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What is krak alacin fellow Thermonuclear A
efforts. I am Dana Valley coming at

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you with my certified fantabularist, certified
fantabulus nis if we want to throw a

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this on top of that, he's
got certified fantabulousness in him in his DNA,

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the Thermonuclear AF himself. Co host
mister Grant Hughes. It is NBA

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playoff time. As we are recording
this. We have six of the eight

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first round series set. We are
going to preview off of our predictions on

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all of them. We will have
the final two out once they are settled.

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The way we do this as we've
done the past couple of years,

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because that seems to be the most
digestible and that's performed the best. We're

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just gonna go back and forth about
our biggest thoughts or two on these series

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and we'll just go from there see
where the conversation takes us. First and

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foremost, though, mister Hughes,
how the heck are you? I'm doing

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very well. You're you're rare.
Probably hasn't happened before. Bumble of certified

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fantabulous reminded me that. So my
daughter is playing flag football. There's girls

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flag football now and she's in the
league and she's the Huskies. Her team

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is the Huskies, which are purple, and her uniform hadn't come yet,

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and so what she does have that
is very bright and eye catching the purple

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is a shirt that says certified Fantabulous
on it with the Hardwood Knocks drippy smiley

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face that she has worn in front
of I got to estimate hundreds of people

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all so I just you know,
nobody's asked what that is yet because it's

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just a good looking shirt, and
so nobody's like, I'd like to know

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about that podcast because it doesn't say
it's a podcast, but we are advertising

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advertising hard elementary school like football.
I still wear our sweatshirts and shirts all

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the time at the gym, and
I think I've only been asked. I

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actually don't think i've been asked at
all. I've told you I've been recognized

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from like the YouTube, which is
just funny, because like that's just nothing

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amazing. How does that make you
feel? Does it make you uncomfortable?

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Yeah, I'm definitely awkward about it. I've only ever been recognized in person

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for what I do like, it's
fewer than five times. I think this

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happened twice with YouTube. There was
one time where I thought I was really

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cool when we probably first started out, and I was at a family function

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of my then girlfriend now my wife's
family, and one of like her like

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uncle's daughters sons knew who I was
and like read my stuff on Bleacher Report

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all the time, and so I'm
in, like, I'm like twenty three

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or twenty four, and I thought
I was so cool. Oh yeah,

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just if someone in the real world
knows you felt like real high. Now

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I'm like, please, don't anyone
ever recognize me? And usually I assume

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they're annoyed or disagreed or like just
all the defense mechanisms go up immediately.

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No one has ever caught well I
guess he did, but no one's ever

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com like the people. The two
people that have recognized me at the gym,

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they didn't compliment what we had to
say. There's a kay saw you

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on YouTube. You have a podcast. I saw you talking about. One

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of them was the Knicks, And
I was like, oh, they definitely

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didn't like what I say. Yeah
right, no, Well, hey,

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that's good. It's good to be
recognized. We're going to recognize some playoff

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series today, and we're also going
to recognize some favorites. Okay, some

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favorites that are surprising favorites just in
general. I know this is like a

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broad topic, but did you have
you seen, like which teams are actually

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favored in some of these? So
part of my process here is I don't

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look at the betting odds for the
playoff series because I don't want to be

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impact by what those say. So
I am not I still have not looked

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at them. I had to file
something about underdogs that like could make playoff

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noise basically, and uh, let's
just say I was surprised that who was

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technically in terms of the betting markets
considered an underdog in some of these and

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who was not good? So you
can clue as in as we go through

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each series. Yeah, I'm gonna
pull it up now, just on FANDUL,

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just so I get them all squared
away. But yeah, there at

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least there's a couple that are like, oh, that's interesting. Well,

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we did have something. I guess
we can get to the we'll do news.

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We want to do news at the
end of this podcast. We want

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to hit some news items. Now, what do we want to do.

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Let's plan this live. Hmmm,
I don't know. Let's do some news

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and then we can get to the
playoffs. That's what people are here for,

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So we'll keep them on the hook
for longer for the playoff content that

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or they've already they've already tuned out. Yeah, So I think the first

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biggest news item is that Johntay Porter
has received a lifetime ban for betting on

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NBA games and manipulating player props for
games that he was involved in. The

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full scope of details is just kind
of wild. It's clear that they just

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had him dead to rights on this. He apparently made, at least that

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we know of, like a total
profit of twenty one nine and sixty five

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dollars I think is the exact number
on three bet on Like certain he bet

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on thirteen NBA games, none of
which he played through an associate. Three

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of those bets were parlays that included
Porter picking Toronto or to lose. All

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three bets lost, though it's unclear
whether the raptor's leg succeeded or failed in

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those Dan Feldman from dunk DN wrote
that the bets apparently ranged from fifteen dollars

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to twenty two thousand, totally fifty
four grand, and the total payout was

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like seventy six grand, so he
made a profit of almost twenty two thousand,

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and he came out of games due
to and he gave confidential information about

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his health to alls. It says, is just someone he knew to be

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an NBA gambler basically. And the
thing I'll say is it takes a special

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kind of just this part ignorance to
place an eighty thousand dollars parlay to win

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one point one million dollars on John
da Porter of all players hitting his unders

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that was of course flagged and the
money was not paid out. The reactions

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to the lifetime ban have been interesting
in the sense that a lot of people

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and I did this on last week's
podcast, where I said, I wish

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the NBA kind of had the same
definitive, like vocal energy. It wasn't

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necessarily about the punishment that was coming. With Adam Silver calling it a cardinal

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sin. I wish he would have
had that energy when we're talking about,

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you know, domestic violence or racism
or issues of homophobia, and I've just

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yet to you know, he went
at Donald Sterling of course way back when

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was that twenty eleven now or whatever? That was a while ago, but

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so I still kind of feel that
way. But then I kind of saw

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a bunch of different comparisons being parallels
to it that Johntay shouldn't have been banned

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based off this. I'm just wondering
what your initial thoughts are, or it's

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not initial, because we talked about
this, but now what your thoughts are

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that we've received the official punishment,
which is Johntay Porter will not be playing

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in the NBA again. Yeah,
I guess my first thought is not like

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an original one. I think people
were saying this like halfway jokingly before any

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of it was like confirmed. It
was like the idea being that this is

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perfect for Adam Silver in the NBA
to like use it as a message sending

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opportunit unity because in the grand scheme
of things, John say Porter like may

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not have had an NBA career going
forward at all, you know, or

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at least it was going to be
very fringy, just you know, based

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on what he'd done to this point. So you can make an example of

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this guy. You got him dead
to rights, like you said, there's

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no really, there's not really any
argument to be made that like he didn't

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do these things at least based on
what's come out publicly. So you can

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just do the lifetime ban and now, and by the way, like if

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if you can, I think it's
almost a good thing for the league,

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or just sort of the idea of
like monitoring gambling so that it doesn't become

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a problem that affects games in a
big way, Like if you could catch

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on this easily to Johntay Porter making
like relatively small bets or you know,

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relatively small Johnte Porter related bets,
like I think whatever sort of catches you

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have in place are pretty solid.
Like so if you're really worried about,

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like, oh, some all NBA
players going to take a dive in a

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playoff series or something like, it
makes me more confident that we're not going

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to have that happen because it's like
the sort of law enforcement aspect of this

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whole thing like seems to work pretty
well if you were able to catch him.

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It catch like small time bets on
a small time player that otherwise would

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have been pretty easy to ignore,
you would think. So that's one thing

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and then just broadly, like,
I take your point. I agree that

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like it would be nice if there
was sort of a feeling of like equitable

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is not the right word, but
like if things were deep sets an obligation

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to say something. So I'm not
even talking about the punishment because I almost

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feel like it's unfair, yes,
to compare the two, and as we

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both talked about this before we record
it, And also I would implore anyone

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to go back and listen to I
don't even know what episode it was,

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like two or three episodes ago.
I thought Grant had great thoughts on why

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the league is reacting the way that
it is. I don't look to my

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sports leagues or companies to be arbors
of morality. I also do think it's

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fair to have the conversation about holding
these leagues, these entities, these people

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to higher stand. It's just such
a complex conversation, and I think a

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lot of the I do feel like
not the it was performative, but like

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there was a lot of just like
self congratulatory stuff about like well I didn't

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see this when my And again this
is coming from someone this hypocritical who said

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I wish that there would just be
these same definitive stances taken by the League

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when these issues of domestic violence or
homophobia, racism, et cetera. And

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not that the league didn't. I
mean they had names, they had sayings

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on the back of jerseys, right, they've taken their definitive stance against it.

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But yeah, that's a great that's
a great like counter example. I

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just think, I think if you're
looking for businesses in general to be like

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sort of the top down arbiters of
morality, I'm not saying you're doing this,

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we're both saying, like it'd be
nice if then that's the wrong way

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that things like that tend to happen, the way that you would get the

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League speaking in the same terms about
other types of misconduct that like really are

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like there are actual like victims involved
in things like that, like just really

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bad reprehensible behavior. Gambling's bad.
It's different than the Miles Bridges situation.

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It's unfair to compare the two just
because, right, let's just use the

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because Miles Bridge's name keeps coming up. There's a children's livelihoods are at stake

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in that, not just even talking
about the victim of the domestic violence,

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but these things happening in front of
children, So to draw parallels to this

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guy, Jontay Porter. Yeah,
the way that gets solved is if sponsors

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have a big enough issue with it
that it costs the NBA money, or

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fans have a big enough issue with
it, which would be really hard.

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But you know, if enough people
say, like, we're not supporting Team

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X because they have player, why
we're not supporting this league anymore? Like

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it has to be bottom up rather
than top down if you want, like

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the league to take notice of stuff
that. So that just seems to me

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like the way it would have to
go. Whereas gambling it is such a

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weird like we're Yeah, I hate
making the comparison because they're just like different

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sets of problems. It is a
common tear on what we value are willing

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to overlook because I'm you kind of
framed it this way and we're not.

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I'm not ascribing this view to anyone. It's are you more? Is a

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Is a fan more likely to tune
out of the NBA because they think games

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are being fixed or manipulated by players? Or are they more likely to tune

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out because Miles Bridges is on the
opposing team or on their favorite team.

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It's always going to be the first
one, like just because why am I

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watching this if? If there's no
actual competitive stakes that are real. I'm

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not condoning that view, but that
is why the league is where it's at

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like that, And that's just And
so yeah, I sucks starting one involved.

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And I will say and I do
feel like this might fly under the

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radar a little bit at least outside
the Denver market because the Nuggets are just

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humming. But like, m'd be
time to ask some questions about these Porter

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kids. That's all. That's just
Michael Porter is that we know about the

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brother, and I don't want to
make light of the you know, the

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I don't know if it was the
actual manslaughter, but someone who died while

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he was driving under this is not
Michael Porters's brother. I think it's Kobe.

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I can't even remember what his name
was. Then, Michael Porter Junior

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has just sat a bunch of shit
on podcasts. That is just five alarm

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fire for me. So that might
be another thing to take away from this.

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No natural segue to this. The
nets hire Jordy Fernandez, who's been

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involved in coaching searches for like a
really long time. Now what have you

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made? And this is I want
a hat tip dunked on for this.

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But the Sean marks hiring his fourth
definitive non interim coach in just eight years,

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shout outs to the job security he
apparently has. But what do you

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make of this hire? And again
it's hard to know too much about like

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we know about Jordy Fernandez's success with
the Canadian team and his track record.

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But do you think this says anything
specific about the Nets' direction or is that

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still kind of shrouded in ambiguity,
largely because do you know grant that they

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don't control their own first round pick
until twenty twenty eight. That's brand king

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for you, isn't it. I
had heard that. I would say it

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tells you. What it tells you
is that this is a different decision than

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if they had hired my Budenholzer,
for example, just to use like the

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complete opposite end of the coaching experience
spectrum. I don't know that it necessary.

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I think a lot of people are
saying, like, oh, that

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means the rebuild is you know,
they might like the draft pick situation.

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I think is informs me more about
what their direction may or may not be

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than a coaching hire, just because
like you know, you tend to think

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like, oh, young coach,
they're gonna bottom out, They're gonna,

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you know, really trim this down. Like I don't that's not really like

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the most sensible play, just because
of the draft pick situation. So I

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do think, if anything, it
suggests to me that they're not necessarily like

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win now when now, when now
we're going to spend, we're going to

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get back in the free agent market, we're gonna like that doesn't seem likely,

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Whereas like if it had been button
Holzer, I think you might have

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been more apt to believe that.
But yeah, I don't know. It

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doesn't tell you a ton. It's
just in contrast to the higher that it

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could have been. It says a
little bit. But the like the pick

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stuff is really more sort of indicative
of what they not just what they want

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to do, but like what they
can and can't do over the next what.

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I guess it's only four or five
years, so I'll I'm gonna throw

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it to you this way, rank
the likelihood that you think these three things

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will happen. So they're different levels
of extremes. The Nets trade McHale bridges

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over the off season, they trade
for de Jontay Murray over the off season.

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They trade for Trey Young over the
off season. I would say the

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oh man, I don't know how
likely I think any of those are.

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I guess the scale of move if
youn't want to use the players where I

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mean mcale bridge is a very specific
thing, but it's Jeantay Murray's kind of

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the springe star that wouldn't cost all
of their That feels like the most likely

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course is what I was gonna I
think that's right, and I think and

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it's only it's partly because like it's
just harder to get Trey Young probably,

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or you have to pay more,
or you whatever. I don't know what

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I would rank is more likely between
trading for Tray Young and trading away Bridges.

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But the Murray one seems like the
sort of the down the middle,

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which is like the nets are sort
of gonna have to be down the middle

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for a while because you can't go
extremely. I do think it's more likely

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that McHale Bridges gets traded and they
acquire like a Trey Young or maybe even

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a Darius Garland or Donovan Mitchell and
where maybe Mitchell's price tag is lower if

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he ends up getting moved because he
only has the year left on his deal.

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I don't know, but it just
feels like there will be desperate enough

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teams that might just bowling like Brooklyn
over with an offer where it's like,

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yeah, we're not getting any of
our own picks back. It's not the

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Rockets necessarily, but we're just getting
so much stuff for this guy who's like

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the thirty fifth best player in the
NBA or whatever. He is right right

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right the other quick I didn't throw
this to you, but it's it's like

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an on minor No, but we
don't have spend too much time on Kevin

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Young, the highest paid assistant.
He's on the Suns. He's making it

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think it was two million dollars he
got this year and is viewed as the

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offensive coordinator. He will be leaving
at the end of this season to become

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the coach of BYU, who apparently
made a very aggressive push to the way

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that woj or with shams that phrased
it made it seem like this was a

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very oh Monty Williams to Detroit scenario
where Kevin Young didn't necessarily want to go

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to the college game, but they
just made the offer of so much money

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and control that he didn't. My
initial thoughts on it are just that Frank

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vogel seat probably is a little cooler
now because you when you have that guy

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who was very well respected already in
the organization. It's, oh, if

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the playoffs don't go well, and
he might still be on the hot seat

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just because they can't change very much
if the postseason goes poorly. But this

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is almost good news for Frank Vogel's
job security, was my first thought when

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I actually saw it. Good for
Kevin Young, get in the bag whatever.

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My first actual thought was that about
Vogul. Yeah, I mean,

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I just would add it's a little
well, I want to know the terms

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of that offer, because it is
because Kevin Young. You know, I

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don't know how many assistants you'd rank
ahead of him as most likely to get

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like the next head coaching vacancy someplace, whether that's in Phoenix or elsewhere,

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Like he's you know, Fernandez was
Fernandez got one, but he was up

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there with him, And then it's
Kevin Young, and I'm not even sure

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like Kenny Atkinson, I guess keeps
coming up. But that's a very different

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type of like he's had the job
before, so yeah, i'd be I

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hope we do. We probably won't
find out what what BYU's given him orar

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least you know nothing specific, but
that's it. You don't see that a

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lot where it's like this guy's in
line, he's paid the paid dues,

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is gonna get this next head coaching
job, and like, I don't know,

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I would put the over under it
like one and a half years probably,

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like and that might have been conservative. And now he's just going to

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the college game. Doesn't happen that
often. I wanted to ask you about

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the Warriors, but the two other
significant things And by the time you're listening

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to this is this is going up
Friday. Those playing games will be about

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to happen. Zion Williamson not playing
for the Pelicans with a hamstring injury,

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that's a fucking bummer. He had
one of the best games of his career

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against the Lakers, uh, and
then Jimmy Butler dealing with an MCL injury.

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He's and his sounds, I mean, anything with Zion is serious,

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but his sounds like he'll be out
for a Whiles, even if the heat

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won, is there just I don't
want to again. This is like more

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post mortem territory for both teams which
are coming even if they make it out

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of the play and it feels like
it's this has to be and I'm gonna

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I'm gonna go first on this.
It has to feel like that New Orleans

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is just this impacts their future way
more than Jimmy Butler's injury impact play.

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Because now we're at a point where
we just might be in another year where

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we've yet to see Zion in the
playoffs, We've yet to see what this

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group looks like in the postseason,
and you officially can't play the oh like,

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let's just see what happens card.
We need to see what this group

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does together when it matter, when
the stakes are higher. Because I look

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at this and the one of the
things that springs to mind is we have

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we've had this conversation many times where
it's what makes the most sense in terms

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00:18:55,079 --> 00:18:57,160
of how to build out this team. And it's a round point. Zion

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if his body through no fault of
his own at this point, because he's

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00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:04,720
dropped weight, his conditioning has been
fantastic. He's been playing his fucking ass

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off for months at this point,
if his body is still just that ticking

290
00:19:08,839 --> 00:19:15,680
time momb and these absences or this
danger is omni presently caked in, you

291
00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:19,480
can't view Zion as the lifeline of
your offense as the actual, like this

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00:19:19,559 --> 00:19:23,680
sustainable lifeline. And then you get
into the conversation, well, brandon Ingram

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00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,720
who got benched in that playing game, uh first playing game. He's not.

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He can be splendid sometimes, but
he's not good enough to drive your

295
00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:34,599
entire offense. And so as much
as we want to talk about getting New

296
00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:38,720
Orleans more shooting, getting New Orleans
more diverse options in the front court next

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00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:42,480
to Zion, the conversation if they
missed a playoff this year or if he

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00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:48,160
doesn't play in the postseason needs to
become they need to just go out and

299
00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,599
get a floor general, because like
they can't go through these stretches where they

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00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:56,200
don't have their primary offensive engine or
organizer. And that's Zion is again,

301
00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:02,799
he's amazing, but this stuff just
keeps happening. Yeah, it's I don't

302
00:20:02,799 --> 00:20:07,119
know what to say about it other
than it's kind They're in the same position

303
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,839
that they've been in for a long
time, and like and that's because you

304
00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:17,000
saw the same potential that we've all
been seeing with Zion dominating a game,

305
00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:22,119
and then you saw the downside,
which is just the inability to stay healthy.

