Celtics PROGRESS, Jaylen Brown's BEST SEASON, and definitely NOT tanking

Summary

Locked On Celtics: “Celtics PROGRESS, Jaylen Brown's BEST SEASON, and definitely NOT tanking”

Host: John Karalis
Guest: Tom Westerholm
Date: December 2, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, John Karalis and regular guest Tom Westerholm take stock of the Boston Celtics at the quarter-mark of the 2025-26 NBA season. They analyze the team’s progression after 20 games, discuss Jaylen Brown’s ascension during his best individual campaign yet, evaluate the surprising impact of big man Neemias Queta, and emphatically reject the idea that the Celtics are tanking. The pod is rich with context, honest assessments, and a touch of humor as they weave through the Celtics’ identity, leadership, and future.

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1. Celtics’ First Quarter Progress: Perspective & Playstyle

Timestamps: 01:41, 03:24–12:15

• Record Check and Standings

  • Celtics are 11–9 after a rough 0–3 start but have gone 11–6 since—good for eighth in the Eastern Conference, just two games out of fourth place.
  • John: “If somebody were just to swoop in and be like, okay, the Celtics are the 8th seed heading into this... 11 and 9 is not bad.” (04:49)
  • Reflection on how the team has responded to adversity compared to similarly-stricken teams, specifically the Indiana Pacers, and credit for staying relevant despite injuries.

• Organizational Culture & Depth

  • The Celtics’ success is a testament not only to Joe Mazzulla’s coaching but to the players, the development staff, and Brad Stevens’ roster-building.
  • Players like Josh Minott and Jordan Walsh are embracing their roles and trusting the system—“Guys who know how to basketball,” as Tom puts it humorously (08:35).

• Team Playstyle and Reality Check

  • Preseason promises of a faster, run-and-gun Celtics have not fully materialized. Boston sits at the bottom of the league in pace (96.5 possessions per 48 minutes) but is still selective and opportunistic in transition.
  • John: “We were promised a fast team. We’re not getting a fast team. This is a slow team overall, but within the slowness, there are pockets of fast.” (10:29)
  • Tom adds: “They are playing somewhat faster...especially when they play small...but this is a team where...their best player is one of the best isolation scorers in the NBA right now.” (15:24)

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2. Jaylen Brown’s Leap: Leadership and Style Evolution

Timestamps: 16:55–27:23

• Jaylen’s Offensive Renaissance

  • Jaylen Brown is thriving as the team’s focal point, with elite isolation numbers (“eighth in points per possession in isolation, second in total points in the league in isolation, according to Synergy” – John, 17:46) and efficient self-creation, embodying a “DeRozaning” playing style (22:30).
  • Tom: "It’s fun to watch Jalen do that at a higher level...and just be as good as he is and be efficient with that kind of a game." (23:30)
  • John: "This is, like, absolutely the best Jalen Brown has been...he continues to find ways to level up." (25:57)

• Reality of Having The Spotlight

  • Jaylen has discovered the full weight of leadership and first-option responsibility—expressed through a reality-check on how playing at top speed, defending, and leading is grueling over long stretches without Tatum.
  • John: "Jalen didn’t understand the job description...He is 100% up for it, he is 100% succeeding in it, but also he, I think, understands: oh, man, this is a lot." (19:21)

• A Maturing Leader

  • Notable maturity: Jaylen recognizing in-game moments where teammates like Peyton Pritchard had the hot hand and ceding crunch-time control—"Letting Pritchard cook and close the game is not...I don’t think he would have done that any other season." (24:05)
  • John’s leadership principle: "The best leader doesn’t have to have all the answers. He just has to make the right decisions." (24:38)

• Statistical Leap & Personal Growth

  • Jaylen is hitting 55% on step-back jumpers—well above previous career levels (25:56).
  • John openly admits past “putting Jaylen in a box”—acknowledging continual surprise and respect for his improvement.

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3. Neemias Queta & The Celtics Are NOT Tanking

Timestamps: 29:55–35:49

• Surprise Contributor: Neemias Queta

  • Queta (dubbed "Nene") has exceeded all expectations as a backup (and sometimes starting) center. His advanced stats are off the charts—“plus 22.5 on/off” per Cleaning the Glass (30:44).
  • Tom: “He’s helpful. He gets up and down the floor...all his offense is coming around the rim. That’s big...a slightly...lower middle class man’s Robert Williams.” (32:07)
  • John: “He’s a much better passer than I expected...he is absolutely—my criticisms of him are still the same...he’s just...the inflatable wavy arm guy...but regardless, he’s making the most of it.” (35:49)

• Team Depth / Player Progress

  • Special recognition for Jordan Walsh, who is giving off “Marcus Smart essence”—toughness, hustle, and defensive playmaking (37:23).
  • Walsh’s net impact is emerging above expectations, while other young players like Josh Minott and Anthony Simons are still developing roles.

