WEBVTT - What's Wright - Nick Wright reacts to Knicks EPIC comeback vs. Celtics, Jayson Tatum DISAPPEARING, Nuggets-Thunder 0:00:01.080 --> 0:00:03.480 Welcome in. What's drive in the Great episode three twenty 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:09.280 nine on a busy day and after an absolutely insane 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:13.600 for my money, last night was kind of the perfect 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:18.120 night of playoff basketball because we had one all time 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:20.840 game with an all time comeback and one game that 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:23.800 was over at halftime, so I finally could get some sleep. 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:27.520 Sweet Jesus man, I have been a zombie the last month. 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:30.960 These games every single night, they're all good. It feels 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:34.200 like no lead is safe. But the Oklahoma City lead 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:36.600 over Denver, I was like, that one feels safe. So 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:39.400 I'm gonna be totally honest with you. I didn't watch 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:42.280 second half of that game. I've been locked into everything 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:46.040 that one, went to bed early, felt good about it. Demons, 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:48.960 welcome in. I applaud that you have not taken the 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:54.680 Celtics jersey down. They maybe, by the way, might ask 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:56.240 you to put it on and see if you can 0:00:56.280 --> 0:00:58.280 give them a good six minutes off the bench, because 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:01.400 you'll at least go to the basket and so necessary. 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:06.520 That would be necessary. Also, while the West Coast is 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:09.440 a good place in theory to be a sports fan, 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:13.840 nights like last night kind of a bummer because by 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.959 seven pm, you're just evenings ruined. Like you could have 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:20.319 a whole, you know, nice night in front of you, 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:25.600 but four fifteen start, seven o'clock finish, and it's like, okay, 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:28.280 well that sucked. So we'll get to all of that. 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:31.480 We're going to spend a lot of time on Nick 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:34.040 Celtics and then the other things. But first, what missed 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:37.920 the cut? A Sue Bird has become the USA Basketball 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:42.680 Managing director for the women's national team. Rob Blinka got 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:47.200 one vote for Executive of the Year. By the way, 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:49.160 I got no problem with that. Answering the phone is 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:54.120 answering the phone. An NBA Draft lottery is Monday. The 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:56.040 producers want me to tell you who I want to 0:01:56.080 --> 0:02:01.240 win the Cooper Flag Sweepstakes. Honestly, I want Miami to 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:04.840 win it. I feel like Jimmy Butler did them dirty 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:08.640 and I would like to see the Miami Oh wait, 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:12.360 I'm an idiot. I'm a total idiot. The Miami Heat 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:14.480 can't win it. They could have at the end of 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:18.880 the regular season, but since they made the playoffs, yeah, 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:22.400 they they actually can't win it. So of the teams 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:26.360 that can actually win it, I know I had said, 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:32.480 I guess my answer because yeah, because Miami beat Atlanta 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:38.840 to get to get No, I don't want him to 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:42.680 be with these silly teams. I certainly don't want Dallas 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:46.280 to win it. I don't know Portland. Portland could be fun. 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:48.680 They're trying to I don't want the Spurs to win. 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:53.680 It doesn't seem fair. The the most fun one is Philly. 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:56.600 Philly just gets a total Paul George get out of 0:02:56.680 --> 0:02:59.360 jail free card if they win it. But okay, let's 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:01.800 get to the act news of the day, Demons, which 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:03.799 is the fact that your team stinks. 