Wembanyama’s 39, Young “Wolves” Rise, and Brad Stevens’ Celtics Depth Masterclass

CCT Mar16 === [00:00:00] Welcome to another week of Celtic Chalk Talk. I'm Steve Purciello, lifelong Celtic fan. Go back to way back to Bill Russell Days, and each Monday I talk about the Celtics for the week, and any other thoughts I can add? Always a pleasure. If you like us, just subscribe and try to remember that we're usually. Every Monday night, one will come out and another pod will come out. On the last week for the Celtics, last week there were one and two, and I don't think it was that bad. A one and two. And by that this, and we'll talk about the games specifically in a minute, but the first two games, Boston lost to sa San Antonio and Oklahoma City on the road. But each of them had extraneous circumstances. By that, Jaylen Brown was tossed in the second quarter, the San Antonio game with the Celtics up by a couple points. And then the next night Tatum and White did not play and Boston almost, or two nights later and almost beat Oklahoma City. Now when you start [00:01:00] thinking about it, they went on the road, they played two of the best teams in the league, and they held their own without all their players. So I don't think though they lost two. Games and that hurts 'cause he wanted to come in second. But I don't think it was that bad loss. Le losses, let's go back to the first game and talk about the first game before we even get going. They played San Antonio last Tuesday night. Now Victor, we. Is the future of professional basketball. He had 39. He was red hot from three, made a bundle, 11 rebounds. And what was interesting is anytime a Celtic got inside, anytime they went to the basket, if he was there, rarely did they go at him. They kicked it out to a guard. The jalen Brown challenged him once and he got a blocked. Derek White took him down and gave a couple ball fakes and snuck at the layup in around we Bama. But those are the only two times we, Bama is such a presence. He just changes games more [00:02:00] so than any player in the NBA and naturally from being seven five doesn't hurt, but he had a great game. Eight threes. Just incredible. And then later in the game, he went down to the mid post and caught the ball. Shireman was in his face, but can't get in his face 'cause he's so big. But he just turned around like no one was there and tossed in about a 12 footer. The guy is incredible. Now, Jalen Brown was thrown out in the second quarter. I have strong feelings about that. The referee who threw him out was Tyler Ford. And it was about three minutes left in a quarter, and Boston was winning, I believe, at the time. But he threw him out. He missed a call. He was in front of a play. Jaylen Brown got pushed from behind. He didn't see it. So Brown really gave it to him as they went down and he was deserved of a tt. He only got the T when he began to point at the official Tyler Ford. Tyler Ford took him and it got him mad. He continued to spout, but Ford I think [00:03:00] knew he missed the call and just stayed low. But what was interesting was Sue Yash made a another referee from across about 20, 25 feet away from Brown. Teed them up. That was to throw him out. T Now there's an old thing in anything where you know you gotta handle your business. CES made us, should not have gotten involved. If Tyler Ford wasn't happy, he should have tossed him and only him. Because that was between the two of them. After Brown got the first one, he was, when he was barking, he was looking at Tyler Ford wasn't look at a Maida, wasn't looking at anybody else. So it was a big thing 'cause a TV game, two of the best teams in the league, all that good stuff and he's tossed and the to throws Boston in an ugly situation. Jason Tatum still was on a minutes restriction, playing 27 minutes, so they couldn't use him a lot for the rest of the game, but they had, they needed him in, in, in that situation. And Missoula being the coach, he is, did a great job in keeping the minutes down even when he could have used him more. That was that was a [00:04:00] key part of the game. But that was the, that, that's why they lost now a couple things. Tatum 25, but Derek White, oh my god, what a great game. 34, he had 34, 5 and seven. He hit a couple big threes. A few threes big throughout the game, keeping Boston in the game and ahead early in the game. He was, he was great and Derrick White will always pick up for the rest of the team, and that's what he did in that game. The Boston in that game showed again, they can play with the big boys and they are a big boy. Next was Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City. Have White and Tatum both out. You got trouble. You got Jalen Brown and Pritchard. Hopefully that's it for offense, but you know what? The youngsters came along the young wolves as Jaylen Brown calls 'em, and they were great. UO was just a very good game. Baylor Ironman every game surprise you. He can hit a three. He hit a couple. He just does so many things. Both Baylor [00:05:00] and Hugo had 11 and Jordan Walsh, remember him, he played. And he played well. He really, it was like a throwback where he, he was very much involved. Like he was in the be of the year and he was all over the court. The three of them are like gnats. They fly all over the place and they do well. Now, the other person I missed was Ron Harper, who played. Very well against San Antonio as well. And he's become a very he'll be signed and the Celtics will do well. He's another wolf that can play. So the Boston had a bunch of wolfs. They played well. Pritchard had I believe 14, like I said, white had 34. They lost the game. They forced a three from the corner. Shot was missed, went long. The rebound