MacMullan and Windhorst Podcast: Discussing Celtics

[Chief Macho]

Why the hell would anyone still want to pay Kyrie money.  Ill take the mistake and look forward to the flexibility.

[CelticSooner]

Why the hell would anyone still want to pay Kyrie money.  Ill take the mistake and look forward to the flexibility.

The C’s are capped out regardless. You resign Kyrie and trade him later if need be.

[gouki88]

Why the hell would anyone still want to pay Kyrie money.  Ill take the mistake and look forward to the flexibility.

The C’s are capped out regardless. You resign Kyrie and trade him later if need be.

Lol, so many people just ignore this. We have no cap flexibility.

People keep saying "just sign some other PG like Kemba or D'Angelo Russell", which absolutely makes no sense. We have no money.

[LarBrd33]

Listening to it now.  Love jackie, but the premise here is a bit odd.

She's saying that because the team had positive chemistry in the lockerroom after the Chicago loss - that somehow means there's bad chemistry.  And because Kyrie was taking these losses in stride and expressing confidence in the team's ability to win come playoff time - that's evidence of him being in a major funk. 

That's weird to me. 

Also, Kyrie has a right be upset about his role.  It's completely ridiculous that by far our best player was averaging 17-18 shots per game and 32 minutes per game.  There were 16 players in the league taking more shots than him.  He was taking less shots than Golden State's 3rd option.  That's stupid considering there are guys like Harden averaging 37 minutes and 24 shots.  I expect Kyrie's minutes to be up around 37-42 in the playoffs and his shots to be around 22-27.   Considering nobody else has consistently stepped up - that needs to happen.  Good news is, we've already seen that change happening.  Kyrie's minutes and shots are way up recently... and that's a good thing.

Good to hear he's taking these losses in stride, tbh... despite the negative tarot card readings into his confounding personality.

The timeline of this Kyrie hate is bizarre.

Jan 12th, they ask him questions about what the team lacks - he gives honest and thoughtful answers about the entire team lacking experience, he needing to be a better leader, guys needing to bring it every single night, while subsequently admitting that he didnt' see anyone beating them when they play the right way. 

Gets spun into him throwing his teammates under the bus.  In-fact, the quote that Keith Smith tweeted that went viral wasn't even a real quote.  It was a paraphrasing of a 7 minute conversation. 

Word gets to Jaylen.  Jaylen snaps back.

Jan 16th - Kyrie accepts responsibility (though he did nothing wrong and everything he said was 100% true and fair), says Jaylen was right, says he needs to avoid saying anything publicly that can be perceived as him pointing fingers.  When asked about being in their shoes, he admits he was a difficult young kid and made life hard for LeBron and recently reached out to him for advice and apologized for his behavior back then.

Gets spun into him throwing his teammates under the bus - though everything he said was completely fair and it showed real growth and awareness that he was willing to even take those steps to improve as a leader and accept responsibility for something when he wasn't even wrong.

Flash forward to the Chicago loss...

Kyrie keeping his spirits up, says he's not getting frustrated anymore.  Expresses confidence in himself and his teammates.  Says he's putting the loss behind him. 

Despite being exactly what everyone wanted him to say (taking ownership of the team, expressing confidence, not saying anything negative about the team) ... it gets spun into him being in a major funk. 

When they try to bait him in reacting to Brad Stevens or Marcus Smart's comments, he gives non-answers and says it's Brad's team to coach and he respects Marcus' opinion.

Gets spun into him disagreeing with them.

Last night.  Once again says "I don’t think anybody in the Eastern Conference can compete with us when we’re playing at the high level we know we’re supposed to be playing at." - once again showing confidence in his teammates.  Despite expressing his confidence in multiple questions, some fool asks him if he's confident in the team.  He essentially tells the reporter it's a dumb question (because it was)...

Gets spun in him no longer having confidence. 

There's nothing this dude can say that will not be spun at this point.  Some fans want him to "shut up and dribble", but don't realize that accepting media interviews is part of the job and it would actually look even worse if he started ghosting them right now and refusing to be interviewed.  They'd spin it into him being a malcontent, refusing interviews, hating Boston, hating his teammates, being checked out, and on his way to New York.  He'd also be fined and probably anger his brand reps as well since being public and open is essential for a superstar's marketability.

[PhoSita]

Sorry LarBrd, I'm gonna trust Jackie on this one.  She's been in hundreds of locker rooms over the years.  I trust that she knows how to judge these things.

