Speaker 1: On this episode of the Eat Check, the NBA season
Speaker 1: is over and the Boston Celtics are your NBA season champions.
Speaker 1: We'll break down the series and the season give you
Speaker 1: my five big takeaways from that series. Anthony, the season
Speaker 1: is over, but the Lakers still haven't hired JJ Reddick
Speaker 1: yet or given us any insight whether they're gonna take
Speaker 1: somebody else for their head coach. So let's get right
Speaker 1: into it and drop that motherfucker beat that should be Rihanna. Well,
Speaker 1: that was Underweter. What a absolute painstaking finals that was
Speaker 1: to watch. And I love basketball and I was more
Speaker 1: than willing to watch other things. I went to a
Speaker 1: sketch comedy show on Friday night and didn't even watch
Speaker 1: the game at all. Didn't even when we went to
Speaker 1: a bar after I barely tuned in. It was already
Speaker 1: a thirty point game. Eastern Conference Western Conference Finals, and
Speaker 1: the finals themselves were the worst that I can remember.
Speaker 1: I am now a soccer fan. I'm watching the Euros
Speaker 1: Copa America here is pretty fun too. I have watched
Speaker 1: a lot of Stanley Cup finals. Apparently, the Edmonton Oilers
Speaker 1: are the Dallas Mavericks of hockey and the playoffs clearly
Speaker 1: peaked in the second round, because after that it was
Speaker 1: just all downhill from there. We had a second round
Speaker 1: matchup between Minnesota and Denver that went seven. Minnesota had
Speaker 1: a twenty point deficit to overcome and they looked like
Speaker 1: they were in the grave. Somehow they end up winning
Speaker 1: that one Minnesota after they swept the Phoenix. It was
Speaker 1: pretty exciting. You've got Pacers knocking off the Hospital Wing,
Speaker 1: New York Knicks, and seven Dallas took out OKC in six,
Speaker 1: and then it just wasn't close. There were fifteen playoff
Speaker 1: series in total and only three game sevens. There were
Speaker 1: eight sweeps or gentlemen sweeps, including both the conference finals
Speaker 1: and the finals themselves. That's just not what you want
Speaker 1: for compelling viewing. I'm just sorry to say last year
Speaker 1: wasn't good either, but we got a game seven in
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference Finals, which is pretty lit. In twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two, there were only five non competitive playoff series.
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty one, there were six. And I'm not
Speaker 1: trying to say that the Boston Celtics didn't deserve winning
Speaker 1: at all. We'll get into them in a bit, but
Speaker 1: they were clearly the best team in the Eastern Conference
Speaker 1: at the very least, and they fielded one of the
Speaker 1: most stacked rosters that we've ever seen. They had the
Speaker 1: best offense in NBA history. They won sixty four regular
Speaker 1: season games that minimum six All Stars, four of whom
Speaker 1: are gonna make the Hall of Fame. What a monster roster.
Speaker 1: Brad Stevens deserves a ton of credit because that team
Speaker 1: should not have been allowed to be assembled. But it
Speaker 1: does not obscure the fact that the finals sucked. They
Speaker 1: were ass It was never particularly close. Even the game
Speaker 1: the Dallas one wasn't close if you throw out the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter of Game three. The MAVs got destroyed in
Speaker 1: all of the Celtics' four wins. Not fun to watch,
Speaker 1: just not fun to watch. My immediate thoughts, I have
Speaker 1: several There may not be a bigger winner in this
Speaker 1: era than Drew Holliday in terms of consistent ability to
Speaker 1: change a franchise. The guy changes the culture everywhere he's gone.
Speaker 1: He even changed the Portland Tilblazers culture and he was
Speaker 1: never even touched down on the team. He helped us,
Speaker 1: helped the Boston Celtics win a ring. Look at him.
Speaker 1: He's now won two chips on two different teams in
Speaker 1: his first year, elevating very talented teams that had major
Speaker 1: question marks about their ability to give with the home hump,
Speaker 1: to the point where there was even rumors about splitting
Speaker 1: stars up. First with Giannis and the Bucks, who had
Speaker 1: always disappointed and have since he left, and then the Celtics,
Speaker 1: who climbed the mountains so many times and they never
Speaker 1: really got over the hump until he landed in Boston.
