The Celtics are CRUMBLING and we go to a Game 7

Summary

Green With Envy: "The Celtics are CRUMBLING and we go to a Game 7"

Episode Date: May 1, 2026
Host(s): Will, Greg Monakis, Producer Alex
Guests (Referenced): Mike Gorman, Drew Carter, Amina Smith, Dana Barros
Topic: Celtics’ Game 6 collapse vs. 76ers, team identity, Missoula’s adjustments, concerns before Game 7

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Episode Overview

This episode is a raw, unfiltered reaction to the Boston Celtics’ Game 6 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, forcing a Game 7 in the first round. The tone is frustrated and concerned, mixing analysis, venting, and open questions about team identity and coaching decisions. The hosts highlight the abandonment of the team’s regular-season strengths, coaching hesitance, player struggles (especially Jalen Brown and Derrick White), and the urgent looming threat of elimination.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Emotional Fallout After Game 6

• The podcast opens with palpable frustration and disappointment over the “soul-sucking” loss and the prospect of Game 7, with Will noting, “I got nothing else for you but to tell you that what we just watched tonight sucks.” (01:38)
• The episode functions as a “straight up vent session,” with the hosts encouraging listeners to share their grievances in the YouTube/Twitter chat.

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2. Joe Mazzulla’s Coaching and Celtics’ Lost Identity

Abandonment of Identity & Depth

• Greg laments seeing deep-bench players on the court late and says that Joe Mazzulla “has just completely shifted his philosophy in terms of the guys that he’s playing” and seems to have “abandoned the identity that he set up of this team.” (03:17–03:43)
• Will: “He’s just abandoned the identity that he set up of this team.” (03:43)
• The hosts cite examples—reliance earlier in the year on hustle, depth, and energy guys like Ron Harper Jr., Baylor Sharman, Jordan Walsh, and Luca Garza—traits missing in crunch time.

Questionable Personnel Choices

• Critique over favoring Vucevic over Garza: “I don’t think Vic offers you enough to take away from what Garza brings… Garza is a, at this point, a better three point shooter.” (03:46)
• Calls for giving more minutes to players who drive the team’s winning edge on the margins.

Frustration About Rigid Rotations

• Will compares Mazzulla’s current stubbornness with last year’s “rigid approach that Missoula took in the Knicks series.” (07:48)
• Laments a return to “my turn, your turn” offense harming the flow:
  • “It is becoming my turn, your turn. Which is the...stigma stereotype that has plagued this team...” (11:43)

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3. Player-Specific Concerns

Jalen Brown’s Offensive Woes

• Brown’s offensive fouls and inability to exploit mismatches are killing the Celtics’ flow:
  • “If our whole plan is to hunt mismatches and Jalen can’t take advantage of that...that’s why we’re unable to create advantage basketball...” (09:12)
• Greg points out, “Jalen has nine offensive fouls...He’s completely in his own head. He’s scared to make the moves that he’s made all season.” (10:21)
• The team’s reliance on Brown’s iso plays against smaller guards isn’t working; he’s being baited and officiated tightly.

Derrick White’s Disappearance

• Will and Greg agree White has underwhelmed (“ghost performance”): “18 minutes into the podcast, which is about the same amount of time in a game that you go without hearing Derek White’s name.” (20:47)
• White is described as “tentative in his head this series...”
• “He was hanging his head, man. That’s not the Derrick White that...we see.” (21:32)

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4. Statistical & Tactical Differences from Regular Season

• Celtics’ season-long strengths—more shot attempts, fewer turnovers, offensive rebounding, hustle—have vanished in this series:
  • “For the most part, that’s been about an 11 shot gap most of the night that I’ve been tracking in which Philly had kind of a plus 11. That’s one of the biggest things.” (06:03)
• Philadelphia’s adjustments (Embiid in drop, forcing Celtics into underwhelming three-point looks) are working, while Boston is failing to counter:
  • “They have to get back to playing Celtics basketball and move the ball and run different things other than mismatch hunting.” (39:48)

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5. Injuries and the Tatum Question

• Tatum’s lower leg injury (possible calf) is a crisis: “If Tatum has any calf soreness going into game seven, do you play him?...I think the answer is no.” (17:43)
• All three hosts agree that risking Tatum’s long-term future for a risky Game 7 is not worth it.

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6. Looking to Game 7 and Beyond

Pressure on Brown and White

• “The spotlight is on...Derrick White and Jalen Brown. Where are you guys? Where are the guys that led this team all season?” (23:09)
• Tatum (injured) has been the only consistent high performer.

Bleak Outlook for Celtics’ Playoff Hopes

• Alex: “Right now I don’t even know if we can get past the Sixers, let alone think about the Knicks.” (30:33)
• Will: “The Knicks at their best are better than the Celtics in my opinion...We don’t know who we are.” (31:08)
• Greg: “I just don’t see it, especially with the Tatum injury...we just don’t have the recipe right now to be a real contender.” (33:42)

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7. Brighter Spots & Final Hope

