Should Boston Celtics SIGN Mitchell Robinson? | Playoffs vs. Regular Season Debate

Summary

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Locked On Celtics: Should Boston Celtics SIGN Mitchell Robinson? | Playoffs vs. Regular Season Debate

Host: John Karalis (with guest Tom Westerholm)
Date: May 22, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into two core topics:

1. The prospect of the Boston Celtics pursuing Mitchell Robinson as their future starting center.
2. A wide-ranging discussion about the increasing chasm between NBA regular season and playoff basketball—including officiating inconsistencies and the impact on team construction and fan experience.

Host John Karalis and guest Tom Westerholm go beyond surface narratives to dissect potential roster moves, player fit, NBA rules enforcement, and the philosophy of team building.

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Key Segment 1: Should the Celtics Pursue Mitchell Robinson?

Timestamps: 01:11 – 16:15

Social Media and Robinson’s Future

• Discussion kicks off with a nod to Robinson’s recent social media activity—he deleted his Facebook and has publicly discussed his role and mental health (03:23), signaling possible change.
• Robinson is a pending free agent, and his fit with the Celtics is up for debate.

Strengths and Flaws

• Tom Westerholm:
  • “Mitchell Robinson is so fun to think about because he is so singularly talented and so singularly flawed.” (04:47)
  • Praises Robinson's elite offensive rebounding and defensive presence.
  • Raises concerns about his “documented genuine problems with staying on the floor in the playoffs that don’t have anything to do with fouling—well, actually, has everything to do with fouling, just the other way.” (06:20)
• John Karalis:
  • Highlights Brad Stevens’ philosophy: “We want to know, what can you do? How can we use what you can do?” (07:17)
  • “The Celtics are very good at using player strengths, maximizing player strengths.” (08:14)
• The duo discusses the challenge of integrating a non-shooting big like Robinson, especially if the team’s other centers (like Neemias Queta or Luka Garza) also lack floor-spacing ability (09:46–11:14).

Roster Construction Scenarios

• Creative rotations: Tom floats increasing Tatum’s minutes at the 5 to compensate for non-shooting bigs (11:14).
• Salary and value:
  • Karalis raises Robinson’s current contract ($13 million) and asks, “Can you get him for 10, can you get him for 12?” (12:03)
  • Suggests a scenario where Robinson is signed mid-range, Sam Hauser traded to balance the cap, and a stretch big is added to keep the paint spaced (12:03–13:40).
• Roster upside:
  • “Mitchell Robinson plus… Anthony Simons… or a slashing, shooting, scoring bench guy. If you get that guy and Mitchell Robinson as your, your two moves for this summer, that's pretty decent business.” – Karalis (14:00)

Notable Quotes

• “If you can get him at the right price and you get the right pieces next to him and you get the right internal improvement—could be pretty good.” —John Karalis (15:33)
• “With all of these guys… the next two years you can build something strong.” —John Karalis (15:32)

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Key Segment 2: The Regular Season vs. Playoff Problem

Timestamps: 16:17 – 36:03

The Great Divide

• John Karalis:
  • Sets up the issue: “This year so highlighted with the Celtics—56-win team in the regular season—regular season is so different, so different than the playoffs.” (18:51)
  • Uses Knicks and Cavs as examples of teams who looked “cooked” in the regular season but peaked in the playoffs, questioning the regular season’s true value (19:16).
• Officiating Dilemma:
  • “I don’t understand why the game is officiated so blatantly differently… The product is so different. And I see it as a bigger problem than tanking.” (21:30)

Tom’s Counterpoints

• Notes that the Western Conference finals feature the expected teams, hinting the regular season still “meant something” out West (22:35).
• Agrees that “the best product… being only in the postseason, I don’t think that’s good for a league. I don’t think that’s good for anybody really.” (24:53)
• Suggests, “If teams were allowed to be this physical all year… guys are going to break down.” (23:09)

The Push for Consistency

• Karalis:
  • Rejects the “let the players decide the game” mantra:

    “No, because... what used to be a foul is no longer a foul and we’re just going to let the players figure it out. No, the sport of basketball has rules for a reason.” (29:50)

    • Analogy: Not calling out-of-bounds or shot clock violations in the playoffs makes no sense—calls for consistent rule enforcement, regardless of stakes (30:22).
• Tom:
  • “It just comes down to consistency... Every player says, like, I just want the calls to be the same at the beginning of the game as they are at the end of the game.” (31:05)
  • If postseason and regular season are functionally different leagues, the postseason undermines the relevance of 82 regular-season games.