• No Tanking Here

  • The pod directly affirms that despite injuries and a season that could’ve derailed, the Celtics’ current trajectory (44-win pace) puts them firmly in playoff position.
  • John: “They are definitely not tanking. They are on a pace to get a...playoff spot. No play-in, no nothing.” (40:50)
  • Tom: “In this Eastern Conference, that should be enough to get you into that top six.” (40:50)

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4. Rapid Fire: The Wide-Open East & Closing Thoughts

Timestamps: 39:20–41:33

• Eastern Conference Parity

  • The East is wide open—teams like Cleveland, New York, Toronto, Miami, and Atlanta are all question marks.
  • John: “The East is completely wide open...maybe we overestimated how good Cleveland would be.” (39:21)

• Celtics Outlook

  • If current trends hold, Boston is projected for a top-six seed. There’s even a hint of hope if/when Jason Tatum returns at full strength.

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5. Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Teamwide Buy-In:
  “Guys who know how to basketball on this team...guys who, who aren’t letting their own personal situations impede...the overall goal.” – John (08:35)
• On Pace Expectations vs. Reality:
  “We were promised a fast team. We’re not getting a fast team. This is a slow team overall, but within the slowness, there are pockets of fast.” – John (10:29)
• On Jaylen’s Leadership Leap:
  “That is maturity from Jaylen Brown. I always say: the best leader doesn’t have to have all the answers. He just has to make the right decisions.” – John (24:38)
• On Queta’s Development:
  “Keda is not the smoothest basketball player I’ve ever seen...However, Keda works, like, he tries really, really hard.” – Tom (32:13)
• On the Eastern Conference:
  “The East is completely wide open...we haven’t even factored in the wild ‘what if Jason Tatum comes back’ and actually plays well.” – John (41:24)

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6. Key Segment Timestamps

• [03:24] – Introducing Tom Westerholm, context on Celtics’ start
• [04:38-07:13] – Celtics’ place in standings, comparison to Pacers
• [10:29] – Discussion of playstyle: pace, isolation, transition
• [16:55–23:36] – Jaylen’s isolation dominance, leadership, and reality check
• [24:38–27:23] – Jaylen’s best season, sabermetric improvements, John’s reflections
• [29:55–35:49] – Neemias Queta’s emergence, how Celtics are not tanking
• [37:23] – Jordan Walsh’s Marcus Smart moments
• [39:20-41:33] – State of the Eastern Conference, Celtics’ playoff path projection

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Summary

This episode offers a clear-eyed, uplifting, and analytically robust look at the Celtics at the season’s quarter mark. John and Tom credit both the players and the organization for thriving through adversity, highlight Jaylen Brown’s remarkable development as a star and leader, heap praise on Neemias Queta’s unexpectedly pivotal contributions, and dispel any notion of tanking. The episode is full of memorable, insightful banter and provides both context and optimism for Celtics fans going forward.

Transcript

[John Corrales]

It's the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Oh, hey. Welcome to gift wrapping. Whoa. So we saldana.

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[John Corrales]

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[Tom Westerholm]

The first quarter.

[John Corrales]

Of the season is over. Where do we stand on the Celtics playstyle? Jaylen Brown. Namishkeda. It's all right now on the Lockdown Celtics podcast. Huh?

[Tom Westerholm]

Yep.

[John Corrales]

Be town be ever ready. It's the seas. Who else could it be? What they gonna say now? Screaming like JT Corralis recap the madness Every game, every practice prime time and D White on the sideline Ren and J's how we started raising ban is how we finish Locked on Celtics pod Home of the winners. Welcome back to the Lockdown Celtics podcast. Right here on the Lockdown podcast network where it is your team every day. Your team is the Boston Celtics and I talk about them every Monday through Friday. Bonus podcast. Like when they play Friday night against the Lakers. I will do a bonus podcast for you. Every podcast is free. It's available Everywhere. It's on YouTube, so go hop into the comment section there, join your fellow every dayers, the people with me every Monday through Friday and have a fun conversation there. If you're new to the show, I'm John Corrales, beat writer for Boston Sports Journal, covering the Celtics in some form for 20 years and doing this podcast for 10. I've also written a couple of books about the team. Today's show is brought to you by FanDuel new customers. You bet five bucks. You get 300 in bonus bets if that first bet wins. So head to FanDuel.com to get started. The Celtics have played 20 games. That's basically 25 of the schedule. So the first quarter has ended. Where do the Celtics stand at the end of the first quarter of the season? Later on, we'll get to Namish Kada. We'll get to Jalen Brown. We're going to start, though, with the play style, and we're going to do it by introducing our guy, Tom Westerholm.

[Tom Westerholm]

It's good that you introduced me in case people aren't sure who I am at this point.

[John Corrales]

People, if you're new to the show, this is Tom Westerholm. You can find. Hey, find his [e-mail]. he's here on a regular basis. It's just, you know, my guy. My guy Tom. How you doing, man?

[Tom Westerholm]

I'm good. How are you? I'm buried under snow.

[John Corrales]

I am not. This is water snow. Yeah, you're. It's winter. It's December. It's December. Yeah, I am.

[Tom Westerholm]

It's December. And The Celtics are above 500.

[John Corrales]

You know, dude, yes, they. And look, they're above 500. They're 11 and 9. They started 0 and 3. So they're in 6 in their last 17. They're doing pretty well. And it's kind of funny that they're doing this well after a slow start. And even as the, the wins aren't like, I don't know, aside from the Detroit win, they're not like satisfying wins. They're like, they're, they're wins. And you're like, okay, okay, got it. But I guess, I guess that's a great entry into this play style thing.

