← Green With Envy: A Boston Celtics Podcast
Green With Envy: A Boston Celtics Podcast
The Celtics Bench Comes Up Big + Mediocre Life Updates
00:44:34
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- [00:00]
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Who knew?
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Greg
This is Mike Gorman and you're listening.
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Will
To Green with Envy with Will and Greg. All right, Everybody. Live on YouTube, live on Twitter, it is a Green with Envy post game Celtics get a 111107 victory against the Magic to get a weekend split in Orlando. We got recaps of both games from this past weekend. Take a quick look at the week ahead. And we've got Mediocre life update. All that more coming up next here on Green with Envy. You guys know the deal. Let's lock in.
- [01:33]
Greg
I wish in your eyes.
- [01:35]
Will
What up, what up, what up. Welcome into another edition of Green with Envy. As always, this is Boy will we checking in. How you doing? How you living? Celtics fresh off a 111107 victory against the Magic to get a weekend split down in Orlando. Joining me to talk about this game and the Friday night NBA cup game, it's my best friend, co host and the coach of our podcast, the one and only Greg Manakis. What it do, Greg, man, where do.
- [02:04]
Greg
We want to start? We want to start with Luca Garza. Do we want to start with Jordan Walsh? Where you want to go?
- [02:12]
Will
I mean all the typical notes that we expect to start a night with here. Quick Pro, A quick programming note here for those that might have missed it as we usually only do two podcasts per week, I do highly recommend on Friday morning we did have the great Chase Serrano with us to talk about his new book Expensive Basketball. So I do highly recommend if you guys have not listened to that podcast, go back either on our YouTube page or back in on Spotify, Apple, wherever it is that you listen to podcasts and follow us and check out that interview. Highly recommend. But for tonight's game, Greg, yeah, there's multiple places that we can go and it really is difficult to find a starting spot for this game. Let's just kind of talk about I, I think the bench. Let's just, let's just call it the bench, right? Because that, that's where this game turned. And all three guys that you referenced at the top had moments in this game, specifically Anthony Simons, Luca Garza. And listen, I, I know we had already sent Jordan Wallace to China. You think we can get him back? Yeah. You think we can get Jordan Wallace back? He's hooping out there. And maybe, maybe this is the last we see of Jordan Walsh looking like.
- [03:19]
Greg
A young Andre Iguidala. My, my all time comparison for, for Jordan Walsh.
- [03:24]
Will
Let's start here. Let's start Jordan Walsh. He hit the, he hit the game winning shot, the game ceiling shot, whatever you want to call it, he hit it. And that, that play. Let me just, just go through that play, right, because you get, first of all, the, the possession before the Celtics messed up and didn't get Jalen Brown the basketball. And we had Jalen Suggs pulling a Marcus smart on Jalen Brown to get the offensive foul. So this time they go, all right, we're not messing around. We're getting Jalen the basketball. Jalen's coming downhill off that left wing. I thought he was going to go right to the basket. Like, he looked like he had an opportunity and then he kicked it out because I was like, all right, Jalen's getting really aggressive. He's. He's the guy. He's the guy. He's going to take us home. He swings it out to, to Pritchard, like, oh, no. Okay, Pritchard, you're going to hit a shot. Pump fake, gets in the lane. All right, Pritchard's been money from 2. That's where this is going. Pritchard, pump fake, looks to the corner. I, I mean, Jordan Walsh, this is maybe the first time he's been. I would assume it's the first time he's been in. In a clutch situation in a real game for the Celtics.
- [04:26]
Greg
Here's the only, here's the only thing that was going through Peyton Pritchard's mind. Bald head in the corner. Must be Derrick White. That's the only reason to make that pass to Jordan Walsh. Yeah. Jordan Walsh knocks it down. That was amazing, man. And the possession before Jordan Walsh makes the, the pass to Derrick White. The swing pass. They double Jaylen Brown. He kicks it. Release valve is Jordan Walsh makes the right read passes to Derrick White for the three. So Jordan Walsh makes two huge plays down the stretch there. He also had great defense on Paulo and Franz throughout the game. I think he ended up with what, six rebounds in this one. He had a couple steals, two steals.
- [05:07]
Will
Seemed like seven deflections, 6.6 rebounds, four assists and two steals is the official stat line. And hey listen, Jordan Walsh last, I guess this last three games or so, he's been good, man, he's been really good. And, and here's the thing that I have, we have said pretty consistently is what do you do? Right? That's what we've asked him is what do you do? And like when are you going to show us something? And I think you know, above just not making mistakes, he's making the right reads. And one of my favorite Jordan Walsh moments is he only took three shots. I think my favorite shot he took other than obviously hitting the game winner, him being able to knock down threes was he drove to the basket at the right time, made a super athletic move and just missed the layup. But I love the fact that he attempted it because that's kind of the guy that I was like, ah, maybe this is who Jordan Walsh can be. I don't think I've ever seen it in like a real game moment. And so to see him do that raised my eyebrows. And that was in the first half. And then he. To your point, I think probably the biggest point for Jordan Walsh was his defense on Paulo was very impressive over both games.
