View From The Rafters: Behind the Scenes with the Boston CelticsCeltics Mega Crossover Podcast: C’s Pods Unite And Talk Top Memories & Resolutions
What happens when many of the top Celtics podcasts unite under one roof? You get the official Celtics mega crossover pod 🎙️☘️
View From The Rafters hosts Marc D’Amico, Sean Grande and Abby Chin brought John Karalis of Locked On Celtics, Chris Forsberg of Celtics Talk and Jay King of Still Poddable together for a one-of-a-kind episode featuring great stories, New Year’s resolutions and light-hearted shenanigans along the way. They discuss their favorite Celtics memories, such as Leon Powe’s return to Oakland and Isaiah Thomas’ 53-point playoff gem, as well as which player is the best quote from those whom they’ve covered. They close it out with some measured opinions on the 2024-2025 campaign. Check out the end of the pod where they give a special shoutout to their fans and info on how you can listen to each show.
Welcome to season five of You from the Rafters Behind the scenes with the Boston Celtics. We're sitting here having these conversations.
Which one sticks out to you?
What do we craft?
Or we just want a championship?
That probably happens a lot.
We do this every year.
Right, this is hard, bro, I never thought of it that way.
Thank you for that be a part of that winning atmosphere.
All right, this is View from the Rafters. But today this is the mega Boston Celtics Crossover podcast episode. We've got View from the Rafters represented Ray here. We've got John Corrals with Lockdown Celtics. We've got Chris Forsburg with Celtics Talk. And last and certainly least is Jay King with Iboudible. And by the way, I just want you all to know that this is the authentic version of each podcast. As you see, Grandy is all dressed up in a suit and tie and at the end Jay is wearing sweatpants, which is what he does every single time he does anything up.
You told me that, I told you, just be you.
That's always that's his dressy backwards hut skimming.
Is this just get more college?
Well, thank you for showing us podcast just in case I need to know.
How did Jay get the nod over be Rob and Sam?
Uh, that's a good question. I think that he holds a little He's good inter. I think you hold a little good will with someone important in our PR group.
I mean, I know Packard.
Has a history of dodging me, but like live in Boston anymore?
Yeah, I mean, but he was in Boston for the holidays.
Yeah, that's tough, tough hit.
Maybe I made a mistake.
You don't know.
What's that You gotta sweatshirt on too?
Yeah, but this is a.
Nice sweatshirt with a jacket on top.
Okay, so this is classy.
All right?
So I'm on Forsburg's podcast.
So now we're yeah, we guys our enemies today.
There's a little family guy Simpson's thing going on the crossover episode.
So what do we do on the crossover episode? Maybe we just get a bunch of different types of takes here. So first and foremost, obviously, we are all around the team in many different ways, in different times and different varieties. I'm just curious what you guys tell people when they ask you, like, what is it like being around the Celtics all the time. Jay, what do you say? Because I know you get these questions from your boys, your family, your in laws.
I think the best question is you can jump in. But like people always say, do you talk to the players, And I'm.
Like, yeah, you talk to people, you work with network. The thing I always say is no, I can't get you tickets.
Yeah, that's what I always Well.
I have people reach out that I haven't spoken to in like ten years, asking if they get me tickets.
I'm like, I can't even give my wife.
Yeah, that's even worse than it is for me. Yeah, and I can probably. No, I don't work Wait, no, I can't for the Celtics. Everybody thinks I work for the Celtics. I do not work for the Celtics. They just think because I'm there, I work for the team. No. Over there's a clear line there, there's a line there. Technically you do right, you're way over there. I'm way over here. That's why I'm at the end. I walked both sides of the line.
Abby's got a little bit of that too, christ is a little It says almost that's how we.
Should have lined Yeah, we should have lined up, And like.
Yeah, way of access, I would have been in the other room.
Yeah that's true, but hey, you're here today. So the point is that we all serve all of you. That is the point, no matter what it is we.
Do, and that has to come.
First, no matter what.
So I would also say that the players are taller than you can even imagine.
What do you do when you do them?
I'm used to being around just super tall people now. I went to a restaurant the other day with my brothers who were all like six two six three, and the waitress was like, my god, you got are huge. What you're talking about? I will think the smallest person in the room, in every room.
We were walking into a hotel recently and Jaden Springer asked Christops for Zingis.
Like, how tall are you?
I did the year I did the year I did the Red Sox.
Everybody would ask me, Hey, what's what's the difference. What's the biggest difference between doing the Red Sox and the Celtics. And my answer I always came back to, was well, I felt taller.
