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Speaker 1: in West Virginia. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight, presented
Speaker 1: by FanDuel here at the volume Happy Sunday, everybody. Although
Speaker 1: I am technically recording this right on the dot midnight
Speaker 1: on Saturday night, I did just get back from an
Speaker 1: ugly sweater Christmas party, so that's why I've got the
Speaker 1: reindeer clink in the beer mugs. The Boston Celtics had
Speaker 1: an opportunity to go into Golden State and send a
Speaker 1: message tonight, and instead the Golden State Warriors sent an
Speaker 1: even more resounding message the other direction. We're gonna be
Speaker 1: diving into that game from a bunch of different angles.
Speaker 1: You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe
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Speaker 1: Jason Lts you guys don't miss any show announcements. And then,
Speaker 1: last but not least, for whatever reason, you guys miss
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Speaker 1: to YouTube to finish, you can find them wherever you
Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Under Hoops. Tonight, all right, let's talk
Speaker 1: and basketball. So we did a show earlier this week,
Speaker 1: if you guys remember, was after the Celtics went into
Speaker 1: Phoenix and beat the crap out of the Suns. And
Speaker 1: if you remember, in that show, I said that I
Speaker 1: wasn't prepared to move them ahead of Golden State as
Speaker 1: my championship favorite. And the reason why is I've already
Speaker 1: seen the Boston Celtics dominated a regular season from January
Speaker 1: eight to the end of the year. Last year, they
Speaker 1: were the best defense in the league and the best
Speaker 1: offense in the league. They dominated everybody, and yet against
Speaker 1: the Milwaukee Bucks team that was down Chris Middleton, they
Speaker 1: got dragged seven games against the Miami Heat team that
Speaker 1: was at a significant talent disadvantage against Boston. Jimmy Butler
Speaker 1: had a shot in Game seven to win the series,
Speaker 1: and then after being up two games to one over
Speaker 1: a Golden State team that was nearly as talented, but
Speaker 1: I still gave a slight edge to Boston. They got
Speaker 1: resoundingly beat in games four or five and six to
Speaker 1: lose the trophy. It's never been about the talent for
Speaker 1: Boston with me, It's been about their ability to execute
Speaker 1: and avoid their personal pitfalls and weaknesses on the biggest
Speaker 1: stage against the best teams that directly attack those weaknesses.
Speaker 1: Why did I pick Golden State to win the title
Speaker 1: before the season. If you guys, remember I said they're
Speaker 1: the best combination of talent with management, coaching experience, and
Speaker 1: continuity in the league. Talent doesn't define a basketball team.
Speaker 1: If Boston became a better execution team, better better at
Speaker 1: executing when the chips are down, they would become my favorite.
Speaker 1: But that's a significant chunk of what makes a good
Speaker 1: basketball team, and it's a significant weakness for this Boston team.
Speaker 1: I didn't care that Golden State got off to a
Speaker 1: rough start this year, and I didn't care that Boston
Speaker 1: was killing everyone on the other end of the league
Speaker 1: because we know what that Golden State starting lineup is
Speaker 1: capable of. When the chips are down. We know Steve
Speaker 1: Kerr will give them the best possible game plan to
Speaker 1: potentially win in any matchup, and we know the gold
Speaker 1: and State vets will be locked into the details. They
Speaker 1: will execute the game plan. They will be sharp with
Speaker 1: their coverages, they will sprint back in transition defense, they'll
Speaker 1: compete in every rebounding situation. They will win in the
Speaker 1: details of basketball games. Time and time again, in basketball history,
Speaker 1: it's been that type of team that wins the title
Speaker 1: and not the team that is the most talented. This
Speaker 1: was a massively important game for both teams. Golden State
Speaker 1: had an opportunity to remove the bad taste of a
Speaker 1: mediocre start to their season. It's kind of like the
Speaker 1: Lakers when they went into and beat the Bucks in Milwaukee.