Speaker 1: I was right. I'll just say that I was banging
Speaker 1: the drum that Marcus mart needed to be traded because
Speaker 1: he was not a reliable point guard. And that was
Speaker 1: the truth that Boston Celtics fans did not win a year.
Speaker 1: I told you this in twenty twenty one. You were
Speaker 1: never winning a championship with Marcus Mart And I'll say
Speaker 1: it again. I like Marcus mart great defensive presence, won
Speaker 1: a Defensive Player of the Year award. Did he deserve it?
Speaker 1: Probably not. Locker room leader, heart and soul of the team.
Speaker 1: But for all his merits, the guy has not Drew
Speaker 1: Holiday like it is not. Drew can not only lock
Speaker 1: down one of the best players on the other team
Speaker 1: on the perimeter, but he can be anywhere on the
Speaker 1: floor offensively either. He can play anything from point to
Speaker 1: hanging out in the dunker spot. He can shoot timely
Speaker 1: threees through you shoot forty percent from deep. In the playoffs.
Speaker 1: He makes everyone around him better. The coach is asking him, Hey,
Speaker 1: when you guys were in this situation, what did you do?
Speaker 1: Brings the team a sense of calm, a sense of ease,
Speaker 1: a sense of this guy knows what he's doing. He
Speaker 1: makes everyone around him better. And I was thinking, as
Speaker 1: much as I disliked the Boston Celtics, I dislike Philadelphia
Speaker 1: even more. And man, the Sixers really did start the
Speaker 1: process when they decided to trade a twenty two year
Speaker 1: old Drew Holliday for the pick that became Nerlins Noel Wow,
Speaker 1: and he was twenty two. Drew is so hurt by it.
Speaker 1: He still thinks about it. He told Draymond this on
Speaker 1: the podcast this year. I didn't know what to think.
Speaker 1: I just became an All Star, I just signed an extension.
Speaker 1: I thought I was one of the cornerstones or major
Speaker 1: chess piece of seventy six ers basketball. Me Evan Turner,
Speaker 1: Dad Young, we were still there. I was like, damn
Speaker 1: and pretty much every move after that has not worked
Speaker 1: out like the Sixers wanted to. I'm sure Joe Cronin
Speaker 1: did not anticipate giving Boston a ring and only getting
Speaker 1: Malcolm Brogden Rob Williams in two first round picks for
Speaker 1: that trader, Joe could have sent Drew Holiday to fucking
Speaker 1: Los Angeles and maybe they would be in the Western
Speaker 1: Conference Finals. In the finals against Boston, that was the
Speaker 1: biggest step in building the championship team, which was Drew Holiday.
Speaker 1: Drew Holiday continues to give you impactful minutes. He can
Speaker 1: do anything that you need him to do. Also, the
Speaker 1: Derek White trade still goes down as like a puzzling trade. Also,
Speaker 1: they traded Romeo Langford for Derek White to the San
Speaker 1: Antonio Spurs. I know San Antonio wanted to get Eric
Speaker 1: White to a better place, but that's just as Jason
Speaker 1: Tatum also feels like this title is really impactful for him.
Speaker 1: Just listen to what he had to say in this
Speaker 1: postgame presser.
Speaker 2: It's a real feeling. Still hasn't really kicked in yet.
Speaker 2: Just try and I guess enjoyed a moment. I kept saying, Wow,
Speaker 2: these last seven years have been a roller coaster up
Speaker 2: and down. I had to listen all the shit about me,
Speaker 2: and tonight it was worth it.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, and tonight it was worth it. We
Speaker 1: did say things about Jason Tatum, settle seven years of saying, hey,
Speaker 1: you're really good, but you're maybe not great. And now
Speaker 1: he'll never have to answer any questions from the media
Speaker 1: about whether he's a winner, whether the two Jades can
Speaker 1: win a championship, whether they should be split up. Nobody
Speaker 1: wanted this more than Tatum, and yet we'll still be
Speaker 1: there criticizing Jason Tatum. We still will, myself included, because
Speaker 1: I want Jason Tatum to be a top five player
Speaker 1: in the NBA, and right now you just is not.