- [06:12]
Greg
Yeah, I mean he's just got those long arms, man, that's why I always compare him to Iggy. But I do think that with his three three point shooting tonight, he took three shots to your point, missed that layup and hit two threes in the second half. The one where he lifted off the left cor, hit the the left wing three and then the corner three from the right corner to seal the game. But to your point about his ability to drive and be athletic, if he's able to be a respectable three point shooter, that's going to make those driving lanes open up for him. If people actually have to close out to him, he's going to all year he's going to get wide open threes because no one's going to respect that three point shot until he proves he can do that consistently. But tonight is a great first step for him as 21 years old. This is one thing that we have consistently said about Jordan Wallace is that he's way younger than you think he is because he came into the league at 19 and you just hope that he would get a chance at some point in the league. Right. And this year with Josh minus emergence, Ugo Gonzalez's emergence, you're like, is it gonna happen for him? And then he just gets one opportunity, plays great in the one opportunity that it was given to him. And we called it on the pod. We said he, he earned himself to be the first of those guys off the bench in the next game. And both of these games in Orlando, Joe Missoula went to him and then he earned crunch time minutes where he was in the close in five, which to your point has probably never happened for Jordan Walsh.
- [07:33]
Will
Yeah, yeah. 19 minutes in the game on Friday night for Jordan Walsh or just under 19 minutes and then tonight up to just about 25 and a half minutes and closing minutes. And it was really kind of interesting to watch Joe go through that fourth quarter. And we've talked a lot so far in the early season that Joe is, you know, he's experimenting because we don't know what we have night to night. Right. Like, like Jaylen, you know, is going to be out there. Derek, you know, is going to be out there. Payton likely. Other than that, it's kind of, let's just see who has it going. And so there was a point in this fourth quarter where he was really just rolling. I think it was Pritchard, White, Walsh and Ugo and maybe it was Ne. I think that was Luke. And Luke, yeah, you're right, Luke opposite like I were talking about here. And it was like, man, there's like five and a half minutes left in is this is the lineup that's out there. But it was the lineup that's working and those were guys that earned the minutes to be out there tonight and to see Jordan Walsh as a part of that, that's exciting. Again, the thing that's going to be most exciting about this season is being able to determine and probably specifically from this group of three of Jordan Walsh, Hugo Gonzalez and Josh Minet, like what we can envision their roles being when Tatum's back in the fold. And those are the three guys, the three youngest guys that really have that chance to develop within the season the most. Right. Like those are the guys that we're going to see get more in a big three as well too. Neemi as well too. But that's kind of its own thing with the front court. You know, it's. But you know, Ugo hit a big three tonight as well too. Right down the stretch, Ugo was, was getting very handsy here. He ended up with two steals, I think very similar to, to Jordan Walsh. I'd be curious to see when the deflection Numbers come out. I feel like there's some more deflections.
- [09:16]
Greg
Ugo was plus 19 in 13 minutes.
- [09:20]
Will
Efficiency right there. That, that's pretty solid efficiency. So big night for the bench. I think there's a lot to talk about with Anthony Simon, so let's put him on pause. Let's go to Luca Garza here. Let's go to your boy Luca Garza then we'll go to my boy Anthony Simons after this. But Luca Garza, the straight highbrow demon. Seven of eight from the field, 16 points, eight rebounds. Four of them came on the offensive glass. Three assists as well and a steal on a night where Neemi fouls out in only 25 minutes. Big, big, big performance from Luca Garza. Yeah.
- [09:57]
Greg
And Joe is, is seemingly, you know, put the other bigs on ice. It's Kada and it's Garza. Those are the two bigs that he's playing. And Josh Mining sliding up to the four. So that's what we're getting out of, out of the front court.
- [10:09]
Will
Right.
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Greg
And with Luca Garza at halftime, I wrote down a bunch of notes as we were prepping for this pod and the last note that I wrote down is, God damn it, I hate Luka Garza. And then he has this second and a half. So I gotta, I just gotta like.
- [10:22]
Will
It was a bad weekend for, for you and I's group chat with Alex. We, with Alex, our producer, as soon as we talked about me, Anthony Simons, you, Luca Garza. They both end up having really impactful nights.
- [10:34]
Greg
It was great for Luca Garza to have, have this moment because I, I needed to see that he could actually like play meaningful NBA minutes. Like I, I said earlier this season, I didn't think he would ever play a meaningful playoff minute because I didn't think he would ever play a meaningful like regular season minute. And to like see him really, you know, kind of be the best big man out there in a, in a game with Neemi and Wendell Carter Jr. Right. Luca Garza was the most impactful big man out of those three. And my concerns with him are defensively, like I, Offensively, he's going to be okay, right? He's, he's going to be in the right spot. He's going to set screens, he's going to dig for offensive rebounds, have that.
- [11:15]
Will
Isaiah Hartenstein little, little push shot, which is really nice, by the way.
- [11:19]
Greg
Yeah, yeah. I mean he's clearly a super talented offensive player. He's ground bound, which is frustrating that he can't jump where Scout was like, I didn't know he could dunk. I didn't know he could dunk either.
- [11:29]
Will
But I look at Drew's like, well, he's 6 10, so I would. I would hope he could at least dunk. Right.
- [11:35]
Greg
But, like, dunk in a game in traffic, that's cool. But defensively is where I'm. I'm just concerned about him actually playing meaningful NBA rotation minutes long term for this team, short term, obviously, with the depleted front court, he's going to get his opportunity. And, like, I can get over my dislike of his face if he's going to be able to put up numbers like he put up tonight, because he was. I think a lot of why I don't like him is because of his face. Like, I hate his eyebrows. I hate his chin.