Silver Linings

• Joe Mazzulla suggested he’d “give this game a different feel” by going deeper on the bench, which hosts hope translates to more energy and lineup flexibility in Game 7. (36:44)
• Derrick White’s late threes are a faint hope for better shooting next game.
• Jordan Walsh’s energy and near poster on Paul George cited as a positive (38:12).
• Will invokes hope for a “Grant Williams/Kelly Olynyk” type performance in Game 7—Greg nominates Luca Garza, Alex mentions Derrick White as a “maybe” (41:49).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “We’re gonna rage. We’re gonna complain. This sucks.” – Will (01:31)
• “He’s just abandoned the identity that he set up of this team.” – Will (03:43)
• “What made this Celtics team great this year...winning on the margins...all the things you talked about, which is the identity of Missoula, you know, not being afraid to make the tough calls...” – Will (06:03)
• “Jalen has nine offensive fouls...He’s completely in his own head. He’s scared to make the moves that he’s made all season.” – Greg (10:21)
• “You just replace, hey, he should play Luke Cornett over KP because KP isn’t healthy, hey, why aren’t we playing Shireman and Jordan Walsh because other guys are struggling...” – Will (16:33)
• “If Tatum has any calf soreness going into game seven, do you play him?...I think the answer is no.” – Will (17:43)
• “We haven’t talked about Derrick White this entire podcast, and this is like the old Tobias Harris joke I used to make. Well, we are now 18 minutes into the podcast, which is about the same amount of time in a game that you go without hearing Derek White’s name.” – Greg (20:47)
• “That’s what Derrick White has been in this series. He got a couple threes to go tonight, but he set the tone in the game tonight by missing the floaters to start the game. And he fell over twice. Lot came out of his shoe one time. It’s like, what is going on with you, brother?” – Greg (20:35)
• “The spotlight is on...Derrick White and Jalen Brown. Where are you guys? Where are the guys that led this team all season?” – Will (23:09)
• “The Knicks at their best are better than the Celtics in my opinion...we don’t know who we are.” – Will (31:08)
• “We just don’t have the recipe right now to be a real contender.” – Greg (33:56)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:27–03:17: Immediate emotional reactions, setting the venting tone
• 03:17–06:03: Abandonment of team identity & depth, personnel choices
• 06:03–12:46: Stats that define Celtics’ losing formula, lack of offensive flow, frustrations with rotations and schemes
• 17:20–19:26: Tatum’s injury, the risk of playing him in Game 7
• 20:47–23:09: Derrick White’s underperformance, need for role players to step up
• 24:04–26:59: Ranking player impact, Philly’s players outplaying Boston’s (Brown, White, Hauser, etc.)
• 29:27–31:08: Assessing Celtics’ chances if they advance against the Knicks
• 36:44–38:31: Searching for positives, final hope for Game 7
• 41:49–42:02: “Game 7 hero” speculation (Garza, White)

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Conclusion: Episode Takeaways

This episode is a cathartic, detailed reckoning with the Celtics’ failures and vulnerabilities heading into a do-or-die Game 7. The hosts detail how the team has veered away from the successful formula that made them a top seed, call out key player struggles and coaching stubbornness, and voice serious doubts about the Celtics’ championship chances—even if they survive the Sixers. The episode’s mood is heavy but honest, mixing hard truths with a faint hope for a role player to step up as a “hero” in the next, possibly final game of Boston’s season.

Final memorable sign-off:
“There’s a Game 7 on Saturday...Anything can happen. We will talk to you guys after that one…. Hopefully it’s the former and not the latter, but we’re gonna get out of here on this night. Three-three, Saturday night, TD Garden, game seven. Anything can happen.” (42:40)

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For listeners, this summary both captures the angst and the substance of Boston’s playoff predicament, and previews what’s at stake in an unpredictable Game 7.

Transcript

[Will]

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[Greg Monakis]

This is Mike Gorman and you're listening

[Will]

to Green with Envy with Will and Greg. Oh, all right. We're going to a Game seven. Yeah, this one, it wasn't very fun. I, I don't got the energy to bring it to you. You know what's gonna happen? We're gonna rage. We're gonna complain. This sucks. Game seven's coming. Let's talk about it. This is Green with Envy. You guys know the deal. Let's lock in. Welcome into another edition of Agreeing With Envy. Post game Live. That honestly sucks. Like I got nothing else for you but to tell you that what we just watched tonight sucks. We are going live here. Game is not officially wrapped up. Still 19.7 seconds left here. Philly up 106 to 93. All the bench players are in, including coach Kyle Lowry making an appearance here for the Philadelphia 76ers. We're running with a with an old school three man weave out here tonight. Your boy will wear. We got the coach, Greg Monakis and we got producer Alex joining us here because it's a straight up event session, guys. There's no plan. We, we all know what we witnessed. No, none of us liked it. If you're joining us here live on YouTube, on Twitter, just tell us your thoughts, man. Tell us what you're mad about. We want to know what you're mad about. We're going to tell you what we're mad about. And I think eventually we'll find our way to setting up a Game seven that's going to happen Saturday night unexpectedly between the Sixers and the Celtics. But, Greg, I'll start with you, man. What's, what's the, what's, what's your first grievance that you want to air out tonight?

[Greg Monakis]

I think the fourth quarter, seeing the, the guys that I called the soul of this year's team in our little group chat, seeing Ron Harper Jr. Baylor Sharman, Jordan Walsh, Peyton Pritchard and Luca Garza out there on the court, it just made me realize how Joe has just completely shifted his philosophy in terms of the guys that he's playing and the minutes that he's giving to people.

[Will]

Can I suggest a word, Greg? How he's abandoned.

[Alex]

Yeah.

[Will]

Just abandoned the identity that he set up of this team.

