Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network
Speaker 1: search seventy Sixers podcast wherever you get your pods. They've
Speaker 1: met over five hundred fifty times and played each other
Speaker 1: in the playoffs in twenty series. Chamberlain the CUCA put
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia ahead, followings the Bobby Gold Chris to the ball.
Speaker 1: That's the Sixers at their best here in twenty twenty,
Speaker 1: under unprecedented circumstances, the seventy Sixers and Boston Celtics will
Speaker 1: do it again as old rivals beat up inside the
Speaker 1: bubble in the opening round. There's plenty of talent on
Speaker 1: both sides. We certainly have our eyes settle on Joel
Speaker 1: and be at what type of force he can be
Speaker 1: in this series repeat against smart spins, couples with the
Speaker 1: right hand gets free and Ammerson hope right do. We'll
Speaker 1: also talk about the importance of Tobias Harris, Josh Richardson,
Speaker 1: Al Horford and the rest of the roster. Horford gets position,
Speaker 1: bakes upt, Tice goes up Horford. That stars now Horford
Speaker 1: put him into the way back machine. He's used it
Speaker 1: all kinds of food. I'm I'm Devon Gibbons, I'm Brian Seltzer,
Speaker 1: and this is the broadcast first round preview from the
Speaker 1: seventy six Ers podcast network. The Playoffs, The Playoffs, Finally,
Speaker 1: at long last, about three months later, the NBA Playoffs
Speaker 1: are here. Seating games, guys. I enjoyed them. They were fun.
Speaker 1: We'll even throw the scrimmages in there too. However, I'm
Speaker 1: ready for a change of scenery and significance when it
Speaker 1: comes to the impact and meaning of these NBA basketball
Speaker 1: games we're watching inside the bubble. Yeah, the stakes are
Speaker 1: high now. Every minute, every quarter, every play, it all counts,
Speaker 1: and it's kind of exhilarating to be back in that
Speaker 1: playoff mindset. It's been what fifteen months, which is kind
Speaker 1: of insane. This is exactly what the restart was for
Speaker 1: to crown the champion, to get to playoff basketball, to
Speaker 1: see the best of the best in the NBA at
Speaker 1: the top of their games. So I'm really looking forward
Speaker 1: to everything that the NBA has instored. Of course, certainly
Speaker 1: here in Philadelphia. Listen, guys, we know that this is
Speaker 1: not the conventional arrangement. You put twenty two teams inside
Speaker 1: a bubble, you'll let them duke it out. You get
Speaker 1: to sixteen for the cutoff for the postseason. But I'm
Speaker 1: with you, guys. I think it is going to be
Speaker 1: nice and it'll bring some closure to the fact that
Speaker 1: even though this is an untraditional arrangement, there is going
Speaker 1: to be a champion for the two, nineteen two and
Speaker 1: twenty season, and I think that there is importance to that,
Speaker 1: and I'm glad we're going to see it. So far,
Speaker 1: so good, right, and we've seen some very good basketball.
Speaker 1: We've seen some people step up that maybe we didn't
Speaker 1: expect once this bubble was upon us, and looking at
Speaker 1: the top people and understanding how different teams we're going
Speaker 1: to approach games as well. So this has been, as
Speaker 1: you said, the most unique situation that we've seen in
Speaker 1: professional sports in a long time. But for all of
Speaker 1: us to get back together to give this the sport
Speaker 1: back to us, to take a peek at it and
Speaker 1: enjoy some basketball from one o'clock in the afternoon all
Speaker 1: the way to one o'clock in the morning, whatever it is,
Speaker 1: it's been fantastic. And now we get the actual playoffs
Speaker 1: to go along with it. And seriously, a moment of
Speaker 1: appreciation for the league too. Devan. You just alluded to it.
Speaker 1: But the fact that they've pulled this off and now
Speaker 1: they're getting ready to play a full playoffs with the
Speaker 1: vast majority of the league's key players healthy in terms
Speaker 1: of the pandemic and in terms of their health they've
Speaker 1: gotten back to credit to all the players as well.
Speaker 1: But the fact that this is actually happening, I think
Speaker 1: is just huge, and there are a lot of people
Speaker 1: that deserve a lot of credit. It is the oldest
Speaker 1: rivalry in the sport. The seventy Sixers and the Boston
Speaker 1: Celtics were doing it again for the second time in
Speaker 1: three years. The cast of characters obviously different for the Sixers,
Speaker 1: nucleus for the Boston Celtics, still intact. Before we deep
Speaker 1: dive into all the different layers of this matchup, guys
Speaker 1: would have put you on the spot the vine. We'll
Speaker 1: start with you. Do you think this is the matchup
Speaker 1: we would have seen had the regular season not been
Speaker 1: interrupted back in March? Is this how we would have
Speaker 1: ultimately ended up? Was it meant to be six three
Speaker 1: six or Celtics? I actually don't because I do feel
Speaker 1: at some point that the seventy six Ers, despite the
Speaker 1: up and down nature of the season the discrepancy from
Speaker 1: home and road records. There were enough home games and
Speaker 1: they would have probably moved up, in my opinion, to
Speaker 1: a higher seat, whether it be four or even as
Speaker 1: high as as Harmony, whether it's five or even as
Speaker 1: high as four. I just think that at some point
Speaker 1: they would have made enough of a push to get
Speaker 1: back even though Ben Simmons was not available during the
Speaker 1: end of the regular season as we knew it back
Speaker 1: in in the spring, I believe that they would have
Speaker 1: moved up at least one spot higher than the sixth seat.
Speaker 1: Right now, but as you said, so this is what
Speaker 1: it was before the season was put on hold, this
Speaker 1: is what it is right now as they get ready
Speaker 1: to start this game number one. And you said it
Speaker 1: arguably the best rivalry in sports, best rivalry in basketball,
Speaker 1: and I'm here for it all. I agree with you, Divon.
Speaker 1: I think that if they had played out the full season,
Speaker 1: they would have found themselves in that five or that
Speaker 1: four spot facing Miami or Indiana. Like he said, a
Speaker 1: lot of home games were left, and the strength of
Speaker 1: schedule was just not there. They were playing a lot
Speaker 1: of teams in those last few games that were already
Speaker 1: eliminated back then, or not necessarily officially eliminated, but teams
Speaker 1: that weren't going to be contenders, teams that weren't going
Speaker 1: to put up much of a fight, even when the
Speaker 1: Sixers visited them on the road. So I do think
Speaker 1: if they had played out the rest of the season,
Speaker 1: they would have had more wins, they would have found
Speaker 1: themselves in a higher seed, but the same situation obviously,
Speaker 1: sadly for Ben Simmons. He was out then and he's
Speaker 1: out again now, and that's just such a shame for
Speaker 1: Ben personally. He worked so hard to get back, but
Speaker 1: now it means that the lineup now is probably what
Speaker 1: it would have been then. I too, agree with both
Speaker 1: of you guys. I do feel the Sixers were probably
Speaker 1: going to move up at some point, doing part of
Speaker 1: the fact that I thought they were Listen. I know
Speaker 1: the record didn't show for it, but I thought they
Speaker 1: started to play better on the West Coast, and then
Speaker 1: they played great in that game against the Detroit Pistons.
Speaker 1: So I kind of felt like the mojo was moving
Speaker 1: in the right direction right around the time the suspension happened.
Speaker 1: Will we ever know how it would have ended up?
Speaker 1: Of course, we won't but what we know now is
Speaker 1: it's the Sixers and Boston going up against each other
Speaker 1: Atlantic Division rivals in the opening round of the playoffs.
Speaker 1: The Sixers, they finished four and four during seating play,
Speaker 1: they blew out the Houston Rockets. I was initially surprised
Speaker 1: with the extent of action that some of the top
Speaker 1: guys for the Sixers got in that seating game finale
Speaker 1: against Houston. I was also surprised that so many of
Speaker 1: the Rockets top guys played for as long as much
Speaker 1: as they did, But I think that was a good
Speaker 1: way for the Sixers to springboard in the postseason on. Thankfully,
Speaker 1: they got out of the game without any incident in
Speaker 1: terms of injury, and they were able to knock off
Speaker 1: their rust as a top group one more time, which
Speaker 1: I think there's something to be said for that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's the second largest margin of victory that the Sixers
Speaker 1: had all season, and obviously the second half wasn't necessarily
Speaker 1: indicative of how great either team is, but they really
Speaker 1: got off to a hot start and just stayed hot
Speaker 1: the whole time. I think if I remember correctly, eight
Speaker 1: Sixers in double figures. That's obviously huge and again a
Speaker 1: result of the heavier minutes, and some of those bench
Speaker 1: guys did play. But like you said, in terms of
Speaker 1: a springboard, beating a good team by such a steep
Speaker 1: margin has to feel good as you enter these couple
Speaker 1: days before the intensity begins, I too was surprised that
Speaker 1: the amount of time that they played. Certainly, I have
Speaker 1: to be honest with you, I didn't think many of
Speaker 1: them would even play in the game at all, just
Speaker 1: get ready for the practice during their off days and
Speaker 1: starting for the game number one against the opponent which
Speaker 1: was already known to be the Boss and Celtics, I
Speaker 1: was surprised. And then for them to come out and
Speaker 1: perform at the level that they did despite not having
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook for the Houston Rockets, James Harden, PJ. Tucker,
Speaker 1: Eric Gordon, Robert Covington, they all came to play and
Speaker 1: they took the game seriously, and the Sixes did come
Speaker 1: out on top. They beat the starters. James Harden's James Hardy,
Speaker 1: he does what he does. That's gonna happen. But Sixes
Speaker 1: were able to, despite some very very good runs by
Speaker 1: the Rockets, hold them off and come away later on
Speaker 1: with that victory. So a good way for them to
Speaker 1: get ready for the start of the postseason, knowing how
Speaker 1: serious things are when they get underway. In game number one,
Speaker 1: I hear you somewhat on the surprise of the amount
Speaker 1: of minutes that the starters played on Friday, But you
Speaker 1: have to think about this playoffs scenario, with no travel days,
Speaker 1: the fact that they only have one day off between
Speaker 1: each game, and the fitness level, an endurance level that
Speaker 1: that's going to require. You have to wonder if putting
Speaker 1: the starters in that game on Friday breaks up what
Speaker 1: could have then been five days off before starting the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Maybe it helps a little bit with the fitness level,
Speaker 1: with getting in the rhythm. So that was the only
Speaker 1: reason that I wasn't super surprised to see those guys
Speaker 1: getting some significant run in because you don't want them
Speaker 1: to be caught off guard on Monday when things are
Speaker 1: really in test. Despite the fact that he played, I
Speaker 1: mean regardless of whether or not he had played, just
Speaker 1: merely the fact that Joel Embiid was available was good news.