- [12:02]
Will
I was gonna say, is it more the eyebrows or the chin? Which one. Which one bothers you more? Because I texted you tonight. I. The. The chin is whatever. The eyebrows. I was like, ah, this is definitely why Greg hates him. It's just those. It's the straightest eyebrows. I don't know. I don't know how. There's not even the slightest curvature to them. It's. It's like, you know, he literally just drawn on with a ruler the way someone would draw a cartoon with straight eyebrows. Yeah.
- [12:24]
Greg
But he was playing great basketball tonight. I don't care about his eyebrows, don't care about his chin if he's gonna hoop like he did tonight. So that was great to see out of him. And when Keda, you know, he fouls out, comes back in. In the fourth quarter with, like, five minutes left after that great stretch by the bench, they go back to jb, they go back to Keita. They even bring Simons back into the game, who lasted two minutes. And then Keda falls out. He picks up fouls number five and foul number six and consecutive possessions, we get to go back to Luca. So Luca closed out the game, and we don't win this game without him.
- [12:54]
Will
Yeah. Big night from Luca Garza. Big night from Jordan Walsh, the other guy that was big off the bench. And this is now my boy who, you know, turned it around on us in the. In our. Our pri. In our, you know, private messages. Here is Anthony Simons, and, man, I'm. I'm really at a crossroads with Anthony Simons. Just like the experience of Anthony Simons tonight. He ends up 8 of 5 of 8 from 3, 4 of 4 from the free throw line, 25 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound, literally all 25 points in the first half and 20, you know, about 23 of them felt like they came in about maybe 45 seconds because it was just a lightning rod in that second quarter. And it's. The Simon's experience is really hard to justify my brain because there's honestly. And this is what I was texting you and Alex about. There's like 70, 75% of it I just don't enjoy. Right. Like, I understand he's, he's a tough shot maker and when he gets going, he heats up quickly. We saw this, we knew that this was a possibility. We hadn't really seen it in a meaningful spot yet. Tonight was the first time we saw it in a game where it's like that changed everything because the Celtics came out pretty flat, right. And Simons gave them the boost they needed. And most importantly, he gave them, he gave Jaylen Brown, never mind them. He gave Jaylen Brown the support that Jaylen just needs so that he doesn't have to be the offensive load that or point bearer for 48 minutes. Right. That there can be someone else that can take that burden for five minutes off of his plate. And Simons was finally that guy. But this is where you then get the rest of the game where once they put Anthony Black and Jaylen Suggs on him, I was pretty convinced he was going to end up having three different backcourt violations because he couldn't get by anybody. And this is where I want to get your opinion as a coach. After Orlando, you know, after Simons goes on that Heat doesn't score again, Black and Suggs trade off guarding him. What can or what should Joe have done to find a way to get Simon more touches without him having to dribble the ball near mid court? Because that's where I feel like the Simons experience is falling apart. Is like, he can be productive, but you gotta. I think Joe has to do a better job of putting him in positions. And I'm curious if you have any thoughts on this as the coach of the potential.
- [15:14]
Greg
I mean, the first thing is it was more Suggs than, than Black. I think Suggs really took the challenge of when Simons got off on his heater. He was just like, I'm guarding this dude. Everyone else get the out of my way. And Jalen Suggs is a top five on ball defender in the league. So I don't want anybody dribbling at half court against Jalen Suggs. It's just not smart basketball to bring him into the action like that where you're like daring him to, to play one on one basketball in space like Jalen. That's what Jalen Suggs does. And adding to that is he was like, all right, this guy is killing us. I need to lock in even further than I normally do. And he just shut Simons down. Like after that point, Simons didn't score another basket. I think he only had like one or two more shot attempts because.
- [15:58]
Will
Second half. Yeah, yeah.
- [15:59]
Greg
Suggs just made it his mission to shut him down. And what frustrates me after Simons is going off right, is that they're. They see Suggs on him. Peyton Pritchard's in the game. Just give the ball to Pritchard and have Simons come off of like, you know, some grenade actions or some pistol actions, just anything getting him out of the corner so that he, he can get a screen and get Suggs off of him versus him dribbling at half court against Jalen Suggs in space, which doesn't make any sense. So I think it's a very easy thing to do is just get him off the ball and not have him dribble up when you have another point guard in the game. That's what was frustrating me.
- [16:37]
Will
And this is, this is one of the biggest things I think I'm going to be watching. For Joe to make an adjustment on going forward is like you need Anthony Simons burst, you need him as an offensive threat. And that's where even if I haven't enjoyed that much of the Simons experience, you can't play him two minutes. Like, like he just has too much of a high ceiling offensively for a team.
- [16:56]
Greg
Referring back to the game for the list.
- [16:59]
Will
Yeah, correct. Because we're too offensively challenged.
- [17:02]
Greg
Challenge.
- [17:03]
Will
And like, you see that moment tonight, like the fact that he can do what he did in three and a half minutes, four minutes, whatever. It was like he has to play. He only ended up playing less than 23 minutes tonight despite that first half and has 13 shots. And this is like, for me, I, I feel like Simon has to be getting 15 plus shots a night and I think it's going to be a little bit more on Joe to find ways to, to make that happen. Like, I just think Joe has to be a little bit better about getting creative, you know, to get Simon's better opportunities. Now knowing that now that he's been around him for 10 plus games, plus preseason training camp, like, we're of course catching up in real time, Joe's been watching him a lot closer. And so now we're seeing the shortcomings and it's like, okay, cool. I got to get it out of my head that Simons is going to be some type of secondary ball handler creator. Although he had a couple nice passes to Luca Garza tonight, like, he's not going to be the guy that I think we initially, initially envisioned. But there is still a very significant use case. But I, I really think Joe's got to be a little bit better about that going forward.
