00:00Celtics back at the Garden tomorrow night with the Knicks.
00:03And Gary Washburn somewhat critical this morning, Curtis.
00:07Am I correct about that?
00:08A great, great column on the Celtics' demise in the final quarter and a half
00:15in their opener against the Pistons.
00:16He writes that the Celtics can use this as a learning tool.
00:19This wasn't just a matter of missed shots,
00:22but of allowing those missed shots to result in defensive slippage.
00:26What is expected to be an elite defensive team
00:28yielded 11 second-half three-pointers
00:30and sent the Pistons to the free-throw line 24 times.
00:33They were tired, they were lazy, and they got discouraged
00:35when Detroit became more physical.
00:38This is not a good way to start the new era.
00:41They'll have to prove that it was an aberration.
00:43And he notes that the Pistons allowed them to score nine points
00:47in a 74-second span, and that they have to find ways to win on nights
00:51when Tatum can't find the basket, quote, with a GPS.
00:54Yes.
00:56I mean, I think that that's the lack of alpha too, right?
01:00Yeah.
01:01Take over when you need to be taken over.
01:03Well, yeah, really depending on who you're pointing the finger at.
01:06I mean, we had this argument yesterday or discussion,
01:10and so Wiggy really puts it mostly on the players
01:15and not a lot on Joe Mizzoula.
01:19No, because if you look at this Celtics team defensively,
01:24last season they were the best defense in the NBA
01:29and one of the better defenses in the NBA year in and year out.
01:33There are going to be games where they have lapses
01:35and they don't play as well, and I get it,
01:37and that's what happened in the opener,
01:39but I don't expect this team to not be a good defensive team, right?
01:43So I wouldn't say that's on Joe Mizzoula
01:45because I know based on his track record,
01:48they're going to be a good defensive team.
01:50They're going to be a good rebounding team.
01:52I know Jason Tatum, based off his track record,
01:56is going to be a first-team All-NBA player.
02:00I guess when you talk about laziness,
02:01like if they looked lazy in the second half, which I think they did,
02:05that's when an alpha comes into play.
02:06If you don't have a guy on this team who's yelling at your players
02:11and saying, get it together, what the F are we doing?
02:14In my opinion, I don't think we have that voice.
02:18And I understand Jason Tatum's never been that voice.
02:20Right, but Jalen Brown wasn't that guy, though.
02:22I think Jalen Brown was that type of guy.
02:23No, when did you see Jalen barking on guys?
02:26There are a lot of people who would say that Jalen Brown,
02:31certainly defensively and leadership-wise,
02:33was more of that than Jason Tatum.
02:36Defensively, Jalen Brown, an unbelievable player,
02:39but Jalen Brown was...
02:40And leadership-wise.
02:41But he wasn't the type of guy that was going to bark on dudes.
02:44Oh, I...
02:45Well, he essentially had the same guys as the leader last season,
02:50had the same guys, as you just told us,
02:53playing like the best defense in the NBA.
02:55So, I have to imagine that that's somewhat due to Jalen Brown.
03:00Oh, no, he's...
03:01Listen, he's a great player.
03:02Okay.
03:02But you can't say, like, oh, he's a great leader
03:05and guys respect him when guys don't show up to his
03:08say goodbye to Jalen Brown day.
03:10Like, you can't have it both ways.
03:13Like, I think Jalen Brown, it was...
03:16He led in a specific way.
03:18He wasn't the type that was going to grab somebody by the name,
03:21you know, and yell and scream.
03:22But he led by how he led.
03:25And defensively, he was a tremendous defender.
03:28I mean, do you agree with this text?
03:30You probably don't, but Curtis, Courtney, Scheim,
03:33text from Maine.
03:34Good morning and hello to everybody listening up in Maine.
03:37Peyton Pritchard has more alpha in him than Jason Tatum does.
03:42I don't know.
03:43I don't think that's...
03:45Yeah, can we stop?
03:46Yeah, that's...
03:46I wouldn't agree with that.
03:47I don't know why people just can't go...
03:49Just can't say, I don't like Jason Tatum's personality.
03:54And that's how I judge him as a basketball player.
03:57But I don't think it's like that, Wiggs.
03:59I mean, speaking for myself, I don't...
04:01Jason Tatum seems like a perfectly likable guy.
04:04He's never had a sniff of any issue of any capacity.
04:08He seems like a good son, good dad.
04:09He seems like a great dad.
04:10He seems like a great son.
04:11There's a lot of admirable traits that he possesses.
04:14Like, I don't think it's personal at all.
04:16But when you criticize...
04:17Like, when you say...
04:20P. Pritch has more of a dog...
04:22I would never say that.
04:23I did not say that.
04:24No, I'm not saying you said that.
04:25But when I'm saying people who do say that,
04:28that is because they don't like Jason Tatum's personality.
04:32Not his basketball.
04:35Because say what you want about him personality-wise.
04:38It's no different than LeBron James.
04:40You can criticize LeBron all day long,
04:44but you can't question what he is as a basketball player on the court.
04:49But, like, I want to be clear.
04:50I don't think that a lot of people that talk about Jason Tatum in a negative light
04:55are because they don't like who he is as a person or, like, has a personality.
04:59I think that was the case for the Jalen Brown haters.
05:02Jason Tatum doesn't really have a personality to hate or like.
05:05They don't like that, though.
05:07They don't like the...
05:08Is it, like, stoic?