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:07.680 Uh yeah, so yesterday Game two pretty much a carbon 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.919 copy of Game one. The Knicks pull off another twenty 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:12.680 point comeback in the Celtics lose. 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:17.160 That's I don't I don't know what. 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:19.720 To say here. It's we're still relying on the three. 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:24.880 Seems like we didn't get less to twenty less, but 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:27.520 still we're taking threes in spots where it's just like, 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:29.080 go and get a bucket increased. 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:32.400 You didn't love the Jason Tatum up seven. 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:37.480 Jalen was on the ground, on the ground, Josh Harratt 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:42.800 fifteen feet away. Yeah, how do you feel about the 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:45.400 series or do you want me to go in China. 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:47.320 Oh we can. I mean I'll go, and then we 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:52.240 can go back and forth. The Knicks can win, and 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:58.920 they the Knicks deserve, they deserve to be the story. 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:03.560 But they are not the story. The Knicks deserve to 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:07.160 have us talking about how they have gone to Boston. 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:10.840 They have been down twenty points in the second half 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:16.520 in both of these games. They have not played great, honestly, 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:22.919 in either game. Yesterday, Michale Bridges is terrible for the 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:27.880 first three quarters before being awesome. Jalen Brunson is six 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:30.960 of nineteen in the game. With a few minutes left 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:35.880 in the game, he had made four shots and it's 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:37.840 not like he was getting He had made four shots 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:41.760 and got into the free throw line once and they 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:45.240 found a way to win. And they deserve credit for that. 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:49.320 But the store and we will I promise we'll spend 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:51.240 a lot of time on the Knicks, but the story 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:56.240 is Boston. The next story is about what I said 0:04:56.839 --> 0:05:01.880 on Tuesday, Planning for this moment meant for more than 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:08.960 a year, and they're being a lot of similarities to 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:13.080 what how Minnesota was able to beat Denver to what 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:17.440 we are seeing with the Knicks and the Celtics. Let's 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:24.680 table those and we will get to those shortly, because 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:30.839 the story really is the defending champs falling apart in 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:36.120 real time, physically and mentally. And now let me make 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:42.039 this clear. I don't think it's over. I don't think like, oh, 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:47.840 no chance the Celtics come back. The Celtics are talented 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:51.479 enough and good enough obviously to win four out of 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:55.039 five against New York. In fact, most people thought they 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:57.680 were going to win four out of five against New York. 0:05:57.880 --> 0:05:59.760 They just thought it was gonna be the first five games. 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:06.000 This is gonna be a nice, friendly, gentleman sweep. But 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:11.320 we are now here. Everyone's gonna focus on the three 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:15.960 point variants, and I get it. Twenty five of one 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:20.520 hundred from three fifteen of sixty in Game one, the 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:25.360 exact same percentage in Game two, except they were ten 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:32.159 of forty. I actually don't think that is that might 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:36.880 be the biggest reason they're down. I don't think that 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:40.960 is the biggest story surrounding them being down. The biggest 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:49.159 story surrounding them being down is Jason Tatum. And we 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:54.599 gave him all his flowers and all the credit for 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:58.760 what was, without a doubt at least to my eye, 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:03.039 the best regul season of his career. I understand he 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:06.560 didn't even have He wasn't the best numbers. He's averaged 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:09.600 almost exactly this many points. He's averaged twenty six point 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:11.520 eight or twenty six point nine points three of the 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:15.480 last four years his you know, his numbers in the 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:18.000 one year he did and he averaged thirty. His numbers 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:21.320 have been consistent, His field goal percentage have been consistent. 