Yeah, Baseball players are generally shorter than you think. Basketball players are like taller than you.
Virtoya was on that team or whatever you felt that you felt like you were love it.
But each of the podcast kind of brings a little bit something different to the table. So do we consider them our competition?
There's no competition for us.
Oh really? Oh really? Yeah? Please explain, Jay, were the best daily.
By far.
I think John might have something to say about that.
It's the best daily Celtics podcast that nobody can find.
Are we talking paywalls here?
We're worth We're worth the subscription.
I guess you people will have to not find out. So we start out with you know, we're talking about being around the team all the time. One of the most unique parts of that is being a around Joe Missoula all the time. Things have changed, you know, since the first day that we all found out that he was going to be the head coach of the Celtics, we all didn't really know what to expect. I would assume from all you guys as well.
Certainly didn't know that it was going to be like this.
But yeah, I got with a championship within a couple of seasons and some unique answers in the in the media room. What have you all learned about him? Especially you, because you get a lot of one on one time with him. What have you guys learned about him over the last two years since he took over, since that first day when he was named head coach.
I want to start down there because I'm more interested because my daily life is you guys getting your shot at him for however long that lasts.
And then there's sometimes like ninety second, there's a.
Period of time between when we start on the air and the period of time when Joe and I are just talking, and that period of time every night is basically talking about everything that you guys.
Just had last Well, you probably have a better view of that than we do, though, But it's crazy because when he took over, he was the assistant coach who strapped a ping pong paddle Romeo Langage.
Yeah, you know, he didn't. We didn't know him much more than that.
Obviously, we talked to him from time to time, We had a little bit of time with him, but then all of a sudden, he's the face of the Boston Celtics. Yeah, and I think for that first year was very challenging for him, just kind of learning everything that came with that. I think he was obviously an insanely talented basketball mind. We've seen that, so obviously not a great leader perspective. Like everyone jumped on board, even that first year, which was so rocky, nobody jumped off board. But that first year was really hard for a number of reasons.
Changing for him been challenging for all of us as well. Trying to adjust to that and find ways to get the best out of Joe when he wasn't always that excited to be there.
We just didn't know his personality right, Like, we didn't know how you had to approach it, how you had to have another question ready, because if you don't, you're that he does, He's going to unclip the mic and go and so. But what I love is the only interaction I'd had with him before he took over the head coach where we were in Charlotte ken Ba's game first game back there or something, I think, and he was Kema's kind of guy, and ken they told me something like, yeah, I did. He did this drill where he had to make a certain number of shots and a certain amount of time. He gave me the number, and I was happened to be in the elevator and I went, you know, hey, Kem told me he made you know in two minutes and forty seconds, and he just looked at me and went, he told you that, and then he just walked off the elevator. It didn't follow up we used and I was like, huh, that was abrupt, and then I was like years later, I was like, oh, okay, now it all makes sense. The other thing I always think takeaway is the only scouting report we had was that when Derek got here in that mid season trade, that he's got sent to Joe and like learned the defense because Joe is going to teach you everything. So I always had this impression that, like, Olhwa's a defensive mastermind and this is this is his thing, and all we do is talk about offense and three pointers. So yeah, you know, you always pigeonhole someone, but again, you're just getting to know him was the big thing. And knowing what makes him tick.
I think.
I think the thing that stands out to me about Joe is that he is very much his own person. He is no want to play to the convention of like he doesn't play the game right. He's not a politician out here, He's.
Not He's not really really bad one Yeah, he.
Doesn't humor anybody. Ye right, he doesn't.
He doesn't take a question like a lot of times you just put a question out there. Sometimes sometimes you ask a question because no one's asked anything yet. And it's it's starting to be like anybody question and like you just throw you just throw.
Something out there to get the ball rolling. And he does not. He doesn't play along, and and and it's a challenge.
I think it's he wants you to come prepared to work well, even though it has nothing to do with it.
Wants demands that you come from.
You'll be rewarded if you But.
It's not even just being prepared, like yeah, everybody should be prepared going, you know, coming to work. It's it's that he has he has his own way of seeing things. And there's he's done really well trying to like meet us not quite in the middle, but get a little bit closer to where we are about Like, okay, I get what you're trying to do.
He he has his view, he has his way of doing things.
And reporters, podcasters, we don't know what it's like to be NBA players, even though we've played some level of basketball.
The NBA is so different.
He he doesn't you played the highest level out of all of us.
