Autopsy Report: Celtics & Cavaliers Collapse + Knicks vs Pacers ECF Preview

repping out of Fort Florida, Deville, Florida. What's good, mister Shaw? How are you feeling? What was that movie? I think it was our generation. It's called Flatliners? Is that that? That? That real interesting? You know what I'm saying? Uh, noir type?

we would ordinarily do for any other team. Despite the displeasure that I'm going to take it, I'm actually.

mad villains. It's like, you know, I don't know if I should feel bad, but I am fascinated on where we might allow this to go because there's so many different directions that could be taken from what transpired, and I think one thing is definitely for certain Shaw the Eastern Conference has proven to us yet again that you're going to have more questions than answers about these teams

and the way that these teams were eliminated. So if people are not cluing in, clearly our autopsy is going to be covering the Boss and Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers, no surprise there, But it's also going to elevate the questions on the validity of how strong these teams are because if you really think about it, sew in this generation, I don't think you can honestly say that there is

a dynastic franchise in the making anytime soon. Now we can deliberate between what's going to cause that, what's triggering that, what the effect of that is. But I can honestly say that when you look at the talent of the rosters, it's hard for me to imagine that there is such fragility and lack of sustainability in the evolution of greatness

in some of these teams that have been constructed. And I don't know if it's because of the player themselves, if it's the organization, or if it's because of what other teams are doing in order to strategically counter the style of play or the culture of how that team operates within. Again, it's something that can extend itself on.

But if you want too legitimate test cases for us to have to question whether or not there is another run left in these teams if you kept them as is, I challenge you to say whether or not that will it will not be the case. And I think this we're going to be speaking to in our edition of the Baseline this week.

the finances. You end up being a second apron team. You're paying X amount of dollars. Can you keep this team together? You know when it's going to cost you literally double and triple the actual salaries that you're paying out just because of the punitive taxes that are involved in there too. So Adam Silver's NBA is upon us, as many on X have said, you know, parody is here in the NBA in a very very real way. And yeah, there's some conversation whether that's that's good or not.

But two to really struggling sorrys, two teams that really struggle here in the second round are ultimately we're eliminated, and as we're recording, we don't know the outcome of a Game seven for the number one team in the NBA, you know, with the Oklahoma City Thunder as well too, So by the time this comes out, we will have that

answer whether or not they get to move on. But really interesting that teams that were dominant in the regular seasons are now kind of falling to the middle of the pack, if you will, in terms of the regular season, which also means maybe the regular season doesn't matter as much as we thought it did. Yeah. Yeah, so a.

to cover the Eastern Conference Finals, right right. The ECF is now been set between the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks, So we'll kind of give our perspective on that and give our takes about who's going to advance to the NBA Finals. As a representative of the Eastern Conference, so a lot to get into. As always, we appreciate you and yours for hopping on board with

us this week. Be sure to get on my manshaw at the Warrenshaw and you can get at me at game face lead to show Twitter handle at NBA Baseline available in all the major platforms you know where to find this. You can go to www dot Thebaseline NBA dot com in order to check out not just this episode, but also all of the episodes that we got rolling out. And if you're catching us on the YouTube channel and you see the blue and white logo down in the middle of the screen, you know that we rocks with

the nineteen Media Group family. So we'd like to say hello to you and yours, so our visual listeners, and you can always check out the great content of creators that are lined up with the nineteen Media Group family. Go to www dot nineteen MediaGroup dot com to not only check us, but the family of great content creators that have been rolling out and doing that thing as

part of the nineteen Media Family only does so. Before we get into our digs of the coveted autopsy report, you know it's time that we got to pay them bills, man. And if you are somebody who is down with the Prize Picks package, I know you're and you're ready to anding up again, man, because it's live and it's happened in the basketball playoffs certainly are here and the action has been heating up as it is on Prize Picks, the best place to cash in on your favorite sports.

Don't miss your last chance to add your favorite players from the court to your Prize Picks lineup. Whether it's points, rebounds, assists, take your pick up more or less for your shot to win it two thousand times your cash. That's right, I said two thousand times your cash. Download the app and use the code c LNS to get fifty dollars instantly if you play your first five dollars lineup. Price Picks is also offering weekly promotions. Turn your Playoff Hot

takes eight too tickets to the Basketball Championship Series. Every lineup you make will qualify for that takes two tickets Sweepstikes, which will get you and your guests a VIP trip to the Chip. Every Tuesday, Prize Picks discounts several projections on the board, usually between fifteen and twenty five percent. They also offer Flex Fridays. Make sure you opt in and tap the checkbox in your lineup builder be eligible for the protective play two squares from any game on

the board. If your lineup doesn't win, you'd get your net losses back in promo funds up to your promo limit as soon as the lineup setup set us. You can also mix your selections across sports in your Prize Picks lineup. I might take Juan Soto for two RBIs and the Big Bodega Carl Anthony Towns from win the twenty six points combine my love basketball and baseball. Prize Picks is simply the best way to win cap while

watching sports. Join millions of users and sign up today with Mombo Cody c LNS to get fifty dollars after you play your first five dollars line up. The Baseline is rocket with Prize Picks, and you should too. Prize Picks. Run your game coming up, Sean, I put the teams on the slab. You know it's time for them autopsy report. Don't miss it here on the Baseline. We are back.