- [18:04]
Greg
Yeah. And one of the things that they were doing, they were running a lot of like high pick and roll, high ball screen for him. And after he got off, they were sending two to the ball. And to your point, he did a really good job with those, drawing the defense out, staying with enough space to hit that pocket pass where he wasn't trying to get the ball out too quickly and do that little short roll pass that the Celtics like to do where they, when they get double, they like throw the ball out early to let the big man kind of like run into the pass. Like it's, it's a tough timing on that pass and they slowed that action down. Simons took an extra dribble towards the sideline, waited for the, the pocket pass to open up and just made a very easy, simple read. And that's what he needs to do. If he, if he gets two to the ball, he doesn't need to do anything spectacular. Just play simple basketball. Hit the roll man in space and, and let them play four on three. Yeah, but I mean, I think the, the issue with Simons is that Missoula is kind of just entrusting him to be an on ball guy when he, he should be a featured scorer like Jalen Brown's a featured scorer, you know, and I think that's just put him in some, some more actions like Jalen is coming out of corners and, and things like that.
- [19:18]
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- [19:50]
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- [20:07]
Will
Yeah, let's. And we'll see what happens. And this is again, I mentioned all year, Joe Missoula is under kind of a, a spotlight for me to see. What can you do with lesser talent? How do you adjust other than, you know, like Joe is certainly a motivator and he's certainly kind of trying different lineups here. But like tactically, what are you going to do differently now that you know who your lineup is? And we've seen him do some things, but I feel like this is one of the things that's starting to gnaw at me a little bit because it's, it's just a very clear need that I think can be addressed to your point. Not that difficult. Not that I'm a basketball X's and O guy, but like it feels like it's not that crazy of an ass. So we'll see what, what happens going forward. But super encouraging to get that first half from Anthony Simons. Desperately needed. And then you look to the starting lineup tonight and you know Jalen Brown who was awesome on, on Friday night, another solid game from him tonight. 27 points, five rebounds and assist. The steal, a block goes 10 to 24. One of four from the three. From the three. But to get to the line seven times, you know, he's just been continuing to be rock solid all season. And I'm curious to get your thoughts on Derek White today. I think Derek, I thought Derrick White was getting back or at least over this weekend is getting back towards doing some Derrick White things. It's still not the cleanest Derrick White you would like to see. But I feel like he's getting closer to getting back to doing the Derrick White things that, that we love so much about him.
- [21:33]
Greg
Yeah, I mean there was that one shot on Friday night. I think it was like a left wing three where he got like a lucky bounce on it and it went through for him and it seems like that kind of carried over and, and brought confidence into his game for, for tonight. And it was his dad's birthday so you know, he was trying to show up for his dad tonight. Shout out to Richard on the pod a couple times. But him and Jaylen, if you look at their fourth quarter shooting stats combined, they were 4 for 8 tonight. Two threes out of them. They each had a mid range shot. Derek's was an one over Paulo and you know you need those two guys to, to be your fourth quarter players. And in the previous game, neither of them really Brought it in the fourth quarter. I don't have the game chart pulled up for what they did in the fourth quarter the other night, but I know Jalen maybe had like one shot attempt or, you know, one basket. I know he didn't play well.
- [22:27]
Will
So one of one of five in the fourth quarter for Jalen, but Derrick White was three of five in the fourth quarter.
- [22:33]
Greg
Okay. Yeah. So D. White. Yeah, to my point, like, he. He started getting it going towards the end of that game against the Magic, and then it carried over to this one. But Jalen, his fourth quarter the other night, I felt like he was really feeling the weight of carrying the offense for 48 minutes. As you were talking earlier about Simons, how he. That outburst in the first half seemed like it just took a load off of Jalen's shoulders because he came out in this one and he was kind of forcing it a little bit. Franz was in his jersey. He didn't quite get the clean looks that he was getting against other teams and in the first three quarters on Friday night. And then he was able to get going because he's kind of inevitable at this point. Like, Jaylen Brown is going to get his 20 to 25 shots up a night, and he's going to get his numbers and he's going to get to where he wants to go on the court. So I thought Jalen was great playing, like a little bit. A little bit less important of a role on offense at certain points, and then he was able to save his energy for crunch time, where I thought he played really well. Whereas Friday night, he did way too much in the first three quarters and didn't have anything in the fourth.
- [23:42]
Will
And that, again, was the. You know, you talked about it carrying over for Derek White. That was Anthony Simons. Right. He came in after only playing those two minutes in the first half on Friday night, had 11 points, I think four or five. I just looked at it on the. In the fourth quarter, had all of his 11 points in that fourth quarter.
- [23:56]
Greg
And it did seem like. It did seem like when Simons came out of the game, because I remember Phil and I were texting about this. There's a timeout. And it was right after Josh. It was either right after Minot made that turnover Friday night. You're talking about Friday night. Yeah, yeah. Where Simons was in the game. Pritchard was on the bench, and they were trying. They. It was right after Josh Minot had the ball on the sideline and threw the ball under the basket. And then I think Franz Got the steal in the bucket or someone had a steal in a bucket. That was a big turning point in that game. And Simons was really kind of carrying the offense in the, in the fourth quarter and they took him out of the game. And then when Simons came out of the game, we just didn't have enough offensive weapons out there. So. Yeah, I mean just kind of wide ranging scatter brain thoughts on, on these two games. But I think Derrick White, he, he looks like he's turning a corner, which is great. The numbers weren't awesome tonight. Seven for 18 from the field, but he was doing all the little Derrick White things that you want to see out of him and hitting big shots in the fourth quarter.
