Picks 'n Pops: Perfect vision, player mentality, and stealing Jaylen Brown's moves

Every week I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because I'm going to make up for not going to Las Vegas by standing in the middle of the Plainridge Park slot parlor and watching an NBA game on my phone.

- I want to thank Tristan Thompson. If he wasn’t such an entitled jerk with the Celtics, Brad Stevens would never have known how important it is to fill a roster with good people as well as good players. 

This Celtics team has some of the most selfless good players in the league. Even the stars, who definitely have the requisite egos necessary for NBA superstardom, are willing to use their talent to make their teammates better. 

Stevens has filled the locker room with high-quality individuals and paid them all accordingly. That means this year’s team has none of the contractual distractions that could sink another team. They truly play for each other. 

Great franchises start from the top down. The Celtics have been willing to spend and Stevens has spent it well. It’s given Joe Mazzulla a team he can coach and players who execute the vision. 

Soak it up while it lasts. 

- Jayson Tatum finally took a day off. I assume getting Tatum to take a day off is like the A-Team getting BA Baracus onto a plane. 

Nothing but the most current pop culture references from me. 

Now, let me take five minutes to make jokes about Sonny & Cher, the Nixon administration, and how Payton Pritchard plays defense like Tom Jones dancing in his “Treat Her Right” performance. 

- Khris Middleton makes his debut for the Bucks tonight. Of course they bring one of the top Celtics-killers back against one of his favorite opponents. 

I don’t fear Middleton like I used to, but you’ll have to pardon the PTSD still lingering to make me wonder how much he can change the East. The answer might simply be that he won’t, but I won’t believe it until I see it. 

- Kristaps Porzingis was asked if he enjoyed there being less pressure on him to score because he’s on such a talented team. Here’s his full answer: 

“As a player you always want, I don't know, more shots, more minutes, more role, more, you know, I think everybody feels like that all the time. It's just a matter of us controlling our own, like, egos and stuff, and playing as a team. I don't know if it's like something I enjoy. I'd rather shoot 40 shots, you know what I mean? But it's, of course, it's a privilege that we have such a talented team. We have, I don’t know how many guys that can score 20, and it will not be a surprise. We'll be like, yeah, this guy can get 20, easy. So it's a big privilege we have. And that's why this team is who we are.”

This exchange shows a couple of important things. 

1: Pro athletes don’t think like we do. Every one of us would LOVE to go into work and have our bosses say “hey don’t worry about the heavy lifting. We have other people to do most of that. You’ll just need to do it sometimes.” So when we, normal humans, see the situation Porzingis is in, we think “oh he must love this.” He does, but also, he doesn’t. He wants the glory, too. He wants to feed his ego and be the star player on the championship team. 

It’s hard to explain, because I know he cherishes being a champion, but I think a little part of him wishes he could have been no only available more, but the team’s leading scorer. 

No kid is dribbling in his driveway going “he sets the pick, he springs the shooter open, and he gets out of the way so the shooter can hit the shot at the buzzer!!!!!” 

We’ve all wanted to be the one hitting the shot. I don’t begrudge a guy for still wanting to be that. 

2: It speaks to the depth of how much guys have sacrificed and play for each other. They keep a lot in check in order to play how they play. Porzingis is capable of a lot. 

This is another reason why I think it’s actually important for players to take some time off. Not only is it good for some rest, it’s good to give the guys who have sacrificed a few games along the way to be the primary options again. 

Yes, it’s also important to get the deeper bench guys in for some valuable experience, but it’s almost as important to let Jaylen Brown cook like he did against Detroit or get Porzingis a 20-shot night. 

Not 40 though. Who the hell does he think he is? Kobe Bryant?

- We need to get the idea of a 20-point lead being “big” out of our heads. Boston was up 20 in the fourth quarter and then up 11 just a minute later. The lead got down to six very quickly after that because Detroit got hot from 3. 

A 20-point lead isn’t safe in the NBA.

Hey, maybe that's why Tom Thibodeau does what he does?

- The Knicks won by 25 last night. Here’s how many minutes their starters played. 

Brunson left with a minor back injury and saved himself. 

Honestly, Thibodeau will never learn his lesson. Someone has to step in or the Knicks are never going to get to the Finals.

- Jayson Tatum is one of Forbes’ 30 under 30. 

- I think we should start calling these little four-day off stretches “The NBA Cup break.” 

- Pritchard admits to stealing Jaylen Brown’s move to score against Miami:

After the game, Brown said: “Payton’s definitely been in my bag, man, for sure. He’s got my shoes on. I gotta take them joints back. He’s definitely getting the upfakes, the post moves, he’s definitely been expanding his game and I love to see it. I said it earlier in the season or before the season started, we play through Payton against certain teams and matchups. Now, I don’t think anybody thinks anything of that comment. Now we’re going to continue to do that, continue to look for him to get going cause he’s proven that it don’t even matter, it’s any team now. So when he’s got it going, it makes it easier and it’s better for us as a team. So I’m here for it.”

The step-through is a nice move. The Brown/Pritchard relationship has always been a good one. I’m still waiting on the official announcement that Pritchard is a paid endorser of Brown’s new sneakers. That might happen at some point.

- The TD Garden crowd really gets up for Pritchard in last-second situations. Every time he has the ball with less than five seconds, the whole place stands up … and they do it quickly. The legend of the Pritchard buzzer-beater is strong. 

- I hope Jaylen enjoyed that throat slash celebration on Isaiah Stewart because it cost him $25,000

- The Wizards have lost 16 in a row. Let’s just rename them the Generals and move on. If a Washington team is going to be everyone’s doormat, at least lean into it. Maybe give the other team’s star player a bucket of confetti to throw into the crowd every night.  

- Ja Morant got his second tech and was ejected after this play was called a foul: 

After the game, the refs admitted they made a mistake and it shouldn’t have been called a foul. So they compounded the mistake by tossing the star player.

Morant absolutely should be able to keep his emotions more in check in that situation. The demonstrative pointing and swearing is too much. At the same time, the refs have to give him time to cool off instead of just ejecting him. More restraint is needed on both sides. 

- Nikola Jokic now has more triple-doubles than Magic Johnson, which is still wild to me. 

- Stop grabbing the mic, OG Anunoby.

- Happy 7th Birthday, Deuce

It’s wild to watch him grow up around the team. I think I see him more than my own niece and nephews during the season. 

- Players refusing to talk to the media unless they get editorial control of the story is a turning point in this industry: 

Players can control their own messages on social media. They're putting out their own slickly produced documentaries. And outlets who are desperate to hang onto some share of a continuously fracturing audience tend to agree because getting the story on their platform under dubious circumstances is better, financially, than not getting it at all. 

Players used to convey messages through the media … to fans, the opposition, and even their own team. They don’t need us to do that anymore. They can just tweet it out and we’ll all react to it. They get to control the message. 

I’d like to think they still need us to tell their stories because we know how to tell stories. But I don’t even know how true that is anymore. 

I do know this: The world of media you consume is changing fast, and you, the consumer, have to be more aware of who’s behind it.

- I never thought I'd say this, but I suddenly aspire to be Dick Van Dyke. 

- Your current NBA Belt Champions: The Cleveland Cavaliers

- This week's Bing AI-generated image: Happily NOT getting on a plane to Las Vegas

- Here's my latest podcast, if you're bored.