Speaker 1: Finished with fourteen point six rebounds in that game. Another
Speaker 1: strong showing from it to Bias Harris on both ends
Speaker 1: of the floor and a lot of guys were able
Speaker 1: to build more and more confidence going into the playoffs
Speaker 1: and we're gonna get to Boston. But I think before
Speaker 1: we shift the conversation to this series, to me, there
Speaker 1: are a couple of guys who you might not put
Speaker 1: in that same tier as certainly Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: if he were healthy, or some of the starters, but
Speaker 1: some guys who when you're thinking about the playoffs and
Speaker 1: whether or not it's the Celtics the Sixes are going
Speaker 1: up against in the first round or knock on wood,
Speaker 1: it's later on in deeper rounds of the playoffs, but
Speaker 1: guys who will need to step up and give you
Speaker 1: something more than perhaps you might of your standard baseline
Speaker 1: level of expectation for. And I think those are guys
Speaker 1: like and Alec Burks for con Corkmise Matisse Styble. We're
Speaker 1: talking about some of the bench players. Certainly who will Nato,
Speaker 1: who used when, who knows when or how often he's
Speaker 1: going to be used. But there are some guys who
Speaker 1: really build up some justifiable confidence I think based on
Speaker 1: how they played in the bubble during the seating games. Sure,
Speaker 1: and I would certainly start with Alec Brooks to continue
Speaker 1: play that he had where he would put up those
Speaker 1: twenty points easily on these given nights, three straight twenty
Speaker 1: plus point games. He missed the game, then he came
Speaker 1: back and he performed well once again. And just to
Speaker 1: be able to have that type of punch coming off
Speaker 1: the bench for you, the scoring load that he might
Speaker 1: have to pull for this basketball team when he does
Speaker 1: come in, providing that spark for the team. Knowing that
Speaker 1: now that you have someone as good as good defensively
Speaker 1: the offensive punch overall the Boston Celtics have, but now
Speaker 1: the defensive acumen of someone like Marcus Smart coming off
Speaker 1: the bench who plays started minutes alis, I believe he
Speaker 1: is going to be a key contributor to this basketball
Speaker 1: team in this series because of all the things I've
Speaker 1: just mentioned for the opposition, and knowing that with no
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons, while others may pick up their play offensively
Speaker 1: in the starting five, you're gonna need that also from
Speaker 1: the bench unit as well. So being able to see
Speaker 1: Alec Burks do what he did, I agree with you
Speaker 1: one cells that some of these games for some people
Speaker 1: really helped out. And he's number one for me and
Speaker 1: especially since the health status of someone like Glenn Robinson,
Speaker 1: the third another veteran bench option, is somewhat murky right
Speaker 1: now with this left tip injury. Absolutely absolutely, he was
Speaker 1: one that I thought that with the amount of wings
Speaker 1: that the Boston Celtics have, that Glenn Robinson would would
Speaker 1: ring key in this particular series because of his two
Speaker 1: way play, his defensive ability at least be able to
Speaker 1: match up with Hayward Tatum and Brown as well. Lauren, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, I agree with both of you. Obviously, Alec
Speaker 1: Burks has kind of been a revelation. Maybe he shouldn't
Speaker 1: have been based on how good he was Olden State,
Speaker 1: but I think what a pleasure it is to see
Speaker 1: someone perform at a level that you were hoping that
Speaker 1: they would perform when they first came to Philadelphia. And
Speaker 1: obviously with that trade, you didn't know exactly how he
Speaker 1: was going to fit into this lineup, and it took
Speaker 1: him a little bit to get warmed up. But to
Speaker 1: see him producing at this high clip now in the
Speaker 1: year twenty twenty, it's nice to see something live up
Speaker 1: to or even exceed expectations the way that Alec Burks has.
Speaker 1: So I love that he's doing well. I love that
Speaker 1: he's getting credit for doing well, and hopefully he can
Speaker 1: keep riding this way and helping the team in a
Speaker 1: big way in these playoffs. I think if something's good
Speaker 1: by normal standards in the year twenty twenty, we can
Speaker 1: automatically qualify it as an exceptional rating or something like that.
Speaker 1: You know, it comes beyond great in twenty twenty. All
Speaker 1: the bonus points for just performing how you're supposed to do,
Speaker 1: all right. So the Sixers, they went four and four
Speaker 1: in the bubble, finished the regular season plus the seeding
Speaker 1: games forty three and thirty, the Boston Celtics forty eight
Speaker 1: and twenty four. Between the regular season and seeding games,
Speaker 1: they went five three inside the bubble. I look more,
Speaker 1: guys at their five and two record before they played
Speaker 1: a meaningless game against and already eliminated Washington Wizards team
Speaker 1: in their finale, they played some really good teams. They
Speaker 1: had a challenging schedule. In their seating games. Talking about Boston,
Speaker 1: they lost to Milwaukee by three and their opener. They
Speaker 1: then beat Portland. They lost by six to Miami, another
Speaker 1: top seat out of the East. They beat Brooklyn Handley,
Speaker 1: they got past Toronto Handley beat the Orlando Magic the
Speaker 1: eighth seat out of the East and overtime, and then
Speaker 1: they knocked off Memphis by fifteen. I mean, those are
Speaker 1: all teams that, with the exception of their finale against Washington,
Speaker 1: could have been at some point in time during the
Speaker 1: bubble in position to move on to the playoffs. So
Speaker 1: that's something that I do take note of sure, and
Speaker 1: knowing that it's the one that really stood out to
Speaker 1: me was that Toronto game. And I understand that there
Speaker 1: were games for all of these twenty two teams where
Speaker 1: certain players star level were key important players for their teams.
Speaker 1: Set out that being said, Boston just kept riding at
Speaker 1: a very high level steadily throughout the entire time that
Speaker 1: they were there inside that bubble against their opponents. So Cells,
Speaker 1: I, I I agree with you one percent with that five
Speaker 1: and two record. It was real. They were very good
Speaker 1: and you saw some of their players, the key players
Speaker 1: in Brown, Tatum, even Hayward Walker when he was out there.
Speaker 1: While the point production may not have been as high,
Speaker 1: you know he's probably going to be ready to go
Speaker 1: for the postseason. Those two in particular, with Tatum and
Speaker 1: Brown taking those necessary steps every time out, just hitting
Speaker 1: those those benchmarks, if you will, for young players, and
Speaker 1: they were really, really good in those seven eight games
Speaker 1: for the Boston Celtics. Yeah, Tatum d average around twenty
Speaker 1: two and a half points per game. He shot terrific
Speaker 1: from the outside, just under forty five percent. You mentioned Kemba.
Speaker 1: His offensive numbers didn't jump off the page during the
Speaker 1: seating phases, around fourteen points per game. But I kind
Speaker 1: of looked right at that three point shooting percentage, which
Speaker 1: was roughly forty three percent. So yeah, I think to me,
Speaker 1: I test passed actually based on how he did. And
Speaker 1: quickly remember the very first game that Tatum played. I
Speaker 1: don't remember if it was a scrimmage or the first
Speaker 1: game of the seating games, where he was terrible. He
Speaker 1: performed terribly and you know, make fun of the haircut
Speaker 1: or whatever it was, right, we had to shave his
Speaker 1: hair and get back to his normal self. But once
Speaker 1: he got back to his normal self, that's when we
Speaker 1: saw him start to become the All Star Jason Tatum
Speaker 1: that we were accustomed to see him throughout the season,
Speaker 1: except for when they played the seventy six or during
Speaker 1: a regular season. Yeah, that first game against the Bucks.
Speaker 1: I don't think was super indicative of what Jason Tatum
Speaker 1: has been doing and can do. He's been such a
Speaker 1: revelation and it was cool to hear Al Horford talk
Speaker 1: about the way that he's seen Tatum grow even in
Speaker 1: the time that Horford has left the Celtics. That's someone
Speaker 1: that he says he took under his wing while he
Speaker 1: was in Boston. So separate as much as we can
Speaker 1: separate the Celtics from the Celtics that we're playing in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. Jason Tatum has been fantastic and he's going
Speaker 1: to be someone that the group is going to have
Speaker 1: to contain, especially, like you said, while Kemba Walker's numbers
Speaker 1: are a little lower, obviously we have to consider the
Speaker 1: fact that he's playing without nagging knee injury. But Kemba
Speaker 1: is someone that does rise to the occasion, and as
Speaker 1: we all talked about a little bit earlier today, he's hungry.
Speaker 1: He's looking for an opportunity now that he's in Boston,
Speaker 1: now that he's playing with a serious contender. So I
Speaker 1: wouldn't be surprised to see Kemba show some really special
Speaker 1: stuff once the playoffs begin. Guys, I'm gonna switch some
Speaker 1: things up on the fly to let the people in
Speaker 1: out there with some inside or insight. On our pre
Speaker 1: podcast production meeting, I was like, well, do we go
Speaker 1: position by position in sequential order and take a look
Speaker 1: at the series through that lens? Do we then run
Speaker 1: down the Sixers players, give some reason of them individually,
Speaker 1: and then do the same for Boston scrapping both those ideas,
Speaker 1: Let's just focus on what the key storylines are for
Speaker 1: this series and I have the utmost confidence in the
Speaker 1: two of you that we will be able to cover
Speaker 1: all of the aforementioned material. I just said, so I
Speaker 1: love it. Biggest storyline I think is the big Man.
Speaker 1: Is there anyone on the Boston Celtics who can contain
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid? Daniel Tys is a very good defender for
Speaker 1: who he is, and I give him credit of course,
Speaker 1: being the way that they are built the Boston Celtics.