Speaker 1: It's like, really bad season, but they demonstrated their ceiling
Speaker 1: is still there when Lebron and a d play well,
Speaker 1: that's what this game was for Golden State, although on
Speaker 1: a different level because Golden State has more legitimate title
Speaker 1: chances because they're more talented, but Golden State, this was
Speaker 1: their win. You dominate the Celtics on your home floor,
Speaker 1: that sends the message that hey, look, we've been sloppy,
Speaker 1: We've been working through lineup stuff. We're trying to get
Speaker 1: young guys in the loop. But when the chips are down,
Speaker 1: we are still the best. That's why it was important
Speaker 1: for Golden State. On the other end, for Boston, they're
Speaker 1: on a three game losing streak against Golden State. This
Speaker 1: was their opportunity to send a message that they believe
Speaker 1: they are better than the Warriors. But when the actual
Speaker 1: basketball started tonight, Boston wasn't sharp and Golden State was.
Speaker 1: Boston tried to win the game on the sheer power
Speaker 1: of their talent, and Golden State won by trying to
Speaker 1: execute in the details. For instance, Clay Thompson big time
Speaker 1: night tonight. I think he had twenty five points in
Speaker 1: the first half, shot the lights out, But more importantly,
Speaker 1: from the opening tip, he did an outstanding job defending
Speaker 1: Jayson Tatum, something that doesn't show up on the box court.
Speaker 1: He made uh there. There was a um an early
Speaker 1: possession where Jayson Tatum had the ball on the left
Speaker 1: elbow and Clay just got up into his airspace, made
Speaker 1: him feel super uncomfortable, ended up knocking the ball loose,
Speaker 1: and Golden State ran out the other way. There's another
Speaker 1: play where Tatum beat him back door, and it's like
Speaker 1: nine out of ten times you just concede that lap.
Speaker 1: It's forty eight minute game, a lot of basketball left.
Speaker 1: You got beat No. No, Clay like sold out. I
Speaker 1: went to try to meet Tatum at the top of
Speaker 1: the square and blocked him. He sent a message early
Speaker 1: in that game that he was not going to give
Speaker 1: Tatum anything easy. He was all over him. It was
Speaker 1: peak Clay Monster defensive performance from him. But it's because
Speaker 1: Clay knew he wasn't gonna win the game based on
Speaker 1: him getting twenty five or thirty. He was gonna win
Speaker 1: the game by fulfilling his a personal responsibility in the
Speaker 1: game plan, which involved Andrew Wiggins is out. I have
Speaker 1: to guard Jason Tatum. Jayson Tatum has been one of
Speaker 1: the best players in the league this year, but in
Speaker 1: our defensive scheme, if I press up on him and
Speaker 1: I make him feel uncomfortable and we funnel him into
Speaker 1: our help, it will test his decision making and he
Speaker 1: might make mistakes. That was his role in the game
Speaker 1: plan and he fulfilled it. Another great example was transition
Speaker 1: defense for both teams. Boston was giving up runouts like
Speaker 1: flat out, like cherry picking runouts all night long. Not
Speaker 1: cherry picking, but it looked like cherry picking based on
Speaker 1: how open Golden State players were down the floor. There
Speaker 1: were two plays in the third quarter back to back
Speaker 1: when the Celtics were back within six where on one play,
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown is standing as Clay Thompson is walking past him,
Speaker 1: and instead of Jalen Brown sprinting back as was his
Speaker 1: responsibility with the floor balance because he was back, he
Speaker 1: got out run by Clay Thompson. Wasn't even close easy dunk,
Speaker 1: very next possession, Marcus Smart three, top of the key,
Speaker 1: Jordan Pool contests the three. There's three Celtics behind the
Speaker 1: above the brake line, and none of them ran back.
Speaker 1: Jordan Pool was by himself for a layup. That's a detail.
Speaker 1: If you intend to send a message to the Golden
Speaker 1: State Warriors on their home floor that you thought it
Speaker 1: was a fluke that you lost to them in the finals,
Speaker 1: you have to come in sharp, and they weren't sharp.
