Speaker 1: You're tuned into Heat Check with trust a quick.
Speaker 2: On this episode of the Heat Check, we got a
Speaker 2: big question facing the NBA. Our boss is in LA
Speaker 2: both going to be swept in the conference finals. I
Speaker 2: get into that, and then I deep dive into why
Speaker 2: Joe Mizzula's coaching hire actually solidifies how important coaching really is,
Speaker 2: maybe in a way we've actually never seen in history.
Speaker 2: I'll also update you on a lot of the ongoing
Speaker 2: coaching searches. Trust me, it is a confusing mess right now,
Speaker 2: a lot of overlap, a lot of nick nurse Nick.
Speaker 2: Let's get right into it and let's drop that motherfuckering
Speaker 2: beat that should be Rihanna.
Speaker 3: So the topic of the day, maybe the week, probably
Speaker 3: the entire offseason, if we're honest, considering how bad things
Speaker 3: are right now for the Celtics is just how bad
Speaker 3: of a job Joe Miszula has done coaching the Boston
Speaker 3: Celtics in the postseason?
Speaker 4: How bad is it?
Speaker 2: The Athletic has three articles written on it, Like aren't these.
Speaker 4: Writers checking in with each other?
Speaker 2: Three articles on Joe Mizula being a dumpster fire in
Speaker 2: the postseason as a coach. You got Bill Simmons devoting
Speaker 2: many numbers of podcasts hours to it. Twitter is a
Speaker 2: is just an absolute mess in the comment section on
Speaker 2: how Spoe is absolutely out coaching Joe Missoula.
Speaker 4: Here, though, is what nobody is talking about.
Speaker 2: What we're witnessing in this Eastern Conference Finals is to me,
Speaker 2: the greatest NBA science experiment in.
Speaker 4: The history of the league.
Speaker 2: So okay, last year, right, ema Udoka takes over a
Speaker 2: Celtics team and it only takes him about.
Speaker 4: A half a season to complete. Changed the culture there.
Speaker 2: As we know, emay Udoka was bearing these kids in
Speaker 2: the media saying, oh, yeah, they're soft, they're not passing
Speaker 2: the ball. It was a mess, and all of a
Speaker 2: sudden things clicked in the postseason to the point where
Speaker 2: they get to the finals and they lose a hard
Speaker 2: fought series to the Warriors. Now you may not like
Speaker 2: the drop coverage that emay Udoka played on Steph Curry, Fine, fair,
Speaker 2: but I think we can all say that emay Udoka
Speaker 2: is an elite coach. Then, of course emai Udoka got
Speaker 2: quote unquote suspended for the season. Aka got fired for
Speaker 2: not being able to, I don't know, just like keep
Speaker 2: it together. And he had some sexual relations with one
Speaker 2: of the members of the staff, and so that, to me,
Speaker 2: creates a perfect storm of circumstances we've never had in
Speaker 2: the history of the NBA. A head coach who gets
Speaker 2: fired after leading his team from five hundred to the
Speaker 2: brink of a championship. Yes, Brad Stevens took this team
Speaker 2: to the Eastern Conference Semis multiple times, but let's be real.
Speaker 2: The Brad Stevens move to the GM position, it was
Speaker 2: because he was not.
Speaker 4: Ready and able to coach these men up.
Speaker 2: This wasn't Nick Nurse getting fired after four years after
Speaker 2: winning a CHIP. This was a coach everyone said was
Speaker 2: one of the best minds in basketball, completely change the
Speaker 2: culture of Boston, and he shockingly.
Speaker 4: Gets let go.
Speaker 2: He would have been the Boston head coach for a
Speaker 2: decade or more. And on top of that, the kicker
Speaker 2: is that the Celtics didn't change their roster. This was
Speaker 2: a team that they thought they were going to run
Speaker 2: everything back. They ended up actually getting better, getting the
Speaker 2: sixth man of the year in Malcolm Brogden, they added
Speaker 2: him to the roster. So this team, this Celtics team,
Speaker 2: is actually improved from last year, the one that we
Speaker 2: already know is good enough to win it.
Speaker 4: All I already know is good enough to go to
Speaker 4: the finals, and then.
Speaker 2: All of a sudden they get handed one of EM's assistance,
Speaker 2: not some random coach that comes in and has to
Speaker 2: take over a team that's already built a scheme in
Speaker 2: a system. No, thirty four year old Joe Mizula was
Speaker 2: there for the entire process under Ima Udoka. So now
Speaker 2: we get this beautiful opportunity to compare bad for Joe Moszula, really,
Speaker 2: because we.
Speaker 4: Really have all of the same factors that are consistent
Speaker 4: except for the coach.
Speaker 2: We can compare how this team compares to last year's
Speaker 2: team because they're pretty much the.
Speaker 4: Same and even better in our science experiment.