[Greg Monakis]

Yeah. And if you think about like, what made this Celtics team great this year, it was about winning on the margins. You know, flying in the corner, crash for the offensive rebound. The Luca Garza three minute, you know, rhinoceros stampede that would happen in, in different games. Bayless Charman diving on the floor. Jordan Walsh hounding people for, you know, get, get going for offensive rebounds. Hugo Gonzalez, who just apparently Joe Missoula decided wasn't worthy of an NBA court with about 10 games left in the season. It hasn't made sense to me, the Vuchevic over Garza pretty much at all. Just because I don't think Vic offers you enough to, to take away from what Garza brings. Like, I don't think he's good. He doesn't offer anything on defense. He doesn't really do anything for the offense. Garza is a, at this point, a better three point shooter. So seeing the two guys out there, you know, in the same game, I'm just like, Garza's just better for this team, man. I want to see him on the court. I want Missoula to like, get the guys together and be like, look at what these guys did in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter when they actually just like remembered who we were as a team. That's who we still are. That identity is still in there. We just have to remember it and not Resort back to bad habits from, like, the 2023 finals.

[Will]

Alex, what's. What's the number one thing that you're thinking about, by the way? This game has gone official. Same score that I mentioned before. So game seven. I think timing is still tbd, depending on what happens in this Timberwolves Nuggets game going on right now. So if we get that timing, we'll. We'll let you know. But likely that won't get announced till after that game ends. But, Alex, what's. What's the number one thing that you're

[Greg Monakis]

thinking about right now?

[Alex]

You know, when the, when the reserves came in, they started playing, like Greg said, like the basketball that we've seen all year. They were moving the ball. They were actually playing like a team instead of playing like one on one for 18 seconds and throwing up a prayer. And even when we did that, we would still have a chance of getting the offensive rebounds with those guys. And so, I mean, that's what I'm thinking about. I'm also thinking about missed free throws. That's another big thing for me because for some reason we can't make open threes or free throws. And then Jalen Brown's offensive fouls and his foul trouble.

[Will]

Yeah, I think Jalen deserves a whole conversation, unfortunately, that we can get into here in just a second. But you know, Greg, you talked about, like, winning on. On the margins here and, and listen, the stats that I'm looking at right now, from shot attempts for Philly to shot attempts for the Celtics, like, they closed the gap to three with this last group at the end, but for the most part, that's been about 11 shot gap most of the night that I've been tracking in which Philly had kind of a plus 11. That's one of the biggest things. Two of the big that the Celtics all year have pride themselves on having more shot attempts and having less turnovers. They were getting dogged in this game the entire time. And the. The fourth quarter stats throw it off a little bit here. Turnover. Celtics still lose, I think 13 to 10. That was really kind of more of like 11 to about 6. Like, when it really still mattered, right. Field goal attempts. Celtics ended up losing negative 3, but they were really closer to about negative 8 to negative 11 most of the night. Like, those are the. Some of the key stats that have been so defined within this season of what makes this team special. Along with all the things you talked about, which is the identity of Missoula, you know, not being afraid to make the tough Calls and go, shireman. You're playing 30 minutes tonight. How's your playing? 15. And then the next night, it's Jordan Walsh playing and it's Ugo Gonzalez and it's. The other guys are getting down to five. Right. Like, pulling those strings has been a key part of this all season, and it's just gone. And like, that, for me, is just really sticking out as this series goes. I said it to. To Alex before you jumped on here, Greg. There was a sequence earlier in the game where Jordan Walsh defended Tyrese Maxey, you know, all around the perimeter, followed him through the lane. I think it ended up in either a cada block or Walsh got the block and then K the saved it to Walsh. They and Walsh. And if the reason that Joe's afraid to play Jordan Walsh is that he doesn't trust him offensively, he made a fantastic read on this break where he could have very easily just said, I see Jason Tatum in the right wing. I just got to give it to jt. He very calmly took it, kind of almost gave a fake to Tatum, hit Hauser for a three. And to me, that just shouted. He just earned himself more minutes. Earned himself more minutes and earned himself as. I. I don't know what Joe's watching that we don't get more Jordan Walsh on Tyrese Maxey. I. I just, like, I can't. I just don't know what it is. And when he put him in the end of the second half or the end of the first half. Excuse me, Alex, you pointed this out in our chat. He put him in, but he just had him. Guard Paul Georgia, Tyrese Maxey scored seven points to end the half. Like, it's things like this, while we're just kind of starting with. With Joe that are kind of driving me crazy and are feeling like the rigid approach that Missoula took in the Knicks series last year, that by the time he tried to make any type of changes, Tatum had gotten hurt, which I've got Twitter pulled up. I'll let you know if I get any update on that. On that left calf of what we're seeing or left, lower left leg. I don't know exactly what it is, if we get any updates on that, but it's feeling a lot like that again. And it's. Well, if you haven't seen it on YouTube, I'm drinking, so it's. It's driving your boy to drink again.

[Greg Monakis]

Yeah, man. And I think, you know, going back to Jalen, I think one of the. The biggest issues that The Celtics offense runs into when you. When you go up against teams with small guards is they get really like, they. They go hunting, they go pigeon hunting. And Tyrese Maxey and BJ Edgecomb are holding their own against Jaylen Brown at the nail. I talked about this the last. On the last podcast. But if. If our whole plan is to hunt mismatches and Jalen can't take advantage of that, and that's why we're unable to create two on one basketball or an advantage basketball and get guys open threes because they're not doubling. They're just trusting Tyrese Maxey to play good defense on Jalen, which he's done a phenomenal job, or they trust that Jalen Brown is gonna offensive foul and he has nine offensive fouls. And then I don't know if you caught that moving screen on the 10th one, but it's just too. He's completely in his own head. He's. He's scared to make the moves that he's made all season. I mean, Jalen offensive files. He does. We all know that, but so do so many other guys in the league. You know what I mean? Like SGA five times a game. He could get the same call.