Speaker 1: He fits with what they do, very low maintenance in
Speaker 1: terms of wanting needing the basketball to be have an
Speaker 1: impact and be successful for what they do. But defensively, yes,
Speaker 1: this is his role to defend Joel Ebid. When we
Speaker 1: talk about in bid though as good as Tys may
Speaker 1: be as a defender for the team, and they're gonna
Speaker 1: do it as a team collectively. It's not just gonna
Speaker 1: be Daniel Tys and its cancer. You will see a
Speaker 1: lot of double teams come the way, come the way
Speaker 1: for Joel Eenbid. That being said, he has had some
Speaker 1: great success against them this season. He is the best
Speaker 1: player in the series in this series against the Boston Celtics,
Speaker 1: and I expect him at his best to give us
Speaker 1: exactly what we want to see from your franchise player
Speaker 1: in a seven game first round matchup against a team
Speaker 1: that you know very well. They know you very well
Speaker 1: from playing in the same division. They will throw some
Speaker 1: different looks at him, but I still ultimately believe that
Speaker 1: he will have enough success for him individually to impact
Speaker 1: the game, where the Sixes then have to do other
Speaker 1: things to come away with the victories. Well, Javan, you
Speaker 1: narrowly beat me to the punch there. But Selts ask
Speaker 1: can anyone defend Joel Embiid And my answer was also
Speaker 1: going to be negative. We know that Joel is hungry.
Speaker 1: If we look back at the last ending of the playoffs,
Speaker 1: obviously it's still painful to remember Kawai's shot and the
Speaker 1: way that Joel took that shot personally, But he's hungry.
Speaker 1: He's ready to prove himself in this type of situation. So,
Speaker 1: as we discussed before the Bubble Games even started, if
Speaker 1: Joel is healthy and hungry, the Celtics are going to
Speaker 1: have problems. He's had success against Tice. Like you said,
Speaker 1: Robert Williams hasn't been a good match for him, and
Speaker 1: it's Cantor hasn't been a good match for him. And
Speaker 1: they're going to throw all those guys together separately at
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid and try to make something happen. But if
Speaker 1: Joel is firing, they're not going to have an answer
Speaker 1: for him. So hopefully Joel can come in and be
Speaker 1: that guy that plays with the chip on his shoulder,
Speaker 1: that plays wanting to sort of avenge last season's ending,
Speaker 1: and Celtics are going to have a lot of problems
Speaker 1: if he does. Guy. It's one of the many things
Speaker 1: that I love about the playoffs is that it's truth
Speaker 1: sermon time. We find out if all the things we've
Speaker 1: heard about and discussed and seen from the regular season
Speaker 1: actually translates, and going back to you would probably be
Speaker 1: able to find evidence of this even before the Sixers
Speaker 1: gathered for training camp. What was the regular season all
Speaker 1: about for Joel Embiid? It was about getting him ready
Speaker 1: for the playoffs. So between the different stuff that he
Speaker 1: has talked about as far as his own mental psyche
Speaker 1: during the regular season, when the switch was on when
Speaker 1: it might not have quite been there. It's the playoffs now,
Speaker 1: and now we're going to find out if the holistic
Speaker 1: approach for the Sixers was what Joel needed to get
Speaker 1: ready for the playoffs. And I think that's going to
Speaker 1: be fascinating to see. This is a rivalry right off
Speaker 1: the bat where I think he should be pumped up for.
Speaker 1: I know this is something to divide. We could probably
Speaker 1: do a podcast d about this subject entirely. Maybe we
Speaker 1: can set the date on the calendar and do it
Speaker 1: on the anniversary of one of these two games. What
Speaker 1: has been the best game in Joel Embiad's career? I
Speaker 1: know you say, I think it was November seventeenth, two
Speaker 1: thousand and seventeen, whatever it was at Staples Center against Characters.
Speaker 1: I might I go back and forth, but I think
Speaker 1: that I would put it if I had to give
Speaker 1: it the edge December December twelve, Thank you. I was
Speaker 1: going to guess either second or twelve. I knew there
Speaker 1: was a two in there. December twelfth, a TD garden
Speaker 1: where Joel was just getting bashed and thrown around by
Speaker 1: Charles and Kenny the NBA on TNT. He was put
Speaker 1: on the spot by the media talking about his leadership
Speaker 1: and his engagement before the game of the Garden, and
Speaker 1: then he came out and he helped lead the Sixers
Speaker 1: to a six point road win at Boston, and he
Speaker 1: finished with thirty eight thirteen and six. Yep, No, a
Speaker 1: tremendous game for him individually. Defensively, they did your part
Speaker 1: as a team, Ben Simmons as well, where they're four
Speaker 1: key scorers twenty nine for Kimba Walker, but you're talking
Speaker 1: about nineteen for Hayward, fifteen Tatum, eight for Jalen Brown
Speaker 1: on another tough shooting night, three of nine from the floor.
Speaker 1: But yes, thirty eight, thirteen and six in that game,
Speaker 1: that victory on the road in a tough environment in Boston.
Speaker 1: We've seen them struggle, We've seen him struggle, and he
Speaker 1: came away very very impressively in that game. So I
Speaker 1: agree with you now we know there is no TV garden.
Speaker 1: The only thing that we're going to see are the
Speaker 1: things that of course going to be on that big
Speaker 1: screen surrounding the arena in the bubble, and the logos
Speaker 1: on the floor that will say whatever they say, Boston
Speaker 1: and whatever their sponsor is at this point. But you're right, man,
Speaker 1: he was fantastic in that game. And while we can
Speaker 1: go through the Laker game in twenty eighteen, and we
Speaker 1: can go through this Celtics game here in nineteen, but
Speaker 1: this is the type of performance that we are expecting
Speaker 1: or wanting to at least see Joel and B. This
Speaker 1: is on him number one, because he's the franchise player.
Speaker 1: You number two guy is. He's not there anymore, so
Speaker 1: all eyes will be on him and he will certainly
Speaker 1: get not only a lot of attention from us on
Speaker 1: the outside, but on that floor in between those lines
Speaker 1: at ninety four feet, there will be a lot of
Speaker 1: attention surrounding Joel and B. Let's see if you can
Speaker 1: put up some dominating numbers. Again, we mentioned the absence
Speaker 1: of that number two guy. It's worth noting that on
Speaker 1: December twelfth, the six or second most productive player was
Speaker 1: Tobias Harris, and he had a great game, finishing with
Speaker 1: twenty three, eight and seven, which sort of seems just
Speaker 1: like clockwork for Tobias at this point, he's always somewhere
Speaker 1: in that range. When we think about the fact that
Speaker 1: now he's going to have to continue being that second
Speaker 1: leading score, there's a lot of pressure on Tobias Harris too.
Speaker 1: I'm sure that's another topic that we're going to cover
Speaker 1: in a little bit, but I just thought it was
Speaker 1: worth noting that Joel and Tobias played really well together
Speaker 1: in that big game. And like you said, Selts, that
Speaker 1: was the game where Charles Barkley, the national media a
Speaker 1: lot of people giving Joel a lot of flack, and
Speaker 1: as we know, the media likes to kick up more
Speaker 1: of a storm as we do as well for the playoffs.
Speaker 1: So what I have to say is I hope the
Speaker 1: media keeps it coming for Joel because he feeds off
Speaker 1: of that. He wants that, he needs that. So if
Speaker 1: anyone wants to throw stones, now is the time, because
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid will respond to the way that he did
Speaker 1: when they played in Boston on December twelve. I mean
Speaker 1: to admit something, there's a part of me that really
Speaker 1: loves going on the road and knock on wood been
Speaker 1: fortunate enough to do this a couple of times and
Speaker 1: being in the road element, especially obviously for the postseason.
Speaker 1: But the atmosphere in Boston, much like it is in
Speaker 1: Toronto even in the regular season. It's outstanding, and I
Speaker 1: am grateful that there's going to be basketball. I am
Speaker 1: also really going to miss the fact that this series
Speaker 1: can't be played in front of the fans. So I
Speaker 1: just hope that all that like juju that everyone out
Speaker 1: there wants to feel if you wish you could go
Speaker 1: to a game or go to a watch party, somehow
Speaker 1: in your own special way, you're able to recreate that,
Speaker 1: because I mean, we know how awesome this would be
Speaker 1: if fans were involved. You can comment on that and
Speaker 1: if you want. But before we move off, Joel and Bead,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw this out there and anyone can respond
Speaker 1: to this. Would you be surprised if, at some point
Speaker 1: this series we saw perhaps in his Canton or get
Speaker 1: put into the Boston starting lineup, depending I don't want
Speaker 1: to get too far ahead, depending on how things go
Speaker 1: with Daniel Tis. I mean Cana. I mean I think
Speaker 1: back to that game of the Garden a few years
Speaker 1: ago when Canneron and Bead went at it. They had
Speaker 1: a pretty good matchup. Would we be surprised to see
Speaker 1: that development at all, or even if Tye stays as
Speaker 1: a starter, that Cannor gets heavy minutes on Joel not
Speaker 1: at all. Celts that's some and its Cantor has given
Speaker 1: Joel problems here and there in the past, and that's
Speaker 1: a weapon that they have if things aren't going well
Speaker 1: with Tyson. We have to consider the fact. But they're
Speaker 1: going to see a lot of looks with Joel and
Speaker 1: beat and alf Warford out there together, so you never
Speaker 1: know what they're going to do. Obviously, you don't expect
Speaker 1: Boston to totally reconfigure their starting lineup. That's worked quite
Speaker 1: well for them at this point. But you never know
Speaker 1: if they're going to throw it another big body out
Speaker 1: there to try to come out the Sixers size if
Speaker 1: they eat it. I agree with you, Lauren and the
Speaker 1: part of it. I don't remember how long or if
Speaker 1: the Sixers played the Portland Trailblazers when Cantu was there,
Speaker 1: but from the Celtics time this season, the Oklahoma City
Speaker 1: Thunder run of course during his career there with Oklahoma City,
Speaker 1: he has caused some problems, some fits. If you will
Speaker 1: afford dwell MB, and we know it's not necessarily defensively,
Speaker 1: it's offensively where he has great footwork, he has great touch.