Speaker 2: They get to play the Miami Heat again, the team
Speaker 2: that they went toe to toe with in the playoffs
Speaker 2: last year, a team that is largely the same as
Speaker 2: it was last year, only slightly worse. They're missing Tyler Hero,
Speaker 2: They're missing Victor Oladipo. And by the way, Hero averaged
Speaker 2: twelve four and three against the Celtics and the games
Speaker 2: he played in the Eastern Conference Finals, and the Heat
Speaker 2: won two of those. Oladipo came in and averaged ten,
Speaker 2: three and three in all seven games. So this is
Speaker 2: actually a beautiful perfect storm. The same two teams play
Speaker 2: against each other in two consecutive years, two consecutive Eastern
Speaker 2: Conference finals.
Speaker 4: By the way, and the only difference really Boston changed coaches.
Speaker 2: And now the truth has come to light and the
Speaker 2: world is being debunked because there are For many years
Speaker 2: people have said coaching doesn't matter in the NBA at all.
Speaker 4: It's a star driven league. Stars do star things. No, no, people.
Speaker 2: What we're seeing is the coaching matters a lot. Coaching
Speaker 2: matters on every level. We have never had the ability
Speaker 2: to see how stark it would be if a brilliant
Speaker 2: coach left. When coaches get fired, they're usually not brilliant.
Speaker 2: They're usually not very good. They're usually you see their ceiling.
Speaker 2: Teams are bad, teams have failed, they've been disappointments. I
Speaker 2: don't think you go to the finals and you fire
Speaker 2: your coach right away. We've never seen, i mean hardly
Speaker 2: ever seen an elite coach get fired like this at
Speaker 2: this particular point in the juncture of his head coaching career,
Speaker 2: one year in to his coaching head coaching.
Speaker 4: Career, and this is what happened.
Speaker 2: The only reason emy Udoka isn't the coach this year
Speaker 2: and for the next decade is because of the personal scandal, right,
Speaker 2: and I had nothing to do with.
Speaker 4: Coaching, so we know that.
Speaker 2: Also, emy Udoka was masterful along the way to the finals.
Speaker 4: Maybe you don't like what he did in.
Speaker 2: The finals, but his defense, how he managed the roster.
Speaker 2: The identity of the team was defense all year long,
Speaker 2: ball movement, getting out and pushing the pace. And now
Speaker 2: we get to see how the same team performs under
Speaker 2: another highly regarded assistant coach, an assistant like I said,
Speaker 2: who I should remind.
Speaker 4: You worked under emy Udoka.
Speaker 2: It means the great Boston NBA coaching experiment proves, beyond
Speaker 2: a shadow of a doubt, how one man can change
Speaker 2: the fate of a team, and more importantly, how important
Speaker 2: a good coach is to a good team. Another thing
Speaker 2: that's becoming very evident it is very easy for mediocre
Speaker 2: coaches to paper over their flaws in the regular season.
Speaker 2: Malcolm brog didn't discuss this, which we'll talk about in
Speaker 2: just a second, but Boston easily got to hide under
Speaker 2: the regular season guide because of Missoula's inability to adjust
Speaker 2: when they were playing Detroit and San Antonio and teams
Speaker 2: that weren't scheming and planning and preparing for them because
Speaker 2: either the gap and talent was so much greater, or
Speaker 2: those good teams great teams were.
Speaker 4: Not really preparing for them.
Speaker 2: Even in the first and second rounds of the playoffs,
Speaker 2: Boston wasn't exactly really getting tested, and yet they were
Speaker 2: still kind of not quite acing the exam. There were
Speaker 2: four shore signs that shit was already.
Speaker 4: Going off the rails. Lest we forget, winning two rounds
Speaker 4: in the.
Speaker 2: NBA Playoffs gets you exactly halfway to the championship, you
Speaker 2: still have to beat good teams, elite teams coached by
Speaker 2: lea coaches, and Joe Massoula is very far.
Speaker 4: From an elite coach. I think we know that, right.
Speaker 4: I think we kind of know that.
Speaker 2: He might be a good coach one day, he might
Speaker 2: be an elite coach another day. But asking him as
Speaker 2: a thirty four year old head coach with very little
Speaker 2: coaching experience and only two years experience in the NBA
Speaker 2: in total, that is a bridge, folks. This guy came
Speaker 2: from the main red clause. Okay, if you don't know
Speaker 2: what those words mean, like, I understand if.
Speaker 4: I say, what is she saying?
Speaker 2: This guy came from the main red clause. Yeah, that's
Speaker 2: where he came from, Maine. That's the G League team
Speaker 2: for the Boston Celtics.
Speaker 4: He came from the G League team.
Speaker 2: That's where he came from. Joe Missoula got his. It's
Speaker 2: basically Aaron Miles, my guy who I love. Aaron Miles
Speaker 2: assistant for the Boston Celtics. He has more coaching experience
Speaker 2: in the NBA than Joe Missoula, head coach of the
Speaker 2: G League Santa Cruz Warriors and then an assistant for
Speaker 2: the Warriors in their title run, and then an assistant
Speaker 2: on the bench.