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And it's a little different this time
because, like you said, he

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00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:30,519
was in shape and whatever, but
it's still like that frame doing that level

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00:20:30,519 --> 00:20:33,839
of athletic stuff is just like that's
hard. Like I he's like, I'm

309
00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:40,160
not a doctor, but I understand
why ligaments and muscles like get like don't

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00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:44,119
hold up under those kind of loads. Right, So, like they're in

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00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:47,000
the same place they were, what
like three years ago, where it's like

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00:20:47,039 --> 00:20:49,559
we have this awesome guy who has
this capacity to do these amazing things,

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00:20:49,559 --> 00:20:52,240
but like we can't trust that he's
going to be out there. So the

314
00:20:52,279 --> 00:20:57,279
team building is like impossible or like
really really complicated. You don't want to

315
00:20:57,319 --> 00:21:00,960
be in the same place in terms
of the macro issues you're facing as a

316
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:04,920
team. It's like three years down
the road, and so like, I

317
00:21:06,079 --> 00:21:10,240
just I think I think you're probably
right. They gotta look at someone who

318
00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:15,599
can just be less of a like
a I don't know, just make the

319
00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:18,680
swings not so violent where it's like
we're incredible. Well, now the guy's

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00:21:18,759 --> 00:21:22,359
hurt and our team makes no sense
anymore. You know, you need like

321
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:26,519
a stabilizing force. My spiciest take
that I admit I need to think more

322
00:21:26,559 --> 00:21:29,119
about though, but I have to
done enough about it to say this on

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00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:32,519
the podcast where we have New Orleans
Pelicans fans that I think about anger.

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00:21:32,759 --> 00:21:36,079
They need to be a Trey Young
team if he becomes available, And that's

325
00:21:36,079 --> 00:21:38,160
what this is tracking towards, because
it's just if you think, can you

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00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,440
build the base year defense if you're
gonna keep Herb Jones and Trey Murphy out

327
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:45,599
of that some or at least have
two of Trey Murphy, Dyson Daniels,

328
00:21:45,599 --> 00:21:49,119
and Herb Jones left coming out of
that deal. Like you just you could

329
00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:52,279
say whatever you want about Trey Young. He's tried harder on defense, He's

330
00:21:52,279 --> 00:21:56,119
still bad on defense. The stuff
behind the scenes. Do guys want to

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00:21:56,160 --> 00:22:00,440
play with him? We've seen Luca
be less ball dominant, play faster this

332
00:22:00,519 --> 00:22:03,880
year. We've seen Tree Young be
slightly less ball dominant this year. You

333
00:22:03,039 --> 00:22:07,880
might just need that steadying presence because
he will. He is a better driver

334
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,839
of offensive success than Brandon Ingram is
like just you you mentioned the word.

335
00:22:11,839 --> 00:22:15,279
I think it was sustainability or steadiness. That's what he would give you.

336
00:22:15,839 --> 00:22:19,640
And in fury him and Zion on
offense will should work just fine. It's

337
00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:23,240
just that he gives you that guy
who And if you want to say,

338
00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,680
like what about Darius Garland, He's
kind of fringe for me when it comes

339
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:30,640
to running the offense there and seems
less likely to shake loose, I would

340
00:22:30,759 --> 00:22:34,200
argue, but like it can't be
de Jontay Murray level. It's if we're

341
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,319
gonna talk about them getting I mean, sham At Dua has been was all

342
00:22:38,319 --> 00:22:42,000
over this. He wanted them to
go after and get Scoop and so like

343
00:22:42,279 --> 00:22:45,599
that just might be the view they
need to take, not go out and

344
00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,799
trade for Scoot now, like the
players aren't gonna do that anyway. But

345
00:22:49,519 --> 00:22:53,400
that's like you have to to me, I think depending on how this postseason

346
00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:56,039
shakes out or if he's able to
come back, should they make the playoffs,

347
00:22:56,279 --> 00:23:00,599
That's what this has become now to
me, how do you make an

348
00:23:00,759 --> 00:23:04,839
well, it's I don't know.
I I'm visceral reaction is like I hate

349
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:11,119
the Tray Young Zion pairing. Wow, because if you're saying, and I

350
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,039
think we agree that, like the
way for this team to work is point

351
00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:19,440
Zion and then like, right now, I would say that if you have

352
00:23:19,519 --> 00:23:22,880
a duality to like, if you
have Trey Young, you can have a

353
00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:27,960
duality to your identity that you can't
have right now because of your other primary

354
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,880
playmaking options. Yeah, but if
like the idea on building a team is

355
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:38,880
you want your best players to function
well together so you can win the biggest

356
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:45,039
games against the toughest opponents. Like, that's a different thing than what I

357
00:23:45,079 --> 00:23:48,480
said earlier of like someone to stabilize
or give you kind of a baseline that

358
00:23:48,559 --> 00:23:53,680
doesn't swing so wildly with whether Zion
is healthy or not. Like Trey and

359
00:23:53,799 --> 00:23:57,519
Zion in a playoff series, I'm
just like, what's the other guy doing

360
00:23:57,559 --> 00:24:00,759
when he doesn't have the ball?
Now, if you get the kind of

361
00:24:00,839 --> 00:24:03,759
Zion we saw recently, where like
he's playing incredible defense, he's rebounding better,

362
00:24:03,799 --> 00:24:07,839
he's doing all this other stuff,
then problem solved. Like we can

363
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,640
work with that. But if you
portray Young, that can't be a like

364
00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,160
a thing that that happens. I'm
just yeah, I don't know. I

365
00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:18,519
would be fascinated. I would be
very interested if that happened, just because

366
00:24:18,559 --> 00:24:22,119
I would like to. I don't
know it. It's hard for me to

367
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:25,440
imagine how how I think By the
way, I want to make it clear,

368
00:24:25,519 --> 00:24:27,400
even though I disagree, I think
what you're saying is very reasonable.

369
00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:33,599
So you would still just continue leading
in to the point Zion as yours as

370
00:24:33,599 --> 00:24:37,440
your points are. That's the thing. I'm very uncomfortable with that. So

371
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:38,880
all I'm doing is saying, Dan, that's a bad idea. I don't

372
00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,920
like it, and offering no solutions. So that's our job. In a

373
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:49,960
nutshell solution, I don't have one. Like if it were me, I

374
00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,039
I look at like what can I
get for Ingram? What can I How

375
00:24:53,079 --> 00:24:56,599
can can I make a consolidation trade? Because the depth of this team was

376
00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,920
its strength, Like there are all
these you know, all this stuff about

377
00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:03,960
it, how the lineup data was
the starting five got outscored and like you

378
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:08,079
throw Trey Murphy in there and sudden
thing suddenly everything works great. The reserves

379
00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:11,599
always like preserved or built leads,
Like I don't know, some of that's

380
00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:15,480
noisy. I've been thinking and reading
a lot about line up data year over

381
00:25:15,559 --> 00:25:18,559
year, and like even a full
year's worth of like a pretty good sample

382
00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,759
does not indicate what's going to happen
the next year. See the Golden State

383
00:25:22,799 --> 00:25:26,720
Warriors twenty three starting five versus twenty
three twenty four if you want to transition.

384
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:32,799
But yeah, I don't know.
It's it's a it's a conundrum,

385
00:25:32,839 --> 00:25:36,759
like Zion is so good when he's
right that you should build your team around

386
00:25:36,839 --> 00:25:41,720
him, but then he's very infrequently
healthy enough to make that a sustainable strategy.

387
00:25:41,759 --> 00:25:44,359
So it's just like, what do
you do? Maybe I'm also just

388
00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:48,480
married to the Hawks, getting focusing
on Hawks players because there so many Hawks

389
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:52,880
players I like. On the Pelicans, sure, yet kunglu Jalen john I

390
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:55,960
mean, I like Jalen Johnson anywhere. Yeah, but I doubt he would

391
00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:59,160
shake loose. So there. I
just feel like, if this is if

392
00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,480
this is it for them this year, or if this is it for Zion

393
00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,359
this year and you have to protect
his long term health, one, it

394
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:11,680
sucks because he It just sucks and
you could see it in his I felt

395
00:26:11,039 --> 00:26:14,799
bad. I just felt and I
always feel bad for injuries, So I

396
00:26:14,799 --> 00:26:18,279
feel like, but it's just knowing
what he's had to deal with, knowing

397
00:26:18,279 --> 00:26:21,839
how he's I just I felt so
bad. And I don't say any of

398
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:23,920
this to detegrate his value to the
team, because he is that good to

399
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,440
wear. If he was just there
and you guarantee he would be there,

400
00:26:27,799 --> 00:26:30,799
you're set and you flesh out your
team that way. I just think it's

401
00:26:30,799 --> 00:26:36,000
become clear and we're at the point
where I say, through no fault of

402
00:26:36,039 --> 00:26:38,559
his own, that it can't that
can't be the way that you're building out

403
00:26:38,559 --> 00:26:42,640
this team anymore. Yeah, it's
I mean, primarily anyway right now?

404
00:26:42,759 --> 00:26:45,880
I agree, but like, but
it may just be what they have to

405
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,240
do because the better options don't present
themselves, Like that's a possibility to like

406
00:26:49,279 --> 00:26:52,160
what can you imagine if they run
it back? Essentially, Like we go

407
00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:56,240
into next year and we just have
a how easy are your Pelicans put?

408
00:26:56,279 --> 00:26:59,839
Preseason? Like? Right? Ups, It's like everything I said before,

409
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:03,640
every single thing. It's just all
the same highs are there, all the

410
00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,559
same lows, all the same uncertainty. Well, I don't look herb Jones

411
00:27:06,599 --> 00:27:08,279
is improving. So does he come
back like kind of running these half court

412
00:27:08,279 --> 00:27:11,240
picking rolls and he gets your point
guard? Now, maybe that's that's the

413
00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:17,799
that's him and Trey Murphy. That's
who we'll spend all of our preseason inc

414
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:22,079
on instead of Zion. We could
let's talk Warriors when we do the other

415
00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:25,839
two playoff series to make that segment
just a little bit more podcast year.

416
00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:29,880
I guess, like, wow,
what batter batter hosting for me tonight?

417
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:34,039
Uh uh, let's do this.
You're gonna get to pick where we go

418
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,440
every single time? Which playoff series? Do you want to start with?

419
00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:41,720
Twenty some it's into the playoffs?
Well, he's going to do news.

420
00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:45,039
That's all right. People are getting
what was promised. It just took a

421
00:27:45,079 --> 00:27:49,160
half hour. Okay, I want
to start in the West, and I

422
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,839
want to make sure this is still
the case, because this is one that

423
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,599
I was a little bit surprised.
Yes, okay, we're gonna go Phoenix

424
00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:04,039
Minnesota. This so obviously I've spoiled
it. But the Suns are favored.

425
00:28:04,079 --> 00:28:07,599
They are the lower seed, they
are the betting favorite. Does that surprise

426
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:12,480
you? I guess it should be
the first question. No, because I

427
00:28:12,519 --> 00:28:15,599
think a lot of what people in
our position are going to focus on is

428
00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:21,799
sort of the clash of styles here
where the Suns play at most one big

429
00:28:21,799 --> 00:28:23,319
and four wing types, and they
can get to a point where if they

430
00:28:23,319 --> 00:28:26,720
want to go with thy as younger
Kevin Durant, and everyone's gonna wonder well

431
00:28:26,799 --> 00:28:32,480
they manipulate the Timberwolves' style. I'm
more so coming at it from a perspective

432
00:28:32,519 --> 00:28:36,559
of and maybe I'm getting too far
into my thoughts here, but I actually

433
00:28:36,559 --> 00:28:40,920
think that it's the Sons who might
find themselves in need of adjusting more.

434
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:45,160
And I think what becomes more critical
here as to why they would be favored

435
00:28:45,759 --> 00:28:48,960
is one we've kind of just seen
more like point guardy things from Bradley Beal

436
00:28:49,039 --> 00:28:52,880
lately. In addition what Devin Booker
is doing, they've been a little bit

437
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:56,000
more creative with Kevin, like getting
Kevin Durant the ball where it's not so

438
00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:02,000
vanilla all the time. The bigger
thing for me is just Karl Anthony Towns.

439
00:29:02,279 --> 00:29:03,799
What is he gonna look like?
Because he did not look great.

440
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:07,920
Maybe the rest well before the start
of it will help him. And then

441
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,640
what sort of I don't care.
Their defense is going to be fine.

442
00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:14,880
Minnesota's defense is terrific. Rudy Gobert
is the defensive player of the year.

443
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:17,920
You can play with him in Nosrita
you could play with him in Karl Anthony

444
00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:19,680
Towns. They don't need to if
they want. Yes, what I've liked

445
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:23,039
to have seen them been like,
what do we look like? Kyle Anderson's

446
00:29:23,039 --> 00:29:26,799
at the five? Like yeah?
Or Nasried is the lone big more sure?

447
00:29:27,079 --> 00:29:30,839
But like I don't think they need
to adapt what they're doing defensively almost

448
00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:33,720
at all. I mean, and
the luxury is, well, we have

449
00:29:33,799 --> 00:29:38,039
Jade McDaniels and it's you just go
shut down Devin Booker and they have decided

450
00:29:38,079 --> 00:29:41,960
so far, and Edwards spend a
bunch of time on Kevin Durant. But

451
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:45,000
you can manipulate that if you want
to make Bradley beal more of this priority.

452
00:29:45,319 --> 00:29:49,720
My point is just that what does
this offense looks like? Phoenix is

453
00:29:49,759 --> 00:29:56,000
not this banner defensive team. But
if you can't make them, Minnesota is

454
00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:00,920
gonna be at it as best them
in Cleveland might be another example of this,

455
00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:03,799
just based off the personnel's one you
get two to the ball, that's

456
00:30:03,799 --> 00:30:07,079
when their offense is going to be
at its best. But can you make

457
00:30:07,119 --> 00:30:11,559
them If Carl Anthony Towns is not
Carl Anthony Towns, can you adequately make

458
00:30:11,119 --> 00:30:17,240
Phoenix pay for throwing the kitchen sink
at an Anti Edwards end. If you

459
00:30:17,319 --> 00:30:19,759
can't, what does that do to
Anthony Edwards's decision making? Because where he's

460
00:30:19,759 --> 00:30:23,359
most dangerous and he can just blast
through traffic, we've seen him just kind

461
00:30:23,359 --> 00:30:26,960
of I don't like phrasing it this
way, but will his way to the

462
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,960
basket or to some offense. But
they're also kind of at his best where

463
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,680
he's just getting rid of the ball
quicker and making those like snap decisions on

464
00:30:34,039 --> 00:30:37,880
you off his live dribbles. But
if he's not I don't want to say

465
00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:41,599
trusting his teammates, but if his
teammates aren't providing that lift of decision making

466
00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:44,680
once he's or shot making, once
he's getting rid of the ball, how

467
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:48,480
does that then impact his thought process? And so I kind of understand this

468
00:30:48,519 --> 00:30:52,680
is my very long winded way of
saying it does not surprise me Phoenix is

469
00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:56,839
favored because I do think that the
dynamism that Carl Anthony Towns provides on offense

470
00:30:56,839 --> 00:31:02,759
for the Timberwolves unlocks so much much
and is so damn important that you can

471
00:31:02,759 --> 00:31:06,400
look at Phoenix right now because of
his Karl Anthony talent injury, because of

472
00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:11,160
some of the weird stretches the timer
Wolves offense has been through with and even

473
00:31:11,319 --> 00:31:14,240
without him, but also with him, you can just say, wow,

474
00:31:14,319 --> 00:31:18,440
Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and
Bradley Beal are on that team. I

475
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:25,119
think so I was a little surprised
at first just because and this time I

476
00:31:25,119 --> 00:31:27,759
guess this is this ties into like
the arguments you would make in favor of

477
00:31:27,759 --> 00:31:32,960
Minnesota are all like big sample regular
season things, best defense in the league,

478
00:31:33,319 --> 00:31:38,599
higher seed, like defensive player of
the year, Anthony on the team

479
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:42,240
looks like a player, you know, Anthony Edwards. If if Anthony Enrews

480
00:31:42,279 --> 00:31:45,720
was the breakout superstar of this postseason, you'd say, like, yeah,

481
00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,599
okay, that checks out like that
seems like it was trending that way.

482
00:31:49,359 --> 00:31:52,440
But you mentioned you hit on a
lot of this, and there's a couple

483
00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:55,720
of numbers I just want to sort
of put out there. Obviously, the

484
00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:57,480
part of the reason the Suns are
favored is because they beat the Wolves all

485
00:31:57,519 --> 00:32:00,240
three times they played them, and
they eat them pretty handily. It was

486
00:32:00,279 --> 00:32:05,559
like a fifteen point per game margin. Rudy Gobert in eighty six minutes across

487
00:32:05,559 --> 00:32:08,839
three games minus sixty eight plus minus
when Rudy Gobert is on the floor against

488
00:32:08,839 --> 00:32:14,359
Phoenix this year, Like that's that's
a small sample by definition, but you're

489
00:32:14,359 --> 00:32:19,039
talking three games. You're talking and
I think when you look at what Phoenix

490
00:32:19,079 --> 00:32:22,160
does well, and we talk about
this every postseason, they're just their best

491
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:27,960
three scorers want to pull up and
shoot mid rangers against deep drops, and

492
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,279
that is what the Wolves tend to
do. So it's like the shots the

493
00:32:31,319 --> 00:32:36,039
Wolves are designed to concede are the
ones Phoenix wants and the ones Phoenix is

494
00:32:36,079 --> 00:32:38,240
good at. You can look at
all the mid range frequency and accuracy numbers.

495
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:43,359
Phoenix is elite. The Wolves allow
a lot of mid rangers because they

496
00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:46,039
just that's the math says you should
against most teams. Phoenix is not most

497
00:32:46,119 --> 00:32:50,079
teams. So that's part of the
reason that the Suns did so well during

498
00:32:50,119 --> 00:32:52,000
the year, And I think why
they're set up to score and then you

499
00:32:52,079 --> 00:32:57,599
just think of like what is like
Edwards hasn't been good against the Suns either,

500
00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:00,640
and that's because they love to send
two at him and make somebodyel's score.

501
00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:04,400
And to your point, if Towns
can't do that, like where's the

502
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,839
offense come from? That's been the
issue all year in Minnesota. So we're

503
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:09,400
agreeing, I think. I mean, I'll just say, do you are

504
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,799
we are we picking series? Do
you want to just get to that?

505
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:15,759
I you know, we're just we're
making to be the wrap up. If

506
00:33:15,799 --> 00:33:17,559
that's considered the wrap up on is
there any other question? I'm just wondering.

