The Boston Celtics are FINE, but also DOOMED, and EXACTLY What We Should Have Expected

Summary

Locked On Celtics - Daily Podcast On The Boston Celtics
Host: John Karalis | Guest: Tom Westerholm
Episode: The Boston Celtics are FINE, but also DOOMED, and EXACTLY What We Should Have Expected
Date: April 30, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, John Karalis and frequent guest Tom Westerholm deliver a balanced, deep-dive discussion following a frustrating Celtics playoff loss, covering three main themes:

1. Why the Celtics are “fine” and in control of their destiny.
2. Why a pattern of concerning habits means they could still be “doomed.”
3. Why this volatility is exactly what fans should have expected all year.

With their signature combination of sharp analysis and wry humor, the hosts dissect the game, the team's patterns, the psychology of Celtics fandom, and the state of the Eastern Conference.

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Section 1: The Celtics Are Fine

[03:35 – 11:59]

• Context for Panic: John and Tom open by reassuring listeners that despite a disappointing playoff loss, the Celtics are fundamentally in a stable position.
• Perspective on the Latest Loss:
  • The Celtics “played their worst quarter this season” and still could have won, even with Embiid’s dominance and the Sixers’ role players surprising.
  • "They played their worst, and they still took. It took a lot...The Celtics still had their chances and played their literal worst quarter this season." – John Corrales [03:35]
• Team Resilience:
  • Tom stresses, "They don't lose two in a row. That's not what...the Celtics do." [05:24]
  • The Sixers are a good team, but “the Celtics are a lot better, right? They...make a lot more sense” [05:51] and it’s “just kind of annoying because it really just does come down to, like, are they going to make threes?"
  • The underlying belief: with average shooting, they win these games.
  • Tom: “If they shoot 40% from three in either of their next two games, they’re moving on.” [05:51]
• Adjustments & Officiating:
  • John discusses physical play the referees allowed, impacting offensive timing. He emphasizes the need for tactical adjustment, either by flopping to draw calls or by outmaneuvering the physicality.
  • "If they're holding you, then, you know, spin off of it and go the other way, you know, like...So anyway, the coaching is, is still very good. The players are still very good...I think a day to reset, they're going to be okay..." – John Corrales [09:23]

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Section 2: The Celtics Are Doomed

[12:33 – 23:56]

• Eastern Conference Outlook:
  • Tom notes, half-joking, the chaotic playoff landscape makes things easier ("the Raptors and Magic might go through...the Eastern Conference is hilarious right now and wide open for them"), but it heightens the pressure on Boston. [12:33]
  • “Assuming they can make it work…a Hawks-Knicks conference finals is what Adam Silver deserves.” [13:00]
• Recurring Flaws and Bad Habits:
  • John voices frustration that the Celtics continually lose focus when up big, nearly squandering games.
  • Memorable quote:
    • “We have seen this before so many times…They’ll be up 13, 20, 25. And they will lose...or lose the lead and make it difficult on themselves...they have a tough time with success a lot of times. And that’s just been a thing in the Jalen and Jason era.” – John Corrales [14:02]
  • Tom adds, “when they start missing shots, they just get in their heads...and they cannot...They can’t...Like, that happens too much to them.” [16:19]
• Streakiness and Decision Making:
  • The team leans too heavily on its top scorers to make tough shots, rather than working the offense.
  • John: “They're a bit of a streaky team...they know that and...they lean on that too much...Jalen took some shots where it’s like, hey, buddy, you had Baylor Scheierman wide open on the wing...He just needs to reset the play...” [17:56, 19:41]
  • Calls out both Jayson and Jalen for “forcing up things because, oh, if I go up now with contact, I'll get...free throws. Stop it. It's the playoffs. They may not call any of that stuff.” – John Corrales [20:13]
  • Tom riffs on the art of foul-baiting: “You look at your Shai Gilgeous-Alexanders, your Embiids, right?...they’re better at actually drawing the foul...that’s a skill they have that is better than the skill that Jalen and Jason have at going up for that same shot.” [21:00]
  • John sums up: “You don't want to give the referee an out. He'll take the out and not call it, even if it is a foul.” [23:00]
• If habits aren’t fixed:
  • "If they keep doing that, they're doomed. You're never gonna...like just...you're too good for that. And it takes away from the rest of the offense and it takes—so that stuff has to be fixed or else they're doomed." – John Corrales [23:43]

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Section 3: They Are Exactly Who We Thought They Were

[25:37 – 38:17]