Her reasoning makes sense to me.  Joking and laughing after you just got shellacked?  Acting like you're not worried about the regular season when your team has never accomplished anything and you've never been the main guy on a team that's done anything?  I don't like it at all.

[LarBrd33]

Sorry LarBrd, I'm gonna trust Jackie on this one.  She's been in hundreds of locker rooms over the years.  I trust that she knows how to judge these things.

I know... which is why it's so weird she's saying this.  Maybe she's in a funk and hates Boston.

[PhoSita]

Sorry LarBrd, I'm gonna trust Jackie on this one.  She's been in hundreds of locker rooms over the years.  I trust that she knows how to judge these things.

I know... which is why it's so weird she's saying this.  Maybe she's in a funk and hates Boston.

Hahah okayyyyy.  I get it now.   

[LarBrd33]

Sorry LarBrd, I'm gonna trust Jackie on this one.  She's been in hundreds of locker rooms over the years.  I trust that she knows how to judge these things.

I know... which is why it's so weird she's saying this.  Maybe she's in a funk and hates Boston.

Hahah okayyyyy.  I get it now.   

Kidding... It's just strange to react to a lockerroom where guys are actually in positive spirits, hear Kyrie say he's not frustrated anymore... and react with doom and gloom. 

Btw, this team DOES have chemistry problems on the court, but that's because we're trying to incorporate too many guys. 

This team would have struggled this season no matter what star was in Kyrie's role this season, because you're asking 7 other guys to flourish in minimized roles. I don't care if it was Steph Curry in there this season... Steph (like Kyrie) would be individually spectacular, but the rest of the team would still suck, because you have Horford and Tatum out there while also Brown, Morris, Smart, Rozier and Hayward are all gunning for big offensive roles.

It's not a Kyrie problem. It's a too many guys problem.

Swap out Kyrie for prime Michael Jordan... doesn't change the fact that we're trying to spread out 70 shots amongst Tatum/Morris/Brown/Horford/Hayward/Rozier/Smart. Doesn't change the fact that a guy like Gordon Hayward will have some nights when he takes 3 shots off the bench. Doesn't change the fact that a guy like Morris will be gunning for his touches in a contract year. Doesn't change that a guy like Brown is going to get into multiple public scuffles with veteran role players like Smart and Morris who have taken his "starring" role and relegated him to the bench. Doesn't change that Terry Rozier is going to publicly admit that he sees his own teammates as competition when he's on the court, because "they have what he wants". Meanwhile Prime Michael Jordan is going to be like, "why the hell am I only taking 18 shots per game on this team and only playing 32 minutes per game?" ... He probably would start murdering his young teammates - which subsequently would solve the problem of there being too many guys.

People really want a scapegoat and they have pointed the finger at Kyrie, but pointing the finger at the lone consistent star of this team is honestly as nutty as believing the Earth is flat. So in that sense, Kyrie kind of deserves this. But it's equally irritating.

[Ogaju]

Sorry LarBrd, I'm gonna trust Jackie on this one.  She's been in hundreds of locker rooms over the years.  I trust that she knows how to judge these things.

Her reasoning makes sense to me.  Joking and laughing after you just got shellacked?  Acting like you're not worried about the regular season when your team has never accomplished anything and you've never been the main guy on a team that's done anything?  I don't like it at all.

Agree.

[keevsnick]

Listening to it now.  Love jackie, but the premise here is a bit odd.

She's saying that because the team had positive chemistry in the lockerroom after the Chicago loss - that somehow means there's bad chemistry.  And because Kyrie was taking these losses in stride and expressing confidence in the team's ability to win come playoff time - that's evidence of him being in a major funk. 

That's weird to me. 

Also, Kyrie has a right be upset about his role.  It's completely ridiculous that by far our best player was averaging 17-18 shots per game and 32 minutes per game.  There were 16 players in the league taking more shots than him.  He was taking less shots than Golden State's 3rd option.  That's stupid considering there are guys like Harden averaging 37 minutes and 24 shots.  I expect Kyrie's minutes to be up around 37-42 in the playoffs and his shots to be around 22-27.   Considering nobody else has consistently stepped up - that needs to happen.  Good news is, we've already seen that change happening.  Kyrie's minutes and shots are way up recently... and that's a good thing.

Good to hear he's taking these losses in stride, tbh... despite the negative tarot card readings into his confounding personality.

The timeline of this Kyrie hate is bizarre.