hung hung. Got it. And he was fouled by Hauser. Tough call. It was there, it was a foul, but there was like five tenths of a second left. Boston took it out. Pritchard threw up a long heave three from about 35 feet. And it came [00:06:00] short and that was all she wrote. They lost. But again. Boston shows they can compete with these teams. That is the piece that you need to keep in mind. Boston needs to show that they're good enough to play and they can play with these teams and they have a chance to win the whole thing. It'll take a little bit of luck, but they have a chance. Then Saturday night they have the Wizards, which is, I guess in modern, it would be like a buy. They went out and they won by 10 or 11. The one, was it a one 11 to 100 game? Never in doubt. The second quarter, they just blew him out and I think they just toyed with him. And what was good is Brown only played 30 minutes and Tatum moved up to 30 minutes from 27, but they weren't overused. Tatum 2014 and seven, almost a triple double. He's slowly getting back. His shooting is not consistent yet, but it's getting there and it's only gonna get better for us as long as he's healthy. Now, the guy that was the star of the game. It was cda Nimi, [00:07:00] and he was tremendous. He played 31 minutes, which is high for him, 24 points, 10 rebounds. What's really interesting was Ada CDA in this particular game was able to score in the post, and he had showed moves. Around the basket. These weren't all LOBs that he was throwing down or follow ups where easy put backs. He had a couple twisting moves that were impressive. Kada. I don't know if it'll ever happen. I don't think so, but he shows signs at times of being a star. And that was a game where he did. Now, naturally, as I've said a few times, maybe not here, but I've said, to be a star, you've gotta do it every night. Cada doesn't do that. There are nights where he is not visible, but in this game, in Washington, we know Bam scored 83 against him. They're not a good defensive team. But CDA had his night and of course that was a key and easy win. They didn't play well. The Celtics were 12 for 46 from [00:08:00] three 26%. And by the way, if you're gonna have the bad shooting day. It's a great place to do it. Always against a team like Washington. 'cause you're gonna beat them. So now they went one and two for the week. Couple little notes. I just thought about, first of all, let's talk about the development the young w as I call them. And we're talking about K to Shiman, Walsh, UO Hauser not Yeah. Hauser Harper. These are people. Boston does this probably as well as any team. They develop people. And each of these people, Boston, has selected, worked with in, in Kate's case, been a couple years, Inman's cases. The second year they didn't make contributions. Until this year, Walsh, I thought he'd be cut, he'd make solid con contributions. Hugo was a first round pick. I think after a summer of shooting a basketball. Consistently, he will become an offensive force, and if he does. He could [00:09:00] be a star. He's gotta become a better shooter to become that star, but if he does, he'll look out. And then Sam Houser, it took the Celtics a couple years of development. He's a great offensive weapon to have. He can shoot it from anywhere. And it's almost like a pickup when he hits a three from somewhere. These are things that Celtics do. The other thing I want to talk about, and the last thing I wanna talk about is the Celtics ability and it's really uncanny. A Missoula is well-liked, well-respected by his team. They have found a coach that players. We'll listen to play for and play hard for. And don't forget Missoula. And there's some interesting things about, he's a little strange of a character, but Missoula's the guy that shows up at somebody's kid's christening or, and he cares. And the players really take to that. That's helped him. He's got a great relationship with Tatum Brown. They all respect him. They think the [00:10:00] world of him now. You don't get this. And as Celtic fans, you gotta understand what we're going through for the last couple years. This is a fun team. Players play hard. They're coached well. They wanna play for the coach. And the last piece that makes this a great thing is Brad Stevens. Brad Stevens has got a great eye for talent. Luca Garza is a great example of somebody that he took. He's limited, but he helps and they fit him right in with the team. Don't forget this year, Brad had to go out and get some players because he lost so much and he did it over the years with some of the things he did. Jordan Walsh was taking. Two years, three years ago, and he was a second round pick. Couldn't shoot at all. Not a bad three shooter. Now could defend long arms and he plays hard. The each of these guys play very hard and very hungry. Baylor Shireman has developed a unique talent as a rebounder. He's getting 9, 10, 12 rebounds every night and he's getting his minutes and he deserves 'em. And he's a [00:11:00] great corner shooter and they use him outta the corner and he can hit the three and he will only get better at it. So each of these players are getting better. The last one I wanted to finish with is Ron Harper. Ron Harper has become a true, good player. Harper will be signed to a contract at the end of this year. They have to hold off on it 'cause they're staying under the cap and they don't wanna pay the tax. But he will be signed and he has developed into a really good player. ~That's it for now. It's another good week. Oops.~ Steve: That's it for now. It's another good week of Celtic Chalk Talk. If you like us, tune in every Monday. Please subscribe. It's always a pleasure to talk about the Celtics. Thank you. Take care.