March 15, 2024 • 51 mins
As we tip off another episode, I'm joined by James, a die-hard Boston Celtics fan whose passion for the team was sparked by none other than Dee Brown. His story takes us back to the '90s, a pivotal time for both the Celtics and young fans like him. We explore the unwavering commitment of the team as they powered through rebuilding phases, all while Boston's fanbase remained as fierce as ever. Whether stationed overseas or nestled in a local pub, James's dedication to the Celtics exemplifies how distance can sometimes amplify the love for the game. We wrap our conversation around the idea of a Celtics vs. Nuggets final, keeping our eyes on the prize as we dissect the current NBA season.
Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and the formation of the Celtics' Big Three marked a transformative era not only for our beloved team but for the entire league's view on creating superstar-studded rosters. We reminisce about the intensity Garnett brought to the court, the impact of the Big Three's championship run, and the organic team-building that has brought us to today's roster, featuring talents like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Our Celtics connection goes deep, tethered to the emotional ebbs and flows of player trades, injuries, and those serendipitous draft picks that have shaped the history of this illustrious franchise.
Finally, we lace up our sneakers and make some bold predictions for the upcoming NBA playoffs. We respect the might of Joel Embiid and the 76ers, but our conversation dribbles past them to consider the likes of Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Coaching strategies, player dynamics, and the burgeoning talents of teams like the Knicks and Magic all come into play as we envision the road to a Celtics vs. Nuggets showdown. As we conclude, we're not just anticipating great basketball—we're counting on it, ready to savor every playoff moment that lies ahead.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
All right, everyone, welcome back to Fandom from afar
.
I have another awesome guesttoday who was brave enough to
come on and talk some BostonCeltics with me, even after the
Nuggets showed them who's thebest team in the NBA.
But I want to hear about thatand I want to hear about his
(00:27):
fandom growing up being aCeltics fan.
So everybody welcome James.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Hey, hey low blow, but yeah, so that's really nice
of me to start out.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Just, you don't even have a chance to fight back.
It's like, oh, thanks forhaving me on.
So I think we're going to dosomething a little different
today, where I want to hearabout your fandom and, of course
, we'll play some games.
But then I really want to talkabout this season, because I
think it's pretty obvious thatthe Celtics and Nuggets are the
(01:01):
two best teams in the league,and what did we learn from their
two matchups this year?
And hopefully we'll get to seeseven more come June in the in
the finals.
So we'll we'll have a whole lotto talk about today.
Yeah, no kidding.
So let's just start with you,though.
Tell me kind of how you gotstarted with the Celtics.
(01:25):
Like, how did you become a fanin the boys in green and white?
Speaker 1 (01:31):
It was pretty cool.
I was, I was probably nine or10 years old and I grew up in
Tallahassee or just out theTallahassee, florida so, and it
was right, that time, you know,and Jordan and the Bulls were
just dominant and all the highflying dunkers and all that
stuff was going on, and my mom'sfriend that she worked with was
(01:56):
going to the Celtics Magic gameand his nephew played for the
Celtics and it was D Brown.
Oh, nice.
He ended up getting like thewhole team to sign their
individual cards for me thatyear.
And then that Christmas D Brownsent me like an autographed hat
and a Christmas card and soyeah, of course you're hooked at
(02:16):
that point.
Yeah, from that point on I was,I was all in.
You know, unfortunately it was.
It was a few years after D haddone that.
The same competition, no look.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
And it was a.
It was a rough year or twoafter that, because I mean it
was just D Brown, I think RickFox was on the team and old old
Dominique Wilkins was there.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
But they weren't good it was.
It was tough, but I was in, Iwas all in.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Oh, remember, remember how cool that dunk
contest was.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah, no kidding, it was.
Yeah, it was that, and you know, and just the rest of the
basketball and only I reallyalready enjoyed it.
I remember staying up at nightI had a little black and white
like 13 inch TV in my room.
That was like my parents old TVthat they just handed down to
me and I would like put thebunny ears on and try and get
the finals and stuff and watchJordan dominate everybody.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Like hiding underneath the sheets, just
being like I gotta watch this.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah.
And then it just went from there.
I just fell in love withbasketball.
I was already a big footballand baseball fan, but then it
was just.
I fell in love then and havefollowed him every sense through
some rough years and good yearsas well, but you know, it was
it's.
I think the Celtics areprobably one of my favorite
favorite teams because, like,there's never really been a time
(03:40):
when they weren't trying, youknow, like, yeah, there's always
been down times, rebuild modesand stuff like that.
But even when they'rerebuilding like they went out
and got players and we're tryingto do stuff it just didn't work
out a lot of times.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
I love.
Yeah, I actually never thoughtabout that, but I kind of like
that because they look atthemselves as like a prestige
team in the league.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
And so they're.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
They're always thinking like, well, why would
we not win a championship thisyear?
Like they're, they're.
They just think of themselvesas one of those top teams, even
if they don't have the talent.
They're like, well, we're theCeltics.
So.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
I mean, it's like them, the Lakers Yankees,
there's a few teams that arejust like always trying, so it's
easy to be a fan of them.
That's nice.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
We'll see their fans take on the arrogance as well,
which is not the best.
But no, you don't fall in thatcategory.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I actually like talking to you.
Yeah, no, I, you know, heardall the talk of how awful the
other Boston fans especially atTD Garden, and it's a tough
place to play, but.
I know that's kind of always myfan hood.
I'm a I'm a fan of the teamsthat have like the worst known
fans, but I don't really fallinto that category easily.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
That's right.
You break the mold.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
So growing up in Tallahassee, did you drive to
either like Atlanta or Lando tosee the Celtics play live ever
no, I went and saw Atlanta whenI was an adult.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
After I, on the way back from Korea, I was flying
through Atlanta and I went andsaw a game.
And that was the first time I'dseen an NBA game.
And then a couple more times,when I was stationed in like
Panama City, I would go toOrlando or Atlanta and catch a
game here or there, but neverreally.
As a kid I never.
(05:37):
No, we.
I went and saw the Braves andthe Rays a few times, otherwise
it was just Florida or FloridaState.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
You were just under your sheets watching on the
little tiny TV.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, yeah, waiting for somebody to beat Jordan.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
That's right Now.
You brought it up becauseyou're stationed overseas.
How tough was that to keep upwith really any of your teams?
Well, actually.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
It probably made me a bigger fan, because my the guy
that I ended up becoming bestfriends with over there, Nate,
was from Boston and was also ahuge Boston fan.
So nice.
And it was at the beginning ofinternet.
It was still, I think, like theone after dial up.
You still had to be plugged in,but it was a little bit faster,
(06:26):
right.
So, like cable internet, Ithink that's what we had at the
time so we could check.
And occasionally they have achannel system over there for on
base and stuff that like itgoes and eight hours shifts and
just replays every eight hours,so everybody throughout the
world can watch shows or gamesor whatever.
(06:47):
So we'd occasionally get aCeltics game on there or
something, but most of the timeit was just following over the
internet or something like that.
But because he was there, Ithink it was kind of a bigger
interest for me as well.
So it was nice.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
That's really cool Kind of a kind of a bonding
thing.
Yeah, Now do you remember whothe main guys were at that time?
Speaker 1 (07:07):
That was the Pierce and Tom Walker days.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Okay, I got a big, big fatty.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
He was kind of the like, the first like three point
specialist, I think it wasmostly he would launch them up
out of necessity, because hecouldn't run, but exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
He only ran from the top of the three point line to
the other top of the three pointline.
That's funny.
Yeah, they, they would launchup a bunch of threes when it was
not the normal thing to do.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
No, and they were pretty decent at it.
They were never like the bestteam, but we would lose to like
the Pistons or the Nets everyyear and the either the semis or
the Eastern Conference finals,and like they were always there
but they could never really getthrough.
And then in Tom Walker wentcrazy and lost all his money and
(07:55):
left the league and then it wasjust Pierce for a minute.
But I remember watching thatdraft, whatever year that was,
and they traded for Ray Allen,like right at the beginning of
the draft.
And I was like, oh, and thenthey signed Kevin Garnett too
and I was like, all right, thiswill be fun, cause I love talk
about yeah.
Love going to the championshipcontender right away, of course.
(08:17):
And I think everybody who was abasketball fan by then love
Garnett and wanted him to getout of Minnesota, so it was
really really awesome.
Oh, 100% yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Cause he would either not make the playoffs or losing
the first round every singleyear.
But he was just so fun to watchand he was just wasting away up
there.
So, yeah, even even though Ididn't really have a dog in the
fight, it was like oh, that'sawesome that Garnett's actually
going to get to play forsomething.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
And he, he was also I mean, you know the hardest
player in every game that heplayed in.
Like I love that he refused tolet a shot go in If the other
team shot it, like after awhistle or a foul or something.
People just shoot it up and hewould do everything he could to
block it every time, and Ialways just love that,
Absolutely he didn't.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
He didn't even want to give them that win.
Like I'm surprised he didn't goover there doing warmups and
trying block shots he was.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
he was nuts, but it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
And and then.
Once they got that big threetogether, how many years was it
until they won the championship?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
I think the first year.
They want it Either the firstor the second year, but I was it
really Okay, and then theywon't.
I was like they beat the Lakers, Then they lost to the Lakers
and then I think we might havebeaten again.
But yeah, it was, it was fun.
But then you know, I guess Iwas kind of the first super team
(09:45):
.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
They were such a good trio that they played well
together but it unfortunately, Ithink it changed the game.
Yeah, you know, so it like somefor the good, superstars trying
to join up to get some for thegood, but not.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
I don't think it's great.
You know I love the Celtics nowand the nugs, you know the home
built teams, with just a coupleof additions here and there to
round it out.
And you know I guess it wasawesome because I really didn't
have any other championships atthat point.
I guess Florida had won when Iwas young, but other than that I
(10:18):
hadn't really had anychampionships or anything.
So it was awesome.
But then, looking back now,it's like you know, I think
LeBron had a little bit to dowith that too.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
They came together so quick yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
But you know it's.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Yeah, I think the NBA kind of learned the wrong
lesson from those guys, becauseI think Garnett Pierce and Ray
Allen fit so well together.
It worked, but then everyoneelse started just trying to get
superstars together, notthinking about fit, and it's
just like it doesn't always work.
(10:55):
Just because you're three supertalented guys, it has to work
on like as a whole.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, I think, excuse me, miami, you obviously did
that right after Stole Ray, awayfrom us.