- [24:55]
Will
Right. The, the, the, the steals, the, you know, coming around the back with the Jose Alvarado. There was that seque first half where it felt like the ball was ping ponging back and forth and Derrick White was the guy.
- [25:06]
Greg
That's a great one.
- [25:07]
Will
That was a really good one where Derrick White was in the middle of that as well. So yeah, so I, I think Derek turned the corner and you know, this team is, is kind of right where we thought they would be. And like even when I looked at the stats from Friday night, because I caught the end of the game and I went back on Saturday morning and re watched the game and you look at the game charts and really the, there's a couple. The biggest differences in that game on Friday night were Magic shot the ball much better than they typically do. They made 17 threes.
- [25:35]
Greg
Yeah.
- [25:35]
Will
And you referenced the Josh Minot turnover under the basket. There was a couple, there was like three or four really, really bad and costly turnovers that the Celtics made that were just kind of like errant passes that were like panic moves that led to really easy buckets. And that was really the difference of this kind of two game series here. Because if you don't have, you know, the Magic shoot a little bit closer to their reality and you don't make those really crucial turnovers at those points. And the Celtics are right there in both of these games. You know, with a team that is supposed to be one of the best teams, you know, in the Eastern Conference. Although I'm curious to get your thoughts now that you got two full games of the Magic. Where are you at with your opinion of, of where they are right now? Still early, but where they're at right now?
- [26:23]
Greg
I still think they're going to be a top five seed in the East. I didn't think that they were going to be a contender this year. I thought they were going to be much better than they were just because in, in terms of like potential to, to go into the playoffs this year. I didn't think they were going to be able to make it to the finals or anything like that. I just think they're still a year or two away. Suggs is my guy. Like, I think Suggs is the best player on that team just because all the stuff that he does on both ends of the court. Paulo, I think has the opportunity to be like the superstar and the face of the franchise. But Suggs, in terms of like you always call me the coach of the pod. Like the guy that I would love to coach is Jalen Suggs. Like, he does everything that you want, plays, you know, full court defense up in your jersey, hits all the big shots, makes all the right plays. Paulo bears the brunt of the other team's game plan, right? So he kind of has to maneuver with more bodies in his way than other guys do. And Suggs can kind of float in between the game plan. But I think Wagner is kind of the X factor for that team. I think Suggs is going to be, he's going to be a great point guard as long as he's healthy. He's going to be one of the best players in the court. One of the most impactful players in the court. Paulo, when it's nut crunching time, I think Paulo's their guy. Yeah, Franz showed me what he is capable of. I always known he's good. Great defense on Jalen Brown. Had what, seven offensive rebounds tonight. But then when you look at the, the shooting, he's 5 for 17 from the field, right. And it's like, can Franz really figure out a way to score efficiently in the NBA? I think he can. You know, he's huge. He, he runs a really nice pick and roll. He's got a, a lot of heated turglu to his game. Is he going to be able to shoot mid-30s 3 point shot? He was 1 for 4 tonight. I know that he doesn't have the hitch in his shot that he had last year, but he does all the intangible things that I want out of a player. It's like he's got to be able to be a knockdown shooter and the secondary scorer for that team. Because Paulo, I think is, is nails and I think Jalen Suggs is, is going to be a great point guard for the next decade. It's. Can Franz figure out how to play with those two guys?
- [28:32]
Will
Yeah, Paulo for me was a little underwhelming in these two games until the end of tonight. End of the game tonight. I thought he was nearly going to bring them back. And I was starting to be like, ah, this is where Paolo's gonna be like, don't forget about me. And, you know, Celtics were able to, obviously, you know, Jordan. That's partly what made the Jordan Walsh shot so big, is that Paolo felt like he was kind of starting to take over that game a little bit. And you, gosh, Magic's running out here with, you know, these, these bench substitutions that are playing above their head. And then the Jordan Walsh three changed everything. So it was like, all right, maybe that, that will just put the nail in the coffin. But for the Magic, I, I did walk away a little. I was probably a little bit too high on them early or at least just going into the season. Preseason. Desmond Bain also, you know, nine points. Desmond Bain haven't really found the. The true.
- [29:16]
Greg
Played great on Friday.
- [29:17]
Will
He did play great on Friday. Right. I think it's just a consistency thing with trying to figure out what that looks like because that starting five should be really good. Right? Like that's, that's a really good starting 5. What the ceiling is, to your point, like, they might be a year away from figuring out what the ceiling is with that team. And this could be one of those. Make a big trade, bring a guy in in either end of this year or next year, they really kind of get a rhythm and then they kind of hit their mark and. And they're off and running. One thing I did want to complain to you about. So NBA cup game, Friday night. Tonight, not a cup game. It feels really stupid to me when they put the same team that's in your group on back to back nights in group play, but only one of the games counts towards it. Yeah, like, it. I, I just don't understand. Like, I feel like you have to do a better job at scheduling or what you do is you play. They basically play three to four games a week anyways. Right. So just make for four weeks. Like two games that are. We play the Magic twice, both games are cup games. Play the Nets twice next week, both games are cup games. And it kind of extends the drama of the cup. That plus minus gives you more like, I don't know it. That's just a little thing that bothers me. That's like, okay, cool, we lost Friday nights, that hurts us. But we win tonight. And like, you know, it's just a regular win. But it's the same. It was the same matchup. So, yeah, I don't know.
