Tag: Marcus Smart

John Karalis: Celtics “Cutting Durant’s Legs Off”

April 25, 2022 / Aaron Fischman / 0 Comments

Jayson Tatum celebrates with teammates after another dominant showing in Game 3 (@Celtics/Instagram).

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With the Boston Celtics (arguably) improbably leading the Brooklyn Nets 3-0 in an opening-round 2-7 matchup, we’re joined by John Karalis, host of Locked on Celtics, Celtics beat reporter for The Boston Sports Journal and author of The Boston Celtics All-Time All-Stars

5:07-5:45: Most importantly, defending at an extraordinarily high level; that’s what got them to this place. In this series, they are not letting Kevin Durant close out. They are not letting Durant get going and start to do all the things that Durant does. When the Nets are closing out teams, it’s Durant, just bucket after bucket after bucket, midrange after midrange after midrange. Unstoppable. In this series, they’ve frustrated the hell out of him, they’ve beaten him up, and he’s throwing passes to nobody now.”

6:47-6:52: “When he’s got it going, [Tatum] could be as deadly as anybody in the league.”

13:51-14:54: “The switching has, I think, taken them out of their rhythm. And when Kevin Durant is out of rhythm, then the whole thing starts to fall apart ‘cuz Kyrie [Irving] plays off Kevin Durant, and it’s not the other way around. Continue reading

Tom Westerholm: Giannis Will “Have to Work for Every Bucket” (Celtics-Bucks)

May 2, 2019 / Aaron Fischman / 0 Comments

OTNB guest Tom Westerholm chats with Jayson Tatum prior to Boston’s Game 4 in Indiana (Keith Sliney/Boston Celtics).

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The Boston Celtics stole Game 1 in Milwaukee before the mighty Bucks answered Tuesday with a comfortable victory of their own. With the series all squared up and storylines aplenty, Tom Westerholm of MassLive delves into this fun matchup, which pits Milwaukee and Boston against each other for the second straight postseason. Only, this time, Milwaukee is coming off a 60-win season and the Celtics are able to suit up Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. The Celtics severely limited MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo in Game 1, but he responded with a strong performance in Game 2. How can Boston hope to corral the Greek Freak, and so many more questions answered inside.

Some noteworthy excerpts (*Particular time stamps may vary due to dynamic advertising):
3:54-4:57: “This is a strategy that they’ve employed against Giannis, basically all through last year’s playoffs – let Al Horford guard him one-on-one and then everybody else can get out to shooters. It really hammers home how good Horford is at defending that he was able to do that and that he is able to do that, because every once in a while in this series you see Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, guys who are not small necessarily, get switched onto Giannis and he just blows by them and gets a dunk. It’s replicable just because the Celtics have a guy like Horford, who is as good at defending as he is and who is strong and able to move his feet and able to stay in front…Giannis is going to have a difficult series. He’s gonna have to work for every bucket, every free throw he gets. As much as the Celtics can hope for a win in this series, that’s gonna be what it rests on.”

11:43-12:26: “One of the things to keep in mind with this Celtics team is they do sort of have these stretches, and then sometimes during the regular season that would lead toward finger-pointing, that would lead to guys kind of getting upset with one another, and then that would really snowball, and then you’re talking about a few losses in a row and things can go badly at that point for them. I will say, though, in the locker room everybody was pretty accountable. There wasn’t a lot of, ‘Oh, the young guys needed to do this,’…It was more like Marcus Morris said they need to be setting better screens for Kyrie, and Kyrie said, ‘I need to be better at X, Y and Z.’” Continue reading

Dan Devine: Pelicans’ “Bully Ball” Could Take Toll on Warriors in Postseason (Trade Deadline Special)

February 23, 2017 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Alongside new addition DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis and the Pelicans hope to rise up the Western Conference standings and cause problems for the Warriors in the playoffs (Keith Allison/Creative Commons).

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Less than 24 hours before the NBA’s annual trade deadline, Yahoo! Sports NBA editor Dan Devine (Ball Don’t Lie) fits us into his busy schedule. Dan breaks down the league’s biggest trades to date (chief among them, this past weekend’s DeMarcus Cousins deal), hints at what may be on the horizon and touches upon the Clippers’ postseason prospects and two dark-horse contenders in the Rockets and Wizards. He even provides a glimpse into New Orleans cuisine. What a guy! What a show!

7:57-9:15: Dan explores how the DeMarcus Cousins acquisition will likely affect the Pelicans’ position in the race for the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed:

“Adding Boogie to the lineup, giving them that core three with Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday, gives them, from a talent perspective, maybe the best core that you can offer in that group. It’s also worth remembering that New Orleans is three games back of Denver in the loss column right now, and they’ve got to leapfrog both Portland and Sacramento…They’ve got some work to do…and they’re going to have to integrate a gigantic piece with 25 games left in the season. Continue reading

Michael Pina: Celtics Should Keep Current Core, Resist Butler Trade

February 3, 2017 / Joshua Fischman / 0 Comments

In addition to reigning over the fourth quarter most nights, Isaiah Thomas averaged 32.9 points per game in January, the fourth most prolific scoring month in franchise history (Keith Allison/Creative Commons).

