← Green With Envy: A Boston Celtics Podcast
Green With Envy: A Boston Celtics Podcast
Is Jayson Tatum already 100% back? + What we are looking for in the last week of the season
00:41:38
Loading summary
Transcript88 lines
- [00:00]
Lifelock Announcer
It's tax season, and at Lifelock, we know you're tired of numbers, but here's a big one. You need to billions. That's the amount of money and refunds the IRS has flagged for possible identity fraud. Now here's another big number. 100 million. That's how many data points LifeLock monitors every second. If your identity is stolen, we'll fix it, Guaranteed. One last big number. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com specialty special offer for the threats you can't control. Terms apply.
- [00:32]
Greg Meneikus
Oh, no.
- [00:33]
Will
My coffee.
- [00:34]
Greg Meneikus
Bronnie here.
- [00:37]
Will
New brawny 3 ply is now more absorbent. Wow. Got a clean shirt. Do you wear plaid? Some of the strongest.
- [00:45]
Greg Meneikus
This is Mike Gorman, and you're listening
- [00:47]
Will
to Green with Envy with Will and Greg. All right, everybody, Celtics looking primed for the final week of the season here. A couple of big wins over the weekend. I use big in quotation marks here. Big amount of points that they won by against the Bucks and the Raptors. We'll touch on that. Plus, we will look ahead to the final week of the season. How did we get here? How are we here already? Who knows? But it's happening. So we're going to take a look at that and get us set up for the playoffs, which are now just around the corner. So grab your cup of coffee. It's a coffee and Celtics type of morning here on a Monday Green with Envy podcast. You guys know the deal. That's Lock it. Up.
- [01:45]
Greg Meneikus
What up?
- [01:45]
Will
Welcome into another edition of NBA and Celtics edition here on a Monday morning. As always, this is your boy, Will. We're checking in. How you doing? How you living? Happy belated Easter to everybody out there. Part of the reason that we are podcasting here on a Monday morning instead of our usual Sunday time slot, Easter activities, Easter travel, yada, yada, yada. Hope you guys all had a great weekend. Joining me, as he does each and every time, my best friend, co host and the coach of our podcast, the one and only Greg Meneikus. Greg, it feels a little weird to me, honestly, that it's the last week of the season. Like, it's, I think maybe it's a mixture of the first full season of, you know, parenting along along with the NBA season. But I, I don't know if it feels like it was too short or too long. I'm, I, I, maybe I've just lost all, all sense.
- [02:37]
Greg Meneikus
That's what happens when you're a dad, man. Time flies by. I was down in the valley with With Danielle's family and one of her
- [02:47]
Will
listening that don't know the valley is like the southern most part of Texas, basically. Like, yeah, just geographically, if you're trying to try to put it in your
- [02:54]
Greg Meneikus
mind, that's where Danielle's family, like her extended family is from all of her aunts and uncles and stuff. So there's this one of her cousins there, his name is Raul, they call him Raleigh. And the kid's freaking huge now. And when I met him, he was just like, you know, he wasn't a small guy but he was a kid. Now he's like going into his junior year in high school and I was talking to his mom and she was like, you wouldn't believe how fast this goes by. So like, enjoy it. James is not even 2 years old right now, but he will be 16 before you know it. So I think that's just what happens to time when, when you're a dad, when you're a parent.
- [03:32]
Will
Yeah, under, under three weeks away from baby girl's first birthday. So it's crazy. It's moving, it's moving. Time is moving. Celtics are moving. What we're going to do today, we're going to have a couple of podcasts coming up here. We're going to really flesh out obviously you know, what's going on in the NBA, what's going on for the playoffs around the Celtics and you know, for the Celtics, they're now three games up on the two seed here, Greg. So it's becoming more and more likely that the game on Thursday, which by the way, we're going to have a nice preview podcast for the Celtics and Knicks game. We'll talk about Celtics, Hornets, which we coming up here. We'll do a little week ahead preview. It looks like that game is going to hold probably less and less weight than we probably thought maybe even a week ago, half week ago where you know, the Knicks hold the tiebreaker. But that seems like it's not going to matter now. Up three games, Celtics seem firmly entrenched into that two seed. And with that it leaves a whole bunch of mystery around who could be their, their round one opponent because basically six through ten in the east is separated by two games. With a week to play, a lot could shift. One of those teams was the Toronto Raptors. So we can start here and we can mix in some thoughts on the 133 to 101 beat down of the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night if we'd like. I think there's a few little nuggets in there that we can touch on. But let's just touch on the weekend here in general, Greg. Last night, Celtics played the Raptors potential round one opponent. They win 115 to 101. A game that was actually relatively back and forth and pretty even till the fourth quarter. Then the Celtics really just, just pulled away in this one. But this is a team and I can't remember, I'm trying to think back, Greg. There was a game recently where the Celtics got kind of pressured up on and you had mentioned, like, hey, I think the Raptors are a team that could potentially put some pressure on the Celtics. So I'm just curious, as you look at this could be a potential first round matchup. What stood out to you last night in that Celtics Raptors game?