- [30:37]
Greg
I guess it comes down to do you care about the Cup?
- [30:42]
Will
For me, it's like if you want me to care about the cup, don't make me have the chance. The opportunity to get annoyed about little things like this. You know what I mean?
- [30:49]
Greg
Yeah, yeah.
- [30:50]
Will
Just things that you can, that you can clean up. I'm trying. Anything else that you have on this game or the game Friday night?
- [31:00]
Greg
Yeah, I got nothing else.
- [31:02]
Will
Take a quick look at the week ahead and then we'll move on to Mediocre Life update and go ahead and wrap this pod up. Coming up here, Celtics off tomorrow night. Then they've got Tuesday at Philadelphia, home on Wednesday against Memphis, back to back. And then three days off before the Clippers come to town a week from today as we're recording this Sunday night. So two games this week, Philly, Memphis, that we'll be talking about here. We'll probably be going live after the Memphis game. Another scratch, another scheduling quirk I'm gonna, I'm gonna complain about here. Philly three times this early on. Like this is a, this is a big time rivalry. Like I. Why are we playing this many times this early on? Throwing a Charlotte game, throw in, you know, a Blazers game or something like, I don't know. That's. That seems like once again, poor scheduling. But we will get our third look at the maxi Edgecomb backcourt. Been two really good games so far against Philly, so that should be a good one. And then Memphis, who knows, that injury list that they have is always growing. Jobs suspended. He's not suspended, so who knows what's going to happen on Wednesday night. But we'll be live Wednesday after that game to talk about, talk and recap the Grizzlies game as well as. Then we will take a look at whatever happens on Tuesday night with that, Greg. Let's go ahead and let's move on to everybody's favorite segment. It is Mediocre Life update.
- [32:41]
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- [32:56]
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- [33:28]
Will
Mediocre life update back in effect here. Greg, why don't you lead us off here? What do you got for us?
- [33:35]
Greg
All right, so I made a sauce today, and Danielle doesn't let me.
- [33:41]
Will
Sunday sauce.
- [33:42]
Greg
Sunday sauce. Danielle doesn't let me make a sauce every week like I used to when I was a bachelor. I can make a really good sauce, okay? I can make a really good sauce. She doesn't allow me to do it anymore after I made it. I'm gonna go back and recap here in a second. But after I made it, she did say, why didn't you make more sauces? And I looked at her like you. Like you were the one that doesn't allow me to make enough sauce.
- [34:02]
Will
So to give you credit, she did call you out for this in a group chat pretty recently.
- [34:07]
Greg
Yes, exactly. And it's just like, right now, as a dad, it's kind of tough to find time to cook and let alone, like, a sauce for me takes like an hour to make because I'm cutting up all the veggies. So, like, the, the process is like the process. You know, I chop up the onions, I chop up the garlic. Today it was shallots instead of onions. I, you know, get that, get the aromatics going. And then I cook the. The ground beef in it, and then I remove the ground beef and I put that in. In a little colander, let the juices kind of. Kind of fade out. But then I leave the rest of, like, the fat, and I cook all the vegetables in the beef fat, right? So I cooked that all in the beef fat. So I had what I have. I had squash, I had zucchini. I had carrots, mushrooms, and I think that was it. So cook all that in the. In the. No. And tomatoes, cherry tomatoes in there as well. Cook all that in the beef fat. Then I add the tomato sauce, and then I add all the spices, and then I add the. The meat back in at the end. But one thing that I forgot that my mom does when she makes the sauce, she always puts a pan seared pork chop in there, bone in pork chop, where she'll, like, sear it on. On the. On a pot, I mean, on a pan. And then she'll throw it into the pot so that it tenderizes in the sauce. And that's how I cooked it today. And it was from like 9:00am the sauce was done at like 4:00pm and, brother, let me tell you this shit. It's one of my better sauces. Like, if I'm. If I'm ever going to open up bread and sauce, like the, the main sauce that goes along with the dipping bread, it's got to be this one. Everything I made about it was perfect. Danielle gave me shouts for it. I'm freezing some of it. My parents are visiting this weekend, so I'm gonna unfreeze it to them and. Yeah, and they're gonna be able to come to the party on Saturday.
- [35:59]
Will
Oh, yeah, That'll be awesome. What type of spaghetti did you use?
- [36:02]
Greg
Penne.
- [36:04]
Will
All right. Is that. Is that. Is that the. Does it have to be penne, or do you sometimes mix up what type of noodle you're going with?
- [36:10]
Greg
I used to be a spaghetti guy, like a long noodle guy, but now I've gone like, more shells, penne, ziti. Just something that, you know, hold a little bit more. This office.
- [36:20]
Will
Yeah. I think, I think the. The shells or the penny. Like, I think that's the way to go to be 100 honest. Like, it's the idea of the long spaghetti noodle, I think is. Is a romantic idea, right? Like, like, it's. It's just like what you picture, like in a. In a movie or if you were to search for it online, like, it looks good there. Practical sense, I don't think it's the right. I don't think it's the best noodle. It's not. It's not the. It's not the everyday man's noodle, right? Like, yeah. And if it's gonna be done, like, if you go to, like, a really nice Italian restaurant, they're probably doing it like. Like they're hand making it, right? Like, that's a different story. But, like, when you're at home and you're just, you know, you're grabbing the barilla or whatever the different, you know, brands are, and you're throwing it in a pot, like, nah, I think. I think you made the right call there.