Speaker 4: For the Boston Celtics. So listen.
Speaker 2: I don't know what the deal is with Joe Mazzoli
Speaker 2: and why he's not very good, but I can say this,
Speaker 2: the adjustments aren't there, the rotations aren't there. He blames
Speaker 2: the team when he's the one at fault, and he
Speaker 2: blames himself when.
Speaker 4: It's the team.
Speaker 2: He wasn't at fault for this team, going down three
Speaker 2: zero in the third game, they didn't give the effort
Speaker 2: that they needed.
Speaker 4: He wasn't fault for them. Laying down and staying down.
Speaker 4: The lack of effort was embarrassing.
Speaker 2: Tatum and Brown and Smart and the others. They they
Speaker 2: either need to be consistently motivated or if they aren't,
Speaker 2: they're not consistently giving their full effort.
Speaker 4: It feels very much like the Brad Stevens era.
Speaker 2: And Missoula didn't get to coach under Popovich like Imeu did.
Speaker 2: He was a college assistant who got plucked directly five
Speaker 2: Brad Stevens and then went to the G League and
Speaker 2: then went to the pros. So you could say, oh, Trista,
Speaker 2: where were you when Boston started out eighteen and four?
Speaker 4: Well, when Missoula won Coach of the Month both in
Speaker 4: November and December.
Speaker 2: I get that, But that was Emey's team. Missoula got,
Speaker 2: you know, like a good class when they get a
Speaker 2: good substitute, they gave a substitute teacher. Like the bad
Speaker 2: habits don't restart right away. Missoula got appointed on the
Speaker 2: eve of training camp. And second of all, the more
Speaker 2: that Joe Missoula put his stamp on this team, the
Speaker 2: less they started to win. And once he got thrown
Speaker 2: up against good coaches, the cracks could be seen Quinn
Speaker 2: Snyder led a far less talented Hawks team to six
Speaker 2: games in the first round. The bullet was dodged in
Speaker 2: part because Trey Young played like buns in the first
Speaker 2: two games. Then Joe lucked out in the coaching against
Speaker 2: the Sixers with an injured Embiid and the only coach
Speaker 2: in the playoffs keek it out coach was Doc Rivers.
Speaker 2: And even still he didn't look great in this series
Speaker 2: against a very underman Heat team. Was cold water on
Speaker 2: him because Bolstra is just much better. He has conducted
Speaker 2: a masterclass and Joel has only this to say for it.
Speaker 5: Joe, the biggest game of the season, A game you
Speaker 5: had to have, and you guys just looked completely lost
Speaker 5: after the first six minutes. What exactly happened out there?
Speaker 1: I just didn't have him ready to play like.
Speaker 5: The last forty eight hours.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just didn't have him ready to play. I
Speaker 1: should have whatever it was, but it was the starting
Speaker 1: lineup or it was an adjustment. Just I have to
Speaker 1: get them in a better place ready to play. That's
Speaker 1: on me.
Speaker 2: What does that mean? I just didn't have them ready
Speaker 2: to play?
Speaker 4: What goes in?
Speaker 2: See this is investor investigator Krick and like Detective Chris,
Speaker 2: it comes out like what does that mean?
Speaker 4: What does it take to get a team ready to play?
Speaker 2: Like what did you not do this last forty eight
Speaker 2: hours that you've done in other forty eight hours? Like
Speaker 2: what do you think you'll do now moving forward to
Speaker 2: get them ready to play?
Speaker 4: What does that mean?
Speaker 2: It's a must win game? You're down two oho in
Speaker 2: both of those losses, we're at home.
Speaker 4: That never happens. And now let's be real. The Celtics
Speaker 4: are done and as they're about to exit the playoffs,
Speaker 4: players are spilling the tea like Malcolm Brogden, the tree Shaker,
Speaker 4: Malcolm Brogen exposing the flaws in the culture of the
Speaker 4: Boston Celtics. I am not shocked.
Speaker 5: I think in these playoffs overall, I think it's it's
Speaker 5: showing because we're playing a very disciplined, consistent, well coached team.
Speaker 5: But I think in the Atlanta series, I think in
Speaker 5: the Philly series, I think we got away with things
Speaker 5: that now are biting us. So you know that that's
Speaker 5: definitely treppling some of those things, yeah say, I think
Speaker 5: it's mainly on the defensive end. You know, we haven't
Speaker 5: been consistently great defensively all year long, and that was
Speaker 5: the team's identity last year, and I think that slipped
Speaker 5: away from us. We've had spurts where we've been great defensively,
Speaker 5: but not consistently, and honestly, we've struggled in every series
Speaker 5: we've played. So you know, now we're playing a team
Speaker 5: that's playing, you know, as if they're the best team
Speaker 5: in the.
Speaker 3: League, and pass we've struggled in every round we've played
Speaker 3: so far.