[Will]

Yeah.

[Greg Monakis]

The Sixers, for whatever reason, have convinced the referees that they have to be hanging on Jaylen Brown's offarm and just wait for the first time they see it extend because they are baiting Jaylen. If you look at the last one where Kelly, um, drew the offensive file, where. Where he grabs Jaylen's arm, right? So Jaylen is allowed. If you're getting grabbed by the other guy, you're allowed to fend him off with that arm, right? The defense was making the first contact, so Jalen steps on his foot, uber flops. Or he falls because he got his foot stepped on. And the ref, I think his name's Ray Acosta, is just like ready to make that call. And it just. It's frustrating. But at the same time, like, Jalen's got to figure out a way to play without using that offarm as a battering ram because the referees are calling it on every single drive, and it's completely messing up the flow of the offense because if he's unable to create advantages for other guys in one on one situations, like the offense needs to go to a different strategy. And that's where Joe comes in and that's where you see, you know, they. They ran that little, like, double drag where they throw the ball to Garza and Pritchard comes off of two screens. Like where has that been? You know, we, we've just been running high pick and roll and we've been running the same plays that aren't working. The Spain actions has worked in on different occasions but in general hasn't. Kada hasn't been making the right reads out of that and it's, it's been

[Will]

a lot of half court stag stagnant offense where we just let the defense sit there and even if we have a mismatch, the defense has five guys who are all not moving or chasing other guys like they're not there. There's not the mismatch. Hunting is coming with a lack of movement and it's just to your point, shout out to VJ Edgecomb and Tyrese Maxey who have held up but also if they need help, there's no one sagging off of of shooters because they're allowing them to to hold up. And like the few times that we do get movement. You to your point, Greg, like when they do run that Spain action or when they do run a few of their other, you know, double drags like feels like a breath of fresh air because it's happening once every 7, 8, 9 possessions. Like it, it is becoming my turn. Your turn. Which is the, you know, again, the stigma stereotype that has plagued this team that we watch for 82 games and we're like guys, that happens. But it's not true for who this team is and it is becoming these last couple games who this team is.

[Greg Monakis]

Let's go to the chat here.

[Alex]

We.

[Greg Monakis]

Alex, do you want to read some of the comments for us and then we'll kind of respond to them?

[Alex]

Yeah. Okay. This one says revenge on Saturday. Sixers fans talking too much. They can talk as much as they want. They deserve it. Relax. I'm a Sixers fan. The league and the refs won't allow the Celtics to lose Game 7. We'll see. Celtics won't shoot terribly three games in a row. We'll see. Joe might be the worst playoff coach. He lost against Miami. When we were up 20 plus points. We were clear favorites. And the same thing happened with the Knicks. I think we've been favored in every game this series. Double digits, every game at home. It doesn't really seem to matter. And excuses, excuses. Sixers fans chant we want Boston.

[Greg Monakis]

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[Will]

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[Greg Monakis]

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[Will]

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[Greg Monakis]

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[Will]

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[Will]

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[Will]

Yeah, I. I don't think we are. I think we're just saying. We're just playing like.

[Alex]

I think we're highlighting how bad we've played through the past two games. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Will]

I'm not.

[Greg Monakis]

I mean, I. I don't understand what the Celtics are doing on offense. Defensively, I. I don't think we played a bad defensive game. You know, the. It's not like the Sixers were just, like, completely cooking us. I like that we made some adjustments, doubling and beat in the post. I thought that was really nice to see. But Paul George was just, you know, going off in. In isolation. Tyrese Maxey continues to kill the drop coverage. That would be the. The one adjustment to make. We still haven't seen Tatum at the 5. With Tatum's injury, though, it's like, now, do we want to put that pressure on him?

[Will]

Right. That throws it up near. But that's something that I, to me, is crazy. We haven't seen even in a small stretch, just especially with Embiid in there. Because, you know, I was thinking about the other day, right, And I think the fear you'd initially go to as well. If you only have Tatum at your five and Embiid's out there, he's going to kill you inside. He's killing everybody else inside anyway. So what. So what does it matter? And Tatum's our best rebounder anyways, so why not pull it five out and make Embiid have to be, you know, on the perimeter and have him just working more? We've seen his stamina has been an issue you know, in years past and he's coming back from a surgery that he just had a couple weeks ago. So it, again, this is, and I wanted to address the Joe comment here where it talked about Joe might be the worst playoff coach. And listen, I, I'm not ready to go there. I'm totally giving him a pass in the Miami thing because when you think back to that circumstance, like, he just deserves a pass for the whole year. Like, I, I don't care. I will, I will defend that being a pass for Joe. Circumstantially the Knick series and what we're seeing right now, this is where it's becoming a concerning trend. Right? Like these type of moments that I feel like even though, you know, my daughter was born during the next series, so I didn't have a platform. I think we were, I was still texting and talking with people and like, I feel like I'm just having the same conversations again. Like, it feels very similar where you just replace, hey, he should play Luke Cornett over kp because KP isn't healthy. Hey, why aren't we playing Shireman and Jordan Walsh? Because other guys are struggling and they bring X, Y and Z to the table. Like we're having another form of. And there's other parts of that too, but that's just an example of something that feels like it translates from last year's Joe Missoula. That left me very lukewarm on him going into the season and I've done a complete flip on that. And now I, I don't know how we got back to where we're at heading into game seven on Saturday.