507
00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:22,599
So theoretically, and I'm not saying
they should overhaul what they're doing defensively,

508
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:27,880
but Minnesota does kind of have the
card to play where if they need

509
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:34,039
to be more aggressive at getting Phoenix
off of their spots, you could play

510
00:33:34,119 --> 00:33:37,759
the well Nikkeil Alexander Walker instead of
Mike Conley card, because then all of

511
00:33:37,799 --> 00:33:43,880
a sudden, it's Edwards and Jaden
McDaniels and Gnaw and Ruby Gobert and that's

512
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:47,480
just so much excuse me pressure.
And so if you pull that lever,

513
00:33:49,119 --> 00:33:51,839
I mean like you could, even
if you really wanted to know, Galaxy

514
00:33:51,839 --> 00:33:53,559
bring it and say, well,
nas Red is flying around the perimeter as

515
00:33:53,559 --> 00:33:58,920
well, so sub him in for
Karl Anthony Towns if need be. I

516
00:33:59,079 --> 00:34:01,759
just I get what you're saying.
I mean, the numbers can't lie on

517
00:34:01,799 --> 00:34:04,839
that, and so I understand why
they were a tough matchup. I just

518
00:34:04,839 --> 00:34:08,159
feel like maybe I'm over compensating because
it feels like people aren't giving the Wolves

519
00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:13,559
enough credit for the different types of
moves that they can make within themselves to

520
00:34:13,599 --> 00:34:15,840
try and counteract some of this stuff, or at least if the offense isn't

521
00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,199
humming met okay, we're gonna lean
all the way into maybe we're playing even

522
00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:22,639
more aggressive defensively. It does get
harder for them, though, Like even

523
00:34:22,679 --> 00:34:28,000
with the bodies you have, is
like if Bradney Beal is on in addition

524
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:30,960
to Devin Booker and Kevin Durant,
then you're just kind of like your personnel

525
00:34:30,039 --> 00:34:36,480
is stretched wayfer thin and that does
get difficult. Yeah. No, I'm

526
00:34:36,519 --> 00:34:39,480
glad you mentioned the lineup tweaks that
the Wolves can make, which a lot

527
00:34:39,519 --> 00:34:45,920
of teams can't. To throw three
really good perimeter defenders at Phoenix's guys and

528
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:50,760
just like maybe go Bear still drops, but maybe those guys athleticism talking about

529
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:55,320
non Edwards and McDaniels make those mid
rangers harder. I haven't looked at closely

530
00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:59,760
enough at the data to see how
often those groups played against Phoenix during the

531
00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:01,960
RAG season. I would hope not
at all, because if they did and

532
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:05,880
the numbers were still that bad,
then like then man, it looks rough

533
00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:10,480
for Minnesota. But I just think
I'm so hesitant still to be dismissive of

534
00:35:10,519 --> 00:35:14,800
like the full regular season that Minnesota
had, right, like they just it

535
00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:17,599
was a better year. They were
elite at something, which Phoenix wasn't.

536
00:35:17,639 --> 00:35:22,159
Like the Wolves are elite defensively.
Phoenix was like okay at some stuff and

537
00:35:22,559 --> 00:35:25,599
you know, pretty good at others. But there's just no other than just

538
00:35:25,639 --> 00:35:29,840
like star power on offense, Like
I don't that's not like you know,

539
00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:32,599
that's it's not a statistic, it's
just, yeah, the Sons have three

540
00:35:32,639 --> 00:35:36,440
guys that could win you a game
on their own, I guess offensively.

541
00:35:37,039 --> 00:35:40,800
So yeah, I think it's a
fascinating matchup. I think the stylistic differences

542
00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:45,519
are incredible. I think like the
narratives that could come out of this series,

543
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:49,440
as like annoying as they can be, are are many and interesting,

544
00:35:49,519 --> 00:35:53,480
Like it could be another referendum on
Rudy Gobert, like postseason like non viability.

545
00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:58,199
We could hear that come up again. It might actually be true this

546
00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:02,000
time because it sort of hasn't been
for like just the idea of like,

547
00:36:02,039 --> 00:36:05,679
well the cat go bear thing,
it'll just dredge up the hole. We

548
00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:08,119
got to break this thing up.
We're spending too much on two bigs.

549
00:36:08,119 --> 00:36:12,000
It doesn't work in the playoffs.
There's all these things that could come out

550
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:15,199
of this. Yeah, I don't
know. I think I've exhausted my Oh,

551
00:36:15,639 --> 00:36:19,880
just to give you the Edwards numbers, fourteen point three points on thirty

552
00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:23,360
one percent shooting across his games against
the Suns this year, like not good,

553
00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:28,679
and a lot of that's because he's
getting blitzed by a Sun's defense that

554
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:31,519
I think understands rightly that like,
if you get it out of his hands,

555
00:36:32,079 --> 00:36:36,280
your odds of having a good defensive
possession are pretty darn high. Against

556
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,719
the Minnesota offense, that just like
grinds to a halt. Sometimes, I

557
00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:45,960
was gonna ask, very quickly,
do you think there's like everyone's focused on,

558
00:36:45,039 --> 00:36:49,000
Okay, well, what Phoenix might
force Minnesota to do or how they

559
00:36:49,039 --> 00:36:53,920
can exploit the way Phoenix plays.
Isn't there an alternate reality where this is

560
00:36:54,119 --> 00:36:59,760
a overwhelming stress test for the way
that Phoenix plays, Like what if morgages

561
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:04,360
have to check around the basket and
you're not doing enough to stop the wolves

562
00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:07,280
out, Like, do you have
to downsize even further? You're pulling the

563
00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:08,880
Drew Eubanks card. Is Kevin Duran
at the five? Is that daddy is

564
00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:14,760
young? And is it just they're
so I don't want to say like tiny,

565
00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:16,920
because Kevin Duran is pretty big,
but that Minnesota style actually ends up

566
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:22,960
kind of overwhelming the way that Phoenix
wants to places over the course of a

567
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:25,559
series. Totally. Yeah, that's
so. Like, Uh, I guess

568
00:37:25,599 --> 00:37:30,039
what I would say is I understand
why Phoenix is favored. I wouldn't like,

569
00:37:30,119 --> 00:37:32,760
I'm not gonna be comfortable. I
think this is a long series.

570
00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:36,840
How about that? I think I
don't think we're gonna see one or the

571
00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,119
other of these teams just like solve
it from game one and the other team

572
00:37:39,199 --> 00:37:44,079
not have like a lever to pull
to extend the series to six or seven.

573
00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:49,079
And my final question is who winds
up playing more crunch time minutes in

574
00:37:49,119 --> 00:37:54,519
this series? Nas reed Erkat,
Well, Kat's gonna foul out. Uh

575
00:37:54,559 --> 00:37:59,920
So, I guess I'll go to
naz Reid. What is your pick?

576
00:38:00,519 --> 00:38:05,559
I reluctantly am going suns in six. You have to pick six because that

577
00:38:05,639 --> 00:38:07,599
means they're gonna win the decisive game
at home. If it goes to seven,

578
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:10,920
obviously you'd take the home team there
and that'd be Minnesota. I'm just

579
00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:17,440
really persuaded by the regular season numbers, by the unique problems that Phoenix's offense

580
00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:22,880
presents, the Wolves defense, and
the hesitance I have in trusting Minnesota's offense,

581
00:38:23,199 --> 00:38:25,800
that those are kind of the three
pillars of the thinking for me,

582
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:30,719
I'm gonna go Minnesota in seven.
My uncertainty with what Karl Anthony Towns is

583
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:35,440
gonna look like, and to what
extent can we trust the Wolves offense,

584
00:38:35,519 --> 00:38:38,519
I honestly think that would be their
undoing more so than I mean, I

585
00:38:38,559 --> 00:38:43,920
don't want to take away anything from
what Phoenix's offensive pinnacle can be, but

586
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:46,760
I think that if this series does
tilt towards Phoenix, it's going to say

587
00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:52,719
more about Minnesota's offense than Phoenix's defense
versus Phoenix's offense versus their defense. If

588
00:38:52,719 --> 00:38:55,280
that makes any sense. No,
I think I agree with that. I

589
00:38:55,320 --> 00:39:00,599
think that might be the number one
thing is just can the Wolves score consistently?

590
00:39:00,639 --> 00:39:04,360
Because they just they didn't all year. That just was the issue.

591
00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:07,199
But yeah, I mean that I
did not know the staggering numbers that you

592
00:39:07,199 --> 00:39:12,599
threw out for this, so that's
I don't know. I had Wolves in

593
00:39:12,639 --> 00:39:15,440
seven. I'm gonna stick with it
because I think the Wolves are just really

594
00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:21,159
fucking good. Right, Okay,
let's do let's do the other interesting West

595
00:39:21,199 --> 00:39:23,320
one here. This is the four
or five. This is Clippers Dallas.

596
00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:29,639
So just as your as your time
stamping here. The Clippers took two out

597
00:39:29,639 --> 00:39:32,039
of three here, but none of
those meetings came after Christmas. Uh.

598
00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:36,400
Luca average thirty four a game.
Not that weird, that's what he does,

599
00:39:36,519 --> 00:39:38,639
shot thirty two percent from three.
Kyrie only played in a couple of

600
00:39:38,679 --> 00:39:42,960
these games, average twenty six on
really good shooting, made half his threes.

601
00:39:43,039 --> 00:39:45,039
Kawhi was not very good at all, actually, just under twenty two

602
00:39:45,079 --> 00:39:49,360
a game in these series. Paul
George played in two of them sixteen and

603
00:39:49,360 --> 00:39:51,880
a half points a game. And
this is the Clippers winning a couple of

604
00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:57,440
these. So I think for me, the most interesting angle, uh is

605
00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:00,360
ironically, I mean, it's kawhis
Why healthy is he not? Like he's

606
00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:04,559
got this knee issue that he's not
doing five on five yet? Like if

607
00:40:04,639 --> 00:40:07,599
Kawhi is not there then this is
not an interesting series anymore. So let's

608
00:40:07,599 --> 00:40:10,519
assume he is just for the you
know, to make this a halfway interesting

609
00:40:10,559 --> 00:40:15,480
discussion. I think the Zubot's angle
is really interesting to me because Dallas is

610
00:40:15,519 --> 00:40:20,719
gonna play. I would assume Lively
Er Gafford for most of the game because

611
00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:23,400
they've had so much success with you
know, dive guys that can catch lobs

612
00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:28,519
and can block shots and just bring
athleticism. He keeps Zubots on the floor.

613
00:40:28,639 --> 00:40:31,000
He's been really good against Dallas.
The Clippers were significantly better with him

614
00:40:31,039 --> 00:40:35,599
on than off all season long,
plus four point seven with him, plus

615
00:40:35,599 --> 00:40:38,079
one point nine without Against Dallas,
They're plus ten point five with Zubot's minus

616
00:40:38,119 --> 00:40:43,239
six without small samples, Zubots seems
to really matter, and I think he's

617
00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:45,599
key to the best version of the
Clippers, and they're gonna be able.

618
00:40:45,639 --> 00:40:49,199
I think unless Dallas goes really small
to keep him on the floor for as

619
00:40:49,239 --> 00:40:53,039
long as he can play, So
that is an advantage for the Clippers.

620
00:40:54,199 --> 00:40:59,440
We can talk about all of the
other reasons h why Dallas has other advantages,

621
00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:00,920
but that's my main thing I think
I'm focused on, is like,

622
00:41:01,159 --> 00:41:05,920
you're not stopping Luca Kawi is healthy, You're probably not stopping Kawhi. So

623
00:41:06,119 --> 00:41:08,320
I'm looking just more at like this
other, this other big piece that the

624
00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:12,960
Clippers have that I think will be
able to have an impact in this series,

625
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,440
where against different types of teams,
maybe zoobots would not be as big

626
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:21,320
of a factor. It's it's interesting
in the series that has Kyrie Ring and

627
00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:24,800
Luca doncis that the defenses feel like
they're gonna define it. And just because

628
00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:29,519
the Clippers defense has been really,
really bad of late, their transition has

629
00:41:29,559 --> 00:41:34,440
been ass all year. They are
twenty third in points allowed per possession overall

630
00:41:34,719 --> 00:41:37,519
since the trade deadline, while Dallas, by the way, since since the

631
00:41:37,519 --> 00:41:43,719
trade inline seventh in points allowed per
possession, and they're not getting like when

632
00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:46,159
you dig into the opponent shot data, it's okay, there's some weirdness here,

633
00:41:46,159 --> 00:41:49,519
but it's not a huge amount of
weirdness. And I think a lot

634
00:41:49,519 --> 00:41:53,400
of that's been okay. You have
the you know, not just Daniel Gafford

635
00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:55,599
has helped them more than I thought
he was going to. PJ. Washington

636
00:41:55,679 --> 00:41:59,480
has been doing a lot of the
same stuff he wasn't Charlotte, but just

637
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:04,960
doing it well, and like that's
that's a huge thing. They're like trucking

638
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,679
opponents when PJ. Washington, Luka
Dancic, and Kyrie Erring are on the

639
00:42:08,719 --> 00:42:12,960
court. And the thing that I'm
interested this gets into the Clippers defense is

640
00:42:13,519 --> 00:42:16,719
they're just gonna play drop when Zubats
is on the court. Is this a

641
00:42:16,840 --> 00:42:23,199
series then, where, especially because
it's just the Clippers theoretical or actual small

642
00:42:23,239 --> 00:42:27,519
lineups don't really intimidate me that much. Where you do try that, it

643
00:42:27,519 --> 00:42:30,480
hasn't happened a ton, But well, Maxi Kliba and PJ. Washington are

644
00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:36,440
front court and that's been I looked
this up before we started. That's been

645
00:42:36,639 --> 00:42:42,079
on the court for like three hundred
possessions without or a little bit under without

646
00:42:42,119 --> 00:42:45,760
another big, like because they did
have the PJ. Washington Cliba and there's

647
00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:50,880
been some Lively Gaffer sprinkled in there, but they're like a plus thirty points

648
00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:54,559
per one hundred possessions. When you
have Clebland Washington as basically your front court

649
00:42:54,599 --> 00:42:59,320
with no other big on the floor, this feels like a series where that

650
00:42:59,400 --> 00:43:04,719
might get super interesting because that does
then play Zobots off the court. But

651
00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:07,079
then it's well, do we want
to play Zubots off the court. You

652
00:43:07,079 --> 00:43:10,760
mentioned that he's been really good against
Dallas. Like just the idea of if

653
00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:15,719
the Clippers are just going to play
and drop and they just don't have the

654
00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:22,639
raw athleticism to navigate get excuse me, I can't, I really fucking can't

655
00:43:22,639 --> 00:43:24,920
talk during this podcast rant. They
just don't have that like raw explosion or

656
00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:30,039
athleticism, especially within some of their
core lineups to navigate screens as well.

657
00:43:30,079 --> 00:43:32,360
It does feel like that could eventually
come back to bite themselves. Do you

658
00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:37,039
want to take them away from there
their core lineup? Is that a stupid

659
00:43:37,159 --> 00:43:42,400
question? I'm honestly asking well and
just bigger picture though too, Like I

660
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:46,599
would say that if you can think
of another team that came on stronger down

661
00:43:46,639 --> 00:43:50,599
the stretch and sort of found itself
than Dallas, I'd love to hear.

662
00:43:50,719 --> 00:43:52,719
Like I think the MAVs more than
almost any other team, Like, oh,

663
00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:58,159
post trade deadline, we got we
remade the roster. We like the

664
00:43:58,199 --> 00:44:00,239
look of this, We're suddenly defending
where athletic, we're big, Like,

665
00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:04,840
wouldn't you be surprised? Like I
think I take your point like that is

666
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:08,320
something. Going smaller is something you
would normally consider, but for Dallas specifically,

667
00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:13,519
that really kind of found it.
Do you go away from what worked

668
00:44:13,559 --> 00:44:16,719
so well like during this this late
run where you looked like a legit contender,

669
00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:20,199
you know, like that's a bold
decision to go away from that.

670
00:44:20,199 --> 00:44:22,480
You've got to be flexible in the
playoffs, like every option is on the

671
00:44:22,519 --> 00:44:27,480
table. But man like I would
be surprised. I would I think you

672
00:44:27,519 --> 00:44:32,760
would need to see the Clippers like
go a way smaller and just oh,

673
00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:37,480
Gafford and Lively can't can't handle this, which seemed like I don't know if

674
00:44:37,639 --> 00:44:42,639
Dallas would have to like lose a
game in a convincing way. I think

675
00:44:42,719 --> 00:44:46,599
before they went away from like having
certainly Gaffered in the first unit and Lively

676
00:44:46,639 --> 00:44:50,480
after that, maybe Lively as a
like becomes a rookie all of a sudden

677
00:44:50,519 --> 00:44:53,440
again like we can't trust him defensively, Like he becomes the rookie he should

678
00:44:53,480 --> 00:44:58,039
have been all year. It was
better than that. That's where skin I

679
00:44:58,079 --> 00:45:00,920
mean, injuries probably played a part
in this as well. But they almost

680
00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:05,360
made the active decision at the trade
deadline, which was we're gonna get Gafford,

681
00:45:05,559 --> 00:45:07,840
so that Derek likely remains effective because
his role is going to be scaled

682
00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:15,760
down. True, yeah, right, No, I think I mean which

683
00:45:15,840 --> 00:45:22,239
defense? So do you think that
the MAVs becoming an awesome defense is more

684
00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:28,119
real than the Clippers becoming a horrendous
defense? Yes, and so I'm gonna

685
00:45:28,360 --> 00:45:30,960
they just don't. I said,
which is more real? You said,

686
00:45:30,039 --> 00:45:32,480
yes, you have to pick.
Oh. Oh, I think it's dallas

687
00:45:32,719 --> 00:45:39,119
Is defense is more is more real
than the Clipper Okay, like Dallas's defense

688
00:45:39,159 --> 00:45:43,440
to me, and part of this
is and maybe I'm looking at it through

689
00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:45,239
the lens of this series too,
but just like the Clippers in transition all

690
00:45:45,320 --> 00:45:49,719
year, their commitment to getting back
is waxed and waned and they just don't

691
00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:52,800
have you know, if you're gonna
they just don't. I mentioned the athleticism

692
00:45:52,840 --> 00:45:57,840
explosion. They just don't have that
ability to get back and make up the

693
00:45:57,880 --> 00:46:00,239
difference. And then it also just
gets really tough. I mentioned this screen

694
00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:02,320
navigation, like, Okay, Kawhi
can still be Kawhi, and same with

695
00:46:02,400 --> 00:46:06,719
PG and Terrence Man's okay, but
he's not a great defender. And then

696
00:46:06,760 --> 00:46:09,840
you're gonna have these like there's been
a drop off from Russell Westbrook defensively over

697
00:46:09,880 --> 00:46:13,960
the past, like whatever it's been. And then you have James Harden,

698
00:46:13,960 --> 00:46:17,519
who's probably gonna play I would assume
a bunch of minutes or so it And

699
00:46:17,519 --> 00:46:21,760
then I look at Dallas and specifically
through the lens of this series, the

700
00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:23,920
way that Kawhi gets his points.
Now, it's just like who on this

701
00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:28,440
team And even with what James Harden
is doing and how reluctant it feels like

702
00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:32,679
he is to take like shots inside
the arc, basically they're almost set up

703
00:46:32,679 --> 00:46:37,039
to defend this team perfectly because you
have PJ. Washington, who's just super

704
00:46:37,119 --> 00:46:40,199
what is the word strong? And
so it's like if Kawhi isn't gonna try

705
00:46:40,199 --> 00:46:43,960
and get by you, and you
don't have to worry about James Harden having

706
00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:47,760
that kind of speed anymore, who
is the player that is punishing there any

707
00:46:47,760 --> 00:46:52,360
of their individual matchups, right,
Because you'd normally say, well, let's

708
00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:55,480
let's get Luca involved in every defensive
possession we can, let's try to wear

709
00:46:55,559 --> 00:46:59,400
him down, but like the mass
have been hiding him all year if they

710
00:46:59,400 --> 00:47:01,320
know how to do it, and
like to your point, I don't know

711
00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:06,320
that you have the guy that's gonna
like really punish Luca or Kyrie for that

712
00:47:06,360 --> 00:47:09,119
matter, Whereas you've got Harden on
the other side, you've got Kawhi that

713
00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:13,639
like maybe isn't gonna be in the
best physical condition, Like you don't go

714
00:47:13,679 --> 00:47:16,400
at Kawhi. But it's like,
I think some of the things we'd normally

715
00:47:16,400 --> 00:47:21,119
worry about with Dallas's defenders, you
actually can worry about, like more realistically

716
00:47:21,119 --> 00:47:24,159
with the Clippers defenders. Do you
have anything else on this one or should

717
00:47:24,159 --> 00:47:30,360
we because it's just that you defend
the like are you kinda like because it's

718
00:47:30,599 --> 00:47:34,440
and this one gets interesting where Dallas
is. So they have Derek Jones Junior,

719
00:47:34,719 --> 00:47:37,719
they have Dante Axim and they have
Tim Hardaway Junior. And that feels

720
00:47:37,719 --> 00:47:42,159
like if we're rounding out the fifth
member of these baseline lineups, it feels

721
00:47:42,159 --> 00:47:44,719
like those three are going to be
the top candidates. Maybe you see some

722
00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:50,320
Josh Green sprinkled in with Luca,
Kyrie, PJ. Washington and then Big

723
00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:55,920
X. I'm wondering if the Clippers
want to let's say they want to just

724
00:47:55,920 --> 00:48:00,360
be able to switch the Luka Doncriche
pick and roll, if does that factor

725
00:48:00,400 --> 00:48:04,400
in the Dallas's line decision making where
oh, if they want to try and

726
00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:07,800
have Zubots playoff of an exemmer Derek
Jones Junior or Tim Hardaway Junior is being

727
00:48:07,840 --> 00:48:13,360
super streaky that night, that's something
they could try. So, like,

728
00:48:13,519 --> 00:48:16,800
I'm wondering if that influence is enough. I missed my other long winded way

729
00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:22,000
of saying I feel very confident in
the MAVs for this series, and it's

730
00:48:22,119 --> 00:48:25,360
very unsettling, not that I have
disrespect for that, but just harkening back

731
00:48:25,639 --> 00:48:30,360
to that Clipper stretch for like like
thirty games or whatever, there was like

732
00:48:30,039 --> 00:48:34,320
are they the best team in the
West. Yeah, I mean they were.

