WEBVTT - How the Celtics Got to the Finals.

0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:09.200
<v Speaker 1>I mean, considering.

0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:15.880
<v Speaker 2>How much these two fan bases love me, you might

0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:21.280
<v Speaker 2>think this would be a finals that was an encapsulation

0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:27.400
<v Speaker 2>of a walking ol. No, nothing could be further from

0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:30.560
<v Speaker 2>the truth. I do not dread this. I love this.

0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:36.160
<v Speaker 2>I may have said I did say some mean things,

0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:40.600
<v Speaker 2>some nasty things, some slanderous things about Marcus Smart. I

0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:42.400
<v Speaker 2>said he's not a real point I mean, I said,

0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:44.120
<v Speaker 2>both these guys are a real point guards.

0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:44.920
<v Speaker 1>Let's be honest.

0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:51.000
<v Speaker 2>I said Marcus Smart was not a capable point guard

0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:55.160
<v Speaker 2>for this team. I said that. I said, I don't

0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:57.360
<v Speaker 2>care if he's a heart and the soul. This man

0:00:57.440 --> 0:00:59.080
<v Speaker 2>chucks a million shots.

0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:00.160
<v Speaker 1>And he still does.

0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.120
<v Speaker 2>He's still I mean, truthfully, he still does. He's lost

0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:06.120
<v Speaker 2>them some games by doing that. But let's face that.

0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:07.400
<v Speaker 2>Let's face the truth.

0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:10.520
<v Speaker 1>Like he might be the perfect point guard for this team.

0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:12.320
<v Speaker 1>It might not have been.

0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:17.760
<v Speaker 2>Marcus Smart that made Marcus Smart ineffective. It might have

0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:22.480
<v Speaker 2>just been Brad Stevens, you know, and like when he

0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:25.640
<v Speaker 2>was in charge. Trust me, I wasn't the only one

0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:29.440
<v Speaker 2>saying this about Marcus Smart. Like they were saying this

0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:33.120
<v Speaker 2>about Marcus Smart. They rolled out like fifteen different point

0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:34.360
<v Speaker 2>guards over.

0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:37.959
<v Speaker 1>While Marcus Smart was on the team. Over Marcus Smart.

0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:39.800
<v Speaker 1>This team went one.

0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:43.520
<v Speaker 2>Hundred and eleven games over the past two seasons as

0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:50.000
<v Speaker 2>a five hundred team before they finally got good. How

0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:54.360
<v Speaker 2>they got to this point from being a team with

0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:58.440
<v Speaker 2>a wonky roster that made no damn sense, with no

0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:05.520
<v Speaker 2>point guard and a GM that no one trusted, and

0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:09.840
<v Speaker 2>two wings that kind of seemed the same that didn't

0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:14.639
<v Speaker 2>want to pass to anyone else, including each other. Like

0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:21.040
<v Speaker 2>to this is pretty astounding given that the roster constructions

0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:22.320
<v Speaker 2>largely the same.

0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:25.400
<v Speaker 1>So let's break it down.

0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:31.119
<v Speaker 2>Celtics initially turned the corner on defense on November third

0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:34.600
<v Speaker 2>of this year after Marcus Smart went on a rampage

0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:36.639
<v Speaker 2>in the media and said, like these men, these men

0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:40.400
<v Speaker 2>don't pass the ball like this man, Jalen Brown, don't

0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:44.399
<v Speaker 2>pass nobody the ball. And everyone's like, oh, Marcus Smart

0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:46.960
<v Speaker 2>shouldn't have said that. Oh no, there's like first.

0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:50.080
<v Speaker 1>Take Chris, you know Haynes is doing reporting on it.

0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:52.360
<v Speaker 2>You have undisputed I mean it was on every show,

0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:56.200
<v Speaker 2>like Mark, should Marcus Smart have laid out air out

0:02:56.320 --> 0:03:01.360
<v Speaker 2>his team's dirty laundry in the met or should he

0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:05.560
<v Speaker 2>have handled that internally? I mean it worked, didn't it.