Speaker 2: Defense was the identity of this team last year and
Speaker 2: it is not the identity this year. These were all
Speaker 2: issues by the way that Joe and the team have
Speaker 2: denied in the postseason, and they've denied all year, but
Speaker 2: they were very evident to anyone who watched them play
Speaker 2: more than a game or two. Celtics insiders are now.
Speaker 4: Hinting at toxic issues in the locker room. What does
Speaker 4: that mean? I need to know what are what's happening
Speaker 4: there that's toxic?
Speaker 2: Back to the great NBA coaching experiment happening here in Boston.
Speaker 2: We just have never had the ability to quantify this before.
Speaker 2: This is the first time we've ever had the opportunity,
Speaker 2: and I think it's great because now all of the
Speaker 2: people who are out there on Twitter and on the
Speaker 2: social media saying that coaching doesn't matter and you can
Speaker 2: just plug and play Steven Silas in the mix and
Speaker 2: you're gonna get a championship team.
Speaker 4: If it's composed of championship caliber players. That is false.
Speaker 2: They're playing the same team that they played last year
Speaker 2: in the Eastern Conference Finals. They have the same roster,
Speaker 2: and they're actually a little bit better, and they're playing
Speaker 2: a team that's actually worse. Tells you exactly what you
Speaker 2: need to know. Tells us hard truths. Coaching matters a lot,
Speaker 2: much more than people want to admit. In the regular
Speaker 2: season matters not at all. Teams that fight through adversity
Speaker 2: sometimes come out stronger in the postseason, like the Heat
Speaker 2: and also like I don't know Boston in twenty one
Speaker 2: twenty two when he may.
Speaker 4: Wuk Doka was in charge. So good job, Joe Mizula.
Speaker 2: You're a very important part of history, and we'll see
Speaker 2: you the fuck later. Last time we talked about Nuggets
Speaker 2: in the Lakers series, I said, don't let those national
Speaker 2: figures tell you. Those pundits trick you into thinking the
Speaker 2: Lakers have a chance after they came back from twenty
Speaker 2: and they still lost in Game one.
Speaker 4: These moral victories that they're trying to claim that they
Speaker 4: had are not real.
Speaker 2: Let's face it, like what the national media wanted, and
Speaker 2: we know this was a Boston LA Finals.
Speaker 4: We know that they tried everything possible to make it happen, Like,
Speaker 4: stop trying to make fetch happen. It's not going to happen.
Speaker 4: They pushed that narrative at every opportunity.
Speaker 2: Just because you push a narrative doesn't mean that's the
Speaker 2: outcome that we're gonna get.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 2: For example, Lakers lost Game one according to the national media.
Speaker 4: No, the Lakers didn't really lose. They figured something out,
Speaker 4: they got some kinks ironed, and now they've got Denver
Speaker 4: on the ropes. Denver won Game one. No they didn't.
Speaker 2: Just to Denver's actually in trouble. Denver is actually really
Speaker 2: should be scared right now by what the Lakers have
Speaker 2: figured out. Jokic goes insane, fills up the stat sheet.
Speaker 2: What was the stat sheet again? Thirty four, twenty one,
Speaker 2: and fourteen.
Speaker 4: Nope, when Ruy was on them though, they.
Speaker 2: Went scoreless as a team and he didn't score. If
Speaker 2: you're a fan of basketball, that commentary is gross.
Speaker 4: If you're a fan of the Heat and.
Speaker 2: The Nuggets, who have been slandered along the way, they
Speaker 2: only talk about the losing team is because those teams
Speaker 2: quote unquote move the needle as narrative national teams. That's unforgivable.
Speaker 2: That is unforgivable. I get this, I know this.
Speaker 4: I'm a Blazer fan.
Speaker 2: I watched the Portland Trailblazers with Damian Lillard go to
Speaker 2: the Western Conference Finals, by the way, beating the Denver
Speaker 2: Nuggets with Evan Turner, Moe Harkless. I mean a bunch
Speaker 2: of randoms Alfa arrukamnu and As Canter and Rodney Hood,
Speaker 2: Nick Stauskis, Seth Curry off the G League, Jake Lehman,
Speaker 2: all playing significant minutes. I know what it is like
Speaker 2: for the national media to dismiss you and to deny
Speaker 2: and make it seem like you do not belong in
Speaker 2: this conversation. But I personally will not fall into this trap.
Speaker 2: We must give the winners their flowers. So what that
Speaker 2: the Nuggets have never accomplished anything in terms of winning
Speaker 2: a championship, Who cares the Nuggets may have a boring
Speaker 2: name the Nuggets. They may be in a sleepy yet
Speaker 2: amazing city, but they're one of the most fun teams
Speaker 2: to watch.
Speaker 4: In the NBA.
Speaker 2: Let's be real, Jamal Murray is showing up and showing out.
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray is not a bubble king. He is a
Speaker 2: legit superstar, a legit shot maker. He can take over
Speaker 2: against anyone. I promise you, Jamal Murray will be an.