But, you know it's.
I don't know that they fitgreat together.
Definitely LeBron James andDuane Wade did, but the rest of
them are just kind of here andthere, whatever.
But that Celtics team was justso perfect because you know you
(11:25):
had Garnett on the inside justdominating everybody and big
baby in there as well, and thenRondo on the outside just yeah.
Rondo, just running the floorand making passes, didn't even
try to shoot, which was a goodthing.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Oh no, He'd have a wide open layup and still be
looking the past.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
But he was.
He was great Again.
He just spit in perfectly.
It was nice, like I thinkwithout maybe Kevin, garnett,
rondo would have been like hardto lead a team or deal with,
maybe even deal with Piercealone.
But Garnett coming in there andbeing like the big dog kind of
made it easy and it was kind ofcool.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
So let's say, if this year's team goes on to win the
championship, would you rankthis team or the like 07 team as
either the best recent Celticsteam or your favorite Celtics
team?
Speaker 1 (12:25):
This would definitely be my favorite.
Like I said, it's just with ourown homegrown talent and stuff
would mean obviously so muchmore.
And they're you know theCeltics have always like been
pretty good and had a goodplayer, but always gone up
against like the best player inthe world at the time.
(12:45):
You know, like ungodly, likealways been in their conference,
like it was Jordan in the 90sand then LeBron came through and
he's always been in the Eastuntil now and it was just like
we've always been good but justnot good enough.
And it's fun to see like now wehave, like you know, tatum
isn't the best player in theleague, but he's one of the top
(13:05):
10 for sure, and you know andway him and Brown play together.
You know I'm sad that Marcushad to go, but the team this
year is so much better than lastyear already, so you know I'll
take it.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I agree I think it was sad to give up his
leadership and his toughness andstuff, but having Porzingis is
just unlocked the team ingeneral I agree, so I think it's
a good up.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
He's done just something because he's not, you
know, dominant, but he justopens it up just enough for you
know, brown and Tatum andhimself, that it's awesome.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
And then drew holiday .
Defense is even better thanMarcus smart, arguably.
So you know, it's not like welost a lot, it's just he was
there from the beginning and Iloved him.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Oh yeah, now before we get too far into this year's,
I just want to ask about the DBrown connection to kind of get
you hooked into the Celtics.
Was was kind of personal to youand your, your basketball team,
so did the rest of your familykind of join the ride with you,
(14:16):
like did they become Celticsfans too, or is you you kind of
doing?
Speaker 1 (14:19):
that.
Yeah, no, my family wasn'treally into sports at all Like
my dad.
Mom didn't watch any sports,but I was a sports nerd from day
one.
My mom's best friend was a hugeFlorida Gators fan and a big,
brave span I mean excuse meYankees fan.
So when she would take, I wentto dozen games with her to
(14:45):
Florida and then several down toSt Pete to watch Yankees once
the rays came about and she kindof got me into sports.
It was mostly Florida at thebeginning.
Just you know, getting themedia, guides and knowing all
the stats and doing all thatstuff.
And it was just my own thingthat nobody else in my family
loved.
I played soccer growing up soit was a lot of fun, but yeah,
now it was just me.
(15:05):
My parents couldn't have giventhe crap less.
I had to watch it in my bedroombecause there was no way they
were watching it during primetime, that's funny.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
No way, I'm getting on the big screen.
No, lots.
Even more impressive how big asports fan you were then,
because it's not like yourparents were dragging you out to
places you kind of had to findways to see it.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Yeah, but it made it better.
It's funny because you know,like I've never been a fan of
really the team that I like,where I lived for the most of
time.
Eventually, like I lived inPhilly and became a Philly's fan
.
Now I love the Rockies and theNugs as well.
I'm here in Denver, but youknow I was in Tallahassee.
I was a Florida fan, Celticsfan, I hated the Braves forever,
(15:51):
just because everybody likedthem.
So it was always just fun to bedifferent and I think that's
probably because my parents justnever like sports.
So I was just like oh, do it myown thing.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
And I didn't want to be like everybody else, whoever
you want.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Yeah, say, you're like the definition of what this
podcast is all about.
All your teams are far away, sowe could do a whole James week.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Yeah, I mean, honestly, my first sports
favorite team was ManchesterUnited, because my grandpa, my
mom, is from Manchester and so Iwas just used to never really
seeing my own team except foroccasionally, and so it's just
something I've been okay with.
I just reading them in thepaper and I was a big sports
page kid.
Oh yeah, it was fun.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
That's all we had back in the day.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yeah, so box.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yeah, it's fun to have someone on my age, because
I try and explain that stuff tosome of the guests that are half
my age and they're just likewhat are you talking about?
Speaker 1 (16:46):
I mean, I grew up in box scores, like knowing
people's stats and stuff likethat.
That's just that's all we had.
I grew up it was country town,so there wasn't a lot to do and
it's just sports.
That was it.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
And I'm right along with you.
Like I would just memorizeeverybody's stats, Like I feel
like growing up watching theRockies, just I would know
everyone's batting average everysingle day, because they would
update with all the games.
I'm just like I don't know whyI need to know this, but I guess
.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I do, I think remember when my parents quick
in the newspaper like I askedfor it for my birthday or for
Christmas like a subscription.
Just like you keep getting thisboard space, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
How to do it.
What about, besides D Brown,any like non superstar Celtics
players stick out to you likethat?
You just really had aattachment to.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Not a lot.
I mean we've had so many goodplayers that came through.
You know that the year that Igot D Brown's autograph, I think
was like the year, maybe theyear after Larry Bird retired,
so I just missed out on that andlike I'm seeing all the Larry
highlights and stuff, but it wasjust, I think, a little bit too
(18:01):
young to really remember or beable to see much of his
greatness you know live, becausehe was like broken down by the
time that really startedwatching Jordan and the dream
team and stuff like that thatwas so sad because he would have
to put on that giant back braceand just kind of like lay on
the floor like you can't evenremember that year and the dream
team.
He was on the team for somereason, and every game he was
(18:23):
just laying on the floor with aheat pack around his back.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yeah, shaq should have been on that team instead
of him, but oh that would havebeen awesome, but it was pretty
cool to have Michael, larry andMagic all on that team Like just
the legacy of it Honestly.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Like I said, it's not a ton.
I loved Paul Pierce justbecause he was so loyal and he's
there forever.
He was just our guy.
He was kind of a turd.
You know like I understand whymost other teams fans hated him.
I probably would have as well,you know, but he was my guy so I
loved it.
And you know, just the all theoff the court stuff kind of made
(19:04):
it even better because it was.
You know, he was wasn't just aperfect guy, but he was still so
good and we got stabbed itwasn't like 15 times or
something and came back andplayed like later in the year.
He was just a fun.
Yeah, that was why I'd alwaysloved Gordon Hayward over the
(19:25):
years, like that was my guy onNBA 2K that I always like traded
for oh yeah.
He's just like the perfectmatch for my style, and so when
they traded for him, I wasreally, really, really excited.
And then he broke his,shattered his leg and it was
never the same.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
So it was unfortunate , but and it was only like two
minutes into the season.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
It was bad, so it was , it was like that Paul George
one.
It was disgusting and so earlyit was just.
But yeah, and he was never,never the same.
Like you said, he's never beenso good.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Yeah, he's never, I was so stoked.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
He's going back with Brad Stevens, so that's going to
be a perfect match.
And then that happened.
And then Brad Stevens steppeddown and everything.
I was like, oh no, fallingapart.
But then, you know, they traded.
They traded, Luckily, beforethat they sent everybody to the
Nets for like a million picksand that's how we got Tatum and
(20:26):
Brown.
So I'll take it.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
I hated.
How lucky that that ended up tothe Celtics.
Like it was amazing.
It's like oh, all of oursuperstars are aging out and
aren't good anymore.
Okay, we'll just get all theseamazing draft picks for it.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
And the Nets are like yeah, that sounds great and
it's crazy not many teams otherthan them have like done well
with that, like Oklahoma Citymaybe it's the only other team
who's like and they probably gotrid of their stars too early.
But now they have more likedraft options and I've ever
heard of.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
I know it's like, oh, they have 40 picks in the next
three years.
It's like great, you can onlyhave 15 people on the team.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
I mean they've already got two of the better
young players in the league.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
I'm sure they'll be good for a long time, you know
they're going to be able totrade for some superstars to be
on stop.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
But the cool thing is now the Celtics are a few years
in.
They've got the experience andthe playoffs and the finals and
everything, so I mean, and theylocked up both their big guys.
It should be, you know, for atleast a few more years.
Oh yeah, they're always goodwith, like whoever the GM is,
(21:35):
like it's just always great,it's nice.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
I agree, I think they're.
They're looking good not onlythis year but for, like you said
, at least the next three tofour years, because all their
guys are under contract, youngand they all fit so well.
Well, we'll get to them.
We'll get to them, but howabout?
You?
Want to play some?
games before you get two downthe rabbit hole for this year,
(22:00):
all right.
So, as always with with any ofmy games, I want to just get you
thinking about the Celtics,maybe in a in a different way.
So the games are, some of themare tough, some of them are just
plain silly.
So we'll, we'll see how you do.
(22:20):
All right, first game this iscalled Larry or Lucky.
Lucky is the name of the littleleprechaun mascot and Larry is
Larry Bird.
So I'm I'm going to give you aninteresting fact and you can
tell me Larry or Lucky.
(22:42):
All right, first fact onlyperson in NBA history to win
rookie of the year, mvp, finalsMVP, all star MVP, coach of the
year and executive of the yearGot to be Larry Last tour.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
That's pretty wild.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
I kind of forgot about his after career stuff.
He was good.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Yeah, he went to Indiana for a few years and then
just like was good and thenwasn't good.
I think he just really didn'tlike it.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
But yeah, I think he was like I'd rather be sitting
at home right now.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
He's a country boy.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
All right.
Next fun fact was a three timeNBA champion and a three time
MVP.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Larry.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, that's Larry.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
See, not too hard, All right.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Third fact once shot left handed in the game just
because he was bored.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Definitely I love that story.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
That is Larry.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
I wish I'd got to see him more, because all the
stories about him are just sogreat.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
And then last fact is mascot for a cereal brand that
contains contains hearts, stars,horseshoes, clovers and blue
moons Lucky charms.
