Heat vs. Celtics Preview (Hour 4)

Alrighty, I'm number four of already a program. That's right. It is the Zach Gelb show coast-to-coast on CBS Sports Radio. Let's update you on some of the biggest stories of the world of sports with some audio. Let's get to the news brief. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports, and reconnaissance from the day in sports. Alright, let's start things off with the Boston Celtics staying alive last night, finally getting on the board in this series. They're now down three games to one as they go back to Boston for game five tomorrow evening.

Gary Washburn from the Boston Globe is going to stop by 20 minutes from now on the Zach Gelb show to talk all things C's. But we start things off with Jason Tatum who is proud of how his team rebounded after a tough start to this series. We just had to regroup and that's what we did. I mean it could have went either way.

We could have separated. It brought us together and we settled in and we just started making plays. Obviously shots were falling and things like that. But I think we were just playing the right way. It was getting stopped so we was moving the ball. We played well. You know what it was, Hickey? They made the threes last night.

That's what happened. They made their threes and Jason Tatum, he took over the game. He did what a star is supposed to do. I don't know what the heck he was doing the first three games of this series and he didn't even play in the fourth quarter of game three. And he didn't even make a single field goal the first two games in the fourth quarter of this series. But you look at it, Tatum carried that team last night and they made the three point shots. This team is so one dimensional in the terms of they are unstoppable and they hit the three and can't win a game when they can't. Forty percent exactly from three yesterday. Now thirty-seven and two on the year when they shoot forty percent or better from three as a team.

It's unreal. Let's go to Jalen Brown. He credits Joe Mazzullo for settling the team down in the second half. It just got us composed. It looked like, you know, potentially like we was in a bad spot and he called a timeout. I thought that was a good decision.

That doesn't really sound so genuine to be hickey. At least he's calling timeouts now. Being criticized for not calling him.

He's learning. I don't want to say that this locker room hates him because that's a strong word and I don't think it's fair. But it does feel as if what Woge was saying could be true. Where they really had that special bond with Ime Udonka and they never really got the reason.

Or they just didn't think it was, whatever was told to them was satisfactory enough for him losing his job. And now already it pops back up because Udonka has resurfaced as the next head coach of the Houston Rockets. And I don't fault the Celtics from moving on from Ime Udonka, which is some of the things that you hear about that situation.

They felt like they had to do so. But in the players' minds, with how much of a question mark it is and how much it's been hanging over their heads the entire season. Part of me wants to say get over it, show up, be stars, you still have a great team and you should be able to rally around that. But it seems as if that's really divided the locker room.

Where a guy like Jalen Brown who maybe has one foot in, one foot out, this is what starts to push him out the door of being a Boston Celtics. I mean it's not a great sign as a team overall when after game 3 you have rumors and reports coming out then between game 3 and 4 of is the team divided, do they miss their old coach. There's a lot of reports that came out in those 48 hours between games, that's not a team that's very close knit and at least believe in each other.

And also I heard Cedric Maxwell say, I think this was on 98.5 the sports hub where he calls the game so it makes sense, I think he was doing a radio interview. That like Wick Rosebeck, the owner of the team at one point like came down or where his seats were, were right behind Missoula and he was like it's time to take the guys out of the game when you go back to game 3. So it's like how much he's actually allowing this guy to be the coach as well. He's in over his head, he shouldn't be the coach of this team and I'll go back to just saying this. I go back to the Brad Stevens situation, there's a reason why Brad changed jobs.

He felt like it was necessary and I think the team no matter how they dressed it up also wanted that change as well. They still want him in the organization, they just thought it was time to move on from having Brad as the head coach. But when you have such a crazy and peculiar circumstance, where right before the season starts you basically know you're getting rid of your coach at Imeodoka. You're really going to put a championship potential team in the hands of a guy that is so inexperienced when it comes to coaching in Joe Missoula. Not that I thought it would be great if Stevens came back, but Stevens, even though it was time to move on, there at one point was a good bond with those guys and Brad Stevens. I feel like having a year away from each other and just having a familiar voice in that locker room that has been the head coach before, it would have smoothed a lot of things over. And that to me is something I wonder, and maybe I'll ask Gary about this coming up in 15 minutes from now, why they didn't elect to put Brad as the interim coach this year at the end of the year, did a full time search where he stays as the president of basketball operations and they bring in a new coach.