733
00:48:34,440 --> 00:48:37,960
They were for like thirty games.
That's not nothing, But yeah,

734
00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:40,639
I mean in the other like you
mentioned it at the top, like if

735
00:48:40,719 --> 00:48:45,039
Kawhi Leonard is not the best player
in this series then and like, and

736
00:48:45,079 --> 00:48:49,679
that's a high bar considering who is
involved in this series. The Clippers,

737
00:48:49,719 --> 00:48:52,960
I don't think have a realistic chance. And so if he's like not even

738
00:48:52,960 --> 00:48:55,800
going to help at all player in
the series, and they have a realistic

739
00:48:55,840 --> 00:49:00,599
chance, but the fact that we
can't necessarily guarantee that because of the knee

740
00:49:00,599 --> 00:49:05,360
stuff is just right. Yeah,
that's what That's what I'm saying, Like

741
00:49:05,880 --> 00:49:08,639
we've we've we've done a good job
of acting like there are more to consider

742
00:49:08,639 --> 00:49:12,880
in this series than the one thing
that really matters, which is is Kauwhi

743
00:49:12,960 --> 00:49:15,760
going to be on the floor unhealthy
and like look like all nba Kawhi.

744
00:49:16,280 --> 00:49:20,159
That's that's all this is, Like
we're not going to do this for every

745
00:49:20,199 --> 00:49:22,760
series, but because there is an
injury and because it is Kauhi, because

746
00:49:22,800 --> 00:49:27,360
we have seen Kauwhi be the best
player in a series over and over until

747
00:49:27,360 --> 00:49:31,320
he gets hurt, Like that's the
most like that's the dispositive issue for this

748
00:49:31,360 --> 00:49:34,920
series, I think, or at
least like no, because you know what,

749
00:49:35,119 --> 00:49:37,000
the MAVs could still beat the Clippers
of Kauai is like really good and

750
00:49:37,039 --> 00:49:39,320
healthy, Like that's on the table. But if he's not, That's what

751
00:49:39,360 --> 00:49:45,440
I was going to ask you.
Let's say Kawhi is Kauhi are very close

752
00:49:45,480 --> 00:49:47,920
to it? The Kauhi we've seed
this season. How does that actually influence

753
00:49:47,960 --> 00:49:52,320
the what becomes your biggest concern then
for the MAVs in terms of influencing this

754
00:49:52,400 --> 00:49:55,760
series? Yeah, well I then
it just goes back to all the stuff

755
00:49:55,760 --> 00:50:00,679
we talked about all the lineup changes, you know, like how do you

756
00:50:00,719 --> 00:50:05,719
And I'm just it almost comes down
to it feels like James Harden or Paul

757
00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:07,960
George needs to figure out a way
to beat the Mavericks then, because I

758
00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:14,280
still feel like having PJ Washington,
even having Maxi Kleiba, like going up

759
00:50:14,320 --> 00:50:16,280
against this version of even the peak
version of Kawhi and the way he likes

760
00:50:16,320 --> 00:50:21,719
to score. It doesn't require the
same type of defender to at least say,

761
00:50:22,320 --> 00:50:23,800
go on, Kawhi, we don't
actually need to send you a ton

762
00:50:23,800 --> 00:50:27,920
of help. And then so does
that fall to and even they do,

763
00:50:27,960 --> 00:50:30,199
then it's gonna fall to Paul George
and James Harden anyway. And I know

764
00:50:30,280 --> 00:50:35,519
Harden's had some good first round series, which this is, but I I

765
00:50:35,519 --> 00:50:40,320
don't know. I'm I'm just unsettled
by how much my feelings have plunged on

766
00:50:40,360 --> 00:50:44,639
the Clippers, which makes me think
that I have So I have Dallas in

767
00:50:44,800 --> 00:50:50,119
six, So I also have Dallas
in six. But this could just be

768
00:50:50,199 --> 00:50:53,000
a sweep if is not, you
know, don't you think, I mean,

769
00:50:53,079 --> 00:50:58,840
like, because yeah, if he's
not Hell, if he doesn't play

770
00:50:58,880 --> 00:51:01,159
obviously, then like what are we
even talking about. But if he's if

771
00:51:01,159 --> 00:51:06,719
he's just you know, is somehow
limited. I just I don't. I

772
00:51:06,920 --> 00:51:08,880
mean it's priced into the six.
I guess, like the other thing that's

773
00:51:08,920 --> 00:51:13,239
not being talked about, James r. Did not exactly close out the regular

774
00:51:13,280 --> 00:51:16,400
season a banner stretch himself. So
if you're getting that version of James Harden

775
00:51:16,599 --> 00:51:23,000
coupled with a hobbled, reduced or
no Kawhi Leonard at all, Paul George

776
00:51:23,079 --> 00:51:27,119
might as well you are New York
Nick. Congratulations, Paul George, come

777
00:51:27,159 --> 00:51:30,079
on down. Yeah, no,
I acually we landed in the same place

778
00:51:30,079 --> 00:51:35,880
there. Should we finish out the
West before we moved to the East.

779
00:51:36,119 --> 00:51:38,760
Do you have a strong preference?
I this is your show, all right,

780
00:51:38,840 --> 00:51:44,400
let's do Denver Lakers. I'm not
sure what all to say about this.

781
00:51:44,519 --> 00:51:47,079
Anyone listening to us, I'm sure
is aware that the Nuggets have one

782
00:51:47,079 --> 00:51:53,599
to eighth straight, that Jamal Murray
went bananas in the series they played against

783
00:51:53,599 --> 00:51:59,280
the Lakers last year. The Lakers
have well here, I'll just jump right

784
00:51:59,320 --> 00:52:01,599
to my like one thing, because
I mean, we can't spend that long

785
00:52:01,639 --> 00:52:07,519
in the series. I don't think
we will surprise ourselves. Gabe Vincent is

786
00:52:07,639 --> 00:52:13,079
like insanely important to this series because
when you look at like, what are

787
00:52:13,079 --> 00:52:15,119
they gonna do? What do the
Lakers do with Jamal Murray? Like D'Angelo

788
00:52:15,199 --> 00:52:19,440
Russell, that's someone else we can
talk about. Uh can't guard him.

789
00:52:19,599 --> 00:52:22,840
Austin Reeves can't guard him. Your
Toryan Prince can't guard anybody. Like if

790
00:52:22,840 --> 00:52:28,000
anyone is gonna chane Waal Murray,
it's gonna be Gay Vincent from like what

791
00:52:28,039 --> 00:52:31,159
he did last year. And I'm
wildly uncomfortable saying, like Gabe Vincent,

792
00:52:31,239 --> 00:52:35,239
he's up for it, he's healthy, he's ready, Like I love Gay

793
00:52:35,320 --> 00:52:37,400
Vincent. We talked about Gay Vincent
many times. I always say good things.

794
00:52:38,159 --> 00:52:42,039
I mean, he's the like,
he's the guy. Because if he

795
00:52:42,119 --> 00:52:45,960
can't guard Jamal Murray, they don't
have a body to do that. Uh,

796
00:52:45,400 --> 00:52:49,960
Darvin Ham rejects everything you just said
it because the answer is Torrian Prince

797
00:52:51,559 --> 00:52:54,079
always or Cam Reddish. That's gonna
be man. The Cam Reddish card is

798
00:52:54,119 --> 00:52:58,400
going to be played at some point
in Lakers is gonna be probably pissed.

799
00:52:58,760 --> 00:53:04,920
So yeah, it's this is very
clearly going to be if the Nuggets don't

800
00:53:04,920 --> 00:53:07,039
win this series. My first reaction
would be like, well, who kidnapped

801
00:53:07,079 --> 00:53:12,480
Nicole Jokic? Right? Yeah?
And did Johntay Someone asked Johntay Porter if

802
00:53:12,480 --> 00:53:15,440
he had money on this series and
was trying to influence it. So my

803
00:53:15,480 --> 00:53:19,880
I'm trying to look at it through. I'm just what could what is your

804
00:53:19,920 --> 00:53:22,400
actual concerns for Denver in this series? And I have I was trying to

805
00:53:22,400 --> 00:53:27,519
figure out some as an exercise to
go through this. I have like a

806
00:53:27,599 --> 00:53:34,360
couple and so it's are you gonna
get enough offensive involvement and effectiveness and even

807
00:53:34,480 --> 00:53:40,119
volume just from the like the I
call it that like the fifth member of

808
00:53:40,159 --> 00:53:44,480
the unit. But it's not where
it's okay if Aaron Gordon is gonna play

809
00:53:44,480 --> 00:53:45,400
the fivers just be on the court
at all. If we know what he

810
00:53:45,440 --> 00:53:47,519
could do as a playmaker, but
is it gonna be willing to, you

811
00:53:47,519 --> 00:53:52,119
know, take those drives to take
some of those threes? What about Christian

812
00:53:52,119 --> 00:53:53,360
Brown? We know what he could
do as a cutter, Like are you

813
00:53:53,360 --> 00:53:58,440
gonna get enough shooting and activity on
offense from him? And even Peyton Watson

814
00:53:58,480 --> 00:54:00,639
because those are guys that you're gonna
lean on and if you don't, that

815
00:54:00,679 --> 00:54:05,679
does mess with some of the stuff
you're doing, and then like kind of

816
00:54:05,679 --> 00:54:09,400
the other thing is And I'm not
trying to feed into the the Lakers always

817
00:54:09,440 --> 00:54:15,800
get the calls machine. But Lebron
James is catching shoot three pointers really opened

818
00:54:15,840 --> 00:54:19,960
up his driving game this season,
the pull up three pointers not falling,

819
00:54:20,079 --> 00:54:22,800
so like maybe the Nuggets won't care
about sitting on him a little bit.

820
00:54:23,960 --> 00:54:27,840
But like, if you get into
foul trouble, like if Aaron Gordon or

821
00:54:27,920 --> 00:54:31,679
Jokic get into foul trouble because of
defending or going up against contesting Lebron James

822
00:54:31,760 --> 00:54:36,000
or even Anthony Davis, that's just
something where it's, oh, okay,

823
00:54:36,119 --> 00:54:37,880
if what if there's a game where
those two dudes are in foul trouble at

824
00:54:37,880 --> 00:54:40,599
the same time, and it's,
oh my god, is this a Zeke

825
00:54:40,639 --> 00:54:44,880
najy Night all of a sudden?
This is a DeAndre Jordan Knight all of

826
00:54:44,880 --> 00:54:47,119
a sudden. That's yeah, But
that's in the grand scheme of things we're

827
00:54:47,159 --> 00:54:51,920
talking about. That's a game.
If that happens where both of them are

828
00:54:51,920 --> 00:54:55,760
in foul trouble, I can bet
Nuggets Twitter will be live with conspiracy theories.

829
00:54:58,960 --> 00:55:00,840
No, I think that's right.
Yeah, it's interesting. You have

830
00:55:00,880 --> 00:55:04,400
to almost look at like you can't
just think about the context of this series,

831
00:55:04,480 --> 00:55:07,719
like what are the nitpickiest problems the
Nuggets have. It's like, well,

832
00:55:07,239 --> 00:55:09,960
I mean they might have to play
DeAndre Jordan like that, that would

833
00:55:09,960 --> 00:55:13,559
be bad for this series. But
it's like none of it is specific to

834
00:55:13,599 --> 00:55:15,119
the matchup, and it's just like
it's hard. It's hard. We're like,

835
00:55:15,159 --> 00:55:17,519
there's not the Nuggets are gonna win
the series. I think they'll win

836
00:55:17,559 --> 00:55:22,719
it easily. I think everyone thinks
that. I guess. Like so,

837
00:55:22,320 --> 00:55:27,000
of the four games that the Nuggets
won in the playoffs last year against the

838
00:55:27,079 --> 00:55:31,079
Lakers, three of them were within
six points, like six point margins and

839
00:55:31,159 --> 00:55:36,440
so, and the general tenor of
most of those games were it's pretty close.

840
00:55:36,559 --> 00:55:38,760
The Lakers are competing, like they
have the size, like they're one

841
00:55:38,760 --> 00:55:43,519
of the rare teams with the size
to bother the Nuggets, and then the

842
00:55:43,599 --> 00:55:45,519
Nuggets would just win the games and
crunch time because they'd go to the Murray

843
00:55:45,559 --> 00:55:47,960
Jokic two man game, and that
would just be like the Lakers have no

844
00:55:49,000 --> 00:55:52,159
answer because nobody does, and that's
how the games get won. So it's

845
00:55:52,199 --> 00:55:53,280
like, on the one hand,
you'd say, well, they held the

846
00:55:53,320 --> 00:55:58,320
Lakers were close, like clutch games
are subject to like the vagaries of luck,

847
00:55:58,360 --> 00:56:00,360
and we you know, clutch record
doesn't carry over from one year to

848
00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:02,440
the next. So the fact that
the games were in the clutch at all

849
00:56:02,559 --> 00:56:06,079
means that like, yeah, they've
lost eight straight, but like they're in

850
00:56:06,119 --> 00:56:07,719
it. They have a shot.
You know, they had a shot for

851
00:56:07,719 --> 00:56:12,599
forty three minutes or whatever of the
game. But then it's like if the

852
00:56:12,679 --> 00:56:16,599
Nuggets just consistently flip the switch against
a playoff opponent and just win games late

853
00:56:16,599 --> 00:56:20,519
because they can, like that cuts
the other way. So I don't know,

854
00:56:20,719 --> 00:56:22,360
if you're looking for rays of hope, the fact that some of the

855
00:56:22,360 --> 00:56:28,079
games were close like qualifies as one, but also it might just also completely

856
00:56:28,320 --> 00:56:30,320
like negate any chance the Lakers have, because when the Nuggets get serious the

857
00:56:30,360 --> 00:56:35,199
game's over, they're probably smarter basketball
minds than us, who can find the

858
00:56:35,320 --> 00:56:38,679
thinnest of functional silver linings. Here. One of the things I keep coming

859
00:56:38,719 --> 00:56:42,880
back to, though, is even
if certain things break right for the Lakers,

860
00:56:43,239 --> 00:56:47,039
I can't reconcile this idea that you
just need anthy is to guard Nakole

861
00:56:47,119 --> 00:56:52,320
Jokic and then it's gonna be trolled
when he's not averaging thirty five points a

862
00:56:52,360 --> 00:56:55,320
game on the offensive end, the
mental and physical toll it takes to just

863
00:56:55,360 --> 00:57:00,159
be the primary guy in Jokic then
have to cover up or try to for

864
00:57:00,199 --> 00:57:02,400
all this other stuff where it's the
Nuggets are like news flash, I bet

865
00:57:02,440 --> 00:57:05,360
you the Nuggets are. I don't
have the date on this, but they

866
00:57:05,440 --> 00:57:08,320
probably rank in the top three,
if not the top one of both off

867
00:57:08,400 --> 00:57:12,840
ball screen set and then just cuts
per game. And it's just like,

868
00:57:13,239 --> 00:57:16,079
who on the Lakers are you trying? I mean, okay, Lebron sometimes

869
00:57:16,079 --> 00:57:20,280
and Austin Reeves is not a terrible
defender, and you mentioned Kate Vincent is

870
00:57:20,360 --> 00:57:27,079
just like this is there are too
many like it's not even buttons to push.

871
00:57:27,079 --> 00:57:29,480
The Nuggets are gonna push all these
differs buttons. But it's just the

872
00:57:29,559 --> 00:57:34,920
talent and the balance just far exceeds
what the Lakers have. And the only

873
00:57:34,960 --> 00:57:38,199
thing I'll be here for, like
any takes on the grand scheme of the

874
00:57:38,280 --> 00:57:42,760
Lakers after this, with Lebron getting
older, having the player option, what

875
00:57:42,880 --> 00:57:45,639
I really don't want to see unless
he just gets I mean, he's banged

876
00:57:45,719 --> 00:57:49,119
up now, but he's always banged
up unless he just sucks something off of

877
00:57:49,119 --> 00:57:52,000
at both ends. I would like
us to keep Anthony Davis' performance in perspective,

878
00:57:52,239 --> 00:57:54,519
and I would like that to do
this with anyone who basically is tasked

879
00:57:54,519 --> 00:57:59,039
with defending Nikola Jokics and then needs
to be the second best or third even

880
00:57:59,039 --> 00:58:01,239
like the third best offense player on
his own team. But the Anthony Davis

881
00:58:01,280 --> 00:58:05,400
discourse about disappearing. I understand,
he's the superstar. You need to wear

882
00:58:05,440 --> 00:58:08,920
all these different hats. But just
like my brain bet like twisting to a

883
00:58:08,960 --> 00:58:14,119
pretzel trying to think about even one
or two things Nicole Jokic could do.