0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:09.279
<v Speaker 2>I mean it caused some friction, but they really refocused

0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:13.080
<v Speaker 2>again after the first Knicks loss on January sixth.

0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:15.240
<v Speaker 1>Since that date.

0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:20.480
<v Speaker 2>January sixth, the Celtics are number one in net rating,

0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:26.240
<v Speaker 2>number one in defensive rating, and number eight in offensive rating.

0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:30.880
<v Speaker 2>In twenty twenty to twenty twenty one, the season was

0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:34.480
<v Speaker 2>a mess. As we know they finished the year. If

0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:38.000
<v Speaker 2>you're not remembering, because it's hard right when teams are

0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:41.440
<v Speaker 2>doing well to remember that, Like because I went on

0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:47.160
<v Speaker 2>Reddit today, Yeah, from a year ago, it's just.

0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:51.400
<v Speaker 1>Like if I could turn back down, so I did.

0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:52.960
<v Speaker 2>I was like, what were they saying? What were the

0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:55.480
<v Speaker 2>hardcore fans saying a year ago? What were they saying

0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:57.640
<v Speaker 2>five months ago? It's not good in the streets. There's

0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:00.680
<v Speaker 2>blood in the streets there. During that time period, they

0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:05.680
<v Speaker 2>went thirty six and thirty six, thirty six and thirty six.

0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:09.000
<v Speaker 2>They barely made the playoffs. They had to squeak their

0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:12.400
<v Speaker 2>way in to play the nets and have a gentleman's sweep.

0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:13.720
<v Speaker 2>They were supposed to be a player.

0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:14.800
<v Speaker 1>I think they got no.

0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:18.040
<v Speaker 2>They were a play and team that made it to

0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:22.200
<v Speaker 2>the eight seed, could not figure out how to close

0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:26.120
<v Speaker 2>out games. Tatum and Brown hurt a lot. They gave up.

0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:28.640
<v Speaker 2>I had a running to I swear to God, I

0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:32.120
<v Speaker 2>swear on my mom's life. I had a whiteboard that

0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:38.000
<v Speaker 2>I wrote on solely tallying how many times the Celtics

0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:42.479
<v Speaker 2>blew ten point or more leads. I believe it was

0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:47.080
<v Speaker 2>up to forty forty games. It was over thirty eight.

0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:50.039
<v Speaker 2>I remember seeing in my mind's eye of the whiteboard

0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:52.920
<v Speaker 2>of thirty eight with big eye emojis.

0:04:52.920 --> 0:04:56.000
<v Speaker 1>Next it was not good. And then I said, like,

0:04:58.040 --> 0:04:58.520
<v Speaker 1>what do you do.

0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:01.480
<v Speaker 2>Gotta move them, Gotta move Brown, Gotta move Jayson Tatum

0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:05.120
<v Speaker 2>one of them. Jalen is probably a lesser version. Get

0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:07.280
<v Speaker 2>rid of him, get rid of Danny, which they did,

0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:10.080
<v Speaker 2>get rid of Brad Stevens, which they did, get rid

0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:13.279
<v Speaker 2>of Fourgner which they did, get rid of Kemba. Wish

0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:14.760
<v Speaker 2>they did a lot of the things that I had

0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:18.480
<v Speaker 2>in store. They did, Thank God. I said they needed

0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:20.800
<v Speaker 2>a PJ. Tucker, and I couldn't have been more right.

0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:23.160
<v Speaker 2>They went out and got Al Horford leader of the

0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:25.240
<v Speaker 2>team when they went to the Eastern Conference finals the

0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:28.479
<v Speaker 2>last time around. Al Horford is beloved in Boston, and

0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.760
<v Speaker 2>they got him for a song. I don't think they

0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:33.240
<v Speaker 2>had to give up much to get him. After he

0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:36.160
<v Speaker 2>was at the rehab factory that is the Oklahoma City

0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:39.280
<v Speaker 2>Thunder and most of all, I was like, Yo, they

0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:43.599
<v Speaker 2>need also a new coach. This Brad Stevens guy, great

0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:48.400
<v Speaker 2>college coach. He's not putting any dog in these men. Well,

0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:51.320
<v Speaker 2>I'm Jason Tatum looking at you like Butler. I don't

0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:54.520
<v Speaker 2>get come on, You're not drawing me up anything that's

0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:57.400
<v Speaker 2>gonna motivate me. He's soft spoken. What is he gonna

0:05:57.440 --> 0:06:00.479
<v Speaker 2>fucking say? When the chips are down.