Jan 12th, they ask him questions about what the team lacks - he gives honest and thoughtful answers about the entire team lacking experience, he needing to be a better leader, guys needing to bring it every single night, while subsequently admitting that he didnt' see anyone beating them when they play the right way. 

Gets spun into him throwing his teammates under the bus.  In-fact, the quote that Keith Smith tweeted that went viral wasn't even a real quote.  It was a paraphrasing of a 7 minute conversation. 

Word gets to Jaylen.  Jaylen snaps back.

Jan 16th - Kyrie accepts responsibility (though he did nothing wrong and everything he said was 100% true and fair), says Jaylen was right, says he needs to avoid saying anything publicly that can be perceived as him pointing fingers.  When asked about being in their shoes, he admits he was a difficult young kid and made life hard for LeBron and recently reached out to him for advice and apologized for his behavior back then.

Gets spun into him throwing his teammates under the bus - though everything he said was completely fair and it showed real growth and awareness that he was willing to even take those steps to improve as a leader and accept responsibility for something when he wasn't even wrong.

Flash forward to the Chicago loss...

Kyrie keeping his spirits up, says he's not getting frustrated anymore.  Expresses confidence in himself and his teammates.  Says he's putting the loss behind him. 

Despite being exactly what everyone wanted him to say (taking ownership of the team, expressing confidence, not saying anything negative about the team) ... it gets spun into him being in a major funk. 

When they try to bait him in reacting to Brad Stevens or Marcus Smart's comments, he gives non-answers and says it's Brad's team to coach and he respects Marcus' opinion.

Gets spun into him disagreeing with them.

Last night.  Once again says "I don’t think anybody in the Eastern Conference can compete with us when we’re playing at the high level we know we’re supposed to be playing at." - once again showing confidence in his teammates.  Despite expressing his confidence in multiple questions, some fool asks him if he's confident in the team.  He essentially tells the reporter it's a dumb question (because it was)...

Gets spun in him no longer having confidence. 

There's nothing this dude can say that will not be spun at this point.  Some fans want him to "shut up and dribble", but don't realize that accepting media interviews is part of the job and it would actually look even worse if he started ghosting them right now and refusing to be interviewed.  They'd spin it into him being a malcontent, refusing interviews, hating Boston, hating his teammates, being checked out, and on his way to New York.  He'd also be fined and probably anger his brand reps as well since being public and open is essential for a superstar's marketability.

Honestly, I think you are doing more spinning in regards to Kyries comments than the media has these last few months. I'm not saying there hasn't been some misquoting, its hard to summarize a 7 minute conversation into 140 characters or fewer. But to me the general thrust of his comments has been fairly represented. The James phone call is a perfect example. He said he called James to apologize for his past behavior now that he is in James old position and better understands what comes with that. He was attempting to frame it as a growth moment, but subtext wise the only way to interpret those comments is saying that the young guys now are in some way in the wrong with their behavior, as Kyrie says he once was. I keep going back to this , but if Kyrie can admit he was wrong than the rest of us should be willing to admit it as well. He ABSOLUTELY did do something wrong, he aired grievances with teamates in a  public forum which in no way helps the situation. What he said may or may not be true, it may or may not be fair. But even if I grant him that it was (and I do not) he should not have said any of it the way he did.

Nw does any of this mean I don't wnat Kyrie on my team? Nope. I still do. He's that good. But we need Brad to take a stronger hand with getting the egos on ths team in check, and getting the lcoker roo in order.

[GreenEnvy]

It’s pretty sad that a team with this much talent can’t get on board with trying to win a title.

Kyrie is as talented as he is frustrating. He wants to be a leader but I’m not completely sure he has the personality to actually lead.

I wish Al would be more of a presence in the locker room. He seems too nice, never hear anything from or about him. I really think he’s the guy who could get his message through being one of the most experienced players and one of the longest-tenured C’s.

I think we are going to see more effort down the stretch, and once the playoffs begin, guys will set aside their egos. Is that enough to make them cohesive and a contender? We shall see. I’ve long thought (before all the trades) Toronto was our biggest threat.

At this point, id take my chances at 4 against a Oladipo-less Indiana (they will start to fee the loss of him soon). Then take on Milwaukee and hope Philly can knock of Toronto (Philly is a better matchup for us, but I don’t think they beat Toronto).