05:09I think people love that.
05:10I think people love when all you do is play basketball.
05:12No.
05:13I think on Whitney's side, there's a baseball player that is nowhere near the player that Tatum is.
05:17So just please, let's get that out of the way, okay?
05:20But J.D. Drew was a guy that was highly paid at the time,
05:24and he didn't seem emotionally invested in the game.
05:27Right.
05:27And he didn't care.
05:30Why is he just flying out, not throwing his helmet,
05:32whereas Trott Nixon was a dirt dog that would throw things and get angry.
05:36And so there was a disconnect between the fan and the player because it seemed that there was an emotional
05:42investment that wasn't there.
05:43I think they want somebody who, when you're playing the Pistons and they're going on a 23-0 run,
05:50is going to be fired up and is going to appear to be pissed about it.
05:54But, see, that's the thing.
05:56So you discredit his basketball ability because he doesn't give you that emotion,
06:04similar to Curtis's spot on.
06:06So you discredit his basketball ability because you don't like the way he emotionally handles situations within a game
06:15based on is he fired up, is he yelling, is he screaming, does he smile?
06:19He doesn't care.
06:19Yes.
06:20This is Gavin.
06:21What's up, Gavin?
06:23Hey, guys.
06:24First of all, I want to say I think what's being said right now is complete and utter ludicrous.
06:28Once again, the boys and girls at 93.7 are sounding the alarm way too early.
06:33Comparing JV's alpha nature to JT's alpha nature is ludicrous.
06:38If JV was that alpha for us, where was that alpha in the fourth quarter stretch of Game 7 versus
06:43the Sixers?
06:44Jason Tatum is the top ten player of the league.
06:46And once again, his play style has not come into question.
06:49It's his character, his personality.
06:52The narrative against our best player is absolute insanity.
06:56And especially when it comes from our own Boston sports radio, I shake my head in the car.
07:01I've raised my fist to the sky.
07:03And I curse you guys because you guys are just the meanest people to our own effing players.
07:10Okay?
07:10And you can't give him a one-game grace.
07:13I mean, he had a double-double.
07:14He's facilitating the ball better than any other 6-10 forward in the effing league.
07:19I mean, who cares?
07:20I mean, I'm not happy that he shot 0 for 9 from three-pointers.
07:23But, hey, if Joe Masula is going to coach this way, this is going to happen day in and day
07:27out.
07:28I still believe, still believe that we can make it to the finals.
07:31Paul George, 40 ball.
07:33I mean, Luca Garza coming off the bench, he's going to average like maybe nine points.
07:37Derek White shot the ball at a 37% clip.
07:39Same with Peyton Pritchard.
07:40Same with Sam Hauser.
07:41If those people can keep their numbers up, I think that we're in for a great season.
07:45But, once again, watch your mouth when it comes to Jason Tatum.
07:49We're there for his support.
07:50And you guys are slandering his name week in and week out.
07:55Have a great rest of your day.
07:56Go Celtics.
07:57Gavin Fint.
07:58Fantastic.
08:00Call any time.
08:01And don't say you guys.
08:02I love Gavin.
08:02No, you can say you guys all you want.
08:04Because I'm not in that category.
08:05I don't slander Tatum like that.
08:09And Nicole is right.
08:10It's because, and Curtis has brought it up, it's the personality.
08:14People don't like his personality because he just doesn't look like, oh, he's not throwing chairs after a loss.
08:22Why am I throwing my remote and he's not throwing things on the door?
08:27So, when it comes to leadership and the elements that a person has that make them good at that, let's
08:36compare them to Jalen Brunson.
08:40Like, do they not seem from the outside to be two completely different guys when it comes to leadership?
08:46Yeah, they have different personalities.
08:47I'll do you one better.
08:49Let's compare them to a guy that we know that's local.
08:53Drake May.
08:54Right?
08:55Drake May has that kind of Jason Tatum type of like, all right, does this guy really, like, is he
09:00ever fired up?
09:01But we don't sit there and go, he's not invested, he doesn't care, he's not a great leader.
09:06He's not a yell at a guy, rah, rah type.
09:08He's not a Tom Brady.
09:09That's a great point, Wiggy.
09:10He's not a Tom Brady guy.
09:11That's not his personality.
09:12He's not a Caleb Williams personality.
09:15But we don't sit there and go, oh, he's not a good player or he can't be an alpha dog
09:21because it is.
09:22No, we look at it and go, all right, he leads in a different way.
09:27But you don't say that about Drake May.
09:29You say that about, and Drake May, listen, he has a bright future ahead of him.
09:35Is Drake May considered a top five quarterback in the NFL right now?
09:40No.
09:41Jason Tatum has been a top five player in the NBA for the past four years.
09:47Top five.
09:48Right.
09:49This is why your head was exploding.
09:51Yes.
09:52When we were discussing the comparison that Colin Coward made.
09:55Yes.
09:56Which is that if you're comparing the Bulls and Jordan and Pippen, in Tatum, you don't have a Jordan, you
10:03have a Pippen.
10:04And that infuriated me.
10:05That is stupid.
10:06I'm not comparing Tatum to Jordan, but in this situation, Jason Tatum is your Michael Jordan.
10:14Right.
10:15He is your superstar.
10:16He is the guy that the game goes through.
10:18He has been first team all NBA for, I believe it's the past four years.
10:22You're not first team all NBA for the past four years, and you're not an absolute stud in the NBA.