[Tom Westerholm]

Because real quick, before you get into the playstyle. Can I just say it's wild that they are two games out from the Heat in fourth.

[John Corrales]

I know.

[Tom Westerholm]

Games.

[John Corrales]

It's very impressive. It is very impressive. Like when you pull back and like, we always take this super hyper, like, close under the microscope view of the, of these guys because that's, that's our jobs. But when you look at it, if somebody were just to kind of swoop in and be like, okay, the Celtics are the 8th seed heading into this. 11 and 9 is not bad. They're. If we were to say, hey, by the way, the Celtics are going to be a half game behind the Cavs starting December. Like, whoa. Now, you might have thought, how did they get to the two seed? But. But they're still there and better than Philly, Chicago, Milwaukee, I guess that's the other Charlotte, Indy, New Brooklyn, Washington. That's. That's basically what we expected, but still.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, all you have to do is look at Indiana for what can happen to you when your best player goes down with an Achilles injury.

[John Corrales]

Yeah. Right, right. So, you know, that's a great place to start, actually, because people, I. I spent time in yesterday's podcast saying, hey, when does Joe Missoula get some credit? And you know the Pacers, to have a coach, Rick Carlisle, that people are like, oh my God, this guy's a genius. Look at what he's doing with this team. Now, Pascal Siakam isn't Jaylen Brown, but he's not that far off from Jalen Brown. Like, he's. He has the potential to be an all NBA player. Right. Like, and I know the Pacers have been decimated by injuries and all of that stuff, but the Pacers are 4 and 16 and the Celtics are 11 and 9 and both of their stars suffered the exact same injury. And yes, the circumstances are different and all of that stuff, but it's just to be that far apart. Seven game differential. Again, I do not want to gloss over everything that the Pacers have been through, but it is us. Like, the Celtics are doing well, comparatively speaking, with the guys that they have. And we can fold the play style into this. They're not playing exactly the way we thought they would, but hey, after the first quarter of the season, they look pretty good.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And I think to your point, it speaks to, like, it's not like, not just Missoula.

[John Corrales]

Right?

[Tom Westerholm]

Missoula, for sure. But it speaks to a lot of these guys. Like, it speaks to. Yeah. How. How good Peyton Pritchard is. Right. Peyton Pritchard hasn't even shot the ball that well this season from three, you know, with the exception, obviously. I mean, funny to say that after yesterday, obviously, but he hasn't for the, over the course of the season, he hasn't shot that well, but he's still found all these ways to contribute. Derrick White has shot the ball horribly all season, and he is still a positive player because he finds other ways to contribute. You know, we're gonna, we're gonna get to a lot of these other guys, like, you know, Jalen Cato, all that, but it really just, I think it speaks it a lot like really highly of a lot of these players that, yeah, I mean, a superstar, all NBA first team, quality player goes down, you know, a borderline mvp quality player. Every, you know, every year it's like, you know, it starts, your season starts off like, ooh, could this be the year that Tatum makes a push for mvp? It's like it's, it's never completely out of the question. You haven't had that guy at all. And your team is still in this position that's speaks very highly of everybody else. There's, there's a lot of talent, a lot of, A lot, a lot of talent, a lot of good, good, you know, good brains on this team, like, who know how to basketball on this.

[John Corrales]

Team, guys who know how to basketball. You know, guys who, who aren't letting their own personal situations impede. Not, I mean, maybe here and there, but not generally impede the overall goal. Right. Josh Minot is looking to make noise, right? He's, he's making a name for himself. Jordan Walsh making a name for himself. Guys like Xavier Tillman gets a start in this game after 9 out of 10 DNPs. And these guys are, generally speaking, not all the time, but generally speaking, doing what the team needs them to do. Again, that, that's Joe Missoula, that's the players, that's the development staff, that's Brad Stevens finding the guys that'll do that. That's just a top to bottom organizational thing. So credit to everybody for being in that. But like, this is a very easy situation for somebody like Josh. My to be like, you know what? I'm going for mine. Yeah. Now he has taken some ambitious shots and Joe has gotten on him for that and pulled him for it. And so there's, there's, there is a, a little of that here and there. I think that just might be Josh's personality. Like, hey, you know what? I'm going for this.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, but, yeah, but also on the other end of that, right, is. Is when Minot says, like, you know, I. I got. I was given 20 bucks, and now I don't have 20 bucks anymore. It's like, did I ever have it? There's. There's no. Like, I. How dare Joe Missoula. Like, I'll show everybody. Like, it's like, nah, you know, is what it is. Like, that. That level of, like, I don't know, of accepting his place within the team, too. I think it speaks highly of him as well to me.