884
00:58:14,239 --> 00:58:15,599
And then if I have the responsibility
you having to cover up for all these

885
00:58:15,599 --> 00:58:19,440
other like you know, defensive,
I don't know. I don't want to

886
00:58:19,480 --> 00:58:22,320
use the word liabilities, which is
god that are just I feel like the

887
00:58:22,400 --> 00:58:25,679
Nuggets are gonna put the Lakers half
court defense into a meat grinder. And

888
00:58:27,000 --> 00:58:30,880
even if you think, let's just
say Anthony Davis plays like the second best

889
00:58:31,079 --> 00:58:34,960
best defensive player in the world,
which is fully capable of doing, that's

890
00:58:35,000 --> 00:58:37,719
gonna make life really tough on Jokic, and the Nuggets are still gonna win

891
00:58:37,880 --> 00:58:43,159
five anyway. Like that's that's just
the amount of weapons and the like the

892
00:58:43,159 --> 00:58:49,199
the creativity and invention that they have
on the offensive end. Davis could get

893
00:58:49,280 --> 00:58:52,880
his ass kicked by Jokic up and
down the court in a four game sweep,

894
00:58:53,440 --> 00:58:59,360
and we could emerge from this series
still one convinced that Anthony Davis is

895
00:58:59,360 --> 00:59:02,400
the absolute best option to guard Nikola
Jokic. Like it just so happens that

896
00:59:02,519 --> 00:59:07,159
Tim bam right. Well, no, I just mean, like that just

897
00:59:07,199 --> 00:59:15,400
speaks to there isn't anyone like the
best option, the unlock everything about defending

898
00:59:15,480 --> 00:59:17,920
Nicole, the best option in the
league, which Davis may or may not

899
00:59:19,000 --> 00:59:22,519
be, I think he's in the
conversation, is still very likely to just

900
00:59:22,559 --> 00:59:25,360
get smashed. And like that's not
a knock on Davis, that is a

901
00:59:25,800 --> 00:59:29,559
that is just a feather in Yokic, just cap there's no one that can

902
00:59:29,599 --> 00:59:31,920
defend him because because if Davis can't
do it, no one can't. And

903
00:59:32,039 --> 00:59:35,800
Davis can't do it, So like
what do you want? Like I have

904
00:59:35,880 --> 00:59:37,199
him in five too. I don't
even know why I went five. I

905
00:59:37,320 --> 00:59:43,039
just like playing the way he is
is, I think you get a d

906
00:59:43,159 --> 00:59:46,440
LO game you will have a Lebron
game, you will have an Anthony Davis

907
00:59:46,480 --> 00:59:52,000
game. And I just feel like
the Lakers are better equipped to take one

908
00:59:52,039 --> 00:59:53,719
game from the Nuggets this year than
they were last year. Is that like

909
00:59:53,719 --> 00:59:58,119
they best line up like the rubyach
More, Austin Reeves, d Lo.

910
00:59:58,519 --> 01:00:00,039
There's just going to be a night
where I think that they haven't and maybe

911
01:00:00,039 --> 01:00:05,360
you get some shooting variants from Michael
Porter Junior hesitants from Aaron Gordon. If

912
01:00:05,360 --> 01:00:07,360
there are any Nuggets fans in the
comment section, I hope they cause haters

913
01:00:07,360 --> 01:00:10,760
for picking the Nuggets in Vibe instead
of before we mentioned d Loo, Like,

914
01:00:12,559 --> 01:00:15,800
lest we forget played off the floor
in the series last year, couldn't

915
01:00:15,840 --> 01:00:20,599
could like just couldn't stay on the
floor, signed to a contract designed to

916
01:00:20,639 --> 01:00:23,000
be traded, had a really good
year by his standards, Like will it

917
01:00:23,039 --> 01:00:27,920
be different? What will it be
any different? Because I can't, Which

918
01:00:27,960 --> 01:00:30,639
is why, because we're just so
far a field from this playoff series.

919
01:00:30,880 --> 01:00:36,800
The people that think the Lakers shouldn't
if if they can't have the ability to

920
01:00:36,800 --> 01:00:39,599
get them, shouldn't be in on
Trey Young or Donovan Mitchell because D'anelo Russell's

921
01:00:39,639 --> 01:00:45,880
playing it's dudes and dudets. We've
seen this motherfucking movie before where he's just

922
01:00:45,920 --> 01:00:49,480
gonna make you believe and then he's
gonna regress back into turbulence. If you

923
01:00:49,519 --> 01:00:51,559
have an opportunity to get one of
those guys, I don't care. The

924
01:00:51,599 --> 01:00:53,639
Lakers offense was. I think they
were seventh point score, pro possession or

925
01:00:53,639 --> 01:00:59,119
whatever out of the trade deadline or
All Star break or after the break for

926
01:00:59,519 --> 01:01:00,920
that, after the break, that's
great, your defense was asked during that

927
01:01:00,960 --> 01:01:07,119
time, by the way. Yeah, so I'm I'm just and kudos Todilo

928
01:01:07,199 --> 01:01:08,840
for playing this well. And it
might it might help him decline his player

929
01:01:08,840 --> 01:01:12,320
option and get paid from someone,
and that's someone is probably gonna be the

930
01:01:12,360 --> 01:01:16,000
Lakers at this point. But it's
I do think this might be a root

931
01:01:16,079 --> 01:01:20,760
awakening for that type of belief in
D'Angelo Russell, where it's what he could

932
01:01:20,800 --> 01:01:23,840
theoretically get played off the floor again
in this series. Yeah, that,

933
01:01:24,119 --> 01:01:29,000
I mean that should be the expectation. I honestly don't think that you can

934
01:01:29,039 --> 01:01:31,360
afford to do that, because then
your offense is just gonna creater and whereas

935
01:01:31,360 --> 01:01:36,960
you don't have any hope of stopping
the Nuggets. I just don't. I

936
01:01:36,960 --> 01:01:39,119
don't think you do. You do
have a hope of scoring on them towards

937
01:01:39,119 --> 01:01:42,760
that you can get them uncomfortable if
you get out in transition, which Lebron

938
01:01:42,800 --> 01:01:46,000
will still fucking freight train at almost
forty years old. That guy's incredible.

939
01:01:46,360 --> 01:01:52,039
Yeah, all right, very one
of Lebron James takes here. I don't

940
01:01:52,079 --> 01:01:54,719
have any more Lebron takes. All
right, Let's go to the Eastern Conference

941
01:01:55,199 --> 01:01:59,760
where we have another Would you like
to guess who the underdog is? This

942
01:01:59,840 --> 01:02:01,920
is the New York Knicks versus the
Philadelphia seventy six ers. You are too

943
01:02:02,280 --> 01:02:07,480
unbelievable, second seeded New York Knicks
against the number seven Philadelphia seventy six ers.

944
01:02:07,480 --> 01:02:12,039
Who's favored? I'm just gonna guess
the Sixers are at this. But

945
01:02:12,159 --> 01:02:14,360
just the way that you framed it, yeah, I know, it's it

946
01:02:14,480 --> 01:02:17,519
kind of takes the drama out of
it when I belabored two versus seven and

947
01:02:17,519 --> 01:02:23,840
then ask that question, A yeah, I mean I kind of get it

948
01:02:24,280 --> 01:02:30,480
just because so I have two questions
main questions with this series. How do

949
01:02:30,559 --> 01:02:37,039
the Knicks defend Joelle Embiid? And
it's just I'm assuming They're not gonna leave

950
01:02:37,079 --> 01:02:40,320
Isaiah Hartenstein all alone. But are
you playing like Josh hart going after him?

951
01:02:40,320 --> 01:02:43,840
We've seen og defend Embiid in the
past, not as a member of

952
01:02:43,840 --> 01:02:46,159
the Knicks, at least extensively,
I don't think. But then also the

953
01:02:46,199 --> 01:02:51,119
bigger thing for me is I'm assuming
the anti Mountain won't play, and if

954
01:02:51,119 --> 01:02:54,039
he does, we'll probably have like
a back brace on or something. Who

955
01:02:54,119 --> 01:02:58,559
knows what you're getting. But like
the Knicks offense is it's such in fury

956
01:02:59,000 --> 01:03:02,679
a disadvantage in the half court going
up against the Joelle Embiid team because he

957
01:03:02,719 --> 01:03:07,719
can really just erase the space in
which that Jalen Brunson wants to operate.

958
01:03:07,159 --> 01:03:10,079
And so if you're able to throw. I mean, did you watch like

959
01:03:10,199 --> 01:03:14,199
Kyle Lowry's defense during that playing game
against I know it was the heat,

960
01:03:14,280 --> 01:03:17,159
but just like dudes out there defending
his butt off, that was that was

961
01:03:17,159 --> 01:03:21,480
some raptors Kyle Lowry. All of
a sudden, I love Kyle Lowry.

962
01:03:21,519 --> 01:03:22,719
I know people don't like some of
them, like the gimmick y charges he

963
01:03:22,760 --> 01:03:27,920
takes. I love Kyle. I
would follow Kyle Lowry into hell. So

964
01:03:29,760 --> 01:03:32,360
and so I'm just like, so
you don't have Julius Randall, that shock

965
01:03:32,400 --> 01:03:37,199
creation is gone, and now there's
I know, Buyen bar Davitch was coming

966
01:03:37,239 --> 01:03:39,800
on and apparently playing with this risk
injury like now that he had the they

967
01:03:39,840 --> 01:03:45,000
called it like a scoping. That's
just making me wild one I would we

968
01:03:45,000 --> 01:03:46,400
we already questioned, well, how
much his tim's actually gonna play him.

969
01:03:46,840 --> 01:03:51,280
It was just just gonna look and
it's the starting five's just played forty seven

970
01:03:51,280 --> 01:03:54,159
minutes. But like that was I
thought. I called him the X factor

971
01:03:54,159 --> 01:03:58,079
for the Knicks because we thought at
the time Julie Randa wasn't gonna be back.

972
01:03:58,199 --> 01:04:00,119
He's not back, and like you
need it's not just the spacing,

973
01:04:00,159 --> 01:04:05,159
which, by the way, the
Knicks were third after the trade deadline in

974
01:04:05,480 --> 01:04:09,599
or All Star Break. I keep
forgetting my splits in three point a temper

975
01:04:09,679 --> 01:04:13,159
rade that is great and speaks to
the human volcano that is Dante Devincenzo.

976
01:04:13,639 --> 01:04:15,840
But just like and I know you
don't want to take Josh Hart off the

977
01:04:15,840 --> 01:04:17,280
floor, but he was. And
I love the term that you've used,

978
01:04:17,280 --> 01:04:23,039
like their skeleton key when looking at
it, saying they need someone else to

979
01:04:23,119 --> 01:04:26,800
can generate their own shot from different
levels, and no, he's not gonna

980
01:04:26,800 --> 01:04:29,199
get all the way in the basket
as like kind of a mid range scorer

981
01:04:29,440 --> 01:04:32,079
who can score in different capacities and
also just stretch defenses way for thin.

982
01:04:33,440 --> 01:04:38,280
The wrist stuff just has me wildly
uneasy now to where it's okay, well,

983
01:04:38,480 --> 01:04:44,679
who becomes that guy aside from Jalen
Brunson, and the answers are Dante

984
01:04:44,719 --> 01:04:50,559
DiVincenzo, and then who's the I'm
legitimately asking here after a DV who is

985
01:04:50,639 --> 01:04:55,920
the third best option to carry that
role? And I think predominantly the answer

986
01:04:56,000 --> 01:04:59,719
is going to be Josh Hart.
I feel like it's just a case for

987
01:04:59,760 --> 01:05:01,199
Deuce McBride at this point. I
don't want to see Alc Burks in this

988
01:05:01,239 --> 01:05:04,760
series. That's the I don't want
to see him at all. Well that

989
01:05:04,880 --> 01:05:08,159
yeah, I mean you're if your
question is like, what do you do

990
01:05:08,199 --> 01:05:11,119
with embiid if you're the Knicks.
My the thing I was focused on is

991
01:05:11,159 --> 01:05:14,000
just like, because there's a lot
of variables with with the Sixers, right

992
01:05:14,079 --> 01:05:17,039
like Embiid did not, i mean
put up some numbers against Miami and the

993
01:05:17,079 --> 01:05:21,800
playing game and and ultimately was good
enough, looked heavy, looked slow,

994
01:05:21,840 --> 01:05:25,800
looked tired, like that's going to
be a minute before he's you know,

995
01:05:25,880 --> 01:05:29,599
all the way back if that happens
at all. So yeah, there's questions

996
01:05:29,599 --> 01:05:32,119
there that the one thing I just
can't get over with get over on the

997
01:05:32,119 --> 01:05:36,280
other side of it is like if
you make Jalen Brunson get off the ball,

998
01:05:36,639 --> 01:05:41,159
like this is just your point packaged
another way, Like what do the

999
01:05:41,239 --> 01:05:44,440
Knicks do on offense? If you
get the ball out of it? Like

1000
01:05:44,840 --> 01:05:48,199
what other So few teams relied on
one guy to like make stuff happen on

1001
01:05:48,239 --> 01:05:53,039
offense like the Knicks did with Brunson. Like it's it's the same question where's

1002
01:05:53,079 --> 01:05:56,280
it coming from? Like how do
you score? If you, as the

1003
01:05:56,320 --> 01:06:00,119
Sixers, can blitz Brunson, can
force him into tough shots, make him

1004
01:06:00,119 --> 01:06:04,519
work, like just get it out
of his hands. That's like a handoffs

1005
01:06:04,639 --> 01:06:06,960
is what like what do we do? How are you going to score?

1006
01:06:08,280 --> 01:06:11,920
Like I love the high three point
volume. I think it favors the Knicks

1007
01:06:11,920 --> 01:06:15,159
if you turn this into like a
high variant series where you know you might

1008
01:06:15,199 --> 01:06:18,440
go eleven of like forty one from
three to one game, but you might

1009
01:06:18,440 --> 01:06:23,079
go like nineteen for thirty eight in
another one and you win that game,

1010
01:06:23,159 --> 01:06:26,679
and that's how you stay in the
series. It's just I don't know how

1011
01:06:26,719 --> 01:06:30,599
else the Knicks can reliably score.
But like it used to be if you

1012
01:06:30,599 --> 01:06:33,480
could count on Mitchell Robinson maybe to
get a bunch of offensive rebounds and spray

1013
01:06:33,519 --> 01:06:36,440
out for threes, like that was
such a calling card. But he's not

1014
01:06:36,519 --> 01:06:40,840
quite the same. And I think, just like buy and Large, you'd

1015
01:06:40,920 --> 01:06:44,000
rather have Hartenstein on the floor for
all the other stuff he does over Robinson,

1016
01:06:44,039 --> 01:06:48,960
so that like sort of supplementary offensive
generation is not there, I guess

1017
01:06:49,000 --> 01:06:54,360
if you're not playing Robinson that much. So yeah, I just I struggle

1018
01:06:54,400 --> 01:06:57,079
to see how the Knicks score.
If you can make Brunson get off the

1019
01:06:57,119 --> 01:07:00,800
ball, I think what helps is
that it will be hard. I would

1020
01:07:00,800 --> 01:07:04,559
assume, unless you're gonna put Joel
Embiid in compromising positions, it will be

1021
01:07:04,599 --> 01:07:10,039
harder to get Brunton off the ball
than if Deanthony Melton was healthy. Because

1022
01:07:10,079 --> 01:07:15,320
it's how how effective can Kyle Lowry
be for how many minutes per game over

1023
01:07:15,360 --> 01:07:16,440
the course of an entire series.
And then it's kind of like, all

1024
01:07:16,480 --> 01:07:20,039
right, you have Nicholas Betom and
if again, like I said, if

1025
01:07:20,079 --> 01:07:24,719
Melton's not gonna play, it's if
it's just a body thing. Then yeah,

1026
01:07:24,840 --> 01:07:27,760
you have Kellery Red Junior's mobile,
but he's not a good defender.

1027
01:07:27,800 --> 01:07:32,079
Tobias Harris can turn it on sometimes
defensively, so I but so that makes

1028
01:07:32,079 --> 01:07:34,480
you feel a little bit more comfortable. And then the bigger thing for me,

1029
01:07:34,559 --> 01:07:38,519
though, is we're talking about how
do you defend Joel Embiid. I

1030
01:07:38,559 --> 01:07:41,719
went through a roller course of emotions. Did you watch? I know you

1031
01:07:41,760 --> 01:07:44,440
watched, But so it was like
the second or third or maybe fifth possession

1032
01:07:44,440 --> 01:07:47,599
of the game, Joel Embiid just
attacking downhill against Miami. It was wide

1033
01:07:47,599 --> 01:07:50,440
open space, but the like,
just the way he got off the line,

1034
01:07:50,440 --> 01:07:54,039
I was like, oh, coming
out of a niscus injury, only

1035
01:07:54,079 --> 01:07:57,400
six games back or whatever it's been, that that's pretty good. And then

1036
01:07:57,400 --> 01:07:59,960
it just proceeds to like kind of
lay an egg the rest of the half,

1037
01:08:00,360 --> 01:08:02,559
right Joel, andbe's not Joel Embiid, And so that could help the

1038
01:08:02,599 --> 01:08:08,880
Knicks. And so if you frame
it this way, what's the better team

1039
01:08:09,280 --> 01:08:15,720
the Knicks with their lack of secondary
offensive weaponry let's call it, or the

1040
01:08:15,800 --> 01:08:21,880
Sixers with a windowed down, diluted
version of Joel Embiid, and I think

1041
01:08:21,920 --> 01:08:26,159
it's the Knicks, which is why
I'm gonna say Knicks and seven. This

1042
01:08:26,239 --> 01:08:30,640
feels like a very Ebb and Flow
series where there's just gonna be everything's gonna

1043
01:08:30,720 --> 01:08:35,359
unfold and miniature, where one game
may look completely different to compare to the

1044
01:08:35,399 --> 01:08:40,920
next, and there's never just this
these pattern or trends or something or someone

1045
01:08:41,000 --> 01:08:44,720
necessarily that you can bank on.
Yeah, I mean, I so I'm

1046
01:08:44,760 --> 01:08:49,479
going, uh, sixers in six
and that's only because I guess I have

1047
01:08:49,640 --> 01:08:56,119
more faith that Embiid might be like
playing himself into shape or might look a

1048
01:08:56,159 --> 01:08:58,640
little better than he did against Miami, which, by the way, Miami

1049
01:08:58,680 --> 01:09:00,560
played a bunch of weird zone and
like just gave him a bunch of different

1050
01:09:00,600 --> 01:09:06,079
looks that I don't know if the
Knicks are gonna do. So what we

1051
01:09:06,199 --> 01:09:10,720
know is the Sixers. To your
point, the Sixers without Embid were like

1052
01:09:10,800 --> 01:09:14,000
eleven and eighteen, and I think
they're like thirty one and eight with him,

1053
01:09:14,119 --> 01:09:16,479
So it's like they're in the middle
somewhere because they have Embid, but

1054
01:09:16,520 --> 01:09:19,720
they sort of don't really have EMBID. And I'm just skewing a little more

1055
01:09:19,760 --> 01:09:26,199
towards like you know, they have
they have him side of the spectrum than

1056
01:09:26,239 --> 01:09:29,800
the like him being out there and
being hobbled is not the same as just

1057
01:09:29,800 --> 01:09:32,279
not being there at all. So
I think they're not like they're not a

1058
01:09:32,319 --> 01:09:35,079
thirty one and eight team. They're
not that good. They're not the team

1059
01:09:35,079 --> 01:09:39,520
that was like second in the East
until he got hurt. But they're also

1060
01:09:39,640 --> 01:09:43,600
not the like seven games under five
hundred, like no chance to do anything

1061
01:09:43,600 --> 01:09:45,560
team. It's gonna be a long
series either way. I think you're totally

1062
01:09:45,640 --> 01:09:49,600
right, Like there will be games
where oh shit, like Brunson gospot ball

1063
01:09:49,960 --> 01:09:56,880
five, like Kelly you Bray had
seven steals, or like Hartenstein had eleven

1064
01:09:56,920 --> 01:09:59,840
assists because he kept hitting Devincenzo on
a short roll in the court, like

1065
01:10:00,000 --> 01:10:01,560
all kinds of you know, could
go all kinds of different ways. I

1066
01:10:01,560 --> 01:10:05,960
think, so this it cuts both
ways, So two different takes is even

1067
01:10:06,000 --> 01:10:12,159
a like lesser version of Joel Embiid
might be okay against the Knicks because I

1068
01:10:12,159 --> 01:10:15,359
don't think that they will defend him
the way the Heat did or other teams

1069
01:10:15,439 --> 01:10:17,439
might, and they'll just be if
they have to. If he has to

1070
01:10:17,439 --> 01:10:21,119
turn into a jump shooter. They'll
give him the space to do that,

1071
01:10:21,359 --> 01:10:26,399
and that's like he can do that, like kill you that way. But

1072
01:10:26,479 --> 01:10:30,239
the other thing is for the knickses, excuse me for the Knicks' behalf.