So yeah, I guess it's hard tothink of clever names when it's
a leprechaun, because the LuckyCharms leprechaun is also named
(24:11):
Lucky.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
I didn't know that I tried to trick you there, but
that was the.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Lucky Charms guy.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
I don't even know that.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
But really that game was just an excuse to name off
some fun Larry bird tax becausehe is always great.
So I think Larry's kind ofbeing forgotten when people are
talking about the greatestplayers ever, just because, like
you said, he didn't play aslong as some of the other guys
(24:39):
and he just, I think, doesn'thave some of the highlights as
the other guys.
But, like man, you watch someof his passes and his shooting
and I just think he was soamazing.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
So he was just so great.
And Larry I think now with alot more of these like a former
player podcast and stuff likethat, like people are talking,
like there's more stories comingup again about him and so
people are probably watchingsome old YouTube videos of him
and stuff, because he was I meansome of the passes.
He's similar like to Yoko it'swhere, like it never looked
(25:10):
great but it was always justlike, well, how did he do that?
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Yeah, I agree, I think I think birds are great
comparison for Yoko, just theway they think about the game.
All right, so the Celtics areobviously kind of a
representation of some, someIrish heritage there in Boston,
(25:36):
and we are coming up just a fewdays away from St Patrick's Day,
so my next game is I'm going togive you some famous people and
you have to tell me which oneis not Irish.
Okay, all right, here we go.
I'm going to give you fourpeople Liam Neeson, bono, colin
(26:05):
Farrell and Ewan McGregor.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Is Liam Neeson Scottish or Welsh or something?
Speaker 2 (26:15):
No, oh, I'm sorry.
Liam is sorry.
Liam is Irish, ewan McGregor isScottish, so you're on the
right track.
You were on the right track,all right.
One more Conor McGregor, csLewis, sean Connery or Bram
(26:35):
Stoker.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
I don't know who Bram Stoker is, he wrote Dracula.
I will have to.
I know one and three are bothIrish.
Go with the second one.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
What did?
Speaker 1 (26:53):
you say CS Lewis.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
He was also a famous author, so actually it was Sean
Connery, who is also Scottish.
If I could do a Sean Conneryimpression, I would but.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
I'm not going to make people hear my bad accent.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
So, yeah, I snuck a couple of Scottish people in
there for you, all right.
So now this is a little bit ofa twist.
I looked up the.
Well, I don't know if they'rethe three most common, but I
think they're the three mostcommon Irish names in Boston.
The three names are Fitzpatrick, murphy and Sullivan.
(27:32):
So I would assume everybody'sfriends call them Fizzie, murph
and Sully.
So I'm going to name one ofeach of those names and you're
going to tell me which one wasassociated with the Boston
Celtics.
All right, all right.
So first one Ryan Fitzpatrick,troy Murphy or Ed Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Fitzpatrick went to Harvard.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
He did Not that you don't hear that every single
Sunday.
So you can eliminate him, sinceyou discovered that he is a NFL
quarterback.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Man, it's got to be Murphy.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
It is Troy Murphy.
He was a power forward.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
I think I remember back in the day.
Yeah, he was kind of a bust buthad a couple of good years.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Exactly, All right.
Good, You're one for one there.
All right, Next round of FizziMurph or Sully Joe Fitz I can't
remember how I'm writing JoeFitzgerald, I guess I didn't
even put Fitzpatrick.
Way to go.
Brian Colin Murphy or SullivanDempsey.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
I feel like I've heard the name Sullivan Dempsey
before.
Let's go with that and it'svery Irish.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
So, fun fact, sullivan Dempsey is actually the
real name of famous actorPatrick Dempsey, famous for TV
and movies I don't rememberwhich one's right now.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yeah, lots of TV shows.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
But the correct answer was Joe Fitzgerald.
I guess he wrote a bunch ofbooks about the Celtics in like
the 60s, 70s and 80s.
There you go.
All right.
Last round of Fizzi, murph orSully, we have Leo Fitzpatrick,
(29:46):
charlie Murphy or Ben Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
I wish it was Charlie Murphy, just so I could do my
Dave Chappelle but Dave Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Hey, you got that right.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
It was.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Ben Sullivan.
He was a Celtics coach, I guess, back in the day, but I was
surprised how few Irish nameshad been on the Celtics.
I thought I would have like aplethora of people to choose
from.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
And I had to throw in like all these actors and
authors.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Well, you did good.
You can impress all your Irishfriends on Sunday with your
Fizzi Murph and Sully knowledge.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
My grandmother's last name is Fitzgerald.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Oh nice.
So if I ever meet her, will shelet me call?
Speaker 1 (30:38):
her Fizzi.
She's dead, but probably youcan call me that.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Oh, okay, then All right.
Last game you and I both havesomething in common that we've
been in the food industry formany, many years.
So I just want you to get yourbrain working here and we are
going to partner up eitherformer or current Celtics
(31:03):
players with some food items.
All right, so there's no wronganswers here, just first player
that comes to your mind when Isay a certain food item and you
can give me an explanation aboutwhy that is, or it could just
be totally random, so I'm happyto accept either answer.
(31:23):
All right.
So this game is called Hungryfor a Championship.
Here we go.
First food item Hamburger andfries.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Um Rojan Rondo, Just there every day.
It's dependable.
Don't expect much out of it,but it's always exactly what you
need.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
I like it.
That is a perfect answer.
I love it.
Next one A cold pint of beer.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Um, I would have to say probably.
Hmm, I mean it has to be Larry,right, just the guy who's a
cold beer.
That's all he is, yeah.
And I would say I think Larrylikes himself cold beer as well.
(32:13):
He liked him as much as that'sperfect he should be, one.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
Yeah, nice, all right .
Next one A seafood platter.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Probably um say Tatum , just uh, nice, expensive, but
all around good, covers a lot,you know.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Perfect, I like that, all right.
Next one is not necessarily afood item, but more.
Uh.
When food goes bad we'll sayhot garbage, I mean there's so
many.
Who's your least favoriteCeltic of all?
Speaker 1 (32:58):
time, kyrie Irving.
Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
He was not so much interested in helping the team.
That was right when he waslosing his mind and everything.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
It was just weird and he didn't ever really seem like
he liked it there, never reallytried much and never fit in and
just I'm not a fan.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
I think that's another perfect answer.
All right.
And last one I want a duo withthis one, because they go so
well together Chocolate, cakeand milk.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Um, let's see, I would say probably.
Hmm, I mean it's, I'll go withcoordinate and Ray Allen,
because those two together whatMade me a champion?
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Exactly, they can get you a championship.
That's a pretty good duo.
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
I will give you all the points you I was waiting for
you to bring up like oyster orsomething.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
We, we've been dancing around it the whole
episode.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Just so I could say Sam Cassell.
I said I was waiting to sayoyster or something weird.
Just so I could bring up SamCassell and how weird looking he
was, but you got it in therethat's bonus points for you.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Right there I Was gonna say we we've been dancing
around it, so it's time we needto talk about this year.
So I'm assuming you saw boththe games against the Nuggets.
What do you think the Nuggetsdid that pretty much no other
(34:55):
team has been able to do and beable to beat you guys this year.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
I mean, have Kolya Kitch is a nice thing, but you
know.
Yeah, that's I mean honestly,they just they played very, very
similar games.
Celtics depend a lot on thethree and the.
There's an, I mean, other thanthe Celtics.
There might not be a betterteam at Switching, defensively
(35:20):
and like supporting each otherthan Nuggets, and I think they
just put pressure on them,didn't give them any easy open
shots and made it difficult.
I mean, they didn't really, youknow, blow them out either game
.
This last game was it superclose, but subjects came back a
little bit towards the end andyou know, I think that's the
thing about having a team that'ssuper dependent on the threes.
(35:40):
You know you're gonna lose some, some nail biters and it's
gonna break your heart, but youcan also win by fifty, three
times in a year.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
You know exactly like it's such high variance, you
guys just destroy people whenyou're hitting threes and both
games against the Nuggets.
That we might have just gotlucky or it was a little bit of
good defense, but it it wasinteresting to see just kind of
how both teams reacted when theycouldn't hit outside shots and
it was just like a rock fightinside.
(36:12):
So I think it'd be such a funfinals matchup if it happens.
It would be, I think, justreally entertaining because,
like you said, the depth of theCeltics with high-end talent is
just nuts.
There's so many teams that wouldkill to have Derek White or
Poor Zingas and they're like the.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Yeah, that's what I think the difference between the
Celtics and, honestly, theNuggets in most other teams is
they have just the perfect guysin support.
You know, derek White, trueholiday, and Sam Hauser and
Peyton Pritchard, like just theycan come in and hit shots and
they all play defense, they allknow the role.
Nobody's trying to become astarter over anybody else, like
(36:58):
they just come in, they do whatthey're supposed to do and you
know they've only lost threegames all in this year.
All the Western Conferenceteams, of course, but yeah, you
know, and they're just a greatdeep team and I think they have
a lot to prove.
They have a chip on theirshoulder.
But you know, I just I'mnervous.
Tatum Is just so hit or miss, Ithink.
(37:20):
Honestly, jalen Brown and thisyear has been more consistent
and, you know, dependable, butlike Tatum, I think, puts a lot
of pressure on himself andEspecially both games against
the Nugs, I don't think hereally played that well and you
know, I think it's just oh, notape, yeah, but Brown just and
again tonight.
Like Tatum scored quite a bittonight, but Brown was just,
(37:41):
like he's always there and Ifeel like he plays with a second
squad a lot more to him Browndoes.
So it's like I know moreimportant Points, you know, and
and he plays defense really hard.
So I'm really starting.
I was nervous with the big dealthey gave him, but I'm really
falling in love with Jalen Browna lot.
(38:01):
He's.
He's a good player.
He plays his butt off, try.
He cares a lot, you know, butDoesn't really talk too much.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Hey you can do talking on the court.
That's all that matters.
Is there?
How did those guys get along?
Like, do you think there's anyI Guess, resentment?
Like do do they kind of knowthe pecking order?
Like, do you think they bothlook at Tatum as the guys, the
or the team's leader, basically?
Speaker 1 (38:30):
I think so.
I think they have to.
It was a couple years ago when,you know, for some two or three
years they were, until theygave him that extension every
year or every trade Deadline orwhatever they were talking about
.
What are you gonna trade Brown?
Or who they're gonna get forBrown and this, that whatever.