- [05:26]
Greg Meneikus
Yeah, I mean, that pressure was. Was real. You know, Jaylen Brown specifically really struggled to dribble the ball at all the game last night. His end of game stat line wasn't terrible, but I thought he didn't play well. It was, it was one of the. One of the more like tunnel vision JB games of the year. He's been so good at, you know, playing kind of at his own pace, which he's trying to do a lot more. One thing that I guess is standing out to me, a takeaway is Jaylen Brown and the D cell step. Like he is now like adding a lot to his bag that he didn't necessarily go to at the frequency that he's going to now. It seems like every drive that Jalen Brown is now doing incorporates the Pinoy into a D cell. So it's pretty interesting to see that like this late in the season. Jalen Brown adding to his back and continuing to add to his back. But he was really bothered by the ball pressure of Scotty Barnes. I thought Jacoby Walter did a really good job and anytime Jalen took a dribble like towards the paint, he was just flying off his man and going to double Jalen. A bunch of times Jalen lost control of the ball. That stood out to me. And the game that you were referring to, by the way, was the T Wolves game. Right, the T Wolves game where we got pressured off the ball in that fourth quarter. But I, yeah, I mean, that would be the first thing. Jalen really struggled against it. But I thought Tatum handled it really well. And Tatum looks like he's playing at a legit MVP level.
- [06:47]
Will
Yeah, I want to talk about Tatum here more in just a second. It's funny though, you know, breaking it down that way they each had five turnovers last night. So just on. On, you know, on the, on the sheet here on box score looks a little bit more even. But I think you're right. From what your eyes tell you, it definitely was a little bit different.
- [07:03]
Greg Meneikus
Well, there were so many times where Jalen would just like start getting into his bag and then the guy would like, knock it away and then he'd get it back and you would expect him to get off the ball immediately and then he'd go right back into his bag. It's like, dude, yeah, come on. Like, just move. Yeah.
- [07:16]
Will
Not like, not everybody's gonna be that dude that you need to, like, just keep repeating that. You're like, no, I got this. It's like, no, we can move the ball. And I think that is a big lesson for this. For me, watching this game, as I mentioned it, it was kind of not the. I'll be honest, I don't want this first round series. Not because I'm scared of the Raptors. I think it's going to be a frustratingly boring series, to be honest. Like, it's going to be a lot of defensive battles back and forth. And ultimately what it comes down to is the Celts are just more talented than the Raptors. Like, that's, that's really what it is. Because I think watching that game last night, Greg, all I could think about is like, okay, if this is a first round series, this is just. This is a sweeper, a gentleman sweep. And it's going to be a game the Raptors get is they force a bunch of turnovers. And it's one game where they hit all their shots because they're not a very good offensive team. Right. Like, that's, that's the thing. Random. Ingram can get you some mismatches in the, in the mid range. Not, not as many of those opportunities against the Celtics because they have so many good defenders. Like outside of Peyton Pritchard, who's not a bad defender, but just for Ingram shooting over, like, that's going to be where he's going to try to get to, but other than that, it's going to be kind of tough for him to get easy shots. Like, we're still going to make it difficult. He may hit some, but then like Scotty Barnes, like you mentioned, I think defensively he's a monster. Like, he's really good defensively. Offensively, he just can't be the main engine. I don't think. Like, I just, I don't think he's gotten to that to that point. And so it's just like I don't know where they're going to get enough offense to really scare the Celtics or probably most people in the top of the east in a, in a playoff series. And so to me, this just comes down to I think this is going to be a frustratingly annoying week or two week matchup if this is the actual playoffs where yeah, maybe they get a game if they're hot. But at the end of the day, the Celtics have better their, you know, their main bigs are better than the, than the Raptors bigs. Our wings are better than their wings. Our guards are more skilled than their, than their guards for sure. Right. Like they were missing Emmanuel Quickley last night. So we'll, we'll throw that out there. But to me, just thinking of it as a playoff matchup, this is one that I have, I will lose zero sleep on. And I think it's one that the Celtics would, would have pretty handily if not. If it not being the, not the most entertaining series.
- [09:20]
Greg Meneikus
Yeah, I don't think there's any world in which a healthy Celtics team against the Raptors gets pushed to six games or seven games and there's definitely no world in which they lose that series. They just don't have the top end talent as you mentioned, especially when you know Jaylen Brown, for all I said about him, kind of struggling on the offensive side of the ball with his handle, played really good defense on Ingram, he chased him over screens, he contested high and all of his shots. So I thought Jalen did a really good job there. But RJ Barrett kind of looks lost within that offense. Scotty Barnes, you know, he's, he didn't turn into the year two Giannis, he's really good, but he didn't turn into Giannis and that's kind of what they needed for him to be in case of being a real contender. He's an awesome player.
- [10:04]
Will
Yeah. And I mean, listen, like Grady Dick can shoot the ball. He can't. He's not playing right like that. That tells you a lot about just like where they're at with this team right now and they, they need shooting desperately and they're not willing to put a guy like Grady Dick, you know, on the, on the court. And obviously Manual Quickley, I think if he's healthy, he plays in this game and that helps some of the shooting deficiencies. But I don't think that's, that's swinging a series by any means.
- [10:31]
Greg Meneikus
You really, you really, it's it's really unfortunate because Grady Dick, the jersey swap potential with the Celtics team is just through the roof. You know, he has the classic picture with Anthony Black, but we got Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. Like those jersey swaps could have been epic.