Calie Warrenshaw. The Baseline NBA Podcast time now for us to do the coveted autopsy report, and the first team that we're gonna put on the slab shaw is going to be the reigning defending champions. I figured, you know, it was interesting. I was saying to myself, should we start with the Calves or should we start with the Celtics? And I think it's only right that we start with

the Boss of Celtics. Not because they were the last team to get knocked out as part of our discussion for the autopsy report, but they are the def champions. And I think that there's a lot of threads that have to be pulled out when you look at the Boston Celtics, because if you go back a year, right, I think a lot of people questioned the validity of

the championship that the Boss and Celtics won. Now I'm not questioning it, and I know you weren't questioning it, but we were certainly not going to go out on a limb and say, among the great Boston Celtics teams,

you were among one of the greatest. They may have put up really impressive numbers, right, numbers that for this generation may spark some kind of a debate about how legitimately great, they could have been right in comparison to others, but I think in the grand scheme of things, we understood this was a well built team built to win today's NBA championship. Okay, they literally had a strategy. They literally had a counter for every team that was out

there if and went healthy. I think going into this season how we really wanted to find out the level

of greatness that this team can possibly ascend to. And it wasn't a question of whether or not they were going to win another championship for us to have that conversation, I think it was a question of how dominant could they be in the regular season and how dominant can they be against any of the teams that we all still have question marks about who would actually still be able to be able to compete and legitimately hang with

the Boston Celtics. And I think we focus a lot of attention on teams on the Western Conference because that was a toss up more so than what we were

worrying about with the Boston Celtics. But I think as we watched this regular season playout, shaw it was very evident that the Boston Celtics clearly were not the team of last year, and I don't think that they clearly are the team that I think a lot of people thought that with the evolution of Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum, that this is the equation of that dynamic duo that will be the building block of multiple, multiple championships, you know,

moving forward. I think a lot of that now has been brought to light because of the way the Boston Celtics performed in this playoff run.

from last year. They finished the season kind of regularly dominated, if you will, But there were times in the season you're like, oh, they don't look quite right, but they're the Shams. SNT worry about them. They'll turn it on.

They'll turn it on, they'll turn it on. I think they took the Knicks too lightly, I you know, and I think we can't have this conversation without crediting New York for what they were able to do and coming back in the first two games and then ultimately put in the nail of a coffin in an emphatic way

in game six. But the Celtics seem to take their regular season and success against New York to some level of, you know, of advantage, and they took it for granted, and then in those first two games got basically surprised, and now we're playing from behind on their heels, and then you put yourself in a position where you're having not necessarily play harder because you're always playing harder in the playoffs, but there's there's a lot of stress now when trying to do what you were trying to do

in terms of terms repeating. Tatum goes down unfortunately now for a very very long time with the Achilles injuries. And then yeah, they have a great showing, if you will, in terms of some pride in game five, but ultimately just get Wax and mulliwopped in game six to me where Boston struggles here now is in the terms of their longevity of who they ultimately want to become, because the questions is like, well, Isola is Mossoula really a great coaches has now come back up? Are the are? Are?

Can you keep this team together? Is ultimately kind of coming up? Is Jenna Brown? I'm that guy at fifty million dollars. Everything is now in flux. When last year we were like, hey, this is a great team that might be on a two or maybe even a three year run. That timeline now is absolutely thrown out the window. It is branched off into some ugly multiverse situation here now that not even Brad Stevens could have predicted it's going to take place.

disagree on certain things. I understand the goal is to score the basketball, but the other goal as well too is to prevent the other team from scoring more points than you. And if you have already sablished that you're scoring more points than the other team, it is your role to ensure to win the game that at the end that team doesn't score more points than you. Okay, so we can sit here and we can you know, act like this isn't something that hasn't been a trend

with the Boston Celtics. But you and I have been distressed about what we've seen from this Boston Celtics team going back to last year. This inateability to look like you're gonna go out and to use your terminology, you just use mollywop. Teams establish twenty three, twenty four, twenty five point leads and then suddenly between the third and the fourth quarter you allow a team to suddenly find their way. It's almost as if they stop scoring the basketball,

they lose all sense of self. And I've been saying this even from when they win that championship against the Dallas Mavericks to their prosperity, wasn't gonna be about how statistically nice they look and shooting the threes and everything. It was what they were doing defensively. And I'm saying to this, I'm saying this now, Shaw, because this is why I think it's creeping up about questioning whether or

not this team can stay together. I think the elixir that the Celtics afforded themselves having was a real great floor general in a Drew Holiday going out there and leaning on the things that he knew the Celtics needed to keep consistent and elevate in order for them to give themselves a chance to win that championship. You saw Drew Holiday this season take a step back. I think, by all accounts, Derek White took a step back defensively.