I wonder if Imea's immediate success kind of lulled them into a false sense of security where they thought, okay, you know what, we could change coaches, there's not a big drop off, like right, almost kind of like with Kyle Shanahan and quarterbacks, plug and play. Jimmy Butler says the team isn't nervous after losing Game 4. Do the same thing that I do that we do after every game.

We're going to listen to some music, you know, we're going to drink some beers back there, we're going to go have some wine. I don't think that you could just focus on basketball all the time. You have to be able to, you know, get away from the game a little bit.

Think about it. But at the end of the day, you fall back on, you know, your habits, how consistent you're going to be. And myself and my teammates are going to do the same thing. We're going to smile. We're going to be in this thing together like we always are.

We're going to go get one on the road. I would love to be a player in the Miami Heat, Hickey. You're going to sit around after a game, you listen to some music and you get to drink a bunch of beers and drink a bunch of wine. I'm all in. I'll be you Donnis Haslam kind of role. Not play and just be able to be along for the ride and be considered a locker room leader. That'd be awesome.

That is the dream. Donnis doesn't have to worry about practice the next day or showing up hungover. He can have as many beers as he wants last night. Well, do you know what music Jimmy Butler makes his teammates listen to? I've said this before.

I think I said it on Maggie and Pearl off this week when I was filling in on Monday. I don't know if I said this to you, but what type of music do you think Jimmy Butler listens to country music? Yep. Big country guy. When he was in Philly, he said he listens to country music and he drives a minivan.

How about that? He is a different cat to say the least. He is one of one.

There is no doubt about it. And he's he's found a way to really like that country music. And I don't think he loved it from the start. But now he listens to country music all the time. And it's just funny to me because you wouldn't think Jimmy Butler would be listening to country music and be driving a minivan as well.

That doesn't sound like an NBA star. The country music, how it started. Wasn't he trolling his teammates at first and then really liked it? He started liking it, started growing on him. That's kind of how the hickey hex started.

No, come on. It did kind of start that way where we were just poking fun at a few of your predictions and then it caught fire and people started to realize how much of a mush you were. And now it's become a staple of the show and really a staple to our listening audience where they love seeing you wrong.

So what Jimmy Butler is to country music is kind of like what I am to the hickey hex. You're welcome. No, 100 percent caught fire is a little dramatic. No, it's not. You even said to me a little brush fire right now that's just pour a glass of water and it goes out.

That's this extinguished. No, I'm sorry. That's really disrespectful. That's just because you don't like when people point out that you're wrong and it gets under your skin and you're very sensitive about that. I'm sorry. How many people start tweeting you and how many DMS that I get when you say things wrong? I find the comical heck there's callers when I was one of Maggie and Pearl on Monday, a caller brought you up for being wrong.

We had a caller the week the weekend showed a chef going off for three, four minutes about how many predictions you've gotten wrong. It's just time you embrace it. Suck it up.

Let's go. Kyrie Irving pleads with fans to keep his name out their mouth. Who is he? Will Smith.

Kyrie Irving Instagram. Stop mentioning me on Twitter's all your fan bases. Stop mentioning me right now, please. It is still the Western Conference and Eastern Conference finals. Like or excuse me, Denver's going to the finals.

We're still waiting for Boston and Miami. Can y'all please leave me the fuck out of this, please? Can I just be with my family in peace? I got people at my dinner table discussing what my free agency plans are. Stop that. Y'all think it's funny, but please stop that.

Like I actually like having peace of mind when I'm at the crib. I like I see all your ads. I see all your mentions. OK, I said it. I see all your stuff.

Y'all be saying I see all your families. I get it. I get it. I'm just as excited as y'all are. But you got to chill.

You got to chill. Come on. Like we can have some fun with it. But like the love is is already there.

Right. The message is spread. I appreciate your ancestral room. Thank you for being tapped in.

