Zolak & Bertrand: Joe Mazzulla explains why Jayson Tatum is underappreciated

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla joined Zolak and Bertrand after his team's Game 4 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers to take a 3-1 lead in their second round series. For the second consecutive game, Jayson Tatum poured in 33 points, after underwhelming to that point in the playoffs. Tatum's effort in the playoffs has not been lost on Mazzulla, who explained what he meant what he said when he called Tatum underappreciated after Game 3:

"I just think that's the natural thing in any area of life or sports and then when you do something really well for a long period of time, it's easy to take that for granted, especially in the world of instant gratification and so many things changing and so many new storylines and new players, youth and youth and youth and and content, content, content. It's easy to lose sight of the things that guys do really, really well over the course of a long period of time. So, yeah, it's funny, there's plenty of players in the league in the past that if there was no social media, would be treated much differently from a scrutiny standpoint because they they didn't win. And, it's just kind of the reality of the environment that we're in, an environment of instant gratification. What can you do for me right now? Which is important because, you know, that's the that's the environment, that room. At the same time, you always have to fight to keep perspective. I think that's really important, too."

LISTEN: Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla joins Zolak & Bertrand

It is officially PGA Championship week! The second major championship of the 2024 season gets underway this week in Kentucky! For the fourth time in the history of the tournament, and the first since 2014, the PGA Championship will be held at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. 

The defending champion of the tournament this year is Brooks Koepka, who won his third PGA Championship last year at Oak Hill Country Club. The man who won it last time it was at Valhalla in 2014 is Rory Mcilroy, who hasn’t won a major championship since that victory. 

Here are a few storylines to look forward to ahead of the PGA Championship this week! 

But before that, here’s some info on the PGA Championship: 

Jack Nickalus and Walter Hagen have won the most PGA Championships throughout the tournament's history. They have each won it 5 times. 

The last three winners of the tournament have all won the PGA Championship at least once before. In 2021 Phil Mickelson won his second PGA title (2005), in 2022 Justin Thomas won his second PGA title (2017), and in 2023 Brooks Koepka won his third PGA title (2018, 2019). 

Scottie Scheffler will look to become the first golfer to win consecutive majors since 2015 when fellow Texan Jordan Spieth won The Masters and the U.S. Open consecutively. 

The 2024 Tournament will be the 106th playing of the PGA Championship. It will be the fourth tournament held at Valhalla Golf Club. It was previously played at Valhalla in 1996, 2000, and 2014. 

The PGA Championship has been held in the Month of May since 2019 (with the exception of 2020, which was moved due to COVID). It was previously held in the month of August. 

Rory McIlroy’s last major championship victory was in August of 2014 and it came at Valhalla. The Northern Irishman held off Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler to win his fourth major title and second consecutive major in 2014. However, he hasn’t been able to cross the finish line in a major as a champion since. Can he finally get his fifth major title in the place that he won his last? He enters in terrific form, having just won the Wells Fargo Championship last week. 

McIlroy missed his shot at the career grand slam last month at Augusta, now Jordan Spieth is on career Grand Slam watch. The three time major champion is on his 7th attempt to win a Wanamaker Trophy. However, he has been dealing with a wrist injury recently and hasn’t been in contention at all recently. Can Spieth battle through the injury and claim the career slam? I can’t see it happening. But the storyline is certainly something to watch for.

What can we expect out of Scottie Scheffler this week? The new dad will be making his first start since the RBC Heritage in April and hasn’t finished lower than T2 since February. Could the pressure of winning back to back majors be too much? Could the pressure of winning his fifth tournament in six starts be too much? Who knows. But it will be interesting to see how Scheffler performs this week with such a big spotlight on him. 

The kid from Kentucky will look to win his third Wanamaker this week at Valhalla. After a very down year in 2023, Thomas has been on an up and down ride in 2024. However, what should be most concerning with JT is his play in the recent majors. Since winning the PGA Championship in 2022, Thomas has played in seven majors and missed the cut in four of them. His best finish in the ones that he’s made the weekend is a T37. Can a return to his home state help him regain some major form and get him his 3rd PGA Championship victory? 

It’s the PGA Championship, so you have to keep an eye on Brooks Koepka. The reigning champ, and three time winner of the tournament, is coming off a win at his last LIV event in Singapore. Can he be the first guy to repeat as PGA Champion since, well, himself? He successfully defended his 2018 title in 2019, so he knows what it takes to repeat at this tournament.

Sticking with LIV golfers, Talor Gooch is a man to keep an eye on. He has been very vocal against the PGA Tour and the majors since he joined the LIV Tour. Gooch, along with a few other LIV golfers, was granted a special exemption into this week's tournament. Can he prove the PGA right that they gave him an exemption and improve on his career best T14 at a major?