And I think the Celtics as a team, even though the numbers may speak to that, they were still like a top five team defensively. And we can use defensive rating and all that stuff, Shaw, nothing excuses you putting a twenty point mark on a team and then you go into the second half and you inherently lose the third and fourth quarter because you stopped defending. Not that you stopped scoring, you stopped defending, and that is my biggest bass. They both they stop defending and sing. But

I think it's connective shaw. I think once the shots are no longer falling for them, they and listen. This is very reminiscent of what we've seen with the Golden State Warriors during their heyday. They stopped scoring the basketball, and as all of a sudden, they just stopped stopping teams. It wasn't as if, you know, when you were shooting the lights out of the place, that you completely demoralize a team. If a team figures out a way that they can start scoring the basketball, it has to be

that defensively, you are I guess, imposing your will. And I just saw that this Celtics team lacked that level of imposing their will. Defensively. They leaned too much on the fact that if we drop them down, you know, drop twenty three pointers on them, they'll just kind of fade away into the sunset, you know. And to your point, you play against a team like the New York Knicks, who are realistically as good as they are off, they

are a slow momentum gathering offensive team. They don't find their mark until they get to those middling second quarter, third quarters and to me, I think it was egregious on Joe Mizzula's part to not point out to that Celtics team when you're playing against teams like that, you have got to win the third quarter. I'm gonna leave it at that part because I know that there's more

that we want to go at this. But if you really look at this across the board, Shaw and I'm gonna harken this back to win the Celtics during the eight to the twelve seasons. What killed them from winning those championships when they played against the better teams They did not win the third quarter. They lost the third and eventually evened out or lost the fourth quarter. And you cannot afford to do that against teams in the playoffs.

And if you practice those habits in the regular season, they will doom to repeat and haunt you in the most critical times, which in this case would be the playoffs.

like they did last year. I don't know what is going on, you know, with his respiratory infectioning, the long COVID, whatever it is, but he was a literal walking zombie out there on the floor.

than Luka Doncicche last year. Because obviously bigger, it doesn't have as much bounce and wiggle Jalen Jalen Brunson stop and go is just like it's very hard for somebody who's going to be taller, you know what I mean, and maybe not less as mobile. And I thought that was why I commend Massula and Brown for maybe at least wanting to try to do that. I don't know that that was the right matchup, but White was also

getting cooked. Holiday was also getting cooked. So let me finish because it also leads me into the aspect that Missoula doesn't have a counter. They didn't have the zone to kind of fall back into to try to force New York to do something else. They just say, this is what we know, this is what we do. And the difference from this year to last year is that even in that series, like, yes, they shot a bunch of threes last year, but Tatum obviously is a big

part of what they did last year. But they stopped shooting threes and started going to the basket and had better ways in essence to counter defensively even if they were sticking in man demand. Those things didn't exist for them this year because of the injuries, and they just didn't really know what to do once what they did all the time wasn't were no longer available to them and no longer Okay.

with Drew Holliday. Okay, I don't know what happened last year with this year, but Jew Holliday does did not look like and feel like the same player he was last year, the same kind of impact player. A lot of the plays that we saw in a series like this against the New York Knicks, Jew Holliday would have been in the middle of Okay, remember Jew Hollide was not coming in here to give you, you know, fifteen points per game, whatever, But he was making key plays, making

key defensive stops. Tell me at what point in this series? Tell me at what point even in the Orlando Magic series he was ever relevant for the Boston Celtics. And that, and again that concerned me because this is not just about the playoffs. It's literally been through the whole course of the year. Now I know that he's been struggling through some injuries. But even when he's come back off of those injuries, you can clearly see that he had

been compromised. He'd missed point blank layups. You know, he'd get in early foul trouble. You know. So my thing was, to your point, if you're Joe Moszula and I'm not giving Missoula a pass, what I'm saying is it would have been easy because you could just basically put Drew Holliday on a Jalen Brunson, knowing that Jalen Brown was not one hundred percent and his knees are not gonna hold up with the kind of shiftiness that you see

in a player like Jalen Brunson. But you cannot tell me that even Missoula didn't have as much confidence to be able to let Drew be Drew, because he's never been that way really through the course of this year, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, And so all of these things now kind of come together. But to your point, it's on Missoula to find a counter. He has got to find a counter. Now. I don't know if it's deploying another player out there, reaching desperately deep into the

bench if you had to, absolutely possibly. I find it kind of interesting that Troy Craig is on this roster and the only time that I see him is when they're instagramming him wearing you know, numbers in dedication to Jason Tatum. But at no point was he being utilized or being deployed to help take some of that pressure off that the Celtics I think would have utilized and needed for that body to hold off runs or whatever

the case may be. So to your point, I just think that there's a lot of it's very discombobulated in our ability to properly assess the Celtics.

I was disappointed by how they took for granted the level of greatness they could achieve themselves to be because I think they were misguided on what got them to where they are, and they failed to stay disciplined in the things that really shown people why we were saying, hey, they really could be a great roster altogether because of how great they could all be flexible and multiple depend defenders get on multiple guys and things of that nature.

But if it's going to be compromised because guys are not one hundred percent healthy, if it's going to be compromised because guys have different motivations or different agendas about what they're trying to do through the course of the regular season and not really keep their eye on the prize. Here, they did themselves a disservice, especially with the way they got ousted and especially on how they made things more challenging than it needed to be. And that goes all

the way back even to the Orlando Magic series. That series became more challenging than it needed to be because they were just determined to just be who they are and not make adjustments when necessary.

terms of the physicality and overcoming that. Where they didn't able to respond in the New York series was almost kind of like the elitist mentality that they kind of walked into the series with. And then when they got literally punched in their mouth two times in the row, we're like, oh no, we're not the mighty Celtics, and people won't cow down to us because they're down twenty Oh all right, well what's next? Right? But then they won Game three kind of playing the same style. A

bunch of threes kind of went in. You know, Tatum Brown, awesome, they do their thing, But the entirety of this time they've been compromised. And I believe what they say in terms of the locker room chemistry that there's not like agendas and egos that have clearly been a part of previous Celtics locker rooms. This comes down to heart, a better next team at a better next team in general, and then schemes. We do need to transition now to what's next as opposed to what was here for Boston.