Speaker 4: All Star next year.
Speaker 2: I if he continues this way in this place, Joal Murray
Speaker 2: All NBA next year. And we're seeing it again that
Speaker 2: Michael Malone is an incredible coach and Joker. Don't sleep
Speaker 2: on Joker. He can take over the the whenever the
Speaker 2: fuck he wants. MPJ one of the best clus shooters
Speaker 2: from deep Aaron Gordon, Swiss army knife that keeps things going.
Speaker 2: And another thing that's evident as it relates to Joker,
Speaker 2: like remember in the beginning of the year, when it
Speaker 2: was Jokers to lose, it was he was clearly gonna
Speaker 2: win his third MVP, and it was unanimous, and then
Speaker 2: people started to get into the mix with the well, actually,
Speaker 2: maybe the initial was right. Maybe the initial thought to
Speaker 2: give him his third MVP was the correct one because
Speaker 2: then people came in and they were like, well, actually,
Speaker 2: if he wins three MVPs in a role, he'll be
Speaker 2: in the category of Larry Bird.
Speaker 4: Andy Oks never won anything uptil the level of Larry Bird,
Speaker 4: So what has he done in the postseason?
Speaker 1: All the other.
Speaker 2: Three time MVPs have significant, significant postseason experience and success.
Speaker 4: I mean, okay, fine, and he's about.
Speaker 2: To win a championship, like most likely the Denver Nuggets
Speaker 2: are gonna win the championship, So maybe maybe we should
Speaker 2: have just like laid off a Yokich.
Speaker 4: I don't know, I think they're the one seed. At
Speaker 4: that time, we were saying that too, but nobody wanted.
Speaker 2: To believe because Denver Nuggets haven't accomplished a goddamn thing yet.
Speaker 2: It appears they are going to accomplish a lot. They
Speaker 2: are going to the finals, and the heat Butler spo
Speaker 2: Bam collection of sniper role players really freaking good. A
Speaker 2: lot of uh we'll call it adversity in the regular season.
Speaker 2: But by the way, they were the one seed last
Speaker 2: year and there were one Jimmy Butler jumper away from
Speaker 2: the finals.
Speaker 4: So please shut up, nerds, please please to me here's
Speaker 4: the bigger issue.
Speaker 2: I think I'm going crazy because I think basketball commentary is.
Speaker 4: Getting dumber and dumber by the second.
Speaker 2: Like did you guys see Mike Greenberg legit asking if
Speaker 2: the Lakers should sit their starters in Game five.
Speaker 4: In the second round of the playoffs.
Speaker 2: He's getting eight million dollars a year to ask these questions,
Speaker 2: the dumbest questions of all time.
Speaker 4: He legit said, did the Miami Heat win Game two?
Speaker 4: Or did Boston Celtics just lose it? That's what he said.
Speaker 4: These are Jesus Christ? Who are these people?
Speaker 2: This is chat GPT taking over two thousand and five
Speaker 2: sports radio thought that this ship was played out.
Speaker 4: It's painful. I used to love NBA Countdown and now
Speaker 4: it sucks. And by the.
Speaker 2: Way, like does anybody does anybody like sort of see
Speaker 2: or notice that Milik Andrews who took over for Rachel
Speaker 2: Nichols for NBA Countdown, just like I don't know who's
Speaker 2: just gone? Like I remember pepperich Farms remembers there are
Speaker 2: literally now no women on the NBA Countdown show. They
Speaker 2: used to be hosted by a woman and had Malika
Speaker 2: Andrews on there as commentary.
Speaker 4: As well, and now from two women to zero women.
Speaker 2: You've got a retread goober who got carried by two
Speaker 2: decades by Mike Golick and screaming a Smith who I
Speaker 2: love and Mike Golick or uh and Mike Well who
Speaker 2: I love, But like yo, we don't care about y'all.
Speaker 2: No one wants to hear Mike Greenberg talk about the
Speaker 2: NBA stick to get up.
Speaker 4: I'm done. It's not just ESPN Ryan Rosillo, who has
Speaker 4: done nothing but hate on Miami.
Speaker 2: In the playoffs, the Heat beat the Bucks and the Knicks,
Speaker 2: and all real Rosillo had to say was that Miami
Speaker 2: was a fluke. It's like that that Simpson's meme where
Speaker 2: it's like say it again, and it's.
Speaker 4: The last team that Miami beat, Say it again, and
Speaker 4: he's he's.
Speaker 2: Like Bart Simpson with the team that last got beat
Speaker 2: by the Heat, and it's like, yeah, the Miami Heat
Speaker 2: can't keep doing this, and they do keep doing this.
Speaker 4: No one could predict this.
Speaker 2: Ryan Rosilla said, Oh, there's nothing to learn from how
Speaker 2: Miami boat this roster.
Speaker 4: It's a fuke. The Celtics are better. Just dismissal, just disrespect.