[Greg Monakis]

And there are a few conversations that I think we need to have. The first one, I think most pressing is Jason Tatum. Lower leg injury, looks like a calf injury. They held him out for the fourth quarter. He didn't play the last 15 minutes of the game. I think if Tatum has any calf soreness going into game seven, do you play him? Considering what he just came back from?

[Will]

I think the answer is no. Like, I, I, like he's. What Tatum has given to this team already is above and beyond. Right? Like, and I think with Tatum, he's, you know, you saw, if you were following along on social media, you saw all the posts about, I think, what was it? A player before 29, only player in the elite history with more points in the playoffs is LeBron James. Like, he's still not 30, like he still has a five to six, seven year window of his prime. Any little thing that's wrong with him. I, I would not risk it. And I would say, hey, listen, this the team without him is what got to the number two seed. Like, you got to this 2C without it. Like, we shouldn't be in a game seven for a multitude of reasons. We should have maybe never been in this game where Jason Tatum maybe gets hurt. Again, I would sit him. I don't know what you guys think. Alex, I'm curious what you think, but I, I would. If there's, even if there's anything that's preventing him from being whatever his top percentages that he's at right now while still coming back, I'm sitting him.

[Alex]

Yeah, I think you should. Honestly, even if he's a little bit hurt, I think he'll probably try to force himself to play. But yeah, I think maybe even like sitting him with the potential of an injury might give, like, a different look for the Sixers. Because you're right, this has been the team the whole year without Tatum, and they were great offensively or the second best offensive team in the league. And he, I don't think Tatum has really affected the rhythm of the offense, but going there without him in Game seven, they would just give a different look and maybe give more room for players like Walsh and Shireman to play more minutes.

[Greg Monakis]

Yeah, I mean, I, I, I'm kind of on the same line with you guys. Like, if it doesn't matter which leg it is, right? It's his torn Achilles leg or his good leg, quote, unquote. It's just like if, if anybody that has a calf injury in today's NBA is not playing through that calf injury, like, everybody is sitting out. I Desumo in Game 6, right? He didn't play tonight. I saw that because he had a, he had a calf strain, and you just can't risk it. There's torn Achilles after torn Achilles. And this is the guy that just came back from the torn Achilles. And if he has a lower, if he has a cast, train, you do not play him in Game seven. And you hope that the team that has, that has been the soul of the team gets you a victory in Game seven at home. And Jaylen Brown talked about how when Tatum went down in the Miami series, right, in Game 7, how he told JB he was like, hey, listen, I got nothing. I need you to step up. And Jalen talked about how he wasn't ready for that moment. Now we go to Game seven. Fast forward a couple years later. Jaylen Brown has played like an MVP all season. He hasn't played anywhere close to that level in these playoffs. Now. Or Jalen, are you ready for that moment? Right, this is where this is. Jaylen Brown earns every single dollar of his paycheck and he goes out, he puts the team on his back, but he does it in the way that he's done it all season, where he's been leading by example and not by brute force.

[Will]

Right?

[Greg Monakis]

And I think Jaylen Brown needs to kind of get back to just like trusting the guys around him and. And not just going after Tyrese Maxey in mismatches and going after BJ Edgecomb in mismatches. Right? We need. We need to play Celtics basketball. We need to run offense. Derrick White needs to step the up. We haven't talked about Derrick White this entire podcast, and this is like the old Tobias Harris joke I used to make. Well, we are now 18 minutes into the podcast, which is about the same amount of time in a game that you go without hearing Derek White's name. Right? Like, that is. That is what Derrick White has been in this series. He got a couple threes to go tonight, but he set the tone in the game tonight by missing the floaters to start the game. And he fell over twice. Lot came out of his shoe one time. It's like, what is going on with you, brother?

[Will]

And you saw him hang his head. He was hanging his head, man. That's not the Derrick White that. That we see. And yeah, it, you know, I'm glad he hit those couple of threes and he took a couple threes that. That finally were like, hey, there's the guy that just is ready to quick release, right? Quick, quick release. Shot and shot. Like, he's been so tentative in his head this series that I hope at least that gives some momentum going into game seven. But again, it. Despite the three for six from three, which will help boost some of his, you know, atrocious three point shooting numbers, it still felt like a relatively ghost performance. He had, you know, one kind of Grand Theft Alvarado, like, in the backcourt, that set up a nice play in the first half. But other than that, you know, and I think this is a byproduct of two things. One, as I've been saying all series, he shouldn't be the guy guarding Maxi primarily. That needs to be Jordan Walsh. And number two, you. You brought this up to me, Greg, in, in our text messages. Like, watching him against the speed of Maxi, in the athleticism of Vijay, it just feels like a different world, right? Like, like, like That's a part of it as well, too. And I think that deserves some credit as much as Derek also just needs to show up. Like, we just need him to be the. What does he make, 28, $29 million. Like, we need him to be that guy, and he hasn't been anywhere close to that in this series. I did see an interesting comment here in the chat that I'm gonna pull up, and we're not ready to get to. We'll have plenty of time if the Celtics do.

[Alex]

Yeah, I saw that.