So you're looking at this payroll, which is immensely inflated. Hartford is a free agent, Lou Cornett is a free agent. You're kicking in the contract now, even of Sam Hauser, which you know he was injured and compromised in the latter part of the season, and these playoffs as well too. Then you have this cascading payroll and luxury tax that's

coming aboard with new ownership, you know, into lurking. I just think we're at the stage where Boston with Tatum being out what will probably be a nine or ten month injury, so in a good part of all of most of them, not all of next year, the twenty five to twenty six season from a championships perspective, seems to be I don always say lost, but there's a there's not a high likelihood that would be the case.

And then do you wait now for Tatum to come back the following year and feel like we can we can keep Holiday, we can keep Porzingis, can keep why? I'll give you my my my short answer to that. The answer to that is no. I think what ends up happening is Porzingis and and Drew Holliday get moved in some semblance of packages to maybe get back some draft capital. I don't think they're not gonna tank. They're

still too good to tank. But I think if you're looking for for to save payroll, Holiday and and and Porzingis are the pieces in essence that goes maybe out comes back a super super team friendly deal. Maybe he doesn't. You know, if you're looking at his his body language on the bench at the end of the game six, it looked like he was soaking in like all right, yeah, mofos, like he's gonna remember this and he's gonna want revenge. I think in some pace, But why what number do

you bring him back? And then I think it's a matter of do you keep you know, Xavier Tillman and guys like that. I mean, all these are like supplemental pieces that are just kind of like not really doing much for you. But to me, you're building around Brown, You're building around Derek White. I think he's still too good that you're trying that you're not trying to move

on from him. And then obviously wait for Tatum to come back, and in twenty six twenty seven, you have the bones of a really, really good team that can still be championship level with some supplemental pieces behind.

Jalen Brown, Right. I somewhat agree with you. I'm a little I'm a litter Larry about the the Derek White thing. I guess in my sense, I think Derek White is a great player, and I still think there clearly can be a window if you're intended to say he is the trifecta. I think that, to me is the big question. What is the trifecta for the for the for the Boston Celtics. And if that trifecta, it does it entail keeping a Derek White or is it a tail going

to get someone? And Derek White now becomes like that fourth person because he's been such a good lead guard for them in things of that nature that you can

make it expendable. I just think it's gonna be an interesting situation for the Boston Celtics in the off season because I cannot imagine that they want to I don't think they want to rush Jason Tatum back, But at the same time, I don't think they want to be in a position where they lose out on a quality season, especially with the money that you just gave Jalen Brown.

I will say this though, I'm a little surprised that the level of aggressiveness that Jalen Brown I thought would have exhibited given the circumstances of what happened in the offseason with the US men's basketball, the Olympic basketball situation. And you know, I didn't want to say much of anything because I think, you know, you make too much of it if it's all about Jason Tatum, and you know what he did this year, which has been phenomenally great. But I saw the edge come off of Jalen Brown.

I saw more of a quiet, very you know, subdued, not as aggressive Jalen Brown that I saw going into the playoffs last year when they fully had their eye on the prize about winning this championship, and I just think it'll be interesting to see what kind of off season Jalen Brown decides to take. I wanted to pull out one of the he said, Yeah, losing to the

Knicks is like losing is like death. I'm like, all right, well, if you feel that kind of way, right, then you know that the Celtics and the Knicks don't love each other. So going into this off season, is the motivation about the revenge? You know what I'm saying factor that you lost to the New York Knicks because last year that wasn't really an issue. The New York Knicks wasn't even relevant, right, So my thing is, Okay, what's the motivation going into

this offseason? Because listen, one can argue the Celtics can easily be another top three team in the Eastern Conference again, and whether the Knicks are gonna truly be that team as well too. I'm just saying that to me. I just want to see a much more aggressive Jalen Brown

in the off season, putting in that work. And regardless, this is the window now for you to really say, even when Jason Tatum comes back, I'm like, that guy all around guy that I'm the big dog in the yard that like does look what does that mean?

this isn't the best shot. Let me take one drouble in, draw the defense and then spray back out and then when those shots are falling from the perimeter are awesome. I think if that semblance to Brown is who we get awesome. I'm gonna this is not gonna make sense, but I'm gonna say it anyway. Remember in the days of Stephan clay and everyone was like clay can be a number one guy. Clayton and Jaylen Brown are not

the same, Like they're they're fundamentally different people. But the roles and this is where I'm utilized in the comparison we will now get to see in a very real way, could Jalen Brown be a lead guy, and that lead doesn't necessarily mean he has to score forty even thirty five a night. Can it be in a way where he's sufficient and ends up really getting the other guys involved. And it has to come at the expense of him

learning how to dribble better. We're X amount of years into where his handle looks shaky, especially under duress in the middle of the paint. Yes, you'll have a couple of nights and moves has a decent euro step as well, but that handle has got to be better, especially going into next year. And I would contend that if you bring this team back as currently constructed, don't make any moves, they can still be a top top four to five team in the Eastern Conference, especially with the way the