Philosophical Frustration

• Karalis:
  • “If you’re going to allow guys to just blatantly foul to gain advantages, then no... Less talented players shouldn’t be allowed to use illegal tactics to make themselves [better].” (33:05)
• Acknowledges his generational bias:
  • “I am the product of 80s NBA basketball. I love physical basketball. When I was playing, every time we had a big physical battle, I came out drained and happy. I love it. But... you shouldn’t be less talented and out of position and be like, well, I’m just going to grab this dude and they’re never going to call it.” (33:32)

Memorable Moments

• Tom: “Listen, I've played in enough pickup basketball games that I know that like, letting players figure out calls is a disaster. You can't be doing that.” (31:01)
• John’s impassioned plea: “You’re not giving me basketball. You’re not letting basketball happen. You're actually not letting the players decide the game. You're letting fouls decide the game.” (34:13)

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Concluding Thoughts

Timestamps: 35:06 – 36:03

• Both hosts agree the league’s main issue is consistency:

  • Tom: “The NBA would be so much better if there were fewer regular season games. They could be more physical without any harm done.” (35:27)
  • John: “Consistent product.” (35:51)

• Karalis wraps by encouraging listener feedback on both the Robinson debate and opinions on rule enforcement and playoff play.

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Key Takeaways

• Mitchell Robinson presents both a potential upgrade and a risk (playoff fit, price, redundancy if Queta/Garza develop).
• The current NBA offers “two different leagues” depending on the calendar—a regular season emphasizing skill/finesse, and playoffs where physicality (legal or not) dominates.
• The hosts passionately argue for true consistency in officiating and enforcement:

  “If you’re going to have a regular season that is all just building up to the postseason, your calls absolutely should be the same during the regular season as they are during the postseason.” —Tom Westerholm (31:20)

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Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “Mitchell Robinson is so fun to think about because he is so singularly talented and so singularly flawed.” —Tom Westerholm (04:47)
• “We want to know, what can you do? How can we use what you can do?” —John Karalis (07:17)
• “Mitchell Robinson plus… Anthony Simons… If you get that guy and Mitchell Robinson ... that's pretty decent business.” —John Karalis (14:00)
• “The product is so different. And I see it as a bigger problem than tanking.” —John Karalis (21:30)
• “If teams were allowed to be this physical all year... guys are going to break down.” —Tom Westerholm (23:09)
• “Letting players figure out calls is a disaster. You can't be doing that.” —Tom Westerholm (31:01)
• “You're actually not letting the players decide the game. You're letting fouls decide the game.” —John Karalis (34:13)
• “Consistent product.” —John Karalis (35:51)

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Episode Highlights

• Player Fit Debate: The Robinson discussion was balanced—acknowledging both his strengths and the Celtics’ need for versatility, rim protection, and possible offensive drawbacks.
• NBA Structural Critique: The conversation on regular season vs. playoff officiating was passionate and nuanced, highlighting a core tension hampering fan and team experience.
• Listener Engagement: Karalis repeatedly asks for listener opinions on both basketball philosophy and roster construction.

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“If you can get [Robinson] at the right price and you get the right pieces next to him and you get the right internal improvement—could be pretty good.”
—John Karalis (15:33)

If you care about how teams are built and believe consistency is key to competition, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

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Transcript

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[John Corrales]

The Boston Celtics aren't playing anymore, but maybe their future starting center still is. It's right now on the Lockdown Celtics podcast. Granted, J is how we're starting, raising banners, how we finish. Locked on Celtics pod, home of the winners. Hey there. Welcome back to the show. I'm John Corrales. Later on, we're going to get to a debate that I like to have. Not even debate. I just, I just think the regular season versus the playoffs is a problem in the NBA and look a bigger problem than some of the things that people are trying to fix, in my opinion. We're going to get to that in a few minutes. But we want to start with maybe the Boston Celtics starting center of the future who could be playing right now. I know who's coming on right now. It's Tom Westerholm, everybody. Hello.

[Allstate Insurance Rep]

How you doing, buddy?

[Tom Westerholm]

I'm good, man.