- [10:45]
Will
Yeah, that, those are, those are pretty good ones in there. So we, I hadn't thought about that. We do have any of the color names work really well with Granny Dick. When it comes to, when it comes to jersey swaps. I do want to go back to something you said about and I do see a comment here about what do we think about Vuch. We'll get there. We'll just hold your vouch thoughts. Rob, Version one. We'll, we'll get there. I see you in the chat, Rob. Let's talk about Jason Tatum because here's just Tatum stat line last night. We can use this as a jumping off point. Seven of 15 from the field, two of six from three finishes with 23 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. And I've been trying to think about this, Greg, and like, I think the Milwaukee game, I don't have his stats pulled up here. Another well rounded game. Something similar to, to these stats and this version of Jason Tatum that we're getting right now, to your point, it's feeling like he's getting closer to like an apex version of Jason Tatum somehow, even though he's not doing the 30 point thing every night. And so I think it's almost a different apex version of Jason Tatum. I've been trying to figure it out. He's averaging basically right at 10 rebounds. He's only at five assists. But those numbers have really been ticking up over the last week or so, like over an extended period. You could see that getting up to like around 7 probably is like kind of in my head of like, I don't know if we'll get there this week, but you know, a couple of big games could get him there. And seeing this version of Jayson Tatum, that playmaking and rebounding is almost more the calling card than the scoring, which is I think how through all of his career up to this point, it's like, yes, he does all these things, but at the end of the day, the guy scores 30 points. And when you score 30 points, that's the first thing you think about. It doesn't feel like that with this version of Jason Tatum. And I kind of dig it. I don't, I'm trying to, I'm trying to figure out what to call it, what to say about it, but at the end of the day, I'm just kind of digging this version of Jason Tatum that we're getting right now.
- [12:48]
Greg Meneikus
Yeah, I mean, that's what he said. You know, he was like, I'm the best under 7 foot rebounder in the game. That was like one of the first things that he said when he came back and he talked about, you know, not losing other parts of his game just because he got hurt. He's. I'm still going to be an awesome playmaker. I'm still going to be the best rebounder under 7ft on planet earth. And he's, he's really looking like it. And then the fact that he is like talking about it and he's thinking about it tells me that he's focusing on that thing. And you can see it in the game. Like he's going out of his way to go get big rebounds. And every rebound that he's grabbing is loud, right? He's going up, he's getting it in traffic, ripping it down, and then starting the break. And that's what we've always wanted to see out of Jason Tatum is just a consistency on the boards with. We've talked about like the Jason Tatum double double bet for like three years now, right? It's just like hit the Jason Tatum double double hit the Jason Tatum over on rebounds, and you're probably going to win some money. And then the playmaking, I mean, that pass that he had to Peyton Pritchard, the kind of like, no look over the head to the left wing in the game last night was just ridiculous.
- [13:49]
Will
How about the, the one he had to nemikeda on the baseline against the Bucks on, on Friday night? Like that. To me, I saw that and I was like, oh, that's like a, that's, that's a Jason Tatum like all time highlight reel type of pass. Like, that's right. That's the type of ones where, you know, it happens with like Larry Bird on Twitter where it's like, don't forget Larry Bird was like a dirty pastor. And it shows all these, like, Tatum doesn't have that length of it, but like that pass starting to build on it. Like both.
- [14:12]
Greg Meneikus
I mean, dude, think back to the finals. That pass that he had to Al Horford in the corner when he drove, when the. No, look, bounce pass behind the back. Yeah, like, that was just. That was conference finals.
- [14:22]
Will
Yeah. Yeah, okay.
- [14:23]
Greg Meneikus
Conference finals. Yeah, that was just a crazy pass. Um, he's, he's had those, those types of passes kind of in his bag. But the Consistency. And Jalen Brown's talked with Scal about, like, slowing the game down and how everything is a lot easier when the game slows down. Jason Tatum looks like the injury, you know, took away some of his explosiveness, but is forcing him to, like, read the game at a little bit more of a. A slower processing speed where. Where the game is slowing down, but he's still reading it at a high level, right? And he just looks unbelievable, man. Like, if. If we're getting Apex Jalen Brown plus Apex Jason Tatum, they are the best duo in the NBA. They've been the best two in the NBA, but they. I mean, they're both playing MVP levels. Like, you kidding me right now, going to the playoffs. This is, like, amazing.
- [15:09]
Will
It's. It's pretty ironic, right? Like, in a weird way, the injury that has shifted Tatum's approach that you just laid out is potentially, like, all the questions of, can these guys play together? Are they too similar? This is kind of potentially the version like the. The two of them playing together, that. That ultimately is. Is even not that obviously it worked to a championship, so it's not that it can't work, but when you think about it being a little bit more seamless, like, this is kind of the. The Lego set of the two of them, that fits together maybe even a little bit better than the version that we saw before. Again, that version was great. That version won championship. That version can win again. I'm not saying that that's. You know, that this is, you know, better. It's just different, right? It's. It's different, and it. It's flowing so well, seeming so natural. And they both kind of feel right now like this is something that has surprised me a little bit. Greg, since we come back, since Jason Tatum has come back, nothing feels forced. It doesn't really feel like anybody's trying to. To force anything.
- [16:08]
Greg Meneikus
Aside from Jaylen last night, where it felt like.
- [16:10]
Will
Well, yeah, I mean. I mean, that. That's. That just kind of happens with Jalen sometimes, right? Especially because Jalen just has that. That alpha mindset at the end of the day. Jalen Brown forcing it and going 11 for 20 from the field. Like, we've seen a lot worse. Like, that's like, I'll. Like, I'll. Like, I'll take that all day. And. And it's. It's. It's interesting just. Just seeing how when they've come back, that it. It really has felt pretty seamless. And that's honestly pretty shocking just given. Given the length of time off, the changes in Jalen Brown's game, the changes in some of the team around, and it's, it's just crazy impressive.