1073
01:10:30,479 --> 01:10:34,079
I do kind of feel like we're
under selling how inventive is too strong of

1074
01:10:34,119 --> 01:10:38,199
a word. But like Timms is
not known for getting giving a lot of

1075
01:10:38,199 --> 01:10:41,479
offensive runway, there's just been more
creativity there when you look at the way

1076
01:10:41,520 --> 01:10:46,399
that Dante DiVincenzo or Josh hart or
uh Oh Jana no we can get moving

1077
01:10:46,399 --> 01:10:49,279
off the ball, or the way
that they're using Isaiah Hartenstein where it's no

1078
01:10:49,279 --> 01:10:51,319
a right, like you're not getting
a ton of elbow touches, but like

1079
01:10:51,359 --> 01:10:55,359
we're still gonna give you the ball
and you can make plays happen. So

1080
01:10:55,399 --> 01:10:58,039
I think that bodes well for either
side, which will I have it being

1081
01:10:58,039 --> 01:11:01,960
a long series, the I'm ultimately
I think I'm ultimately a little bit more

1082
01:11:02,119 --> 01:11:05,760
unsettled by the idea of just mb
not being embiid to where we know that

1083
01:11:05,840 --> 01:11:11,359
the Knicks can overcome being with Some
fans might argue that they're better off without

1084
01:11:11,439 --> 01:11:15,079
Julius Randall because of his playoff track
record. Uh, and just that this

1085
01:11:15,239 --> 01:11:16,920
I don't think against a different team. If this were Cleveland, if this

1086
01:11:16,960 --> 01:11:20,479
were Orlando, I'd actually be I'd
just be way more concerned about how their

1087
01:11:20,479 --> 01:11:24,760
offense is going to function. Should
Jalen Brunton be forced to get rid of

1088
01:11:24,800 --> 01:11:28,840
the ball, because I don't know
that this Philly team without the Anthony Melton

1089
01:11:28,960 --> 01:11:34,520
has the like primary defensive talent to
do that enough. I mean, I

1090
01:11:34,600 --> 01:11:38,560
picked the sixers, but like,
I think at some point we need to

1091
01:11:38,640 --> 01:11:42,000
just acknowledge, like the Knicks didn't
fake their way to the number two seed

1092
01:11:42,079 --> 01:11:45,039
despite all the stuff they went through
and all the injuries and all the different

1093
01:11:45,039 --> 01:11:47,800
lineup. They you know, traded
a good chunk of the roster that og

1094
01:11:48,079 --> 01:11:50,520
was there and awesome and then out
and then back. And I think they're

1095
01:11:50,560 --> 01:11:55,479
twenty and three with Anonobi in the
lineup. That every single thing you see

1096
01:11:55,560 --> 01:11:58,000
is like the player with the first
twenty three games with this team, he

1097
01:11:58,079 --> 01:12:02,399
is the highest plus minus whatever the
thing? All right, go ahead,

1098
01:12:02,720 --> 01:12:05,399
No, I'm just gonna say,
I'm I don't want to. I'm belaboring

1099
01:12:05,399 --> 01:12:10,000
my own point. I'm playing devil's
after my own point is it might actually

1100
01:12:10,039 --> 01:12:14,239
be not easier. But like,
if Josh Hart is not really attacking downhill

1101
01:12:14,279 --> 01:12:15,920
quick enough, we're getting up threes
and he's going to be the one that's

1102
01:12:15,920 --> 01:12:18,800
in the lineup and the sixers are
just leaving him alone, then that's just

1103
01:12:18,840 --> 01:12:21,479
gonna be And it doesn't have to
be a good defender. You'll be able

1104
01:12:21,520 --> 01:12:26,399
to get the ball of Jelling Brunson. The series has so many just weird

1105
01:12:26,479 --> 01:12:30,560
layers to it. Yeah. Yeah, I was just gonna say, like,

1106
01:12:30,600 --> 01:12:32,199
at some point, and I'm not
doing this, we got to give

1107
01:12:32,239 --> 01:12:35,600
the Knicks credit for like figuring it
out over the course of the year and

1108
01:12:35,680 --> 01:12:40,119
ending up this high like that that
should suggest that they can figure this out

1109
01:12:40,159 --> 01:12:43,920
against the hobbled embiid. But of
course I'm not giving them that credit.

1110
01:12:43,920 --> 01:12:47,520
I got six. We differed on
well, we were together on Lakers Nuggets,

1111
01:12:47,520 --> 01:12:51,359
and we were together on Clippers MAVs, but we differed on three of

1112
01:12:51,399 --> 01:12:55,960
the five series we've done. So
two of the yeah, yeah, no,

1113
01:12:56,039 --> 01:12:59,800
Phoenix Minnesota were different, although not
that different because like we're both going

1114
01:12:59,840 --> 01:13:02,960
so or seven. Uh, I
think this, so the last two actually,

1115
01:13:03,560 --> 01:13:06,439
I don't know what you're I don't
have a sense of where you're going

1116
01:13:06,479 --> 01:13:16,800
with these let's do Bucks Pacers?
So fucked this one? Uh? The

1117
01:13:16,840 --> 01:13:21,840
Bucks as I want to double check
because I think we've had Oh my god,

1118
01:13:23,159 --> 01:13:27,640
the Pacers are favored in this series. Now it's close minus one thirty

1119
01:13:27,640 --> 01:13:30,439
two. The Bucks are plus one
oh six. I'm really surprised to see

1120
01:13:30,439 --> 01:13:34,520
that when I put this together,
I don't know yesterday it was Bucks minus

1121
01:13:34,520 --> 01:13:41,399
one twenty Wow. Man, Yeah, it's just Yannis story. Is Yannis

1122
01:13:41,680 --> 01:13:48,479
good Yan is important? It's a
shame that what so the cat injury is

1123
01:13:48,520 --> 01:13:53,039
not on this level because he's been
back, but it's like the Kauhi injury,

1124
01:13:53,760 --> 01:13:58,920
the Yannis injury em beads health Like
it's a bummer that we have,

1125
01:13:59,079 --> 01:14:00,880
like the what that's the most important
thing in this series? Like, oh,

1126
01:14:00,880 --> 01:14:03,319
well, who's gonna play drop?
It's like no, it's is this

1127
01:14:03,359 --> 01:14:06,079
guy going to be healthy or not? And with the honest it sounds like

1128
01:14:06,359 --> 01:14:10,920
not so good? Right? What
did WOJ say? They're preparing to be

1129
01:14:11,000 --> 01:14:14,079
without him at least for game one. I don't know what the timeline is

1130
01:14:14,439 --> 01:14:17,880
or if you've seen one, but
uh, it's just it changes everything.

1131
01:14:18,640 --> 01:14:23,000
And I can understand why the Pacers
are favored. So should we discuss this

1132
01:14:23,079 --> 01:14:26,600
as if Giannis is gonna play?
Or do you have like thoughts you could

1133
01:14:26,600 --> 01:14:29,760
give me that are not specific to
whether he does or doesn't play. There's

1134
01:14:29,920 --> 01:14:32,399
some stuff, you know, we
can talk about, transition stuff. I

1135
01:14:32,399 --> 01:14:36,960
don't know. I'm just look at
it. I don't actually know how to

1136
01:14:38,000 --> 01:14:42,039
cover this one without knowing whether Jannis
is gonna play. I do think so.

1137
01:14:42,119 --> 01:14:45,680
I was listening to Samson I feel
like Caitlin Cooper of basketball, she

1138
01:14:45,720 --> 01:14:48,279
wrote, and Samson Folk had been
collaborating together for the series, which,

1139
01:14:48,279 --> 01:14:53,359
by the way I listened to there
was an hour plus preview of this series,

1140
01:14:53,840 --> 01:14:58,159
and I was I want to make
it clear that there's a compliment listening

1141
01:14:58,520 --> 01:15:00,600
and taking everything they say. It
makes me never want to invite them on

1142
01:15:00,640 --> 01:15:04,720
the show again because I'm just so
far like I can't do what they're doing

1143
01:15:04,880 --> 01:15:09,359
justice and I feel like they're just
talking to a wall or basic a hole,

1144
01:15:09,479 --> 01:15:12,600
blog boy, a hole at that
point. So good. I'd recommend

1145
01:15:12,600 --> 01:15:15,039
if anyone hasn't checked it out,
go check it out right now. It's

1146
01:15:15,079 --> 01:15:17,359
on YouTube, or go subscribe to
the best Ball, she wrote Patreon.

1147
01:15:18,359 --> 01:15:23,199
They covered it as Yiannis will play
at some point. And I think that's

1148
01:15:23,239 --> 01:15:27,119
the way to look at this series
is whether we think, Okay, will

1149
01:15:27,199 --> 01:15:30,960
Yannis be this or that I would
be I mean, maybe if he's slated

1150
01:15:30,000 --> 01:15:31,800
to miss the first two games,
then all of a sudden, oh hey

1151
01:15:32,239 --> 01:15:34,399
and he has up too. Oh, that's when you make the call.

1152
01:15:34,720 --> 01:15:39,039
But there's just too much at stake
here, and he's not the type of

1153
01:15:39,039 --> 01:15:42,680
player. I'm not saying he should
play through and risk further injury, but

1154
01:15:42,720 --> 01:15:45,680
I would expect him to play at
some point this series. I don't know

1155
01:15:45,760 --> 01:15:50,159
where you're at with that. I
just have no idea. It seems it's

1156
01:15:50,199 --> 01:15:56,279
the type of thing where I gotta
believe it's gonna be almost impossible to like,

1157
01:15:56,399 --> 01:15:58,439
if you put it up to him, he would probably play Game one,

1158
01:15:58,880 --> 01:16:01,319
you know, like that kind of
thing. But like, this is

1159
01:16:01,359 --> 01:16:03,640
also the type of thing where if
it were in the regular season, don't

1160
01:16:03,640 --> 01:16:06,159
you think this would be like three
weeks, no problem, Like you just

1161
01:16:06,239 --> 01:16:10,399
wouldn't. It wouldn't even be close. So we're again gonna deal with like

1162
01:16:10,439 --> 01:16:15,039
a hobbled version of him, and
so the Bucks become easier to defend either

1163
01:16:15,119 --> 01:16:16,680
way in theory, right, it's
either you have a half hobbled version of

1164
01:16:16,760 --> 01:16:19,960
Yannis or no Jannice at all.
And the point that they made, and

1165
01:16:20,000 --> 01:16:23,239
I was very curious to see how
they had thought on this, or at

1166
01:16:23,359 --> 01:16:26,319
least Caitlin had made that they were
going to see a lot of Aaron nee

1167
01:16:26,319 --> 01:16:30,640
Smith on Jannis to begin with,
and not leave that to like maybe Siakam

1168
01:16:30,640 --> 01:16:33,880
coming in is the help. And
so the fact that now if you don't

1169
01:16:34,079 --> 01:16:39,319
now for Sudde're just looking at this
and it's Bobby Portis on the court instead

1170
01:16:39,319 --> 01:16:42,960
of Jannis or Jake Crowder on the
court instead of Yannis. And by the

1171
01:16:43,000 --> 01:16:46,640
way, Indy quietly I mean not
quietly, I'm sure in the Ani market

1172
01:16:46,680 --> 01:16:51,159
just ticking up defensively with Pascal Siakam. And when you look at just the

1173
01:16:51,279 --> 01:16:56,800
data of having Halle Nie Smith,
Siakam and turn around the court together,

1174
01:16:56,880 --> 01:17:00,800
those four guys a plus nine point
eight net rating, defensive rating in the

1175
01:17:00,840 --> 01:17:03,960
ninety second percentile, offensive rating in
the seventy nine percentile, and just that

1176
01:17:04,079 --> 01:17:08,760
gets you know, whether it's Andrew
Nemhar that's gonna be there, they have

1177
01:17:08,760 --> 01:17:12,880
a lot of different defensive options at
their disposal, especially if Giannis isn't playing

1178
01:17:12,880 --> 01:17:15,479
because you look at that, and
between Nemhar just being able to guard I'm

1179
01:17:15,520 --> 01:17:19,520
just gonna say all eighty positions in
existence, but Aaron E. Smith being

1180
01:17:19,520 --> 01:17:24,520
able to guard up and handing that
physicality, Siakam's ability to like he's not

1181
01:17:25,039 --> 01:17:27,079
quite a wing, but he sized
like a wing. He can defend some

1182
01:17:27,119 --> 01:17:30,079
wings, we can defend some bigs, and he could really disrupt if he's

1183
01:17:30,439 --> 01:17:32,880
playing away from the ball. And
then just Miles Turner still being mostly Miles

1184
01:17:32,920 --> 01:17:39,159
Turner. That's just four ridiculously good
defensive players and we haven't gotten TJ.

1185
01:17:39,239 --> 01:17:42,920
McConnell will give you ball pressure and
is as we've said, the best isolation

1186
01:17:43,000 --> 01:17:45,399
score in the history of basketball now. And then just even Jaris Walker.

1187
01:17:45,399 --> 01:17:48,199
I don't know what type of role
he plays in this series, but he's

1188
01:17:48,239 --> 01:17:55,640
shown the ability to really move around
positionally and have like this disruptive and even

1189
01:17:55,640 --> 01:18:01,520
I would say even keeled defensive performance. I just I'm gonna throw this to

1190
01:18:01,600 --> 01:18:11,119
you. Jannis will play Game two
and beyond. I still have a feeling

1191
01:18:11,159 --> 01:18:16,039
that it's just Pacers in five.
I'm looking at this team and there's been

1192
01:18:16,039 --> 01:18:19,920
moments when they've played without Giannis where
Dame looks like Dame and the fact that,

1193
01:18:20,680 --> 01:18:25,439
like, I think the most off
thing about Damian Lillard's game this year

1194
01:18:25,520 --> 01:18:29,960
has been his jumper and his high
quality like looks, and you would expect

1195
01:18:29,960 --> 01:18:31,520
that to normalize at some point,
right, And so that's almost a good

1196
01:18:31,560 --> 01:18:34,840
sign. And we've seen some good
moments from Bobby Porter stepping up and then

1197
01:18:34,840 --> 01:18:40,640
certain again lineups without Yannis in them, but just Chris Middleton on defense this

1198
01:18:40,720 --> 01:18:44,039
year. Their defensive options in general, Patrick Beverly doesn't move me. I

1199
01:18:44,039 --> 01:18:46,880
think Molie Beasley's played better on that
end of the floor. Their transition defense

1200
01:18:46,960 --> 01:18:49,920
is better under Doc. Are they
gonna be ready for this version of the

1201
01:18:49,920 --> 01:18:54,840
Pacers where even when they've slowed things
down with Pascal Siakam, they're still fucking

1202
01:18:54,960 --> 01:19:00,760
blur? I just I that's extreme. If Giannis is playing game, I

1203
01:19:00,800 --> 01:19:02,439
don't know if I'm going Pacers in
five. My pick is Pacers in five.

1204
01:19:02,800 --> 01:19:09,119
This just feels like a things fall
apart moment for Milwaukee. Yeah,

1205
01:19:09,319 --> 01:19:14,720
this so I feel like I'm gonna
change my pick now. I just want

1206
01:19:14,760 --> 01:19:16,119
to get I want to talk out
a couple more and I intimidate, did

1207
01:19:16,159 --> 01:19:19,119
you have like bucks and seven or
something? That's like d Dan just predict

1208
01:19:19,159 --> 01:19:23,439
a gentleman's no. So I don't
want to tell you what I had.

1209
01:19:24,319 --> 01:19:28,479
I'll tell you eventually a couple of
things. If you're looking for, I'll

1210
01:19:28,520 --> 01:19:31,399
give you like rays of hope for
each side. So like, if Yannis

1211
01:19:31,479 --> 01:19:36,920
doesn't play, obviously, that's like
that's fatal. The Bucks will not win

1212
01:19:36,960 --> 01:19:42,640
the series. But you would say, like, well, the dam Giannis

1213
01:19:42,720 --> 01:19:45,840
chemistry or lack of it, and
just the two man stuff that never materialized,

1214
01:19:45,840 --> 01:19:49,119
that was a real storyline all year. Maybe that was never gonna work.

1215
01:19:49,159 --> 01:19:55,439
You know, what we know has
worked pretty well is Dame running spamming

1216
01:19:55,920 --> 01:20:00,720
high pick and pop or pick and
roll with shooters around the floor, just

1217
01:20:00,880 --> 01:20:04,479
being like the guy like with limited
co stars that just catch and shoot or

1218
01:20:04,520 --> 01:20:08,680
catch and drive or whatever, and
just like he's the driver of everything.

1219
01:20:09,439 --> 01:20:13,279
That's like that's his whole career.
That's like that's what Portland did with him

1220
01:20:13,279 --> 01:20:15,520
and Nurkic and like the limited guys
around him other than McCollum, that's a

1221
01:20:15,560 --> 01:20:19,760
little different. Maybe Middleton is your
McCollum in this scenario. So like it's

1222
01:20:19,840 --> 01:20:25,840
not a totally uncomfortable way for Dame
to play and for the the Bucks to

1223
01:20:26,399 --> 01:20:29,600
look, this is a disaster scenario
if Jannis isn't out there, but it's

1224
01:20:29,600 --> 01:20:31,279
like a way for them to say, like, we got a shot doing

1225
01:20:31,399 --> 01:20:34,560
this because we have a guy in
Dame who has made a career, a

1226
01:20:34,600 --> 01:20:38,600
Hall of Fame career out of playing
the way we're gonna have to play now.

1227
01:20:38,920 --> 01:20:42,960
So like that's that's semi hopeful.
Uh. For the Pacers though,

1228
01:20:43,359 --> 01:20:46,479
Like even with so Pacers has just
been better, like since the All Star

1229
01:20:46,520 --> 01:20:50,119
Break and with this revamped team,
they're plus six point three. Forget the

1230
01:20:50,159 --> 01:20:54,359
lineup specific stuff, their net is
plus six point three since the break.