This has been a very rough season to endure as a fan, and it doesn’t look like it’s been a walk in the park for the coaches or players either. If this turns into a lost season, I sure hope we can pair Davis and Irving along with Horford and the real Hayward next season.

[ozgod]

It’s pretty sad that a team with this much talent can’t get on board with trying to win a title.

Kyrie is as talented as he is frustrating. He wants to be a leader but I’m not completely sure he has the personality to actually lead.

I wish Al would be more of a presence in the locker room. He seems too nice, never hear anything from or about him. I really think he’s the guy who could get his message through being one of the most experienced players and one of the longest-tenured C’s.

I think we are going to see more effort down the stretch, and once the playoffs begin, guys will set aside their egos. Is that enough to make them cohesive and a contender? We shall see. I’ve long thought (before all the trades) Toronto was our biggest threat.

At this point, id take my chances at 4 against a Oladipo-less Indiana (they will start to fee the loss of him soon). Then take on Milwaukee and hope Philly can knock of Toronto (Philly is a better matchup for us, but I don’t think they beat Toronto).

This has been a very rough season to endure as a fan, and it doesn’t look like it’s been a walk in the park for the coaches or players either. If this turns into a lost season, I sure hope we can pair Davis and Irving along with Horford and the real Hayward next season.

It's important to remember that we have a limited lens with which to view this team - we see them during game day, and we get snippets of their post game interviews. We don't really see how they behave in the locker room, or in huddles, or in practice, or when they're not on court for the 2 hours. Obviously we can only know what we know, and so we speculate about what we don't.

There was an interview with Brad pre-game a few weeks ago (can't remember which team) in which he said Al is very important in terms of keeping everyone in the locker room grounded and minimizing stress about losses, standings, etc. We don't see any of that stuff, and Al is quiet on the floor, and he tries to be PC in interviews, but we don't know how he, or any of these guys, are like behind closed doors. I see him as more of a settling personality, someone that calms everyone and keeps them focused on what they need to do.

As for the Dipo-less Indiana, they kind of remind me of us last season when we lost first Gordon and then Kyrie. Everyone expected us to fold, nobody had any expectations, yet the team galvanized to come within half a game of the ECF. I don't know if Indiana will get there but there's something to be said for passion, desire and determination. These are all NBA players and this is the type of cauldron where stars can be born. They have 6 players averaging double figures since Dipo went down and Bogdanovic has gone from 17 to 23ppg and they're averaging 27 assists per game in that time period. It will be very interesting to see how far they go.

[LarBrd33]

Listening to it now.  Love jackie, but the premise here is a bit odd.

She's saying that because the team had positive chemistry in the lockerroom after the Chicago loss - that somehow means there's bad chemistry.  And because Kyrie was taking these losses in stride and expressing confidence in the team's ability to win come playoff time - that's evidence of him being in a major funk. 

That's weird to me. 

Also, Kyrie has a right be upset about his role.  It's completely ridiculous that by far our best player was averaging 17-18 shots per game and 32 minutes per game.  There were 16 players in the league taking more shots than him.  He was taking less shots than Golden State's 3rd option.  That's stupid considering there are guys like Harden averaging 37 minutes and 24 shots.  I expect Kyrie's minutes to be up around 37-42 in the playoffs and his shots to be around 22-27.   Considering nobody else has consistently stepped up - that needs to happen.  Good news is, we've already seen that change happening.  Kyrie's minutes and shots are way up recently... and that's a good thing.

Good to hear he's taking these losses in stride, tbh... despite the negative tarot card readings into his confounding personality.

The timeline of this Kyrie hate is bizarre.

Jan 12th, they ask him questions about what the team lacks - he gives honest and thoughtful answers about the entire team lacking experience, he needing to be a better leader, guys needing to bring it every single night, while subsequently admitting that he didnt' see anyone beating them when they play the right way. 

Gets spun into him throwing his teammates under the bus.  In-fact, the quote that Keith Smith tweeted that went viral wasn't even a real quote.  It was a paraphrasing of a 7 minute conversation. 

Word gets to Jaylen.  Jaylen snaps back.

Jan 16th - Kyrie accepts responsibility (though he did nothing wrong and everything he said was 100% true and fair), says Jaylen was right, says he needs to avoid saying anything publicly that can be perceived as him pointing fingers.  When asked about being in their shoes, he admits he was a difficult young kid and made life hard for LeBron and recently reached out to him for advice and apologized for his behavior back then.