- [16:45]
Liberty Mutual Announcer
Liberty Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance to save you money. That's it. That's the ad. No bells and whistles. No, guys, I said no bells and whistles.
- [16:59]
Will
No.
- [17:02]
Liberty Mutual Announcer
Trombones are fine. Visit libertymutual.com and make the switch today.
- [17:08]
Will
Liberty.
- [17:09]
Greg Meneikus
Liberty. Liberty.
- [17:12]
Walmart Express Delivery Announcer
Walmart Express Delivery can get what you need delivered in as fast as an hour. Whether it's baby formula, when you're down to the last scoop, pet food before the bowl runs, empty batteries for a dead remote or a last minute gift, it is handled. Try Walmart Express Delivery today and get free delivery with promo code Express promotion valid for First Express delivery. $50 minimum, subject to availability restrictions apply.
- [17:38]
Greg Meneikus
You know what has not been seamless?
- [17:40]
Will
Will tell me.
- [17:43]
Greg Meneikus
The Nicole Abuchevich experiment in Boston. It has not been good. It has not been seamless.
- [17:50]
Will
Okay. Okay, I'm ready.
- [17:53]
Greg Meneikus
Go, go.
- [17:53]
Will
So, okay, so last night, Nicole Avuchovic, who was, he broke his finger right in Jason Tatum's return game and had been out since he made his return last night to the lineup. So with now last night and then four more games to go, let's see how many plays in. I would assume at least three out of the four, if not all four. He makes his return last night. 13 minutes, 2 of 5 from the field, O of 2 from 3, finishes with four points, four rebounds, an assist and two turnovers. And unfortunately a team high negative 14 on the plus minus sheet. It also meant last night of note, Luca Garza did not enter the game last night. Luka Garza has been really good in the stretch that Nikola Vucevic has not been available. And Luka Garza was really good before Nikola Vucevic got here. So I've been holding out hope that there is something for Vuch. I do think there's something there. I will say, Greg, this is not the matchup that I would hold out for Nicola Vuich. I don't think this is a good matchup for Vujovic at all. This is the type of series where honestly I think for the most part, other than saving minutes, like if it was a, if we somehow got to a game that really mattered, you would see one big play and the rest of the time would probably be Jason tatum at the 5, because then it's just, oh, you guys aren't gonna play that big. And it's just us versus you with like the same level of Guys, but we have more skill. We're just gonna hustle as much as you like. Eventually, we're gonna win this battle no matter what. There's no other way around it. So I don't think this is the matchup for Vuch. I'm more interested in the games against Charlotte, maybe Charlotte. I'm TBD on Charlotte. I still got to figure out what is the, you know.
- [19:35]
Lifelock Announcer
Right.
- [19:35]
Will
Matchup. The Knicks is one that I'm really looking at to see if Vuch can be a guy that can help, because I think it's the Mitchell Robinson, I think it's the Jared Allens, I think it's the Joel Embiids, it's the, you know, Jalen Durham Beef Stews. It's those guys where we need a little extra muscle for 15 to 18 minutes. Right? Like. Like, that's. That's kind of the area that I'm looking for. And then offensively, just. He's got to be able to hit shots as Garza was hitting shots. Man, if he's not hitting shots, like, that's a huge detriment. Because to me, the biggest difference is if Vuj can hit some shots, he can then give you a little bit of extra playmaking in the short roll that you don't get with Garza. Right. So then you have the defensive rebounding, and you've got one little extra element that you can add in as a wrinkle. But without the shot making, it doesn't work because the defense is just not going to be great. And you're going to need to play him 12 to 15 minutes. But I'm still holding out hope for the rest of the week. Last night, not a good start. Didn't look good, didn't feel good. Didn't. You know, I mentioned, like, with Tatum coming back, it felt very seamless. Last night, that did not feel seamless. That was kind of the opposite with Vuch. Was a little funky, a little clunky. Yeah. Not great. So last night's a win for you. I'll give you that. That's. That's. That's definitely the case in the. In the Vucha argument.
- [20:47]
Greg Meneikus
I mean, man, I wouldn't say it's a win for me. I want him to be good. It's just. I just don't see it actually fitting. There are some comments here in the chat that I just want to go to here first. Rob version one. He says, what did you guys think of each? Which will you just gave some thoughts on. I want to give him grace, but Honestly, Garza has provided more or less the same of what we need out of UCH. JT&NEMI covers defensive rebounding, so I'd rather Garza. We've got a comment here from Mr. Grazer or something. I don't even know what this is supposed to be. People are.
- [21:18]
Will
By the way, real quick, I always give you credit for trying to read the names. I can. I'm just like, I just got to put the comment up because I. I'm not gonna be able to figure some of these out. But Credit.
- [21:26]
Greg Meneikus
Can you. Mr. Grazer, can you go ahead in the chat and just explain what the heck your. Your name means? Because I. I honestly don't know. People are killing vuch, but he's 35 in a new situation he just arrived in at the trade deadline, played like seven games before getting hurt and just came back. Give Vuch some grace, please, guys. We've got Rob responding to him, and then Mr. Garza kind of comes back. I get it. Garza has been great, but Vuch's known commodity. I know he'll be better, but I get it. And I think that's kind of where I am too. You know, it's like Garza has been so good and the team is just like, so spiritually a Garza team where Vuch, he comes in and you can tell everyone is trying to make this guy fit when he's not good enough to justify the entire team, like, reimagining their offense just to have him on the court. Like one of the things that the Celtics do for Vuch when he's on the court that they do not do for Garza is they immediately look for the mismatch, right? The moment Vuch gets somebody smaller in, in the paint, they're like holding the ball on the wing, looking to try and get the ball to Vucc. Then they're reversing the ball, trying to get him on. On the swing. And it's like, even when he gets the ball in there, I don't really know what he's doing with it. And. And you're slowing down the offense and you're. You're breaking the rhythm of what you've been doing. And a lot of times those entry passes, there's the help. The. The weak side is helping over the top anyway, so there's no angle to get him there. You get him the ball. I will give him credit. One, he still has the gravity on the block for teams to send to, right? So the moment he does get the ball on the block, the teams are sending two and then he passer.