1231
01:20:54,399 --> 01:20:59,399
The Bucks are like two point plus
two point five Hallie not being Halle and

1232
01:20:59,479 --> 01:21:01,239
part of that. I know people
ascribed it to injuries, but we've mentioned

1233
01:21:01,279 --> 01:21:04,680
this on this podcast. I think
someone mentioned it to me, Like we

1234
01:21:04,720 --> 01:21:08,279
haven't mentioned on this podcast. I
remember who it was. No, it's

1235
01:21:08,319 --> 01:21:10,479
also because they've had to move him
off the ball a lot more, which

1236
01:21:10,479 --> 01:21:14,600
he's probably beneficial in the long run, but that type of mid season adjustment

1237
01:21:14,720 --> 01:21:15,960
exploration is going to come to the
learning curve, so to have. I

1238
01:21:16,000 --> 01:21:19,199
didn't know their net rating was that
high post All Star Break. My god,

1239
01:21:19,479 --> 01:21:24,199
and the defense hasn't been that good. But but I think the data

1240
01:21:24,239 --> 01:21:27,520
you put out, which is more
lineup specific, matters more because they're just

1241
01:21:27,520 --> 01:21:30,680
going to play their better defensive lineups, so they're twenty third. I think

1242
01:21:30,680 --> 01:21:35,159
on doesn't matter. So while you're
like getting hopeful about, oh, Dame

1243
01:21:35,239 --> 01:21:41,119
could do this, like, it's
just that. So the Pacers are one

1244
01:21:41,119 --> 01:21:43,600
of the worst teams at giving up
points in the paint in the league,

1245
01:21:43,600 --> 01:21:45,800
and it's like, oh, yan, this is even talked about during the

1246
01:21:45,800 --> 01:21:48,359
play in tournament or the in season
tournaments, like Giannis is the best paint

1247
01:21:48,399 --> 01:21:53,000
scorer on planet Earth and the Pacers
can't defend the paint. Therefore, this

1248
01:21:53,239 --> 01:21:56,319
the Bucks are just going to destroy
them because Yannis will have twenty five dunks

1249
01:21:56,319 --> 01:22:00,399
and they can't do anything about it. No one on the Bucks besides Giannis

1250
01:22:00,479 --> 01:22:03,720
scores in the paint like ever,
so if you remove him, the PACER's

1251
01:22:03,760 --> 01:22:09,840
biggest defensive weakness is just like it
doesn't matter anymore because the Bucks just will

1252
01:22:09,880 --> 01:22:12,960
not score at the basket. They
just don't have someone else that does that

1253
01:22:13,000 --> 01:22:15,560
besides Giannis. So like, yeah, it'll be great if Dame is playing

1254
01:22:15,600 --> 01:22:19,720
pick and pop over and over with
brook Lopez, like it just won't matter

1255
01:22:19,720 --> 01:22:24,439
because they'll never make layups or dunks. So like I would wonder if that

1256
01:22:24,560 --> 01:22:27,159
provides a stress test in the sense
of, well, then Damian Lillard,

1257
01:22:27,199 --> 01:22:30,680
who already probably like the lane will
be open and we've seen him get into

1258
01:22:30,720 --> 01:22:34,119
the paint during those moments without Yannis. But even coming back to someone,

1259
01:22:34,520 --> 01:22:40,119
what would be their best non Yannest
unit in this lineup? And before you

1260
01:22:40,119 --> 01:22:43,079
even answer, I'm gonna say that
you probably have Bobby Porters and brook Lopez

1261
01:22:43,079 --> 01:22:46,119
in it, and I don't know
what that does pure transition defense in that

1262
01:22:46,199 --> 01:22:51,159
scenario. And so if you're gonna
pull one of them, it's like what

1263
01:22:51,319 --> 01:22:55,000
kind of happens there? Now you're
going up against his front line of Siakam

1264
01:22:55,000 --> 01:22:58,079
and Turner, which can play really
fast, but you've now given up.

1265
01:22:58,119 --> 01:23:00,319
I mean, are you turned into
Danil gallin Ar in this series? That's

1266
01:23:00,520 --> 01:23:03,760
that's certainly not going to happen.
So the Yannis factor looms, But I

1267
01:23:03,760 --> 01:23:08,720
think that the Pacers are gonna win
this even if he plays in large part

1268
01:23:08,800 --> 01:23:12,479
because I really do think the Bucks
they've improved at points, but like they've

1269
01:23:12,520 --> 01:23:15,079
just never fully co least, and
whether that's because of injuries or if the

1270
01:23:15,199 --> 01:23:18,640
roster's just it's not as fitting as
it seems. I mean, like I

1271
01:23:18,760 --> 01:23:21,000
was off on them once we get
to the thing that we got wrong about

1272
01:23:21,000 --> 01:23:24,920
every team. I predicted they were
gonna have a top five offense end defense.

1273
01:23:25,479 --> 01:23:28,880
Boy was they had neither, by
the way for those Cubans scoring home.

1274
01:23:29,319 --> 01:23:33,640
So I'm just struggling to if Yannis
plays and is Yannis, there's definitely

1275
01:23:34,000 --> 01:23:36,520
how do you defend him? You
mentioned their weaknesses in the paint, and

1276
01:23:36,560 --> 01:23:40,279
it's okay, you have Nie Smith
or let's Sayakam on him, and you're

1277
01:23:40,279 --> 01:23:44,760
gonna throw other people at him.
But I don't know this Bucks defense,

1278
01:23:44,960 --> 01:23:48,720
even though it's improved under Doc Rivers, I don't think I don't think it

1279
01:23:48,760 --> 01:23:54,399
has enough to slow down this this
PACER's offense and the variable ways that they

1280
01:23:54,399 --> 01:23:59,640
can now play with Pascal Siakam,
because it's they have all these different gears

1281
01:24:00,000 --> 01:24:01,479
where it's from warp speed to like
if you need to slow it down in

1282
01:24:01,520 --> 01:24:04,119
the half court even without Buddy Heal
and now like you just have a ton

1283
01:24:04,159 --> 01:24:09,840
of options. Do you want to
guess maybe you know this it's one of

1284
01:24:09,840 --> 01:24:13,560
those stats that keeps coming up.
What the Bucks record was when they fired

1285
01:24:13,600 --> 01:24:20,359
Adrian Griffin eleven, yeah, thirty
and thirteen and then the five hundred under

1286
01:24:20,399 --> 01:24:25,359
Doc right like seventeen and eighteen or
something like that. Yep. And just

1287
01:24:25,359 --> 01:24:30,680
so like to n credit, he
has cleaned up a lot of the transition

1288
01:24:30,760 --> 01:24:33,159
stuff, but just they don't have
the personnel, especially without Gianness, I

1289
01:24:33,159 --> 01:24:41,079
would argue to be an elite defensive
team. So I'm gonna go again caveat

1290
01:24:41,159 --> 01:24:43,880
kind of like you gave. If
Yannis plays Game one and he's like anything

1291
01:24:43,880 --> 01:24:45,640
close to Giannis, I think the
Bucks win this. I'll say I'll just

1292
01:24:45,680 --> 01:24:49,760
go Bucks in seven, but I'm
gonna go Pacers in six because it just

1293
01:24:49,840 --> 01:24:55,640
seems like Yiannis is not gonna play
at least and then we'll be limited.

1294
01:24:56,039 --> 01:24:59,319
I'm going Pacers in five. It
just feels like disasters even ready and even

1295
01:24:59,399 --> 01:25:02,119
just I'm just like kind of thinking, like, what is happening to brook

1296
01:25:02,159 --> 01:25:05,000
Lopez in the lineups? Are like
Bobby port Is like, where are you

1297
01:25:05,079 --> 01:25:10,720
hiding brook Lopez? Like or not
hiding because Brook like what are you doing

1298
01:25:10,760 --> 01:25:14,159
to keep Brook Lopez in his sweet
spot? On the sweet spots on the

1299
01:25:14,199 --> 01:25:18,880
defensive end here, Like and Turner
are just like, that's more of one

1300
01:25:18,880 --> 01:25:23,439
of the nightmarish front courts for him
to go after, right, because Miles

1301
01:25:23,439 --> 01:25:27,239
Turner can stretch the floor Pasto Siakam
can stretch the floor himself, but just

1302
01:25:27,560 --> 01:25:31,079
has this odd ball dynamic to where
it's just he can score at every level.

1303
01:25:31,119 --> 01:25:34,640
Now, Like just has all these
different counters and so I can't come

1304
01:25:34,720 --> 01:25:38,079
up And that's just wild. I
picked the Bucks that come out of the

1305
01:25:38,079 --> 01:25:42,239
East this year, so it just
weren't what we thought they were gonna be.

1306
01:25:42,319 --> 01:25:45,359
That's that's all it is. All
right, let go to look hyper

1307
01:25:45,359 --> 01:25:47,239
foolish at the end of this,
but we'll say, well that's always a

1308
01:25:47,239 --> 01:25:51,760
possibility. Uh, Calves Magic the
four or five in the East. Calves

1309
01:25:51,800 --> 01:25:58,239
are fit well, relatively heavy favorites
here minus two oh five. So,

1310
01:25:58,840 --> 01:26:03,039
uh, just couple of preamble things
here split the season series two and two.

1311
01:26:03,119 --> 01:26:09,720
They haven't played since February twenty second. This, I guess, feels

1312
01:26:09,760 --> 01:26:14,439
like a pretty defensive oriented series,
but that also might just be because Orlando

1313
01:26:14,600 --> 01:26:17,680
kind of only has one dimension in
that's defense. But certainly the Calves have

1314
01:26:17,720 --> 01:26:21,119
been defined by their defense over these
last couple of years. Do you have

1315
01:26:21,159 --> 01:26:25,800
anything that's like I have. I
have one thing I think and it's fairly

1316
01:26:25,840 --> 01:26:30,159
basic that like just stands out to
me. But what's your question or what's

1317
01:26:30,239 --> 01:26:36,039
what's going to swing this for you? That's interesting, like in terms of

1318
01:26:36,119 --> 01:26:39,640
I can give your mind if you
want, Yeah, go ahead, Just

1319
01:26:39,640 --> 01:26:42,840
how does Orlando score? I mean, it's just that that's it, Like

1320
01:26:42,880 --> 01:26:45,479
that's been the question all year.
And I don't know if you can win

1321
01:26:45,479 --> 01:26:48,800
a playoff series just with awesome defense, which the Magic have. So here's

1322
01:26:49,000 --> 01:26:54,920
what's interesting is that my count my
question is almost counter is to is Cleveland

1323
01:26:54,960 --> 01:26:59,960
more vulnerable defensively than we think?
Just because that's the same question kind of

1324
01:27:00,399 --> 01:27:04,880
so that well, because it's like, are they conducive to maybe letting Orlando

1325
01:27:04,920 --> 01:27:09,600
scores? Jared Allen hasn't necessarily looked
right? And then the other big thing

1326
01:27:09,640 --> 01:27:11,960
here, and I don't think people
understand how important Dean Wade has been to

1327
01:27:12,039 --> 01:27:15,720
the Calves. Looking at the level
of assignments that he guards dealing with his

1328
01:27:15,800 --> 01:27:18,520
knee injury, I guess I'll report
that he's not expected to play in Game

1329
01:27:18,560 --> 01:27:23,319
one. And then you do have
Isasaca Coro still, but he's someone who

1330
01:27:23,399 --> 01:27:27,640
is just like you want him to
defend the guards not necessarily need to scale

1331
01:27:27,760 --> 01:27:30,199
up. And then it's okay,
Evan Mobley is Evan Mobley. We know

1332
01:27:30,279 --> 01:27:34,720
that, but look at the bodies
like just the the like even Franz Wagner

1333
01:27:34,800 --> 01:27:40,239
super strong, like Palo Banko against
Evan Mobley's frame. That's not I'm not

1334
01:27:40,239 --> 01:27:43,880
gonna say it's a capslock mismatch for
Palo bank Caro, but that's he could

1335
01:27:43,920 --> 01:27:47,239
move Evan Mobley around. I have
some numbers for you before you go any

1336
01:27:47,239 --> 01:27:50,079
farther on the Bank Carrol. Well, my, my, my, eating

1337
01:27:50,119 --> 01:27:54,159
my about to eat some crow.
No, I think you're I think you're

1338
01:27:54,199 --> 01:27:59,840
generally right. However, uh,
mobilely guarded Bank Carro. Uh. They

1339
01:28:00,000 --> 01:28:01,560
only met in two of the four
meetings because Mobley was hurt so much,

1340
01:28:02,239 --> 01:28:08,000
which in those meetings they're split one
on one with BN Caro being guarded by

1341
01:28:08,000 --> 01:28:11,800
Mobiley. This is like just under
forty one possessions by how NBA dot Com

1342
01:28:12,039 --> 01:28:15,159
records it seven points on three of
thirteen shooting with no free throw attempts,

1343
01:28:15,479 --> 01:28:19,640
So like that's noisy and it's a
small sample, but Mobilely guarded ban Caro

1344
01:28:19,960 --> 01:28:25,880
really really well, And that more
than any other stat to me was just

1345
01:28:25,920 --> 01:28:28,840
like I was confirmation biased because I
came into it, like I think,

1346
01:28:29,319 --> 01:28:31,399
if it comes down to it,
Cleveland has a better chance of scoring against

1347
01:28:31,399 --> 01:28:34,399
a good defense than the Magic do
and if benk Caro is not going to

1348
01:28:34,439 --> 01:28:39,960
be able to score, look,
look like thirteen shots, that's nothing.

1349
01:28:40,039 --> 01:28:44,840
He's gonna take one hundred in this
series. But it's just like that just

1350
01:28:44,920 --> 01:28:49,880
confirmed my overarching idea of like I
don't really love either of these teams offensively,

1351
01:28:50,039 --> 01:28:55,920
but I think like Mobile and Garland
both had decent success offensively against you

1352
01:28:55,920 --> 01:28:58,319
know, we think Jalen Suggs is
the best defensive guard in the league,

1353
01:28:58,680 --> 01:29:00,880
and then Mobley did pretty well on
on Banko. So I'm just like,

1354
01:29:01,159 --> 01:29:04,720
then, then where are the Like
is Franz Wagner gonna remember aut it threes?

1355
01:29:04,760 --> 01:29:09,119
Like maybe that's what it comes down
to you that let's say Mobile does

1356
01:29:09,159 --> 01:29:11,840
make like difficult on Manko, it's
if you don't have a Dean Wade,

1357
01:29:12,399 --> 01:29:16,319
what is your best option to throw
at franz Wagner defense. Still, look,

1358
01:29:16,319 --> 01:29:18,319
the shooting has been all over the
place. But like he when he

1359
01:29:18,399 --> 01:29:24,279
gets moving like that's still like a
bigger, stronger body. Yeah, I

1360
01:29:24,399 --> 01:29:28,199
know. I think. I think
the same issue with the kids, Like

1361
01:29:28,279 --> 01:29:30,520
I guess it's a coro. I
guess it's you try struce like it's so

1362
01:29:30,640 --> 01:29:34,000
whoever's on Wagner is gonna like be
on their heels the whole game. I

1363
01:29:34,000 --> 01:29:38,800
think. I think that's that's a
definite I do, and so I don't.

1364
01:29:38,840 --> 01:29:42,800
I'm not trying to minimize Cleveland's like
defensive ceiling in this. I ultimately

1365
01:29:43,279 --> 01:29:49,960
wonder is Orlando going to have to
change the like the rate at which it

1366
01:29:50,039 --> 01:29:54,560
plays on offense, because I do
think Dean Wade or no Dean Wade,

1367
01:29:55,039 --> 01:29:59,399
if you just let Cleveland's defense get
set, you're making things so easier on

1368
01:29:59,439 --> 01:30:01,159
them. And so what are you
going to be able to do off these

1369
01:30:01,439 --> 01:30:08,840
live ball rebounds or turnovers? We
do like Orlando does run after they're going

1370
01:30:08,880 --> 01:30:13,000
to force turnover specifically, but like
it's not with the frequency that you think

1371
01:30:13,000 --> 01:30:15,840
it would. And they're a team
like you look at they were during the

1372
01:30:15,880 --> 01:30:20,279
regular season. They were twenty fifth
in transition frequency and twenty eighth in transition

1373
01:30:20,359 --> 01:30:26,920
frequency off of live rebounds. Do
you have the gear to play faster than

1374
01:30:26,960 --> 01:30:31,000
that to ensure that Cleveland's defense isn't
getting set, because that feels like your

1375
01:30:31,159 --> 01:30:35,039
most effective way to score here.
I mean, I guess just between Carol

1376
01:30:35,039 --> 01:30:40,520
and Franz Wagner, you could try
and force some switches and like punished mismatches

1377
01:30:40,560 --> 01:30:45,760
against the smaller guards or wings,
but like you're still gonna have Evan Mobley

1378
01:30:45,800 --> 01:30:50,319
and or Jared Allen on the lower
levels at that point. Conversely, though,

1379
01:30:51,640 --> 01:30:56,159
just the struggles that Darius Garland has
gone through and close the season on

1380
01:30:56,159 --> 01:30:59,560
a higher note, don Mian Mitchell
has rest now played a little better to

1381
01:30:59,600 --> 01:31:01,279
close, even though it's just a
really rough end of the stretch for him.

1382
01:31:01,359 --> 01:31:05,560
Yeah, there's we're not doing X
factors. We already did X factors

1383
01:31:05,560 --> 01:31:10,640
for every team on that one podcast. But Jamie Bickerstaff feels like a like

1384
01:31:10,680 --> 01:31:15,119
one of the bigger coaching X factors
of the postseason because I've been I'd give

1385
01:31:15,159 --> 01:31:17,479
him in more leeway than Kavs fans. But he's felt at his best when

1386
01:31:17,479 --> 01:31:24,640
they're shorthanded this season because it forced
him to play this team, especially in

1387
01:31:24,720 --> 01:31:28,720
higher leverage moments, a very specific
way. And now that their full strength,

1388
01:31:29,119 --> 01:31:31,239
we have seen him pick and choose
between much bigs are on the court,

1389
01:31:31,239 --> 01:31:36,960
whether it's Mobley or Allen. Is
that something I guess politically that you're

1390
01:31:38,000 --> 01:31:42,199
still able to do in the playoffs
and the game is on the line,

1391
01:31:42,199 --> 01:31:44,920
and it's well Evan Mobley's on the
bench or Jared Allen's on, Like,

1392
01:31:45,000 --> 01:31:47,319
can you like, does he have
the it's not even just the cloud.

1393
01:31:47,439 --> 01:31:51,640
I'm sure he has the organizational cloud
to do like do you just have the

1394
01:31:51,640 --> 01:31:56,000
the gall the guts to do it? And so that's kind of a wild

1395
01:31:56,079 --> 01:32:00,279
card here. I ultimately just and
I spoil my pick, like Cleveland has

1396
01:32:00,279 --> 01:32:03,960
the higher offensive ceiling by a light
year, even if and I've said this

1397
01:32:04,039 --> 01:32:08,520
so many times, or if you
watch Orlando, like there's Jamal Mosley's done

1398
01:32:08,560 --> 01:32:14,000
a good job of generating spacing for
this team. Defenses just don't fucking care.