Speaker 4: What does this have to do. What does next year
Speaker 4: have to do with this ear's Eastern Conference Finals? Nothing? Nothing.
Speaker 2: You wonder why Bam and Jimmy are like, no, we
Speaker 2: are not shocked by this. Stop asking us these dumb
Speaker 2: ass questions. Eric Spoltzer, please stop talking about these undrafted players.
Speaker 2: You guys are lazy.
Speaker 4: I don't care about the Lakers anymore. I love Lebron.
Speaker 2: This team wildly exceeded expectations. We should have been done
Speaker 2: talking about them in January. I want to talk about Nuggets.
Speaker 2: I want to talk about KCP, Bruce Brown and Christian Braun,
Speaker 2: the rookie, and Aaron Gordon and this small market team
Speaker 2: that's one of the funnest teams to watch in the NBA,
Speaker 2: and the way that they are crushing the national media
Speaker 2: telling us that super teams are all that matters and
Speaker 2: that narratives are all that matters.
Speaker 4: The Nuggets aren't underdogs. What are we talking about. They
Speaker 4: were the number one seed in the West. They're the
Speaker 4: third best team in the NBA. They have a two
Speaker 4: time MVP on the team. They're not underdogs. They just
Speaker 4: plan Denver and this narrative about Miami. Oh, it's hot
Speaker 4: in Miami. People go to Miami and.
Speaker 2: They party and it's too hot and the humidity bothers
Speaker 2: them and there's no fans there, like, stop.
Speaker 4: Being these people. These people suck.
Speaker 2: By the way, Miami's up three zero, and ESPN is
Speaker 2: still giving the Celtics a twenty six percent chances win
Speaker 2: this series, despite that no team has ever come back
Speaker 2: from down three to zero ever in history. The Heat
Speaker 2: are twelve and three and play in since the Plan
Speaker 2: and the playoffs this year, they have rolled six wins
Speaker 2: in their last seven games. They are five and two
Speaker 2: against the Celtics, including three and one at TD Garden.
Speaker 2: Why does anybody think that this Celtics team, who Malcolm
Speaker 2: Brogden said can't get their shit together against the Atlanta Hawks.
Speaker 2: Why in a seven game series, Why do they think
Speaker 2: that Boston can beat that team four times?
Speaker 4: They can't.
Speaker 2: But it doesn't fit that clean, little cute narrative Boston
Speaker 2: versus La does not fit Lebron coming back down three
Speaker 2: to zero and the Celtics storming back in seven games.
Speaker 4: This isn't fucking Disneyland.
Speaker 2: This is not like, yes, the scriptwriters, but the saving
Speaker 2: graces at the national media. Once this is all over,
Speaker 2: we'll have to talk about the Heat and the Nuggets,
Speaker 2: but they'll probably just talk about Jimmy Butler and jok Like,
Speaker 2: let's just be honest, that's probably all I'll say. I'm
Speaker 2: not gonna listen, but at least they will be forced
Speaker 2: to talk about the teams that actually are winning and
Speaker 2: not the teams they.
Speaker 4: Desperately want to win.
Speaker 2: So we've not had an off season like this in
Speaker 2: a long time where there are like a bajillion good
Speaker 2: coaches will like pretty good coaches on the market who
Speaker 2: have been fired and are also like just on the
Speaker 2: market for their teams at the same time. Like you've
Speaker 2: got Milwaukee, Toronto, Phoenix teams that have either been to
Speaker 2: the finals or won a championship in the last four years,
Speaker 2: all on the market at the same time, all have openings.
Speaker 2: Let's take a quick look right now at the open
Speaker 2: spots and talk a little bit about who's being tabbed to.
Speaker 4: Fill those spots. Let's start with the Troit Detroit Pistons.
Speaker 2: So Troy Weaver right now has done an exhaustive search
Speaker 2: involving interviews with ten candidates.
Speaker 4: Right now, it is narrow to three guys.
Speaker 2: Charles Lee, the Bucks assistant who is a Bell of
Speaker 2: the Ball, former Yukon coach Kevin Ollie and both of
Speaker 2: whom are being interviewed.
Speaker 4: A second time.
Speaker 2: And then Heat's assistant Chris Quinn, who will be interviewed
Speaker 2: after the finals are over. Of the three, the fan
Speaker 2: base might not have a clear favorite, but they are
Speaker 2: very clear about who they do not want. Kevin Ollie,
Speaker 2: that's right, the former Yukon coach who has not coached
Speaker 2: in five years, whose name hasn't been connected.
Speaker 4: To one coaching opening in the NBA since twenty.
Speaker 2: Fifteen, who is not interviewed by any other team and
Speaker 2: is very close with Troy Weaver.
Speaker 4: That is who the fans do not want.
Speaker 2: The smarter decision probably is Charles Lee. He's been ready
Speaker 2: to take over a team for years now. He was
Speaker 2: Budenholzer's lead assistant since the Atlanta days.