0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:04.240
<v Speaker 1>He's like, all right, and they don't want to see us.

0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:07.200
<v Speaker 2>No, He's like, all right, guys, we're gonna we're gonna

0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:11.599
<v Speaker 2>do this. We're gonna execute effectively. We're gonna pass the ball.

0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:17.039
<v Speaker 2>Uh the season three, one two, No, like they needed

0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:20.120
<v Speaker 2>a guy from the culture for the culture about putting

0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:23.520
<v Speaker 2>accountability into this team and reckon shop if they don't

0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:23.760
<v Speaker 2>do it.

0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:24.360
<v Speaker 1>And he did.

0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:28.320
<v Speaker 2>He came in and he bullied and buried his own

0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:31.880
<v Speaker 2>boss on national television at his first day of work

0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:36.560
<v Speaker 2>at the press conference, Sorry Brad, as Brad sitting right

0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:39.400
<v Speaker 2>next to him, Sorry Brad. This team was soft in

0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:42.800
<v Speaker 2>under their last regime. What do you mean, Like he's

0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:45.279
<v Speaker 2>sitting right next to you, They're not gonna be soft

0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:45.520
<v Speaker 2>with me.

0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:46.960
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna toughen them up.

0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:50.520
<v Speaker 2>My co host I offered to, uh watch his son,

0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:54.839
<v Speaker 2>and I said, uh, I'll teach Nathan how to be tough.

0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:56.320
<v Speaker 2>And he was like, I don't know what that means,

0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:58.640
<v Speaker 2>but that sounds scary. And that's what I may. Yudoka

0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:01.960
<v Speaker 2>did like, I'm gonna bury you in the media if

0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:05.719
<v Speaker 2>you don't do what you're supposed to do, and that's

0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:09.679
<v Speaker 2>what he did, Ding ding ding three for three. Last

0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:13.360
<v Speaker 2>season ended, they blew up Danny and she's gone. He retired,

0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:15.600
<v Speaker 2>quote unquote, then he went to Utah, So was it

0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:16.360
<v Speaker 2>a retirement. No.

0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:19.400
<v Speaker 1>Then they ended up firing Brad Stevens, who ended.

0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:21.360
<v Speaker 2>Up getting a promotion. Was it really a promotion or

0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:25.360
<v Speaker 2>was it firing? Probably just the latter. They made changes

0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:28.920
<v Speaker 2>to the roster. As I said, nobody thought that the

0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:32.200
<v Speaker 2>Jays could make it work, but the head coaching situation

0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:35.840
<v Speaker 2>was the connective tissue. Even at the halfway point this year,

0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:39.800
<v Speaker 2>Boston was twenty and twenty one, seemingly in the exact

0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:42.880
<v Speaker 2>same spot, even slightly worse. Than they were the year before,

0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:44.960
<v Speaker 2>where they barely made the play tournament. They were in

0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:47.920
<v Speaker 2>the same spot they were in the eleven seed. The

0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:51.880
<v Speaker 2>Celtics had a horrible first half of the year. People

0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:55.960
<v Speaker 2>on Reddit, because I went on Reddit today, they were mad.

0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:57.280
<v Speaker 1>They were very mad.

0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:00.160
<v Speaker 2>They had just come off of blowing a twenty five

0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:01.560
<v Speaker 2>point lead to the Knicks.

0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:04.520
<v Speaker 1>The Knicks Evan Fournier.

0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:09.520
<v Speaker 2>Went absolutely bananas four No had forty one points in

0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:10.200
<v Speaker 2>that game.

0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:13.200
<v Speaker 1>And then when e May came in and he did

0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:13.800
<v Speaker 1>what we said.

