Picks 'n Pops: Room for offensive improvement, a disappointing start to a rivalry, and winking

Every week I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because two weeks of Philly cheese steaks is wreaking havoc on my insides.

- The Celtics have the NBA’s third-best offense, second-best defense, and best net rating so far. Not bad for a team still figuring things out.

Some more stats: 

• They are fourth in the league in field goal percentage on post ups (64%). They also draw the most fouls on post ups (17.2% of the time). However, they're turning it over too often on post ups (10.3% of the time, third in the NBA), so that's also a work in progress. As good as it is, it can get better. 
• Jrue Holiday leads the Celtics in assists (5.3 per game), potential assists (9.3), and secondary assists (the pass that leads to the assist, 0.9). He’s also taken on every defensive assignment asked of him and is grabbing 7.5 rebounds per game. Once his shooting percentages reach their historical norms (he’s a little low across the board and his effective field goal percentage is down 3.7%) he’ll be even better. 
• Boston’s early season magic on pull-up jumpers has tailed off. Over their last five games, they are shooting 31.6% on pull-ups, third worst in the league. They started out shooting 47.3% on those over their first few games. The good news is, they're taking five fewer per game over their last five, so maybe they're realizing that those shots aren’t falling. Again, this is an area where they can get better.

That's a lot of room for improvement for the third-best offense in the league. 

- Jaylen Brown’s turnovers are down from last year. So let’s cut him some slack. 

- Here’s hoping Marcus Smart will be able to play Sunday against the Celtics. His left ankle sprain didn’t look good earlier this week. It’s too bad because I was looking forward to a truly insane play like this one. 

Even I, as the resident Smart guy, can admit that the move worked out well for Boston. But you have to admit that the occasional insane play like this was fun. 

- Holiday’s reaction to reaching 15,000 points is priceless

“It’s cool, you know? It means that I’ve played long enough. I played for a long time. But it’s cool. I didn’t know it was coming. I should probably tune in a little better. It’s always good to get it when you win,”

Wait, you didn’t know it was coming?

“No. I’m not really on Instagram or anything like that, and then it’s not like anybody here told me. So, I’m really just going out there and playing.”

So when did you realize you hit 15,000?

“When they started cheering. I heard my name a little bit, so I figured I did something wrong.”

How can you not like this guy?

- Congratulations to Jayson Tatum’s father Justin for becoming interim head coach of the Illawarra Hawks in Australia. 

- If this is your system, then the system needs rebooting. 

The Clippers haven't won since trading for Harden. It’s going to take some time to figure this all out, but also they're too talented to be losing to the Grizzlies. They play the surprising Rockets tonight. That is a must-win as a game can get in November. 

- Brown and Kristaps Porzingis are so in sync right now they're even missing games together. 

Seriously. They have become quite the pair. They live in the same building, they carpool to the airport. Before you know it they’ll be in commercials together like Boban Marjanovic and Tobias Harris. 

The one thing that Brown gets a kick out of is how much Porzingis winks at people. That one I can confirm. I was standing baseline for pregame warmups recently and Porzingis looked over, saw me, and shot me a wink and a point. 

Big winker, that Porzingis. 

- This visit from a Latvian choir was a nice moment for him

- If you aren’t following Pete Rogers, you’re missing out. He designs a new Celtics jersey after every win and he’s been doing it long enough where the designs are bordering on a fever dream.

- Count Tatum among those who couldn't believe Derrick White was left off ESPN’s top 100. 

“D White's a helluva basketball player. It's a damn shame they left him off the top 100 players,” Tatum said after the win over New York. “That's why I never pay attention to shit like that. D White is so valuable, we're so lucky to have him and even when he's not shooting the ball well and he makes winning plays.”

- Every time White has a great stretch, this old blog post shows up somewhere. It carries the tag line “Sorry, folks. Brad Stevens made his first major mistake as GM.” That was always a hotter take than the final wing on Hot Ones, and just like one of those wings, the spiciness lingers for a long time. 