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:25.000 And it wasn't that he played more games. It was 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:29.160 just this felt like the best Tatum year because you 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:32.240 didn't get a great year from Jalen Brown by his standards, 0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:37.160 Horford's a year or older. You saw some real deterioration 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:41.080 from Drew Holliday over the course of the year. And 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:45.480 yet Tatum answered the bell on both ends of the 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:49.640 court every night. And and this is the key piece, 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:52.200 not the key, but one of the key pieces of it. 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:57.800 Responded from what was a really weird few months for 0:07:57.920 --> 0:08:04.120 him where he finally wins a championship, but he's not 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:09.080 the conference finals MVP. He's not the finals MVP. He 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:13.200 actually plays some of his worst basketball of the season 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:19.480 last year in the biggest games, most notably those two series, 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:22.000 the Conference finals in NBA Finals. Still it's not like 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:26.120 he was bad, but he just dropped a level that 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:32.000 then was compounded by the fact that Steve Kerr, who 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:38.600 obviously is at despite what lunatic Warrior fans would try 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:42.400 to tell you, Steve Kerr, who obviously is one of 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:46.640 the best and smartest basketball minds we have. Steve Kerr 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:51.720 saw Jason Tatum in the Olympics and said, can't use you. Sorry, 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:55.240 would love to, but actually you're not one of our 0:08:55.280 --> 0:09:00.360 eight best. And he responded to all of that with 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:06.120 a year where he had an argument he was the 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:10.600 third best player in the league and where there was 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:14.959 no argument whatsoever he was one of the four best 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:22.000 players in the league. And for that to then and 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:26.040 then let me add another piece to it. After a 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:30.240 kind of rocky game one of the playoffs, but who cared, 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:36.000 they won, it was easy where he got hurt. He 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:42.720 then came back after missing a game, averaging thirty six, 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:49.000 eleven and six the rest of the series. It's like, 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:55.160 holy shit, Jase, this extra level that Bill Simmons has 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:59.760 been swearing on his children exists for years. For Jason 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:06.160 take we're seeing it. And then in back to back games, 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:12.199 he is twelve of forty two from the field. He 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:16.760 is five of twenty from three. He is a total 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:22.680 and complete non factor in the fourth quarter of these games. 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:28.480 The only play he made last night was when the 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:31.440 Knicks screwed up a switch and he got a wide 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:38.520 open dunk. And now, listen, I'll just tell you what 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:41.360 I said to Kevin Wilds when I facetimed him yesterday. 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:45.520 And I know this is going to sound unfair, but 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:51.320 it's just how I feel. And it's not prisoner of 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:57.920 the moment, because I have felt this way about Tatum forever. 