Picks 'n Pops: 3-point hysteria, powerful words, and comfortable wins

Every week I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because I was supposed to be the person who ironed the championship banner and I've been laying low for a little while.  

- People are really worked up about the 61 3-pointers the Celtics got up on Tuesday night. I’ve already broken down why the Knicks' defense played into that, but why isn’t anyone recognizing that Boston put up 13 3-pointers in about eight minutes trying to break a record? That's what gunning looks like. 

- And while we’re here, I’d like to add that while 3-pointers are easy to complain about, you’re missing out on a whole lotta great basketball that it takes to get looks that good. I get this style isn't for everyone, but it doesn’t suck. There are a lot of good things happening. 

- Are we sure Baylor Scheierman and Donte DiVincenzo aren’t cousins or something?

- Payton Pritchard wore Jaylen Brown’s new shoe in last night’s game and was really into them. Call me crazy, but we could have a budding endorser on our hands here. This would be the first time we’ve ever seen one teammate sign another to an endorsement deal. This doesn’t count any requirements LeBron James of his teammates. 

- Happy Birthday Jaylen Brown. I'm with Brian Scalabrine on this one … I could have sworn he was turning 27, not 28. 

- Speaking of birthdays, here’s Jayson Tatum making a young kid’s day on his birthday. 

- This drone video of banner night is pretty cool 

I’ll let you in on a little secret: That turn at the :25 mark where it focuses in on the wall? That's the cut where they laid in the next clip but still made it look like one continuous shot. 

- I’ll also let you in on another secret … well, sort of. Here’s Tatum interrupting the end of Derrick White’s postgame press conference last night. 

I say sort of because I don’t know this for sure, but I also feel pretty good that I know Tatum wanted to do a joint presser with White so he wouldn’t have to answer as many questions. 

These two are up to some shenanigans this season. I wouldn’t be shocked if this turned into a version of the old Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce press conferences. 

Also, if that happens, one of them has to get a whole lot more personality on that podium. KG set a pretty high standard. 

- I found it humorous that on the day Joe Mazzulla dropped his quote about words just being words and having no power, Jaylen Brown went on Stephen A. Smith’s podcast because of words that were spoken on TV that clearly had some power. 

Brown made a “state your source” shirt because of it. The words clearly bothered either him, his family, his friends, or some combination of the three. 

And let me be clear: I don’t give a flying … ahem … that he did the podcast. Words do have power and not everyone has the mentality to take that power away from them. 

- If you haven't seen Mazzulla’s quote about pressure and words, here it is in full:

“Zero. No pressure. We're all going to be dead soon, and it really doesn't matter anymore. So there's zero pressure. You're either going to win or you're not. And when you win, you try to forget about it a week later, and when you lose, you try to forget about it a forget about it a week later. And so it's not pressure, it's an opportunity. And we have an opportunity here over the next few years, however long we're together, we said this in the past, like you have an opportunity to carry the organization forward, to double down on the tradition and the history of what this organization has, and what else would you expect than someone expecting you to win all the time. I wouldn't want someone expecting me to lose all the time. That would be debilitating. So we have an expectation to win. We have great character, great talent, and we just have to work to maximize that, and we're going to rely on the players to do that.”

…

“I just don't look at it as pressure, because, like, a Boston media member or somebody expecting me to win, like they don't have a weaponl. They're not gonna come after me if we don't win. If you're saying words, like, they don't mean anything. They're just words. You're just saying them because you have to say them. You're contractually obligated to write a, you know, 500 word article after. They're just words. You can't do anything. And so it's just a made up word. We don't have a pressure.If we lose, we're not losing our life. Like, we're not surgeons, we're not like in the military, we coach basketball for a living. And no one's putting more pressure and expectations than we are on ourselves. And it's like, we have a responsibility, and we have an ownership. And like, I ask guys all the time, like, would you rather have someone expect you to lose or win? Like, if you came up to me like, man, I really expected you to lose that game, I would be pissed. But it's like, you come up to me like, you should have won that game. It's like, yeah, that's what we signed up for, you know? So I think it's just the perspective of how you look at it, and like, the truth of it.”

My follow-up: But words have power. 

“No they don't. If you let them, like, if you allow words to take your personal power, then yes. So I don't allow words to take my personal power and like, that's just important. They only have power if you allow them to. And that's what I try to teach my kids. It's like, I don't give a shit what someone says to you. Did you allow that to have an impact on you? Like, he didn't put his hands on you, he didn't touch you, he didn't do anything. He said something to you. So now you have a choice to decide how you're going to interpret that. So, like, it's not pressure. There's nothing anyone in this circle can do to me that's going to impact my identity and who I am as a person or coach. We're either going to win or we're not, and 40 years from now, none of you were invited to my funeral, and that's it.”

On a personal note: if I’m still around in 40 years, at 91, and Joe kicks it. You better believe I’m going to that funeral just to tell him he was wrong. I think he’d appreciate that.

- Speaking of me being old, I’m impressed with Jayson Tatum’s choice of Public Enemy hockey jersey last night. 

I’m happy about it because I recognize something a young person is doing. That doesn’t happen very often. When I saw Shaboozey was performing before the game Tuesday I thought it was some kids character or something. And then Benson Boone performed afterward? Who the hell is that? I thought the picture was just a stock photo of a young person with a mustache. 

The culture train has left and I’m still at the station … and I’m very much okay with that. 

- The Celtics Emirates Cup court is better than last years …

It’s going to accomplish the goal of making sure people know it’s a cup game as well. 

Notice I didn’t say it was good. 

- If I was a Knicks fan I’d be seriously pissed that Mikal Bridges did this to his jump shot: 

- The WNBA Finals were great, and just what they needed after all the Caitlin Clark stuff. Those were NBA arenas sold out and rocking for five games. Great atmosphere. 

- It was so cool to see Bred Hampton honored with his own day in Boston 

He’s a local kid who has become one of the biggest creatives in town. And a lot of that credit goes to Tatum, who saw a talented young man and helped elevate him to new heights. This is what making a difference looks like. 

- Derrick White’s trick shot follies are running short of ideas. 

That was still an impressive shot by assistant coach (and replay guru) Matt Reynolds. 

- I wasn’t sure about Klay Thompson in Dallas, but when he said a few weeks ago that the last couple of seasons in Golden State were a mental drain, I quickly changed my tune. After that I said I think he’ll be great in Dallas and so far, so good for them. 

1: Watch Luka Doncic. 

2: I love a good rhythm dribble. Too many guys freeze when they're that wide open and they psych themselves out. A dribble like that snaps the player back into rhythm. It’s one of the silly little nuances of the game that I love. 

- The Clippers have a new arena and their scoreboard looks cool. The Wall thing is interesting. 

And that ends the “things the Clippers have to be happy about” segment. Kawhi Leonard is still out indefinitely and now the team is being sued by his former trainer for basically forcing him back too soon and also tampering before signing him. 

So things are going GREAT for Steve Ballmer’s team. Peachy. 

- The NBA is investigating the Sixers for not having Joel Embiid ready for opening night. This question was probably at the heart of it: 

It’s a fair question. Everyone knew when the opener was. He played in the Olympics, had no setbacks, and everything everyone heard was that he was looking good. And yet he missed the opener. 

It seems like once Embiid got his MVP, he was cool with everything. Now he’s totally on board with missing a bunch of time. 

He says he wants to win, but his actions have never convinced me that's true. 

- There are people … many people … putting money on Bronny James to win Rookie of the Year. 

Talk about fools parting with money. 

- This week’s Bing AI-generated image: Talk about your comfortable games 

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