- [37:03]
Greg
So one question for you.
- [37:05]
Will
Yeah.
- [37:05]
Greg
If you're making a sauce or if you're freezing a soup.
- [37:08]
Will
Soup.
- [37:08]
Greg
How you freezing it? What do you. What are you putting that soup in? What are you putting that sauce in when you throw it in the freezer?
- [37:13]
Will
Tupperware. Like, what do you mean, like. Or are you saying like, oh, so are you asking. Okay, so I think I know what you're asking. Like, would you. You're just gonna put it. You're just gonna leave it in the pot and put it in the. In the fridge or the fridge.
- [37:25]
Greg
You can't put a pot in the freezer, so.
- [37:28]
Will
Well, yeah. Well, that's why. Okay, well, first of all, that was gonna be my reaction. That's what I thought.
- [37:31]
Greg
You were happy. Do you remember? Was it. Was it Teddy who was it Teddy who was talking about put it in the bag?
- [37:39]
Will
So. Yeah. So everybody listening. When Greg and I used to live together, our guy. Our guy Teddy as well as our guy Teddy. I. I don't know if it was a sauce or it was something else. You made something you made in a crock pot. I remember that. And so it was like.
- [37:51]
Greg
It was in the crock pot, and I used to have a bag in the crock pot.
- [37:56]
Will
Right, right, right.
- [37:59]
Greg
Exactly. Yeah. So he would. He was saying that I should just take the lining out and, like, tie the lining off into the freezer.
- [38:07]
Will
Here's the thing.
- [38:08]
Greg
Crazy.
- [38:09]
Will
Well, yes. So here's the thing. What he was actually asking you was to remove it from the crock pot. So. So that specifically, he could. I wasn't using it, but so that he could use the crock pot. So the crock pot wasn't just, like, the container in which it lived. So he wasn't wrong for that. Yeah, right. Then you two got into. I. I forget. He was like, dude, you could just take it out of the crock pot. You're like, what do you mean? I don't. I think your point was this is like, you know, three single dudes living together, where it was like, I don't own any Tupperware, so what am I gonna put in it? And. And then I think Ted said, dude, just take it out of the bag that it's in. And then you were like, hold on, hold on. Are you actually asking me to put. What was it that you were making? Was it chili? It.
- [38:58]
Greg
I think. I think it was a sauce or, like a chicken cacciatory or something.
- [39:01]
Will
That's what I think it was a Tori. And you're like, hold on. So you want me to just leave it in a bag in the fridge? And at this point, Ted was right. And then he took a wrong turn, but he didn't want to back down. So I think it got to the point where I was just sitting there as innocent bastard. I was like, I don't know, Ted. I kind of Want to see what it looks like if you put a. Put a bag in the fridge? And so I think he got to the point where he was, like, kind of attempting to do it out of spite, then realized he had gone one. One lane too far. And he was right.
- [39:33]
Greg
Here's the thing. Will I now store my sauce in gallon freezer bags in. In the. In the freezer. So I actually use bags now. So shout out to Teddy. Teddy was wrong in that the execution of taking the liner out of the crock pot and putting that into the freezer.
- [39:49]
Will
Liners are not meant to be stored.
- [39:51]
Greg
Yeah. But a freezer bag that is actually designed to hold things in the freezer. That's what I now store my sauce in.
- [39:58]
Will
Yeah. Interesting. Usually when it's like. When it's like, you know, chicken or something a little bit more solid. I'm with you. I usually do the freezer bag liquids. I tend to try to find, like, a big circular Tupperware, and then. Yeah, that would be what I put it in. But either way, I think that's sufficient. Well, it's funny that you did food, because we've talked about how this could just become food. And so my wife, Lorena, actually suggested. She was like, I think what I'm gonna try to do, and, like, you got. You should. Maybe we'll start. Start filming this. And she's like, I think just like, once a month, I'm gonna bring you a food that I don't think that you've had before and just try it out. If you guys are gonna do food, might as well do something new so you have something interesting to talk about. Yeah. So she went to Costco, I think, during the week. I can't remember when exactly, but she came back with, like, a bunch of, like, the normal stuff. And usually we always kind of, like, try to surprise each other with, like, something random, like a random treat or something.
- [40:48]
Greg
Yeah.
- [40:48]
Will
And I was looking at what she came back with, and I was like, she came back with everything that we had in the list. You know, we had a couple dinners. We had, like, some stuff for the baby. And I was like, the only thing that you came back with was kiwis. And I was so disappointed. So disappointed. And she was like, yeah. As if she. First of all, she acts as if she always gets kiwi. She's never once had a kiwi in this house. In seven years we've been together, I've never seen a kiwi in this house. So she acted like, yeah, why wouldn't every back a Kiwi. It's a kiwi. It's like. I don't know. I've never seen a kiwi in this house. There's a reason I'm shocked that you brought kiwis back. And so, you know, then I thought about it, and I was like, to be honest with you, like, you may have to eat that whole thing of kiwis. Like, I don't think I like kiwis, but also, I'm not sure I've ever had a kiwi. Like, it's just something that's never really crossed my mind.
- [41:33]
Greg
Yeah, my mom used to eat them when I was a kid, but I never actually tried them.