Eastern trending right now. I believe that not one or two, but they can definitely be four. File about the play in line, if you strip it down some now, I'd be like, all right, this is a team that's probably going to be fighting for the play in six maybe seven type of situation if you move person and holiday

depending on what you get back. But Jalen Brown's next year is going to determine truly the long term future of this Boston cell sixteen, whether or not he should be pair alongside Jason Tatum when he comes back, because at this number, and I know we don't like to talk about it him in that way, but at this number, you've got to be able to show the chops of being a true leader who can do things that doesn't always just mean scoring a bunch of flour.

about the Cleveland Cavaliers. And there's not much that can be said. Man, this is like now, this is becoming a trend, and it's kind of disheartening because I so much want to believe in the fact that Spider Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers, you know, they have they have essentially mostly not all the pieces to get you at least to the finals. Okay, there's no question about that. And this season, I mean across the board, what can

what more can be said? The only thing that's missing is, you know, them having somebody legitimately being an MVP candidate.

But you know, you can make the argument Spider Mitchell literally was, you know, playing at an MVP like kind of level with how he was able to galvanize and make this team essentially better, elevate them to another space collectively, as his team was about as dangerous as you could possibly have, a team like we were talking about the Oklahoma City Thunder, you know, so to get knocked out by the Indiana Pacers, and I think to your point,

shall we just talked about this with the Celtics. I just feel like this team took for granted what they showed through the course of the regular season and just did not make the necessary adjustments to show the versatility of what the top team in the Eastern Conference should be doing against the lesser teams that they managed to just beat the breaks off through the course of the regular season, and you don't have the luxury of waiting two weeks from now to figure it out, man, or

you know your next matchup is two months from now. It is a seven game series and you only have four chances to get it right and you squander two of those chances on your home court. Really resonates with me because it's just speaking to the fact that they're just not getting it now. I said all of that because it sounds really harsh, But now I want to liken this to what we were just talking about with

Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown. How long did it take before we started seeing them really starting to figure it out. I mean, everyone one's gonna say, yeah, it literally took Lebron James to leave the damn Eastern Conference for them to actually figure this part of it out. But look how long it literally took them before they actually began to see quote unquote the fields of graneur right to get to the NBA finals, Because the question for them wasn't how good they were to get to the Eastern

Conference finals? Can they get over the hunt to get to the finals and look how many Look look how long it took to do that? Right? Are we thinking that this is gonna be the same thing with this Cleveland Cavaliers team.

individuals well too. I'm concerned, you know that this is finals which he has opening knowledge and doesn't duck at the or shy away from it in any real way. The Calves lost three games on their home floor in the second round, like that is egregious, Like like it's it's egregious. And when you work that hard get that many that amount of wins, And yes, they have a similar situation to Boston. Garland was battling turf toe. You know, Mitchell had the ankle injury, Mobile had you know, a

nagging injury as well too. I just feel like they still should have had enough I think with that to beat India. Truly gut checked time in terms of this organization. They sacrificed. They they looked like Boston of last year, where roles were being understood, this is what we need to do. They increased the volume of three. Donovan Mitchell took a step back. I don't need to score thirty

a nine or whatever his minutes were down. Everything is mobile that we've been wanting to see, all the things happen. They just destroyed the mind heat in the first round, and I think maybe that gave them a level little air of confidence, like, all right, we'll be good, but

well we'll let him rest. Yikes, bro Yikes. None of these things went the way that they thought it was, and why I don't think they are going to be They're not going to fall into the doldrums of the Eastern Conference because the East is still the very East. They'll have a very very good regular season record again next year. And I don't think they're going to make any fundamental changes a full year of the andred hundred

you know, into the into their scheme. And I don't have any real constructive feedback for them in terms of roster construction right now other than this is about heart and determination at this point, and that's what they're going to need to do is guts that time next year, and hope, as I said in the last couple couple of weeks ago, I hope it's not the same back to match channel for them because they're better than what they showed in this year's playoffs.

and the last time that they did that. That's where most of these teams tend to go. They go backwards and say, you know, man, we'll never see it like them days when we had Lebron and Kyrie and Kevin Love or you know, back in the Chicago days when we had Derrick Rose and you know, Jokeim Noah and loud, Like, I don't want that to be the case because you have to appreciate the circumstances of how this team was

constructed and how this team built. Remember the Cleveland Cavaliers in the thick of the Night stole Donovan Mitchell from going to the New York Knicks, right, you know what I'm saying, Like, I don't think Donovan Mitchell even understands like the ramifications of how he changed the quote unquote narrati of what Cleveland Cavaliers basketball is like or going to be like post the Lebron era, You know what I'm saying. And so I think fans have to be

a little bit more patient. But I also think as well too that this is now going to be up to Kenny Atkinson because I think this is a new space for him. Remember he's usually the person to go in there and fix and elevate things. He comes in there and immediately takes this team that is quote unquote you know, a respectable playoff team into oh snap, these guys should be one of the Eastern Conference finalists. So