Just to be That's what I was getting at.
Thank you for asking us give him his flowers. He didn't really ask, But no one knows what it's like to be in the NBA. And and he, I think, is so like protective of his team that when you ask a question that runs counter to how things are, he'll give you like a negative reaction when sometimes, like I've had to tell him, we actually just want to know if I get something wrong, if I phrase a question wrong, feel free to rephrase it and tell me this is what I think the heart the heart, and then.
I will counter with that. So I appreciate the fact that he's meeting us some and I think.
That's a part of the growth too, right, like of understanding each other. It's not just like us understanding him, it's him understanding us too.
And I think him being himself that's part of what helped them take a leap last season because that first year he stepped in for Email under insane circumstances and the players had just gone to the finals. They believed in everything that he may did. So if he had come in and changed everything to put his own stamp on it. Guys would have been like, what are you doing? We don't want to do this. And then they had the tough end of that first season where they fall behind three nothing to Miami, can't quite finish off the comeback, and he came back the next year and finally he was able to do things right.
He changed everything.
He changed practiced schedule, he changed how they work, He changed every single thing how the assistant coaches worked. And I think him doing it his way really helped propel them forward.
Because another way to phrase that what the two he just said was by doing it his way is a discomfort to a lot of you, but it is an extraordinary comfort to the guys he started.
And that's and that's just it.
And I also would say that it's you want to make them uncomfortable too.
Yeah, but not in the same way he is going to.
We were inching you with two weeks ago.
A couple of weeks ago, we were in Chicago and somebody came half prepared. They wanted to get a question for a story they were writing about the TV ratings in the league, and everybody's ready and throughout this Genario question, and Joe literally shrugged his shoulders and gave no answer.
And then all of a sudden, you guy, You guys have.
Been on the spot where you're in the room, and now you feel like you've got to ask it again or ask some follow up that you're not prepared to ask for. And he'd begrudgingly gave him an answer. But Joe is a jiu jitsu player. He is a jiu jitsu player in his mind, and he certainly is on the air while he's coaching and when he's in there with you, and even when he's in there with me. I love the competition element of it. I spend the inordinate amount of my day preparing for that segment because it's worthwhile.
As you said, it's worthwhile.
When you do prepare, you're going to get something good out of it. And that's how he lives his life. It's not a lot of competitive people how we live our lives. And it results in something like everything with Joe, it results in something different than what you have been used to before.
I agree with you, and that when I know that I am doing that pregame interview with him, the one on one, I think about it all day long.
That's as I'm getting.
Ready, as I'm meeting my lunch, I'm just thinking about what how can I phrase these questions to get the best out of Joe. But also I will say that it feels different when they were in the room. It doesn't always feel as adversarial. I think, especially now that we have spent so much time with Joe, that when he does give us those non answers, it's like, Okay, we're not going to talk about that today, not any deal.
Hey you deserve that because you didn't have a great question, right, Yeah, but.
It comes off differently on camera, and then still possible we'll throw it up and like what a Joe said?
What is that segment called that you guys do?
Oh stuff?
Jose stuff?
Jo says, you guys remind stuff And I'm like, oh, I didn't. I didn't feel that in the room. But that is really funny the way he said it or what he said.
I do think the outside percent of his relationship with us is different than the reality.
I don't think that first of all, is nothing ever personal.
You know with that if he ever comes back and his adversarial in any way, it's it's because of the question or his mood or what he wants to convey, not like I don't like you personally, because afterwards when we're.
Done, like who we.
Look.
He didn't say that.
I'm a Rhode Islander.
Just like Joe. We get each other.
It's like a love hate and we love to hate. But yeah, I think he wants to be challenged too, Like he wants to challenge and he is equal opportunity. Like he he will treat people how he wants to be treated. So he you know, he wants to be challenged by things, and therefore I will challenge you. I saw a podcast where he made some dude get into a cold tub, asked the question, just to see if he was committed to getting the questions.
Boston.
Adam Hard had to get in the top and pretty much Adam is directly essentially the producer of the segment. And but Joe had had a great relationship with him and pretty much said like, you know, all right, if you want us to actually do this interview and give you what you're looking for, you need to get into tub with me. That's and so Adam got down and now that center got in shout out, got a great little.
As he is a firm believer in making himself uncomfortable, thus making everybody else uncomfortable. That's where results come from, and it translates to every single part of his life.