• Regular Season vs. Playoffs:
  • John and Tom argue the team’s great record masked flaws fans and analysts pointed out before the season.
  • “It's probably possible that…all of that overachieving has masked…all of the stuff that we expected to be an issue during the regular season, it's kind of masked all that stuff, and it's showing up here a little bit in the playoffs.” – John Corrales [25:37]
  • “They got so much love heading into the postseason...But also, that doesn't mean that they didn't have the flaws there. They just did a great job at masking those flaws all regular season, and the playoffs have a way of exposing those, and now they have to figure out how to...cover those up again.” – John Corrales [29:12]
  • Tom: “Are the Celtics a good, not great team that picked up the wins when they needed...Or are they a great but flawed team that...figures out how to get better at those flaws over the course of the playoffs? Like, I think that's, that's kind of what it comes down to now.” [31:09]
• Role Players’ Exposure:
  • Injuries, depth, and regular season “lotto ticket” success with players like Neemias Queta and Baylor Scheierman are now under postseason scrutiny.
  • "You either got to cover up the fact that you have a second string quality center there, or he's got to become a first string quality center again..." – Tom Westerholm [29:27]
• The Joe Mazzulla Philosophy:
  • John references Mazzulla’s belief that “playoffs are the same as the regular season,” explaining that the message is meant to maintain calm and focus ("it's just under more duress...and the, the, you know, the brighter lights..."). [32:47]
  • Tom quips: “That's two differences right there, Joe, that I, I hear. You know, brighter lights, more duress in the playoffs.” [33:32]
• Fatigue and Adjustments:
  • John observes Jayson Tatum clearly isn’t 100%:
    • “We gotta stop treating Jayson Tatum like he's 100% because he's not 100%. He's not. I think he's winded. He's gassed at the end of these games and probably why there was a heavy dose of Jalen Brown at the end of the fourth quarter and only two field goal attempts for Jason.” [35:45]
  • Advocates for more creative use of the roster and rotation to keep players fresh and leverage their strengths.
• Final Take:
  • “They have flaws and this...now you just have to figure out how to work through them. They will be fine against the Sixers. They may be doomed...against whoever they face next if they keep being what we expected. That's the conclusion for me in this podcast. But the path to them fixing it all, it's right there for them.” – John Corrales [37:13]

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Notable Quotes

• “They played their worst, and they still took. It took a lot...The Celtics still had their chances and played their literal worst quarter this season.”
  — John Corrales [03:35]

• "If they happen to lose game six, I think then you can start to worry a little bit...it starts to feel a little bit uncomfortably like a certain series last year..."
  — Tom Westerholm [04:02]

• "They’re a bit of a streaky team...they know that and...they lean on that too much."
  — John Corrales [17:56]

• "You're too good to do this crap. And it takes away from the rest of the offense…That stuff has to be fixed or else they're doomed."
  — John Corrales [23:57]

• “Are the Celtics a good, not great team…Or are they a great but flawed team…? That’s kind of what it comes down to now.”
  — Tom Westerholm [31:09]

• “We gotta stop treating Jayson Tatum like he's 100% because he's not 100%...”
  — John Corrales [35:45]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:35 – “The Celtics Are Fine” – Deep breath, reevaluating the loss, team strengths.
• 14:02 – “But They Are Doomed” – Recurring flaws, inability to hold leads, playoff psychology.
• 19:41 – “Decision-making & Shot Selection” – Calling out stars for poor choices in crunch time.
• 23:00 – “Foul Baiting & What’s Not Working” – On the differences between legitimate star foul-drawing and Celtics’ attempts.
• 25:37 – “Exactly What We Should Have Expected” – Flaws hidden by regular season success, now exposed.
• 31:09 – “Good, Not Great? Or Great, But Flawed?” – The existential playoff question.
• 35:45 – “Fatigue & Roster Use” – Tatum’s fitness, creative solutions for late-game offense.
• 37:13 – “Conclusion & Path Forward” – They can still fix it, but only if habits change.

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Recap & Conclusion

John and Tom use this episode to model a level-headed but honest approach for fans after a tough Celtics loss:

• Don’t panic yet—this team is well-coached, resilient, and still likely to advance.
• But recurring bad habits (esp. mental lapses with big leads and reliance on officials) are real and could prove fatal as the playoffs deepen.
• The rollercoaster is exactly what should have been expected; regular season success covered up old problems now coming back under postseason pressure.
• The hosts end on a measured note: the Celtics’ flaws are real but fixable and the path to improvement is clear—they just have to seize it.

Tone:
Warm, candid, and occasionally exasperated, but always grounded and insightful—a classic “in the bunker” Celtics podcasting experience.