to fall short of a yes, very disappointing. But he's got some leeway because I don't think that we've seen Kenny Atkinson in this space. He's usually at the beginning stages of things, before organizations, you know, get all up in their feels and try to get slick, and then they move them all and move on from him. I want to see what he does with this. I want to see how he takes what happened here and uses this Like we see what Mark Dagnault was doing with

the Oklahoma City Thunder. You know, he could have easily taken what's going on last year. And you know where everyone's saying that they are one trick pony team or their you know, their paper number one contenders. I think people may have that same kind of sentiment, but I think it's a little bit more believable when you see the elevation now of Evan Mobley, when you see the elevation of Jared Allen, and you now see that they're making moves like getting at DeAndre Andre. I think things

are still in pace. I think people need to be just a little patient. I know it's hard given in this climate in the NBA, but the people have to be a little bit patient. Where I am concerned, ough Shaw is now we get to this point with certain players, and I said this at the beginning of the year that I wondered about the combination of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. Okay, I need to see another level from Darius Garland. Okay, he is very much a part of

why this team is successful. He was also very much a part of the reason why the Cleveland Cavaliers could not get past the Indiana Pacers. And the Indiana Pacers knew that. Indiana Pacers knew that. You know. And so you're Darius Garland. You got to go into this offseason man, and you have got to give people. You got to put him on notice. Last year we saw that with Derek White and how he improved in so many different ways.

And then you add Drew Holliday and his veteran leadership and him his counseling allowed Derek White to essentially be the number one guard that the Celtics needed, Right, And so I need to see that kind of evolution from Darius Garland, right if that happens, because I still see that lack of aggressiveness, that lack of of I still feel like things still have to go through Donovan Mitchell. I would rather see Donovan Mitchell Shaw to be the

the the the Swiss Army knife guard. He can come in, he can do the point guard thing, but I still feel like he still has to take over. And I think that if your daily Darius Garland with that kind of speed, with the ability for you to break defenses down, you have to be more aggressive. You have to you have to rely on the fact that you are going

to set the rest of your guys up. And I understand he had turf toe, but I did not nearly see Even with the turf toe show, I still didn't even see the level of aggressiveness I would have expected

to see. And the Pacers knew that. And so I'm just saying, when you're playing against your rivals, when you're playing you know, the regular season is a great opportunity for you to get a little bit of shine on and carry that going into the playoffs, because there's going to be a good coach who's going to find a way to counter your Your number one Plan A. Garland has to be Plan one AA in a sense, if they're gonna all, you know, collectively, be that team that

I think we're thinking that they're capable of being.

as the aforementioned Celtics were. I think Udoka really made Round and Tatum understand that you need to play on both sides of the basketball and not worry about taking turns. So we got the offensive side kind of figured out this year on Cleveland because of Kenny Atkinson's team schemes and you know that delineation and democracy that came through

the Cleveland offense and the evolution of Evan Mobley. But where teams felt like we could so look our tops a little bit is in that backcourt pairing on the other side, Well, Garland and Mitchell are going to give it to you there might give up just as much

because they're just not as prolific defensively. And that's where I think that both of them, collectively as a backcourt tandem, need to focus on what does it mean to stay in front of guys or truly steer into the help of those twoin towers when you have Mobley an Allen back there, and so you're not always necessarily getting beat off the dribble and have it to have all that defense kind of help or then be available for drop offs in the dunker's font and things of that nature.

So that's where, you know, where you talk about aggressiveness, that often comes at the offensive side of things. And I don't have a problem what Garland did offensively really, even with the turf to so to speak. It's just that that defensive side for them is kind of a glaring liability. And hence when I got the one hundred hunter as well too, to try to help shore some of those things up, because right now at this point, Isaaca Korro's is pretty much unplayable. Ti Jerome when he

is playable, isn't doing anything defensively. So that's where they still have some holes, even though they still in defensive rating as a team this year.

I think it's the ability to break defense down. I think maybe I just saw more of him relying too much on a shot or taking shots so to speak, rather than breaking defenses down, getting in in the middle and mixing up things. I felt like it seemed like they were waiting more for that to happen through Donovan Mitchell than it was from Darius Garland. And I well, to your point, I will say Darius Garland got into some silly fouls, you know, got into easy foul trouble,

really made himself unavailable. But to me, I think he is best equipped to really elevate the plays of guys like Mobley and Allen and even DeAndre Hunter with their length. But if he can get into the interior, get into the paint more, he can set those guys up to do what the offense allows it to do. Because if

you're only gonna allow Donovan Mitchell to do that. Now you're relying on Darius Garland to space out to shoot, which I'm not as confident of a person to see Darius Garland shooting the basketball some empty times if it's not to penetrate in the paint and get to the So that to me is where I'm coming from from

that perspective. But I agree with you. I do think that, especially if you're going to keep them on the floor, they have got to be a better backcourt defensive tandem against whoever their opposition is if they're gonna give themselves a chance to compete in the Eastern Conference finals.

it needs to come from from Cleveland. So for me, And like I said, there's just there's not a whole lot of roster construction and rebuilding that needs to be done here. They just got to get it done. Like they just just got to get it in and figure it out because they have the talent, especially with Hunter here.