That's true. One thing you were going to say there that I think trailed off a little bit, But what people don't know is that when the cameras turned off from that pregame media session and like maybe there was a moment that people might perceive as kind of like, you know, going at it a little bit. He'll walk down off the stage and he'll actually talk to us all about that moment, and someone might be able to show yere's why I did that, or he might say it back.
Yeah, he will clarify like what he meant to say.
Sometimes when it comes off as like confrontational, he'll come out and be like n meaning yeah, you know that way.
So he's been an incredible story that we've all been around and watched kind of develop over the last couple of years. All of us have been around the team for a long time. At this point, what's everyone's most interesting or favorite story that they've covered, either on the podcast or just within you know, your writing responsibilities of covering the team.
My favorite was back when Marcus Smart was here. I don't know if we want to go that far.
Back, but go back as far as you want, John.
So, my absolute favorite story that I did is like the silliest little thing is if we remember, there were like consecutive games where the ball got stuck at the shot clock and Marcus with the yeah, like Marcus got.
The was around to get them right.
Like once he was on the floor and he knocked out, and once he was on the bench and he went over and he knocked it off and people were like.
Mocked, like cheering, like MVP, MVP.
So I like caught him on the side and I said, you know, how funny was that just just to get like a little fun quote, and it turned into this big like you know, there was a time where they wouldn't have even they would have booed me or something. That was like, now to hear the MVP chance, it shows how much I've come along in this city that came about from taking I was like, oh my god, this is like gold from Marcus.
So this the silliest little basketball being.
Stuck on the backboard turned into Marcus kind of like a story about how far he's come in the eyes of fans in the city of Boston.
So that was that was like really cool for me.
Is that what you guys have all found is like it's those little things that you pull out that people are probably like, wait, that's a story, and then you go a little deeper and something's there.
I mean, for me, it was I season because I was such an open book, like we would show up. He broke into a train station to see his Nike I campaign one.
Day and like hein yeah, like he was again.
Remember he had gone from being I mean bench guy six man, but then like all of a sudden, he's in the MVP commerce.
He was a six man here by the way for and but he never.
He always still approached it like he was the lastka on the bench, and you know, he was willing to tell you like he was again an open book. And I will romanticize that season forever, not only because of like what happened that year and like how improbable it was, you know, probably second only to last season, and the championship was the most enjoyable season to ever be around, because I just went in with such low expectations and he made it so much fun. And we always say, right, like we we don't cheer for the players, well maybe maybe Tomko.
Absolutely we cheer for stories, right, see me in an immediate section when we make it.
As scout those that but we do cheer for storylines. And like, you know, you cheer for good people too, right, And like I was a chief among them, and so I like, I hate how the way that ended, you know, like it was it wasn't particularly fair to him. I understood it. But that season was awesome and I'll never forget that year.
That was unbelievable.
I mean that playoff run that he had with his hip herding with his sister just passed away. He had thirty three points. I believe it was a day after his sister passed away in the first game of the playoffs, right, not to two spent like.
Eight hours, that's too much to what you've already said.
No, he did and then had fifty something what would have been.
His sister's birthday in the playoffs.
It was.
That was just an incredible run and proof that, like, you don't need to win a title to leave a legacy that people remember for a long time. My favorite story was about Marcus smart too. It was about his AAU, his AAU days, and it was just because it reminded me of my AU. His team was crazy. They stayed together from the time they were.
Like ten to seventeen.
But they had parents cussing the kids out, but like loving it.
They had parents getting in fights, they had the kids.
Obviously Marcus probably a little fiery back then like he is now and just working out.
It reminded me of my AU time. So I love that.
About y Naco. Well, what's been your favorite?
So my stupidest story that I just really enjoyed telling it actually had to do with Gordon Hayward. So he came into a This was back in the Waltham days. He was at the practice facility and he just randomly was like drinking a bottle of water and someone was like, is that cold and he was like, no, it's not I don't drink cold water. And I was like why. In my head, I'm like why does he not drink cold water? And so I came back to our offices and I pitched my boss. I'm like, hey, Gordon just said he doesn't drink cold water and I have no idea why. And I really want to find out and write a story about it. He's like, that seems like something no one would care about, and I'm like, I think people will like it. So we wound up running with a story and I talked to him and basically the moral of the story is that he perceives cold water is when you drink it, your body has to warm it up, and you waste energy by having to warm up the water. So Joe Michula would make he would love that. Yeah, he would want to challenge him. But yeah, I think I think to your point John earlier, just like those little nuggets that come out that you're like, Okay, that's something I want to go a little deeper on, and then you never know what's going to come out of that.