And you know they just weren'ta great match together and they
(38:52):
both need the ball and this net.
But then, like right beforethat, they gave him the big deal
extension.
He, like they've just beenplaying really well and like, I
think, you know, like BradStevens or somebody must have
sat him down and said listen,like you're amazing, you're a
very important part of our team,but this is Jason's team.
We've Made it up, that's whatit is.
(39:14):
We're building around him andyou, but you know we're gonna
depend on you a lot for otherthings.
But I think, thank you, I thinkeverybody's just, you know,
accepts it and that doesn't meanthat he's not gonna outscore
him any given night, you knowWhatever.
But I think he doesn't really,and I don't think Jason Tatum,
you know, like doesn't pass himthe ball or anything either for
(39:36):
being such a like a Kobe fanatic.
He, you know, plays a littlebit like Kobe, but he passes the
ball.
So it's like when they beat thelast game they won, you know,
by 50 something.
I Was looking at the box scoreand Mike, nobody had over 30
points and it was just like, howdo you score that many points?
(39:58):
Yeah, but everybody 12 or 15points and Jason and Brown both
had like 27 or 28 presentingit's like 24 or something, you
know just like.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
if nobody really Like over thinks it, then everybody
can get their stuff and we canwin a bunch of games and I think
those games when you guys areon fire wild, because it just,
it just spreads and likeeverybody's just making those
Absolute perfect pass to thewide open guy and of course that
guy's hitting it like once,once the Celtics get rolling,
(40:33):
they're.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
Yeah, and I think they take maybe a little bit
different of a route than thethe nugs do, because I think,
honestly, even though thenuggets just now became number
one city good, I Think it wasn'treally arguable most of the
season that they were the bestteam of the West, if everybody's
healthy, everything, and.
But you know they just theycome out a little bit slower.
(40:55):
They rest their players, theyknow, you know they've done this
before there they and then theybuild it up into the postseason
and they're on fire at theright time.
Where's the Celtics?
Like?
I think they just finished thatgame and they said their magic
number is seven now, so they'realready about to clinch the
playoffs.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
I was gonna say it.
I think you guys are gonna havean end of the season kind of
like the nuggets did last yearwhere they had Everything
cinched up so early that they'rejust gonna be like messing
around and just basically tryingnot to get hurt.
So they may lose to some teamsthat I have no businesses into,
but it really doesn't matterbecause they're so far out in
front of seven right games, andI've had a second in the east,
(41:36):
like so.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
Yeah it's nice and that'll be good, you know,
because health is.
That's all it matters in theplayoffs.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
So oh yeah, I was thinking this has been now.
Is there anyone in the eastthat Scares you if?
Speaker 1 (41:51):
you guys are fully healthy.
Those young teams are like theare just always so scary.
But you know Cleveland's beenjust so streaky and you know
Donovan Mitchell is going andthey've got enough other Decent
players around them that I thinkthey could be scary.
And then you know playoff Jimmyis just Playoff Jimmy, so you
(42:14):
know he's beaten us a coupletimes.
So Until we beat him, I'llalways be nervous about that.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
And apparently Caleb Martin is Michael Jordan
whenever he plays against youguys was unbelievable, like 19
points in the fourth quarter orsomething like.
It was wild, but I don't knowwhat about if Embiid comes back.
Are you scared of Philly at all, or do you think there's no way
he'll be?
In shape or what he should beby that time.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Philly's never really scared me.
I mean, embiid is amazing andhe's, you know, or one of the
top two players.
Him and a beat, in my opinion,are, like, I think, pretty far
above everybody else and they'rejust two most dominant players
when they're both healthy.
But you know, I mean they havemaxi now, but outside of that,
like I just don't see himhanging with us for seven games.
(43:04):
I mean they'll get a couplegames probably just because
he'll score 40 or 50 points in agame or whatever, but It'll be,
you know he'll do that and thenwe'll beat him by 20 the next
game or something.
That's usually how it goes.
So no, yeah what about?
you have to write like dame timeand and Yannis is there's
(43:25):
always scary, I mean honest isprobably the scariest player in
the league like he's just.
He's really just strong and sogood and just understands.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
No, it doesn't seem human.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
and then you know, if it's close game, then they have
probably the Best clutchshooter in the game right now,
Damian Lillard.
So, but again, you know, theyhave them Portis.
They added Pat Bev, but youknow, outside of that I think
they just don't have the depthto hang with our, like, our
(43:56):
second line, or whatever.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
And plus I don't think Dane can stop anyone in
your starting five, Like whoeverhe's guarding should score most
of the time.
Like just whoever he's guarding.
Speaker 1 (44:12):
You got to pick them and we put Drew Holiday on him
on the defensive side and thenyou know, try and switch, like
Tatum and Brown on him as muchas, or even Porzingis, because
that's what they do a lot ofpick and roll and switch as well
.
So you know, just yeah, you can, you can expose that for sure,
and I think they a lot of teamsin the playoffs in the past have
(44:34):
.
That's why he's never wonanything with Portland.
But I and I don't trust DocRivers.
He's, you know, outside of thatbig three with us.
He's just showed that he's notreally like a winning coach.
He's good at like, I think,bringing people together and
like getting it started, maybe,and like building a team, but I
(44:54):
don't think he like I don't knowif it's Texas and O's or the
way he talks to people or whatthe actual reason is, but he
just doesn't seem like he can doit.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
Yeah, that's.
There's a reason why he's wonthe most three.
One leads in basketball.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
I mean he did that with the Celtics, you know.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
So you knew who I think is the oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
That was probably one of his first ones.
You know, I think is thetoughest matchup for you.
If they're healthy.
Speaker 1 (45:20):
Is it Nick's or I'm?
It's weird because I I hate thenext.
Or, like one of our biggestrivals, nick's in the nets.
Speaker 2 (45:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
I really hate.
And the pistons just from backin the day with Prince and all
those guys, chauncey and thoseguys, but uh, like the Nix I,
it's just not right when they'renot good.
I feel so like it's cool to seethem like, finally, cause
they've been, they've drafted somany players that you thought
were going to be great, you know, and they just never have.
(45:50):
They just can't put it together.
You know it's like the oppositeof the Celtics, but you know
they made some good trades thisyear.
They have a lot of.
Brunson is one of the cooleststories in the NBA, like you
know.
It's several years with SanAntonio and never really getting
a shot, and now they just balland and I mean I think he's
legit too.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
It's kind of funny how it worked out.
All those Villanova guys likethey've.
They've all come together Rightwhen they're all kind of
peaking them and they add OG toit.
So I just think they're sointeresting cause they actually
have the defenders to hang withyou guys.
And then Brunston he can go offfor 50 hit at any time, even
though he's just yeah, exactly,like I don't know how he does it
(46:32):
.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
I don't think they've got enough yet.
Probably in the next couple ofyears it'll be, I think, the
Knicks and the Celtics at thetop of the league.
Is, I mean, honest?
And if Orlando can either get acoach or get their stuff, they
just gave their coach anextension.
But if they can like one moreplayer or something, I don't
know what it is, Cause they justhave so many like really good
(46:55):
young players, I think thatthey'll be good in the next
couple of years, but just notyet.
Speaker 2 (47:01):
I think they need.
They need a guard that canshoot, but like them.
Speaker 1 (47:04):
them and the Knicks, I think will be good the next
few years.
I just don't think it's readyyet, Honestly, I mean anybody
would scare me is the nuggets.
And, honestly, Oklahoma City,Oklahoma City was scary.
I think they're in the West,luckily, but like I don't know,
all it needs is a run.
They have all the players to doit.
So I don't think they're oldenough yet, but they could beat
(47:28):
you in a series.
Speaker 2 (47:28):
I think the only thing stopping OKC is their age,
because they just haven'tplayed enough playoff basketball
yet.
It's going to be new to themthis year, so they may win the
round or two, but I think it'seventually going to catch?
Up to them with just the levelit takes and how much it jumps
up, it's way to catch them andstuff.
Speaker 1 (47:46):
Like you know, they come back down to earth a little
bit.
Some players are probablyhitting a wall a little bit
whatever.
But, they're a fun team towatch.
Shea is awesome, so I think wewould both maybe predict Nugget
Celtics in the finals.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
What would be your prediction as far as winner?
I can't imagine honestly likeit not being the Nuggets and
Celtics, and I don't know.
I mean it would be.
It has to be a seven gameseries.
Speaker 1 (48:12):
I think like it's both the very games have been
close to the end of the season.
I mean I think it's a goodthing.
I mean I think it's a goodthing.
I mean I think it's a goodthing.
I mean I think it's a goodthing.
I think, like just both thegames have been close enough and
you know, I think it justwhoever's hotter.
You know, nuggets come in likethey did last year, hard, like
(48:33):
only losing a couple of gameshere and here, and you know,
just rolling, like they're kindof doing right now, like you
know, it might be six games tothem, but I think if the Celtics
come in and Jason Tatum doesn'ttry and carry the team all by
himself, and they're hard tobeat, you know.
Speaker 2 (48:52):
I was kind of thinking along the same lines,
Like my prediction would havebeen Nuggets in six, but the two
games of the Celtics one Iwould guess they would win each
of them by like 30 points.
A bunch of three, because Ijust think, yeah, they'll have
those games or they're just likeunstoppable.
So and then the Nuggets willwin a couple of close games and
that'll kind of swing at theseries.
Speaker 1 (49:12):
But I just think it'd be such a fun match up.
I hope we get all on Tatum.
Honestly, the rest of the team,I'm not worried about it all.
I think they all have theirspots.
I think it's just Tatum hitshis shots and doesn't try and do
too much.
Then it's it's hard to stopthem, but you know nobody.
Nobody can stop Yokey.
Speaker 2 (49:32):
So let's say this, let's say if Well, I was going
to say he's kind of a secretweapon.
That is just unstoppable.
But let's say this if they doend up matching up in the finals
, we'll do a little part two ofthis episode and get to actually
talk some, some X's and O'swith some details to it, but I
(49:53):
just so hope it happens.
It'd be so good for basketball,I think, to see two teams like
that match up.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
I just I don't want to see I don't you know I hate
saying it, but like a crappyteam, like the heat from last
year.
Like go to the finals and seewhat happens Last year.
Like go to the finals again.
Like I know they beat us but itjust never seemed like they
shut up.
Speaker 2 (50:17):
It was just like I know it's hard to say because
they did they did enough to getthere.