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:02.679 He's an excellent player. But what I said to Wilds 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:04.440 is I don't care if the Celtics win the next 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:06.880 three championships, He's never going to be the best player 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:10.200 in the league. That guy is not the best player 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:14.760 in the league. And I don't I don't even think 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:18.520 the reason I said that to Wilds is because he 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:23.640 keeps trying to force the conversation of Jason Tatum's going 0:11:23.720 --> 0:11:28.840 to force us into some really tricky conversations. What do 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:32.760 we do with the twenty seven year old with two 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:36.440 rings and four first team All nbas and all of 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:41.040 this what does that mean for where he is historically? 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.600 And my answer to that is Tatum is an excellent player. 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:51.479 He is not yet in the We need to evaluate 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:56.240 his historical greatness level. And I don't know that he 0:11:56.360 --> 0:12:01.960 is going to be in that conversation. There is and 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:05.120 I can't put my finger on it, but there's something 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:06.079 that's just not there. 0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:10.520 I think it's a little tight in big spots, is 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:15.280 what it seems like to me watching the games. 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:20.280 It feels to me like if his three isn't falling, 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:25.840 it knocks him off the rest of his game. And 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:30.320 what is And here is the Celtics piece. And I 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:33.760 just did Lebotard Show, and this is the point I 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:43.360 was trying to make the Celtics bum three strategy over 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:48.080 the long haul. Obviously, it's just a smart mathematical strategy. 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:54.720 As sample sizes get smaller, you put yourself more at 0:12:54.840 --> 0:13:01.040 you know, the mercy of the variants, it's you know, 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:06.480 the team that really originated this strategy was Darryl Moury's Rockets. 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:14.040 But here's why. For Daryl Morey's Rockets it made total sense. 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:22.080 The team they were trying to beat, the KDI STEPH Warriors, 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:29.600 was flatly better than them, so they needed to shake 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:34.480 up the snow globe and add some damn variants because 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:38.720 if we just go go to the middle of the 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:45.079 ring and trade jabs, we got no shot. So instead 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:50.319 we're gonna throw some wild haymakers and risk getting knocked 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:56.520 out because that's our chance. This strategy for the Celtics 0:13:56.520 --> 0:14:01.720 maybe wouldn't make sense if this were the NBA Finals 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:07.280 against Oklahoma City and they feel like they're better than us. 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:12.000 All year long, they've been better, they have the better resume, 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:16.680 they they're best players, better than our best player. They're 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:22.240 better than us, So let's add some uncertainty to it. 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:27.320 Up twenty points in the second half against the New 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:32.920 York Knicks. The last thing you want is to add uncertainty. 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:43.520 It's it's an insane It's not an insane way to play. 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:48.440 It's insane demande not to adjust, yeah, and not to 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:54.400 have It's a team, it's a football team that their 0:14:54.480 --> 0:15:02.240 identity is chucking it deep and up ten in the 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:07.640 fourth quarter. They refuse to run the ball that and 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:14.040 here's the other piece of it. You've got Jason Tatum. 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:19.520 He's six' eight, it's an amazing shape. He can get 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:29.240 to the hoop, and it is it is stubbornness that 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:34.920 at this point might cost him their title defense to 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:39.800 lose both. And it's the first twenty point lead. I 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:43.840 said it Tuesday. The Knicks made that a game faster 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:47.200 than any team I can remember. It was twenty points, 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.640 Boston up by twenty with five and a half left 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:53.000 in the third, and it was a six point game 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:56.480 with a minute left in the third. So the Knicks 0:15:56.560 --> 0:16:01.480 just in the span of ten possessions made it a game. Again. 