[Will]

To get to this. But if we lose Saturday, Brad needs to go get Yana. We don't need to get too into this. But just know if the Celtics do lose on Saturday, that door becomes open and the Celtics become at least a conversation piece in that. In that discussion. So I don't think we need to go completely there yet. But as we talk about who the spotlight is on on Saturday, the two names outside of Joe Missoula and whatever he decides to do, coaching strategy wise, player wise, it's Derrick White and Jalen Brown. Where are you guys? Where are the guys that led this team all season? Because Jason Tatum, who's still recovering from an injury, has been far and away the best and most consistent player for this team in this series. And you have to have Derrick White and Jalen Brown get back to being the guys they are if they want any chance to win the series now.

[Greg Monakis]

Yeah. And I think if you go player by player, right. If you just rank best players on each team, Tatum versus Embiid, you're gonna go Tatum over Embiid. Although Embiid is. Is great. Next best player is Maxi versus jb. Like, in this series, Maxi's been far and away the better player. Right. Would you guys agree with that?

[Will]

Yeah. 100. I don't even think it's close.

[Greg Monakis]

Yep. And then next best player, Paul George versus Derrick White. Paul George. Paul George has been better than Jalen Brown. Yeah, he's been better than Jalen Brown.

[Alex]

Right?

[Will]

Yeah.

[Greg Monakis]

And then you go from there. Who's. Who's the next best player? Edgecomb.

[Will]

I mean, JB beats Edgecomb, but Derrick White certainly doesn't.

[Greg Monakis]

Right. Derek White doesn't. Peyton Pritchard. I. I mean, maybe they're probably a wash at this point.

[Will]

They're. They're closer than the Derrick White. Edgecomb conversation, for sure.

[Greg Monakis]

Right. And then Ubere. I would say it's outplayed Hauser pretty handily. Would you guys agree with that?

[Will]

I don't know if I'd say Handily. But I would agree he's outplaying.

[Greg Monakis]

What has Hauser done?

[Will]

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[Will]

Yeah, I mean that's fair. That's fair. You're right. You're right. Uber's had moments. Housers hit a couple threes in one game, I think. Right? Like that's. You're right, you're right. Take it back. You're right. It's. It's. Without a question, it's. It's Uber and actually yeah, I guess Grimes would actually be the more comparison. And Grimes had his game 5 moment where Hauser hasn't even had that. So.

[Greg Monakis]

And then Kada versus Drummond and Bona. It's just like I don't even think he like it. It's a. They're probably a wash at that point, right? Like Drummond doesn't miss corner threes, I guess.

[Will]

I can't believe that.

[Greg Monakis]

I thought K probably had his best game in a while though. He made an impact defensively. He was able to give Embiid some issues Had a couple Nice blocks.

[Will]

11 rebounds. Yeah.

[Greg Monakis]

Yeah, I thought K was pretty good tonight.

[Will]

He.

[Greg Monakis]

He's just not reading the game the way that he was reading the game in the regular season. Case in point, that first play of the second half where he has the misdirection to get Sam a wide open three and he tries to force the ball to Jalen on the block against Maxi and it's just like, stop going to that. It's. It's not the matchup right now. Use that as a decoy. Sam Houser's wide open for a three, and he was wide open for a two count and he just missed him. And that was.

[Will]

Has looked a lot more like the guy coming into the season that has raw talent but doesn't have the feel right. And, and kind of like the IQ that we saw develop this year. It. It feels like that's escaping him right now. Right? Like that's. It just doesn't feel the same. And I don't know if that's the pressure of the playoffs. Is that the pressure of going up against, you know, Embiid? And even Drummond, who's just seasoned, right, like Drummond is, knows exactly who he is. Drummond has no question. He knows exactly what he's doing at every moment and he's just very confident in whatever his role needs to be. Whereas Keda, you know, started to grab a bigger role and now it's showing that he probably needs a little bit more seasoning. If we're, if we're being honest.

[Greg Monakis]

Here's a real question. Would you guys rather have Adem Bona as our backup center or Vucovic and Garza?

[Will]

I'll let you answer, Alex.

[Alex]

I'd still go. Garza and Vucevich. My. I have. My roommate from college absolutely hates a Dambona. Like he despises him. He blamed the game three loss on Bona even though there was nothing he could do to guard Tatum on that last play. Yeah, I'd still have them, but Bona is far more athletic. He brings an energy. He can't shoot, but like he can rebound. So I would still take them just for that three point aspect.

[Will]

They're kind of all on the same level to me. Like, they're all just, like they're all probably third bigs. They're not right. Yeah, they're all third bigs at this point. So I don't think. I think that's somewhat of a, of a moot point.

[Greg Monakis]

But here, here's the last question I wanted to ask you guys. Yeah, so we Talked about the Tatum injury. Right. That was the first question I had. Second question, regardless of the outcome. Well, actually, let's say Celtics win game seven. Do you think we have any shot against the Knicks? Do you think we have any shot of like being a real Finals contender, whereas this series completely altered your view of this team?

[Will]

Go ahead, Alex. I'll let you answer this first because I have some.

[Alex]

Well, we had two different teams tonight. We had the Celtics again playing horribly against the Sixers, and then we had the Knicks, who went up by a thousand points against the Hawks on the road.

[Will]

By the way, one of the most best unintentional comedy bits was I was catching up late to the game after doing, doing bedtime and I knew the Knicks were up big. But just watching in the right hand corner, that score go from like 50 to 1974 to 33, like that was actually really enjoyable, at least. While what I was watching on screen was unenjoyable, seeing how ridiculous that score kept going was, was at least the unintentional light hearted comedy part of my evening.