I noticed that no one has mentioned this current team of players as their favorite stories, because this is the most buttoned up, professional, don't tell you a thing type of team.
You have to go back to Marcus and I.
T and well, that's what I was going to say.
My favorite moment of all time was an al Horford interview in Cleveland during the playoffs, and it was the first time he'd ever been in a lebron James team. They did it in Cleveland, and it was the only time I've ever seen Al like out of.
His Yeah, it.
Was he was still on the floor. Yeah, and it was experience, yes, And it was just that is who Alan is on the floor. That's not who we get to see, that's not who we talked to. But he was still in that moment and it is the most un al like moment that I have experienced with him.
And it was just so genuine and pure and it was awesome.
I'll just throw out there that I think that's more al.
Than we really think.
That is l he just has the ability to to what.
I'm saying just now, Like all of these guys, like when we leave the locker room, I'm sure are just incredible person Yeah, just they have this incredible ability to just like but.
Even Jason, right like, I don't think any franchise better than I don't think any of us personally know like the real Jason that he is in his day to day life, because he's just doing media with us, and.
Every once in a while we're standing there waiting for a scrum and you hear him talking to a couple of his friends and you're like, oh personality. Look at this, He's joking and busting chops and all that stuff. You're like, oh, why can't you do that with us? And he comes up to us and it's like, yeah, you know, just trying to get better.
Come on. He lets it out in his commercials.
Though.
At least this is the velvet rope nature of and the evolution of the league. In Max's days, they were flying commercial you know, you'd be with him in the airports. The media would fly with them. So obviously, you know, Abby and I we get to see things that people aren't going to see that even general media isn't going to see it in quote unquote real lives.
But the best stories.
And the reason we're not talking about it because that team won the championship and they were meticulous and they weren't touched last year and they walked backwards into it and it's great and it'll be remembered forever like the O eight team will. But it's the little stories like Isaiah's sister, of the thousands of games that I've now done and I've called championships and all of it, I to this day vividly remember when you said, think of a moment. The one that pops into my head was Leon Poe playing for the Celtics as a rookie, just trying to find his way.
We get to Oakland where he grew up.
Outside the Old Oracle Arena, they would have flea markets every weekend. He and his mother would go there to make ends meet. They would sell things at the flea market outside this arena. And I got to be there to call the moment when he walked onto that floor as an NBA players offs and that still gives me a little gooit like because the championships are great and it's what's going to be remembered forever. But Isaiah coming here and starting his career over again in the most symbiotic relationship I've ever seen in the NBA. The Celtics needed him, he needed the Celtics and it was the perfect match. Those are the stories that you tell. Those are the goosebump moments, and that's what makes fans and what they remember.
I'll throw one.
Moment out, but two of the same night, the championship night, Joe coming out with his wife walking around hand in hand.
So I was out in the arena. I love working in the media. Section in the.
Arena when everything is done and gone, and he's kind of like a big office.
It's so great.
So Joe was out there walking around with his wife and that was a nice moment, and he's like, I asked him about it.
He's like, I thought we were alone, like new No, I don't know. Three hundred people in there and then.
Four in the morning or so, and you know, we're still writing, we're still doing stuff and like just about wrapping up. Confetti's still on the floor and Jalen walks in post party, so he's celebrated a little bit.
And he walks in.
And like like the guards down and he's got his friends with him and the MVP trophy and he just walks out and he's just smiling.
He's like, what a beautiful site.
You guys are playing ball. There are a couple of people ship around.
Yeah, and he like got the ball and was like, all right, what are you doun Like, Jalen.
Please don't tell you do not do I was like, not, don't dunk on me.
Please don't try to take a step right now, because there's configion all over the floor.
You've been celebrating a bit.
I don't want the story to have that I have to tell to be like, why did Jalen Brown get hurt? Why is he in crutches on the duck boat. He did not do that, thankfully, But that moment of Jalen kind of taking it in like the most real, genuine moment. So I have to share that just because it is of the current team and it's like Jalen just soaking it in and just what a beautiful sight.
It was a great You said there was another one?
Is there another one?
That one in the Joe Joe walking around? Yeah, that's I mean to your point, Like, the genuine moments are the ones that I mean, all of the team gets to see behind closed doors. The guys are completely genuine there, but they just have their guard up a little bit when they're around the media, so we don't always get to see who they really are.
That's a different story.
That's a different story.
Yeah, he's winking to the fans. Yeah, you know what we have seen, Jason.