- [41:36]
Will
Yeah, so what happened was I was sitting outside, and I think she was like, you know what? I'm gonna. I'm gonna prove to you that these can be good. So this became our. Our first installment of Mediocre Life Update, where Lorena gets me new food to try. And so she came out and I was like, I don't know how you eat this thing. So she, like, cut it up for me. And. And like, they're, like, not that big. They're probably, like the size of a little smaller than a peach. But it's like.
- [42:00]
Greg
I think most people know the size of a kiwi.
- [42:03]
Will
All right, fair enough. I don't know, man. I'm. I'm a kiwi novice here, so. I mean, would you know how to eat a kiwi, though, if you were presented with a kiwi?
- [42:11]
Greg
I'd probably just cut it in half and then kind of do it like an avocado.
- [42:16]
Will
Yeah, I think that's kind of the way to do it. I think she, like, then like, scooped it out, like, fully, basically.
- [42:20]
Greg
Okay.
- [42:20]
Will
Yeah. And then. So then what she did was she just cut the thing in half. And then she gave me the entire half. And I have the baby in my hand, and she just spoon fed me. And I was like, can I get, like, a little sample? Like, I just, like. I don't know if I'm gonna like this thing. Gotta say, it came back. It's. It's a six. It's a six out of ten. It was. It was better than I expected. I still don't think I'm going back. I'll probably give at least one more kiwi a chance. I was. I'll be honest, I had no idea what to expect, flavor wise. When was the last time you had a kiwi? Have you?
- [42:49]
Greg
I don't think I've ever had one. I don't think.
- [42:51]
Will
Yeah, right. Okay. Maybe it's just being from Boston. If you're from Boston, listen to this. If you're like, I'm with you, man. Of Kiwi. Like, I don't know, maybe this is like the. What is it? The Aiz Ansari 50 cent grapefruit story.
- [43:02]
Greg
Yeah.
- [43:05]
Will
Some of those big ass oranges over there. And so, yeah, the kiwi itself, it kind of. It had like a mangoey peach texture to it. Right. Like, like not quite as. As sweet, but it was, it was okay. It was like, I'd rather just have a peach or a mango is kind of where like my mind.
- [43:22]
Greg
Mango. Dude, mangoes are fire. Mangoes fire. Not really a big peach guy. I do have one more. I do have one more mediocre life update, which is like, probably more in the. Truly in the spirit of what a mediocre life update is.
- [43:37]
Will
Okay.
- [43:37]
Greg
So I was out in the yard today with James and Danielle. In the morning, we're having coffee. James just wants to like, be out running around. And I decide because, you know, there's some dog poop in the yard. I got to pick up the dog poops. I have like the pooper scooper. I'm throwing it over the fence.
- [43:54]
Will
Yeah, you need to clear that up.
- [43:56]
Greg
Yeah. I have like a clearing behind my house. Like, throw it over the fence. And I realized that there's just like a bunch of leaves everywhere. Right. You know, it's fall time. Even though we're in Texas, leaves are falling. So we have this like really skinny rake that's in our backyard. It's probably like no more than 8 inches across. And it's like a metal rake, and I'm using it to rake the yard. And Danielle's like, why don't you use the other rake? And I'm like, what other rake? And she's like, we have another rake. I was like, I haven't seen this other rake. Like, show me this other rake. I've never seen it before. And she goes into the garage, comes back out with this like, like two foot long rake. And I'm like, where the hell has this thing been? Like, if I knew that we had a two foot long rake in the garage, I would be raking a lot more than I have just using this little eight inch rake.
- [44:39]
Will
Yeah.
- [44:40]
Greg
And that was great, man, that I raked my yard in like five minutes.
- [44:45]
Will
Also, like, I don't think I've ever seen a mini rig. Like, what's the purpose of a, of a, of a mini rig?
- [44:50]
Greg
So it's, it's metal. So I Think it just, like, it's a little bit more heavy duty. The other one's like, a hard plastic, but it was pretty cute. As I was raking, James went over and picked up, like, the pooper scooper, and he was pretending to, like, help me. You know, he was kind of, like, moving, and he was just moving with me. So that was pretty cute. I think Danielle took a video of it, but that's probably more in the spirit of what a true mediocre life update is. Found out that I have a real rake for raking leaves, and it, you know, made my leaf raking ten times more efficient.
- [45:21]
Will
Yeah. I feel like, similarly, something along those lines happens to me at least once a week where, like, I've either procrastinated in doing something because I don't think we have something, or I'm doing it the wrong way like you were, or with the wrong tool.
- [45:34]
Greg
Yeah.
- [45:34]
Will
And then the wife just comes in. She's like, what are you doing? Or why are you doing it that way?
- [45:39]
Greg
Exactly.
- [45:39]
Will
Immediately corrects it. Oh, it's a good thing we got some. We got some good women by our sides. So kudos to us. Shout out to us there for our mediocre life update. That's gonna do it for this episode here of Green with Envy. Again, programming note, I highly recommend from Friday, our episode with Chase Orano. Recommend that you guys go back and give that a listen, either on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. And then coming up here for the Celtics Tuesday night in Philadelphia, Wednesday night back home at the TD Garden against the Memphis Grizzlies coming to town. We will be live on Wednesday night following that game. So we will have a recap of Philly and a recap of Memphis Celtics for you on Wednesday night. Greg, any final words here before we send the people off to start their weeks?
- [46:25]
Greg
Nah, got nothing.
- [46:26]
Will
All right, get out of here, guys. We'll talk to you on Wednesday night. Peace. Every time I get this high I lose my mind it don't take much no more until I hit the floor Every time I hit this high it's you I find it don't take much no more.
- [46:49]
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