Picks 'n Pops: Concerning quotes, signs of fatigue, and paying off a bet

Every week I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because for a second I thought all that white smoke meant Willie Nelson was elected as pope. 

- This quote from Al Horford is actually bothersome to me. He was asked if the Game 1 collapse had anything to do with the Game 2 collapse. 

"At the time, I don't know how I was thinking Game 1. But just us squandering a lead away. Definitely thinking about that in that moment. Not necessarily thinking about the first game, but definitely trying to kind of salvage that. That went into the mind. We weren't able to handle it and pull the game out."

Why I find it bothersome is that I think the Celtics are reacting to the moment instead of staying in the moment. Reacting to the moment is saying "oh man, this thing is happening, I have to do something!" versus "Okay, that thing just happened, let's just move on from it and get something good." 

This is what the first part looks like, to me. 

I don't think this is what the Celtics want from Horford. Admittedly, if he makes that, our reaction will be "look at that DAD STRENGTH" or something, but my point still stands. We have rarely seen this from Horford. He was trying to make a play because he was reacting to the moment. 

Staying in the moment is coming down, running a good set, having multiple options, and making the Knicks pay for their defenesive weaknesses. 

- Hey, where have Boston's multiple offensive options gone, anyway?

- You know me, I'm the analysis guy, so it pains me to keep saying "just make shots, but honestly ...

Make two of those. That's 40%. Just make two and Game 2 goes the other way.

- Joe Mazzulla: "You can't just have a pride and entitlement that we're holier than now, that we're not allowed to be down 0-2. This is the situation that we're in, so we have to have an understanding of why we're in it and we got to fix it and we have an opportunity to fix that. So yeah, I do relish that because these moments are all forgotten if you transition them into taking advantage of the opportunity that you have."

- Jayson Tatum is starting to over-rotate on his turnaround jumpers. 

Notice how his upper body isn't square? He starts with his left shoulder further in front and then his right shoulder rolls forward as he shoots. This is what it's supposd to look like:

See how his shoulders are square throughout the entire shot? That's what he needs to be doing all the time. 

That's a sign of fatigue. That's Tatum trying to use his whole body to get up and then get the shot there. I think the physicality of the game is wearing him down. That especially means that the ball should start in the hands of Derrick White or Jrue Holiday some plays just to get Tatum a little bit of a break from having to do everything. Hell, use him as a decoy some plays if you have to. I'm cool with sneaking him some rest on a possession where White and someone else are running something. 

- During the regular season, 23% of Tatum's 3-pointers were pull-up jumpers. That has jumped to 51% in the playoffs. However, he shot 29.3% on those in the regular season and he's at 37% right now which is better than his overall season average, so I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing.

- You might say "well, what about the step-backs, John?" He's 3-7 on those according to NBA tracking data. That's 43%. 

- Tatum on the last play of Game 2: “I just kind of made the wrong read. Went into a crowded area. Obviously, if I had that opportunity again, or the next time it presented itself, just have a different outcome. But I take responsibility for us not at least getting a shot up at the end of the game.”

I still stand by my assessment that Mazzulla did the right thing by not calling the timeout. Think of it this way: If Tatum got a shot off, missed, and the Celtics fouled, they'd have to go full court after the free throws if they didn't have a timeout. If you're going to have to go full court either way, you do it with the :13 on the clock and trust your guys to at least get a shot off. 

Fumbling the ball here ruined this play. 

That shot should have gone up shortly after that. Down by one, you want to give yourself time to either rebound the miss or foul and extend the game. Tatum getting a shot off was the critical part of the plan. He's right to take responsibility. Tatum, an All-NBA player, has to at least get a shot off. If he hits with two seconds on the clock, then you play two seconds of defense and win. If he misses and you foul, then you have a timeout to advance the ball with 1-point-something on the clock, which is enough time to take one dribble and shoot. 

So Mazzulla did the right thing. Don't let Tatum screwing up distract you from that. 

- We all got evacuated from the Garden after Game 2. 

There's no truth to the rumor that the fire couldn't survive how cold the building was from Boston's shooting performance.

- I know everyone wants to focus on the 3-pointers, but if the Celtics just made their layups in Game 2 the game wouldn't have been close. But no one wants to talk about that because the attitude is "well, at least you got a layup." But that's the wrong attitude to have. Missed layups are just as damaging, sometimes more so, because the guy who takes the layup is often inherently behind the play after the miss. Missed layups very often result in transition opportunities for the other team. 

- Does Kristaps Porzingis still want me to ask the Knicks how they feel about coming to Boston and playing here?

- Porzingis being healthy would have changed the first two games. Those fourth quarters are exactly the reason why the Celtics got him. He's the guy who's supposed to get the mid-fourth quarter buckets against mismatches. Losing him really hurts. 

- Paul Pierce, man of his word: 

I applaud Pierce's dedication. It's inspiring me, too! 

If the Celtics don't win Game 3, I'm going to TELL PAUL PIERCE TO WALK THAT ROUTE AGAIN! 

- Congratulations to Jrue Holiday for winning the NBA's Sportsmanship Award and the Social Justice Champion. 

- Congrats to Concord native and Emerson College's own Sam Presti for winning Executive of the Year. One of my favorite things I own is a jazz CD he recorded back in his younger days. 

- Think of it this way ... you could be a Dallas Mavericks fan. 

- Draymond Green gets away with so much with the refs. It's like the lesson is to come into the league with an attitude problem and the refs will just adjust to your level of lunacy as the baseline. Half the league would be ejected for things officials allow with him. 

- It's amazing to me how important Steph Curry still is to the Warriors. They are completely lost without him, but they have a fighting chance with him.

- Gregg Popovich looked frail when he announced he was stepping into the front office full time, which makes sense after he suffered a stroke. It's just sad to see how quickly it can happen. 

- The Pro Basketball Writers Association has put out its first ever All-Interview Team. 

First Team: Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Donovan Mitchell, Draymond Green

Second Team: Mike Conley, Jr., Tyrese Haliburton, Bam Adebayo, Josh Hart, Damian Lillard. 

Horford and Porzingis were finalists. 

- The new pope went to Villanova, so he's either thrilled for his fellow Wildcats to be beating the Celtics, or he's mad that the Knicks traded Donte DiVincenzo. With his new direct pipeline to the man upstairs, we could find out the answer in Game 3. Let's hope the Vatican's Italian connection has some influence here.

- Tom Thibodeau was teetering on the edge of being fired after a tough Detroit series. The Celtics could have hammered those final nails in the coffin (and maybe still can if they wake up), but he's still standing tall. So for catching a huge break thanks to a pair of Celtics collapses, there's no doubt Thibs is having the Best Week Ever!

That's the happiest Thibs picture I could find.

- Today's AI-generated image: Just trying to hold on right now

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