And I appreciate all your opportunity. But please, all your fan bases like stop mentioning me just for like the next month or two or three. Whenever I make my decisions, please stop mentioning me. I'm sorry. Kyrie Irving is a gigantic pain in the ass.

And this dude just plays the victim card. You literally showed up to Game four of the Western Conference finals and sat courtside. If you didn't want people talking about your future, where a team that you're always linked to is wherever LeBron's playing. And one of those teams is playing in the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals at the time.

I don't know. Maybe you shouldn't show courtside to watch the damn game. Oh, my goodness gracious. And then people at his dinner table talking about it. So if you don't want the conversation to happen, guys sitting at my dinner table, we're not talking about this. This dude loves to be a star, but he doesn't like what comes with being a star. Oh, let me play my small violin when you make all this money. And people are just wondering where you're going to play. And you're lucky people even talking about you, how much your no show, which each and every team you're on and how you quit on basically every team that you join.

And you burn the house down with them when you're on your way out of leaving that team. And he is just so insufferable, like enough with Kyrie Irving. If you want to get paid that money, if you want to be an NBA star, oh, let me just cry for you because you have people speculating on your future. And you want all of us to shut up for a month, two months, three months and wait for the great Kyrie Irving to make his decision. He is insufferable. He's a pain in the ass. And I'm so sick and tired of Kyrie Irving playing the victim card.

Oh, goodness gracious. God forbid people talk about you because you were like an attention whore seeking attention at the game sitting court side. I'm so done with Kyrie Irving.

You know what? We won't talk about you anymore. I'm really sick and tired of talking about this guy. And it's not like people are obsessing over where's Kyrie Irving going to play next year?

Give us a call at 855-212-4CBS. What a drama queen Kyrie Irving is. Kyle Shannon says Trey Lance has the right mindset. I think Trey has been the same guy this offseason as he was last offseason.

Trey is a very special person that I don't think has to try to act anyway. I think guys have the respect of Trey whether he played any other position, whether he was the one, two or the three. Obviously when you're the number one quarterback and you've done that and had experience, that carries more weight. But also when you're number one quarterback and you haven't played, that stuff still isn't real until you go out there and do it.

That's all just outside perception. So Trey has been the same since he's been here. The guys respect the hell out of him.

And they'll continue to do that. You know what my follow up to that answer would be, Hickey? And this would become a contentious conversation because Kyle Shanahan would deny it, I would say. Then why does it appear that if he's done everything that you guys have asked of him and he's had the same mindset, blah, blah, blah, that you guys have lost all confidence in Trey Lance? That would be my question. I would just love to hear what Kyle Shanahan would ask. Answer it.

Probably the same way that he's shot down all the Mac Jones speculation of, oh, you know, hearsay, this, that stuff, you know, that's not what we say in the building. Classic coach speak. Brock Purdy on how his rehab is progressing. I just try to focus on where I'm at right now. And for me, it's get my arm healthy, you know, to say all these things and say you want to be this kind of guy or that kind of guy of the team.

I think that's just in a sense foolish just for myself to think like that. Like for me, I come into work every day trying to get my arm right. Try to be around the guys and do what it takes to win. And he's expected to start throwing next week on June 2nd. So ahead of the rehab process. Let's go to Lamar Jackson, what he likes most about his new offense with Coach Monken. I mean, just being able to throw the ball down the field.

You know, we sometimes, sometimes, you know, we can't run it, not going to run. It can only take you so far, you know, and I feel like with this new era of teams and offenses in the league, I feel like we need that. And Coach Tom Monken, what I'm saying is often so far as looking tremendous.

You look at that audio and like some of it is player speak Hickey. But then a lot of it, not that long ago, he said he wants to pass for 6000 yards with these weapons. You know that Lamar Jackson, who I have a lot of respect for and I like a lot of it as a football player. He kind of does things his way and that's what stars do.

And it kind of seems as if he doesn't want to keep it simple. And I do believe a lot of the conversation about Lamar, he takes personally. And we know he could throw the football. But I think with how people idiotically were like, oh, he needs to be a running back. Oh, he needs to be a wide receiver. He not only wants to win, but I think he wants to win with proving everybody wrong.