Speaker 1: His offensive rebounding is tremendous. His rebounding overall against him
Speaker 1: has been very good. So if they struggle, which it
Speaker 1: will see because they have a lot of really good scores,
Speaker 1: if they struggle with that starting lineup of their four
Speaker 1: guys plus Daniel Tye and they're scoring is an issue
Speaker 1: with the starting group, then maybe quite possibly will see
Speaker 1: that Robert Williams will they do something there, even though
Speaker 1: MB will simply overpower him, but moving up and down
Speaker 1: the floor, this guy's like a gazelle at the center position,
Speaker 1: Robert Williams running and rim the rim and being able
Speaker 1: to fill that lane get into position for lobs or
Speaker 1: layups as well. So curious to see what Brad Stevens
Speaker 1: would do there. And I also wanted to say this
Speaker 1: about him be before we move on. Is that speaking
Speaker 1: to you guys on sixers dot Com during the hiatus
Speaker 1: where he said, you know, this is my time and
Speaker 1: right now This is certainly his time, So whether it's
Speaker 1: the opposition making changes because of him, or figuring things
Speaker 1: out how to defend the team, overall, this is certainly
Speaker 1: going to be Joel and Bad's time, and those words
Speaker 1: cannot be truer than right now. Completely agree with you
Speaker 1: guys on off fronts, but especially on that point. Divine
Speaker 1: the next big storyline, of course, I think you have
Speaker 1: to go to Jason Tatum from the Boston Celtics and
Speaker 1: what the seventy Sixers will do against him. We have
Speaker 1: talked a lot already and you certainly won't be able
Speaker 1: to ignore. It's going to be something that's probably gonna
Speaker 1: be referenced throughout the series, depending on how it goes.
Speaker 1: The fact that the Sixers will not have Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum before the restart, averaging around twenty three and
Speaker 1: a half points per game shout forty five percent from
Speaker 1: the field. Ben Simmons guard him for about twenty five
Speaker 1: total minutes over the four games the Sixers and the
Speaker 1: Celtics played with each other, and during those stretches, according
Speaker 1: to this is to the NBA dot Com stat data,
Speaker 1: Tatum was held to five or sixteen, which says something,
Speaker 1: but I think if you watch those games, you could
Speaker 1: just see how effective Ben Simmons was in defending Jason
Speaker 1: Tatum taking the lead on that And now, as we discussed,
Speaker 1: it might probably be someone like Tobias Harris who's going
Speaker 1: to be called into duty on that front. Well, and luckily,
Speaker 1: Tobias has been so focused on defense this year and
Speaker 1: defending Tatum it almost feels like one of those matchups
Speaker 1: where you can't stop him, but you can slow him down.
Speaker 1: And Tobias is taking a lot of pride in the
Speaker 1: way that he's defending, so hopefully this is an opportunity
Speaker 1: for him to showcase those skills. Brett Brown also mentioned
Speaker 1: that there will be a rotation of folks that are
Speaker 1: assigned to defending guys like Jayson Tatum Jalen Brown. So
Speaker 1: obviously we're going to be looking for big performances from
Speaker 1: a guy who obviously a little bit smaller, but a
Speaker 1: great defender like Josh Richardson or Matisse Stible with that
Speaker 1: length that he has. So it's probably, I think, going
Speaker 1: to be defense by committee, but like you said, a
Speaker 1: lot of that the leader of that committee might end
Speaker 1: up being Tobias Harris. Who has worked really hard on
Speaker 1: this craft, specifically for these moments. Yeah, this is a
Speaker 1: step that he's talked about from the off season when
Speaker 1: he resigned with the seventy six ers, stating that defensively,
Speaker 1: he didn't want to be just a guy out there.
Speaker 1: He wanted to prove that yes he can score, but
Speaker 1: he can also defend and not be the one that
Speaker 1: everybody searches for on that end. And now that Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons is out, He's going to take on that key
Speaker 1: responsibility probably of either Brown or Tatum and see where
Speaker 1: things go from there. So this is a matchup that
Speaker 1: I'm going to have my eye on as well, just
Speaker 1: like you two guys are. And look, no one wants
Speaker 1: to see anyone get injured. But if Jason Tatum is
Speaker 1: being honest, he's wiping his forehead saying, man, I get
Speaker 1: away from from Ben Simmons for a series. Is It's
Speaker 1: not a bad thing because Simmons did a tremendous job
Speaker 1: on Jason Tatum. When I just look at the first
Speaker 1: three wins that they had, Tatum was eight of twenty
Speaker 1: two in Game one, five of eighteen in Game two,
Speaker 1: and four of thirteen in Game number three. All wins
Speaker 1: for the seventy six is the Celtics picking up the
Speaker 1: final victory in their fourth game this season, and he
Speaker 1: did a fantastic job against him, Lauren, As you mentioned,
Speaker 1: you can't stop these type of players. You can only
Speaker 1: hope to slow them down and just make things difficult
Speaker 1: for them, not allow the looks to be so easy
Speaker 1: for them out there on the floor. So Tobias Harris
Speaker 1: has a big challenge against him, and let's see what
Speaker 1: he has defensively in store for Jason Tatum. I mean
Speaker 1: what you just talked about Devon. That was kind of
Speaker 1: thing in the Toronto series last year, right in respect
Speaker 1: to Kwhi Leonard, you couldn't totally slow him down. But
Speaker 1: I think at the end of it, regardless of the
Speaker 1: numbers that Kawai put up, everyone said that Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: totally acquitted himself defending a player of Kawai's caliber. So
Speaker 1: I think for me, when I'm looking at this, at
Speaker 1: least through the defensive lens, for what Tobias Harris can
Speaker 1: do in this series or whoever ends up on him,
Speaker 1: regardless of who's out there on the floor, just obviously
Speaker 1: make it as difficult as you possibly can, and not
Speaker 1: let him get into a groove unearned, make him earn
Speaker 1: whatever rhythm or groove that he could get into because
Speaker 1: he is that good. Is there any area that you
Speaker 1: guys have seen out of him where you feel like
Speaker 1: he's talking about Tatum taking his game to a different
Speaker 1: level this season defensively, defensively being in conversation for an
Speaker 1: All NBA defensive team coming in again, He's a scorer,
Speaker 1: That's what he is. And yes he can be a
Speaker 1: mid range killer. He has certainly improved his range from
Speaker 1: behind a three point line. But I think one of
Speaker 1: the things that under has not looked at as one
Speaker 1: of his strengths now is his defense. He has improved
Speaker 1: in his time in the NBA now as a defender.
Speaker 1: So I know most people are going to go offense,
Speaker 1: but for me, guys, I'm going to go defense. Then,
Speaker 1: when speaking about offense on the offensive side of the ball,
Speaker 1: for Tobias Harris, bring the conversation back to him. Sixers,
Speaker 1: leading scorer in the bubble, just over twenty one and
Speaker 1: a half points per game, shot forty six and a
Speaker 1: half percent from the field. Three point numbers were really strong.
Speaker 1: He was forty one percent out there increasingly got the
Speaker 1: line down the final few games, rebounded really well distributed.
Speaker 1: I thought he played on balance, very solid basketball in
Speaker 1: the seating games. He got a vote for the All
Speaker 1: Seating Game team, for whatever that means. But Tobias this
Speaker 1: is and I agree with you, guys, I think that
Speaker 1: he would tell you the same thing as well. This
Speaker 1: is a big moment for him, not just defending Jason Tatum,
Speaker 1: but in a series with Ben Simmons being down, you
Speaker 1: have Joel Embiid, which we've established, but after that, people
Speaker 1: are going to look at Tobias Harris well. In the
Speaker 1: last few years set even before Tobias joined the seventy
Speaker 1: six ers, he's been really committed to proving himself, to
Speaker 1: betting on himself, just proving to everyone that he can
Speaker 1: show up that he is a All Star caliber player.
Speaker 1: So I would argue maybe he should already be an
Speaker 1: All Star. And this is the perfect opportunity for Tobias
Speaker 1: to step up in the way that he wants to,
Speaker 1: especially without Ben Simmons, to show that he is that
Speaker 1: All Star, that he is, that max player that he
Speaker 1: knows he is. It's just time to show the world
Speaker 1: and this is the perfect, perfect chance for him to
Speaker 1: do it, and last season joining the club after the
Speaker 1: trade with Butler, Reddit Harris Simmons and Harris will look
Speaker 1: at it and probably think, of course, some people that
Speaker 1: you know he was more of the fifth option. This
Speaker 1: role wasn't necessarily established. He was too good to be
Speaker 1: a fifth option, Lauren, as you talk about betting on himself.
Speaker 1: And now the role is clearly defined. He's the second
Speaker 1: guy that you're going to look too offensively for the
Speaker 1: seventy sixers. You may go Horford second to and be defensively,
Speaker 1: but he has a big, big responsibility on his hands defensively.
Speaker 1: But now the role is cemented as to what he
Speaker 1: is for this team on the offensive and it has
Speaker 1: flat out score the basketball. So if he wants to
Speaker 1: continue that trend of the twenty one and a half
Speaker 1: that he's averaging side the bubble, this is now the
Speaker 1: time to do that and up with a few more
Speaker 1: point we sentage points as well. There are plenty other
Speaker 1: talented players in this series with talking about We will
Speaker 1: do that in just a moment, but before we do, listen,
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Speaker 1: official winning partner of the seventy Sixers. When we think, guys,
Speaker 1: about the different things that make a rivalry great, there's
Speaker 1: the pedi you are there for the Sixers and the Celtics.
Speaker 1: That's already been built up by the forefathers of today's
Speaker 1: NBA players. But what's making this even better this year
Speaker 1: is that, much like the case two years ago, you
Speaker 1: do have star power on each of these teams that
Speaker 1: only heightens the intensity. You would think of rivalry and
Speaker 1: there's so many talented players in this series. And a
Speaker 1: new entry to the mix who was not with Boston
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, was of course All Star
Speaker 1: Kemba Walker. This is his shot, his chance kind of
Speaker 1: in the same vein to a certain degree as Tobias Harris,
Speaker 1: where now you're on a legit contending team. You've talked
Speaker 1: about wanting to deliver in the playoffs. This is your opportunity.
Speaker 1: And I think Kim is really good guys, not that
Speaker 1: it means much coming from me, but he has obviously
Speaker 1: got a lot of talent. This was a great acquisition
Speaker 1: in the offseason by the Celtics, someone who is and Lauren,
Speaker 1: you can say, lad, I don't want steal anything that
Speaker 1: you said earlier show pre podcast taping about the guy
Speaker 1: just being a great teammate. And he has had some
Speaker 1: time with these players before the season got underway at
Speaker 1: the Olympics for Team USA. He had, of course the
Speaker 1: season overall another All Star appearance for him, and the
Speaker 1: knee injuries started to nag him. But when the lights
Speaker 1: are on, we've seen it through college, his professional career,
Speaker 1: and this guy can play. This guy is really really good.
Speaker 1: One of the top point guards in the game, one
Speaker 1: of the top scoring point guards as well in the game.