0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:16.000
<v Speaker 2>He he said he was gonna do hold him accountable,

0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:18.920
<v Speaker 2>have him not be soft pass the ball, and he

0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:21.440
<v Speaker 2>said this repetitive result.

0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:22.360
<v Speaker 1>This is happening.

0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:24.960
<v Speaker 2>Either we're gonna make some adjustments and get tired of it,

0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:28.280
<v Speaker 2>or it's gonna keep happening. We need leadership, somebody that

0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:31.160
<v Speaker 2>can calm us down, not get rattled when everything starts

0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:33.400
<v Speaker 2>to go a little south and I think it's snowballs

0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:36.040
<v Speaker 2>between our guys, or do I have to stop all

0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:38.240
<v Speaker 2>of our momentum and pace and call a play.

0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:39.240
<v Speaker 1>Do I need to do that?

0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:43.120
<v Speaker 2>It's obviously some kind of lack of mental toughness there,

0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:45.640
<v Speaker 2>and something goes a little bad, we all start dropping

0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:47.760
<v Speaker 2>our head and everybody adds to it instead of stepping

0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:52.560
<v Speaker 2>up and calming us down. Whoa that, my friends, is

0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:59.080
<v Speaker 2>an all encompassing from top to bottom, stars to role players.

0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:03.880
<v Speaker 2>This team is soft. This team isn't getting it done.

0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:07.440
<v Speaker 2>Either they're gonna wake up and say we're not gonna

0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:08.520
<v Speaker 2>take it, or.

0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:10.360
<v Speaker 1>They're gonna keep getting their ass beat. I don't know.

0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:12.360
<v Speaker 1>It's not up to me. It's not up to me.

0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:14.720
<v Speaker 1>I can only tell him so much. And he kept.

0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:17.439
<v Speaker 2>Burying them and burying him, and I'm like, this coach

0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.760
<v Speaker 2>is gonna get fired, Like this coach isn't long.

0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:22.080
<v Speaker 1>For the situation.

0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:29.000
<v Speaker 2>Reddit's talking about firing him too, and everyone no exceptions,

0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:34.839
<v Speaker 2>E may selfish. Their mental toughness isn't working. Like I said,

0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:38.160
<v Speaker 2>people were calling emy Udoka. Is this guy just a

0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:40.880
<v Speaker 2>younger doc rivers who can't call plays, like doesn't understand

0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:42.839
<v Speaker 2>x's and o's. Like he's a nice guy to look at,

0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:44.720
<v Speaker 2>seems like he's got the right things.

0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:45.960
<v Speaker 1>To say, and this sucks.

0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:50.679
<v Speaker 2>Fast forward into the playoffs and boy, I went to

0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:53.080
<v Speaker 2>Reddit from today, I went to read it from a

0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:57.160
<v Speaker 2>month ago, and it's like emy Udoka coaching circles around

0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:02.600
<v Speaker 2>everybody else. Emy Udoka clearly out coached every single opponent

0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:06.959
<v Speaker 2>in his way. Steve Nash that's a rap. Budenholzer obviously

0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:13.200
<v Speaker 2>a rap. And yes, even Eric Spolstra. They've beaten Durant, Jannie,

0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:14.480
<v Speaker 2>Jimmy Butler.

0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:16.400
<v Speaker 1>So what changed?

0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:18.679
<v Speaker 2>How the hell is this Boston Celtics team with very

0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:21.840
<v Speaker 2>little changes to the roster do this. I think the

0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:24.240
<v Speaker 2>interesting thing about the Celtics and the Warriors is they

0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:25.600
<v Speaker 2>just didn't really change the core.

0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:27.800
<v Speaker 1>They found role players that slotted.

0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:30.240
<v Speaker 2>Into the identity that they needed and got rid of

0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:33.559
<v Speaker 2>the dead weight guys that didn't fit into the identity

0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:36.080
<v Speaker 2>with playing defense, guys that couldn't play in the identity

0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:39.800
<v Speaker 2>of shooting threes open ones at that. Evan Fourgne gone,

0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:42.760
<v Speaker 2>Kevin Walker gone, Tristan Thompson gone. Do you think those

0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:46.400
<v Speaker 2>guys can play defense one through five? Switch on defense? Hell? No,

0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:49.000
<v Speaker 2>you think they can hit an open Tristan Thompson can

0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:49.760
<v Speaker 2>hit an open three?