Now again, I'll say for a full season, and ultimately they need to decide what they're gonna do with tyger O. If I was going to truly, truly truly nitpick at this, you know when we talk about Garland is well, then who truly is who's the real backup point guard on this roster that you trust? You know? And I think it's you know, playmaking comes from Donovan Mitchell in a very real way. But is that what you want him

to be doing? You know, you know, when Garland is out of the game, so to speak, so like who's the next guy? So could they use somebody else? I think so they can use a backup point guard? If I was going to be truly nitpicky up a stid the roster.

that right now. I think Cleveland and Boston are kicking themselves in their ass right now, Like yo, they could very cold. Yeah, and I think the rest of the East wills well too. I mean, you look at it again, we talked about Orlando and whoever whoever you think is next up Detroit, even to may Les, It's like, Yo, a couple of the right moves here. We can really

be right in the thick of this. So Cleveland has no reason to think, since they didn't, they're not gonna lose Mitchell for the entire of the year, like Boston is gonna lose Tatum like this this the East could be theirs. Honestly, Milwaukee, you know, might be fundamentally changed with Giannis out of the conference. The Cleveland Cavaliers have.

that's gonna give you like sixty wins. They're good, they're a solid team, and if somehow they find them, they're like, oh man, we're we're the lucky We're the lucky losers man. Mac. You know, if they if they get and we're gonna talk about the Eastern Conference finals real quick. If they get through and they get to the finals, hey man, this could be it for them. This really could be it for them, because we just don't you just don't know.

With the way teams are structured in the Eastern Conference, you don't know whether or not you're gonna get another crack at it. You literally just don't You're too to the baseline. Cali warren Shaw discussing the hot button topics of the NBA coming up Eastern Conference Finals preview. Shaw and not give our takes, and then we also give our predictions. You don't want to miss it here we're back Cali warren Shaw based on NBA podcasts. That was

a good autopsy. Shaw And I don't know about you, but I guess when talking about the dead so much, sometimes it's just good therapy.

year three, no excuses? Right, So there you go. All right, Sean, let's get right into the Eastern Conference Finals. New York Knicks Indiana Pacers. You know, a lot of people are trying to get at this. Oh it's revenge time, you know, giving what happened with the Pacers knocking out the Knicks last year in the semi finals, you know, doing what they did in that Game seven, all this other kind

of stuff. You know, Sean, I'm looking at this from a completely different perspective, and people might be thinking I'm being petty or you know, feeling some kind of way about it. If you're both the Pacers and the New York Knicks, you think you're lucky stars, that you've got some really good players and things just lined up as well as they did for you to make sure that when the opportunity presented itself, you did not squander it so that you can get yourself here. This is the opportunity.

If you're the New York Knicks, you've got to get to the finals. There's just there's Listen. They are a better team on paper, legitimately have a better team than the Indiana Pacers. However, I've seen the Indian and the Pacers play better team basketball on both sides of the ball the course of this playoff run, and I don't

see anything changing of that. So if I'm if I'm Tom Thibodeau, if I'm Brunson, and them the guys, I have to be very careful about what my number one motivation needs to be about getting the job done to get to the finals. This does not have to be anything about more than if Brunson and Bodega and Bridges and Anobi and Harden, all of them do what they're capable of doing, they should be able to get past this Indiana Pacers team. They should be what I might be dreaming.

about him. He's really interested in celebrating every basket. So he's he's got to tone that down here because it's like it's it's winning time, right, like you're supposed to swor the basketball so relaxed. And so how Indiana now

decides to do that? Do they, you know, stick a knem hard on him as opposed to a Siaka, which would be the more more natural matchup, because I think what ended up happening likes, particularly in the Boston series, is that they didn't want to have a big on them because well then Cats is taking your big away from protecting the rim, so to speak. And I think obviously that's how Indiana would want to play with Miles Miles Turner. So do you put Miles Turner on Josh Hart,

you know? While and or do you know you do you try to put him on whatever big is going to be roaming around? Like, I don't know what Carlile's going to do, but I think Carlile's probably best suited and as is to try to scheme his way to an Indian and victory in this Eastern Conference Finals because they are getting a production throughout the entirety of their bench.

You know, even with Mathurin taking a little bit of a step back to the hot start he had in the regular season, you know, we've seen him kind of tail off, but now kind of reduce that reduce, but settling into more of a bench role, even a guy a bench shepherd coming off the bench and contributing, even Thomas Bryan a little bit. But to me, that guy

who has just been ridiculous as a playoff performer. And I know, I know Tyers Haliburton is a guy here, but but Nemhard, he's just he's locked solid, lock solid, He's locked in, and he's really got this team, you know, playing at a level alongside Halliburn and the great work of Siakam as well. That gives us pictures of dimension that I didn't necessarily see coming or believe in going into the playoffs.