Speaker 1 (50:22):
They weren't a good team and like we were such a
good team, but I don't know.
We'll see.
That's why they play the gameright.
Speaker 2 (50:32):
Exactly.
Yeah, well, cool man, this hasbeen fun, I think.
I think we did it.
Speaker 1 (50:37):
I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
So I'll I'll be obviously texting you and as we
get closer to the playoffs, butI think we're both in for a
treat just because I think bothboth sides of the bracket are
pretty deep.
Speaker 1 (50:53):
So hopefully we get some exciting basketball, but
our teams will move on, so Ithink we just go ahead and write
it in.
Thank you, buddy, I appreciateit.
All right, man, I appreciate it.
All right, everyone, welcome back to Fandom from afar
.
I have another awesome guesttoday who was brave enough to
come on and talk some BostonCeltics with me, even after the
Nuggets showed them who's thebest team in the NBA.
But I want to hear about thatand I want to hear about his
(00:27):
fandom growing up being aCeltics fan.
So everybody welcome James.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Hey, hey low blow, but yeah, so that's really nice
of me to start out.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Just, you don't even have a chance to fight back.
It's like, oh, thanks forhaving me on.
So I think we're going to dosomething a little different
today, where I want to hearabout your fandom and, of course
, we'll play some games.
But then I really want to talkabout this season, because I
think it's pretty obvious thatthe Celtics and Nuggets are the
(01:01):
two best teams in the league,and what did we learn from their
two matchups this year?
And hopefully we'll get to seeseven more come June in the in
the finals.
So we'll we'll have a whole lotto talk about today.
Yeah, no kidding.
So let's just start with you,though.
Tell me kind of how you gotstarted with the Celtics.
(01:25):
Like, how did you become a fanin the boys in green and white?
Speaker 1 (01:31):
It was pretty cool.
I was, I was probably nine or10 years old and I grew up in
Tallahassee or just out theTallahassee, florida so, and it
was right, that time, you know,and Jordan and the Bulls were
just dominant and all the highflying dunkers and all that
stuff was going on, and my mom'sfriend that she worked with was
(01:56):
going to the Celtics Magic gameand his nephew played for the
Celtics and it was D Brown.
Oh, nice.
He ended up getting like thewhole team to sign their
individual cards for me thatyear.
And then that Christmas D Brownsent me like an autographed hat
and a Christmas card and soyeah, of course you're hooked at
(02:16):
that point.
Yeah, from that point on I was,I was all in.
You know, unfortunately it was.
It was a few years after D haddone that.
The same competition, no look.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
And it was a.
It was a rough year or twoafter that, because I mean it
was just D Brown, I think RickFox was on the team and old old
Dominique Wilkins was there.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
But they weren't good it was.
It was tough, but I was in, Iwas all in.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Oh, remember, remember how cool that dunk
contest was.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah, no kidding, it was.
Yeah, it was that, and you know, and just the rest of the
basketball and only I reallyalready enjoyed it.
I remember staying up at nightI had a little black and white
like 13 inch TV in my room.
That was like my parents old TVthat they just handed down to
me and I would like put thebunny ears on and try and get
the finals and stuff and watchJordan dominate everybody.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Like hiding underneath the sheets, just
being like I gotta watch this.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah.
And then it just went from there.
I just fell in love withbasketball.
I was already a big footballand baseball fan, but then it
was just.
I fell in love then and havefollowed him every sense through
some rough years and good yearsas well, but you know, it was
it's.
I think the Celtics areprobably one of my favorite
favorite teams because, like,there's never really been a time
(03:40):
when they weren't trying, youknow, like, yeah, there's always
been down times, rebuild modesand stuff like that.
But even when they'rerebuilding like they went out
and got players and we're tryingto do stuff it just didn't work
out a lot of times.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
I love.
Yeah, I actually never thoughtabout that, but I kind of like
that because they look atthemselves as like a prestige
team in the league.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
And so they're.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
They're always thinking like, well, why would
we not win a championship thisyear?
Like they're, they're.
They just think of themselvesas one of those top teams, even
if they don't have the talent.
They're like, well, we're theCeltics.
So.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
I mean, it's like them, the Lakers Yankees,
there's a few teams that arejust like always trying, so it's
easy to be a fan of them.
That's nice.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
We'll see their fans take on the arrogance as well,
which is not the best.
But no, you don't fall in thatcategory.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I actually like talking to you.
Yeah, no, I, you know, heardall the talk of how awful the
other Boston fans especially atTD Garden, and it's a tough
place to play, but.
I know that's kind of always myfan hood.
I'm a I'm a fan of the teamsthat have like the worst known
fans, but I don't really fallinto that category easily.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
That's right.
You break the mold.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
So growing up in Tallahassee, did you drive to
either like Atlanta or Lando tosee the Celtics play live ever
no, I went and saw Atlanta whenI was an adult.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
After I, on the way back from Korea, I was flying
through Atlanta and I went andsaw a game.
And that was the first time I'dseen an NBA game.
And then a couple more times,when I was stationed in like
Panama City, I would go toOrlando or Atlanta and catch a
game here or there, but neverreally.
As a kid I never.
(05:37):
No, we.
I went and saw the Braves andthe Rays a few times, otherwise
it was just Florida or FloridaState.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
You were just under your sheets watching on the
little tiny TV.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, yeah, waiting for somebody to beat Jordan.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
That's right Now.
You brought it up becauseyou're stationed overseas.
How tough was that to keep upwith really any of your teams?
Well, actually.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
It probably made me a bigger fan, because my the guy
that I ended up becoming bestfriends with over there, Nate,
was from Boston and was also ahuge Boston fan.
So nice.
And it was at the beginning ofinternet.
It was still, I think, like theone after dial up.
You still had to be plugged in,but it was a little bit faster,
(06:26):
right.
So, like cable internet, Ithink that's what we had at the
time so we could check.
And occasionally they have achannel system over there for on
base and stuff that like itgoes and eight hours shifts and
just replays every eight hours,so everybody throughout the
world can watch shows or gamesor whatever.
(06:47):
So we'd occasionally get aCeltics game on there or
something, but most of the timeit was just following over the
internet or something like that.
But because he was there, Ithink it was kind of a bigger
interest for me as well.
So it was nice.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
That's really cool Kind of a kind of a bonding
thing.
Yeah, Now do you remember whothe main guys were at that time?
Speaker 1 (07:07):
That was the Pierce and Tom Walker days.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Okay, I got a big, big fatty.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
He was kind of the like, the first like three point
specialist, I think it wasmostly he would launch them up
out of necessity, because hecouldn't run, but exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
He only ran from the top of the three point line to
the other top of the three pointline.
That's funny.
Yeah, they, they would launchup a bunch of threes when it was
not the normal thing to do.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
No, and they were pretty decent at it.
They were never like the bestteam, but we would lose to like
the Pistons or the Nets everyyear and the either the semis or
the Eastern Conference finals,and like they were always there
but they could never really getthrough.
And then in Tom Walker wentcrazy and lost all his money and
(07:55):
left the league and then it wasjust Pierce for a minute.
But I remember watching thatdraft, whatever year that was,
and they traded for Ray Allen,like right at the beginning of
the draft.
And I was like, oh, and thenthey signed Kevin Garnett too
and I was like, all right, thiswill be fun, cause I love talk
about yeah.
Love going to the championshipcontender right away, of course.
(08:17):
And I think everybody who was abasketball fan by then love
Garnett and wanted him to getout of Minnesota, so it was
really really awesome.
Oh, 100% yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Cause he would either not make the playoffs or losing
the first round every singleyear.
But he was just so fun to watchand he was just wasting away up
there.
So, yeah, even even though Ididn't really have a dog in the
fight, it was like oh, that'sawesome that Garnett's actually
going to get to play forsomething.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
And he, he was also I mean, you know the hardest
player in every game that heplayed in.
Like I love that he refused tolet a shot go in If the other
team shot it, like after awhistle or a foul or something.
People just shoot it up and hewould do everything he could to
block it every time, and Ialways just love that,
Absolutely he didn't.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
He didn't even want to give them that win.
Like I'm surprised he didn't goover there doing warmups and
trying block shots he was.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
he was nuts, but it was awesome.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
And and then.
Once they got that big threetogether, how many years was it
until they won the championship?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
I think the first year.
They want it Either the firstor the second year, but I was it
really Okay, and then theywon't.
I was like they beat the Lakers, Then they lost to the Lakers
and then I think we might havebeaten again.
But yeah, it was, it was fun.
But then you know, I guess Iwas kind of the first super team
(09:45):
.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
They were such a good trio that they played well
together but it unfortunately, Ithink it changed the game.
Yeah, you know, so it like somefor the good, superstars trying
to join up to get some for thegood, but not.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
I don't think it's great.
You know I love the Celtics nowand the nugs, you know the home
built teams, with just a coupleof additions here and there to
round it out.
And you know I guess it wasawesome because I really didn't
have any other championships atthat point.
I guess Florida had won when Iwas young, but other than that I
(10:18):
hadn't really had anychampionships or anything.
So it was awesome.
But then, looking back now,it's like you know, I think
LeBron had a little bit to dowith that too.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
They came together so quick yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
But you know it's.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Yeah, I think the NBA kind of learned the wrong
lesson from those guys, becauseI think Garnett Pierce and Ray
Allen fit so well together.
It worked, but then everyoneelse started just trying to get
superstars together, notthinking about fit, and it's
just like it doesn't always work.
(10:55):
Just because you're three supertalented guys, it has to work
on like as a whole.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, I think, excuse me, miami, you obviously did
that right after Stole Ray, awayfrom us.
But, you know it's.
I don't know that they fitgreat together.
Definitely LeBron James andDuane Wade did, but the rest of
them are just kind of here andthere, whatever.
But that Celtics team was justso perfect because you know you
(11:25):
had Garnett on the inside justdominating everybody and big
baby in there as well, and thenRondo on the outside just yeah.
Rondo, just running the floorand making passes, didn't even
try to shoot, which was a goodthing.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Oh no, He'd have a wide open layup and still be
looking the past.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
But he was.
He was great Again.
He just spit in perfectly.
It was nice, like I thinkwithout maybe Kevin, garnett,
rondo would have been like hardto lead a team or deal with,
maybe even deal with Piercealone.