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Transcript

[John Corrales]

It's the Locked on podcast network your team every day. Calling all fun lovers and memory makers, Texas invites you to cheer from our stadiums and dance like no one is watching. Culture seekers can find the art that truly inspires. Wow. And from our shopping hubs to our chic boutiques, fashionistas will never leave empty handed. Texas is an unforgettable experience that's waiting just for you. Visit traveltexas.com and plan your trip today. Let's Texas Comcast is delivering extraordinary experiences in live sports through the incredible broadcast and storytelling from NBC, innovative and personalized viewing features on Xfinity and Peacock, and the country's most reliable wi fi. The viewers can enjoy every game changing play faster and more seamlessly than ever. All on a network built to deliver unforgettable moments as close to live as possible. The ultimate experience for the American sports fan. Learn [e-mail] sports the Boston Celtics are fine. They're also doomed. And they're also exactly what we should have expected. Started raising business. How we finish blocked on Celtics pod. Home of the winners. That's right. New music, old music. It's just a better intro, I think. Still short and sweet, but a little bit less jarring. So look, if we can look at the game film and figure out where to be better, we're going to be better. And so we're better, I think. I'm John Corral. Welcome back to the Lockdown Celtics podcast. So very simple structure to this show today. Segment one, they're fine. Segment two, they're doomed. Segment three, they're exactly what we should have expected. And we're going to talk about all of this with our guy, Tom Westerholm.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. New music because we're trying to get, you know, the energy needs to shift. Right? Like the energy.

[John Corrales]

That's right. That's right. You know, that just going back over the like was just so jarring. And I, we need it to be short so we can get right into the show. And this, this accomplishes the goal of having a little something there tells you what the show is. But also it's not like, ah, so I like it.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah.

[John Corrales]

Okay. We're evolving. Yeah. The Celtics, they're, they're evolving too, into the playoff version of themselves. So let's just start with this. I was very ranty in last night's or today's episode, whatever the post game pot. And still a lot of those things bother me, which we'll get into. But I do think that we need to get out there into the ether. Into the. The conversation is that right now they're fine. It's okay. They. They played their worst, and they still took. It took a lot to get the. The. For the Sixers took Embiid being just un. Unstoppable and like, okay, fine. And Quentin Grimes to just come out of nowhere like, oh, okay, fine. But the Celtics still had their chances and played their literal worst quarter this season. And, okay, so that. That is how they lost game two. You can't expect them to get out shot the way they got out shot. You can't expect them to be outplayed the way they were outplayed. So step one, heading into game six, just a deep breath. They are fine.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. I mean, look, if they happen to lose game six, I think then you can start to worry a little bit. Right? Because at that point, it starts to feel a little bit uncomfortably like a certain series last year where they kind of threw some things away that they maybe shouldn't have thrown away. Right. I think.

[John Corrales]

I think if you.

[Tom Westerholm]

If they lose game six and you want to start getting really worried. Fine. Fair. Sure. Absolutely. They should be fine. Here. There's. Like you said, it took a historic kind of collapse. I mean, the Celtics went seven minutes without a field goal. Right? Like, if you go three minutes without a field goal and then you see one go down, and then maybe, like, things might have finished differently. If you go four minutes and then you see one go down and then you spend three minutes making a few field goals, that game might look different down the stretch like that. They had plenty of chances. They were up 13 in the second half. They had plenty of opportunities to make last night the final game of the series. They didn't. You know, there was the big. Oh, are they gonna be okay after game two? They were fine. It's gonna be okay. Yeah, I. I really. I think so.

[John Corrales]

They don't lose two in a row.

[Tom Westerholm]

Don't lose two in a row.

[John Corrales]

That's not what the. Like, the Celtics have this. Like, they just don't lose multiple games in a row very often, so.

[Tom Westerholm]

And.

[John Corrales]

And generally not to a team that's. It's an okay team. This. Like, the Celtics. Everybody understands that They're. They're more talented, all that stuff, and so they're fine.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. Yeah. Six should have some good players. I mean, look, I think. But this. But the Celtics are a lot better, right? They. They. A lot more cohesive. They. They make a lot more sense. It's. It's. It's. Honestly, it's kind of annoying because it really just kind of does come down to, like, are they going to make threes? And really what this team does is, yeah, sometimes they just go. They shoot 26 from three and they lose. And that's happened twice in this series. Yeah, I don't. I really don't think that's gonna happen four times in this series. And if they shoot 40 from three in either of their next two games, they're moving on. Like, I don't. They're not losing to the Sixers if they have a decent. A decent. They're probably not losing to them if they have a decent shooting night, but they're definitely not losing to them if they have a good shooting night. And look, every time that we've proclaimed something in the series, I feel like I've had to come on this freaking podcast and be like, whoops, my bad. You know, I guess. Hey, I guess Joel Embiid is old Joel Embiid. I. I guess the Celtics decided to make him, right?

[John Corrales]

The Celtics allowed him to be the Joel Embiid by. You know, Keda has been bad in this series. Not the whole. But he's been bad for too much of it, mostly because of the foul trouble. And the Celtics have, like, you throw

[Tom Westerholm]

vouch out as an aside of the K thing. It was very funny that we came on here and we were like, oh, like, I just want to see him go through a first quarter where he doesn't have any fouls. He did it. He pulled it off. He comes back in the second quarter and immediately just bang, bang, bang, foul, foul, foul, foul. Right before, like 20 seconds before halftime to get himself his third. Like, just. Yeah, brutal, man.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, that was rough.