[John Corrales]

So where these. Where these guys are is, you know, as far as play style. They're at the bottom of the league in pace, right? 96 and a half possessions per 48 minutes. Absolute bottom. Now, you can distill it down to, like, different aspects of it. They are in transition. They're 20th in percentage of like. Like, transition frequency, I'll put it that way, according to synergy. So they are not. They're not playing fast, but they're not as slow as the pace number would seem. They are. I think they are selectively running, and I think they're selectively. They're still an ISO team. Jalen is an ISO guy. Peyton is an ISO guy. And I think one of the things from the preseason to the end of the first quarter is we were promised a fast team. We're not getting a fast team. This is a slow team overall, but within the slowness, there are pockets of fast. And I think that if. I think that's how this team is going to be, there isn't a track meet in there consistently waiting to happen. They are just going to be a slow team that runs on occasion. So that's my. As far as my overall offensive takeaway, that. That's my big takeaway from the beginning of the season.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, I. I don't know if you want to go to break here. I can. I can hold my take if you need me to.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, hold your take.

[Tom Westerholm]

I got it. That's right here.

[John Corrales]

Hold your take.

[Tom Westerholm]

Hold.

[John Corrales]

You got it.

[Tom Westerholm]

Got it.

[John Corrales]

We'll get to it when we come back that time. Wes are home. He's a pro. Today's show is brought to you by fanduel. We are in the midst of football season. We're recording this before the Patriots play the Giants on Monday night. And, hey, these games move fast. One play can change everything. You're not just watching the game, you're reacting to it in full, in real. And with FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum Swing every highlight moment. Live betting can you know it's best when the game starts to shift. A receiver gets hot, a quarterback gets hot, Defense tightens up. FanDuel lets you jump into the moment. You got live spreads. You got money lines that adjust instantly, player props updates as guys heat up. You can bet the next touchdown. You can bet drive results totals. You can lock into every snap, every drive, every possibility. If you want to get into the middle of the action right now, you get to FanDuel.com place your NFL live bets all season long. When you sign up, it's going to ask you to set a limit, set a budget. Please, please do that. That allows you to gamble responsibly. You can do what you want with your money. But if you want to do it at FanDuel, gamble responsibly. Set your limit. Whatever you can afford to lose. If you hit a cold streak, they'll stop you. You come back when you, you know, replenish your funds. And that's the easy way to do it. Game moves fast and so can you at FanDuel. Oh, hey. Welcome to gift wrapping. Whoa. So we saw Donna.

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[John Corrales]

Wow. IPhone 17s.

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[John Corrales]

I'm the worst. I only got my mom a robe.

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Well, it's better than socks.

[John Corrales]

So I have to trade in my old phone, right?

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[John Corrales]

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In fact, wrap up my old phone too for my aunt Rosa.

[John Corrales]

Forget that.

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Aunt Liz will be jealous.

[John Corrales]

Sounds like my family drama.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

Oh, I got it. I'll give it to my abuela. I'll take reindeer paper with. Hey, where are you going?

[John Corrales]

To T Mobile. The holidays are better. AT T Mobile get four iPhone 17s on us. No trade in needed when you switch plus four lines for just 25 bucks a line. And now T Mobile is available in US cellular stores with 24 monthly bill credits and four eligible port ins on essentials for well qualified customers. Better pay plus taxes, fees and $35 device connection charge credit sending balance due if you pay off earlier. Cancel contact US Finance Agreement 256 gigabytes. $830 required. Visit T mobile.com thank you for making Lockdown Celtics the number one Celtics podcast on the planet. It's also part of the number one sports podcast Network Locked on podcast Network is number one in sports podcasting. Thank you all for making this the number one show and number one network. Check out Locked on NBA Game Night. I will be hosting tonight. We're doing this before all the games. So I'll be hosting tonight's show, the Tuesday show. Every game covered in the association. So check out Locked on NBA Game night. It's on the lockdown NBA feed, wherever you get this podcast. All right. Tom has been holding his take. Go.

[Tom Westerholm]

I was muted. Okay. It was just that guy with the. The veins popping out of his head like, so I. First of all, I think it's worth. It's worth saying, which, you know, you, you hinted at they are up some in transition this year, right? Like last year, it's about, you know, according to Synergy. It's like, it's like. I think it's like 1 percentage point up right there. I think they were like 16 of their possessions were transitioned last year, 17 this year. Compared to the rest of the league. It's actually pretty significant. Last year they were in like the seventh percentile, basically, and now they're in the 40th. So it's like they are playing somewhat faster. Right. I think the interesting thing, and you touched on this too, is that this, like the fact that they were like, we're gonna play faster, we're gonna play faster. Okay. But you have a lot of guys who are really good at half court offense, right? Like, so I do think that we're seeing more. More transition. We are seeing them push the pace a little bit more, especially when they play small. We are seeing like, you know, moments where it feels very intentional that they're like, wait a minute. No, I'm pushing, I'm pushing. There's like, moments that like, feel notable, especially compared to last year, but this is a team where, okay, their best player is one of the best isolation scores in the NBA right now. Like, Jalen is as good as it gets. He is, you know, scoring in isolation at a level that like a lot of people make three pointers at in terms of points per possession, right?

[John Corrales]

Yeah.