[John Corrales]

How are you? Oh, I'm just great. I'm just great. We're recording this as the New York Knicks are playing against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Knicks have a just a 10

[Tom Westerholm]

point lead at this point.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, but earlier in the day, interesting little story. We, we love one of the things I was taught in journalism school. Always make sure you're on top of what players are doing on social media. Even though social media wasn't invented when I was in journalism school, they just, they had the forethought at Emerson College, like, hey, there's gonna be a thing and you gotta stay on top of it. Mitchell Robinson.

[Tom Westerholm]

That kind of foresight that really made Sam Presti who he is.

[John Corrales]

I think. Yeah, that, that level of like clairvoyance is you Know why? Why you get the success of Sam Presti at okc, Will Dawkins at in Washington, who just was in the driver's seat for the biggest tank job in the world. But hey, look, that's what house. That's how Sam has this team in okc. So let's not, you know, poo poo the, the tanking just yet.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, number one pick. It worked.

[John Corrales]

And then, and then, you know, podcasters like me, like all equal levels of success from Emerson College. So, yes, Mitchell Robinson deleted his Facebook and all that other stuff, which is okay, whatever it happens. But I'm looking at this line in the New York Post where they just reading it directly. He has opened up about his mental health and at times complained about his role in the Knicks offense. Mitchell Robinson is a center, Tom. I don't know if you knew that.

[Tom Westerholm]

Mitchell Robinson, very, very tall individual.

[John Corrales]

Yes, he's a tall man. He. His contract is. Will end the moment the Knicks season ends and there's a possibility here for the Boston Celtics to get involved. So let me just throw it out there. What say you, Mitchell Robinson? Yay or nay?

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, I mean, I, it's. It's an interesting one. Yeah. I think when we talked before, I think one of the things that I, I thought was really important. I think it's really important that the Celtics find, you know, we've talked about the difference between, you know, putting pressure on the rim via a center versus a guy like a ball handler, like a talented ball handler. Right. And I think to me, I, I always am going to lean. I'm always going to lean more toward the bucket getter. You know, I don't know. That's a two. I am, you know, DNA.

[John Corrales]

It's.

[Tom Westerholm]

I just appreciate. I'm an appreciator of buckets, and I will never apologize for that. However, I, I do. I mean, look, Mitchell Robinson is, He's, he's. He's so fun to think about because he is so singularly talented and so singularly flawed. Right. There's, there's that, that kind of player is just so interesting because on the one hand, I mean, like, the, the offensive rebounding, the Celtics made a, a whole, you know, the whole thing out of that this year and really successfully during the regular season. And he certainly would have a huge impact on that. You know, I think he's obviously an upgrade. And I think it's interesting with a player like him. Right. Because we've seen the Celtics University take a guy like Keita and, and make him a very Serviceable, at least regular season center. Like. Like a good regular season center. I think it's beyond serviceable. And, you know, taking Luca Garza and made him a serviceable guy off the bench during the regular season. What about an established guy like Robinson? Like, that's interesting to me. Like, what, What, What? How, you know, good can you make him. How do you mitigate some of his bigger flaws? You know, you can't intentionally foul Keda and then just put him at the line. He'll make enough of his free throws. Yeah. Doing that to Mitchell Robinson was a big part of the reason that the Cavaliers went up by 20 in game one. Right. Like it. They completely destroyed New York's offensive. So, you know, with the Celtics team that has had issues in the playoffs, it's interesting to consider. Okay, do you want this guy who's really good, really good center, but who has documented genuine problems with staying on the floor in the playoffs that don't have anything to do with fouling? Well, actually has everything to do with fouling. Just the other direction, the other way. Ada commits the fouls. Mitchell Robinson draws them, I suppose, sure. But. Yeah. Attracts them. Yeah, like. Like a moth to flame. But, yeah. I think the biggest thing to me is. Is the playoff dichotomy there. Do you like. He's really talented, but there's. There's still going to be a hole there during the postseason, which is kind of when it matters the most.

[John Corrales]

I mean, he. He is. He is good and worth a chunk of what the Celtics have.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yes.

[John Corrales]

And in the off season, he obviously has flaws. But I go back to Brad Stevens, something he always says a lot. And you know, Joe Missoula to a point, but it's usually Brad that's. That talks about guys we like on the outside love to talk about what guys don't do, what they don't have, what they can't do, all of that stuff. But Brad articulated this very well, because I was asking about Luca Garza, and he talked about, we want to know, what can you do? How can we use what you can do? And it's that approach that the Celtics, I think it. It's what gets the players to kind of respond to that.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

And you say, okay, what can you do? What. This is what you. You can pick, you can roll, you can catch lobs, you can offensive rebound like a maniac. You can, you know, protect the rim. All of that stuff we can lean into. All of the stuff you do. Well, the Celtics are very good at using player strengths, maximizing player Strengths.