Speaker 1: They gave up nineteen fast breakpoints which is the difference
Speaker 1: in this game. And then on the other end, Golden
Speaker 1: State was super sharp time and time again. Boston was
Speaker 1: trying to get out in transition to find something easier
Speaker 1: than what they were getting in the half court, and
Speaker 1: Golden State was just sprinting back, communicating, getting matched up,
Speaker 1: and forcing them to score in the half court. Golden
Speaker 1: State dominated on the glass. That's about competing, crashing or
Speaker 1: boxing out. I also thought, I mean, and this is
Speaker 1: this is another big part of why I picked Golden
Speaker 1: State to win the title this year. I think they
Speaker 1: have the best coach in the league. Their game plan
Speaker 1: was better. Boss ran drop coverage all night long. And
Speaker 1: again I know it's Blake Griffin, but you know, if
Speaker 1: you're gonna be a Celtics fan and complain about Horford
Speaker 1: being out, let's be clear Andrew Wiggins is more important
Speaker 1: to the Warriors than Horford is to the Celtics. This year,
Speaker 1: the Celtics are plus fourteen per one HUND possessions when
Speaker 1: Horford is off the floor. Golden State is minus seven
Speaker 1: per one hun possessions with Wiggins off the floor. He's
Speaker 1: their second best player, and really they're only legitimately reliable
Speaker 1: two ways six eight wing right now. But like Blake,
Speaker 1: Blake Griffin all game long was too far back and
Speaker 1: drop coverage. And you know what, it was the exact
Speaker 1: same thing that happened last year in the finals when
Speaker 1: it was Al Horford and Robert Williams. They were too
Speaker 1: far back in their drop coverage and the Warriors were
Speaker 1: hitting pull up jumpers over them all game long. As
Speaker 1: a matter of fact, I've i've charted a bunch of
Speaker 1: possessions when they played no center and they switched everything,
Speaker 1: they stagnated, Golden State got more stops and got out
Speaker 1: in transition. They were minus fourteen and twenty eight minutes
Speaker 1: with a big on the floor, not counting the noahv
Speaker 1: only minutes at the at the end in garbage time,
Speaker 1: and they were minus four in eighteen minutes when they
Speaker 1: didn't have a big on the floor. So obviously negative
Speaker 1: in both situations, but they fared a lot better when
Speaker 1: they were switching than when they were running their drop coverage.
Speaker 1: It's a it's a it's a consistent schematic thing that
Speaker 1: the Celtics do that I disagree with. I think it
Speaker 1: leaves it's I think it's a missed opportunity for their
Speaker 1: personnel strength. What makes Boston so good is they have
Speaker 1: literally like seven or eight players that can defend multiple
Speaker 1: positions and and dribble, pass and score. They should be
Speaker 1: the best five outs switching everything team in the league,
Speaker 1: and they are doing a lot more switching with Al Horford,
Speaker 1: which I think is a big part of their success
Speaker 1: so far this year. Meanwhile, on the other end of
Speaker 1: the floor Golden States game plan, they were packing the
Speaker 1: paint and testing Boston's decision making, leaving shooters open, baiting
Speaker 1: Boston into shooting over help instead of making the right reads,
Speaker 1: which has been consistent problem for Boston throughout this last year.
Speaker 1: I complained about that NonStop, especially in the second round
Speaker 1: series against against Brookes, against uh Brook Lopez and Jana
Speaker 1: Sintenna Cumpo and in the finals against Kevon Looney and
Speaker 1: Draymond Green. They were over packing the paint, giving wide
Speaker 1: open kickout opportunities. In Boston Celtics guards and wings were
Speaker 1: driving into traffic and trying to score over the top. Instead,
Speaker 1: when the Celtics drive and kick, they get quality shots,
Speaker 1: they score more frequently. They're able to get back set
Speaker 1: their half court defense and get more stops when they
Speaker 1: drive and miss over help. They have bad floor balance
Speaker 1: because they have a guy under the ram who just
Speaker 1: missed a layup, and then they get run out on
Speaker 1: in transition and give up baskets. That happened again tonight.