[Tom Westerholm]

That was rough.

[John Corrales]

But I just think that the stuff that the Celtics did to get themselves in that situation, just poor offense and, you know, some of. Some of the stuff. I'm kind of curious to see how they adjust there. There's definitely certain things that the officials allowed. A lot of holding, a lot of grabbing. Okay, fine. And then you just say, okay, if you're going to allow that stuff, then we're going to allow it on both ends. And you can hold and grab and all that stuff and that can even things out. I'm curious to see how that the game, Game six gets officiated. I'm curious to see if. If any of that emphasis was sent to the league and. And how this. Because I think one thing that happened in that game down the stretch is their timing on a lot of plays was just off because of the, the grabbing and the holding and the, you know, the Celtics want to run certain actions and it is a fairly precise kind of offense in like a Spain pick and roll where Derrick White is being held. And he said, okay, well, he's supposed to be here. And by the time the dribble, the. The ball handler is dribbling at the three point line, he's supposed to be out there, but he's not out there. He's still in the lane because he's being held. Yeah, okay, fine. And it's not like. I'm not saying, oh, the refs. I'm just saying that he. That's what they're allowing. And so the timing was thrown off. You have to look at that. You have to adjust. So I think given the day, to adjust and say, hey, look, they're holding you. All right? So that means either. That means you adjust and start flopping and say, hey, look, you got. If you're going to have to flop, you have to flop. Get. Go down when they hold you and force the refs to call these offensive fouls and get them to stop holding you. If that's what it takes. That's what it takes. Or, or you just, you do something else. If they're holding you, then, you know, spin off of it and, and go the other way, you know, like. So anyway, the coaching is, is still very good. The players are still very good. I think everybody's like in their own heads a little bit in, in those situations. I think a day to reset, they're going to be okay. The stuff is correctable. It's not the big. That big of a deal. However, Tom, they are doomed. Yeah, they're done. They're absolutely cooked. Let's get into that part next. Today's show is brought to you by. Kelsey, you are interested in maybe the playoffs and being able to trade every single playoff game, every series from the conference finals to the championship. You can trade maybe the Celtics series, where. Let's see where the Celtics are in this. They are, whoops, I just lost it. But as we watch this, the Detroit Pistons are up three and they are at 98% on Kalshee. The Toronto Raptors are up five. On the Cavs in the third quarter is when we're recording this and it's pretty. In fact, on Calsha, you can trade and get 52%. People are on. On Cleveland, you can trade that and make a couple of bucks that way. On Kelsey, you can trade against your peers in a live market, meaning there's no house the probability changes. You can buy in and out of your position for a limited time. You can download the Calcia app, use the code locked on get $10 when you trade 10 that's Calshi K A L S H I Kalshi Trade on anything. It's 18 plus. Only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event Contract trading involves risk. That's very important. It involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices, values and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see kalshi.com regulatory having

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[John Corrales]

thanks for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen every day. Thanks for joining me Monday through Friday Bonus podcasts whenever they play on weekends, plus during the week occasionally. So check it out on YouTube as well. Get into the comment section there. Share your thoughts with me. John Corrales I'm a beat writer covering the Celtics for Sports illustrated Celtics on SI. I've been covering this team for about 20 years doing this podcast for 10. I've written a couple books about the team as well. So Tom, they are doomed. This is a team that's dead in the water.

[Tom Westerholm]

Well I think just just a real quick before we do that I based off your ad read there, I think we should note the other reason they're fine is because the freaking Raptors and Magic might go through in their series. The nick like this Eastern Conference is hilarious right now and it wide open for them. Assuming they can assuming they can get through.

[John Corrales]

Assuming they can make it work.

[Tom Westerholm]

You joked before we started recording that we might see a a Hawks. Yeah and I just want to say that that is the Eastern Conference finals that Adam Silver deserves. That is like that would be. Yeah like Celtics fans might not like it. I understand but like you know they'd be giving the game what it needs. They'd be getting giving Adam Silver what he needs from the game. The to paraphrase Joe Missoula, Celtics a

[John Corrales]

Celtics collapse is not out of the question. It would be rare, but it's not out of the question.

[Tom Westerholm]

Celtics collapse as we're about to get.

[John Corrales]

And then the Sixers go on the, the Hawks, it's. They're down three, two. But that you win a couple of games on. The Knicks Hawks could beat the Sixers, no problem. The Raptors are right now 103.95 in the third quarter up on the Cavs. Are you kidding me? Okay, it's 103, 100 now at the

[Tom Westerholm]

end of, at the end of the third. Yep. Yeah, but still.