And they just paid him a lot of money. And what makes him so great is you don't know if he's going to run or pass. But it seems like he wants to move away from running as much as he does.

And maybe from a business standpoint, that is a smart kind of thing. But really, we've talked about this before. It's not like Lamar takes a lot of hits for a guy that that does run as much as he does. And it's also not like Lamar's had a lot of success throwing the football either in terms of his career.

So now if you're the Ravens, you paid him all the money. And now you're going to ask him to run an offense that he's never really run before. And run a style that, again, he hasn't been asked to throw a lot. But he's also not a guy who has thrown a lot. But he's thrown the ball well with the times they ask him. This idea that people think Lamar Jacks is a terrible thrower of the football, I just don't understand it. With the throws they ask him to make, he does usually do a good job, in my opinion. His career high is 3,100 passing yards in his career.

But that's by design. So I'm just saying, but you're asking him this year if this is truly how it's going to be, where he says running can only take you so far and has to give you a more pass-oriented offense. You're asking Lamar to do something in his career so far that he's not been asked to do. And you're doing so with his price tag through the roof. It's an interesting strategy to change an offense, to change Lamar's playing style after you pay him, without really knowing for sure if he can run what you're looking for him to run.

You know what it reminds me a lot like? Deebo. When Deebo got paid with the incentives and all of the clauses and everything, where he wanted to be more of a traditional wide receiver, and what made Deebo so great was the way that he ran the football, and also was utilized as a wide receiver as well. I wonder how much of this is just talked down when push comes to shove, when they need to go win a game, they're going to play Lamar the way that we've seen him play the last few years.

You may be right, maybe Deebo, because they kind of went back to the same old, same old afterwards, but we'll have to wait and see until November, December. Yeah, that was a lot of hot air last year with Deebo when we look back on it. And finally, Robert Salas says the Jets are a Super Bowl caliber team. I acknowledge the noise, acknowledge the positivity, be excited about it, because, you know, there's, again, in my opinion, I think 32 teams stand in front of their teams, 32 coaches stand in front of their teams every year to talk about winning a championship, and then realistically there's maybe six or eight teams that have an actual chance to do it. And I do think we are one of those teams.

But none of it matters unless we do it, we take care of it today. Yeah, you should say that. It's okay for you to think it. I don't think you are a Super Bowl team. If I had to pick three Super Bowl teams right now in the AFC, you would not be one of those three. You're in the top five. But for me, I think there's a difference when you look at Kansas City, Cincinnati, and Buffalo right now.

And also, Rodgers has come up short a bunch as of late in the postseason. Alrighty, we'll take a time out on the Zach Gelb show. We come on back, we connect with Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, who covers the Celtics. Is there a chance Boston is going to come on back in this series? Are they going to win Game 5 and force a Game 6?

We'll find out next. Now back to the Zach Gelb show. Boston Celtics stay alive for now.

They force a Game 5, which will be tomorrow evening at TD Garden as this series is Miami Heat 3 and the Boston Celtics 1. Let's go out to the guest line right now. I'm welcoming a man that covers the Boston Celtics for the Boston Globe and covers all things NBA for the Boston Globe as well.

And that, of course, is Gary Washburn. Gary, appreciate the time. How are you? Hey, how's it going? Well, doing great.

Appreciate you coming on. So, in Game 3, it was a horrible effort by the Boston Celtics. I thought they were going to pack it up and basically go home and they were going to lose last night. They had a big third quarter. Were you surprised by that effort that the Celtics showed in the third quarter last night?

Absolutely nothing with this team surprises me anymore. So, I mean, they could have gotten blown out last night. They could have lost a really close game with a lack of fourth quarter execution. Or they could have did what they actually did, win by 17 and look like the team that everybody expected them to look like in this series in the second half. So, you know, this team is so unpredictable at this point. And that's one of the reasons why they're in the position they're in down, down 3-1.

