value at a 15th spot on a roster is it worth 12 million which is effectively what they’ll be paying at that spot that’s what they’re going to have to figure out but what they’re also going to have to decide here is honestly no I mean if I were the Celtics I’d go down to 13 guys it’s like what you’re paying for nothing paying $12 million for a person not to play is insane yeah how do you feel about him what’s up Noah do you feel like he can be a guy go ahead no no you say the question no I think so with the Lonnie Walker situation you know there’s a lot of different ways once you’re in that spot where it’s September and you don’t have a spot in the NBA like you have a couple decisions to make are you going to take a contract overseas are you going to sit at home and hope for the best like your odds aren’t great at that point there’s a bunch of guys that are in that boat and a handful of them are going to get opportunities and a lot of guys like I listen to Austin Rivers podcast like last year around this time he was really hoping that something was going to come along and it never did um and he was going to workouts and you hear all these reports of John Wall and isaah Thomas and I do think actually that the humility to play in the g- league and the ability to Showcase not just what you can contribute on the court but what kind of guy you can be off the court has worked for people in the past and I my understanding is that’s his pathway that he’s going to take here and I also think that this is an organization that has a really good track record of development just a good culture a really good reputation it’s something that when I was in summer league I was talking to a lot of people about just like other Executives and and Scouts and people and they said you know the sou have a really good rep where if you’re a guy that doesn’t really know where to go like get involved get involved with me like it draws people in and it I feel like his motive was yeah so he knows people there the team was probably willing to offer him a spot and go to Maine and show that you can be a leader I mean he’s a veteran player he’s not a young guy like show that you can be a leader and a good teammate and have the word get out that Lonnie Walker is a really good culture fit and and I think that could really help like it’s not going to be like oh Lonnie Walker look at his highlight reel from the main Celtics okay now we can sign him I think it’s that other stuff that maybe people aren’t sure about um and so I’m still high on him I’m not willing to get off the the lon Walker train but I’m I’m understanding that the situation and the circumstances are maybe not what I thought when wo reported that he signed a one-year deal which was the initial report which is maybe mentally why so many of us were having a hard time adjusting away from that um because the initial tweet said for a one-year deal and then we later learned it really wasn’t bad at all um so we’ll see I I just don’t get it it’s almost like it’s almost like he’s like on double secret probation and being punished for something like it’s like you will play with the fourth team in the first P preseason game and you must show your worth in Maine like I I find it odd that he was brought in under those circumstan ances instead of just brought into want him or you don’t like what the hell do you bring him in for like you bring it makes from from I maybe you can convince me in his perspective that you know Maine and the Buddies here and this and that and he can show out and it’s a better option than doing XY and Z from the Celtics perspective I barely get it at this point so I I I I find it I find it weird if you if you brought two years ago John give him an opportunity because you’re hoping for what like everything to me is like wow did get lucky here like look you you pulled this guy off the street and they’re playing they’re your they’re they’re they’re in the rotation and doing great that’s what that’s you want to show that’s how you show you’re a genius if you’re Brad Stevens like look what I was able to get nobody wanted this guy why would you make it so hard for them it’s almost like you’ve gotta like like he’s got to earn his way back like he did something wrong instead of throw him in there and let’s see if he can play he’s an NBA player he might be able to crack the rotation the approach to me I feel like there’s something we’re missing with Lonnie Walker that we still don’t have here but I I don’t know we’ll see we’ll see as time goes on and if his role changes uh you know maybe they’re being differential to some of the guys who’d been here beforehand first but I don’t know we’ll we’ll see where it goes well remember three years ago John they signed cornet to the G league and I called it a steal and they reshaped his game and now look where he is I took these out I can’t hear you they’re out like for all the cornette jokes Luke cornette is a very good basketball player and he’s been a very important part of this team so I do think I do think your you hit your you know to the wrong the right it was the right take to hold on to because it has aged well even though people are always gonna hate on cornet I just have to put it out there to your credit I think he got I think he got lucky I I think it was less about basketball analytics and more and more sentiment he had a soft spot it was a Vibe it’s a Vibe thing yeah uh but anyway Vibes are pable so something to be said for Vibes I like that too anyway as we said the Celtics defeat the Nuggets uh7 103 in their first preseason game there’s a second one coming up on Sunday that one’s at 10 a.m. uh we will be back I’m not sure in what form but certainly Bobby and I coming in here and it’s a great appetizer heading into the one o’clock games uh for those NFL fans out there and of course uh sadly you may have to see me back on the air doing a Patriots postgame show talking about how game of all time the worst game of all time let’s put us out of our misery guys they’re actually are they favorites in that game they are they’re favored they’re favored by one and a half points and the over under I think is like seven um you know they’re favor they’re favored to win like a 53 game um so yeah we’ll see what happens there but anyway more basketball to come if you want though if you not just Celtics basketball WNBA basketball follow Noah if you don’t already follow her on Twitter and wait for her uh written reaction to tonight’s uh game between the sun why am I drawing a blank Noah the sun and the Minnesota LINK and the Minnesota links uh at I’m on a mission to convert Celtics fans to car by the Connecticut Sun so lock in it’s playoffs we’re almost in the finals so some high stage basketball know what at what point is Boston getting a team I hope the sun go to Boston but I don’t think I’m supposed to say that sitting in mgan Sun Arena but um I think Boston needs a team eventually it’s just a