[John Corrales]

Okay, still. So that series is tied at two. The Raptors could easily get past that. And now you have the, the, the Raptors against, I don't know, Detroit, Orlando. Any confidence in either of these teams? No. So who knows what this could be. Anyway, the Celtics are probably going to be okay. However, if they keep doing this, they are doomed. That's what I want to say about. They are doomed because this style of play, this stuff that they do, it just the, the thing that frustrated me, frustrated me so much last night is that we have seen this before so many times. And Tom, it's not. We got to get past this. Like, ah, well, you know, it's. It's this aberration. And that aberration, they keep showing us that when they get a big lead, they are not to be trusted. They. When, you know, they, they'll have a couple of these games, like, they'll win by 32, great. But they'll also be up 13, 20, 25. And they will, they will lose and, or lose the lead and make it difficult on themselves, or they will win a game by 32 and come back and be like, ah, we got it. We just look how good we are. It just, it feels like every, every great performance somehow, whether it's in the game or in a game and then the following night they have a tough time with. It goes back to a few years ago. They have a tough time with success a lot of times. And that's just, that's just been a thing in the Jalen and Jason era that they are very talented, very good, very successful. They have a championship. And so this is not like a knock necessarily, but also it's just one of those things where, you know, hey, it's also not out of the question that they put themselves in a position like they did with the Knicks, like they did with Miami a few years ago, like they did in these two games. It's not out of the question that they do that. And so that's one. When I say they're doomed, it's like they, they put themselves in positions to lose.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. It's interesting, right, because so you, I mean, you're saying like, that they, that they think that they're, ah, we don't have to, you know, I don't. I don't know what. Buckle down or whatever it is. Like they, that they don't have to do something like that. I, I mean, I like that that might be true. I also see it from a different perspective, too, of sometimes it seems like when they start missing shots, they just get in their heads and. And they. They cannot. They can't. Like, that happens too much to them. That, like, and especially in the playoffs, like, if that happens once, it can easily happen again. Right. We just saw that last year with the Knicks. That was kind of what I was trying to allude to earlier. Like, you see them, you know, go up 20, get a little cold, and then all of a sudden they're just so hyper aware of, oh, we're a little cold now. And that just seems to compound and compound and compound. And that's a problem. Right. I think knowing that you're gonna throw away that. That there's a real chance that you throw away a game or two like that in every series. Again, they're probably fine against the Sixers here because you can throw away a game or two against the Sixers and still win the series like you should. They should be fine. But like, against a good team, like against a really good team against the Knicks, we're against a good team like the Knicks. I don't want to. I don't want to stick the really good label on the Knicks.

[John Corrales]

They're fine.

[Tom Westerholm]

They're. They're a good team. Yeah, but against a good team, you throw away a couple of games, and all of a sudden your margin for error is so minimal. And if you're a team that is struggling with, hey, we got to turn it around. We got to start making shots that a small margin for error is a problem.

[John Corrales]

I think these are both the same thing that my, My version of it is that when they go cold, they're like, well, I got this right, because they just had a game or they just had a stretch where I got this. And I think ultimately it's like they're just a little too. Maybe they're a little too streaky. Like they. I think they're a bit of a streaky team where they, they have that potential. Jason has that potential to hit you three, three, three. Jalen has the potential to hit you with four or five shots in a row. They are great players. And they will make great plays. And it's part of the trade off, right? You, you take the tough shots, maybe you miss three, four in a row, but then at any point, two, three, four in a row can happen. My, my issue is that they know that and they're, they're, they lean on that too much. And this is where I get on Jalen in this game. 5 I think was the bigger culprit than I think Jason, but it's equal. It could the next game or the last. It could be Jason a few times where Jalen took some shots where it's like, hey, buddy, you had Baylor Scheireman wide open on the wing. And even if it's like, I would rather take the shot than Baylor, well then why is Baylor on the floor? Number one? Number two, Baylor doesn't have to take the shot. He just needs to reset the play,

[Tom Westerholm]

you know, just recycle the play.

[John Corrales]

Yeah. Jalen going one on four and trying to just power through both of these guys feeling contact and trying to go up through the contact and forcing shots up and then being like, then looking at the refs going like, oh, where's the foul? Oh, stop. It's doing that.

[Tom Westerholm]

It has got to stop. I could not agree more.

[John Corrales]

Stop doing that. Stop forcing up things because, oh, if I go up now with the contact, I'll get shoe. I'll get free throws. Stop it. It's the playoffs. They may not call any of that stuff. Don't rely on the, like, it's a self fulfilling prophecy. You're putting everything in the ref's hands. And, and then when they don't give it to you, you're like, oh man, the ref screwed me. Like, no, just if you, if that's not a shot you would normally take, then just take a normal shot or work it around and get good shots. Stop looking for the bailouts. That is. This, this was the tone of me last night.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, yeah.

[John Corrales]

Tone. This was it.