Speaker 4: Quinn is definitely in the mix as well.
Speaker 2: He's been an assistant in Miami since twenty fourteen. Very
Speaker 2: important hire for a Weaver, and if he doesn't start winning,
Speaker 2: he's going to be the one who's under scrutiny.
Speaker 4: Milwaukee Bucks after firing.
Speaker 2: Their championship winning coach two seasons after hoisting the trophying
Speaker 2: According to WOJ, the Bucks have narrowed their search down
Speaker 2: to Nick Nurse, Nick Nurse's assistant, Adrienne Griffin, and Kenny Atkinson,
Speaker 2: current assistant for the Golden State Warriors. Here's an interesting
Speaker 2: little nugget. I have been told by multiple people, three
Speaker 2: different quote unquote sources, that Giannis does not want Nick Nurse.
Speaker 2: Whether that plays into things at all is not known,
Speaker 2: but I think you have to wonder why on earth
Speaker 2: the team would hire a coach that their superstar does
Speaker 2: not want, even if he says he kind of like
Speaker 2: doesn't want them. And how damning is it If the
Speaker 2: Bucks hire Adrienne Griffin over the head coach that he
Speaker 2: sat on the bench within that would be something. Another
Speaker 2: fascinating story around the Bucks will be the one of
Speaker 2: Kenny Atkinson, who was hired and then quit on the
Speaker 2: Hornets in twenty four hours last year.
Speaker 4: Great coach, really a good coach to build a team.
Speaker 2: I don't know how he is in terms of like
Speaker 2: maintaining a championship roster, but he said that the reason
Speaker 2: that he stayed in Golden State was because his light
Speaker 2: wife liked it there. So if he goes to Milwaukee,
Speaker 2: m kind of tells you that was a lie. Also,
Speaker 2: is there a potential situation where Steve Kerr moves on
Speaker 2: to the front office, if Bob Myers, the current GM
Speaker 2: of the Warriors, moves on, and then maybe Kenny steps
Speaker 2: in as head coach. Coach for our dubs big offseason,
Speaker 2: Giannis is not guaranteed to stay if they can continue
Speaker 2: to underperform or.
Speaker 4: Steps to success along the way. Let's move on to Philly.
Speaker 2: They fired Doc Rivers as you know, for losing yet
Speaker 2: another closeout game, and the Sixers at this point are
Speaker 2: kicking the tires on at least six candidates. Nick Nurse again,
Speaker 2: Manny Williams. That's interesting, Sam Cassell, Mike Budenholzer, Frank Vogel,
Speaker 2: and you guessed it, Mike D'Antoni.
Speaker 4: What do they all have in common.
Speaker 2: They have a lot of experience, They've got winning pedigrees,
Speaker 2: except for Sam Cassell. Sam Cassell is very well liked.
Speaker 2: He's a Sixers assistant, and I think that's why he
Speaker 2: made the list. That's for the other five.
Speaker 4: I think Vogel is out.
Speaker 2: I don't think he's gonna I mean, he's kind of
Speaker 2: given me Brett Brown vibes D'Antoni seems like a long
Speaker 2: shot as well. He's seventy two years old, literally, like
Speaker 2: not like a fake seventy two, you know when you say, oh,
Speaker 2: that person's goajillion, No, he's actually seventy two.
Speaker 4: Nick Moni and Bud probably are the favorites.
Speaker 2: Very different coaching styles, with Harden probably going back to
Speaker 2: Houston or trying to. We don't even know what type
Speaker 2: of team Philly has. My guess is that you wait
Speaker 2: until the team that you have is constructed to name
Speaker 2: a coach for that team. It's also possible that More
Speaker 2: could just throw a wrench in things and look at
Speaker 2: a dark horse candidate like Massia Usuria is right now
Speaker 2: in Toronto. Speaking of Toronto, Toronto threw an ice cube
Speaker 2: into everyone's tea. Today it was announced by Shams that
Speaker 2: the Raptors had conducted a full interview with none other
Speaker 2: than Steve Nash, Yes, the same Canadian, the coach the
Speaker 2: Brooklyn Nets, the same guy who is also a soccer coach,
Speaker 2: the same guy who.
Speaker 4: Is Canada's favorite son, the same.
Speaker 2: Nash who is handed the keys to a tesla and
Speaker 2: then found out that the AI had become sentient and
Speaker 2: wanted to drive it by itself, Steve Nash Messiah Ujerie
Speaker 2: has looked at no less than twelve candidate it so far,
Speaker 2: ranging from Becky Hammond, whose luster has worn off after
Speaker 2: her suspension for berating Deerica Hanby for what was.
Speaker 4: What does she do wrong?
Speaker 2: Oh, she got pregnant two years in a row, and
Speaker 2: also looked at JJ Reddick, current ESPN personality and podcaster.
Speaker 4: These are real.