Speaker 1: I don't care that he didn't win finals MVP. That
Speaker 1: does not change my argument about whether I think that
Speaker 1: he's a top five player in this league or not.
Speaker 1: It does bear mentioning that he took the ball iso
Speaker 1: like seven to eight consecutive times in the last two
Speaker 1: minutes of his time on the court when they were
Speaker 1: up twenty five, to try to get from twenty points
Speaker 1: to thirty points to try and get that finals MVP.
Speaker 1: I know that's what he was doing, and I'm sorry
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum, you were a minus thirty in two games
Speaker 1: in that series that your teams blew out the Dallas Mavericks.
Speaker 1: So but again, we'll never be able to take that
Speaker 1: championship away from Jason dintam. We will not. The banner
Speaker 1: will be there long after he retires. He will be
Speaker 1: his jersey will be retired at TD Garden. He will
Speaker 1: be mentioned as one of the most dominant players Boston
Speaker 1: Celtics players of all time. So while the jabs and
Speaker 1: barbers will continue, maybe they don't. Maybe they don't affect
Speaker 1: him as much anymore. I don't know. Maybe that's what
Speaker 1: being a championship means. Jerry West talked about it. After
Speaker 1: being so close for so long, he lost by the
Speaker 1: way eight finals, then he finally won one. He was like,
Speaker 1: I'm forever a champion. And this was the guy who
Speaker 1: was Finals MVP, the only Finals MVP on a losing team.
Speaker 1: So Jason Tatum doesn't have anything left to proof, and folks,
Speaker 1: that might make him the most dangerous player in the
Speaker 1: NBA next year, because listen, maybe the monkey's off of
Speaker 1: his back and he'll be a certified killer. The third
Speaker 1: thing that stick out for me is Christas Porzingis just
Speaker 1: decided to sacrifice and not be the guy and be
Speaker 1: the fourth option. And boy, oh boys, he a really
Speaker 1: great third or fourth option. He did it unselfishly. He
Speaker 1: did everything that the Boston Celtics wanted him to do.
Speaker 1: He was a block machine. He was decent on the perimeter.
Speaker 1: He shot threes, he spaced the flo or. Everybody said
Speaker 1: before in his early days that he was injury prone
Speaker 1: and soft. We know he is injury prone, but soft
Speaker 1: he is not. He said he would die out there.
Speaker 1: He said, I will die on the floor if that's
Speaker 1: what it takes. He's not getting a ring if you
Speaker 1: die out there. And he did not care. He did
Speaker 1: not care. He came out for Game five, even though
Speaker 1: he was clearly hobbled, clearly in pain. His tendon was subluxed,
Speaker 1: it was dislocated, and he figured out a way to
Speaker 1: still get dunks and blocks and still be out there
Speaker 1: for his teammates. That's a narrative that has changed around
Speaker 1: KP fourth. There's gonna be a ton of scrutiny on
Speaker 1: Luca this offseason. He doesn't even think he's gonna play
Speaker 1: in the Olympics. He's so banged up he says he's
Speaker 1: got a lot of decisions to make. We know how
Speaker 1: much fun he is when he plays for Slovenia, how
Speaker 1: elite is as a player, But he has also exposed
Speaker 1: major flaws in his game, like he bitches a lot
Speaker 1: to the refs lot to the point where they don't
Speaker 1: want to give him any calls because he's such a bitch.
Speaker 1: And I love Luca. He is obsessed with yelling at
Speaker 1: the Zebras. We know that he's out of shape. Championship
Speaker 1: physical fitness is not there. He needs to figure that out.
Speaker 1: That was on full display all series. Everyone was waiting
Speaker 1: for the game that he took over, you know, forty
Speaker 1: five fifty point performance and that just was not there.