You do see a moment every night because when he locks eyes with Deuce, or when Dukes runs over to Duke runs over to him in the middle of a game, or whatever it is.
That's because that's that's the guy. That's his entire adult life. He has. We've all had adult lives at some level before kids. He hasn't. I don't think j has well yeah, yeah, I mean he's ail over there.
Come on, I'm still a child with a child. The kid.
I'm still a child with a child.
I love it.
Folks experience the thrill of the open road, no matter the conditions, with tires that are never under the weather. Discover the Michelin Cross climate too tire to learn more, head over to michelinman dot com. Okay, there's been a lot of players who have come through the revolving door since we've all been around this team, and I think this might be a little bit of a debate.
Who's everyone's favorite? Woked?
I mean, Mark Smart is pretty high up there.
I'll just go Robert.
Williams, Oh never again?
Oh ahead?
God?
Who had twenty six minutes? Is that a record for camera? It is?
It's easy to forget when Rob first got here, he was very still Louisiana Bull who.
Like he got here a little late by the way, Well you did.
And that to me was endearing too, because again, there's what we're all the The whole crux of this conversation has been trying to find a human element to these players, and sometimes they're just so otherworldly and talented and big and that we'd like forgetting your wallet when before you go to sign the MDA contract. It's like somewhat endearing. But Rob didn't have a filter, and so Rob would do interviews and like every other word was was a curse word, to the point where Austin Age had to walk over and be.
Like, fuck, I love it.
Hey you He.
Was just like, maybe tone down the amount of f words in there.
And we're all like, no, we love to bleep it.
He was just earnest and honest and like I loved everything about the way Rob talk and like you know, from the setbacks to like when there were good times. He was just such a good quote in terms of like you knew you're going to get genuine history and I could you know he could throw his a in there and all that, but like, uh, definitely, just like when people don't put that guard up and they just speak with what they feel. And from Chris Tops to Rob all Off, injured centers are the guys answer.
There's one obvious.
One of them, he was one of the funniest Celtic that so quick witted, hilarious. The other one is Marcus Moore, That's the one.
Morris was just no bs, another guy who slid a cuss word in there every other, every other sentence.
At the very.
Least, he would also just tell you the truth. I remember there was one night they blew like a twenty six point lead against the Clippers and we could see in the most game locker room Marcus Moore was just doing and so we were like, we gotta talk. We got oh yeah, and it took a while to get to him, and we were like, we're gonna wait. There was there was a little time when I think pr was trying to finesse us and get us out of the locker room before he could talk. And that was when he told us that they just weren't having any fun present.
Like all of a sudden, he sorted, oh wait, they have all this talent, but they're never harnessing it. And it was it was it was like that aha moment of oh boy, this is this is worse when.
We think, who who does that sound like? Before this current regime, I mean, you were around well were number forty. I to was that guy in the locker room every night.
He was that guy I remember. I mean, how many times did I share a live mike with Kevin Garnett. That's the definition of walking a tightrope. And there were some there were some crazy things. I mean I'd also go off the board for the one year for Rashid Rashid Wah, who was amazing.
You know, that's that the only player I was just going to drink beer on the plane. He was just da used to.
There's waiting after Yeah, yeah, Abby, who's your favorite quote?
That's so hard. I want to go way back.
I mean Jim Crowder was also really good about being honest whenever you asked him questions. Uh, And I mean everyone is just always so generous to their time.
I'm gonna go way back my first season.
Gerald Wallace, sure, I think any of us would have had bingo card.
Low slow drawl, just very like I could remember games where he'd be like in jeans with like forty five minutes.
Everybody else is like warming up.
Gerald just just waiting to go have practice when they when they stretch and everything.
He would just be like sleeping on the floor and still like he was a great leader, great to know exactly what you're talking he was.
He wasn't a great app while everyone else was practicing. Yeah, I guess.
He was. He was older at that time. He had a rest up saving his energy all Hayward.
That first year. If not for the levity and leadership that Joe Wall.
But I can't believe I'm actually embarrassed by the fact that no one else has said who I'm.
Going to say?
Maybe it's just recency biased, but Luke Cornett, he's the funniest guy. Maybe in the NBA toned.
It down this year. He's not trying to be a little button ups.
Not on the sport though.
He's got funny He did the silent night thing before you know, he said Merry Christmas to everybody. But when he's actually talking to us on the podium, I don't think he's he has that.
That's why you got to get him in a one on one, one on one environment.
It's gold.
He's quick.