[Tom Westerholm]

That's right. Yeah.

[John Corrales]

The free throws, who knows? Who knows if that's a thing, Maybe Joe Missoula can jump into Mitchell Robinson's head and, and figure out how to unlock something and get him to a place where the free throws aren't an issue. And that, that's a big, that's a big thing. He's a non shooter and you would have, theoretically either he would start or Cater would start. We'll see. Keita is actually a more dynamic offensive player in terms of Keda has a floater. Cater has a 15 footer that he could probably start working on a little bit more. He did hit a three pointer, which I actually was like, hey man, that form is not bad. I, I've said this before in the podcast, but I, I stand there on the court as guys are shooting and I watch him shoot threes in warm ups. I'm like, you know, this is, this isn't bad. I've seen, I've seen guys with much worse form. I watch those shapers Brissette shoot. That dude's jumper is busted. Josh Minot, who somehow hit 40% for the Celtics, has a very unappealing jump shot.

[Tom Westerholm]

Somebody used to have taco fall stand out there and take warm up threes.

[John Corrales]

So I look at Kada and you know, we keep talking about stretch big, stretch big. Keita, I don't think he's going to become a stretch big in terms of pick and pop and shooting regularly. But also I can't rule that development to some degree. Maybe it's not threes, but maybe it is jumpers in the short roll, you know, if you, if you blitz a, if you blitz Tatum or Brown and you get it to Cater in the short roll, he takes one dribble and steps into a 15 footer. The Kevin Garnett shot, you know, that could be just as effective spacing the floor and you know, defensively. We have to respect that to open things up for the Celtics. So my concern with Mitchell Robinson is, man, you got non shooter and non shooter. You're just committing to bigs who are non shooters. Maybe you keep Luka Garza in that situation just so you can throw a shooter out there. But I do have a little bit of a concern of like, do you really want two non shooting bigs to be your bigs, but if Keda can develop some level of at least mid range floor spacing, then maybe that's not as big a concern.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, and, and maybe you, maybe you play a little more tatum at the 5 right? Like maybe you experiment with that to, you know, try that a little bit, like go real small and, and see what you can do. Yeah, no, I, I think that's a valid concern. I do think that, I mean, look, like this isn't, this isn't a great example, but like Vucevic was basically a non shooting big for the side. I mean, he could space the floor to some degree, but like he was kind of a non shooting big. And I say that's not a very good example because the Celtics flamed out in the first round. So that isn't exactly what you're aiming for. So. Very valid question, I guess. But I mean, I do think that you could get a little bit creative with it, you know, and, and look, I mean, Garza showed you can, you can pick up somebody with a little bit of floor spacing off the bargain bin if you need to.

[John Corrales]

So I think, I think the Mitchell Robinson question depends on a couple of other things. Number one, obviously price. He's making $13 million right now. He may be looking for a raise, but I don't know if one is out there that it's, it's still a lot of money to pay a non shooting big. Can you get them for 10, can you get them for 12? In that scenario, I'm just gonna use like, I personally believe that Sam Houser has to be traded kind of for nothing to offset if you're gonna get. Because I believe in Baylor Charman. I think Charman's gonna ascend and all of that stuff. So in that term, if you, if you look at it as subtract 10 million from Mitchell Robinson and then you still have that space between whatever number you have and the tax line to add somebody else. Well, maybe, maybe what you add is another stretch big or maybe you feel comfortable with Garza being there, or maybe you just, you add a couple of other guys where it's Mitchell Robinson plus you can put four just legitimate just knock down shooters out there and you have to respect all the other guys and then Robinson can be free and clear for dives and cuts and stuff like that. Working the dunker spot in that scenario. It's not, it's not out of the question. I think if you can get them at the right price, depending on the other moves that you make. Mitchell Robinson plus. Look, I'm just gonna say Anthony Simons, I, I'm not sitting there saying like, you got to get Anthony Simons. I know you are Tom, but a type, the, the slashing, shooting, scoring bench guy. If you get that guy and Mitchell Robinson as your, your two moves for this summer.

[Tom Westerholm]

That's pretty decent business.