question of who’s gonna buy the Celtic that’s what we got possibility yeah that’s a possibility that it’s a a it’s a joint deal um that whoever buys the Celtics brings in a team maybe I mean I don’t know that the sun can coexists in Connecticut and in Boston that feels a little saturated to me but um maybe this maybe they buy the Connecticut Sun from the M hean drive I’m speculating here these are not Source but there’s a lot of things that I you think a Boston team would kill the sun because they would lose uh so much of the Massachusetts connection that’s what they said about the casinos yeah yeah I mean it’s NBC Boston streams both you know it would be tough there’s already I think a smaller fan base here than most other teams um but I’m lowering my voice because I’m I’m amidst them so well you’re right because you got a team in New York as well and where are you pulling from in Connecticut if you can’t do that but I mean I think I think the model there is what the type of the type of uh the type of crowds you get at uh at at Yukon games which was always consistently extremely um strong there and it wasn’t just students uh there was a lot from the community that were going to those games as well so Boston seems poised to support a team though and when you think about what the Red Sox have lost in the summer maybe there’s some opportunity there to pull in I’ve always said between whether it’s WNBA or if if if MLS ever got higher than being a fourth rate League um and then on Boston which is the killer I know but there’s such an opportunity there because of you know not just the Red Sox but baseball you know I’ve always thought baseball success so much relies on it running unopposed but with the wnba’s rise in popularity and obviously like the the the huge numbers that you get for younger generation flocking to international soccer there’s such an opportunity there to capture eyeballs but like yeah I think I think a WNBA team in Boston do really well anyway um another conversation for another time Noah might have just gotten herself banned from moan Sun Arena for the night for her comments we’ll see but anyway you can follow that WNBA action if you follow Noah she’ll have written work going up uh covering the game for S SP nation of course Bobby Manning will be talking and writing about the Celtics here on clns on our YouTube channel and over on clns media so check that out and please tune back in on Sunday for a double dip with the Celtics postgame show and then a crap ton of Patriots depressing Patriots who knows they might win it’s depressing even if they win that’s the thing um when they win 63 it’s whatever it is it’s not gonna you’re not going to feel better about the team on Sunday I’ll tell you that but you know it is what it is so we’ll see you all thank you again for tuning in uh we do welcome everybody back here Louise Judah Derek all the regulars Phil uh yeah D I saw you jumping in late that’s great Manila fun to have the fan back so we do appreciate you guys warp late late but you’re here thanks buddy um and we will see you on wait I need the outro don’t I there it is Garden report outro we’ll see you on Sunday take care everyone wait am’s got an outro for us I think no he doesn’t he said he was going to work on an outra he had a phenomenal game phenomenal forits out I I think it’s an option that did not sound like a chair it was a freaking chair it does sound like a chair
It’s that time of year! The Garden Report is BACK with the first postgame show of the 2024-25 Celtics season! Tune in for live, in-depth analysis from John Zannis, Bobby Manning, and Noa Dalzell as the Celtics finish up their first preseason match against the Nuggets in Abu Dhabi.
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20 Comments
Weāre so back.
I did not like Luke with the starters. Iām not gonna lie to you. I thought he looked clumsy, I donāt know. I still think weāre a little weak in that position but we will see what happens with Tillman and QUETA. I like Tillman a lot his knee just scares me. Hearing that it hurt him after every game last year is roughā¦ And knee injuries linger. I donāt quite understand why Lonnie didnāt play? Wouldnāt we want to get him some burn with our actual players to see how he fits? Some of the decisions made no sense to me like the rookies barely playing I think as preseason continues. They will get some burn, but I did want to see with the starters to see how that looks , because we thought preseason was going to be tryouts
Honestly, I think people are way too high on Tillman. I like him but his injuries scare me and like you said heās not super athletic I donāt know. I would love for NEEMY to just take that next step.
Need to see KP healthy and running with this team before i can make a full assessment butā¦ we didnt look terrible. I know its preseason but 60 threes is CRAZY lol. Ive always thought 40-50 is way too much but damn š with how good the jays are at driving/slashing i just dont understand why our coaches dont coach our facilitators to utilize that
Tillman has a Post up game. He has a little hook that I have not seen him take since heās gotten to Boston, but he was taking it in Memphis. Iād love to see some of that because then he would at least be a level score right now itās Can he hit a three and thatās it.
Iād like to see Al-queta
Itās like Joe knows who we want to watch play and just doesnāt play them. Watson, Baylor, Lonnie, those were the three players. I was most excited about Springer, but apparently he didnāt show up.
Might be wrong, but isnāt this Jordan Walshās second season?
Joe Mazulla should do everything to win right now otherwise that seat is going to get hit real quick trust me. He'll be gone in 2 yrs. Win right now and you are covered for the next 10 yrs. He needs to maximize Tatum (tell him to drive more to the basket).
White Matthew Williams Carol Martinez Maria
Tatums new shot is good. Very encouraging. Prichard looked great too.
Everyone wants this year 1rd pick to be the guy itās Jordan those arms go on forever he the guy
Weāre back muthas yeeha letās go back to back Celtics āļøāļøāļøš„š„š„
The Pritchard game.
Letās go baby! I think we have the slightest amount of room for a stay way ready crew member to get some real minutes this year. Excited
š Itās so hilarious how pepās always trying to say a player is thinking too much whn thy miss a couple shots. Dude dnt complain he just plays u fanatics are the ones who need to check ya temps lol, dude is an all around player who can score on all levels defend and get his teammates involved. Let him hoop
Josue! If you read this! Best of luck šŖ you the man
Nuggets are done. Their talent isnāt great and theyāre not that deep but thatās not the reason theyāre done. Itās because Jamal Murray isnāt the athlete he used to be. And this nuggets team needs athleticism.
Noa says something positive about Luke and her computer "crashes". Its a conspiracy
Nayeli Mountains