[Tom Westerholm]

And like, you know, Peyton Pritchard is really good at isolation. The team as a whole is. I just looked this up. Yeah, they're like, you know, they get like a very good rating on Synergy for isolation. Like, they are good at playing in isolation when need be. They're good at having their pick and roll ball handler score. They're good at that half court stuff. And frankly, apparently they've just decided, yeah, we're going to be good at offensive rebounding this year. Like, they're just good at offensive rebounding, too. Right. Like, so they've got these other elements of their game that. That they're quite good at that, I think. You know, coming into the season, I mean, we both were just like, yeah, this team's got to go fast. This team's got to run. This team's got to run. I don't know. I mean, turns out they're quite good at other stuff, too, as good, if not better than they are at transition, which is an odd twist.

[John Corrales]

It is eighth in points per possession in isolation, second in total points in the league in isolation, according to Synergy. So that. And. And in possessions, second in total isolation, possessions behind the Clippers, who are the slowest team just in. You know, when you combine every metric, they're super slow. It's so interesting because it's like the Clippers, the Mavericks, the Sixers. Okc. OKC is fifth. And in isolation, I wait. Nope. And I. That's possessions in isolation, percentage of time. There's six. Okay, so. But I guess when you have Shay, Gil, just Alexander, that's why when you have good individual players, surprise. They isolate a lot. And. And you know what? That's probably our fault. My fault for sure. To be like, why would we expect it? I'll take. I'll take it. But I'm also going to say that Jalen kind of like, I'm not gonna say he lied to us, but James.

[Tom Westerholm]

He hyped it a lot.

[John Corrales]

He was like, oh, great, we get to play fast. We get to play fast. Oh, thank God. We get to play fast. So I don't think Jalen understood. I just don't think Jalen understood what. What the responsibilities were. Yeah, I think that's what this is. So my. My other big takeaway when we talk about Jalen Brown is Jalen didn't understand the job description. Like, he know he watched Jason Tatum do it. But this is like when you have, like, a sub. I don't want to make this sound like Jalen was a subordinate to Jason.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

But for people to understand, you do a job and you're like, I can do my boss's job. I can do that job, which has more responsibilities. And that's why I'm saying it like this. And then you're like, I could do that. And then you do the job. You're like, oh, wow, okay. It's not just those responsibilities. It's like, there's a lot more to it, and I understand why it's done this way now, and you end up kind of doing the job the same way with your own, with your own thing to it. So I just think that Jalen being the number one guy, and I will also add to this, Jason is the number one guy and he's had Jalen Brown the whole time. Yes, Jalen's the number one guy, and right now he doesn't have Jason Tatum.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

And like, that is a significant difference. I don't think Jalen understood exactly how much work this was going to be, how much responsibility this is going to be. He is a hundred percent up for it. He is 100 succeeding in it. But also he, I think, understands, like, oh, man, this is a lot. There's no possible way I can run as much as I said I was going to run and still defend and still play as much as I need to. So I just think there's a little bit of a reality check and the play style with Jalen Brown's, like, realization of, like, okay, I, I gotcha. I got you. I can't, I can't run. I know what I said, but here's reality, and I think, I think that's where we are here.

[Tom Westerholm]

Well, and it's, it's funny, right? Because if, if anybody was going to be able to physically pull that off, if anybody could train in a summer to be ready to run as much as Jaylen Brown would have had to run, it would be Jaylen Brown. Right?

[John Corrales]

Like, right.

[Tom Westerholm]

Nobody else is at the bottom of that pool drowning themselves so that they're ready for the NBA season. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, so, yeah. So, I mean, yeah.

[John Corrales]

Greyhounds and cheetahs every day, to play as fast as he needs to play, to live up to what he needed to, to live up to his promise and do everything that he still needs.

[Tom Westerholm]

To do here headline, Jaylen Brown mauled by cheetah as he attempts to Prepare.

[John Corrales]

For the 2023 Hounds would have saved him.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. So, like, I think he's, I, I, I think you're absolutely right about all that. I, I think that it's also, it's also kind of funny, right? Because it's like when we were coming into the season, we were like, well, I mean, I, I don't think it was ridiculous for us to think that the absence of Jason Tatum would speed the Celtics up. Like, Tatum slows things down.

[John Corrales]

Absolutely.

[Tom Westerholm]

He is a deliberate player. And the, the, every statistic backs up his decision to be a deliberate player. But that man, that man takes his time.

[John Corrales]

Yeah. He's never promising to run. He's like.

[Tom Westerholm]

Like, why would I do that?

[John Corrales]

He and I have the same. We ain't gonna do it.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. So anyway, I think I, I mean, I, I think the takeaway for me from like the quarter season on Jalen Brown is just, it's, it's just so I want to see this more. I, I'm really enjoying the, you know, nod to J. King, the demar derozaning of, of Jayla Brown, because, like, Jalen's a better player than DeMar DeRozan and, and it's like, it's super fun to watch him. I mean, the thing with DeMar DeRozan was always that, like, he was doing all this in a league that was becoming somewhat, to some degree. Right. I, I always thought this was a little overblown, but to some degree a little bit homogenized. Right. There was, there were things about the league that were the, the, Listen, I'm a shooter. I'm never going to complain, but it was definitely getting pushed to the three point line a lot. Right. So then it was kind of fun to have that guy come in and be like, hey, this guy plays a little different. That's fun to watch. It's fun to watch Jalen do that at a higher level, at a better level and just, and just be as good as he is and be efficient with that kind of a game. So I, I, I, I've loved watching Jalen this year. Just a genuine pleasure through the, through the first quarter.