[John Corrales]

And you stay. And you stay under the tax.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yes.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, that's. Now you've got, now you've got those two guys and you're good. Right? You're still going to be good. You get those two guys and you're just good. However, you know, good you were coming back. You get. And mate you look, you get an internal improvement. Ugo, Baylor, Jordan, like those guys. Internal improvement. Jason Tatum as his, you know, a healthy, fully healthy Jason Tatum improvement. Yeah, you know, you're, you're, you're really looking at, wow, there's big time internal improvement. Plus those two guys, you got a good, you got a good base here. Plus you got some size and shot, you know, rim protection just in case you make it all the way. And you got a face like a Victor Wembanyama.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yes.

[John Corrales]

All strong dudes, you know that maybe that's how you, you counter Wimy, which is. Okay. We'll just do shop blocker at the rim too. And you know, or just hold them,

[Tom Westerholm]

you know, grab them, hold them, grab

[John Corrales]

them, tackle them, whatever. That's all allowed in the playoffs, which we'll get to next. But. And then, and then you have the following summer, the summer of 27.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yes.

[John Corrales]

With all of these guys. And then normal tax, not repeater tax. You still have another mid level exception to go spend and then probably a $10 million Sam Houser exception.

[Tom Westerholm]

You.

[John Corrales]

Now you got other tools plus maybe tradable players along the way. Listen, I'm just saying that the next two years you can build something strong. So Mitchell Robinson, even if you're sitting there saying he alone, are you moved by it? I can understand if you say no, I'm not moved by it. But if you get him at the right price and you get the right pieces next to him and you get the right internal improvement, could be pretty good. And we're watching these Eastern Conference playoffs. I feel good about that team. I still feel good about that team making out of the East.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Can they make it past the West? I don't know. But you. I still feel good about that team making it that far.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, I agree.

[John Corrales]