Speaker 1: And he may not have to shoulder the load like
Speaker 1: he had to before and his former home of residence
Speaker 1: with the Charlotte Hornets, but right now, yeah, you have
Speaker 1: to definitely pay attention to what he does on the
Speaker 1: offensive end as a scorer for the Boston Celtics. This
Speaker 1: guy can get it up. He can fill it up
Speaker 1: at any given time. We saw it with the Charlotte
Speaker 1: Hornets last season, not this season, last season eighteen nineteen
Speaker 1: when he erupted for what was it sales sixty points
Speaker 1: against the Sixers and almost had fifty and another one.
Speaker 1: So yeah, he has success against his basketball team. And
Speaker 1: you even think of the second and third games between
Speaker 1: these two teams this year when Kemba went for twenty
Speaker 1: nine and he had eight assists in Game two, and
Speaker 1: then he and Josh Richardson had a pretty good back
Speaker 1: and forth in Game three. Kemba finished with twenty six
Speaker 1: Richardson with twenty nine points in that game. So even
Speaker 1: this season, we certainly saw his firepower on full display. Well, Celts,
Speaker 1: it's exactly the game that I was going to cite
Speaker 1: the way that he went back and forth with Josh
Speaker 1: quite a bit, and that's something that we could see again,
Speaker 1: there's never been a better time for Josh to be
Speaker 1: recently coming off of a tying a season high or no,
Speaker 1: it was a season high his season high game with
Speaker 1: the Sixers thirty four points against the Portland Trailblazer, So
Speaker 1: that'll be something interesting. But I just wanted to chime
Speaker 1: in real quick about Kemba. Obviously, I am loyal to
Speaker 1: the Sixers, and I hope I don't have to say
Speaker 1: that at this point on the podcast, But Kemba deserves
Speaker 1: a lot of credit for just being such a stand
Speaker 1: up guy. He has one of the best reputations in
Speaker 1: the league. He stays after he signs autographs. He was
Speaker 1: in a tough situation with Charlotte, and he never talked
Speaker 1: about how tough that situation was. So credit where credit
Speaker 1: is due to Kemba for just keeping his head down,
Speaker 1: working hard, being productive even on a bad team. And now,
Speaker 1: like you guys said, on a good team. This guy's
Speaker 1: kind of the limit. For this guy, and he also not,
Speaker 1: unlike Joel Embiid, is going to come into this series
Speaker 1: with something to prove. So He's definitely someone to look
Speaker 1: out for. If I had to guess, I'd say he's
Speaker 1: going to be dangerous. But luckily, the Sixers have some
Speaker 1: pretty good defenders on their roster, even in the absence
Speaker 1: of Ben Simmons. So I think this is going to
Speaker 1: be a really key matchup when we look to try
Speaker 1: to defend Kemba Walker as a Sixers team. And I
Speaker 1: saw the quote from him, I believe it was Saturday
Speaker 1: where he pointed out, Hey, I just cannot get rid
Speaker 1: of Josh Josh Richardson. He's speaking of you know where
Speaker 1: they played the Charlotte Horners will play the Miami Heat
Speaker 1: in the postseason, and they've had their battles, of course
Speaker 1: playing over the years, and I'm sure we'll see plenty
Speaker 1: of those two guys paired up against one another throughout
Speaker 1: this series. Big series obviously for Josh Richardson, two new
Speaker 1: spot with seventy Sixers, and I would think you guys
Speaker 1: can correct me if you think I'm wrong, but he
Speaker 1: will probably at least in the beginning draw the lines
Speaker 1: share of the defense on Kemba Walker. Maybe we'd see
Speaker 1: Shake Milton on someone else, perhaps a Gordon Hayward that
Speaker 1: sort of thing. But Josh Richardson, I think he had
Speaker 1: a solid few games inside the bubble and this is
Speaker 1: this is going to be an important time for him
Speaker 1: as well. I think the Sixers come into this year
Speaker 1: really valued his fit, what he could do on both
Speaker 1: ends of the court. And we know that he has
Speaker 1: had playoff experience with Miami Heat in the past, but
Speaker 1: not quite at this level, and he's going to be
Speaker 1: thrust in the spotlight in a big prime matchup. Well,
Speaker 1: it's interesting what Devon said about Tobias Harris last year,
Speaker 1: how we ended up sort of back fourth or fifth option,
Speaker 1: didn't quite get enough touches to really shine in the
Speaker 1: situation that Tobias was in last year, And it's almost
Speaker 1: like found himself in a similar situation. He's a new
Speaker 1: guy on the team. We know he can be productive,
Speaker 1: we know how good he was in Miami, but he's
Speaker 1: playing sort of behind a lot of primary options. So
Speaker 1: obviously we've said this a million times. You never want
Speaker 1: to lose Ben Simmons, But in losing Ben Simmons, it's
Speaker 1: opened the door for Josh Richardson to get some more touches,
Speaker 1: to have some plays run, for him to really show
Speaker 1: what he's got on a big stage. So I almost
Speaker 1: see Josh this year in the same situation that Tobias
Speaker 1: was in last year, and hopefully he can rise to
Speaker 1: the occasion and work off that momentum that he started
Speaker 1: to build in these seating games, and hopefully these games
Speaker 1: that he's had the outburst that he had against the
Speaker 1: Portland Trailblazers, playing steady offensively will give him not only
Speaker 1: him the confidence to go out there and again try
Speaker 1: to duplicate what he did in that way, maybe not
Speaker 1: to the tune of thirty four but efficiently good shooting confidence,
Speaker 1: but also the coaching stand to draw those to call
Speaker 1: his number when the opportunity presents itself for him to
Speaker 1: also continue if he gets hot with a few of
Speaker 1: those jump those layups and gets into free to a
Speaker 1: line as well finishing in transition, that they call his
Speaker 1: number and give him some opportunity because they're gonna need
Speaker 1: every bit of scoring possible losing the seventeen and of
Speaker 1: course the assist from Ben Simmons and every outing. So
Speaker 1: this is why you got him in the deal in
Speaker 1: the off season to come out here not only defensively,
Speaker 1: but now when the opportunity is presented himself offensively as well. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the best part about this series is like, well, we
Speaker 1: talked about this guy, that guy, the other guy. Oh,
Speaker 1: and there's still so and so and so and so
Speaker 1: and so and so who we haven't discussed yet. And
Speaker 1: some of those so and sos are Jalen Brown for
Speaker 1: the Celtics and Gordon Hayward and for the seventy Sixers.
Speaker 1: You throw al Horford's name in there, absolutely and shake Milton.
Speaker 1: He's going through something like this for the first time
Speaker 1: in his elevated rolebot. Let's let's go back to Jalen
Speaker 1: Brown and Gordon Hayward for the Celtics. What to expect
Speaker 1: from them? I mean, Jalen did not play well against
Speaker 1: the Sixers until that final game in the four game
Speaker 1: series that Boston won at TD Garden. Through his first
Speaker 1: three games, he only scored a combined twenty two points
Speaker 1: and he seemed totally out of it. Yep, eight points,
Speaker 1: eight points and six points. Couldn't find it. And a
Speaker 1: lot of that was due to the defense team defensively
Speaker 1: as well, for sure, but definitely al Horfor with what
Speaker 1: he was able to do defensively against Jalen Brown, and
Speaker 1: he played very well inside the bubble also, so you
Speaker 1: would have to think confidence wise with somebody who has
Speaker 1: some momentum coming into the start of their playoff series.
Speaker 1: He's gonna come out here and yeah, they'll point out
Speaker 1: the bad things that he did against the team during
Speaker 1: the regular season, but they're going to focus on what
Speaker 1: he has done as of late, and he has performed
Speaker 1: very very well. This matchup I have my eye on
Speaker 1: as well because pride wise, as someone especially Al horfor
Speaker 1: being a former teammate, he knows their games. So knowing
Speaker 1: their games, how much is that going to help? They've
Speaker 1: developed and improved from a year ago? Those players, Jaylen Brown,
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum, So what does that do for Al Horford?
Speaker 1: He knows their tricks, but they may not have new
Speaker 1: tricks now. So watching film is going to be important.
Speaker 1: The coaching, the assistant coaches that have the knowledge and
Speaker 1: the scouttering report of course, is what these players do
Speaker 1: well and what they have done so far very well
Speaker 1: is going to be key for their success. And Jalen
Speaker 1: Brown has turned himself into a very very good player
Speaker 1: that just coming in being an athlete and defender, he
Speaker 1: can now score at a very high clip, and the
Speaker 1: Sixers did a really good job against Jalen Brown in
Speaker 1: those first three games. But it's also worth noting that
Speaker 1: Jalen really found his stride towards the end of the season,
Speaker 1: and the Sixers haven't played the Celtics since February first.
Speaker 1: That's just wild. And obviously the hiatus affects every matchup
Speaker 1: that's going into these playoffs, but a lot can change
Speaker 1: in six seven months, so to a certain extent, we're
Speaker 1: still yet to see exactly how these teams match up
Speaker 1: six months later. I mean we saw it obviously, Bensimon
Speaker 1: is no longer in the lineup, but we've seen a
Speaker 1: lot of guys. Bodies change and their skills are changing.
Speaker 1: Some of them are getting better, some of them look winded,
Speaker 1: and so you never know how that matchup is going
Speaker 1: to shift all this time later. But yeah, Brown is
Speaker 1: not to be underestimated. He was so good at the
Speaker 1: end of the season, and I don't know he could
Speaker 1: give some trouble to these Celtics have a lot of weapons,
Speaker 1: like you said at the very beginning of the show,
Speaker 1: and emiliary guys of Gordon Hayward. He had a couple
Speaker 1: of good games against the Sixers the start of the season.