Speaker 1: The Boston Celtics missed nineteen shots in the painted area.
Speaker 1: Tonight they were nine thirty eight. Jayson Tatum was four
Speaker 1: for twelve in the paint time and time again, just
Speaker 1: trying to score over help. They're baiting them into it.
Speaker 1: It's a game plan thing for Golden State. There's a
Speaker 1: play there in that fourth quarter Marcus Smart driving into
Speaker 1: the basket, beats his man off the dribble. Kevn Louney's
Speaker 1: there and help. He ends up losing his dribble and
Speaker 1: his trapp gets the ball back and instead of making
Speaker 1: the kickout pass to a shooter, just tried to shoot
Speaker 1: over Kevin Louney and got blocked. It's like they can't
Speaker 1: help themselves. It's like the ugly side of themselves that
Speaker 1: pops up when teams bait them into it, and they
Speaker 1: struggled to stop that. You know, I thought it was
Speaker 1: really interesting when I was watching the film back. There
Speaker 1: was a clip of Joe Missoula and a time out
Speaker 1: in the second half, and he said, quote unquote, we
Speaker 1: half to make better rim reads to get great looks.
Speaker 1: That that is something that we've literally been screaming on
Speaker 1: this show for seven months now. The bottom line is
Speaker 1: is that winning basketball games at the highest level. And
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about winning in the regular season. I'm
Speaker 1: talking about at the highest level conference finals, NBA Finals,
Speaker 1: against the best teams, against other superstars, against teams that
Speaker 1: have been there and done that. It's not as simple
Speaker 1: as who has more guys who can score and who
Speaker 1: has more guys who can defend. We know Boston has
Speaker 1: that over everybody. It's about forty eight minutes of hundreds
Speaker 1: and hundreds of basketball decisions, constant, unrelenting effort and attention
Speaker 1: to detail, getting back in transition every single time, boxing
Speaker 1: your man out every single time, being relentless about making
Speaker 1: the right read every single time, understanding the game plan
Speaker 1: dynamics that are at play. Like for instance, Boston has
Speaker 1: been a good transition defense overall this year. They are
Speaker 1: sixth an opponent fast breakpoints scored per one hund possessions
Speaker 1: and their sixth and overall transition defense according to cleaning
Speaker 1: the glass on a points per possession basis. But here's
Speaker 1: the thing. They were good at that stuff last year
Speaker 1: too in the regular season, and then they fell apart
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. That's the difference between the highest levels
Speaker 1: and the regular season. In those settings, teams will actively
Speaker 1: try to make you feel uncomfortable and get you out
Speaker 1: of your element, which can disrupt your rhythm, disrupt your confidence,
Speaker 1: and cause you to have slippage in the details of
Speaker 1: the game. Boston kind of loses sight of who they
Speaker 1: are in these settings. They see the Golden State jerseys
Speaker 1: and they kind of just denigrate back into an older
Speaker 1: version of themselves. That's the problem. That's why I can't
Speaker 1: get all very I can't get excited about them dominating
Speaker 1: a regular season. They have demonstrated time and time again
Speaker 1: that when they see these Golden State Warriors jerseys, they
Speaker 1: forget how to play good basketball, good discipline basketball. And
Speaker 1: that's the difference between the way Boston has won over
Speaker 1: the last couple of years and the way that Golden
Speaker 1: State has won for a decade now. When the Chips
Speaker 1: are down, Golden State leans on their commitment to the
Speaker 1: details time and time again, we see Boston gets sloppy
Speaker 1: when it counts, and we see Golden State execute. I
Speaker 1: wanted to give a couple of specific shoutouts, so uh,
Speaker 1: I thought Clay Thompson made really great reads all night
Speaker 1: against Boston's drop coverage. He's got a really good feel
Speaker 1: for where his defender is trailing the screen, so if
Speaker 1: he's got enough space to elevate right away, he can.
