Picks 'n Pops: Absurdly early stats, Victor Wembanyama, & signature shoes

Every week I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because I needed something to do in between raking the leaves for the 40th time this week.

- You’d have to be an idiot to dive into NBA stats four games into the season …

… Jayson Tatum and Kristaps Porzingis are killing post-ups in the early going. Porzingis is scoring 1.46 points per possession (2nd in the NBA) and posting up on 18.6% of his possessions. That's up from 1.18 PPP and 16.6% frequency last season. Tatum is at 1.36 PPP and 14.4% frequency, up from 1.22 PPP and 5.1%

Obviously the scoring will change, but I love where Tatum’s frequency is. That's one stat I want to track all season. If they can keep him at 14-15%, the offense will look good all season long.

- The NBA hype train for the in-season tournament is in full swing. I’m still not sure what to expect from each team, but Porzingis is all in. 

"I love it,” he said at the team’s Thursday practice. “In Europe, we always have some sort of tournament, preseason or during the year, so like when I was growing up, I always enjoy those kinds of tournaments. Kind of more spotlight, something that's mid-season and stuff like that. So I think it has been presented really well here in the NBA. We'll see, we'll see when it happens, but I believe it's going to be a great success. Although I know a lot of people are a little bit skeptical, I think it's going to be a huge success and I look forward to hopefully winning it.”

The Celtics will even have a new court for it, as will every team in the NBA.

A few of us in the media room, along with Celtics staffers were trying to figure out if there has ever been a home game at the Garden (either one) without the parquet floor. No one could come up with anything, so this might just be the first one coming up next Friday. 

- Is it possible we’re not talking about Victor Wembanyama enough? All he did last night was drop 38 and hold off the Phoenix Suns to beat them and Kevin Durant for the second straight game.

- Is there anyone in the league with more irrational confidence than Jordan Poole? 

Here he is throwing an off-the-backboard lob to Kyle Kuzma in a game they trail by 20:

And here he is turning to the Memphis bench to talk trash after shooting a 3, but missing the shot:

And here he is thinking he can back Jrue Holiday down: 

- Speaking of audacious dunk attempts, Svi Mykhailiuk had the Celtics bench in a tizzy after this attempt:

via GIPHY

The guys on the bench spent the next couple of possessions discussing it, which makes me wonder how insane the place would have gone if he’d hit that. 

- How bad a head coach is Josh McDaniels, anyway? Teams always seem to be in a hurry to fire him.

- Both Holiday and Sam Hauser are wearing Sabrina Ionescu signature shoes. Personally, I think the Sabrinas are the best signature shoe in Nike’s line, which says a lot. It’s very interesting that NBA players are wearing a WNBA star’s signature sneaker. 

- Find me a more wholesome moment than Tatum and Hauser here:

Y’know, between Derrick White finally shaving his head an Tatum pulling Hauser’s ears out, it’s obvious the Celtics are trying to be me. And I’m flattered, guys. Honestly. 

- Rest in Peace, Bobby Knight. 

- Kyrie Irving probably thinks this guy makes good points.

- No, seriously, Wembanyama is 7'4" and doing this:

That's not supposed to be that easy, even as a warm-up drill. 

- If you need to know why James Harden keeps changing teams, him explaining to reporters in Los Angeles “I’m not a system player, I’m a system” is all you need to know. 

With no real self-awareness at all, Harden is in constant search of a team that will give him full reign.

So he went to the Clippers?? 

Have fun opening that new building next season with the burning embers of whatever is left of your franchise, Steve Ballmer. 

- Nikola Jokic destroyed Chet Holmgren this week, but still had some praise, and some advice, for the young Thunder rookie. 

“I think he needs experience. I think he needs to be a little bit fatter, to be honest,” he said. 

I’d like to argue, but …. 

(Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Someone get this kid some Weight Gain 4000.

- Have fun in Maine, Jordan Walsh

- That's Paulo Banchero way in the back of the room, waving his arms, reminding people he still exists.

- Hey who is in the World Series this year? 

… It’s what? 

… they did? 

… Oh, well good for the Texas Rangers, then.

- Here’s hoping Daniel Theis finds a home somewhere that will allow him to play. 

- I went to the Grizzlies-Wizards game last weekend to see how Marcus Smart was doing. It’s not going well. 

The team is 0-5 and he looks a little lost trying to fit in with new teammates. I saw him throw passes to spots where some of his former teammates might have been but current ones aren’t. The task of building chemistry will take time. 

- At some point in our lives, we were all this tiny Sacramento Kings fan.

- There are too many jokes to make about Kim Kardashian having the official underwear of the NBA, and I can’t make any of them here.

- We “fall back” this weekend, which means driving to games in the dark at 4:00 p.m. And they wonder why we’re all so angry all the time around here. 

- You’d have to be an absolute moron to do a whole podcast about statistics after four games …

… so here’s my latest podcast if you’re bored.