Speaker 1: His last two weren't quite at the same level as
Speaker 1: the first two games in the regular season series, but
Speaker 1: he played well in the seeding games. He played all
Speaker 1: but one of them, and there's a lot of things
Speaker 1: that he does well and divine. We were talking about
Speaker 1: this before we hit record on the old podcast, but
Speaker 1: it's like, you know, there's certain guys that perhaps draw
Speaker 1: your first line of attention, your primary attension, and then
Speaker 1: well oops, if there's someone like Gordon Hayward who's just
Speaker 1: they're waiting in the wings, I mean, he's he's excellent,
Speaker 1: you know, And that's like I kind of felt the
Speaker 1: start of his time with Boston. The national view is like, well,
Speaker 1: when are you going to see the payoff? And I
Speaker 1: feel like, while the numbers may not be explosive, that
Speaker 1: he puts up kind of what at the level we
Speaker 1: saw when he left Utah, he still fills the gaps
Speaker 1: and that's probably doing him in disservice really really well
Speaker 1: and can jump in where you need him depending on
Speaker 1: what's going on and the attention being drawn by the
Speaker 1: other guys who are out there, You're a problem to have,
Speaker 1: right to have a former All Star on your team,
Speaker 1: and we know that things change once he had the
Speaker 1: devastating injury to start off his Celtics career in Cleveland
Speaker 1: with the leg problem that has now existed, and he's
Speaker 1: overcome that and he's trying to really get back into
Speaker 1: that form. But we've seen that form quite a few times,
Speaker 1: like the twenty five points that he had in Game one,
Speaker 1: even though it was the Sixers win, he played well.
Speaker 1: Game two, as you said nineteen, he still played well
Speaker 1: and struggled down the stretch. Now when you look at
Speaker 1: that one in the matchup with the Sixers, who's it
Speaker 1: going to be? Is it going to be someone like
Speaker 1: Shake Milton? If Josh Richardson is going to be defending
Speaker 1: Kemba Walker, does that cross match now mean that Shake
Speaker 1: Milton is going to be on Gordon Hayward? Are his
Speaker 1: eyes going to light up with a young player opposite
Speaker 1: him defensively and maybe not even known really as a defender,
Speaker 1: albeit the great wingspan six four or six five in height.
Speaker 1: Gordon Hayward is going to be someone again on that
Speaker 1: scattering report that we're going to have to pay attention
Speaker 1: to and see. You cannot let him get going, because
Speaker 1: if he gets going and the others are getting going,
Speaker 1: it could be a long night for the opposition. So, yes,
Speaker 1: a good problem to have for the Boston Celtics when
Speaker 1: you have that level of talent so far down the line,
Speaker 1: if you will, with all due respect in terms of
Speaker 1: the focus of the offensive output. Having worked through now,
Speaker 1: the Boston starting lineup is Gordon Hayward the X factor
Speaker 1: to you, guys, great question. Yes, okay, all right, so
Speaker 1: there's an answer which kind of segues into the next
Speaker 1: point I was going to bring up when we start
Speaker 1: talking about a few of the reserves that these teams have.
Speaker 1: I feel like Boston almost has like a six man
Speaker 1: starting lineup because Marcus Smart is someone who can jump
Speaker 1: in there if needed, depending on scenario or depth player health,
Speaker 1: and I would put I think, for me, it's either
Speaker 1: Gordon Hayward or Marcus Smart when I look at X factors.
Speaker 1: That's my kind of non committal answer to your question,
Speaker 1: But go ahead, d The only reason I would lean
Speaker 1: the only reason I would lean Hayward is because I
Speaker 1: think that Marcus Smart's role is clearly more defined as
Speaker 1: the sixth man, and that sixth starter knowing who he
Speaker 1: is and what he provides for you. I mean, this
Speaker 1: guy is a All NBA defender, first team as the reserve,
Speaker 1: and that's because he's that sixth starter, and that is
Speaker 1: basically because you have to have a big man in
Speaker 1: the starting line. We know if it was just what
Speaker 1: it was and they went to Houston Rockets route, that
Speaker 1: Marcus Smart will be starting for the Boston Sucks because
Speaker 1: that's how important he is. So I think his role
Speaker 1: is way more defined where the flow of the game
Speaker 1: dictates what Gordon Hayward's role is on any given night,
Speaker 1: because he is such a good score. Because the importance
Speaker 1: of him coming in via the free agency, a big
Speaker 1: freezer to pick up the injury that follows. That's why
Speaker 1: I lean more Gordon Hayward because first and foremost is
Speaker 1: going to be stopping Tatum Brown Walker and then you
Speaker 1: get to Gordon Hayward again, no disrespect, that's just how
Speaker 1: it is. That's how stacked they are offensively for this team.
Speaker 1: I think something too, is when we're talking about someone
Speaker 1: like a Marcus Smart, he's a guy who is certainly
Speaker 1: a little bit farther along and being established where you
Speaker 1: could describe him in terms of being like a sixth starter,
Speaker 1: where I think there are some guys in the sixers
Speaker 1: right now who maybe this time next year or the
Speaker 1: year after that could fall into that category, whether it's
Speaker 1: someone like a fur Con cork Mase or a Matisse Styble,
Speaker 1: but just maybe aren't quite far along as some of
Speaker 1: the members of this Boston courre. And the thing about
Speaker 1: Smart is like when you look at his numbers, he
Speaker 1: shoots below the league average, but as we saw even
Speaker 1: this season, when he catches the wave, it can go
Speaker 1: and he could win you a playoff game potentially. And
Speaker 1: I think to the sixer side of that, we've seen
Speaker 1: two guys in Alec Burks and Furkon Korkmis who could
Speaker 1: also fill that same type of role where I think
Speaker 1: hopefully for them they can build upon the good that
Speaker 1: they did yes during the regular season. For Burke's whether
Speaker 1: it was in Golden State where he was having a
Speaker 1: career year or when he joined the seventy sixers, or
Speaker 1: fur Coon Korkmise, who took another step this year, that
Speaker 1: those are two guys where if you if you're getting
Speaker 1: what you get out of the guys, you know what
Speaker 1: you typically get from that those are two guys, and
Speaker 1: talking about Burks and Korkmas for the Sixers that you
Speaker 1: know that they give you something a little bit more
Speaker 1: and that could put you over the hump in a game.
Speaker 1: That's for sure ourselves the Sixers sort of six the
Speaker 1: man by committee situation that they've had is going to
Speaker 1: be really interesting. And over the last few games, of course,
Speaker 1: it's looked like Alec Burks is the guy that's going
Speaker 1: to be that spark plug off the bench that comes
Speaker 1: in and just makes magic happen. But we saw Kurkon
Speaker 1: Quorkmase do the same thing this year, even Mattie Stibel
Speaker 1: a little bit. So it's nice to see that the
Speaker 1: Sixers have a group that can contribute that sort of thing.
Speaker 1: But you want to make sure you can count on
Speaker 1: that group if it's going to be a by MIDI
Speaker 1: situation for the Reserves, you want to make sure that
Speaker 1: it's a group that's being consistently productive and is put
Speaker 1: in a position to highlight their strengths, because obviously, when
Speaker 1: you talk about those three in Burke's Quirkmisin Bible, they
Speaker 1: all have different strengths and they can all be really
Speaker 1: useful in a series like this, So it'll be interesting
Speaker 1: to see how it shakes out minutes wise among that group.
Speaker 1: That's a really great player, all of them combine Burke's quark,
Speaker 1: mos stiable right, the shooting, the defense, the ball handling
Speaker 1: and scoring punch. That would be fantastic to get the
Speaker 1: best of each one of those those players when they
Speaker 1: do come in, And you're right, Lauren, the options that
Speaker 1: Brown has this is going to be very very telling
Speaker 1: because Quirk Moiles is going to come in with his
Speaker 1: skill set of shooting, some playmaking. How will he fare
Speaker 1: on the defensive end when Alec Burks comes in. Let's
Speaker 1: say if he is the first one to come in,
Speaker 1: he paired up with Marcus Smart, how that's going to
Speaker 1: play out with the top defender with the defend Alec
Speaker 1: Birks with one of his strengths, and certainly the Tista
Speaker 1: was a young player. Yes he's gotten this bubble experience.
Speaker 1: But playoffs of the playoffs, and I know the playoffs
Speaker 1: are the playoffs is self mentioned earlier outside of the
Speaker 1: TV Garden, But the playoffs are the playoffs in the
Speaker 1: intensity really really picks up. How is he going to respond?
Speaker 1: Will he be able to knock down some shots to
Speaker 1: go along with his defensive acumen that we already know,
Speaker 1: and maybe maybe maybe playoff of the confidence and success
Speaker 1: that he had against the Celtics throughout the year with
Speaker 1: what he did defensively and not get rattled. Absolutely devon.
Speaker 1: But I also want to say no disrespect we talk
Speaker 1: about Bible, corks, burks, sort of those first three options
Speaker 1: as it seems today, whatever day it is, August sixteenth,
Speaker 1: But that's no disrespect to a guy like Glenn Robinson
Speaker 1: the third who's been dealing with that hip pointer, to
Speaker 1: a guy like Mike Scott and even Howell Netto who
Speaker 1: were both so good in those seating games. So I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's if it's an embarrassment of riches
Speaker 1: or if it's a problem to try to figure out
Speaker 1: how to whittle down that group, but it'll be interesting
Speaker 1: to see. I know we probably want to get a
Speaker 1: little deeper on a guy like Burkes. Talk more about Bible,
Speaker 1: talk more about cork munks, but shout out to those
Speaker 1: guys too, because they really did prove themselves in these
Speaker 1: seating games as available options that can be productive in
Speaker 1: a bind producing this one thing. It's also then showing
Speaker 1: that you are ready, and I think that not to
Speaker 1: boil it down to something even more simplistic. When there
Speaker 1: was a need there for them in the seating games,
Speaker 1: Brett Brown went to them and they did what they did.
Speaker 1: They produced, which, going back to what we talked about
Speaker 1: at the start, all the more reason for them to
Speaker 1: feel confident in the Sixers, to feel confident in them
Speaker 1: going into the playoffs. I think we are nearing the
Speaker 1: end of our checklist for different layers of the series.
Speaker 1: I do think that whole Nato has earned the opportunity
Speaker 1: to be given a look at some point if needed.
Speaker 1: I'm not necessarily sure how high you should be in
Speaker 1: the rotation, but he's piqued interest enough and he performed
Speaker 1: well enough that I think if you're in a certain
Speaker 1: type of spot, maybe you give him a shot. See
Speaker 1: what he can do lightning in a bottle situation, anything else.
Speaker 1: I'm going to yield the floor to you, guys that
Speaker 1: you think we have not given enough attention yet as
Speaker 1: we begin to wrap up our dissection of all things
Speaker 1: Sixers and Celtics Celts, do you feel that we gave
Speaker 1: enough time or credit to the difference that Al Horford
Speaker 1: can make in this series. No, I'm glad you mentioned
Speaker 1: that because I do have one item circled on my
Speaker 1: sheet right here, and it's Al plus Joe together circle.