So I didn't know what to expect from last night. Why hasn't it just clicked for this team this year? I know everyone points to Joe Mazzulla and the Emei Yudoka situation. But it just seems like that killer instinct isn't there and something's off with the Celtics this year. Well, I think last year, under Yudoka, their main, you know, calling card was defense. And they wanted to be a good defensive team, a great defensive team, and then be able to score. Well, that got them to the finals. They didn't score enough in the finals to win the finals. They were a couple of shooters short. They just, you know, they didn't know how to close out games. Offense was an issue. So, you know, fast forward to this year and they put a lot of emphasis on offense. They brought in Malcolm Brogdon. And they signed Danilo Gallinari, who obviously hasn't played this year because he tore his ACL playing for Team Italy in the World Championships, the EuroBasket.

And he's been out all year. But they got two guys who could score. And they felt like, our defense is good enough.

We need to score the ball more. But what happened was the lack of emphasis on defense ended up hurting them. And the defense regressed while the offense was actually pretty good throughout the year.

So they would win a lot of games by outscoring teams. They would win, you know, they led the league in point differential. And they were great when they were scoring and the threes were going down. But winning these tough, rugged defensive games, that became their problem. And that's just carried into the playoffs where, you know, when those shots are going down, they're the best team in the NBA. But when they got to win a game 98-92 and they got to execute, you got to get, you know, scratch out a tough win.

That becomes a problem. Gary Washburn here with us. We know how young this team is with their two stars in Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum and how many big games they've already played in. You look at Tatum, I know in Game 7 against the Sixers, he puts on one of the great performances, most points ever to Game 7 with 51. Up until last night, didn't have a made field goal in the fourth quarter in this series.

Some of those bad fourth quarters were documented in the NBA Finals last year up against Golden State. What do you think needs to change with Tatum in the fourth quarter? Because when he's on, he's incredible.

But then when he's off, it's like, wow, how the heck is this happening? Well, it's sort of a Tatum thing and a team thing. They need to put him in better positions to score in the fourth quarter because Miami, as a lot of teams, have said, you know what? We're not letting him beat us. We're not letting him go for 51.

We're going to make anybody else take care of that. We're going to make someone else score in the fourth quarter. So they're blitzing Tatum and Tatum sometimes forces the issue and makes mistakes. Sometimes his shot is not on. Sometimes he tries to make the right play and his teammate's not hitting the shot.

So I don't think it's all Tatum. I do think that there are times where his three-point shot is off. He's not the three-point shooter that he was in previous years. And as you see in game four, his three-point shot was going down.

When it's going down, it looks great. He looks like a top ten three-point shooter in the league. But when it's not, that affects the rest of his game. So he's got to learn, one, how to be a more of a playmaker, which he's learning to do.

He's really improved in that category. And two, his teammates have to hit shots and also get him the ball in places where he can score. He can't just take on, you know, the mistake he was making earlier in the Miami series was trying to take on two and three defenders and dribble into the teeth of the defense and either try to make a pass or, you know, a little floater or get to the rim. And either, you know, he missed the layup, he wasn't getting the call, or he wasn't, you know, finding his teammates. So it just meant, you know, kind of, you know, chaos for the Celtics offense. So I don't want to put it all on Tatum, but he needs to be better as a playmaker.

And the game will open up for him once he finds his teammates. You've covered this team for years. How do you describe the relationship between Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown? They're close. They're good. I think that we tend to stereotype, what are they, generations of years?

I don't know what they are. The kids born in the 90s and now some of these guys in the league are born in the 2000s. We kind of put them all in one category. We say they're all the same guy. They all love Instagram. They all like to wear different sneakers and all that.

That's not the case. Jason and Jalen are different people. Jason's a father.

Jalen's a social activist. They have different interests off the floor. But on the floor they have a very healthy respect for each other. They do not dislike each other.

They're not pitted against each other. They're a one-two punch that could make it and be very, very successful. And they have in the NBA. You know, now do their games kind of repeat at times? Do they have kind of the same skill sets?

You could say that. And that might be the only thing that makes it to where they can't be that dynamic duo that wins multiple championships. But off the floor their relationship is strong. They are not, you know, jealous. There's no jealousy.