We brought him on after, you know, af for a game when I usually play a highlight coming out of the commercial with the guy that we're going to be talking to, and in the highlight he had had this dominant stretch and I'd called him Kareem abdual Cornette or something like that, and.
As soon as we come on, he goes.
You know, I always thought to myself more as Luke al cinders.
As quick as anybody.
One regret I have too, is that Jeff Tigue was here during one of the COVID years when we weren't all out in the locker room.
And now we know, because.
Now we know he's like the greatest storyteller there is, and we only got him on like a couple of zoom calls and we weren't able to really pick his brain at all.
That year, they had stuff going on the jumbo tron where the players were asked on like media Day of who the funniest guy on the team was, and everyone was like Jeff Tigue, And I'm like, what, Like, I didn't I didn't know that he was that guy. Now I know from watching his podcast that that dude is funny.
Okay, we should get him next time.
Yeah, we'll try to get him out. We don't have a lot of time left. We've covered a lot, by the way, everyone, we're recording this before New Year's Eve, so we got a few games to play before this episode comes out. But from everyone's perspective looking on the court, which we haven't talked a whole lot about during this pod, what should the celthis New Year's resolutions be as they head into twenty twenty five trying to get out of a little bit of a rut here that they've had over the past week or two.
Defense?
Yeah, is that that's it. It's a good one.
That's a play some defense. It'll be nice.
But Joe just said the other day like he loved the way the defense played against Orlando.
Well that's what he's talking Moss.
Yeah, but like, look he can We just talked about Joe being honest.
You're telling me.
I'm straightforward. He is a little bit no.
I like you can say like he'll pull out stats and they'll say, I remember I asked him once about defensive issues, you know, a few weeks ago, and he was like, oh, we're number one, inexpected, blah blah blah. I was like, okay, yeah, but you still can get better. And he's like, you can get better than number one. Okay, I guess you're like all right, Like that's you, Lily. He had like, right, remember that time when he was like he was actually like keeping score and scrums like I win this conversation. But anyway, yeah, no, play some defense. They or consistently and I get it right. It's it's the twenty twenty four portion. And you know, Drew Holliday is a little older, and he's coming off a short off season and Olympics and you know haven't had KP and all of that stuff. But to get to where they are going to be ultimately and where we all, I think expect them to be in June, they got to get back to that defensive mentality and kind of locking down more than you know, a few minutes a game. They can't just rely on their shooting to get them through some games, because that's you know, with so many three point shots, not to not like rare expected shooting would get them these they're expected shooting, but the expected doesn't always go in, and the three is prone to slumps just by the nature of the shot. So I'd like to see a little bit more of that defense presence kind of show up.
I actually think something that people haven't talked about a lot this month. While and again we're in December here, something that's contributed to this these recent struggles, if you want to throw some air quotes around, it is that the NBA Cup in the schedule, I actually think removed a little bit of their rhythm. And then in addition to that, they've had guys in and out of the land. They haven't had a consistent lineup really all of them last year the NBA. Yeah, and I think it will in the long run, Like I think Tatum having that week off, especially like you talked about short off season for Drew Holliday, Jason got that whole week off, Al Horford got a whole week off. Like, I think in the long run, those are going to help. But in the short term it kind of threw a little kink into the into the armor in terms of having a rhythm this year.
That is my resolution is for health.
Obviously that is the most obvious and love hanging fruit. But yes, and I think after that loss, the first time they lost back to back games against Philadelphia on Christmas Day was the first time we've ever heard them talk about the fact that there are a lot of moving pieces when it comes to the little and whether it's Christops for zingis missing that first month of the season or even I think Sam Hauser's injury being in and out and not having that reliable three point shooter coming off the bench is has been understated.
And he's still dealing.
With that back issue and it's something that I think is going to continue to affect him for the rest of the season, and so and now Christop's dealing with the minor spring ankle. And while they've been they were so lucky with health last year, and I know Christops was in and out, but it is just so important and so much of that has to deal with luck and if they can stay healthy.
By the way, last year was the first time that they actually had luck in that department.
And I don't want to drink it.
I feel like I should.
I need to knock on.
I would say, just don't get bored with it.