[John Corrales]

This is, this really has been a fun Jalen year. Yeah, it really has.

[Tom Westerholm]

Like, which is funny because last year kind of wasn't. Like, I didn't think last year was a very fun Jalen year. This is a fun Jalen year.

[John Corrales]

This is, this is my, this is, this is my favorite Jalen season. For sure. For sure. You know what? For a lot of things, and it's not even like the Twitch streaming or anything like that because, like, whatever, but he is being more open. I think he's being more honest.

[Tom Westerholm]

He's.

[John Corrales]

When he's talking to us, he's being a little bit, he's showing a little bit more of who he is.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

But I think he's being more honest on the court. I think he, But I'll just go back to the Cavs game. The two passes that he made the baseline were great. Letting. Letting Pritchard cook and close the game is not. I don't think he would have done that any other season. I Think every other season Jason Tatum.

[Tom Westerholm]

Would have done that. Not to make this some kind of referendum. I don't think Jason Tatum would do that.

[John Corrales]

No, you're right. I think you're right. I think it would have been like, hey, this is my turn, buddy.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, you did great. You did great. Peyton, look, 34 is a really nice number for you. I got it.

[John Corrales]

I got it. Thank you. But. But in that situation, under that pressure defense like, that was. That was. Peyton has the best handle. Peyton has the best free throw percentage. Peyton's cooking like, you got all. He's ticking all the boxes right there. He's like, you know what? You go ahead. Go ahead. You got it. And they won. And they won because of that. That is maturity from Jaylen Brown. I always say the best leader doesn't have to have all the answers. He just has to make the right decisions. So if we're in a boardroom and I'm the CEO, I don't have to be the one that has all the ideas. But when you have an idea and you have an idea and you have an idea, like, I like that one. I like that this. This is what we're doing. Your idea, your idea, your idea. And everybody feels empowered. I'm the one that gets to make all the decisions. And everybody looks at me as like, wow, man, that guy just made the calls, and he just embraced everybody. Boom. I am following that dude off a cliff. Jalen Brown, like, that's leadership. That's the most leadership that he has shown. More than any words that he can say, more than anything else. Like that right there. It's like, man, that's a mature leader right there. And that is super impressive. This is, like, absolutely the best Jalen Brown has been, you know, when he's 29 years old. Yeah, this is what you're supposed to do.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

And. And I know I'm going along. My last thing before we take a break is it's super impressive that a guy at 29 isn't just like, hey, this is who I am, and I'm just gonna roll with it. He continues to find ways to level up, you know, And I. As. I'll admit it, every single time, the first three, four years of his career, maybe. Maybe. Maybe five, I continued to put him in boxes. Like, this is it. At one point, I was like, no, Jalen Brown is a three and D guy who shoots corner threes. Perfect. Let's. That's all we need him to be. And at some point, I was like, okay, this guy just keeps getting so much better and better and better. I gotta shut up and just let him keep getting better and better and better. So I didn't put any expectations on him this season and I'm glad I didn't because he is just hitting another level. Dude is hitting 55% on step back three pointers. He's been no better than 38% in his previous four seasons. And now, I'm sorry, step back jumpers, not three pointers. Step back all step back jumpers. 55% on step backs. After being 38, no better than 38. Sometimes down to 31%. He just keeps getting better, smarter. Just incredible. Just top notch. Jalen season all NBA season below Austin.

[Tom Westerholm]

Reeves on the NBA's MVP chart though. So you know.

[John Corrales]

Well, yeah, of course that makes perfect sense. Of course it makes perfect sense. So yeah, yeah. God. Okay. Nene and the Celtics not tanking. Other takes from this up from the first quarter of the season coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by. Prize picks. Holiday season, one of the best times for sports. You got bowl games, big basketball match off matchups, playoff pushes. It's all happening at the same time. This really is a great time of year and we're all making choices every day. One of the most fun places to be right is prize picks. You pick more or less on two, at least two player projections. You lock in your lineup and you're in the game. Super simple. It's available in 45 states including California, Texas, Florida and Georgia. They have an extra layer of excitement for the holiday sports schedule. You create up a lineup in less than a minute and the app makes the whole process smooth and intuitive. They have a new stacks feature which lets you choose the same player up to three different times. So you can take Drake Mays quarterback passing yards, touchdowns, rushing yards. You got deposits and withdrawals made super easy, which keeps the game flowing. This is great. You know, you, you just be right. Be right. I love being right and you get paid for it. Download the prize picks app today and use the code locked on NBA. You get 50 in lineups after you play your first five dollar lineup. That's code locked on NBA to get 50 in lineups after you Play your first five dollar lineup. Price picks. It's good to be right.

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[John Corrales]

Thank you for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen. Every day. Go check out Lockdown fantasy basketball. Josh Lloyd has the best Locked on fantasy basketball podcast. Man, that thing is the number one podcast for fantasy basketball everywhere. It's on the Locked on podcast network, the number one sports podcasting network on the planet. Find it where you found us. All right, Tom, your contribution to the.

[Tom Westerholm]

The.