There's nothing about either of them. They know how important it is for each other to flourish for them to win a championship potentially. There's so much smoke in the conversation of Jalen Brown and does he want to stay in Boston? He has one year left on that deal. Do you think he wants to be a Boston Celtic for that next contract? I think he wants to go wherever he feels like he's treated properly.

And I think Boston, obviously, he likes playing in Boston. I think that does he have problems with some of the, you know, social elements of the city? Does he have a problem with being in trade rumors and being the guy that people say, well, they can't trade Tatum, but they can trade Brown? And I think a lot of that smoke is kind of generated outside the organization. Now, of course, like when Kevin Durant was available, did the Celtics talk to the Nets and was his name thrown in there?

Of course it was. It's Kevin Durant, you know. But we're not talking about you're talking about a trade for a generational talent. You're not talking about a trade for a guy you feel like you're better than. So I think Jalen sometimes needs to get over his feelings in that sense, but I do think he felt a little bit disrespected that he was being thrown into these rumors. So I think he likes Boston. I don't think it's a matter of like he does. He's ready to get out and get me out of here. I think he wants to go where he's treated and he can be happy.

His family is up here. So it's not like, you know, he's not trying to put his roots in this community. Has Boston done anything wrong?

In your opinion, I'm talking about the organization where he would feel that they're not treated in the right way? Outside of the rant thing? I just hear the trade rumors and I think that's probably just pretty much it. I think he wants to feel like he's a cornerstone and he feels like he's an improving player, you know. And so I don't think it's like a situation where the, you know, he's been in, you know, it's not a situation like John College of Atlanta or Miles Turner in Indiana, where those guys have been in trade rumors for two to three years. I don't think it's that strong, but I just think he wants to feel comfortable and maybe the trade rumors and well, they can, you know, it's a time to break up the J's and all that. I think that's bothered him some.

Gary Washburn, a lot's been said about Joe Mazzulla. Just what's your evaluation of him so far as a coach? I know it's a tough situation and maybe he wasn't ready for it, but when you get that opportunity, you get evaluated.

I think he's done a very good job in many cases. I think there's certain things he's been stubborn about. I think the timeout situation, some of the lineups have been curious, some playing guys in certain situations, not playing guys in others, not kind of sticking to your convictions in a situation such as like this series, where Eric Spolstra has thrown so many defenses and wrinkles at him and he seemed unprepared for that. And we all understand you're coaching against a guy who's a basketball mastermind headed for the Hall of Fame, one of the great coaches in the game, and you're going to lose that match, but you've got to make it a little bit closer. So I think he's still a young, learning, inexperienced coach who has a lot of room to grow, but I also think he's done a good job in keeping the ship afloat and taking them this far. So the Celtics are going to have to decide if they lose this series, if they're knocked out, what needs to change between this year and next year, because their championship window is now, and they have to determine whether Rizula is the right coach to lead them to a championship. You know, there's plenty of coaches, we've just seen two or three, Gutenholzer, Williams, and Doc Rivers, who have gotten fired because they were good coaches and their teams were very good, but they wanted their teams to be great.

And that, I'm not saying it's going to be a situation here, but that's something the Celtics have to contemplate. With how crazy of a situation that was and how unique it was, I know Brad already went upstairs to take on the front office role. Should he have gone down and coached this team when they realized that Udoka was not going to be the coach of the squad this year?

I don't think you want someone who doesn't want to be there, right? I don't, I mean, the reason Brad resigned and became president was because he was losing the team. That 2021 year when they lost to Brooklyn in five games, and they were 36 and 36 coming off the bubble year where they made the Easter Conference Finals, and they were close to a final, two wins from an NBA Finals appearance, he knew, like, I'm not getting through to these guys like I should.

They were a 500 team, they were just, you know, they dealt with injuries, and, you know, the Kimball Walker wasn't what he once was and all that, but it was obvious Brad was losing the locker room. And I'm not talking about, you know, they didn't like him, but just the message, eight, nine years, and it was time to move forward. So I don't think Brad thought, oh, okay, after a year I'm refreshed and suddenly my message is going to be new and fresh and clear. I think he felt like, why put him there if he doesn't want to be there? He wants someone eager. I think Brad likes being a general manager.