But Garnett coming in there andbeing like the big dog kind of
made it easy and it was kind ofcool.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
So let's say, if this year's team goes on to win the
championship, would you rankthis team or the like 07 team as
either the best recent Celticsteam or your favorite Celtics
team?
Speaker 1 (12:25):
This would definitely be my favorite.
Like I said, it's just with ourown homegrown talent and stuff
would mean obviously so muchmore.
And they're you know theCeltics have always like been
pretty good and had a goodplayer, but always gone up
against like the best player inthe world at the time.
(12:45):
You know, like ungodly, likealways been in their conference,
like it was Jordan in the 90sand then LeBron came through and
he's always been in the Eastuntil now and it was just like
we've always been good but justnot good enough.
And it's fun to see like now wehave, like you know, tatum
isn't the best player in theleague, but he's one of the top
(13:05):
10 for sure, and you know andway him and Brown play together.
You know I'm sad that Marcushad to go, but the team this
year is so much better than lastyear already, so you know I'll
take it.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I agree I think it was sad to give up his
leadership and his toughness andstuff, but having Porzingis is
just unlocked the team ingeneral I agree, so I think it's
a good up.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
He's done just something because he's not, you
know, dominant, but he justopens it up just enough for you
know, brown and Tatum andhimself, that it's awesome.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
And then drew holiday .
Defense is even better thanMarcus smart, arguably.
So you know, it's not like welost a lot, it's just he was
there from the beginning and Iloved him.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Oh yeah, now before we get too far into this year's,
I just want to ask about the DBrown connection to kind of get
you hooked into the Celtics.
Was was kind of personal to youand your, your basketball team,
so did the rest of your familykind of join the ride with you,
(14:16):
like did they become Celticsfans too, or is you you kind of
doing?
Speaker 1 (14:19):
that.
Yeah, no, my family wasn'treally into sports at all Like
my dad.
Mom didn't watch any sports,but I was a sports nerd from day
one.
My mom's best friend was a hugeFlorida Gators fan and a big,
brave span I mean excuse meYankees fan.
So when she would take, I wentto dozen games with her to
(14:45):
Florida and then several down toSt Pete to watch Yankees once
the rays came about and she kindof got me into sports.
It was mostly Florida at thebeginning.
Just you know, getting themedia, guides and knowing all
the stats and doing all thatstuff.
And it was just my own thingthat nobody else in my family
loved.
I played soccer growing up soit was a lot of fun, but yeah,
now it was just me.
(15:05):
My parents couldn't have giventhe crap less.
I had to watch it in my bedroombecause there was no way they
were watching it during primetime, that's funny.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
No way, I'm getting on the big screen.
No, lots.
Even more impressive how big asports fan you were then,
because it's not like yourparents were dragging you out to
places you kind of had to findways to see it.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Yeah, but it made it better.
It's funny because you know,like I've never been a fan of
really the team that I like,where I lived for the most of
time.
Eventually, like I lived inPhilly and became a Philly's fan
.
Now I love the Rockies and theNugs as well.
I'm here in Denver, but youknow I was in Tallahassee.
I was a Florida fan, Celticsfan, I hated the Braves forever,
(15:51):
just because everybody likedthem.
So it was always just fun to bedifferent and I think that's
probably because my parents justnever like sports.
So I was just like oh, do it myown thing.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
And I didn't want to be like everybody else, whoever
you want.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Yeah, say, you're like the definition of what this
podcast is all about.
All your teams are far away, sowe could do a whole James week.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Yeah, I mean, honestly, my first sports
favorite team was ManchesterUnited, because my grandpa, my
mom, is from Manchester and so Iwas just used to never really
seeing my own team except foroccasionally, and so it's just
something I've been okay with.
I just reading them in thepaper and I was a big sports
page kid.
Oh yeah, it was fun.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
That's all we had back in the day.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yeah, so box.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yeah, it's fun to have someone on my age, because
I try and explain that stuff tosome of the guests that are half
my age and they're just likewhat are you talking about?
Speaker 1 (16:46):
I mean, I grew up in box scores, like knowing
people's stats and stuff likethat.
That's just that's all we had.
I grew up it was country town,so there wasn't a lot to do and
it's just sports.
That was it.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
And I'm right along with you.
Like I would just memorizeeverybody's stats, Like I feel
like growing up watching theRockies, just I would know
everyone's batting average everysingle day, because they would
update with all the games.
I'm just like I don't know whyI need to know this, but I guess
.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
I do, I think remember when my parents quick
in the newspaper like I askedfor it for my birthday or for
Christmas like a subscription.
Just like you keep getting thisboard space, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
How to do it.
What about, besides D Brown,any like non superstar Celtics
players stick out to you likethat?
You just really had aattachment to.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Not a lot.
I mean we've had so many goodplayers that came through.
You know that the year that Igot D Brown's autograph, I think
was like the year, maybe theyear after Larry Bird retired,
so I just missed out on that andlike I'm seeing all the Larry
highlights and stuff, but it wasjust, I think, a little bit too
(18:01):
young to really remember or beable to see much of his
greatness you know live, becausehe was like broken down by the
time that really startedwatching Jordan and the dream
team and stuff like that thatwas so sad because he would have
to put on that giant back braceand just kind of like lay on
the floor like you can't evenremember that year and the dream
team.
He was on the team for somereason, and every game he was
(18:23):
just laying on the floor with aheat pack around his back.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yeah, shaq should have been on that team instead
of him, but oh that would havebeen awesome, but it was pretty
cool to have Michael, larry andMagic all on that team Like just
the legacy of it Honestly.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Like I said, it's not a ton.
I loved Paul Pierce justbecause he was so loyal and he's
there forever.
He was just our guy.
He was kind of a turd.
You know like I understand whymost other teams fans hated him.
I probably would have as well,you know, but he was my guy so I
loved it.
And you know, just the all theoff the court stuff kind of made
(19:04):
it even better because it was.
You know, he was wasn't just aperfect guy, but he was still so
good and we got stabbed itwasn't like 15 times or
something and came back andplayed like later in the year.
He was just a fun.
Yeah, that was why I'd alwaysloved Gordon Hayward over the
(19:25):
years, like that was my guy onNBA 2K that I always like traded
for oh yeah.
He's just like the perfectmatch for my style, and so when
they traded for him, I wasreally, really, really excited.
And then he broke his,shattered his leg and it was
never the same.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
So it was unfortunate , but and it was only like two
minutes into the season.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
It was bad, so it was , it was like that Paul George
one.
It was disgusting and so earlyit was just.
But yeah, and he was never,never the same.
Like you said, he's never beenso good.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Yeah, he's never, I was so stoked.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
He's going back with Brad Stevens, so that's going to
be a perfect match.
And then that happened.
And then Brad Stevens steppeddown and everything.
I was like, oh no, fallingapart.
But then, you know, they traded.
They traded, Luckily, beforethat they sent everybody to the
Nets for like a million picksand that's how we got Tatum and
(20:26):
Brown.
So I'll take it.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
I hated.
How lucky that that ended up tothe Celtics.
Like it was amazing.
It's like oh, all of oursuperstars are aging out and
aren't good anymore.
Okay, we'll just get all theseamazing draft picks for it.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
And the Nets are like yeah, that sounds great and
it's crazy not many teams otherthan them have like done well
with that, like Oklahoma Citymaybe it's the only other team
who's like and they probably gotrid of their stars too early.
But now they have more likedraft options and I've ever
heard of.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
I know it's like, oh, they have 40 picks in the next
three years.
It's like great, you can onlyhave 15 people on the team.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
I mean they've already got two of the better
young players in the league.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
I'm sure they'll be good for a long time, you know
they're going to be able totrade for some superstars to be
on stop.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
But the cool thing is now the Celtics are a few years
in.
They've got the experience andthe playoffs and the finals and
everything, so I mean, and theylocked up both their big guys.
It should be, you know, for atleast a few more years.
Oh yeah, they're always goodwith, like whoever the GM is,
(21:35):
like it's just always great,it's nice.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
I agree, I think they're.
They're looking good not onlythis year but for, like you said
, at least the next three tofour years, because all their
guys are under contract, youngand they all fit so well.
Well, we'll get to them.
We'll get to them, but howabout?
You?
Want to play some?
games before you get two downthe rabbit hole for this year,
(22:00):
all right.
So, as always with with any ofmy games, I want to just get you
thinking about the Celtics,maybe in a in a different way.
So the games are, some of themare tough, some of them are just
plain silly.
So we'll, we'll see how you do.
(22:20):
All right, first game this iscalled Larry or Lucky.
Lucky is the name of the littleleprechaun mascot and Larry is
Larry Bird.
So I'm I'm going to give you aninteresting fact and you can
tell me Larry or Lucky.
(22:42):
All right, first fact onlyperson in NBA history to win
rookie of the year, mvp, finalsMVP, all star MVP, coach of the
year and executive of the yearGot to be Larry Last tour.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
That's pretty wild.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
I kind of forgot about his after career stuff.
He was good.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Yeah, he went to Indiana for a few years and then
just like was good and thenwasn't good.
I think he just really didn'tlike it.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
But yeah, I think he was like I'd rather be sitting
at home right now.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
He's a country boy.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
All right.
Next fun fact was a three timeNBA champion and a three time
MVP.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Larry.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, that's Larry.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
See, not too hard, All right.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Third fact once shot left handed in the game just
because he was bored.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Definitely I love that story.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
That is Larry.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
I wish I'd got to see him more, because all the
stories about him are just sogreat.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
And then last fact is mascot for a cereal brand that
contains contains hearts, stars,horseshoes, clovers and blue
moons Lucky charms.
So yeah, I guess it's hard tothink of clever names when it's
a leprechaun, because the LuckyCharms leprechaun is also named
(24:11):
Lucky.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
I didn't know that I tried to trick you there, but
that was the.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Lucky Charms guy.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
I don't even know that.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
But really that game was just an excuse to name off
some fun Larry bird tax becausehe is always great.
So I think Larry's kind ofbeing forgotten when people are
talking about the greatestplayers ever, just because, like
you said, he didn't play aslong as some of the other guys
(24:39):
and he just, I think, doesn'thave some of the highlights as
the other guys.
But, like man, you watch someof his passes and his shooting
and I just think he was soamazing.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
So he was just so great.
And Larry I think now with alot more of these like a former
player podcast and stuff likethat, like people are talking,
like there's more stories comingup again about him and so
people are probably watchingsome old YouTube videos of him
and stuff, because he was I meansome of the passes.