- [23:08]
Will
That's a good pass for me. Yeah, yeah.
- [23:10]
Greg Meneikus
And he does a great job kicking the ball out. But my, my thing is if he, if, if we stop treating him like he was Porzingis, which, this is the same thing that happened with Porzingis. When Porzingis was in the game, the Celtics would break all their offensive rules just to try and get Porzingis a post touch. Right. Or a mid post touch. And it's like Luch is not porzingis and he's 35. He's not even what he was two years ago as an offensive player. So I just don't see the need for the Celtics to try and like make him feel comfortable by getting him post touches. I think they could figure out a way to just put him into the Garza role and just say like, hey, just everything that Luca Garza is doing, just do that. Like we don't need you to do anything other than that. And then you're naturally gonna have, because you are talented, you're naturally going to have playmaking opportunities out of that. It's just we're not going to go out of the way to force feed you the ball in the post and pretend like you're Nicola Vuchovic from five years ago. It's just doesn't make any sense to me.
- [24:04]
Will
Yeah, I, I, I think that's something I definitely agree with you on. Right. Like is, is at this point. Look again, my whole case on Vuch playing is like 12 to 15 minutes. Right. Which is the Luca Garza rule. Right. That like that's the thing. So a guy who's playing 12 to 15, you should not be changing your identity or what you do or who you are for that type of player. That player has to fit in to you. Right. Like that's the way that it has to be within that rotation. And I'm curious that. That's probably one of the top things I'm looking for just the rest of this week just to see how Joe feels it out because like to the point that somebody made like Vuch played seven games and played half, he played a half a quarter with Jason Tatum back. So like over this week we do have to see like, hey, does this mesh at all? And if not, maybe by game one of the playoffs, it's just Garza's back in there. Even if Garza maybe doesn't play as much this week. Like, we know Garza works. We know Garza fits. We know Garza can be out for A couple games and then just go right back into the spot that he needs to be. So I think for, for Joe, this is going to be a week of hey Garza for the betterment of the team. We need to figure out what's available to us and so maybe you don't play as much this week while we sort out Vuch. And then by the end of it, Joe's gonna know like, hey, Garza's the guy and Vuch is the breaking in glass in case of emergency guy. Or it's reversed. Right. If food, you know, if it can, if it starts to work. But I think this is going to be a real figure it out week. So I, I, I think what you're saying, Greg, is, is pretty spot on. Vch needs to fit in rather than it fitting kind of around him. And so, you know, like I said, I think the Knicks game will be big Charlotte with Colt Brenner. Maybe there's something there, but that would
- [25:40]
Greg Meneikus
keep an eye on it, I think, I think your point though about Vuch is a matchup dependent addition to the team. That, that is the main point. Right. He wasn't, we weren't worried about the Toronto Raptors. When we went out and got Nicola Vuchevic, that was the last thing that was on our mind. We were thinking about the New York Knicks, we were thinking about the Cleveland Cavs, and we were thinking about the potential of a Joel Embiid addition to the Eastern Conference. Right. So that right there, I think is the most salient point that's been talked about on this podcast in the, in the last 10 minutes. Is like, if Vuchevich can keep Mitchell Robinson off the glass and not get cooked in the pick and roll with, with Jalen Brunson, then the trade is worth it, right? If we beat the Knicks, if the Knicks aren't avoiding us, where it feels like the Knicks might be trying to get down to four to avoid the Celtics in the second round. If, if that's happening. Right. I think the trade justifies itself. And then the Detroit Pistons with Jalen Duran, like that might be the matchup because Duran has been unbelievable since Cade has been out. He's an absolute monster on the glass and we need somebody. I, I could see Kata just getting tossed around in that series. Like, Kate is unbelievable. Like he's playing better basketball than I ever hoped. And I always love Keda. He's like a legit top 12 center in the league right now. And it's, it's really impressive to see, you know, his growth but there's still limitations. He's going to get pushed around by Embiid, he's going to get pushed around by Duran. We need a little bit more beef and I think that's what Nikola Vuchevic, that Serbian beef he can add to the lineup.
- [27:09]
Will
Yeah, exactly. The Portuguese beef and the Serbian beef we got. Which one do you want? Bring your passport. We got it for you here. Speaking of passports, there is somebody else I want to talk about on the Netflix team and that's the last like five or six game development here of Jordan Walsh leapfrogging the Spaniard Hugo Gonzalez in the playtime rankings. Let's, I guess we can, I guess we can do going to the final week of her season, our wing, our young wing rankings where it looks like right now Baylor Shireman is clearly in pole position because he plays every single night. There's no question he's in there every time. Ugo and Jordan Walsh are still kind of like fluctuating and really over the last five games or so Jordan Walsh has gotten the play in time call over Hugo Gonzalez. So this has been an interesting, this has been fascinating to watch all year and I'm just curious to get your thoughts because now as we're leaning into the playoffs, like there's a lot more that we can read into what this might mean. So I'm curious what, what you think it means with Jordan Walsh all of a sudden kind of going from he had a streak of DNPs, right? Like there was a bunch of DNPs for Jordan Walsh and now he's getting that role over Ugo. So it's Baylor, Jordan, Ugo and even Jordan's gotten more minutes than Baylor in a couple of these games. Some injury related but he's clearly been been Joe's guy, Joe's number two young wing over the last couple of games.