Gets spun into him throwing his teammates under the bus - though everything he said was completely fair and it showed real growth and awareness that he was willing to even take those steps to improve as a leader and accept responsibility for something when he wasn't even wrong.

Flash forward to the Chicago loss...

Kyrie keeping his spirits up, says he's not getting frustrated anymore.  Expresses confidence in himself and his teammates.  Says he's putting the loss behind him. 

Despite being exactly what everyone wanted him to say (taking ownership of the team, expressing confidence, not saying anything negative about the team) ... it gets spun into him being in a major funk. 

When they try to bait him in reacting to Brad Stevens or Marcus Smart's comments, he gives non-answers and says it's Brad's team to coach and he respects Marcus' opinion.

Gets spun into him disagreeing with them.

Last night.  Once again says "I don’t think anybody in the Eastern Conference can compete with us when we’re playing at the high level we know we’re supposed to be playing at." - once again showing confidence in his teammates.  Despite expressing his confidence in multiple questions, some fool asks him if he's confident in the team.  He essentially tells the reporter it's a dumb question (because it was)...

Gets spun in him no longer having confidence. 

There's nothing this dude can say that will not be spun at this point.  Some fans want him to "shut up and dribble", but don't realize that accepting media interviews is part of the job and it would actually look even worse if he started ghosting them right now and refusing to be interviewed.  They'd spin it into him being a malcontent, refusing interviews, hating Boston, hating his teammates, being checked out, and on his way to New York.  He'd also be fined and probably anger his brand reps as well since being public and open is essential for a superstar's marketability.

 its hard to summarize a 7 minute conversation into 140 characters or fewer.

Then Keith Smith shouldn't do that and present it as a quote - since it's misleading and gives further evidence to the many people who have accused him of being a total hack.  He shoudl be careful about paraphrasing a 7 minute conversation into a fake quote about "the young guys dont' know what it takes to win a championship".  Kyrie never said that.  That's the bottom line.

But to me the general thrust of his comments has been fairly represented.

Disagree.  It was a distilled paraphrasing that pushed it in a negative way to get the writer twitter followers.  It was presented in a way that made it seem like Kyrie was throwing his teammates under the bus.  He wasn't.  Having listened to the full interview, I agreed with everything Kyrie said.   To present it falsely as Kyrie saying "the young guys don't know what it takes to win a championship" misses the nuance of what he was actually saying.   To present it in that way makes it sound like a "me vs them" direct attack and that wasn't at all the context of the conversation.  https://youtu.be/4dr44npSoKE  ... He might have said some harsh truths, but it was all framed in "we", "we", "we", "us"...  People still assume he just grabbed a mic and said "these young guys don't know how to win a championship" - which would be a pretty jerkface thing to do.

The James phone call is a perfect example. He said he called James to apologize for his past behavior now that he is in James old position and better understands what comes with that. He was attempting to frame it as a growth moment, but subtext wise the only way to interpret those comments is saying that the young guys now are in some way in the wrong with their behavior, as Kyrie says he once was.

Oh... the "subtext"... riiight.   In other words... spin.  Nonsense spin.  They flat out asked him if he could relate to being in their shoes and he answered.  But sure, the tarot cards say that he was throwing his teammates under the bus...

He ABSOLUTELY did do something wrong, he aired grievances with teamates in a  public forum

 Listen to the actual interview.  He said it came down to experience.  It does.  That's not a grievance it's a fact.  This team has been soft and are leaning on past accomplishments and gunning for individual stats instead of playing the right way every single play.  Kyrie didn't say anything that Brad, Morris and Smart haven't said nightly.  He took responsibility as well and expressed his belief in his teammates.   After Brown (who has been ripped into publicly by Morris and Smart all season for his immaturity and lack of focus) spoke up, Kyrie accepted responsibility, said Brown was right, and said that he would need to make sure there was no public fingerpointing.  Honestly he didn't even need to apologize, because admitting that the team hasn't played the right way was a fair response to a question about what had been going wrong... but kudos to him for diffusing it and taking the blame.

Since then, he's done nothing but express confidence in his teammates and avoided anything that could perceived as negative finger-pointing.  But of course, now you have media who are taking his non-answers and optimistic outlook and saying he's "in a funk" and leaving.

Much of this stuff is just little nonsense drama being hyped up by the media. 

[Who]

Btw, this team DOES have chemistry problems on the court, but that's because we're trying to incorporate too many guys. 