Of course we're talking about a regular season team and who are they in the playoffs and that's unfortunately two different. Two different teams, which I think is a problem as we watch the Cleveland Cavaliers. Well, they're going to lose this game but fight for a chance to like the Cavs after everything this regular season they could be going to the NBA Finals. They they still have a chance. Just work with this premise because it's going to feel what I'm about to say when we come back. Today's show is brought to you by Game Time. You got to make sure you're downloading that Game Time app because there's nothing like live sports playoff basketball, despite the lack of it in Boston. I've been to plenty of those playoff games. When it does come back to Boston or wherever you are, maybe you're listening. In a city where you can go to a playoff game, Game Time's gonna make it easy to find tickets. The the Game Time guarantee lets you know you're getting 100 authentic tickets on time at the best price. And you have a Seat View feature. So what? When you open up the app and you pop in, okay, I like this price that I'm gonna pay. By the way, the price that you see is the price that you actually pay. No surprise fees. Then you click on the seat view. You'll say, oh, I like this view too. Boom, I'm going to take this. Or you can say, I like this view. I don't care where I sit in this section. Do a zone deal. You pick the section. Game Time picks the seats. You can still get a great deal. They'll save you a few bucks that way. The lowest price guarantee and ticket coverage makes you feel confident when you're buying tickets. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code locked on for $20 off your first purchase terms. Apply Again, create an account, redeem the code locked on L, O C K E D locked on for $20 off your first purchase. Download the Game Time app today. Today's show is also brought to you by DoorDash. We got NBA Finals around the corner, a lot of players in their bag. And you can be in your bag too with DoorDash. DoorDash keeps your snack stock, your gear fresh and your watch party vibes absolutely on point. We know what it's like to be stressed out. I know Cavs fans are going to sit there ordering doordash to, you know, drown their sorrows in a big, rich like lava cake dessert, just whatever. Just drown, drown your sorrows in sugar and food. Or if you just want to grab some snacks, some chips at midnight and watch the late night interviews, you can do that with DoorDash 2. You can order anything you can if you need a phone charger, if you need snacks and cups to host the party, it's all there from tip off to overtime. Stay in your bag and order on doordash. Get the snacks, drinks and gear, whatever gets you through the postseason delivered right to your door. Doordash in your bag all season long. Thanks for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen. Every day being with me every Monday through Friday, plus some bonus podcasts. I will continue to drop those. I keep saying it, I know. I will actually drop bonus podcasts here. So make sure you're subscribed to your podcast, watch the show on YouTube, get in the comments section, let me know what you think about Mitchell Robinson. If you agree, disagree with what I'm saying, with the premise, whatever, let me know. I'm John Corrales. I cover the Celtics for Sports Illustrated's Celtics on SI. I've been covering the team for 20 years doing this podcast for 10. Known Tom Westerholm for a good portion of that time. And Tom, I don't know if you feel the same way, but this year so highlighted with the Celtics 56 win team in the regular season, regular season is so different, so different than the playoffs. The Knicks during the regular season looked cooked. They just didn't know what they were doing. You know, Carl Anthony Towns, the, like most of the season I was like, man, I can't believe that the Knicks are going to go down like this. The Karl Anthony Towns thing, it was falling apart. Zach Lowe's talking about how Minnesota won the, won the cat trade. And now here the Knicks are two wins away from the NBA Finals. The Cavs are, you know, had a chance. Maybe going home gives them an opportunity. They're the four seed. This is a three, four matchup. Teams that we thought were cooked and they're, they're making their run. The Celtics, the Pistons, number one, number two, just couldn't, couldn't get it together. I don't know, man. Like, I feel like the regular season should mean something. And more than anything, like, I don't mind upsets or all that stuff. More than anything, I, I don't understand why the game is officiated so blatantly differently. You guys are grabbing, pushing. I mean, it's. And I'm fine with that. If that's how you want to make what the NBA product is, make that what the NBA product is. Just do it from day one. If you want to allow certain things, allow it. But don't give me 82 games of calling or like, I don't want to go full Jalen Brown, but give me, give me. If you're gonna give me 82 games of allowing guys to Push off. And then all of a sudden you don't. That's. That's a problem to me. Or vice versa. If you go 82 games not allowing certain things, then all of a sudden in the playoffs, yeah, man, we're gonna, we're gonna legal screen you to death. Like, I don't, I don't understand it. The product is so different. And I see it as a bigger problem than tanking. I see it as a bigger problem than the. Anything else in the league maybe, okay, maybe not anything else, but it's, I still see it as a bigger problem because it, to me, it's not indicative of who the best. We're trying to crown the best team. And now a style that didn't work all season long becomes devastating in the playoffs because, yeah, great. I get to pull out a two by four and crack you over the skull.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, I mean, look, I, I think I, I agree with a lot of that. I think one thing that to remember is so the, the Eastern Conference has been weird. The Western Conference, the two exact two teams that we thought were going to be in the Western Conference finals are in the Western Conference finals. Right. Like that. So that, that side of the bracket things did line up more or less with what we expected. I think I, I agree very much with. It is funny how, you know, Jalen gets on a podcast right after the season is over and complains about the way he was officiated and, and you and I are like, well, come on, man. Not because his point was wrong, but because of it was, you know, more of a timing thing. Because I think his point was pretty fair. You know, if you're allowed to do something all year and then all of a sudden you can't do it just because it's the playoffs, that is odd. That's, that's an odd dynamic. And I think, you know, it. I think part of it is that to me, my guess is that if teams played this way, if teams were allowed to be this physical all year, you know, you would. 82 games of this level of physicality, guys are going to break down. You know, things are like it, sure, it's not going to work. Right. And so I think like so many problems in the NBA, a lot of it comes back to they need to play fewer games and they're not going to play fewer games. So I don't know how this problem gets fixed because yeah, you can't, you, you can't play with this level of intensity. But it's kind of like, you know, people always Talk about like, oh, you got to watch playoff hockey because playoff hockey is so good. I would hate for the NBA. I would hate for the NBA to be like that. For it to be that, that level of like, oh, man. Like, you know, regular season hockey, regular season NBA, it's like, it's okay. You know, it's just kind of, it's just kind of lackluster. You got to wait till the playoffs. In the playoffs, everything gets awesome. And that's kind of how it felt this year a little bit. Some of that was tanking, right? There were a lot of tanking teams. There were a lot of regular season games that just did not matter, but it really did. I mean, there were a lot of marquee matchups where a guy was sitting because he was resting or you know, a guy was sitting and he was quote unquote hurt. But it kind of felt like the team just kind of didn't want to give stuff away about the different ways they play because they're saving it all for the postseason. And of course, you know, the, the, the incentive, the incentives are all there to push for a postseason. You know, that's. Obviously that makes sense, but. It does. Yeah. I mean, it stinks. It's like the, the best product, the really good product being only in the postseason. I don't think that's good for a league. I don't think that's good for anybody really.