[Tom Westerholm]

I want, I want to. I'm, I'm, I'm raring to. Yes. And you here. Yes. And it's, it drives me insane because you look around the league and there's, there's guys out there right now. You know, you look at your, your shaggy Alexander, you're in beads, right? These guys, they get calls, but the difference is they're better at the baiting than. Yes. And they're better at foul baiting. Like, those guys are usually actually getting fouled. It looks terrible right when that happens. And I understand why fans are like this. This Stinks. And I understand why. When Jalen and Jason are aggressive and they feel some contact, that they're like, well, why am I not getting the same calls? Because they're better at actually drawing the foul. They're really good at it. And it, again, it sucks to watch, but that's a skill that they have that is better than the skill that Jalen and Jason have in going up for that same, that same shot. So, yes, no, just, just play it straight up. Like, you'll get some fouls, you'll get to the free throw line some for sure. But just by playing the percentage of driving a lot and getting to the rim, you will get to the line some. But constantly searching for it is. Is. Is one, not working for you? And two, I'm just, I'm sorry, it's. You're not as good at it.

[John Corrales]

Like, yeah, 100.

[Tom Westerholm]

If you really want to play that way, you want to play that way. Spend the summer working on that crap next year. I don't think they'll love it much.

[John Corrales]

The, the classic. The classic Shay Gilders Alexander play is the hook under the extended arm. So you hook under the extended arm as you're gathering the ball to go

[Tom Westerholm]

up for the shot.

[John Corrales]

That looks like a foul and it technically is a foul. It's foul baiting for sure. But you have, you. What you have is you've taken that little marginal contact and said, oh, if I go up for the shot with the arm there, it has to be called. And that's. That's it.

[Tom Westerholm]

He's trapping the officials as much as the player. He's trapping the officials. Jalen and Jason are not trapping the officials. They're just, they're just hoping for the best.

[John Corrales]

They're not going to put their heads down. They're putting their shoulders into a body and then they're rising up and they're saying, well, I have drawn the contact, but you're both moving in the same direction. The ref can be like, well, you're initiating the contact and it's not, it's not affecting your ability to go up with the shot. You could actually stop and go up with the shot. You're choosing to lean into it and then throw an unnatural shot up. That to me, that's like. That distinction is you don't want to give the referee an out. He'll take the out and not call it, even if it is a foul.

[Tom Westerholm]

You think the refs don't want to take the out on Shai Gilgis Alexander? Of course they do.

[John Corrales]

Not allowed to that's. So when I say they're doomed if they keep doing that, you're doomed. You're never gonna like just you're too good.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yes.

[John Corrales]

You're too good for that. You know what I mean? Either like you said, be better at the baiting or just be good and score. You're too good to do this crap. And it takes away from the rest of the offense and it takes so that stuff has to be fixed or else they're doomed. But also Tom, I don't know why we expected anything different. This is exactly what we should have expected, regular season be damned. Explain that. When we come before we had ATT Business Wireless coverage, our delivery GPS wasn't the most reliable. Once our driver had to do a 14 point turn to get back on route. A 14 point turn. An influencer even live streamed the whole thing. Not good for business. Now with AT&T business Wireless, routes are updating on the fly and deliveries are on time. And the influencer did get us 53

[Tom Westerholm]

new followers followers though.

[John Corrales]

@t business wireless Connecting Changes Everything

[Tom Westerholm]

hey

[John Corrales]

everyone, this is Ross Jackson, one of

[Tom Westerholm]

the hosts of the Locked On Podcast network. Thank you for being here because your support means everything. And if you're looking for another way to support the show that you love while getting something awesome in return, check out the Everydayer club. You get ad free episodes of your favorite Locked on show, access to a members only group chat for fans of your team, and you can even jump into the national chats and talk about whatever's happening across the league. Tap the Everyday Club link in the show notes to learn more back.

[John Corrales]

Thanks for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen every day. You're in every day are here with me Monday through Friday and so being an everyday, it's a cool thing. Join the Lockdown Every Day club and get ad free audio and access to our members only Discord. I actually I am going to be on the Discord more so if you want to pay 5 bucks a month or 50 bucks for the year, I will be on there. I think I'm going to start transitioning some of my Twitter banter to the Discord and just making making that more of my destination because Twitter is kind of garbage now. So join me@lockdown celtics.supercast.com lockdown celtics.supercast.Com it's the lockdown every day or club built for our most most loyal fans. Okay, so Tom, this regular season has been great, right? The Celtics second seed and all that stuff. It's probably possible that that all of that overachieving has masked the things that are. That all of the stuff that we expected to be kind of an issue during the regular season, it's kind of masked all that stuff, and it's showing up here a little bit in the playoffs. The. Can this offense be runs as smoothly? Can. Is Jason Tatum going to be ready for the playoffs? Is. Can Mishkeda. Can Baylor shine? Can all of these guys. How effective can they be? And they've had this great, amazing regular season, and then the playoffs come around and under a little bit of duress, you start to see some of the. Some of the issues that. Look, man, this was still the team. I know Brad Stevens just won executive of the Year, and it's kind of funny that he won executive of the Year. He did hit on a lot of guys, but also he. Those. I mean, he hit at a rate that is just impossible to hit. I mean, he. I mean, that's like playing. Putting 10 bucks in the slot machine and hitting like, three bonuses, and all of a sudden you walk away with a couple thousand dollars, you're like, all right, I'll take it. I'm not a great slot, but, I mean, Brad is very obviously great at what he does. But my point is, everything went, like, so well, perfectly well, that it wasn't expected to go that way. We all were, like, mid 40 win teams in the, you know, middle seed five succeed. Okay. They overachieved. That's great. But it didn't change who the players were. And now under the. The bright lights of a playoff series. Not really the bright lights, but like, the game planning. The.