Speaker 1: And I think that that was something that really became
Speaker 1: It was obviously a question that underscored the entire season,
Speaker 1: but when Ben Simmons went down with his injury in
Speaker 1: the bubble, what would it look like with the two
Speaker 1: of them together. I think by all accounts they did
Speaker 1: pretty well together in appairing and also when playing separately.
Speaker 1: And yes, the seventy sixers part of their investment, A
Speaker 1: large part of their investment, I would think in al
Speaker 1: Horford was what you're going to do this time of year,
Speaker 1: How is his veteran savviny experience going to play at
Speaker 1: this time of year? And wouldn't you know it's his
Speaker 1: old team for the last three years that he's going
Speaker 1: to go up against in that first round. Well, what
Speaker 1: I was going to say about al Celts is he
Speaker 1: looks better now than he has all season, I think,
Speaker 1: and I don't think that that's really up for debate.
Speaker 1: He is rounding into form and he's even said it himself,
Speaker 1: this is the healthiest he's felt this is the sharpest
Speaker 1: he's felt since being in Philadelphia. So all signs point
Speaker 1: to the fact that he is going to peak this
Speaker 1: season in the playoffs, which is what we're accustomed to
Speaker 1: seeing from a guy like Al Horford. And then we
Speaker 1: have to talk about the fact that he's a bit
Speaker 1: of insurance when Joel is off the court. Obviously, if
Speaker 1: they start together, we might not see that quite as often.
Speaker 1: But as we talked about, with a guy like Mike
Speaker 1: Scott really rounding into form, you never know when you're
Speaker 1: going to see them get separated and have Al Horford
Speaker 1: come in as that backup for Joel Embiid, which is
Speaker 1: what the Sixers were really lacking in the playoffs lack season.
Speaker 1: So you would hope that they'll continue to play well together,
Speaker 1: but in relief of Joel as well. That gives second
Speaker 1: units a lot of problems. If Al Horford is going
Speaker 1: to come out sharp and play against perhaps not your
Speaker 1: starting lineup if you're the Celtics, and being that it
Speaker 1: is his former team, the little subtle nuances of what
Speaker 1: the Celtics do. They're going to change a lot of things,
Speaker 1: of course, but they are who they are and he
Speaker 1: was there for a lot of they are who they are,
Speaker 1: so he'll still know some things that they do. They'll
Speaker 1: change some of those things around, of course, but at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, it is basketball. He knows
Speaker 1: them very well. What's the counter going to be if
Speaker 1: he needs some help things of that nature, how is
Speaker 1: it going to flow? What's you know, can he get
Speaker 1: in the head of if you will, Brad Stevens and
Speaker 1: those guys and then cause them some problems just because
Speaker 1: of his great IQ of the game and the great
Speaker 1: IQ of the Boston Celtics. Just simply pointing out again
Speaker 1: little subtle things that will be a benefit for the
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers and hopefully a negative for the Boston Celtics. Yeah,
Speaker 1: even just as like a fan of the game myself,
Speaker 1: I'm so curious about how Al Horford's relationship with Brad
Speaker 1: Stevens can move in the sixers favor in this series. Obviously,
Speaker 1: I've never played in the NBA for a multitude of reasons,
Speaker 1: but you have to imagine that if you play under
Speaker 1: someone like Stevens, and I think that it's it's pretty
Speaker 1: clear that Horford and Stevens had a good relationship and
Speaker 1: even collaborated together in a lot of big moments such
Speaker 1: as the playoffs. How much can that sort of sway
Speaker 1: the Sixers advantage when it comes to plays after time out,
Speaker 1: it's plays late in games. Does Al Horford know sort
Speaker 1: of where Stevens is going to lean in certain situations?
Speaker 1: I think that could be a really interesting sort of
Speaker 1: sub storyline in this series, Like if you have one
Speaker 1: team who had a player with his foot on the
Speaker 1: line in the corner and a long jump shot and
Speaker 1: then you need an inbounds play to win a game
Speaker 1: to take a commanding advantage of the series, those types
Speaker 1: of situations. Oh yeah, good time. All right, We do
Speaker 1: it on the podcast here each and every week. Did
Speaker 1: you hear? As we begin to wrap up this series
Speaker 1: preview episode between the seventy Sixers and the Celtics, I
Speaker 1: will say as we segue and combined our two segments,
Speaker 1: the first one and this one, Lauren someone who I
Speaker 1: feel like we did not give enough attention to young
Speaker 1: Watise Thyble, So I will yield to you and set
Speaker 1: us up for did you hear? Sure? Soful? My? Did
Speaker 1: you hear? This week? Was Brett Brown talking about Matisse's
Speaker 1: Bible following the team's last Seaton game against Houston, I
Speaker 1: asked coach Brown how useful Matifs can be in Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons's absence and how much he trusts Matif after he's
Speaker 1: shown the growth that he's shown so far this season.
Speaker 1: The aspect of his game defensively that has impressed me
Speaker 1: the most is there is I think I labeled him
Speaker 1: a reckless thief at the start of the year as
Speaker 1: the season has unfolded, and that now is the playoffs
Speaker 1: are right in front of us. Just the crazy swipes
Speaker 1: and a foul being lifted off the floor with just
Speaker 1: a subtle up fake and Matisse jumps and some really
Speaker 1: good player like jumps into him and gets three free throws.
Speaker 1: He hasn't been doing that, Like his heart is completely
Speaker 1: in the right place. And then you take the physical
Speaker 1: gifts in his length, in his instants, and if you
Speaker 1: combine that with like intellect of NBA sort of scouting,
Speaker 1: you got it all. And I feel like he has
Speaker 1: really settled down as far as being able to be
Speaker 1: bounced around. To Jim, I think that he's he's been
Speaker 1: leveled and he's thinking he's not as emotional and he's
Speaker 1: going to be huge. He really can't. I can't understate
Speaker 1: that he is going to be huge as a defensive requirement,
Speaker 1: especially since you don't have been with the great wing
Speaker 1: plays the Celtics have in the upcoming series, he's going
Speaker 1: to be He's going to assume a massive role. So,
Speaker 1: like Coach Brown said, especially when you don't have been,
Speaker 1: a guy like Matise can play a really big role. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we see his steals. We've almost become used to him
Speaker 1: getting two three steals at night and that'll be crucial
Speaker 1: against the Celtics team. But those deflections too, He's consistently
Speaker 1: the leader in deflections. He's so pusky he can get
Speaker 1: under even really good player's skin. And it'll be interesting
Speaker 1: to see how he's grown since that first matchup against
Speaker 1: the Celtics on October twenty third. Mattie still calls that
Speaker 1: his favorite or most memorable game of his rookie season,
Speaker 1: and a lot of that is due in part to
Speaker 1: the back and forth that he had with Kemba Walker
Speaker 1: and the way that Kemba was able to get him
Speaker 1: to bite and makes them maybe not I don't want
Speaker 1: to say immature, but like younger fouls, younger mistakes that
Speaker 1: Brett Brown has talked about, and then as the game
Speaker 1: went on, Matisse was able to get him back with
Speaker 1: a couple blocks and they had a bit of an
Speaker 1: exchange of words together. And Matisse really really respects Kemba,
Speaker 1: He respects the situation, he respects the game. So this
Speaker 1: should be a really cool opportunity for him to show
Speaker 1: that growth that Brett Brown is really proud of. I'm excited.
Speaker 1: I'm excited to see what Matisse Thyble as he wraps
Speaker 1: up his first full professional season does on the playoff stage.
Speaker 1: He obviously has a tremendous head on his shoulders, and
Speaker 1: I'm really looking forward to see how he factors into
Speaker 1: the series. See what'd you hear? What I heard was
Speaker 1: from Tobias Harris during the final games of the Bubble,
Speaker 1: speaking about the chemistry and the camaraderie that the team
Speaker 1: has built, of course during this time and seeing the
Speaker 1: difference in these guys together both off the floor and
Speaker 1: on the floor. I think our chemistry is, um, you know,
Speaker 1: really good right now, an all time high. Um. We're here,
Speaker 1: We're around each other daily, you know, every every day
Speaker 1: we pretty much get to see one another. Um, and
Speaker 1: when we're playing, we're continuing to find our flow. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, we played in games where we've had some
Speaker 1: guys we haven't you know, even um last game we
Speaker 1: had with myself, Joel al and Jay rich sitting out.
Speaker 1: You know, we're coming together. We're seeing different guys step
Speaker 1: up because we know we're gonna need everyone tonight. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, whether it's us out, they're playing fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: we're letting the second unit kind of handle business, and
Speaker 1: you know, we we're just bonding and that's a great
Speaker 1: thing about this time together as team, and we truly
Speaker 1: understand that when playoffs come, you know, with our team
Speaker 1: and our depth, that's going to be needed throughout throughout
Speaker 1: our run. And that's important. Even when Ben Simmons went down,
Speaker 1: Especially when Ben Simmons went down, I noticed a lot
Speaker 1: of communication from We've seen it from Tobias Harris, Al Horford,
Speaker 1: even Josh Richardson doing a regular season, but Joel Embid,
Speaker 1: just as we talked about small, little subtle things, whether
Speaker 1: it be Al Horford with a quick touch pass, receiving
Speaker 1: the ball at a high low trying to hit him
Speaker 1: Bed who was being fronted by his defender to get
Speaker 1: a quick catch. So the double team is not allowed
Speaker 1: to come over for a layup or dunk, foul, whatever
Speaker 1: it might be. There was one that pointed out against
Speaker 1: the Houston Rockets where the ball was sailed out of bounds,
Speaker 1: but instead of seeing and be frustrated maybe sulking or
Speaker 1: upset with the fact that it was a turnover and
Speaker 1: missed opportunity for him to get a bucket, he looked
Speaker 1: at him, pointed at Al Horford patted himself when the chest,
Speaker 1: basically saying, I see what you did there. So those
Speaker 1: little things like that are going to be very important
Speaker 1: for this basketball team to not blame one another. Turnovers happened.