[John Corrales]

You get, you get to the point where, like, I mean, I will be the first person to tell you that certain losses in the, in the regular season don't matter in the sense that like, it's. The losses don't. They're not crushing, right? They don't. They're not necessarily indicative of certain, like, oh, well, this means this or this means that.

[Tom Westerholm]

That's right.

[John Corrales]

But I, what I don't want is what you said, the, the, the regular season like to be meaningless because the league, the league has done all of this stuff to make the regular season mean something. They added an in season tournament. They're, they're addressing tanking. There's going to be tanking, reform just so we can get competitive games and all of that. And yet the league decides, hey, we're going, we're going to give you a different product. Just by the way that this, what we're going to allow. And some of it is the teams that we're watching are so equally matched. They're good teams versus good teams all the time. It's not good teams versus bad teams. So yes, that's Some of it. I just. What I would love is I think there's a middle ground between regular season officiating and postseason officiating where you could probably dial it back just a tiny bit and ramp it up just a tiny bit in the regular season. The one thing that drives me crazy is this notion that let the players decide the game. I'm going to tell you why that drives me crazy. It sound. It might sound like I'm crazy, but I'll tell you why it drives me crazy when we come back.

[Tom Westerholm]

I'm not crazy. You're crazy.

[John Corrales]

Exactly, Tom.

[Tom Westerholm]

I checked Allstate first and saved hundreds on my car insurance.

[John Corrales]

Really smart. Unfortunately, I didn't check if I took

[Tom Westerholm]

the gas hose out of my car's tank.

[John Corrales]

Oh, not smart.

[Tom Westerholm]

And I drove off while still attached

[John Corrales]

to pump number three.

[Allstate Insurance Rep]

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[John Corrales]

Today's show is brought to you by Prize Picks. Regular season is over, as we've been saying, playoffs here ready to decide a champion very soon and, and you can get more out of all this action on Prize Picks, a preferred partner of the NBA. Every bucket, every dime, every big performance means more. When you're building your lineups on prize picks, Prize picks is simple to play. You just pick more or less on two to six players, stats projections and if your pick is right, you can cash in. You can choose from all your favorite sports too. Not just basketball, but baseball, hockey, UFC, soccer and more. Available in all 50 states. You can start building your lineups with your favorite players by picking more or less on points, assists and makes every game just more exciting to watch. There's flex play because that like that's a feature that, that's really good because you can still get a payout even if one of your picks misses. Which hey, you don't have to be perfect. And check out the live player picks during games. Just adds another layer to the playoff experience. Download the Prize Picks app today. Use the code lockdown NBA for fifty dollars in lineups after you play your first five dollar lineup. That's code locked on NBA to get fifty in lineups after you play your 1st five dollar lineup. Prize picks preferred partner of the NBA. Okay, Tom, so as I was saying before, it drives me crazy when we hear this, oh, now is the time to let the players decide the game. No, because what people are saying is, well, what used to be a foul is no longer a foul and we're just going to let the players figure it out. No, the sport of basketball has rules for a reason. And if a guy is driving to the hoop and he gets fouled and you're like, ah, just playoff basketball, let it go. Like, I'm all for some of these fouls that maybe you'll be like, oh, that, that in a regular season, be a flagrant. But we're going to, like, we're going to change where the line is. Okay, no problem. But if you, if you're doing something that's illegal. God, I sound like a narc, I sound like a nerd. But the, the sport has rules in the rule book and you're supposed to follow those rules. So if you're going to say, well, no, that's a foul that you, you can't call that foul because it's the playoffs. Then what happens when a guy steps out of bounds? You're like, nah, you can't call that stepping out of bounds. It's the playoffs.

[Tom Westerholm]

Let the players figure it out. Yeah, figure it out, man.

[John Corrales]

Like, he shot that after the buzzer. No, man, it's the playoffs. Let the players figure that. What rules do we selectively enforce and say, ah, it's, we got to let them figure this out. And like that, that stuff drives me nuts. Like, yes, let the players figure it out. Maybe there's a certain level of, you know, physicality that you allow if it doesn't impact the, the play. But also you can't just tackle a guy and be like, ah, yeah, no, let, that's fine, that's good for me. It's the playoffs. Like, no, no, no, that drives me nuts. Am I crazy?