[Alex]

Yeah, I mean, I got out of the shower to get ready to turn on the Celtics game. I look at the score and it's 50 to 19. Like that's a team, I think. Well, right now I don't even know if we can get past the Sixers, let alone think about the Knicks. But I mean, I, I don't know. I mean, this series has definitely altered my view on the Celtics and their ability to beat the Knicks. I still don't think the Knicks are a better team than us, but I mean, we lose on Saturday and that's the second time we've lost to a bottom two seed in the last three years or four years, something like that.

[Will]

The Knicks at their best are better than the Celtics in my opinion. Like, I, I don't even think that's really a question. And I think that's what I actually thought going into the playoffs was the Knicks at their best are better than the Celtics. But the thing that I thought gave the Celtics an advantage is they're more consistent, they have an identity and we know who we are. Like none of those things are true anymore in the last five days. So therefore, I don't know. And it feels like the Knicks have done the opposite of what the Celtics did. Whereas the Celtics started game one and then kind of felt like they refound their mojo and their identity in game three and since then have gone the complete opposite way the Knicks started the playoffs with. Hold on, hold on, wait a Minute. All right, guys, this is like real basketball time. This is. This is no longer play time. We got to figure out who we are. And they go down 2, 1 to the Hawks. And since then, the Knicks feel like they are very secure in who they are, who their rotations are, and who they can mix in. We talk so much about, and I hate to go back to, like, Joe again. We talk about having this tool belt. Like, the Knicks have used multiple guys. They've used Clarkson, they've used Alvarado. They haven't just gone. We only need to use these. These. These particular set of guys, right? Like, they've gone through multiple players. And so I think the Knicks have flip that to a point where now, even without the consistency, I feel like we're. We. We. We've embodied what Derrick White has been in the series. Apparently. That's just who our team is right now. We don't know who we are. We're tripping over ourselves. We're missing shots that we usually make. We're not making the same hustle plays that we made. So I think if somehow the Celtics pull off game seven, which at this point, Joe would have to make a. A change and just going in who he's been as a coach, the series, the Celtics are going to have to get hot. Jalen Brown's gonna have to, you know, not play selfish basketball. Derrick White's gonna have to be some version closer to himself. Like, there's a lot. That's a lot of things that have to happen, I think, just for us to win game seven and then for us to then play the Knicks. I don't feel good about that series. I didn't feel good about it going to the playoffs. I thought that was our team, that in the east was our kryptonite. And right now, I don't know how anyone can sit here and say, hey, listen, even as long as we get by game seven, I feel good against the Knicks. You've got more. You. You've got some deep tints to those green glasses that you're wearing. If you think. If that's your thought process right now, not saying it couldn't happen, but if that's what you're thinking, then I. Maybe you're just more optimistic in general than I. Than I am as a human being.

[Greg Monakis]

Dude, I'm. I'm super optimistic as a fan and as a person. And I'm just like, I don't. I just don't see it, especially with the Tatum injury, like, if I don't want him to play in game seven. I'll repeat that for anyone who's just tuning in right now.

[Will]

I'm refreshing Twitter, by the way, constantly to see if we get any updates on this.

[Greg Monakis]

Okay, so Tatum, if you missed it hurt his calf is his other calf.

[Will]

Mini, mini update here. Sorry to cut you off again. This is from Noah Delzell. Joe Missoula on Jason Tatum just got stretched, got some treatment, did not seem concerned. Noah's words. Not, not Joe. Then again, Joe is not really the guy to give any real update.

[Greg Monakis]

So again, we'll see how he feels, to see how he feels in the morning. Right? And hopefully they make the right decision. And hopefully Tatum has the long term perspective now that he's been out for an entire year that he could be like, you know what, like, maybe this isn't, this isn't the year I gave the team what I could give him. Let's see if you guys can pull it out in game seven. But this is why the Celtics needed to take, like I thought their only road to the championship this year was to handle the Sixers in five games, right? The moment we, we go to game six, Tatum gets hurt. We needed to, we needed to finish the, the series because the playoffs is a, is a war of attrition, right? If we have to go through seven games with the Sixers, it's going to be a seven game series with the Knicks. If the Celtics win that series, right. I think it's more likely the Knicks win in five or six. I don't think the Celtics could win a short series against the Knicks. And then if you get through that series, maybe there's, there's like a little bit of a break on the other side of that series because who knows what the hell's going on on the other side of the bracket. But to get out of the Eastern Conference and get to the NBA Finals now, it's just like you're playing 14 games in the first two rounds and without the depth that we've had all year. Missoula going back to Missoula, just not trusting the depth of the team. We just don't have, we just don't have the recipe right now to be a real contender. And I think if you're a Knicks fan, you got to be just licking your chops right now because whoever comes out of this series is going to be batter. You're looking at the, the Sixers and you're like, yeah, they had a great series, but we have the bigs to match up with Embiid. We have the wings that can match up with George and cover Maxi like they're, they're gonna. I think they'll be going into that series feeling pretty good, whoever they're playing.

[Will]

Yeah, I think the Knicks have every reason to be confident after a 140 to 89 closeout. That's how you close the team out, guys. 140 to 89. That's a, that's a statement as a road win as well, to go ahead and close that series out. And, yeah, I think the Knicks should be extremely confident with whichever team wins this game on Saturday for, you know, when that series starts early next week, likely probably a Tuesday or Wednesday start to that Eastern Conference semifinals. But, yeah, it's, it's, it's kind of bleak right now, guys. I can't lie. I, I'm trying to think of what are. All right, let's. Let's try to spin this positive. Let's, let's do.