[Tom Westerholm]

That's the thing. Yeah, The.

[John Corrales]

The. The whole, like, being the focus. Okay. Yeah. You're the focus of. If we take him away, this changes a lot. And guess what? They're starting to take him away. And they're figuring out, like, hey, he can be prone to files, so go at him. This is what I'm saying when I say that this is what we should have expected. Like, this. This kind of is like they. They got so much love heading into the postseason as being the best team in the East. They probably still are the best team in the East.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, it could be. Yeah.

[John Corrales]

But also, that doesn't mean that they didn't have the flaws there. They just did a great job at masking those flaws all regular season and the playoffs have a way of exposing those, and now they have to figure out how to kind of COVID those up again.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. Or grow. Right. I mean. Yeah. You either got to Cover up or you got to get better. Right, so. Because, because, right. You look at Keda and it's like you've either got to cover up the fact that you have a second string quality center there, or he's got to become a first string quality center again, which is what he did in the regular season. Which. Yeah, fine. Like, I think either is possible. Right. I don't, I don't think it's out of the question that by the end of this playoff run that the Celtics make a deep playoff run and by the end of it, Kada is, is really good again. I think that's perfectly plausible. Right, but you know, which is why they're fine. They're doomed. Right?

[John Corrales]

That's right.

[Tom Westerholm]

You know, listen, again, we've done too many mea culpas on this show. Now we're covering all the bases. They're both winning the championship and losing to the Sixers. This is happening. But like, but no, I think you're exactly right. I think that they, they can either grow or they can, you know, like, or they can paper things over. Either one of those is a possibility. But look, the regular season, there's a reason that the NBA is trying to like, shift the rules around so that there's more competition in the regular season. The regular season is a, it's becoming more and more distinct from the playoffs. At least the more, you know, the longer that I've covered the league. The longer you've covered the league. I'm sure, like the regular season looks so different than the postseason now. And yeah, I think that's. It's a long season. It's a long regular season. There's, there's so many teams that are not trying, actively trying not to win during the regular season that are just, you know, these are guaranteed wins. You pick like where they should be. You go through, you pick up your guaranteed wins against the teams that don't want to win. And if you do that, like you're gonna have a good record and then it just kind of. There's some mid table teams that you beat. The regular season is weird now. It's, it's, it's not. It's a different product. You get to the playoffs and everything, everything has always intensified. But I think it's, it's. It seems like it's doubly so now where, you know, I mean, look, scouting's getting better. The, you know, like your scouting reports that you get are getting better and just generally the, the teams are. Everything's so much more laser Focused. I think over the course of an 82 game season, you know, you catch the Sixers second night of a back to back that, you know, or whatever or, you know, they just got back from a west coast trip. There's a million different possibilities for trap games during the regular season that it's just hard to account for all that stuff. And if you kind of take care of business, you can pick up a lot of wins if you're a good team, a good, not great team. So I think that's what we're going to learn over the next little bit here. Right. Are the Celtics a good, not great team that picked up the wins when they needed to because they're, they're a bunch of professionals and they, they played professional basketball during the regular season or are they a great but flawed team that has that, that figures out how to work through some of those flaws or figures out how to get better at those flaws over the course of the playoffs? Like, I think that's, that's kind of what it comes down to now. And I mean, I think either one is, is plausible based on what we saw during the regular season, which again, like you say, they're exactly what we should have expected. Yeah, absolutely. I think we're seeing the two possibilities play out right in front of us here.

[John Corrales]

Yeah. And so I think they, they have, they have all of the tools to, to fix this. You know, not that anything's particularly broken. But this is why I believe that Joe Missoula keeps saying playoffs are the same as the regular season. I really believe, like every year he goes into the postseason with a certain message and you can tell at the end of the regular season he starts hammering home that message. And this is the. There's no difference, there's no difference between the regular season and the postseason. It's just under, under more duress. Under more duress. And the, the, you know, the brighter lights and, and all of that stuff and you just gotta.

[Tom Westerholm]

That's, that's two differences right there, Joe, that I, I hear. You know, brighter lights, more duress in the playoffs.

[John Corrales]

Sure, right.

[Tom Westerholm]

Those are differences.