0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:51.880
<v Speaker 1>Stop that they brought in?

0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:54.839
<v Speaker 2>Now Horford Josh Richardson, who they promptly got rid of

0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:57.960
<v Speaker 2>because he couldn't play three, and d Canter, who they

0:10:58.000 --> 0:10:59.960
<v Speaker 2>promptly got rid of, shrewder them.

0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:01.360
<v Speaker 1>They promptly got rid of him as.

0:11:01.280 --> 0:11:07.320
<v Speaker 2>Well, bringing in Derek White, especially the fact that Derek

0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:10.600
<v Speaker 2>White fitt in as that san Antonio san Antonio system,

0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:13.200
<v Speaker 2>guys that would be the weak link when switching on

0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:15.320
<v Speaker 2>defense are guys that were a week link on offense

0:11:15.360 --> 0:11:17.760
<v Speaker 2>had to go and they had to strengthen the role

0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:21.439
<v Speaker 2>players the core of this roster, Smart Tatum, Brown to

0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:25.599
<v Speaker 2>Williams unchanged. Here's how they resurrected the season in the

0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:29.280
<v Speaker 2>last forty one games. Plan From the beginning, e May's

0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:33.080
<v Speaker 2>plan centered around making Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown playmakers

0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:36.680
<v Speaker 2>and then creating a dominant defense. Took a bit of

0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.080
<v Speaker 2>time for the team to learn to buy into the

0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:42.600
<v Speaker 2>to the ways of the world, to execute Emy's defensive

0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:46.839
<v Speaker 2>scheme consistently, and to be honest, getting rid of guys

0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:51.319
<v Speaker 2>that were like Richard shouldn't a shreder and adding another defensive,

0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:56.080
<v Speaker 2>first pass, first guard forward into Derek White helped a ton.

0:11:56.640 --> 0:11:58.839
<v Speaker 2>Mark Smart came back from injury, and all of a

0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:03.160
<v Speaker 2>sudden it coincided with im being like, yeah, I'm done

0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:04.600
<v Speaker 2>trying other options.

0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:07.280
<v Speaker 1>It's your team. Marcus like, we're not gonna have you

0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:09.080
<v Speaker 1>come off the bench. Anymore. We paid you.

0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:12.680
<v Speaker 2>We've rolled out Terry Rozier, We've rolled out Kemba, We've

0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:15.800
<v Speaker 2>rolled out Kyrie. None of these guys, they all want

0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:17.760
<v Speaker 2>to get theirs. You don't care about that as much.

0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:20.959
<v Speaker 2>Just play point guard. You're our point guard. We're leaning

0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:23.080
<v Speaker 2>all into you. And that's what it's gonna be. He's

0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:26.360
<v Speaker 2>been asking for that responsibility, he's been shouting for that,

0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:28.880
<v Speaker 2>he's been talking about it in the media. Marcus Smart,

0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:31.319
<v Speaker 2>And now you've got it, Marcus. Then he gets Defensive

0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:33.760
<v Speaker 2>Player of the Year and this team goes on a

0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:38.040
<v Speaker 2>rocket ship. Emy then shifted time lord into the basketball

0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.360
<v Speaker 2>equivalent of a free safety, where he's gonna create chaos

0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:44.959
<v Speaker 2>of the court, just hunting down shooters, blocking shots from everywhere.

0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:47.960
<v Speaker 2>Not just me, but a lot of other players thought

0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:50.160
<v Speaker 2>he was the best defensive player, not only on the

0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:52.560
<v Speaker 2>Celtics but in the entire NBA, given that he had

0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:56.920
<v Speaker 2>the most amount of blocks every single place on the court, corner, three's,

0:12:57.040 --> 0:13:02.400
<v Speaker 2>in the paint, wherever. And then his injury hurt the team,

0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:04.440
<v Speaker 2>but when he came back, that gave them the boost

0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:08.840
<v Speaker 2>that they needed. They practiced constantly and consistently on switching

0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:11.200
<v Speaker 2>on defense, to the point that they switched on defense

0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:13.959
<v Speaker 2>more than any other team in the NBA, which.