is quietly having a really really solid playoff. Let's remember he is an NBA champion, right, he might be ready to do his best work in this Eastern Conference finals, and this is exactly the reason why the Indiana Pacers brought him over to this team. Remember I said it was very intriguing to see the Indiana Pacers go after and bring in Pascal Siakam, right, whether that was a knee jerk motion because of how the Pacers are overachieving

in what they did a couple seasons ago. But now you're starting to see when all of these components start to come together, what it's supposed to, what it's supposed to look like, and what it's supposed to mean. One thing that I am going to say that I think is going to be interesting, especially when you see how Rick Carlile it deploys his roster and how Tom Thibodau

deploys his roster. Rick Carlile has a lot more confidence in the depth of his roster than you will see with Tom tibb Right, I want to see if Tom Thibodeau doesn't wait until it's absolute desperation time for him to start using the rest of that bench when certain situations deem it that he has to make an adjustment for that he has to counter for you know what I'm saying. I've seen Carlile do it through the course

of his playoffs already. He did that against the Cleveland Cavaliers, right, And so I want to see if whether or not Carlile forces Tips to make a play, forces him to go deeper than just Duce McBride, you know, and a couple of other guys that Tom Thibodeau sparingly uses. And it's not because of injury Shaw, It's because of execution. And so that to me, is going to be the key.

You can see that Carlile can still ask of his guys to go out and execute, even if they may not score at the same rate that his starters are scoring. He knows that from either a defensive or an offensive perspective,

he's getting what he's getting from his role players. And I think that, to me is going to be the key, because this, to me, is going to feel like an even longer seven game series than what happened last year with the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers, just because it's gonna come down to the sheer will of whether or not your starters are ready.

are just sharing the basketball and getting and done. Neie Smith is uptick to scoring to fourteen point six, and you know, I think he'll have the primarily brunts and assignment, so maybe some of his offense might go to, you know, go to the wayside as he tried in the guard and stay in front of Budson to the majority part of the series. You know, I think alongside them part as well. But that to me is something where Indiana

has a clear advantage of this. They trust more guys and I think, you know, even as you're alluding to with with Thibodeaux and induce Smitbride. Can you still get the same level of production? Due played very well in the semi finals against the Celtics. He played very well, I think it was in the Pistols season Piston series, but a lot better in the in the Celtics one.

So can you see that level of aggression and consistency here? Otherwise, like you said, you're going to kind of look down that bench and say it's like, all right, cool, who

else can we bring in here? Can Mitchell Robinson continue to be healthy knockdown free throws if they go to the hack of Robinson strategy, but also get those second second chances because that's where the Knicks killed Bosson And on the offensive boards, you know, in this Indiana is not a poor offensive or not a poor rebounding team. So I think, you know that could be a little bit more even. But Mitchell Robinson gives a dimension to New York, especially if they go double bigs, that a

lot of teams would have some troubles with. So Thibodeaux has some things at his disposal. I think Carlisle has more. But the overall talent level in New York is a little bit higher. So that's what makes Face a very intriguing series to me to kind of see which one of those is are going to be the depth or the talent that wins ultimately.

either way. But I'm just gonna lean on the clutch ability of Gelen Brunson and the grit that the Knicks have shown within this. The Pacers have not been challenged like they have not been challenging this despite you know, and I maybe saying that's just how good they are because they both raised the Cleveland Cavaliers, but I think

they need to be. They haven't gone through the wars that the Knicks have, you know, even in these two series where they have been challenging that first yeries still could have went either way with Detroit, like, I don't get any about it, says like it could have went either way. And then they really kind of, I say, didn't dominate Boston, but they grew up against Boston in a way that I didn't see coming. So I got NIX and seven I have.

to show that they're capable of doing those things. It's gonna be a tough series, man, It's gonna be a tough series. I think that it's no less than six or seven games. But if I'm the New York Knicks, I really would not like to be in a situation where I'm giving up any of the home court advantage city Indiana Pacers at the early outset of this playoff series. If you do that, I think you run the risk

of you getting knocked out by the Pacers. And the Pacers have proven that they can go out there and they can win on the road, you know.

The Knicks are not coming back to win that game. The Indiana Pacers, I just think, as far as an offensive team goes, I think they're just too good to allow a team to just suddenly just come back out of the woodworks and then they lose that game. I think Carlisle will figure out and find a way to make sure that even if the Knicks go on a run, they ain't going on a run to knock out like they did the Celtics. The Pacers will figure that out.

you know, But if I'm the New York Knicks. I have to make sure that I make a statement, and I have to make sure that they understand that it's not going to be easy to just get wins in the Madison Square Garden. The MSG like to me, it's not about just the sacred ground of MSG. It's about the fact that you're the New York Knicks, and you are you effectively have home court advantage because you're the

third best team in the Eastern Conference. Therefore, there should be no reason why you're going to allow the Indiana Pacers to destroy you on your own home court. And we have seen where the Indiana Pacers go out there and blitz teams to the point it makes them question whether or not they can hang in that series. And that's what I don't want to see. But it can happen, and it's happened.

Turner and nobody's going to be guarding Siakam. I think they'll put Bridges on Halliburton, right, and then that allows them is going to be on right, And I think what ends up happening Bridges and and sorry Bridges and Nie smith will probably alternate on Brunson, you know, cross matching with the case it b But I think on the flip side is where does Brunson spend the most of his time trying to hide? You know? And yeah, you're right, it might it might be it might be

Nie Smiths. But you know, this is why we play the games. Man. I'm I'm over, you know, the Celtics loss per se. Now I can just kind of focus on what is basketball without any rooted interest and and see, you know what I think will be a race series between Indiana and New York.

weeks too. Great time to be a live brother, and a great time to be rocking and rolling with you.