- I was afraid the NBA would continue its trend of soft punishments when it came to Draymond Green, but the five games for his flying sleeper hold on Rudy Gobert is actually okay. 

Green, though, isn’t okay. Feels like he’s ramping up that belligerence to make up for a dropoff in talent. 

I know the talent isn’t there anymore because teams aren’t afraid to go at the Warrior anymore. The fear factor is gone. They are mortal. 

- I’m not sure what to make of the report that police haven't found any evidence of Kelly Oubre actually getting hit by a car in Philadelphia. 

- Maybe Anthony Davis isn’t the generational player people made him out to be?

- I’m a little sad that the first official Victor Wembanyama/Chet Holmgren faceoff was such a dud. They both had bad games and they barely guarded each other. 

This rivalry is a big deal for the NBA. An OKC/Spurs matchup becoming must-see TV is massive for a league trying to level the playing field between big and small markets. This can be a rivalry for at least the next five seasons. I hope they can figure it out.

- It was very cool of the Celtics to name the media center at their practice facility after Heather Walker. 

Walker was an executive in the Celtics PR department and one of the sweetest people you’d ever meet. She recently lost a battle with Glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, and that has truly left a void in the Celtics organization. This is a nice tribute to a person lost way too soon. 

- Paris Hilton is selling pots and pans available at Walmart. There's no way she knows what any of those things are. 

- Jayson “Cute Rabbit” Tatum? 

Yeah … that one can stay in China.

- Oshae Brissett was legitimately upset that Payton Pritchard didn’t dunk this.

via GIPHY

- Joel Embiid has been a -25 in just six games over the course of his career. Half of those have come against Boston. And you wonder why fans around here just can’t take the Sixers seriously.

- Maybe Al Horford should alway start against Embiid?

- Andre 3000 says he’s probably done rapping. 

“Sometimes it feels inauthentic for me to rap because I don’t have anything to talk about in that way. I’m 48 years old. And not to say that age is a thing that dictates what you rap about, but in a way it does. And things that happen in my life, like, what are you talking about? ‘I got to go get a colonoscopy.’ What are you rapping about? ‘My eyesight is going bad.’ You can find cool ways to say it, but….”

I’m a big fan of Outkast, but that quote is the most relatable thing Andre has ever said. Yes, Mr. 3000, please make the colonoscopy and eye exam entertaining, because they most certainly are not in real life. 

- And now Snoop Dogg is giving up weed? What’s happening to my heroes?!?

- Good luck to Daniel Theis in Los Angeles

- Good luck Mac Jones, wherever you go.

- Good luck to Glen Davis in prison. 

I don’t understand why all those pro athletes risked so much for a little extra money. They had big salaries, per diems on top of that, and the possibilities of some kind of endorsements even on the local level. Why fake medical claims? 

- How the....

- I have no problem with Doris Burke on the call. And no, she does not hate the Celtics. 

- The only trade for Zach LaVine that makes any sense to me for a rebuilding Bulls team is for Ben Simmons. The money works, the Bulls can tank while Simmons nurses whatever injury he has, and the Nets can score 150 points per game. 

- I don’t see Boston getting involved in a Chicago sell-off. As much as I’d love Alex Caruso in Boston, the only way it can really happen is by moving Horford and that makes zero sense.

- Trae Young might be a dangerous shooter, but he’s not a good shooter. That's good enough for a complementary player, but not for a number one option.

- Your current NBA Belt Champions: The Phoenix Suns

If you’re new to the concept, the NBA champion enters the season with the NBA Belt, a fictional championship belt that must be defended every game like a boxing or wrestling title. I track it on  Twitter as a fun way to keep up with the rest of the league. 

We’ve only had three champs so far: Denver, Minnesota, and now Phoenix. 

- Here’s my latest podcast, if you’re bored