You know, he has two children who are in high school. He can be in Boston. You know, he can kind of be behind the scenes. He's been a very behind the scenes general manager. You know, you see him, now you see him, now you don't. He doesn't talk to the media much. He kind of keeps a very low profile.

I think that's the way he wanted it. Gary Washburn, you hear so much about this team not being able to move on, not having Imea Doka as their head coach, not talking about on the court, just like in the locker room. Are they past that or is that still something that this group inside the locker room is not over? I don't think, I mean, I think they've moved on because they've had to because life never stops and, you know, you can't keep thinking of Imea, your coach, oh, I wish he was here, he ain't coming back. But I don't think they were comfortable with the circumstances of like why he was suspended. They, you know, I think a lot of people thought there would be a lot more of the story that would come out and the Celtics really haven't relayed those details to the players.

They feel like they're one of the regular people that, like everybody else, they just know it wasn't, you know, inappropriate actions and a consensual relationship with the team employee. And then the fact that he's jumped right back into the coaching fray and that there hasn't been a lot of backlash. I don't know what's going on in Houston, but I haven't heard a lot of backlash about his hiring in Houston.

You know, he faced the music at his press conference. He's, you know, compiling a staff. You know, it's kind of gotten back to basketball. So I think some of the players might question, well, why did we do this drastic move of suspending him for the year when, you know, we could have maybe suspended him for a month?

And so I think those questions, but I don't think those questions are just like constantly in the locker room seven, eight months later. Gary Washburn, before we let you run, it's probably the toughest question I'm going to ask you because like you said at the start, nothing surprises you with this team and this team has been so unpredictable. Do you think they win game five tomorrow night? I think they do because they have some momentum. You know, I think they might have figured out a few things with Miami, but it's going to be a very tough game, you know, and you know what? If Miami wins three times at the Garden of the Series, they deserve to win the series with a better team. So the Celtics have to defend home court. They haven't been good at home for the last two postseasons.

So I think they'll win the game because I think they've tactically found some things out that they can do against the Heat, but it will be a rugged and tough game. Gary Washburn does a great job covering the Celtics and the Boston Globe. Always great to catch up with you, Gary. Thank you. Thank you.

There you go. Gary Washburn joining us. We will come on back. We will ring the closing bell. We'll tell you whose stock is booming, whose stock is dooming. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Alrighty, wrap it up shop on a Wednesday.

I'm in Colorado. I'll be here again tomorrow and then back in our New York City studios on Friday for a final show of the week before we enjoy Memorial Day weekend and make sure you remember why there is Memorial Day weekend and you have to remember and obviously thank the people that did pay the ultimate sacrifice and thank their families and remember their great legacies, the real heroes in our world. Let me get the poll question, final results. How does Heat Celtics, that series, end?

Heat in 5, Heat in 6, Heat in 7, Celtics in 7, Heat in 7, 1.9%, Celtics in 7, 19.7%, Heat in 6, 34.4%, and the Heat in 5, 43.9%. Let's figure out whose stock is booming, whose stock is dooming with the closing bell. Another day is in the books and we're taking stock of the sports world. It's time to find out who's up and who's down.

Let's end the day right and hit the closing bell. Only on the Zach Gelb Show. This is some pro football talk. Mike Florio and Howie Roseman, it's a little long but it's very entertaining going at it over the Jonathan Ganning tampering charges that eventually resulted Eagles getting some draft picks back. Let's listen up. What can you tell me about how the Jonathan Ganning tampering situation came to be?

How did you find out about it? Yeah, I think for me personally, obviously, extremely appreciative of J.G. and his contributions to our football team. You know, helped us win the NFC. You know, that was handled as we discussed before at the ownership level.

And I think the more we look in the past, the less focused we are on the future. And so for me, that's over with. You know, wish him well in Arizona and we're moving on. Did you guys actually make a complaint or was this the Cardinals raising their hands saying we realize we screwed up? I'm really appreciative of J.G. 's contributions, helping us win the NFC.