[Greg Monakis]

Let's do our best, and then let's wrap this up.

[Will]

Yes, yes, yes, yes. I agree. I agree. The. The positives that I can try to imagine taking from this game, there, there are two that I will propose to you, and if you guys can find anything else, please, please throw it in, because I don't even know how good these are going to make you feel, but if in. So Joe made some comments. I just had them pulled up and I. And I lost them. Basically. Joe just said the thing that we've been saying all series, where I think it was, might have been Noah again asked him in the post game here, it looks like, you know, why did you go with those, Those guys with 10 minutes left? Right? Like, why did you bring in those guys? He said, well, I wanted to give this game a different feel because we went 14 to 15 deep and everybody really impacted winning. So I wanted to try it out for a different field. Welcome to the series. Joe Missoula. That's a, that's a great answer. And I would love to see that same feel head over into game seven where we have a larger roster of depth and we get more energy into the game. So hopefully that move will have momentum into Game seven. Then the other thing is Derrick White hit a couple threes, so I, I hope that the three point shot rolls over to the next game. Those are my two silver linings, because anybody else have any silver linings that we can, we can try to parlay into momentum for game seven?

[Alex]

Jordan Walsh almost posted Paul George with four minutes left. That was a positive.

[Will]

I guess anything with more Jordan Walsh.

[Alex]

Yeah, I think the Derek White threes were, I mean they look good. They, they're all dead, I guess.

[Greg Monakis]

Me, man, like I, I just, I don't, I don't know what, I don't know what there is to, to take away from this, this game. Coach wise. Like, I think the Sixers have made all the adjustments. They've. After game four, right where Embiid was playing up at the level at the screen, they just have put Embiid and drop and they've just dared the Celtics to hit the three pointers that were also daring the Sixers to hit that they are hitting and they're saying if you want to drive on Embiid, we're going to peel switch out. And you know, you know we're, we're fine with Embiid having to cover Jaylen Brown in space. We're fine with Maxi peel switching out onto Vucovic and dealing with, and staying on him on the perimeter. Like they're just not concerned with the, the buttons that we're pushing on the offensive end. And it's up to the Celtics, as Missoula mentioned in the pre post game that you just mentioned right now, to give them a different look because they're prepared for the look that we have and it's not working. So there was a comment earlier about like it's not the lineup, it's the Celtics just need to shoot better. Well, we're not generating open threes. I don't know if you guys saw the stat about the amount of catch and shoot three pointers that were generated in game, game six, game five and it was like 10 below their season average or 10 below the, the series average.

[Will]

You know, I think I was listening to a friend of the show, Jason Timp earlier today and I think from this was just game over game. I think this was game four to game five. It was. The Celtics had like 33 catch and shoot looks and it was 19 the next game.

[Greg Monakis]

Yeah, and I would imagine it was very low tonight as well. So I don't think, I think it, it has to do with the scheme thing. Like they have to get back to playing Celtics basketball and move the ball and run different things other than mismatch hunting. So that's what I'm looking for in game seven. And then I'm looking for the guys to get gritty and grimy and pull out a blue collar victory on, on TD gardens parquet.

[Alex]

This just makes me think about Anthony Simons. Like his off the bench would be so huge right

[Will]

To Greg's point, Garza. Garza can give you everything and seemingly more at this point than. Than what Vucevich has given you. So if you're just rolling with that and then you still have Simons with the chance to at least, you know, bring another infusion of offense to this team. It's. It's just sorely missing, especially with the way Derrick White has performed and, you know, Peyton Pritchard's had his moments but hasn't been consistent. So just having another tool in that tool belt, that offensive weaponry tool belt, definitely something that is. Is missing right now and something the Celtics are going to need, I think. You know, we've. Let's end it on. On this year. We've had the Kelly Olenet game. We've had the Grant Williams game. I. I said earlier this year, if there's a guy on this team that's gonna have one of those type of games, I called Baylor. Shireman was my shot. You know, midway through the season. I don't know if he's playing enough to be that guy. But is there anyone that you guys would like to put up to the podium as the potential honorary. Honorary. Luca. Honorary Grant Williams, Kelly Olenek game seven award winner?

[Greg Monakis]

Just. You just said it. Luca. Luca Garza.

[Alex]

Yeah.

[Greg Monakis]

Yeah.

[Will]

Alex. Anyone else you'd nominate?

[Alex]

I don't know if you qualify, but Derrick White, maybe he'll do something offensively,

[Will]

but I, I mean, I would normally say he doesn't, but because he's been so bad and they would probably leave him open for 18 threes the way Grant Williams got left open, then he might actually qualify in this particular series. So I don't think that's a. That's a bad name to suggest for the podium, but we're gonna wrap this one up here, guys. There's a game seven on Saturday, so likely Saturday night, Sunday morning, you're gonna have something from us. I think it might depend on how the games goes. We'll see what time the game is as well, too, just to make sure it lines up with. With our schedules. But either way, game seven, we will have something for you either right after the game or immediately the next morning. You guys will have something ready for you to either celebrate or to commiserate with. Hopefully it's the former and not the latter, but we're gonna get out of here on this night. Three three, Saturday night, TD Garden, game seven. Anything can happen. We will talk to you guys after that one. Enjoy the rest of your weekend until then. And Deuces peace.

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