0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:15.600
<v Speaker 1>Allowed them to be able to.

0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:21.760
<v Speaker 2>They had their defensive rotations work efficiently and optimally without

0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:24.560
<v Speaker 2>Emay having to run and call a time out when

0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:28.120
<v Speaker 2>a run starts. And then this team became resilient overnight.

0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:29.960
<v Speaker 2>It was like all of a sudden, they woke up

0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:31.600
<v Speaker 2>and they were like, you know what, We're tired of

0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:34.480
<v Speaker 2>getting beaten when we're up, Like, we're just gonna We're

0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:35.840
<v Speaker 2>just gonna close out games now.

0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:37.000
<v Speaker 1>And that's what they've done.

0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.439
<v Speaker 2>From being just five hundred clutch games, which are games

0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:42.480
<v Speaker 2>decided by five points there less. Earlier in the year,

0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:46.000
<v Speaker 2>they won two game sevens on the road on the road,

0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:50.400
<v Speaker 2>and Emey said, to get to this point, we had

0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:52.360
<v Speaker 2>to flip the switch and turn it around.

0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:53.319
<v Speaker 1>In a lot of ways.

0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:57.000
<v Speaker 2>Guys were always receptive to coaching, to being coached hard,

0:13:57.040 --> 0:13:59.280
<v Speaker 2>to being pushed and being asked to do more. That

0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:02.760
<v Speaker 2>shows the care of our group young guys that really

0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:04.800
<v Speaker 2>want to be pushed to grow and take the next step.

0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.160
<v Speaker 2>They've all been here and to get to the championship

0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:09.880
<v Speaker 2>is obviously the next step. But our focus is now

0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:14.840
<v Speaker 2>getting four more finished fifty one and thirty one, the

0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:19.200
<v Speaker 2>best best record ever ever for a team under five

0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:20.680
<v Speaker 2>hundred at the halfway point.

0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:22.400
<v Speaker 1>Left for dead.

0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:25.440
<v Speaker 2>Only time ever a team has made it to the

0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:29.760
<v Speaker 2>finals after being less than five hundred at the halfway point.

0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:30.520
<v Speaker 1>Left for dead.

0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:32.960
<v Speaker 2>And the only like everyone was like, oh yeah, this

0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:35.960
<v Speaker 2>team fucking sucks, like they're just exact same and the

0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:39.440
<v Speaker 2>only one that seemed to believe in the Celtics eme Udoka.

0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:42.560
<v Speaker 2>And now he's gonna probably win Coach of the Year

0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:45.480
<v Speaker 2>next year. He's been rewarded for his patients. I would

0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:47.480
<v Speaker 2>not be surprised if he didn't get a good extension

0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.600
<v Speaker 2>as soon as he was eligible for one. This team's

0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:53.200
<v Speaker 2>not only been good, they've been the best team in

0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:57.120
<v Speaker 2>the NBA hands down, with a bunch of long, athletic,

0:14:57.520 --> 0:15:01.120
<v Speaker 2>strong guys who can defend every and be able to

0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:04.360
<v Speaker 2>shoot from almost everywhere. There's no fluke that they've made

0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:07.400
<v Speaker 2>the finals and now in e Ma's first year, they're

0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:11.360
<v Speaker 2>a team that reflects not only his serious, sober demeanor,

0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:14.720
<v Speaker 2>but a team with a mean streak and a chip

0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.600
<v Speaker 2>on its shoulder, just like imy Udoka, which down the

0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:20.600
<v Speaker 2>road we will get into his journey. But because if

0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:23.200
<v Speaker 2>you haven't gone to the Wikipedia machine or the Google machine,

0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:27.520
<v Speaker 2>my guy from my neighborhood, imay Udoka, is as gritty

0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:30.520
<v Speaker 2>and resilient and as dogged as they come in