- [28:30]
Greg Meneikus
Well, let's think back to that Minnesota Timberwolves game that you already mentioned on on the Pod. How do we lose that game? Well, if your memory serves you right, which players on the T Wolves absolutely cook to the Celtics.
- [28:44]
Grainger Announcer
If you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off and Grainger is your trusted partner offering the products you need all in one place from H VAC and plumbing supplies to lighting and more and all delivered with plenty of time left on the clock. So your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.
- [29:17]
Greg Meneikus
Baby Bones island and IO Dunmo. Right. And a lot of it was in pick and roll. A lot of it was in transition. But when when you saw Ugo struggling with bones and that. That was something that kind of crossed my mind is like maybe this is Jordan Walsh matchup. And the pick and roll defense that the Celtics run because so much of it is in drop, you're going to need someone who can fight over the, the top of the screen and then contest late from behind. That's Jordan Walsh's calling card. Like think back when the, the first game that really stood out about Jordan Walsh this season, it was against Tyrese Maxey when he just like started locking Max.
- [29:50]
Will
The first name that jumped to my head here. Yeah, as you're talking.
- [29:52]
Greg Meneikus
Exactly right. So if we're talking about Vuchevic and matchup dependent additions to the, the. To the value add to the Celtics, same thing with Jordan Walsh. It's like, okay, looking forward to the playoffs and you're going to have to go against Jalen Brunson, you're going to have to go against Tyrese Maxey, you're going to have to go against Lamelo ball, you're going to have to go against Cade Cunningham. All these guys that opt. Yeah, exactly. Harden, Donovan Mitchell. So these guys that. You're going to have to have someone that can play a very specific role on defense. And Jordan Walsh is the best of those three young wings. So I don't think it's anything against Ugo. I think it's just Joe trying to look at the matchups and say, okay, I need to make sure that Jordan is ready for the playoffs. Let's throw him out there in matchups like the, the game against Lamelo ball. Jordan Walsh was on Lamello ball for a lot of that game. And I think that's, that's what you're going to see, especially Tuesday, I think you're going to see a lot of Jordan Walsh against the Hornets. Thursday, I think you're going to see a lot of Jordan Walsh against the Knicks. Right. So if I have the days right of the week, I think those. No, you got, you got them.
- [30:51]
Will
Right. And that's what I was going to say is everything you're saying, we're playing two of the guys that we just. That you just listed there. Right. Like Lamelo ball is coming up tomorrow night and Jalen Brunson on Thursday at msg. And so I think that's going to be really interesting when, you know, when we get a chance to get past those games and look back and be like, okay, now. And we're not going to know until middle of, you know, next week who the Celtics opponent is after the first play in game. So it's going to be interesting to think about. Like, all right, what does this mean? How does Joe approach that? Again, those are some of the things that I'm looking for this last week. And this is kind of transitioning into our thoughts of like, what to look for in the final week here as we get towards the end of this podcast and you know, we mentioned like the Vuch stuff. Right. I think the Vuch and Garza usage is one of the things that we're going to be looking at to see what that means, what it looks like for what could be available in the postseason. I think this is another thing that's very highly on my radar is exactly what you're saying is playing Lamelo Ball and playing Jalen Brunson specifically. How does Joe go about defending those two and two guys that love to use the pick and roll, pick and pop, that's like, that's their bag. They're. They're not going to sit there and just go one on one with know you.
- [32:00]
Greg Meneikus
You. Right.
- [32:00]
Will
Like, that's, that's not what these guys do. And so to your point, Jordan Walsh, when you think about his whole run through this season and man, what a, what an interesting season for Jordan Walsh. A guy that felt like he was forgotten at the end of the bench, gets one moment and then took off for like a month. And then it's been a little bit rocky kind of ever since. A couple of peaks, few DNPs, which was probably the valleys. And now all of a sudden we're heading towards the playoffs and maybe he's right back to playing a very, very important part of this team.
- [32:31]
Greg Meneikus
Yeah, no, I agree. And I think that's why it's in the 82 game season. You have to look at it in like small chunks and sample sizes to see what you can glean from those sample sizes. And the playoffs, it just is matchups, 100% matchups. And you have to have all the different ingredients so that you can put together whatever meal is necessary to kind of feed the masses when you get into the playoffs.