He's similar like to Yoko it'swhere, like it never looked
(25:10):
great but it was always justlike, well, how did he do that?
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Yeah, I agree, I think I think birds are great
comparison for Yoko, just theway they think about the game.
All right, so the Celtics areobviously kind of a
representation of some, someIrish heritage there in Boston,
(25:36):
and we are coming up just a fewdays away from St Patrick's Day,
so my next game is I'm going togive you some famous people and
you have to tell me which oneis not Irish.
Okay, all right, here we go.
I'm going to give you fourpeople Liam Neeson, bono, colin
(26:05):
Farrell and Ewan McGregor.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Is Liam Neeson Scottish or Welsh or something?
Speaker 2 (26:15):
No, oh, I'm sorry.
Liam is sorry.
Liam is Irish, ewan McGregor isScottish, so you're on the
right track.
You were on the right track,all right.
One more Conor McGregor, csLewis, sean Connery or Bram
(26:35):
Stoker.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
I don't know who Bram Stoker is, he wrote Dracula.
I will have to.
I know one and three are bothIrish.
Go with the second one.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
What did?
Speaker 1 (26:53):
you say CS Lewis.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
He was also a famous author, so actually it was Sean
Connery, who is also Scottish.
If I could do a Sean Conneryimpression, I would but.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
I'm not going to make people hear my bad accent.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
So, yeah, I snuck a couple of Scottish people in
there for you, all right.
So now this is a little bit ofa twist.
I looked up the.
Well, I don't know if they'rethe three most common, but I
think they're the three mostcommon Irish names in Boston.
The three names are Fitzpatrick, murphy and Sullivan.
(27:32):
So I would assume everybody'sfriends call them Fizzie, murph
and Sully.
So I'm going to name one ofeach of those names and you're
going to tell me which one wasassociated with the Boston
Celtics.
All right, all right.
So first one Ryan Fitzpatrick,troy Murphy or Ed Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
Fitzpatrick went to Harvard.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
He did Not that you don't hear that every single
Sunday.
So you can eliminate him, sinceyou discovered that he is a NFL
quarterback.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Man, it's got to be Murphy.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
It is Troy Murphy.
He was a power forward.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
I think I remember back in the day.
Yeah, he was kind of a bust buthad a couple of good years.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Exactly, All right.
Good, You're one for one there.
All right, Next round of FizziMurph or Sully Joe Fitz I can't
remember how I'm writing JoeFitzgerald, I guess I didn't
even put Fitzpatrick.
Way to go.
Brian Colin Murphy or SullivanDempsey.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
I feel like I've heard the name Sullivan Dempsey
before.
Let's go with that and it'svery Irish.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
So, fun fact, sullivan Dempsey is actually the
real name of famous actorPatrick Dempsey, famous for TV
and movies I don't rememberwhich one's right now.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yeah, lots of TV shows.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
But the correct answer was Joe Fitzgerald.
I guess he wrote a bunch ofbooks about the Celtics in like
the 60s, 70s and 80s.
There you go.
All right.
Last round of Fizzi, murph orSully, we have Leo Fitzpatrick,
(29:46):
charlie Murphy or Ben Sullivan.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
I wish it was Charlie Murphy, just so I could do my
Dave Chappelle but Dave Sullivan.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Hey, you got that right.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
It was.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Ben Sullivan.
He was a Celtics coach, I guess, back in the day, but I was
surprised how few Irish nameshad been on the Celtics.
I thought I would have like aplethora of people to choose
from.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
And I had to throw in like all these actors and
authors.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Well, you did good.
You can impress all your Irishfriends on Sunday with your
Fizzi Murph and Sully knowledge.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
My grandmother's last name is Fitzgerald.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Oh nice.
So if I ever meet her, will shelet me call?
Speaker 1 (30:38):
her Fizzi.
She's dead, but probably youcan call me that.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Oh, okay, then All right.
Last game you and I both havesomething in common that we've
been in the food industry formany, many years.
So I just want you to get yourbrain working here and we are
going to partner up eitherformer or current Celtics
(31:03):
players with some food items.
All right, so there's no wronganswers here, just first player
that comes to your mind when Isay a certain food item and you
can give me an explanation aboutwhy that is, or it could just
be totally random, so I'm happyto accept either answer.
(31:23):
All right.
So this game is called Hungryfor a Championship.
Here we go.
First food item Hamburger andfries.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Um Rojan Rondo, Just there every day.
It's dependable.
Don't expect much out of it,but it's always exactly what you
need.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
I like it.
That is a perfect answer.
I love it.
Next one A cold pint of beer.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Um, I would have to say probably.
Hmm, I mean it has to be Larry,right, just the guy who's a
cold beer.
That's all he is, yeah.
And I would say I think Larrylikes himself cold beer as well.
(32:13):
He liked him as much as that'sperfect he should be, one.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
Yeah, nice, all right .
Next one A seafood platter.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Probably um say Tatum , just uh, nice, expensive, but
all around good, covers a lot,you know.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Perfect, I like that, all right.
Next one is not necessarily afood item, but more.
Uh.
When food goes bad we'll sayhot garbage, I mean there's so
many.
Who's your least favoriteCeltic of all?
Speaker 1 (32:58):
time, kyrie Irving.
Yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
He was not so much interested in helping the team.
That was right when he waslosing his mind and everything.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
It was just weird and he didn't ever really seem like
he liked it there, never reallytried much and never fit in and
just I'm not a fan.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
I think that's another perfect answer.
All right.
And last one I want a duo withthis one, because they go so
well together Chocolate, cakeand milk.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Um, let's see, I would say probably.
Hmm, I mean it's, I'll go withcoordinate and Ray Allen,
because those two together whatMade me a champion?
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Exactly, they can get you a championship.
That's a pretty good duo.
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
I will give you all the points you I was waiting for
you to bring up like oyster orsomething.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
We, we've been dancing around it the whole
episode.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
Just so I could say Sam Cassell.
I said I was waiting to sayoyster or something weird.
Just so I could bring up SamCassell and how weird looking he
was, but you got it in therethat's bonus points for you.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Right there I Was gonna say we we've been dancing
around it, so it's time we needto talk about this year.
So I'm assuming you saw boththe games against the Nuggets.
What do you think the Nuggetsdid that pretty much no other
(34:55):
team has been able to do and beable to beat you guys this year.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
I mean, have Kolya Kitch is a nice thing, but you
know.
Yeah, that's I mean honestly,they just they played very, very
similar games.
Celtics depend a lot on thethree and the.
There's an, I mean, other thanthe Celtics.
There might not be a betterteam at Switching, defensively
(35:20):
and like supporting each otherthan Nuggets, and I think they
just put pressure on them,didn't give them any easy open
shots and made it difficult.
I mean, they didn't really, youknow, blow them out either game
.
This last game was it superclose, but subjects came back a
little bit towards the end andyou know, I think that's the
thing about having a team that'ssuper dependent on the threes.
(35:40):
You know you're gonna lose some, some nail biters and it's
gonna break your heart, but youcan also win by fifty, three
times in a year.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
You know exactly like it's such high variance, you
guys just destroy people whenyou're hitting threes and both
games against the Nuggets.
That we might have just gotlucky or it was a little bit of
good defense, but it it wasinteresting to see just kind of
how both teams reacted when theycouldn't hit outside shots and
it was just like a rock fightinside.
(36:12):
So I think it'd be such a funfinals matchup if it happens.
It would be, I think, justreally entertaining because,
like you said, the depth of theCeltics with high-end talent is
just nuts.
There's so many teams that wouldkill to have Derek White or
Poor Zingas and they're like the.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
Yeah, that's what I think the difference between the
Celtics and, honestly, theNuggets in most other teams is
they have just the perfect guysin support.
You know, derek White, trueholiday, and Sam Hauser and
Peyton Pritchard, like just theycan come in and hit shots and
they all play defense, they allknow the role.
Nobody's trying to become astarter over anybody else, like
(36:58):
they just come in, they do whatthey're supposed to do and you
know they've only lost threegames all in this year.
All the Western Conferenceteams, of course, but yeah, you
know, and they're just a greatdeep team and I think they have
a lot to prove.
They have a chip on theirshoulder.
But you know, I just I'mnervous.
Tatum Is just so hit or miss, Ithink.
(37:20):
Honestly, jalen Brown and thisyear has been more consistent
and, you know, dependable, butlike Tatum, I think, puts a lot
of pressure on himself andEspecially both games against
the Nugs, I don't think hereally played that well and you
know, I think it's just oh, notape, yeah, but Brown just and
again tonight.
Like Tatum scored quite a bittonight, but Brown was just,
(37:41):
like he's always there and Ifeel like he plays with a second
squad a lot more to him Browndoes.
So it's like I know moreimportant Points, you know, and
and he plays defense really hard.
So I'm really starting.
I was nervous with the big dealthey gave him, but I'm really
falling in love with Jalen Browna lot.
(38:01):
He's.
He's a good player.
He plays his butt off, try.
He cares a lot, you know, butDoesn't really talk too much.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
Hey you can do talking on the court.
That's all that matters.
Is there?
How did those guys get along?
Like, do you think there's anyI Guess, resentment?
Like do do they kind of knowthe pecking order?
Like, do you think they bothlook at Tatum as the guys, the
or the team's leader, basically?
Speaker 1 (38:30):
I think so.
I think they have to.
It was a couple years ago when,you know, for some two or three
years they were, until theygave him that extension every
year or every trade Deadline orwhatever they were talking about
.
What are you gonna trade Brown?
Or who they're gonna get forBrown and this, that whatever.
And you know they just weren'ta great match together and they
(38:52):
both need the ball and this net.
But then, like right beforethat, they gave him the big deal
extension.
He, like they've just beenplaying really well and like, I
think, you know, like BradStevens or somebody must have
sat him down and said listen,like you're amazing, you're a
very important part of our team,but this is Jason's team.
We've Made it up, that's whatit is.
(39:14):
We're building around him andyou, but you know we're gonna
depend on you a lot for otherthings.
But I think, thank you, I thinkeverybody's just, you know,
accepts it and that doesn't meanthat he's not gonna outscore
him any given night, you knowWhatever.
But I think he doesn't really,and I don't think Jason Tatum,
you know, like doesn't pass himthe ball or anything either for
(39:36):
being such a like a Kobe fanatic.