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:08.560 Yesterday was different in that, yes, it was twenty and 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:13.360 then the Knicks chipped away, but was go ahead. 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.240 We were holding it like we stayed out in front, 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:18.480 in front for a minute and we just kept shooting 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:20.560 the three, and they just kept chipping it away. 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:31.400 It was fourteen with seven minutes left. And so I 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.680 if you look at the Celtics fourth quarter shot chart, 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:38.080 they did you know, they didn't just shoot threes. It 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:41.440 wasn't the third quarter in Game three. But there were 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:48.000 just these moments, most notably was the one Wilds took 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:54.280 the picture of. But it is it's a jarring image 0:16:55.400 --> 0:17:01.080 where it is eighty six seventy seven. Is that I 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:03.440 want to make sure I have it. I think it's 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:07.480 yeah or the Let me try to pull out. I 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:13.280 should just pull up Wild's tweet because it is. It's 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:19.240 a wild decision by it's eighty six seventy nine. Pardon me. 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:25.840 And I don't know why this isn't showing me that, 0:17:25.960 --> 0:17:30.520 but regardless, don't worry about it. Oh, here's why, because 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:32.399 it wasn't. I was like, I thought it was eighty 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:36.160 six because the score. Remember, and here's a sneaky important 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:37.719 part of the game that will be forgotten, the history. 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:43.240 The Knicks got an extra point during a time out 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:46.919 because they had called a Jalen Brunson three two and 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:51.840 then they fixed it. Oh, Michale Bridges, pardon me. And 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:56.880 so the score the scoreboard says eighty six seventy nine, 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:02.520 but it was actually eighty six eighty and and Derek 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:07.920 White misses a three. Michale Bridges then goes down misses 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:13.840 a three, and Josh Hart tries to save it and 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:17.879 starts the fast break, and all of a sudden and 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:21.800 we can put the image up. Jason Tatum finds himself 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:30.159 in this position. I don't think demon's a I like that. 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:35.400 I well, I don't think I like shooting that three. 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:41.879 If I'm the team trailing by seven, like I, I 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:43.480 don't think it's the smarter move. 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:47.680 I got a dunk right there because it's not recovery, 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:49.280 like he's probably gonna try to get out. 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:54.240 The way recovering. And by the way, it's and here's 0:18:54.280 --> 0:19:00.320 the other thing. If Jalen Brunson is upright, you might 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:05.040 have a dunk there. Oh yeah, you're seven inches taller 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:09.480 than him. Horford's there. You have a full head of steam. 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:14.359 That is an impossible decision. Now you can be like, listen, 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:18.040 what does Jason Tatum shoot on corner threes? Blah blah blah. Again, 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:21.720 you're up You're actually up six, but you think you're 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:28.919 up seven. It's bananas. And the very next possession, we 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:33.120 don't have a picture of it, but Jalen Brown has 0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:36.800 an alley to the basket and he takes a pull 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:41.400 up three. And so it's just. 