- [32:54]
Will
Yeah, and we talked about this, I think an episode or two ago. Right. Like right now, Greg, let's just, let's just go through it here. Who are the guys that are definitely playing and who are the kind of the tool belt guys, let's call them, right. That you get you get a bust out when you need. So let's just go through the starting lineup here. So Derrick White, he's playing all the time. Jalen Brown, he's playing all the time. Neemius Kada, Jason Tatum, they're playing every single game. Sam Houser is an interesting case. I think he's going, he's going to at least appear in every single game. I think you could see his minutes fluctuate, but he's going to appear in every single game. Peyton Pritchard will put him on there. He's clearly going to play in every single game and play meaningful minutes after that. This is kind of what we, where we ended up talking about. It's like I think Baylor Shireman's the next like guy in. I don't know if you want to put him in pen but he's pretty close to, to you know, permanent ink that you're, you're putting him in. And then I think after that then you get to the tool belt guys, right? That's the Vuch, that's the Jordan Walsh, that's the Ugo Gonzalez, that's Luca Garza. Right. Then I think and maybe even throw Ron Harper Jr. In there. Like those are, those are kind of the guys where I think then it becomes matchup series dependent. You know, how, how is the game flowing? How's the series flowing? Would you say that's fairly accurate as to how you would view this team, you know, with four games left in the regular season?
- [34:07]
Greg Meneikus
Yeah. And I think Baylor might be more of a tool belt guy than entrenched into the seven man rotation. But you know, shout out to Ron Harper Jr. Getting the two year deal with the Celtics. He's, he's officially on the, on the roster. So I think everybody saw that coming. But it's just still important, newsworthy.
- [34:23]
Will
He's been good, man. He's had mo like it's crazy for a guy that like that to say that he's had moments this year. Right. A guy that's been a, a two way back end. But we can all point to like different times. We're like, yeah, Ron Harper Jr. Like started that Rockets game that we weren't supposed to win and that was like, that was a big, huge in the spurs game, the spurs and kept us in it. Right. And then he had a. I think he had a big night the next night. I can't remember who they remember. It was okc. I think he, he had like a few moments in. Right. So Ron Harper Jr. Is a guy where it's like, hey, if all goes to shit, like, hey, Ron Harper Junior's out there, I'm not gonna feel like the world's falling, right? Like, I mean, obviously if, if something happens to the Jays, that's different. But if there's like a moment where it's like, hey, Ron Harper Junior's out there with like the regulars. Like, we've seen that work. We've seen that him play well in high level competition. So it's, it's very rare to have that with a guy who's your 11th man that's getting signed to a deal the last week of the season. Like, that's, that's pretty crazy. And also, I mean, this is boring stuff. But crazy cap work by the Celtics. I, I can't imagine how boring it is to be a cap guy with all the shenanigans they've had to do to like keep it at the cap, under the cap, low and apron, all the that comes along with it. It doesn't seem very fun, but they seem to do it correctly. So shout out to them. We got a comment here from. I'm gonna try and read this mouthpiece617 the team is very versatile.
- [35:40]
Greg Meneikus
They are.
- [35:40]
Will
And I think we've talked about this for a couple years. That's kind of the king when it comes to other than having you have to have the top end talent. That's number one. Number two is having versatility, right? Like you have to have versatility within your roster because if you only play one way and that's the way that you play and you live and die by it, you're usually going to die at some point in four rounds, right? Like there's someone that's going to counter it and you, if you have nothing else, then that's just how you go out. And so I think this team being deep, being versatile and having options like that's Brad Stevens sees the vision and, and that's what this team has aimed to do the entire time while building, while building this roster.
- [36:17]
Greg Meneikus
100. 100. I couldn't have said it better myself. Is there anything else you wanted to touch on looking at the final.
- [36:23]
Will
Anything else you're looking for this week, Greg? So we talked about, Vuch Garza talked about the, the Wings and defending, you know, the young Wings, defending Lamelo, defending Jalen. We've got just for everybody out there. So we're recording this here Monday morning, Tuesday night against Charlotte at home, Thursday night at New York on the road, then back home Friday night against the Pelicans Belgians have actually played some pretty good basketball. I haven't watched, but a box score wise they've been, they've been pretty good for a tanking team. And finally the season ends on Sunday at home against the struggling Orlando Magic. So anything else that you're looking for, Greg, outside of Vuch Garza, the Wings, anything else the last week of the season that you think is interesting to keep an eye on heading into the playoffs?
- [37:08]
Greg Meneikus
Derrick White getting to the 200, 100 mark, right? I think he's like, where's he at right now? I think he's either one or two blocks shy of that. I think he got to 200 threes, double check that as I'm talking here. But I mean that would just put a stamp on the, the Derrick White season where he's gotten some criticism, right, for his, his shooting and not being able to level up his offensive game to kind of meet the needs of a Jason Tatum less team for most of the season. Peyton Pritchard was the guy who kind of like really stepped up his game to, to kind of be the number two. Just like pure scorer. But in terms of versatility, the playmaking, like there's a, there's a world in which Derek White could be the first ever 200, 100, 100 guy in a, in a, in a season or two, right? He could have 100 steals if, if he really.
- [37:54]
Will
He's not fr. So he's two. For the record, he's two blocks away. So he's got, he's got the 200 and 3s. He's getting two blocks, which I don't see how he doesn't get two blocks in, in four games. But to your point, with Steel's like he's at 84, so like you figure he'll probably maybe get to around 90 by the, by the end of this week. Like right 10 away, like that's, that's totally doable. Especially if he has a role where he's like more focused on, you know, more specialized this year. It's been a lot, man. Like, I think that's an underrated part of the season is how much got thrown onto Derrick White and he, he held up this. You can, you can have the quibbles and that's fine. But he held up pretty adamantly, man.