[Tom Westerholm]

Listen, I've, I've played in enough pickup basketball games that I know that like, letting players figure out calls is a disaster. That's, you can't, you can't be doing that. Don't let the players figure it out. You gotta, that's why we have referees here to, to, to, to, to enforce the rules. Say, no, that was a foul. That was not a foul. And yeah, I mean, I, I, no, I agree with you and I think it just, it just comes down to consistency, right? And it's, that's, that's what every player says. Every player, like word for word says, like, I just want the calls to be the same at the beginning of the game as they are at the end of the game as they are on one side that they are on the other side. Everybody just wants Consistency. Right? That's, that's that, I mean, if, again, if, if push out, using Jalen Brown as an example, if push offs were called as a foul in, in game two, then it wouldn't matter, like game two of the regular season, right? In the first week of the regular season, if every push off was getting called, it wouldn't be a problem come the playoffs because Jalen Brown wouldn't be pushing off anymore. You know, like, you just, right. He would have learned how to score, get buckets without pushing off and that. I, I mean, and like, that's really, like, if you're going to have a regular season that is all just building up to the postseason, well, then you're like, if that's, if that's kind of where things are at, then yeah, your calls absolutely should be the same during the regular season as they are during the postseason, because everything that happened during the regular season has been preparation for, you know, the, the, the, the months that come after. So. No, I, I, I don't think you're off base at all. I think you're right.

[John Corrales]

I, I look, and I love physical basketball. So I'm not saying don't let these guys be physical with one another. I'm saying that when it crosses into an actual foul, like banging and like, you know, crashing into one another and, and allowing a little bit of that, you know, a little bit more of that, totally fine. But if there's a, you know, one of the things you see a lot is players like holding arms and pulling arms as guys are going up for. That's, you can't allow that stuff to happen because you know why? Because what these guys are doing is they're out of position and now they're grabbing as a way to regain their advantage. And that's not, that's not right. You're out of position. You have screwed up. You should not be allowed to use a foul to your benefit. Yeah, that drives me crazy. You, you know, so there's there is a, Again, I am the product of 80s NBA basketball. I love physical basketball. When I was playing, I, every time we had a big physical battle, I came out drained and happy. I love it. But the, if you're going to allow guys to just blatantly foul to gain advantages, then no, because now you're not giving me, you're not giving me the winner of a game between two teams. You're not letting me know which team is better. A lot of times you're letting me know, okay, this, this team got away with more things. Less talented players shouldn't be allowed to use illegal tactics to make themselves. If you're less talented, you should lose the game. If you do not execute as well as the other team, you should lose the game. You shouldn't be less talented and out of position and be like, ah, well, I'm just going to grab this dude and they're never going to call it. No, you're not giving me basketball. You're not letting basketball happen. You're not, you're actually not letting the players decide the game. You're letting fouls decide the game. Yeah, big ran for me. A big rant for me. Fired up.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. You know, call the manager. I want to speak to a manager.

[John Corrales]

I want to speak to your manager. True Tahani Al Jamil fashion.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. Yeah.

[John Corrales]

All right, well, people, let me know what you think in the comments. I understand, I understand that I come off like a lot of, okay, Boomer, you know, okay. But I feel like, I feel like I'm making a valid point.

[Tom Westerholm]

No, I agree with it. I, I, yeah, I, I agree with all of that. Honestly. I, I think I, I genuinely think that so much of it just comes back to, like, the NBA would be so much better if they were, like, if there were fewer regular season games. They could be more physical without any harm done, and then you could just be more physical in the regular season and then be more physical, like, equally physical in the playoffs.

[John Corrales]

Consistent product.

[Tom Westerholm]

It just be a consistent product. Or at least obviously there would, like you said, there would be more intensity in the playoffs, but at least the, you know, important things would still be consistent on both sides, which I think would matter.

[John Corrales]

All right, I've said enough, Tom. Thank you very much, buddy. I appreciate it, man. And I appreciate you listening, watching, nodding in approval, shaking your, your finger at wagging your finger at disapproval, calling me whatever names you want to call me. Whatever it is, I'm ready to take it. Get into the comment section on YouTube and let me know what you think. But I would love it if at the end of all of this, you shared 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, Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance to save you money. That's it. That's the ad. No bells and whistles. No, guys, I said no bells and whistles. No

[Tom Westerholm]

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[John Corrales]

Visit libertymutual.com and make the switch today.

[Allstate Insurance Rep]

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