Speaker 1: And then he's really good at using escape dribbles. So
Speaker 1: like you come over the top of the screen and
Speaker 1: you're not you don't have enough separation from the defender
Speaker 1: to raise up. You feel like he can back pressure you,
Speaker 1: but he's still lingering on the screen a little bit.
Speaker 1: Push that ball out in front of you, go to
Speaker 1: a spot that's five feet further and elevate. That'll buy
Speaker 1: you that extra bit of separation you need to get
Speaker 1: a clean look. It's one of the things that Clay's
Speaker 1: best at. That's where almost all of his pull up
Speaker 1: threes come from. Um and then another big thing that
Speaker 1: he both him and and Steph were doing this but
Speaker 1: re screening. So with how far back Blake Griffin was,
Speaker 1: you know, and this is the challenge with drop coverage
Speaker 1: in general, you ask your guard to fight over the
Speaker 1: top of the screen. That's difficult in and of itself,
Speaker 1: but what if he has to fight over the same
Speaker 1: screen three times because Blake is so far back that
Speaker 1: it's like, Okay, Marcus Smart fought over the screen, but
Speaker 1: then it's a retreat dribble, and we come over the
Speaker 1: screen again, and it's a retreat dribble, and we cover
Speaker 1: the screen again. And maybe Marcus Smart gets over at
Speaker 1: the first two times, but on the third time, you know,
Speaker 1: Looney turns and gets the angle right now, you get
Speaker 1: the separation and you knock it down. Clay Thompson and
Speaker 1: Steph Curry were both really patient tonight, just making sure
Speaker 1: that they got the right looks out of drop coverage,
Speaker 1: and then Clay was outstanding with his defense on Tatum.
Speaker 1: As we mentioned earlier, you know, I was I was
Speaker 1: never worried about Clay Thompson even for a second this
Speaker 1: whole season, because we saw what he was capable of
Speaker 1: in the NBA Finals. We know that the journey back
Speaker 1: for these injuries as a complicated process. He was going
Speaker 1: to eventually figure it out, and this was this was
Speaker 1: a home run type of performance for him to kind
Speaker 1: of hammer that point home. Um. Jonathan Comingia did some
Speaker 1: really nice work in isolation defense on Jayson Tatum when
Speaker 1: he was in the game. He had fourteen points on
Speaker 1: nine shots, a really nice left handed drive. In the
Speaker 1: second half, he had a nasty dunk on Jayson Tatum
Speaker 1: where he tried to post him up and Tatum pushed
Speaker 1: him under the basket and he lost his dribble a
Speaker 1: little bit, and he elevated from straight vert from behind
Speaker 1: the backboard and got over the top of Tatum and
Speaker 1: dunked it on his head. That was disgusting. He continues
Speaker 1: to blossom into an incredibly exciting young prospect. Um Cavan
Speaker 1: Luni and Draymond Green. They defended the paint incredibly well
Speaker 1: for the most part, without fouling. The Boston Celtics have
Speaker 1: shot just a hair under sixty percent this year in
Speaker 1: the paint, and the Uh and uh, Louoni and Draymond
Speaker 1: held him to fifty tonight. Um and then Steph Curry,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't, I don't. I'm running out of
Speaker 1: ways to describe the way he's playing this year. He
Speaker 1: also torched Boston's drop coverage time and time again. Thirty
Speaker 1: two six and seven. His shot difficulty was off the charts.
Speaker 1: The amount of like momentous, incredibly difficult shots that he
Speaker 1: hit tonight was ridiculous. To go to go twelve for
Speaker 1: twenty one on the types of shots he was taking
Speaker 1: tonight is insane. I you know, I think he's been
Speaker 1: you know, I don't want to change my actual player
Speaker 1: rankings until the off season. It's kind of like a
Speaker 1: rule of mine. But in terms of my rolling regular
Speaker 1: season player rankings, I think step has been the best
Speaker 1: player in the world this year. The moving over the Celtics.