- [38:34]
Greg Meneikus
Let's go four steals a game for Derrick White over the next four and let's get to the 200, 100, 100. That would be really, really special. 200100 would be the first time in NBA history, anyone's ever done that. I don't know if anyone would ever touch 200, 100, 100, if Derek White can actually get there. But I, you know, I just want to see him continue to play as the connective piece, the connective tissue that we all know Derrick White is so special at. Like, with Jason Tatum coming back into the fold, it's not quite as important for him to be, like, a legitimate scorer on this team. He just needs to do all the little things. And I, I think just kind of seeing him gain a little bit more confidence as an offensive threat on the court, but not needing to push it. And then Peyton Pritchard continuing to do his thing off the. Ben Keda. The chemistry between JT and Keda is off the charts right now, I think.
- [39:29]
Will
Yeah.
- [39:29]
Greg Meneikus
Having them.
- [39:30]
Will
I saw a good tweet yesterday, Greg, where it's like, yo, Tato needs the Chili's costing us money with Cato right now. The connection's too good. Like, the, the price of the bricks going up with this connection.
- [39:39]
Greg Meneikus
Yes, it, it looks great. It looks great. And then let me see if there's anything else I'd want to see out there. Maybe some junk defenses that Missoula might try and throw out there with Vuchovic on the court. Maybe the Celtics go into his own. Maybe the cel Celtics try some, like, all wing lineups just a little bit more experimenting as we look forward to the playoffs. But Celtics don't play a lot of zone, so I think it would be interesting to see, you know, do we do a double big out there with Vucovic and Keda just to potentially match up against the Pistons or something like that. But other than that, man, I think the Celtics, they're in pole position right now, dude. They look amazing. This is the best I've felt about Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown team, like, possibly ever. Like, even two years ago when we had Porzingis and Holiday and all that, like, this seems really special, man. I, I've enjoyed watching it.
- [40:30]
Will
Yeah. I, I, I, I, I gotta say, I think probably two years ago is the best I've ever felt about, about a team just because they were so, they were so dominant, right? Like, yeah, yeah. That was their only question was, hey, are they gonna stay healthy? And then.
- [40:41]
Greg Meneikus
But we hadn't done, we hadn't done it yet. You know what I mean? So, like, the fact that I was like, I don't know if they're gonna be able to get over the hump. I was, I was always kind of like, Worried that they wouldn't be able to do it. I think with the lowered expectations this year, and we're exceeding those expectations just in pure, like, pure enjoyment. Like, oh, my God, I can't believe how great this team is. It's, it's, it's the best I've felt.
- [41:03]
Will
Yeah. And I mean, honestly, like, we'll talk more about it on Wednesday when we have a guest that we're going to bring on to preview the Knicks game and potentially what could be a second round matchup with the Knicks. I think I'm at the point where I just think the salts are going to the Finals. Like, I think I'm at that point. Like, I think most of the year I've been reserved to the point where I'm like, the Knicks at their best are still are the best team. And then honestly, we're gonna talk about it on Wednesday. That still might be the case that I feel that the Knicks. But I just, The Knicks, I don't know. We're gonna talk to an insider. Like, where's the. Why can't they find consistency? I don't, I don't really get it. I don't watch them night to night. I just, you know, I see stretches that look great. I see stretches that look really bad. And we gotta find out more. But I think outside of that, I have zero faith in the Cavs. I'll tell you this right now. If the Cavs and Hawks are matched up in round one, I'm picking the Hawks. I'm thinking, I, I don't believe in the Castle. I think the Cavs are frauds. I just got nothing for the Cavs. I'm just done with them and Pistons, I'm super impressed. But for all the reasons that even though, like, they've made me feel like I have to check myself, my Pistons thoughts, like, I still feel like the. Again, the versatility isn't quite versatile enough with them. And that's where I think eventually, in
- [42:14]
Greg Meneikus
three rounds, man, best case scenario, the Knicks want to avoid the Celtics. They get to four, and then the Pistons and Knicks, one of them takes the other guy out because, like, I think those are the two teams that can beat the Celtics. I think the Celtics are favorites to come out of the east, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Knicks or Pistons ended up in the finals. So I hope they take each other out and Knicks drop to four. That would be best case scenario.
- [42:34]
Will
Those are, those are the two. I'm with you there. So we'll dig into it some more here, but a fun final week of the season coming up again, Charlotte Knicks Pelicans Magic to end it on Sunday. We're gonna end our podcast right here as we're coming back. We got some guests lined up here for the next couple of shows. So we're excited man. Final week of the season. Appreciate you guys as always for rocking with us all season long. AK Green Envy Pod, YouTube, Twitter follow us on Tick Tock Our guy Alex hammering out the videos for us. Shout out to you Alex and Greg. That's gonna do it for this Monday morning. We'll check back in Wednesday. We'll see what happens against Charlotte on Tuesday and then we will preview Celtics Knicks for Thursday and look ahead to what could be a pretty fun second round playoff matchup, maybe third round depending. Like you said, maybe they fall a little bit. So we'll check in on all that and more. Greg. Enjoy your Monday, everybody listening. Enjoy your week and we will see you in a few days.
- [43:34]
Greg Meneikus
It don't take much.
- [43:35]
Will
No more
- [43:38]
Greg Meneikus
until I hit the floor.
- [43:48]
Liberty Mutual Announcer
Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance to save you money. That's it. That's the ad. No bells and whistles? No guys, I said no bells and whistles.
- [43:59]
Greg Meneikus
Whistles.
- [44:00]
Will
No.
- [44:03]
Liberty Mutual Announcer
Trombones are fine. Visit libertymutual.com and make the switch today.
- [44:09]
Will
Liberty.
- [44:10]
Greg Meneikus
Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.