Speaker 2: Names, these are real names he's looking at. That's pretty
Speaker 2: much the dartboard method of picking a coach. If they
Speaker 2: have held a basketball in the past five years, put
Speaker 2: him on the board, put him on the interview list.
Speaker 4: Seriously.
Speaker 2: The raps have also looked at a few young coaches
Speaker 2: who could fill in and kill it in Toronto. Jordi Fernandez,
Speaker 2: King assistant who took over for Mike Brown for a
Speaker 2: game this year. When he won, his team celebrated like
Speaker 2: they all won a ring, huge sign of love and respect.
Speaker 2: Charles Lee the Bell of the Ball from Milwaukee, Chris
Speaker 2: Quinn in Miami, Adrian Griffin again for Toronto, all.
Speaker 4: In the running.
Speaker 2: Even Kenny Atkinson is on this list. So you've got
Speaker 2: a lot of the same coaches on all of these
Speaker 2: same lists. I think you're going to know everything that
Speaker 2: you want to know about the direction that this franchise
Speaker 2: is heading based on who they hire. If they hire
Speaker 2: a young coach without any experience, it's kind of a
Speaker 2: will Hardy situation the ar rebuilding. If they hire an
Speaker 2: experience coach, they are going to try to keep their
Speaker 2: assets and they are going to try and win. Now,
Speaker 2: Phoenix Sun's head coaching search is I have no idea. Honestly,
Speaker 2: I've looked and looked and looked, and there's a lot
Speaker 2: of names floating, but there is no definitive list.
Speaker 4: Matt Ishbi is probably going to hire Isaiah Thomas, isn't he?
Speaker 2: Yes, Like there's no list, there's no list. He's got
Speaker 2: a deep pocket, He's connected in Detroit. He loves Isaiah Thomas.
Speaker 2: Either Isaiah Thomas is coaching this team or he's gonna
Speaker 2: be the GM of this team. I don't think you
Speaker 2: can scratch off any of out of work coaches off
Speaker 2: the list right now. There's probably coaches under contract he's
Speaker 2: looking at. Tyler's name has been prominently mentioned, and this
Speaker 2: is a very intriguing search. He could go with assistance
Speaker 2: like Jordi Fernandez or uh I don't know, like possibly
Speaker 2: another coach that has worked under Sam Presti. So more
Speaker 2: likely it will be a splashy and expensive higher because
Speaker 2: that's what Isshbia wants to do. I would guess that
Speaker 2: maybe Nurse or Bud would be the choice in Phoenix,
Speaker 2: although I don't think either one is a fit in
Speaker 2: my mind. As Michael Bridge's former Phoenix Suns recently said,
Speaker 2: Amani Williams isn't the problem and wasn't the problem in Phoenix.
Speaker 2: So if the coach wasn't the problem, who was? Can
Speaker 2: another coach come in and fix it? Lots of speculation,
Speaker 2: but one thing is for sure. Phoenix is facing a
Speaker 2: fascinating offseason where DeAndre Ayton has mentioned in multiple trade
Speaker 2: rumors to Detroit, to Dallas and to Portland a couple
Speaker 2: of final points in Houston. Our man I may Udoka
Speaker 2: is assembling his staff. He's just brought in Royal Ivy
Speaker 2: from the Nets as his first major hire. I think
Speaker 2: he is likely to retain Rockets assistants John Lucas, the
Speaker 2: second a Rockets legend, and Ma Mood abdel Fata, who's
Speaker 2: been credited with bringing along the baby Rockets I think
Speaker 2: probably Aaron Miles, who's currently assistant for the Celtics.
Speaker 4: I could see him joining him in Houston.
Speaker 2: And it will probably depend on Joe Mizula's job status,
Speaker 2: which brings me to this. We've talked a lot about
Speaker 2: Joe Misula this episode, but we did not ask the
Speaker 2: question it's his job in danger. Forty eight hours ago
Speaker 2: I would have said no fucking way, But now even Wolje,
Speaker 2: even Brian Windhorse, is saying, well, maybe his job is
Speaker 2: in danger. And the reason that every single Celtics fan
Speaker 2: as I rate right now is just howling mad is
Speaker 2: Joe Mizzula. And when your fan base, who is rapid,
Speaker 2: makes this much noise, you must listen or you risk
Speaker 2: losing the team to your fans altogether. So as possible,
Speaker 2: we might have another job opening very soon.
Speaker 4: It's a col world out there, folks, cold world. That's
Speaker 4: all the time that we after the heat check.
Speaker 2: We'll be back Friday with an all new episode, and
Speaker 2: we are now well into the conference finals.
Speaker 4: May be done with one of them tonight.
Speaker 2: Check back on the feed for past episodes. Many episodes
Speaker 2: which drop almost every single day follow the heat check.
Speaker 2: As the NBA is currently in full swing. Do not
Speaker 2: forget to download, subscribe. Please tell your friends, every single,
Speaker 2: damn one of them, thanks for listening, thanks to my producer,
Speaker 2: Nick Berlanski, and we will see you next time.