Speaker 1: Speaking of incredibly difficult shot making, Jalen Brown thirty one,
Speaker 1: nine and three, and he made a ton of high
Speaker 1: difficulty shots. You know. As far as Jayson Tatum, we're
Speaker 1: going to talk about him in a minute. He's got
Speaker 1: some issues with Golden State, like Tatum or excuse me.
Speaker 1: Jaylen Brown has been very comfortable in this particular matchup
Speaker 1: and has had a bunch of big games against the Warriors.
Speaker 1: He was great against tonight. Malcolm Brogden, excuse me. Malcolm
Speaker 1: Brogden's sixteen points, five rebounds, and four assists in twenty
Speaker 1: three minutes. His ability to keep his dribble alive while
Speaker 1: protecting the basketball mainly with like a really sharp behind
Speaker 1: the back dribble. It allows him to get to his
Speaker 1: spots really easily because a lot of a lot of players,
Speaker 1: when they see an angle, they need to gather the basketball,
Speaker 1: so they're kind of committed to their move at that point.
Speaker 1: But like Malcolm Broden just keeps the dribble alive and
Speaker 1: waits for a defender to gamble one way or another,
Speaker 1: and then he's got a counter dribble back to the
Speaker 1: other side and he can go um. I thought he
Speaker 1: got really high quality shots through most of the night.
Speaker 1: I'm moving on to Jason Tatumoe just eighteen points four
Speaker 1: for twelve in the paint. Like we talked about earlier,
Speaker 1: this particular matchup against Golden State is very clearly in
Speaker 1: his head. He was really bad in the NBA Finals
Speaker 1: for the most part. It kind of reminds me of,
Speaker 1: you know, because I think it's mental. It really reminds
Speaker 1: me of what Lebron and the Calves used to do
Speaker 1: to Damarta Rosen, where even regardless of what you think
Speaker 1: about Demarta Rosen in terms of his placement in the league,
Speaker 1: he's not as bad as he looked against the Calves
Speaker 1: in those series. That's the same thing with Jayson Tatum,
Speaker 1: Like he's been undeniably great ever for this entire calendar year,
Speaker 1: with exception of this Golden State Warriors matchup. Even if
Speaker 1: you look at the Miami Heat series. In the Milwaukee
Speaker 1: Bucks series, Tatum had huge moments in that series. Tatum
Speaker 1: was amazing in Game six against Milwaukee. You know, he
Speaker 1: had a bunch of big games against the Miami Heat.
Speaker 1: He looked out of sorts that entire series, and he
Speaker 1: looked out of sorts again tonight. The and my theory
Speaker 1: is it's kind of like what Lebron and the Calves
Speaker 1: did DeRos in. It's like there's an aura of confidence
Speaker 1: that surrounds the Warriors and surrounds Steph Curry and that
Speaker 1: they play with that can be intimidating. You know, like
Speaker 1: Lebron was crazy enough to roll up into Toronto and
Speaker 1: just be like, ma, I'm gonna take eighteen fadeaways tonight.
Speaker 1: You know, like he is so comfortable in that matchup
Speaker 1: that it rattled DeRos It. And that's kind of the
Speaker 1: way that I see it. Steph has been so good
Speaker 1: in this matchup, and Steph in general, is this four
Speaker 1: time NBA champion that is arguably the best player in
Speaker 1: the world, that's been around the league for more than
Speaker 1: a decade, just an established force and the Golden State Warriors,
Speaker 1: you know, the most successful franchise of this era. It's intimidating,
Speaker 1: you know, because, like here's the thing. Everyone thought it
Speaker 1: was Andrew Wiggins that messed him up in the finals.
Speaker 1: Well Clay Thompson did a similar thing to him tonight.