This team would have struggled this season no matter what star was in Kyrie's role this season, because you're asking 7 other guys to flourish in minimized roles. I don't care if it was Steph Curry in there this season... Steph (like Kyrie) would be individually spectacular, but the rest of the team would still suck, because you have Horford and Tatum out there while also Brown, Morris, Smart, Rozier and Hayward are all gunning for big offensive roles.

Disagree completely. They wouldn't have these issues with Steph Curry instead of Kyrie. Curry is a much better leader, better passer and floor general (and always has been) & overall much easier to play alongside. Curry doesn't break plays the way Kyrie does and has throughout his career. Curry doesn't over-dribble and stagnate the offense. He is easy to play with. Fun to play with.

Kyrie, while super talented, is an awkward player to play alongside. He has been his whole career. It is why he struggled for team success early in his career. It is why he struggled whenever LeBron was on the bench or injured.

Swap out Kyrie for prime Michael Jordan... doesn't change the fact that we're trying to spread out 70 shots amongst Tatum/Morris/Brown/Horford/Hayward/Rozier/Smart. Doesn't change the fact that a guy like Gordon Hayward will have some nights when he takes 3 shots off the bench. Doesn't change the fact that a guy like Morris will be gunning for his touches in a contract year. Doesn't change that a guy like Brown is going to get into multiple public scuffles with veteran role players like Smart and Morris who have taken his "starring" role and relegated him to the bench. Doesn't change that Terry Rozier is going to publicly admit that he sees his own teammates as competition when he's on the court, because "they have what he wants". Meanwhile Prime Michael Jordan is going to be like, "why the hell am I only taking 18 shots per game on this team and only playing 32 minutes per game?" ... He probably would start murdering his young teammates - which subsequently would solve the problem of there being too many guys

Michael Jordan is an interesting one. I think you are right here. I think Jordan would struggle on this team too (cause chemistry problems). He never created a team atmosphere / environment for his teammates to succeed. Scottie Pippen did that.

Now a prime Scottie Pippen, I think he would be absolutely awesome and a huge success on this Celtics team.

[GreenEnvy]

It’s pretty sad that a team with this much talent can’t get on board with trying to win a title.

Kyrie is as talented as he is frustrating. He wants to be a leader but I’m not completely sure he has the personality to actually lead.

I wish Al would be more of a presence in the locker room. He seems too nice, never hear anything from or about him. I really think he’s the guy who could get his message through being one of the most experienced players and one of the longest-tenured C’s.

I think we are going to see more effort down the stretch, and once the playoffs begin, guys will set aside their egos. Is that enough to make them cohesive and a contender? We shall see. I’ve long thought (before all the trades) Toronto was our biggest threat.

At this point, id take my chances at 4 against a Oladipo-less Indiana (they will start to fee the loss of him soon). Then take on Milwaukee and hope Philly can knock of Toronto (Philly is a better matchup for us, but I don’t think they beat Toronto).

This has been a very rough season to endure as a fan, and it doesn’t look like it’s been a walk in the park for the coaches or players either. If this turns into a lost season, I sure hope we can pair Davis and Irving along with Horford and the real Hayward next season.

It's important to remember that we have a limited lens with which to view this team - we see them during game day, and we get snippets of their post game interviews. We don't really see how they behave in the locker room, or in huddles, or in practice, or when they're not on court for the 2 hours. Obviously we can only know what we know, and so we speculate about what we don't.

There was an interview with Brad pre-game a few weeks ago (can't remember which team) in which he said Al is very important in terms of keeping everyone in the locker room grounded and minimizing stress about losses, standings, etc. We don't see any of that stuff, and Al is quiet on the floor, and he tries to be PC in interviews, but we don't know how he, or any of these guys, are like behind closed doors. I see him as more of a settling personality, someone that calms everyone and keeps them focused on what they need to do.

Of course Brad would praise minimizing losses. They clearly look frustrated on the court now, they hang their heads and take the easy way out when they face adversity. The losing needs to be challenged, not minimized.

I agree we don’t know half of what actually goes on, but we hear from seemingly everyone but him. I love his personality when things are good. He’s selfless and let’s others get the limelight. But when things are like they now are, I want to see him lead.

Since we don’t see him get all that passionate on the court, it’s hard to imagine (especially without any media suggesting) him getting fired up and challenging the team. Smart or Morris can hoot and holler all they want, are they really getting the attention of everyone? And Kyrie seems to p--- more people off than he motivates. So Horford is the guy that has to bring them together and turn this around.