[John Corrales]

The bullet points here on the side. You made sure, like, we got to talk about them not tanking, and I think the Mishkeda has a part in that. So we can kind of like, roll that into things because Mimi has been much better than I expected. 100. Like. Like, it's. I still think he's benefiting from Jalen. He's still benefiting from a lot of, like, look at the beginning of that Cavs game. The Celtics went out to a huge run, and that's typically when Nene subs out. So he doesn't get the. The downside. I'm not saying that he's not a positive for this team, because he absolutely is. The. The. I'm looking at the on, off, I'm cleaning the glass. It's like, plus 22 and a half.

[Tom Westerholm]

It's. It's really obscene.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, it's. He is a hundred percent benefiting from Jalen. Get in the hot starts. The Celtics have typically gone off to hot starts, and again, he's not on the floor for some of the. Like, okay, we're leveling off and we're losing the lead and all that stuff. But he's been playing great. He's made a difference, and he has made it impossible for the Celtics to tank because he is providing the Celtics that front court presence that we didn't think that they were gonna have.

[Tom Westerholm]

He really is so quick without looking. Here's a fun one. The. How many points per possession do you think Neemi is scoring in transition?

[John Corrales]

Transition.

[Tom Westerholm]

Transition. Yes.

[John Corrales]

1.4. 1.5.

[Tom Westerholm]

4 5.

[John Corrales]

Okay.

[Tom Westerholm]

Quite good, right? And, like, you know, limited sample size, but Kate is one of the reasons that transition does. You know, he's. He's helpful. Like, he gets up and down the floor like he's. You, like Kate is.

[John Corrales]

He cleans up a lot.

[Tom Westerholm]

He cleans up a lot. He's. Keda is not the smoothest basketball player I've ever seen in my entire Life, you know what I mean? Like, not smooth per se. Not always in control of his limbs.

[John Corrales]

That I can tell when he falls. It takes him a long time to get up.

[Tom Westerholm]

There's a lot of flailing.

[John Corrales]

Yeah.

[Tom Westerholm]

A lot of limbs everywhere.

[John Corrales]

Like, I get up faster than Namish K and I'm 52.

[Tom Westerholm]

Right. However, Keda works, like, he tries really, really hard. And I think this is the first season. You know, I think he's always like, he's always had, you know, he's always worked hard. He's always done his, like, tried really hard. I think this is the first year that we're starting to see him also try, like, understand how to also try to focus, try to set good screens, try to try to do the right things at the right times. And that's been huge for him. I think, you know, on a Celtics team that, that has needed contributions from big men, you know, massively. Right. He's scoring a ton on cuts, a ton on offensive rebounds, a ton on putbacks. All of his offense is coming, you know, around the rim. That's. That's big. That's huge to have that, that extra, you know, it's a, it's a. A slightly. I don't want to say he's like a poor man's Robert Williams, but like a lower middle class man's Robert Williams, you know, like, he's not, he's not going to give you everything that Rob does, but you're starting to see little bits of that. You're starting to see little bits of like on the short roll, he can make some plays as Rob was. You know, he's not as bouncy as Rob was, but he can do some of that stuff. And that dynamic makes a big difference. When you got a guy who can do that and you're surrounding him with perimeter players, you know that that's a big difference maker. The fact that Kada can do that has been like that. I think that's why you're saying, right, like, he's a huge reason that this team is not tanking.

[John Corrales]

I feel like he's a much better passer than I expected. It's. I'm gonna pick one thing. It's the passing that he's actually finding. The given goes like there have been a few. It's not happening a lot, but you can do that more. He's finding guys on the baseline. He's actually like, he's. He's making some nice plays. He's reading things fairly well. And I think he's growing in where to expect his players to be on the floor. And like when he gets into trouble, he's down on. On a block and he understands I have guys on the perimeter and if I just turn and look, I will find one of these guys. And he's making passes now in the last four or five games that he wasn't making in the first four or five games. Yeah. So shout out to him for growing, for recognizing, learning all of that stuff. He is absolutely. Like my criticisms of him are still the same. And it's the stuff that you just mentioned. I don't like how he's so like, you know, the wavy armed guy at the, you know, the, the inflatable wavy arm guy. Yeah, yeah. He's, he's just. But regardless, he's making the most of it. And I've gone from thinking that he's not somebody that I think can be part of a winning team to I think he can be in, in a. On a championship team. I can see him being like a backup center, which is incredible. Incredible progress. Right. I don't think that him as the starting center on a championship team, but also I will throw it out there. That kind of depends on who the other four guys are.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

You know, so great.

[Tom Westerholm]

Well, and who the. And who the guy is behind him. Right. If you have another. If you have two CADAs on the same team and a really good team around that.

[John Corrales]

Okay.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. Talk to me about it. I'm, you know, I'm interested.

