What Are The Celtics Missing?

None

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
So we're on the cusp of theDenver Nuggets winning their first ever NBA championship
in franchise history, and one teamthat we expected to be there in the
NBA Championship ultimately fell short in theEastern Conference Finals. Which seems to be
a common theme for this team isthe Boston Celtics. They made the NBA

(00:24):
Finals last year and lost to theGolden State Warriors. This year, they
lose in the Eastern Conference Finals tothe Miami Heat. And it just seems
that everybody out there has associated theCeltics with the inability to get over the

(00:44):
hump. And one of the thingsthat a lot of media out there wants
to do is Tara part Jaylen Brownin Jason Tatum. Now, I was
scrolling looking for some information and Icame across to Gilbert Arenas podcast that I

(01:06):
really think did a great job explainingwhat's really wrong with this Boston Celtics team.
So here's Gilbert Arenas on what's wrongwith the Celtics. So with so
much quote unquote parody in Madness inMarch, So Gilbert Arenas basically says,

(01:30):
and that wasn't a clip, obviously, he says the reason that this team
struggles so much is because they don'thave talent. If you put aside Jaylen
Brown and Jason Tatum, you're twostars and you look at the rest of

(01:55):
the starting five, they do nothave the talent to compete. It just
does not happen. And I couldn'tagree more because Marcus Smart, as much
as I love the grittiness, he'sjust not the guy. He's not supposed

(02:21):
to be a starting point guard.Now. He would be an absolute great
player coming off the bench, butnot really starter material. So here's Gilbert
Arenas on what he sees with theCeltics fans out there. This is how
horrible your team really is. Youtake your two stars, put them aside

(02:43):
because they're stars. The other threestarters, Marcus Smart as a starting point
guard, he ranks twenty seven outof thirty what as a point guard twenty
nine thirty. That is the twoguards that you are starting with now as
a smarting power fourth place five toseven minutes, So obviously he's gonna rank
last. Hortrid is right in frontof him. So three players on your

(03:06):
team is in the back of starts. If you took those three and put
him on the bench. Them threeare still not better than heats bitch.
That's how horrible that's starting five is. We're not talking about Tatum and Brown.
They are legit players right in theirposition. You have to calculate the
rest of the team too often.Too often, especially late in that game,

(03:30):
you see the ball in either JasonTatum's hand or in Jalen Brown's hand,
and it's go win us the game, which is fine, you want
your stars to want the ball atthe end of the game and go win,
But especially in the fourth quarter wherethings tighten up, defense gets a
little tighter, you want a guythat's going to be able to create opportunities

(03:53):
for your two stars. And MarcusSmart, as much as he's improved over
the years, is not that guyto be your starting level point guard.
Now. If you want to slidehim to shooting guard, and I know
he's not a great shooter, he'svery inconsistent, you want to slide him
the shooting guard and bring in aplayer to start at point guard and spread

(04:15):
out the ball a little more.I don't want to tear up Jason Tatum
and Jaylen Brown. I do thinkthese guys can work now. I do
think there's a little bit of apower struggle on whose team it is.
At times it feels like it's JaylenBrown's team, at other times it feels
like it's Jason Tatum's team. I'veseen both players get lackadaisical at times and

(04:44):
really take themselves out of games.Like Jason Tatum, if I've noticed one
thing throughout the playoffs, when thingsare going well, they're going great for
Jason Tatum. When things aren't goingso well for the team, things aren't
going great for Jason Tatum. Hedepends on that team to do well around
him for him to step up.It feels like he's afraid of the moment.

(05:06):
Not saying he is, but itfeels that way now. Jaylen Brown,
you know, as inconsistent as heis, he's got that dog in
him. He wants to go getyou that bucket. And he's got the
talent to be that guy to goget that bucket. I think Jason Tatum
can be a number one and JaylenBrown can be a number two, but

(05:30):
Jalen wants to believe he's a numberone. You know how you solve that
problem. You say you're one,A, you're one. B Let me
bring in a veteran point guard todistribute the ball, because instead of having
a guy that's going to help yourtwo stars, Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum,

(05:53):
you have Marcus Smart there who hehas that dog mentality. He wants
to hit the big shot at theend the game. He wants to go
win the game. He trusts hisshot more than anybody who watches him play
trusts his shot. Marcus Smart isa good backup point guard, but he

(06:15):
should not be starting. Now.You take a look at this Boston Celtics
team. Where do they go?How do they get this point guard?
What are their options? Now?There's some restricted free agents out there,
there's some bird right free agents outthere. Immediately, if I was the

(06:36):
Boston Celtics, the very first personI call is Chris Paul. Chris Paul.
Now, one of the issues thatI had with Chris Paul and Phoenix,
which might carry over the Celtics,is too often the ball had to
be in Chris Paul's hands. Andwhen you got two ballers out there such

(06:57):
as durant In Devin Booker, theyshould be touching the ball every single offensive
possession. And when you had ChrisPaul, there they played better when Chris
Paul was injured and off the courtthan when he was on the court with
him. You could just see it. I want my two best players to

(07:21):
have the ball in their hands everysingle possession. But I still think Chris
Paul is a veteran leader that canget this Celtics team back on the right
track and help space the ball outand help establish one A and one B

(07:41):
and Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum.So it's not Hey, I'm gonna set
a high screen for your hand theball off, go win me the game.
It's make your cuts, set anoff ball screen. Let Jayson Tatum
or Jaylen Brown come around the screenfor a pull up jump shot or cut

(08:03):
into the lane. I'm gonna findyou open. Now. Obviously, if
Chris Paul doesn't come there. Withlimited cap space, you're really limited in
what you look for. Do youlook at the option of bringing a Russell
Westbrook in. Do you go ona cheaper route where you look at maybe

(08:24):
a Kolbe White or a Trey Jones. I think Trey Jones would be a
great fit, a great fit onthis team. Or you want to go
more veteran, maybe a Corey Josephwho can be a rotational piece. But

(08:45):
at this point in time, itmay look like they need to go out
in trade for somebody, because they'renot gonna get Kyrie Irving, They're not
gonna get Fred Van Vliet, They'renot gonna get D'Angel Russell. You can
get Patrick Beverley if you want togo that route, or Russell Westbrook maybe,

(09:05):
or Dennis Schroeder maybe you can gethim on the cheap. But ultimately,
what it comes down to is ifthis Celtics team wants to win,
they are going to have to getthe right guy in there to lead the
offense and really help open up thegame for these guys, because this Celtics

(09:28):
team has too many chefs in thekitchen. And when you got too many
chefs in the kitchen and everybody thinksthey're head chef, it ain't gonna work
out for you. But if Iget two head chefs and it's their restaurant,
and I bring in a Gordon Ramsay, a veteran point guard, I'm

(09:50):
gonna help these guys succeed together withcommunication, with leading both of them in
the right direction.