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As Massachusetts readies for another Super Bowl appearance by its Patriots, the Boston Celtics are playing terrific basketball, guided by two-time All-Star Isaiah Thomas, who turned in one of the most prolific scoring months in franchise history this past January. To help us praise IT and get to the bottom of swirling trade rumors and Boston’s defensive woes, Michael Pina is on the scene. Pina, who covers the Celtics for Bleacher Report, hosts The Big Three podcast and writes about the league elsewhere, delivers a frank, spirited analysis of the team. In addition, this wide-ranging discussion hits on how Al Horford is fitting with this squad, how Brad Stevens’ coaching enhances Marcus Smart’s game, what the Celtics see in 20-year-old Jaylen Brown and why the Cavaliers and Tristan Thompson pose very specific problems for the postseason Celtics, among other topics. Oh yeah…the longtime Patriots fan also provides his Super Bowl prediction. Enjoy some excerpts below:

7:38 – 8:04: While Michael acknowledges Isaiah Thomas’ shortcomings on defense, he also highlights the diminutive point guard’s many defensive strengths:

“For all the bad things about Isaiah Thomas’ defense, I think his effort is always there despite the high offensive usage. He’s extremely tough, extremely physical, he does not die on screens, he fights over them, and really makes ball handlers work really hard, and he knows where to be. He gets up into guys, even when teams force switches and he’s up against a much larger player.”

11:47 – 12:13: If Boston is able to hold the East’s No. 2 spot through Sunday’s games, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens will be coaching this season’s Eastern Conference All-Star squad:

“He deserves to coach an All-Star team. I think he’s one of the better overall coaches in basketball, let alone someone who’s that young, commands respect from everybody on the team. He’s fair to the players, and they appreciate that. He’s a great communicator. Since he was hired, he’s done a fantastic job of putting guys in positions where they can succeed, not asking too much of his players.” Continue reading

Beantown Basketball Banter and the East No Longer the Least

January 3, 2016 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Avery Bradley's development has been a big part of Boston's success this season (Mark Runyon/BasketballSchedule.net)

Avery Bradley’s development has been a huge part of Boston’s success this season (Mark Runyon/BasketballSchedule.net).

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Following Loren’s interview with Red’s Army’s John Karalis earlier in the week, the boys are back together serving up Beantown basketball banter. Among the appetizing topics on the menu are Jared Sullinger’s beastly rebounding, Marcus Smart’s return from injury and the Celtics’ chances of representing the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. Speaking of the East, what is this parity madness? Are Eastern teams really as good as the Western Conference squads all of a sudden? In the final segment of the episode, our co-hosts make sense of this surprising dynamic and discuss its importance to the league.

Music: “Who Likes to Party?” by Kevin MacLeod

John Karalis: Coach Brad “Stevens’ (Preparation) Is at Another Level” for Celtics

December 30, 2015 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

John Karalis (right) alongside the statue of Bill Russell in Boston’s City Hall Plaza

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Danny Ainge and the youthful Boston Celtics are a fascinating study in team-building. On this week’s exhilarating interview episode, Loren is solo with Red’s Army’s John Karalis for a discussion of the Leprechauns’ current and future. Are they contenders or pretenders in the East? Among a number of topics, John explores in great detail the emergence of Jae Crowder, Isaiah Thomas’ adjustment to his starting role, team synergy and Brad Stevens’ superb coaching. Delectable sound bites can be found below:

3:38-4:13: “I still worry about them in the playoffs. I don’t think they have the type of makeup that will be a very successful playoff team, because rotations shrink, the game slows…it just becomes about talent overcoming other talent. So they’ve got enough to win a first-round series. I wonder how they’ll do in the later rounds, because they don’t have that one takeover guy.”

4:17-4:54: “When Isaiah Thomas gets into hero mode, then the Celtics tend to have a little bit of a problem. It’s his greatest strength but his greatest weakness, because it’s that chip on his shoulder that makes him play so well at his size with his flaws, but when the game gets down to the last couple of minutes and the Celtics are down two or three, sometimes I think he plays a little outside of himself…and eliminates the ball movement that makes the Celtics so good.”

Tag: Marcus Smart

John Karalis: Celtics “Cutting Durant’s Legs Off”

Tom Westerholm: Giannis Will “Have to Work for Every Bucket” (Celtics-Bucks)

Dan Devine: Pelicans’ “Bully Ball” Could Take Toll on Warriors in Postseason (Trade Deadline Special)

Michael Pina: Celtics Should Keep Current Core, Resist Butler Trade

Beantown Basketball Banter and the East No Longer the Least

John Karalis: Coach Brad “Stevens’ (Preparation) Is at Another Level” for Celtics

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