He, you know, plays a littlebit like Kobe, but he passes the
ball.
So it's like when they beat thelast game they won, you know,
by 50 something.
I Was looking at the box scoreand Mike, nobody had over 30
points and it was just like, howdo you score that many points?
(39:58):
Yeah, but everybody 12 or 15points and Jason and Brown both
had like 27 or 28 presentingit's like 24 or something, you
know just like.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
if nobody really Like over thinks it, then everybody
can get their stuff and we canwin a bunch of games and I think
those games when you guys areon fire wild, because it just,
it just spreads and likeeverybody's just making those
Absolute perfect pass to thewide open guy and of course that
guy's hitting it like once,once the Celtics get rolling,
(40:33):
they're.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
Yeah, and I think they take maybe a little bit
different of a route than thethe nugs do, because I think,
honestly, even though thenuggets just now became number
one city good, I Think it wasn'treally arguable most of the
season that they were the bestteam of the West, if everybody's
healthy, everything, and.
But you know they just theycome out a little bit slower.
(40:55):
They rest their players, theyknow, you know they've done this
before there they and then theybuild it up into the postseason
and they're on fire at theright time.
Where's the Celtics?
Like?
I think they just finished thatgame and they said their magic
number is seven now, so they'realready about to clinch the
playoffs.
Speaker 2 (41:14):
I was gonna say it.
I think you guys are gonna havean end of the season kind of
like the nuggets did last yearwhere they had Everything
cinched up so early that they'rejust gonna be like messing
around and just basically tryingnot to get hurt.
So they may lose to some teamsthat I have no businesses into,
but it really doesn't matterbecause they're so far out in
front of seven right games, andI've had a second in the east,
(41:36):
like so.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
Yeah it's nice and that'll be good, you know,
because health is.
That's all it matters in theplayoffs.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
So oh yeah, I was thinking this has been now.
Is there anyone in the eastthat Scares you if?
Speaker 1 (41:51):
you guys are fully healthy.
Those young teams are like theare just always so scary.
But you know Cleveland's beenjust so streaky and you know
Donovan Mitchell is going andthey've got enough other Decent
players around them that I thinkthey could be scary.
And then you know playoff Jimmyis just Playoff Jimmy, so you
(42:14):
know he's beaten us a coupletimes.
So Until we beat him, I'llalways be nervous about that.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
And apparently Caleb Martin is Michael Jordan
whenever he plays against youguys was unbelievable, like 19
points in the fourth quarter orsomething like.
It was wild, but I don't knowwhat about if Embiid comes back.
Are you scared of Philly at all, or do you think there's no way
he'll be?
In shape or what he should beby that time.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Philly's never really scared me.
I mean, embiid is amazing andhe's, you know, or one of the
top two players.
Him and a beat, in my opinion,are, like, I think, pretty far
above everybody else and they'rejust two most dominant players
when they're both healthy.
But you know, I mean they havemaxi now, but outside of that,
like I just don't see himhanging with us for seven games.
(43:04):
I mean they'll get a couplegames probably just because
he'll score 40 or 50 points in agame or whatever, but It'll be,
you know he'll do that and thenwe'll beat him by 20 the next
game or something.
That's usually how it goes.
So no, yeah what about?
you have to write like dame timeand and Yannis is there's
(43:25):
always scary, I mean honest isprobably the scariest player in
the league like he's just.
He's really just strong and sogood and just understands.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
No, it doesn't seem human.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
and then you know, if it's close game, then they have
probably the Best clutchshooter in the game right now,
Damian Lillard.
So, but again, you know, theyhave them Portis.
They added Pat Bev, but youknow, outside of that I think
they just don't have the depthto hang with our, like, our
(43:56):
second line, or whatever.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
And plus I don't think Dane can stop anyone in
your starting five, Like whoeverhe's guarding should score most
of the time.
Like just whoever he's guarding.
Speaker 1 (44:12):
You got to pick them and we put Drew Holiday on him
on the defensive side and thenyou know, try and switch, like
Tatum and Brown on him as muchas, or even Porzingis, because
that's what they do a lot ofpick and roll and switch as well
.
So you know, just yeah, you can, you can expose that for sure,
and I think they a lot of teamsin the playoffs in the past have
(44:34):
.
That's why he's never wonanything with Portland.
But I and I don't trust DocRivers.
He's, you know, outside of thatbig three with us.
He's just showed that he's notreally like a winning coach.
He's good at like, I think,bringing people together and
like getting it started, maybe,and like building a team, but I
(44:54):
don't think he like I don't knowif it's Texas and O's or the
way he talks to people or whatthe actual reason is, but he
just doesn't seem like he can doit.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
Yeah, that's.
There's a reason why he's wonthe most three.
One leads in basketball.
Speaker 1 (45:08):
I mean he did that with the Celtics, you know.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
So you knew who I think is the oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
That was probably one of his first ones.
You know, I think is thetoughest matchup for you.
If they're healthy.
Speaker 1 (45:20):
Is it Nick's or I'm?
It's weird because I I hate thenext.
Or, like one of our biggestrivals, nick's in the nets.
Speaker 2 (45:27):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
I really hate.
And the pistons just from backin the day with Prince and all
those guys, chauncey and thoseguys, but uh, like the Nix I,
it's just not right when they'renot good.
I feel so like it's cool to seethem like, finally, cause
they've been, they've drafted somany players that you thought
were going to be great, you know, and they just never have.
(45:50):
They just can't put it together.
You know it's like the oppositeof the Celtics, but you know
they made some good trades thisyear.
They have a lot of.
Brunson is one of the cooleststories in the NBA, like you
know.
It's several years with SanAntonio and never really getting
a shot, and now they just balland and I mean I think he's
legit too.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
It's kind of funny how it worked out.
All those Villanova guys likethey've.
They've all come together Rightwhen they're all kind of
peaking them and they add OG toit.
So I just think they're sointeresting cause they actually
have the defenders to hang withyou guys.
And then Brunston he can go offfor 50 hit at any time, even
though he's just yeah, exactly,like I don't know how he does it
(46:32):
.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
I don't think they've got enough yet.
Probably in the next couple ofyears it'll be, I think, the
Knicks and the Celtics at thetop of the league.
Is, I mean, honest?
And if Orlando can either get acoach or get their stuff, they
just gave their coach anextension.
But if they can like one moreplayer or something, I don't
know what it is, Cause they justhave so many like really good
(46:55):
young players, I think thatthey'll be good in the next
couple of years, but just notyet.
Speaker 2 (47:01):
I think they need.
They need a guard that canshoot, but like them.
Speaker 1 (47:04):
them and the Knicks, I think will be good the next
few years.
I just don't think it's readyyet, Honestly, I mean anybody
would scare me is the nuggets.
And, honestly, Oklahoma City,Oklahoma City was scary.
I think they're in the West,luckily, but like I don't know,
all it needs is a run.
They have all the players to doit.
So I don't think they're oldenough yet, but they could beat
(47:28):
you in a series.
Speaker 2 (47:28):
I think the only thing stopping OKC is their age,
because they just haven'tplayed enough playoff basketball
yet.
It's going to be new to themthis year, so they may win the
round or two, but I think it'seventually going to catch?
Up to them with just the levelit takes and how much it jumps
up, it's way to catch them andstuff.
Speaker 1 (47:46):
Like you know, they come back down to earth a little
bit.
Some players are probablyhitting a wall a little bit
whatever.
But, they're a fun team towatch.
Shea is awesome, so I think wewould both maybe predict Nugget
Celtics in the finals.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
What would be your prediction as far as winner?
I can't imagine honestly likeit not being the Nuggets and
Celtics, and I don't know.
I mean it would be.
It has to be a seven gameseries.
Speaker 1 (48:12):
I think like it's both the very games have been
close to the end of the season.
I mean I think it's a goodthing.
I mean I think it's a goodthing.
I mean I think it's a goodthing.
I mean I think it's a goodthing.
I think, like just both thegames have been close enough and
you know, I think it justwhoever's hotter.
You know, nuggets come in likethey did last year, hard, like
(48:33):
only losing a couple of gameshere and here, and you know,
just rolling, like they're kindof doing right now, like you
know, it might be six games tothem, but I think if the Celtics
come in and Jason Tatum doesn'ttry and carry the team all by
himself, and they're hard tobeat, you know.
Speaker 2 (48:52):
I was kind of thinking along the same lines,
Like my prediction would havebeen Nuggets in six, but the two
games of the Celtics one Iwould guess they would win each
of them by like 30 points.
A bunch of three, because Ijust think, yeah, they'll have
those games or they're just likeunstoppable.
So and then the Nuggets willwin a couple of close games and
that'll kind of swing at theseries.
Speaker 1 (49:12):
But I just think it'd be such a fun match up.
I hope we get all on Tatum.
Honestly, the rest of the team,I'm not worried about it all.
I think they all have theirspots.
I think it's just Tatum hitshis shots and doesn't try and do
too much.
Then it's it's hard to stopthem, but you know nobody.
Nobody can stop Yokey.
Speaker 2 (49:32):
So let's say this, let's say if Well, I was going
to say he's kind of a secretweapon.
That is just unstoppable.
But let's say this if they doend up matching up in the finals
, we'll do a little part two ofthis episode and get to actually
talk some, some X's and O'swith some details to it, but I
(49:53):
just so hope it happens.
It'd be so good for basketball,I think, to see two teams like
that match up.
Speaker 1 (50:00):
I just I don't want to see I don't you know I hate
saying it, but like a crappyteam, like the heat from last
year.
Like go to the finals and seewhat happens Last year.
Like go to the finals again.
Like I know they beat us but itjust never seemed like they
shut up.
Speaker 2 (50:17):
It was just like I know it's hard to say because
they did they did enough to getthere.
Speaker 1 (50:22):
They weren't a good team and like we were such a
good team, but I don't know.
We'll see.
That's why they play the gameright.
Speaker 2 (50:32):
Exactly.
Yeah, well, cool man, this hasbeen fun, I think.
I think we did it.
Speaker 1 (50:37):
I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
So I'll I'll be obviously texting you and as we
get closer to the playoffs, butI think we're both in for a
treat just because I think bothboth sides of the bracket are
pretty deep.
Speaker 1 (50:53):
So hopefully we get some exciting basketball, but
our teams will move on, so Ithink we just go ahead and write
it in.
Thank you, buddy, I appreciateit.
All right, man, I appreciate it.
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