[John Corrales]

Not out of the question. It's not another question. And before we wrap it up, we can't get this far without saying, you know, Jordan Walsh has really showing himself to be really good. Now. I don't know when we're talking about first quarter determinations. I'm not ready to make the determination yet. But Jordan has shown plenty. You know, his, his, his on off, according to cleaning the glasses is above Pritchard's.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

At plus 5.3. So it's, it's not in like, it's in 295 minutes as opposed to Pritchard. 644.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

So he's. He's not getting a ton but he is a positive impact and that's, that's, that's impressive. Josh Minot has gone to a negative. So I don't know. I kind of still not 100 sure on where he's going to land. I'm not sure on Anthony Simons. Like that's. This is the second quarter now, so we're going to see like, maybe this is Anthony's time. Second quarter. He's got to learn to be more aggressive, and a lot of these other guys still have to have a lot to figure out. It's still very early in the season. We don't say a game is over in the first quarter, so we don't say the season is determined in the first quarter of the season. But of the rest of the guys, I think Jordan has separated himself a little bit.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. I mean, as. As one of the early Jordan Walsh adopters in.

[John Corrales]

In.

[Tom Westerholm]

In. How much of a Marcus smart vibe did you get from him? Not just tying up Jaden McDaniel or. No, sorry. DeAndre Hunter under the basket, but just literally ripping it away from him. Like, the ball wasn't even that available to him, and he was just like, no, that's mine.

[John Corrales]

I got it. Thank you.

[Tom Westerholm]

Thank you.

[John Corrales]

Yeah.

[Tom Westerholm]

Smartish. I'm loving the Marcus smart essence that we're getting from Jordan Walsh.

[John Corrales]

I hope it continues. I hope it continues, because that's. That's the type of guy, like, it's funny because I remember you earlier this season saying, josh Minot is everything the Celtics hoped Jordan Walsh would be.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

And, like, literally after you said that, Jordan Walsh kind of was. It's. It's almost as if he heard it. It was like, oh, oh, okay, I get it now.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

And then, like.

[Tom Westerholm]

And then it's just better.

[John Corrales]

It's like, the next game, he was like, oh, I'm just gonna do all this stuff better than. Than Josh has been doing.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yes, exactly.

[John Corrales]

Yeah. It's incredible. I've never seen it flip like that. So credit to Jordan, because at the beginning.

[Tom Westerholm]

Credit to me. Credit to me.

[John Corrales]

Credit to Tom.

[Tom Westerholm]

Thank you.

[John Corrales]

So. All right, we'll. We'll see where the Celtics end up. But 11 and 9. But 11 and 6 since the 0 and 3 start. And that. That is you. We're not overlooking the 03 start, but they have since then gone on a little run. 11 and 6. That's. That's meaningful. That means something. The east is completely wide open. And so really is. Part of. Part of all of this is like, maybe we overestimated how good Cleveland would be. Cleveland, side note, to hear guys in the locker room being like, yeah, we're not that hungry. Like, oof, that's bad.

[Tom Westerholm]

Imagine. Imagine you spent that much money on that roster and you hear guys being like, yeah, we're not that ugly.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, we're just. Can you imagine if, like, Xavier Tillman or somebody said that about the seller? Like, we were just not hungry enough. Can you imagine the, like, what this podcast would be like? Oh, my God. To say they're not hungry enough.

[Tom Westerholm]

You're the what?

[John Corrales]

So that's gonna be interesting. That's a whole other podcast. But the Knicks. I don't know what the Knicks are going to be and that, like, Detroit's at the top, but they're. They're new there. The Raptors are kind of playing over their heads. The Heat are playing a type of offense that's like, this is fun, but is it sustainable? There's so many questions in the East. Atlanta is going to get Trey Young back at some point in a couple of weeks, which means they're going to drop off and like, you don't. Just don't know where this east is going to be. So you sneak in the little. So I. I will. I'm gonna end with saying this. I've said, I said at the beginning of the season, the sellers can be a 44 win team at the end of the first quarter of the season. Ish. Because 82 games, you don't get a clean quarter. They have 11 wins. 11 times. Four is 44. And you got two games of like, maybe get to 45, 46. But they're on a pace to win those 44 games.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

And that in this Eastern Conference, that should be enough to get you into that top six. It should be enough to get you into that top six. And so they are definitely not tanking. They are on a pace to get a. Just a playoff spot. No playing, no nothing. We haven't even factored in the wild. What if Jason Tatum comes back and actually plays well and I'm not even gonna entertain it. Yeah. Not even gonna entertain it. Right.

[Tom Westerholm]

Not a minute. 38.

[John Corrales]

Nope.

[Tom Westerholm]

I thought you were gonna say I'll end with this Trey Young stakes. Oh, that's how you're gonna end the pod.

[John Corrales]

I like that, though. That's where.

[Tom Westerholm]

That's.

[John Corrales]

That is where we'll end the pod.

[Tom Westerholm]

All right. All right. Thank you for that.

[John Corrales]

Yeah. I appreciate you for, you know, just, you know, what, like finishing. Finishing each other's sentences. So thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. I do appreciate you being here, being an everydayer. If you're not in every day or subscribe so you can be here every Monday through Friday. Bonus podcast. When they play on Friday, this Friday, they play the Lakers. I don't know how that's gonna go, but I will be at the Garden. I will be podcasting after that for you. So subscribe get into the comments section on YouTube. Share the podcast Tell everybody they should be listening to and watching the Lockdown Celtics podcast here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. It's your team every day. They say. If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. At Amica Insurance, we're built for our customers and prioritize your needs. Call 877-41-AMIGA and get a quote.

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[John Corrales]

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