And that was handled at the ownership level. And I think we need to move on. And, you know, the less we focus on the past, the better we'll be in the future. You're doing a good job, Rudy. Did I say that line the same time twice?

Because I don't think I did. I know. No, you got it. You got it right. Your talking points are on point.

Thank you. Do you not realize that answers like that make people like me think there's a hell of a lot more to this than anyone is ever going to tell us? And it was a much bigger deal than anyone ever let it on to be? Don't you see that as a reasonable conclusion? Well, if I was making a list of top five conspiracy theorists around the National Football League, you would be on — I don't know that you'd be one. I don't want to point you as one.

But you would definitely be top five. You're deflecting. You're deflecting.

You're deflecting. Should it not be taken as a surprise that the announcement was made minutes before round one began? Didn't you even chuckle at that?

Good lord, they're announcing this to the world literally minutes before the draft starts. It is possible that's when resolution came, right? Well, I guess that's possible. Is that when?

Is that when it came? Again, I don't want to get into any details, but I'm saying there are answers for some of your conspiratorial — is that the word? — conspiratorial theories. Well, that's good. It's good that I got something out of you. I thought you were just going to read the talking points again. We have about 30 seconds. Do you want to read the talking points one more time?

I feel like there's sarcasm involved in that answer. That was great. And you know what I respect about it? You knew after the first question and answer that Roseman was going to give him nothing about it.

And sometimes talk show hosts — and you've got to be respectful — but sometimes talk show hosts then kind of scurry away and quickly move on. I love how Florio just kept on going and going and going, and it made it a very fun listen. So give a stock up to Mike Florio. Last night, the Golden Knights take a commanding 3-0 series lead. Let's listen to William Carrier's score to make it 3-0 in the first period, a three-goal first period for the Golden Knights. They take a 3-0 series lead as they slay the Stars. Here's the Golden Knights radio network.

Give a stock up to William Carrier. By the way, Hickey, I know you're up 3-0, but hockey could change so quickly. You got three goals in the first period. You would think you got a little bit more energy from the play-by-play guy of the team with the Golden Knights. I was surprised about that. Low energy there. We played, obviously, a lot of his calls throughout the postseason run.

I feel like it's on par — Is that on brand? That's where he doesn't get too high. I guess there's no way to get too low when we're playing all good goals, obviously. But he doesn't seem like a screamer or someone who's going to take the roof off the building like a McGehee or a Michigan.

I'm sorry. For a hockey announcer in the playoffs, I need you screaming and going nuts. I got to give a stock down, by the way, to Stars fans. Throwing trash and concessions on the ice last night was absolutely embarrassing. A lot of those Dallas Stars fans are bandwagon fans, but that's just an absolute joke.

Give a stock down to Dallas Stars fans. Did you see the latest segment on Twitter, by the way? No. What's that?

The Shower No Cap by you, Hot Take Keke. Oh, the one sweeping the nation. I have seen that.

I didn't love it, if I'm being honest with you. Well, get ready. It's coming daily. You're doing that every day? You're going to take videos of yourself shirtless in the shower? Who doesn't wear a shirt in the shower? Just giving takes?

Who does? Yeah. You got to entertain a little bit more. You got to freak out. You got to go nuts.

Just to give a generic take about this series, I need a little bit more entertainment value in those videos. Day one wasn't that great. I want to see what you can do day number two if you're going to keep on doing this. Alrighty. Alrighty. I'm giving you a stock down.

Creative name, but I got to see more. The A's last night match the 1932 Boston Red Sox and the 1897 St. Louis Browns for the 4th worst 50 game start in big league history at 10 and 40. The A's are just an absolute disaster. And that's because ownership doesn't care and they're getting ready to go to Vegas. So give the A's a stock down. And that's that Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio.

No cap. Good job by Hot Take Kiki today as the kids would say. Big thanks to Gary Washburn.

Also big thanks to Brian McFadden and Alex Solana. We will talk to you tomorrow live from Colorado. We out. Bye bye. Peace.