Speaker 1: Like he did it against the Wolves and had thirty
Speaker 1: by halftime. It just never happened. Barking at the refs
Speaker 1: was a critical bad move in Game three, where he
Speaker 1: not only complained to the Zebras multiple times while game
Speaker 1: play continued a five on four, but he took two
Speaker 1: stupid fouls that took him out of the game when
Speaker 1: the Mass had a chance to steal one, well not
Speaker 1: really steal, but get one. Get game three. There's a
Speaker 1: reason that almost no one pushed back on Windhorse when
Speaker 1: he blew up Luca spot after Game three. Can't hide
Speaker 1: from that. I need to know whether he's gonna come
Speaker 1: in out of shape. And you can assured that every
Speaker 1: time that he bitches to the refs next season, it
Speaker 1: will be scrutinized as well. So for good or bad,
Speaker 1: that's gonna be one of the biggest storylines going forward
Speaker 1: into the new season, and that one thinks for shooting. Sure,
Speaker 1: Luca is not going to like it. Also, I didn't
Speaker 1: write this down, but it's also bears mentioning is the
Speaker 1: Boston Celtics fans are clearly in Kyrie Rubing's head. He
Speaker 1: has not gotten over that at all. That is one
Speaker 1: of those bugaboo memories that continue to haunt him. And
Speaker 1: we'll see whether it ever heals, because right now he
Speaker 1: is shooketh and Kyrie is one of the most potent
Speaker 1: scores in the league, and he was shut down to
Speaker 1: fifteen points in a closeout game. And then finally, the
Speaker 1: Celtics winning shows that there's a ton of parody in
Speaker 1: this league. There's now been six different champions in six years.
Speaker 1: What does that mean? It means a lot of teams
Speaker 1: that are one piece away from winning it all, all
Speaker 1: they have to do is figure out what that one
Speaker 1: piece is and acquire it. I mean not all you
Speaker 1: have to do, but you're closer than you think. Timberwolves,
Speaker 1: thunder Calves, MAVs, you can all make a single move
Speaker 1: like adding a Drew Holiday that could put you over
Speaker 1: the top, and maybe you can make two moves figure
Speaker 1: out role players that will really help you. The question
Speaker 1: is what team makes that move? Is that Phoenix. Does
Speaker 1: Phoenix try to go after Lebron James? Will they be
Speaker 1: more willing to take a big swing because they saw
Speaker 1: how much success that the MAVs and Celtics had adding
Speaker 1: big pieces, even though they're deep into the luxury text,
Speaker 1: that to me is the storyline. It is time put
Speaker 1: your nuts on the table, evaluate the players properly, and
Speaker 1: maybe you can get over the hump. When you look
Speaker 1: at the standings, I see seven teams in the East
Speaker 1: and at least eight teams in the West that you
Speaker 1: can make an argument it is a major move away
Speaker 1: from getting to the conference finals or the finals. And listen,
Speaker 1: like Boston, as good as they are and as talented
Speaker 1: they are, as they are, they did not have the
Speaker 1: injury bug the same way that the Knicks did, or
Speaker 1: the Pacers did, or the heat did or the Sixers did.
Speaker 1: So if Jason Tatum God forbid or Jaylen Brown word
Speaker 1: god forbid to get injured, that East is wide open.
Speaker 1: The NBA season has just ended and free agency begins
Speaker 1: an hour. Game five is in the books. After Game
Speaker 1: five is in the books, followed by the draft and
Speaker 1: then summer leak, and we'll be all here for that
Speaker 1: giving you updates because apparently the Heat Check never sleeps. Also,
Speaker 1: fuck Steph Curry for taking my name. It's my heat
Speaker 1: Check podcast. Anyway, That's all the time that we have
Speaker 1: for this episode of The Heat Check. Come back Friday for
Speaker 1: an all new episode. Check out the feet for past
Speaker 1: episodes and many episodes which drop unexpectedly, like a half
Speaker 1: court heat from Peyton Pritchard. Do not forget to follow
Speaker 1: the heat Check throughout the finals. That means download, that
Speaker 1: means subscribe, that means tell your friends. Given little Deuce Tatum,
Speaker 1: tell him, hey, your daddy's a champion. Tell him throw
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Speaker 1: and you too.