Speaker 1: It is not about personnel. You know, Jason Tatum has
Speaker 1: been lightening up good defenses all year long. He's been
Speaker 1: lightening up great defenses all year long. He's been seeing
Speaker 1: a lot of the same coverages that there is clearly
Speaker 1: something mental going off there, and you can see it
Speaker 1: because you know, he doesn't shoot confidently against him even
Speaker 1: when he's open. He had back to back miss threes
Speaker 1: in that third quarter that were way off. Like he
Speaker 1: had like a nice little step back where he got
Speaker 1: good separation and good lift and it was like two
Speaker 1: ft long and a foot to the left. Damire put
Speaker 1: a hole in the backboard, you know. Like he had
Speaker 1: a couple of free throws in the fourth quarter. Celtics
Speaker 1: are down by eight, chance to get it back to six.
Speaker 1: He shoots the first free throw way long and then
Speaker 1: shoots the second free throw way short. That's mental. I
Speaker 1: don't think that's about a schematic thing. Don't get me wrong.
Speaker 1: Golden State is trying to bait him into his specific weaknesses,
Speaker 1: but a lot of teams over help on the Celtics
Speaker 1: and try to do that. This particular matchup clearly has
Speaker 1: an effect on Jayson Tatum, and he eventually needs to
Speaker 1: get over it. Because I think Golden State is gonna
Speaker 1: come out of the West this year. He needs to
Speaker 1: have a big game against them to kind of remind
Speaker 1: himself of what he's capable of. In general, just kind
Speaker 1: of zooming out on Boston. They need to improve in
Speaker 1: ways that are really difficult to improve on during the
Speaker 1: regular season. They don't need reps for the sake of reps.
Speaker 1: They have a year's worth of really solid reps this
Speaker 1: year where they've killed everybody. They need high pressure reps
Speaker 1: against great teams in high stakes environments. Kicking the ship
Speaker 1: out of everybody in the regular season is just not
Speaker 1: going to help them there. They need to face their
Speaker 1: ugly side, this ugly side of Boston, which is there
Speaker 1: driving into help and shooting over the top of the
Speaker 1: defense and not getting back in transition, not being sharpened
Speaker 1: the details, that ugly side of them that shows up
Speaker 1: in these big environments. They need to face that and
Speaker 1: they need to beat it. And I don't think they're
Speaker 1: gonna get a chance to really face that again, aside
Speaker 1: from a handful of you know, maybe a matchup against Milwaukee, there,
Speaker 1: another matchup against Golden State in the regular season. They're
Speaker 1: not really going to get a chance to prove that
Speaker 1: until the conference finals against Milwaukee this year. So it's tough.
Speaker 1: It's unfortunate because this was this was a great opportunity.
Speaker 1: And again, like if you go into Golden State and
Speaker 1: you're sharp in the details and you get back in
Speaker 1: transition defense and you make all the right reads and
Speaker 1: you just shoot poorly and they shoot better and you lose.
Speaker 1: You go home and you're like, you know what they
Speaker 1: got us tonight. But this that's gotta be a frustrating loss.
Speaker 1: And I mean you could hear it a little bit
Speaker 1: in Joe Maszula's postgame comments when he was talking about
Speaker 1: testing their ability to make the right read, but like
Speaker 1: it was exceptionally disappointing because it looked just like last year.
Speaker 1: That looked like an extension of the NBA Finals. It
Speaker 1: didn't look like a Boston team that had learned a lesson. Um,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna try to rewatch this game a little bit,
Speaker 1: especially once the once some of the data updates on
Speaker 1: some of the tracking services that I use, and we'll
Speaker 1: probably touch on this a little bit more later next week.
Speaker 1: But that's all I have for tonight. We're gonna take
Speaker 1: Tomorrow off, Monday off entirely, and then Tuesday night we'll
Speaker 1: be going live again, I believe after the Warriors game
Speaker 1: that night, and then we'll break down a bunch of
Speaker 1: other games from Sunday and Monday as well as always.
Speaker 1: I sincerely appreciate your guys support, and I'll see you
Speaker 1: on Tuesday night. The volume