Yeah, I think they've taken a right attitude toward repeating this year. They came into training teams that had a great, great mindset, they came into the regular season had a great mindset. I think we've seen that dip a little bit in the last week or two. We're jameson and and I know it must be harder to stay motivated day after day when you've already won a championship, when you know that your best is good enough, when you're not fighting back against history and the last eight years or six years, whatever it was for different guys, where you've gone to the conference finals, you've gone to the finals, you've always fallen short. So now they know their best is good enough. They just have to stay with it day to day and keep building those habits the way they did last year. Because last year they were by far the most consistent team in the league at home, away against top five, against better than five hundred team against words than five hundred teams. It did not matter. They were the best and most consistent.
Getting met who was out there, didn't matter the roadblock. It was always they found a way. And I think that's the whole thing motivation, right, Like it's tough, the whole I know, Joe stiff armed our whole target on the back thing, that's not a thing. But every night it feels like the other team is coming for him. So I just want to see them be able to And I get it, like you can't accomplish your ultimate Colton June, so like, how do you find that motivation every single night in December and January and the dol drums that you gotta find it, and this team is so good at it last year and staying locked in and never letting things faster. My resolution would just be for them to kind of tap into that.
Again.
Here's the difference.
The target on the back isn't new because the Celtics have been a target for the last several years because they've been at an eight team. Now, the way they have been playing and winning has become targeted, starting with that Golden State game early in the year when the Warriors were going to run them off the three point line. You have teams that have changed the way their roster composition, teams like Atlanta and Orlando. We're going to have all these long athletic guys. The Celtics now, now that they have won, they're not just a target. They're also the standard you have to beat the way they play to beat them, and you have the rest of the league is now geared up, so it's not just getting up to play a big game every night. Now you a lot of teams have geared up specifically to stop the way the Celtics win.
And that's been pretty parent.
This is why Joe said, I think on my podcast, I hope we see the red dot on the forehead. We've en credit when we're talking about it.
Come on, guys, Yeah, seriously, only one podcast had YO this summer.
So I think I think the reason why he said that is to Jay's point, when you see that you're being targeted, that's going to make you kind of like, Okay, we have to we have to rise to the challenge of being targeted and complacency. That was an off season storyline and it does continue to be a storyline, especially when you see, like against Philly, like the defense wasn't there and then in the last three and a half minutes of the game, all of a sudden it was you know, Tyree s Max all of a sudden can't get the ball over half court for two three possessions' Like that's that's the defense right there. The complacency is guys love to say human nature a lot is one of Jason Tatum's favorite phrases. I think the human nature element is definitely part of it and why Joe wants them to feel that being targeted so they can play a more intense a brand of basketball and not be like, oh, we're we're we're going to be fine. He wants them to not feel fine. And it makes me wonder what kind of sun crick Joe is. Yeah, what's Joe going to do in January?
That's aunt Chris is like, how does he keep them amped up that head into you?
He gets paid a lot of money. He can figure that out.
You feel like Gladiator.
He's just gonna have tigers hidden underneath the floor and just let them out.
We know the way he does it, right, Like he breaks up the year into little chunks, and so when you guys are watching this, it'll be a new chunk of the year for Joe and he'll have something like something they're kind of striving towards to fuel them and they've got to all kind of buy into that. But he will find something that you know, gets them back on that that focus.
Love it.
Well, Hey, we're hitting like four. That's the most important part.
People.
Everybody voted home, which will oh no, hold on no, I.
Was just like, it's the first off text correct itself, expansive proto all these different podcasts. You're the real heroes out there if you made it this far, and this podcast.
Holds if you be as far in this podcast. The most important thing to take away is that of all of the podcasts represented up here, only one of them has not gotten Joe Missoula. You got some work to do. He just draw an ice bath, buddy, he'll be there. We knew this was going to be the you know, jump on Jay's head.
Shout out to all the other Celtics podcasts.
Yeah, yeah, we can only fit six. As you can see, we're filling the space up.
Robin Packard.
Yeah, so o s Max. Let's go down the line. Where can everyone find the pods and make sure that they're able to tune in and find what you guys.
Still go to patreon dot com slash still Poddible sign up, become a kid or god or a legend Forrestburgh.
If you don't know, I can't help you.
Locked on Celtics. It's free, free, five days a week.
And it thinks together.
We started the cast together and then I jet us in the dead weight.
I love to have to be fair.
Well, there there's no dead weight here with you from the rafters. We are at YouTube dot com slash Boston Celtics. You can find us on all the podcast platforms. Thank you guys for coming on. This has been an awesome crossover. I think the biggest mega podcast crossover that will ever happen in the sou.
The event of the season, it is it is all.
Might say, so thank you all for watching. We appreciate you for listening and watching all of our podcast across the board, and hope you're all having a great start to the new year.