[John Corrales]

Differences. But, but to what Joe is saying to his team through us is the basketball is the same. You still. What, what went into winning a game in January is the same thing that went into winning a game in November and in March and now in April and May, presumably. So they.

[Tom Westerholm]

No, they'll definitely make it to May.

[John Corrales]

Yeah, that's right.

[Tom Westerholm]

Because there's no question that they're going to make it.

[John Corrales]

To me, they're going to make it to me. But anyway, this is why Joe is hammering home that point, because it is the same and he needs these guys to understand it is the same. And so Kayla just has to stop doing like, just stop with the dumb fouls. It's okay. The foul worry. Okay, you bit on an up fake. Don't bite on the up fakes. But you bit on the up fake. Okay, Come down, you hammer and bead.

[Tom Westerholm]

So what?

[John Corrales]

I don't care about that file.

[Tom Westerholm]

Maxi tricks you into something in the pick and roll,

[John Corrales]

right? It happens. You're gonna get fouls. And if you're defending well, there's a chance you're gonna foul somebody. Not a problem. I'm not saying don't. Don't commit fouls, but do understand that Embiid is going to bait you into things and he's going to fake the fade away and then try to get you and try to bump into you. Right? So don't be overzealous. Don't forget your. Your scout. Don't forget you understand what, what they're trying to do as much as what you're trying to do. And that's the part that they have to figure out. And they need. Just like they've needed during the regular season. You need Keita to be his absolute best. Yeah. You need Sherman to contribute. You need Pritchard, you need Hauser.

[Tom Westerholm]

You could really use a couple of threes from Derek White, Eric White, buddy.

[John Corrales]

We need Derrick White. But this, this is. You need something from everybody and you need. And my last point here is also, we gotta stop treating Jayson Tatum like he's 100% because he's not 100%. He's not. He's. I think he's winded. He's gassed at the end of these games and probably why there was a heavy dose of Jalen Brown at the end of the fourth quarter and only two field goal attempts for Jason. So, okay, if that's the case, then, then that's on Joe Missoula. Use Jason as a decoy. Get some off ball actions and run some stuff where he's just the cutter and make him. He. He's got to work more than you. You probably want him to rest on certain possessions just to keep him in there, but do some things that at least go. People go. There's Tatum right there. And. And just occupy the defense that way. You just have to use all these guys a little more creatively. But we shouldn't expect Tatum to be his absolute best. I Think we've been kind of lulled into that part, too, because he's been so damn good. Yeah, he's been great. Everybody on this team has been great. Joe has been great. We have just been conditioned this season to be like, wow, this is a great team.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah, but.

[John Corrales]

But they're still flawed. They just have not. We have not seen those flaws. This is like taking the stage makeup off a little bit, and you're seeing, like, oh, wow, they have a. You know, wrinkles and scars and, like, it's just. This is not a perfect thing. Like, they. They have flaws and this. You're. You're. Now you just have to figure out how to work through them. They will be fine against the Sixers. They may be doomed if they, you know, against whoever they face next if they keep being what we expected. That's the conclusion for me in this podcast. But the path to them fixing it all, it's right there for them.

[Tom Westerholm]

Yeah. And, you know, the path through the Eastern Conference finals could also be there for them. Really could go. You know, again, I like this pod, because again, we have covered all our bases so well. Like, anything could happen.

[John Corrales]

Any part of this podcast. And we'll look. Right?

[Tom Westerholm]

Yes. I think we finally have.

[John Corrales]

Have found a groove on how to. How to say things in a certain way.

[Tom Westerholm]

Proofed ourselves on this podcast really well, and I. I'm here for it.

[John Corrales]

I love it. All right, Tom. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate you, man. And I do appreciate you listening and watching. Thank you so, so much for being here Monday through Friday. Plus, bonus podcast when they play on the weekends. Listen, I love you all. I do hope that I am not podcasting on Saturday nights. Okay. I will if I have to, because that's when they will play next. If they lose this game, they also may play Saturday night. I'll amend that. If they. If they win and the Knicks win and a couple other things happen there, I think there's a chance that they might play on Saturday night. So if that's the case, if it's a game one, I'm all for it. I'm. I'm on to. I want a podcast for you so bad on Saturday night. Not for Game 7, though, but we'll see. I will if I have to. A bonus. Podcasts are all week long, too, so, you know, whenever. So subscribe so you can get those whenever they happen. I would love it if you now share the podcast. Tell your friends, 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.

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[John Corrales]

Approv Hi, I'm Pedro Pascal, and I can't wait for you to see my new movie, the Mandalorian and Grogu. Hitting theaters on May 22nd. See you there. What are you waiting for? I like this kid. This summer, Star wars is back. We have to stop the Empire on the big screen. Are you scared? You should be like never before. Hang on. Good shot, baby. The Mandalorian and Grogu, rated PG13, may be inappropriate for children under 13. In theaters and IMAX May 22.

[Tom Westerholm]

Get tickets now.