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.520 It is the Nicks just flatly want it more, is 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:47.280 what it seems like. 0:19:48.520 --> 0:19:56.520 Well, they are certainly more comfortable demands if it's close late, Yeah, 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:01.280 that is undeniable. And the fact that the Knicks have 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:08.280 now won five road playoff games and they have won 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:11.439 them they have played five road playoff games. They are 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:18.359 five and zero, and they have won those five games 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:27.880 by a combined This is really unbelievable. They have won 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:32.480 those five games by combined ten points. One in overtime. 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:38.320 They won Game three against Detroit by two, Game four 0:20:38.359 --> 0:20:44.880 against Detroit by one, Game six against Detroit by three, 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:49.520 Game one against Boston by three and in overtime, and 0:20:49.640 --> 0:20:58.240 Game two against Boston by one. It is uh, it 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:03.160 is a remarkable turn of events. Got a lot of heart, 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:08.840 So this is un I don't even think that my 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:11.840 buddy knows I'm doing the pod right now. But my 0:21:11.920 --> 0:21:16.639 buddy Andy just texts me, if you're curious the odds 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:21.439 of a team that shot uh, let me read this 0:21:21.560 --> 0:21:24.840 exact text real quick. Sorry, if you're curious the odds 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:27.280 of a team that shot thirty seven percent from three 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:30.280 over a season to shoot twenty five percent or less 0:21:30.320 --> 0:21:34.919 over one hundred shots, it's less than one percent, he writes. 0:21:35.000 --> 0:21:37.600 I'm blue an orange to the bone. But we're watching 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:40.720 somebody flop twelve sets in a night. It's a poker turn. 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:46.520 So I'm glad this is He's the second person that's 0:21:46.560 --> 0:21:49.160 kind of brought up poker to me in this regard, 0:21:50.520 --> 0:21:58.399 and here's my real indictment on the Celtics here. You 0:21:58.520 --> 0:22:06.280 adjust your strat as a poker player based on do 0:22:06.440 --> 0:22:12.480 I think I have a skill advantage? Okay? So let 0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:16.920 me I will try to explain something in poker terms 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:23.359 that even if you're not a poker player, you'll understand. Okay. 0:22:23.440 --> 0:22:26.040 So let's say you're at the final table of a 0:22:26.080 --> 0:22:35.200 big tournament and you are thoroughly convinced, thoroughly convinced you're 0:22:36.160 --> 0:22:43.480 the best player at the table, okay, and there's one 0:22:43.560 --> 0:22:47.160 person there who has more chips than you, and therefore 0:22:47.200 --> 0:22:53.359 that person can knock you out. And you get in 0:22:53.400 --> 0:22:57.159 a spot where a bunch of people are you know, 0:22:57.200 --> 0:22:59.280 get their cards. Is raising. I'm going to try to 0:22:59.280 --> 0:23:01.080 do this in Gene and Eric terms. W even not 0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:10.080 a poker player, you can understand it. And you have 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:15.200 an opportunity to get all your money in against this 0:23:15.480 --> 0:23:20.119 the one guy who can knock you out, and he 0:23:20.440 --> 0:23:24.639 shows you his cards, okay. 0:23:25.440 --> 0:23:27.600 And you have. 0:23:28.960 --> 0:23:38.280 As king and he has eight nine. You are about 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:41.240 a sixty a little more than a sixty forty favorite 0:23:41.240 --> 0:23:49.120 in that spot. Shows it to you if you truly 0:23:49.240 --> 0:23:54.479 believe you have a significant skill edge on the table. 0:23:55.520 --> 0:23:59.240 There are a lot of players that in that spot 0:23:59.280 --> 0:24:06.159 would say, nah, not going to even though in the 0:24:06.240 --> 0:24:11.719 long run this is obviously wildly profitable for me if 0:24:11.760 --> 0:24:14.879 I'm a sixty forty favorite, and again that wouldn't be 0:24:14.920 --> 0:24:17.080 the math of those two exact hands. But just stick 0:24:17.119 --> 0:24:20.719 with me. That means forty percent of the time I lose. 0:24:22.200 --> 0:24:24.280 That means two out of five times I lose here. 0:24:25.760 --> 0:24:32.399 And I don't want to roll those dice when I 0:24:32.520 --> 0:24:42.439 think I can just grind you guys down. The Celtics saying, 0:24:43.480 --> 0:24:47.640 by virtue of how they're playing well in the long run, 0:24:47.720 --> 0:24:56.840 this is smart to me, underestimates what should be their 0:24:57.000 --> 0:25:01.280 decided advantages in this series. And by the way, that's 0:25:01.359 --> 0:25:08.000 not just hypothetical. They're decided advantages in this series during 0:25:08.080 --> 0:25:14.000 the games where they have built twenty point leads, and 0:25:14.119 --> 0:25:24.600 so it is. It is. It has the potential to 0:25:24.840 --> 0:25:32.600 be an all time loss. That also, and this is 0:25:32.640 --> 0:25:35.440 the part demon's and even though you're a Celtics fan, 0:25:36.080 --> 0:25:41.600 maybe you could take some solace in it also has 0:25:41.680 --> 0:25:50.119 the potential to maybe