Speaker 1: Their turnover numbers have been down, which is tremendous. Love
Speaker 1: to see it. But things like that are going to happen,
Speaker 1: especially with a good defensive team like the Boston Celtics,
Speaker 1: and for them to have that and a leader liked
Speaker 1: to Bias Harris to openly shared that with the rest
Speaker 1: of us, that their communication and their chemistry overall has
Speaker 1: has picked up being inside the bubble because this is
Speaker 1: all that they have. I love to hear that, and
Speaker 1: I hope that that carries over into the first round
Speaker 1: of the playoffs and beyond what did I hear? I
Speaker 1: heard Al Horford looking ahead to a postseason matchup against
Speaker 1: his now second former team, the Boston Celtics. It's part
Speaker 1: of the business, you know, obviously, it's you know, we've
Speaker 1: already played them plenty of times this year, so that
Speaker 1: effect is kind of out of the way, so now
Speaker 1: we can just you know, go out during compete and
Speaker 1: should be a fun series. We can all agree that
Speaker 1: Al Horford is a valuable player who does valuable things,
Speaker 1: and it's understandable why any team on the NBA would
Speaker 1: want to have him. I was really encouraged by some
Speaker 1: of the stuff that we saw in the bubble after
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons went down to injury. I thought Al played
Speaker 1: really really well, shot terrifically from outside the arc. So
Speaker 1: pick and pop. You look at Al Horford right there,
Speaker 1: he seems to be in a rhythm. I think he
Speaker 1: showed more than at least to what I thought based
Speaker 1: on his comments going into the bubble kind of made
Speaker 1: it sound initially like he was just going to gradually
Speaker 1: get ready for the time the playoffs started. I thought
Speaker 1: he was ready to go from the jump, and he
Speaker 1: helps set the tone for the Sixers and as we've
Speaker 1: all seen firsthand going back to two years ago, he
Speaker 1: can do things defensively that take away a really good
Speaker 1: scoring option on your team, and the Sixers will need
Speaker 1: that type of presence as they go up against Boston.
Speaker 1: So I'm excited to see how al Horford plays into
Speaker 1: the series. I think it'll just add yet another subplot
Speaker 1: to it is already a great rivalry last but not
Speaker 1: least around the league. Any final closing thoughts on something
Speaker 1: I don't know. It could be something related to the
Speaker 1: sexture that we haven't talked about yet, or something else. Well, look,
Speaker 1: every time we've gone around the league, I've gone with
Speaker 1: the bottom of the West, and the bottom of the
Speaker 1: West is now set, obviously, with the Portland Trailblazers fighting
Speaker 1: and calling their way into the first round matchup against
Speaker 1: the Lakers, which honestly could be a little bit more
Speaker 1: interesting than maybe your average one eight matchup with the
Speaker 1: weeks or series of games that Damian Lillard has had.
Speaker 1: But I think this week I'd like to give credit
Speaker 1: where credit is due to a team like the Memphis Grizzlies,
Speaker 1: who way overperformed expectations in the regular season, fighting their
Speaker 1: way into that eight seed before the hiatus, and then
Speaker 1: obviously into the play in game that was on Saturday.
Speaker 1: And then I'd also like to give some credit to
Speaker 1: the Phoenix Suns who came to the bubble and did
Speaker 1: absolutely everything they could do. You can't do better than
Speaker 1: eight and o inside the bubble, and they were this
Speaker 1: close to controlling their own destiny, but not quite there.
Speaker 1: And I think between teams like the Grizzlies and the Suns,
Speaker 1: there are a lot of fun young teams out there
Speaker 1: in the league that are going to be contenders for
Speaker 1: years to come. So even if it was just an
Speaker 1: appetizer to sort of see what's to come from teams
Speaker 1: like the Grizzlies like the Suns, it was really cool
Speaker 1: to see them sort of show out as much as
Speaker 1: they could. Obviously, the Grizzlies during the regular season and
Speaker 1: the Suns in the bubble. So props to those two teams.
Speaker 1: And we'll see what happens with the Blazers moving forward,
Speaker 1: because it's been Dame time for about a week and
Speaker 1: a half now. Yes, I have to have a conversation
Speaker 1: with Karis la Bert. I don't know I was I
Speaker 1: have to have a conversation why not take them off
Speaker 1: the dribble. You have the you're rolling last shot. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I hear you, so sales of you don't mind if
Speaker 1: I can jump in and give my what we heard,
Speaker 1: of course from around the league. I'll stick with the
Speaker 1: Western Conference and have to give credit to the NBA
Speaker 1: number one with the work that they've done inside the bubble,
Speaker 1: the zero positive test for the coronavirus since they've been there,
Speaker 1: which is amazing and we love to see. This is
Speaker 1: why i wis were able to have the sport, but
Speaker 1: also getting it right where on the last day, if
Speaker 1: you will, Technically Saturday was the last day with the
Speaker 1: playing game, but leading up to the playoff game was
Speaker 1: that Thursday where you had four games that meant something
Speaker 1: with the Portland Trailblazes, Phoenix Suns, sant Antonio Spurs, and
Speaker 1: the Memphis Grizzlies all playing important games and putting themselves
Speaker 1: in a position to play in for that play in game,
Speaker 1: whether it be one or two games. We saw the
Speaker 1: Blazers already won it, so they only needed to won
Speaker 1: games to knock off one game to knock off the
Speaker 1: Memphis Grizzlies. That was theater that was fantastic. I was
Speaker 1: looking forward to that. Once we knew what the scenario was,
Speaker 1: I could not wait to watch it. And of course
Speaker 1: I had a vested interest in the Phoenix Suns. But overall,
Speaker 1: they got it right and this is something that could
Speaker 1: potentially be a conversation for the NBA down the line
Speaker 1: in future playoffs if you will. For should the NBA
Speaker 1: have a play in game in each of the conference?
Speaker 1: Is because of how this whole thing played out. So
Speaker 1: it was fun, it was fantastic. Obviously disappointed in the result,
Speaker 1: but the future for the Phoenix Suns, of course is
Speaker 1: very bright. Same for the Memphis Grizzlies. And hats off
Speaker 1: to the San Antonio Spurs for ending a great, great
Speaker 1: playoff running over twenty plus years in the playoffs. It
Speaker 1: was amazing, no question about it. That is some feat.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's like bridging multiple generations. I'm gonna stick
Speaker 1: with you guys. I'm going to stay in the Western Conference.
Speaker 1: I don't think I'm ashamed to admit this. It's just
Speaker 1: a revelation. It may change people's opinions of me I
Speaker 1: when it comes to the potential, at least in my opinion,
Speaker 1: greatness factor in sports. I am drawn to following things
Speaker 1: like that, and I kind of want to see it
Speaker 1: played out to its fullest potential. For instance, Chicago Bulls
Speaker 1: in the nineties going for two three peats. I didn't
Speaker 1: care about seeing the Utah Jazz win. I wanted to
Speaker 1: see how great Michael Jordan and the Bulls could be.
Speaker 1: I'll be honest, not that I was the team, but
Speaker 1: the Yankees in the mid nineties late nineties, Like I
Speaker 1: wanted to see how great that team could be. Could
Speaker 1: we see something special that we might only see once
Speaker 1: in a generation. The Patriots do not fall into that
Speaker 1: category for a number of reasons. But I look at
Speaker 1: the West and the top of the West, and I
Speaker 1: see the Los Angeles Lakers, who did not have a
Speaker 1: great seating round in the bubble Lebron James. You know,
Speaker 1: people already starting to sew the seeds of doubt in
Speaker 1: terms of the national narrative with him and the LA Clippers.
Speaker 1: I'd love to see those two teams make it as
Speaker 1: far as they can in the West. And I'd love
Speaker 1: to see one of those two teams come out of
Speaker 1: the West. I'm just intrigued, obviously by the strides the
Speaker 1: Lakers made this year compared to last year with Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis and the LA Clippers bring in the two free
Speaker 1: agent acquisitions the headliners in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Speaker 1: So as we get ready for the postseason, I personally
Speaker 1: it may be not that exciting, It might be predictable,
Speaker 1: but I want to see those two teams on a
Speaker 1: collision course in the Western Conference and one of those
Speaker 1: two teams come out to the West, because I think
Speaker 1: that's the best of what that conference has to offer.
Speaker 1: I don't know that might disappoint some people. Should be fun,
Speaker 1: should be fun. I'm intrigued by the Avery Bradley absence,
Speaker 1: especially as Lauren mentioned in that first round, with Damian
Speaker 1: Lillitt playing at such a high level. CJ McCollum with
Speaker 1: his twenty nine or thirty one in the play in game,
Speaker 1: just I'm curious to see how they decide to defend
Speaker 1: those two since they are the head of it and
Speaker 1: Carmelo Anthony Lebron James as you just said, so seventeen years,
Speaker 1: two of the closest friends in the league and they
Speaker 1: get to go at it in the postseason. Should be
Speaker 1: a tremendous start. To the playoffs. It does feel though,
Speaker 1: like it's about that time, like right before the playoffs,
Speaker 1: that people start doubting Lebron James. And if you've been
Speaker 1: watching the NBA in the last seventeen years, specifically maybe
Speaker 1: more in the last nine or ten years, you know
Speaker 1: that that's a mistake. So maybe this time the doubters
Speaker 1: will be correct about Lebron and his so called decline.
Speaker 1: But I think anytime Lebron is playing in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: as we've seen over all his consecutive finals runs, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be mus CTV, it's gonna be exciting, Dame playing
Speaker 1: better than ever. So I'm on that series two for sure.
Speaker 1: But I also always have to question people when they
Speaker 1: start doubting Lebron James. It's just a bad idea. Agreed, Well, guys,
Speaker 1: we did it. I think we topped an hour if
Speaker 1: I'm looking at my stop watch correctly, an accomplishment, but
Speaker 1: the scene, that's right. We have to set the stage
Speaker 1: and if it takes an hour, gosh darn it, it's
Speaker 1: going to take an hour, and hopefully we'll be able
Speaker 1: to set the stage for a series again before this
Speaker 1: twenty twenty postseason comes to an end. What we will
Speaker 1: do is we are going to effort a brand new,
Speaker 1: fresh episode of the broadcast, not just with us, but
Speaker 1: with guests as well, the day of So check your
Speaker 1: feeds the day of each game in the series, the
Speaker 1: day after every game, morning after you'll find Rewind breaking
Speaker 1: down the game with Tom Againnis divided myself. The morning
Speaker 1: of each game in the series, a new episode of
Speaker 1: the broadcast with the three of us. So that is
Speaker 1: what we're gonna try to do. Guys, thank you very much,
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you, Selz and Lauren. Let's go playoffs.
Speaker 1: Amen to that. We'll talk to you next time. See
Speaker 1: you