stem the tide a bit against 0:25:51.240 --> 0:25:57.160 professional basketball simply being a three point shooting contest, and 0:25:57.200 --> 0:26:00.719 I think that we if you guys go back, and 0:26:00.800 --> 0:26:04.080 we should God dogg it, it might be worth putting 0:26:04.080 --> 0:26:08.440 this clip back out there again. After the first night 0:26:08.960 --> 0:26:14.040 of the NBA season, I did like a twenty minute 0:26:15.040 --> 0:26:20.760 thought exercise on this show about how the NBA has 0:26:20.920 --> 0:26:25.040 two major problems on its hand. One was the load 0:26:25.119 --> 0:26:29.800 management stuff, but the other one was that watching three 0:26:29.840 --> 0:26:34.120 point contests is not as good of an entertainment product 0:26:34.560 --> 0:26:37.600 as the NBA we grew up with, and that even 0:26:37.640 --> 0:26:40.520 though the league is deeper than ever, more skilled than ever, 0:26:41.119 --> 0:26:45.719 in theory should be better than ever, that you potentially 0:26:45.800 --> 0:26:48.560 might need to be proactive like Baseball was against the 0:26:48.560 --> 0:26:50.520 shift and with the pitch clock and all those things, 0:26:50.680 --> 0:26:56.320 because your consumers won't love it. The Boston Celtics breaking 0:26:56.359 --> 0:27:00.800 every record for three point attempts. If they end up 0:27:01.400 --> 0:27:07.640 cruising to a championship, then until the rules change, everyone's 0:27:07.680 --> 0:27:11.720 an idiot for not playing that way. But if in 0:27:11.760 --> 0:27:16.200 the small sample size of a series the Celtics get 0:27:16.440 --> 0:27:22.120 whacked by what most people feel is a clearly inferior team, 0:27:22.200 --> 0:27:24.439 and a team, by the way, who was zero to 0:27:24.440 --> 0:27:27.480 eight this year against the Cavs and the Celtics and 0:27:27.600 --> 0:27:30.760 like one in eighteen against the best teams in basketball. 0:27:32.080 --> 0:27:38.840 Uh that whether it should or shouldn't change teams philosophies 0:27:38.880 --> 0:27:44.679 and approaches pro sports are reactionary, and I think it will, 0:27:44.800 --> 0:27:48.000 so yeah, I'll say it for the health of basketball. 0:27:48.800 --> 0:27:53.640 It's good if this doesn't work for Boston. And now, 0:27:54.119 --> 0:27:56.800 thirty minutes in, I want to talk about the Knicks 0:27:56.840 --> 0:28:00.080 side of things, so everyone's gonna say some of the 0:28:00.160 --> 0:28:03.280 same stuff here. Bridges defensive stops at the end of 0:28:03.320 --> 0:28:07.840 these games has been unbelievable. And the fact that the 0:28:07.920 --> 0:28:12.560 Knicks Tatum wasn't did you realize Demon's day that that 0:28:12.800 --> 0:28:17.560 was correctly graded by the scorekeepers at the end a 0:28:17.640 --> 0:28:21.960 steal and not a block because Tatum abandoned the shot 0:28:22.320 --> 0:28:25.480 and was trying to pass it to Jalen Brown. It 0:28:25.520 --> 0:28:26.080 was a steal. 0:28:26.800 --> 0:28:30.200 It was a steal and not a block. Yeah, I 0:28:30.560 --> 0:28:32.480 could see how that kind of looked like a steal 0:28:32.520 --> 0:28:34.000 because he was trying to pass it in mckill. 0:28:34.040 --> 0:28:37.200 Bridges to you, No, that's my point. In real time, 0:28:37.920 --> 0:28:41.560 I thought it was a shot that got blocked that 0:28:41.600 --> 0:28:43.680 Bridges grabbed and then threw up in the air. 0:28:44.000 --> 0:28:46.040 Oh yeah, No, I mean he tried to like turn 0:28:46.120 --> 0:28:48.200 and kick it out right. 0:28:48.320 --> 0:28:51.120 He abandoned the shot. That's the point I like in 0:28:51.760 --> 0:28:55.800 it was, I mean a brilliant defensive possessions. So people 0:28:55.840 --> 0:28:59.320 are going to talk about that Brunton obviously, I mean 0:28:59.520 --> 0:29:01.720 just more than earning his Clutch Player of the Year 0:29:01.760 --> 0:29:08.360 award night after night after night. Uh, Karl Anthony towns 0:29:08.400 --> 0:29:11.360 Is stretch in the second quarter when he was the 0:29:11.360 --> 0:29:13.959 only Nick doing anything, when this thing could have gotten 0:29:14.000 --> 0:29:17.080 totally away from him, might get forgotten. A bit to history. 0:29:17.520 --> 0:29:21.080 And one other thing that I will focus on even 0:29:21.120 --> 0:29:24.640 if no one else will. Joe Mizzoula going to the 0:29:24.760 --> 0:29:28.840 hack of Mitchell Robinson's strategy when the team had two 0:29:28.880 --> 0:29:32.880 team fouls and putting the Knicks in the bonus without 0:29:32.880 --> 0:29:36.240 ever getting Mitch Robinson into the free throw line. I 0:29:36.400 --> 0:29:39.760 thought was one of the bigger coaching mistakes of his 0:29:39.920 --> 0:29:43.720 career up to this point. Just strategically, it didn't make sense. 0:29:44.360 --> 0:29:47.479 It was as if the Knicks were gonna be caught 0:29:47.640 --> 0:29:52.320 sleeping and pull Mitchell Robinson out before you got into 0:29:52.360 --> 0:29:55.720 the bonus, which they almost did, but they didn't, or 0:29:55.840 --> 0:29:58.400 he thought they would just leave him in once you 0:29:58.440 --> 0:30:00.000 were in the bone. I don't know what he thought, 0:30:00.000 --> 0:30:05.360 but that was a mistake. But the story for the 0:30:05.400 --> 0:30:11.440 New York Knicks, and this was, if I can give 0:30:11.480 --> 0:30:15.040 myself a little credit, something I talked about on the 0:30:15.080 --> 0:30:20.680 pod and TV show Tuesday and Willigan Today is a 0:30:20.720 --> 0:30:29.120 story of different objectives. Yes, of course the Knicks want 0:30:29.160 --> 0:30:33.520 to win a championship, but they did not build a 0:30:33.640 --> 0:30:40.120 team with that being the singular goal. They built a 0:30:40.240 --> 0:30:47.520 team to beat Boston, with the logic being the only 0:30:47.720 --> 0:30:51.240