1399
01:32:14,520 --> 01:32:16,640
And the Caves aren't gonna be any
different. Yeah, I don't know

1400
01:32:16,640 --> 01:32:20,479
who they can pay, Like I
trust Jalen Suggs is shooting and a Baald

1401
01:32:20,520 --> 01:32:24,640
decision making now, but just like
you're gonna need I guess a lot of

1402
01:32:25,159 --> 01:32:29,159
Paul Anthony and like a lot of
Jalen Suggs and like the and Franz Vonner

1403
01:32:29,199 --> 01:32:32,520
to obviously progress to a higher mean
on the you know the out on his

1404
01:32:32,560 --> 01:32:36,840
outside clip. I think Orlando's a
really good team in their defense. This

1405
01:32:36,840 --> 01:32:41,000
this is definitely the candidate for the
Ugliest Series, right, like kind of

1406
01:32:41,000 --> 01:32:43,840
what the Nix and Caves were last
year during the second round, I was

1407
01:32:44,640 --> 01:32:46,560
no, I was gonna say,
like the way Orlando wins this is it

1408
01:32:46,720 --> 01:32:49,359
just they pull the Caves down to
their level, and like I mean that

1409
01:32:49,359 --> 01:32:54,840
as a compliment, is they just
make it a total rock fight. Are

1410
01:32:54,920 --> 01:32:58,279
just unbelievable, like even better than
they were during the year on defense and

1411
01:32:58,319 --> 01:33:00,159
Cleveland. You know, Donovan Mitchell, like nineteen and a half points,

1412
01:33:00,279 --> 01:33:03,840
you mentioned it, like the rest
will help him, but like he's not

1413
01:33:03,960 --> 01:33:06,680
been good since the All Star break
and it's just the need the nose.

1414
01:33:06,760 --> 01:33:10,960
Like's gonna get hit in the face
at least twice. Sure guarantee if you

1415
01:33:11,000 --> 01:33:13,600
don't, like, yeah, at
some point in this by the second quarter,

1416
01:33:13,640 --> 01:33:15,960
he will have gotten hit in the
face. It's a given. So

1417
01:33:15,159 --> 01:33:21,000
like I just there's definitely like I'm
picking I'm picking Calves in seven. So

1418
01:33:21,279 --> 01:33:25,680
obviously the Magic have a great chance
in this series because it's going to go

1419
01:33:25,680 --> 01:33:30,359
go the duration. But the Magics
just don't generate enough points from three that's

1420
01:33:30,439 --> 01:33:32,279
gonna allot. They're dead last in
the league in percentage of points scored on

1421
01:33:32,359 --> 01:33:36,079
threes, so like, and you're
not making that up. If you have

1422
01:33:36,119 --> 01:33:40,840
a glaring thing like that, the
Calves can just pack it in and say

1423
01:33:41,640 --> 01:33:44,560
have at it. And the Magic, I don't think the Magic would be

1424
01:33:44,640 --> 01:33:47,600
lucky, just to be totally straightforward
about it. To make enough threes to

1425
01:33:47,640 --> 01:33:53,279
score enough to win the series.
Not impossible obviously, but it's just the

1426
01:33:53,319 --> 01:33:57,000
Cavs have more options to score enough
to win and the Magic just like it's

1427
01:33:57,000 --> 01:33:59,960
hard to find ways they're gonna be
able to Dona Mitchell just a playoff kill.

1428
01:34:00,279 --> 01:34:01,920
And I think even if they don't
want to get away from their core

1429
01:34:02,039 --> 01:34:06,960
four, Evan Mobley has taken more
threes now until that's something to kind of

1430
01:34:08,000 --> 01:34:11,600
just hang your hat on. And
it's I ultimately think that the Cavs offense

1431
01:34:11,600 --> 01:34:13,800
doesn't need to be at its peak
to beat this Magic team. So I

1432
01:34:13,840 --> 01:34:15,600
have Kavs and six. Actually I
don't know if I'm catering to the too

1433
01:34:15,680 --> 01:34:19,840
much inexperience, but you just look
at I really feel like the only way

1434
01:34:19,880 --> 01:34:27,640
for the Magic to outgame the Cavaliers
offensively is just Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell

1435
01:34:27,680 --> 01:34:30,640
both have off series. Because if
even one of those dudes is just himself

1436
01:34:30,720 --> 01:34:35,760
or what we know them to be, that to me gives Cleveland a decided

1437
01:34:35,840 --> 01:34:39,960
leg up. Yeah, it's enough. And that's again we're assuming the Calves

1438
01:34:40,000 --> 01:34:43,239
are going to play really good defense. But it's not that hard to play

1439
01:34:43,239 --> 01:34:48,880
really good defense against a bad offense. Like that's that's part of it too.

1440
01:34:49,680 --> 01:34:53,239
We are onto stat pen and there
will be guess a player. But

1441
01:34:53,319 --> 01:34:58,920
first, Grant, I have some
playoff themed quizzes, questions. What have

1442
01:34:59,000 --> 01:35:00,800
you? They are? Are you
ready? Or you? Are you inframe?

1443
01:35:01,199 --> 01:35:06,399
Are you buckled up? I've never
I've never sat straighter. All right,

1444
01:35:06,439 --> 01:35:11,680
I've got a bunch here for you. So here we go. Grant.

1445
01:35:12,119 --> 01:35:16,600
Which NBA player has more NBA Playoff
games with at least forty points?

1446
01:35:17,159 --> 01:35:23,119
Lebron James or Michael Jordan. Michael
Jordan correct, thirty eight to twenty nine.

1447
01:35:23,640 --> 01:35:30,880
Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant Kobe incorrect. Durant hasn't beat fourteen to thirteen

1448
01:35:30,159 --> 01:35:36,520
Okay, Shaquille O'Neil or Kareem abdul
Jabbar forty point playoff gainst. I'll say

1449
01:35:36,720 --> 01:35:44,840
Shaq that is correct twelve to nine. Luka doncch or James Harden Luca that

1450
01:35:44,920 --> 01:35:48,119
is incorrect. Should went with Longevity
Harden eleven to eight. Oh Steph Curry

1451
01:35:48,159 --> 01:35:56,039
or Dwayne Wade Curry correct eight to
seven. Giannis A Teta Kumbo or Hakeema

1452
01:35:56,079 --> 01:36:01,520
LaJuan Jan incorrect. Takima LaJuan had
eleven to Yana is eight Wow Kawhi Leonard

1453
01:36:01,560 --> 01:36:09,119
or Russell Westbrook. I'll say Russ
that is correct seven to five. Jimmy

1454
01:36:09,159 --> 01:36:14,880
Butler or Dirk Novitzky Hmmm, Let's
go Jimmy. That is correct eight to

1455
01:36:14,960 --> 01:36:20,399
seven. Larry Bird or Magic Johnson
Bird correct five to four. Devin Booker

1456
01:36:20,479 --> 01:36:27,359
or Jamal Murray Oh Murray incorrect,
Devin Booker seven to five. Oh So

1457
01:36:27,439 --> 01:36:34,199
confident, Kyrie Irving or Donovan Mitchell
Mitchell correct four to three. Anthony Davis

1458
01:36:34,279 --> 01:36:43,079
or Nicole Jokic Davis incorrect Jokic four
to three. Paul Pierce or Jason Tatum

1459
01:36:44,600 --> 01:36:50,399
Tatum that is correct four to three. Jalen Brunton or Timmy Duncan, what

1460
01:36:50,560 --> 01:36:56,119
a combo. I feel obligated to
say, Tim Duncan, that is correct?

1461
01:36:56,159 --> 01:37:02,039
Four to two, Charles Barkley or
Damian Lillard Barkley correct five Before that

1462
01:37:02,239 --> 01:37:06,199
was that block? I have a
couple couple more here for you shorter blocks,

1463
01:37:06,239 --> 01:37:10,640
though, I think I hit like
sixty there. That's I'm satisfied with

1464
01:37:10,640 --> 01:37:13,159
that. Yeah, that was pretty
good. I thought you were gonna be

1465
01:37:13,159 --> 01:37:15,319
on a roll at one point,
but then you botched the Devin Booker,

1466
01:37:15,399 --> 01:37:18,600
Jamal Murray one not for sure.
All I think about is fifty spots from

1467
01:37:18,680 --> 01:37:23,279
Jamal Murray, him and Mitchell.
I'll never forget that Utah Denver series.

1468
01:37:23,960 --> 01:37:30,439
Well, speaking of fifty spots,
grant which NBA player has not had a

1469
01:37:30,479 --> 01:37:35,840
fifty point game in the playoffs.
Kevin Durant, James Harden, Jason Tatum

1470
01:37:36,119 --> 01:37:42,600
or Russell Westbrook. I'm gonna go
Russell Westbrook. That is incorrect. The

1471
01:37:42,600 --> 01:37:47,680
answer is James Harden never had fifty. Okay, which NBA player has not

1472
01:37:47,800 --> 01:37:51,399
had a fifty point game in the
NBA playoffs? Giannis Atta, Kupo,

1473
01:37:51,920 --> 01:37:59,199
Luka, doncic Lebron James or Nikola
Jokic, man I want to say,

1474
01:37:59,199 --> 01:38:02,479
like all of them, I'll say
Jokic, that is incorrect. The answer

1475
01:38:02,479 --> 01:38:06,359
is Luka Doncic never had fifty.
I'm gonna go over on this one.

1476
01:38:06,359 --> 01:38:11,359
I can feel it well. This
is the last one, Okay? Which

1477
01:38:11,600 --> 01:38:15,840
NBA player has not had a fifty
point game in the NBA playoffs Jimmy Butler,

1478
01:38:16,520 --> 01:38:23,439
Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving or Damian
Lillard. I will say, Kyrie

1479
01:38:23,479 --> 01:38:27,159
Irving, that is correct. Yes, you did not get swept. Nice

1480
01:38:27,199 --> 01:38:32,760
job by you. Stemnroff disaster came. Here's an interesting one though. Four

1481
01:38:33,279 --> 01:38:40,119
active NBA players have multiple fifty point
games in the NBA playoffs. Who are

1482
01:38:40,159 --> 01:38:44,439
they? I will give you three
guesses or three strikes. Let me rephrase

1483
01:38:44,560 --> 01:38:50,079
that four active players have scored fifty
points in an NBA playoff game at least

1484
01:38:50,079 --> 01:38:56,960
twice. Who are they? I
will give you three strikes? All right,

1485
01:38:57,039 --> 01:39:00,079
I'm gonna say Steph has done it. Incorrect. Strike one. That's

1486
01:39:00,079 --> 01:39:02,640
not a good start, Dan,
that's the worst way you can start with

1487
01:39:02,720 --> 01:39:13,520
a strike. Does Donovan Mitchell have
two? That Donna Mitchell is one?

1488
01:39:14,000 --> 01:39:15,520
Okay? Do you have more than
two? Or you don't have the numbers?

1489
01:39:16,319 --> 01:39:21,640
Spoiler all these players have two?
Okay, okay, I gotta I

1490
01:39:21,680 --> 01:39:28,279
think Jamal Murray has two correct to
a four so far, So there's I

1491
01:39:28,359 --> 01:39:31,239
got two more active players. Tatum, Tatum have more than one? Oh,

1492
01:39:31,319 --> 01:39:36,840
you're on a roll. That's three. Oh man, we've established that

1493
01:39:38,359 --> 01:39:43,560
Harden never had one. God damn. Who else has gotten multiple fifties that's

1494
01:39:43,560 --> 01:39:50,600
still active. I'll just say,
I'll say Lebron that is incorrect? Strike

1495
01:39:50,640 --> 01:39:56,159
two? I thought I was done
there, So this is I'm really spinning

1496
01:39:56,199 --> 01:40:00,439
now. Who else has had fifty
more than once? I'm not going to

1497
01:40:00,479 --> 01:40:02,960
ask you for him, but I
feel like I'm missing somebody really obvious.

1498
01:40:05,920 --> 01:40:12,960
I'll just say, I'll say Jokic
that is incorrect. It is Damian Lillard.

1499
01:40:13,159 --> 01:40:15,960
Oh, I wasn't gonna get there. I wasn't gonna get there.

1500
01:40:15,000 --> 01:40:17,199
Really I thought he would. I'm
not saying that you should have gotten it.

1501
01:40:17,239 --> 01:40:20,920
That was a tough one, I
thought. But KUDROSI for not guessing

1502
01:40:21,039 --> 01:40:24,880
Kevin Durant, I thought that might
have been one you just gravitated towards.

1503
01:40:24,960 --> 01:40:28,359
You didn't guess Luca, But you
also knew the previous questions that he didn't

1504
01:40:28,399 --> 01:40:31,279
have multiple fifty point games, Mitchell, I think, Mitchell, I wash.

1505
01:40:31,279 --> 01:40:33,479
I don't know why I said,
did Steph first? Maybe because I

1506
01:40:33,520 --> 01:40:36,840
knew he had won last year and
I just thought he may because you constantly

1507
01:40:36,880 --> 01:40:41,920
disrespect Steph and these exercises by picking
against him, right, I had,

1508
01:40:42,039 --> 01:40:45,000
I had to throw him out there
first as just the show of good faith.

1509
01:40:45,479 --> 01:40:50,880
Okay, So one more block here? Which NBA player has more triple

1510
01:40:50,920 --> 01:40:58,439
doubles in the NBA playoffs? Only
Lebron James or Magic Johnson. I'll say,

1511
01:40:58,960 --> 01:41:01,840
oh, short player, I'll say
Lebron. That is incorrect, thirty

1512
01:41:01,840 --> 01:41:08,680
to twenty eight for Magic, damn
it. Nicole Jokich or Russell Westbrook jokicch

1513
01:41:09,239 --> 01:41:12,159
correct sixteen to twelve. The gap
there was bigger than I expected, to

1514
01:41:12,199 --> 01:41:17,439
be honest. Tim Duncan or Kevin
Garnett, that's a weird one. I'll

1515
01:41:17,479 --> 01:41:23,159
say Duncan just more playoff games?
Correct? He have four triple doubles to

1516
01:41:23,199 --> 01:41:26,119
Garnett's three. I didn't think these
dudes had that many cripple doubles in the

1517
01:41:26,159 --> 01:41:32,079
playoffs. I'm not gonna lie Steph
Curry or Kevin Durant. Hmm. I'll

1518
01:41:32,079 --> 01:41:35,199
take Steph. I can't disrespect him
anymore. Good thing too, that is

1519
01:41:35,239 --> 01:41:42,920
correct. Three to two. Charles
Barkley or Chris Paul. Who I'll go.

1520
01:41:43,199 --> 01:41:47,600
I'll go Barkley correct. Four to
three, Luka Doncicch or James Harden.

1521
01:41:49,600 --> 01:41:55,640
Luca, that is incorrect, James
Harden four to three, Draymond Green

1522
01:41:55,800 --> 01:42:01,279
or Oscar Robertson. I'll send Dre
just because he's got to have played way

1523
01:42:01,359 --> 01:42:05,479
more playoff games. Ten to eight
in favor of Draymond. You are correct,

1524
01:42:05,600 --> 01:42:09,600
And I have to know we've got
a lot of comments that I keep

1525
01:42:09,680 --> 01:42:12,920
saying Oscar Robinson. I'm sure I've
made that mistake at some point. I

1526
01:42:12,960 --> 01:42:17,199
think it's just my nasally voicets we
all like, I know, it's Oscar

1527
01:42:17,319 --> 01:42:23,359
Robertson, thank you, And that
might even say like Robinson there, Michael

1528
01:42:23,439 --> 01:42:29,079
Jordan or Scottie Pippen. Ooh,
playoff triple doubles. I mean it still

1529
01:42:29,119 --> 01:42:31,479
has to be Jordan, right,
No, Scottie Pippen four to two,

1530
01:42:31,720 --> 01:42:38,439
it's good for him. Mary Bird
or Fat Leaver. Yes he's back.

1531
01:42:38,960 --> 01:42:43,760
Oh, I will say Larry Bird, sorry, Fat yeah. Ten to

1532
01:42:43,800 --> 01:42:45,039
three. Just had to throw a
Fat Lever. I really wish it'd have

1533
01:42:45,039 --> 01:42:53,159
been Fat Leaver, Rogn Rondo or
John Stockton. Oh, I'll say Rondo.

1534
01:42:54,359 --> 01:42:58,680
Correct, it's not even close.
Ten to one. Very sneaky by

1535
01:42:58,720 --> 01:43:01,720
you. You have some Guessa players
for me, No, those were some

1536
01:43:01,760 --> 01:43:06,880
pretty good ones. I thought those
are good. Man. The people will

1537
01:43:06,920 --> 01:43:12,439
complain that they're too close the answers, but we're doing a playoff sample size.

1538
01:43:12,520 --> 01:43:15,039
It's like we're just winnowing it down
the number of games so much that

1539
01:43:15,119 --> 01:43:18,560
the gaps are you know, unless
you I mean, rondovers is stocked and

1540
01:43:18,600 --> 01:43:20,640
I thought you were gonna get right
away. So I'm surprised that you thought

1541
01:43:20,640 --> 01:43:23,640
about it because the ten to one
was just funny. And you know,

1542
01:43:23,720 --> 01:43:26,640
I can't stand John Stockton as a
human being, but right, right,

1543
01:43:26,720 --> 01:43:30,399
right, No, I just you
know, I think once I was gonna

1544
01:43:30,399 --> 01:43:33,720
default to the more modern player anyway. I don't know why, uh,

1545
01:43:34,399 --> 01:43:39,800
just generally, but yeah, I
believe stock would you say, uh,

1546
01:43:40,000 --> 01:43:44,279
Jordan only had two playoff triple doubles
because pipenhead, that's crazy. I can't

1547
01:43:44,279 --> 01:43:50,279
believe it's also, yeah, get
it together. Also like they're more fun

1548
01:43:50,279 --> 01:43:55,159
if they're really close, because it
makes it kind of basically like when I'm

1549
01:43:55,199 --> 01:43:58,199
wrong on a really close one,
I don't feel as bad, so so

1550
01:43:58,279 --> 01:44:00,800
I appreciate it. You would have
pretty stocked then you would have felt like

1551
01:44:00,920 --> 01:44:03,399
ass on the right. Yeah,
that's ridiculous. A ten to one margin,

1552
01:44:03,479 --> 01:44:08,920
forget it. You've also tried to
convince me that the margins are smaller

1553
01:44:08,920 --> 01:44:11,359
than they are sometimes. One of
the last ones we did way back when

1554
01:44:11,359 --> 01:44:14,640
that I've finished cutting up the twenty
five and ten thing, there was like

1555
01:44:14,680 --> 01:44:16,079
a gap of thirty five games.
You're like, well, it's like that's

1556
01:44:16,119 --> 01:44:19,359
like fairly close for their career.
It's like it's in the neighborhood. It's

1557
01:44:19,359 --> 01:44:23,880
like a half season's worth of games. Like it's it's fine, all right.

1558
01:44:24,319 --> 01:44:28,960
I have a couple guests of players
from Austin here. I'm not sure

1559
01:44:29,000 --> 01:44:31,039
if I have some from some other
people. Have to check, all right.

1560
01:44:31,159 --> 01:44:35,079
Clue number one. Dan. I
am a two time block champion and

1561
01:44:35,159 --> 01:44:39,479
racked up a career total of seventeen
hundred and fifty nine blocks, which is

1562
01:44:39,520 --> 01:44:44,600
currently in the top thirty all time, top thirty of all time two time

1563
01:44:44,680 --> 01:44:48,439
block champion. Helps more. I
don't know I've been two time blockchampion.

1564
01:44:49,640 --> 01:44:53,000
She feel like I should just name
someone who I know is a block champion?

1565
01:44:53,039 --> 01:44:56,399
What is it? What? All
time in blocks? Uh? Currently

1566
01:44:56,439 --> 01:45:00,399
top thirty and this is total blocks. There's a per game. Well,

1567
01:45:00,439 --> 01:45:04,520
the way the question is phrase which
gives his career total of seventeen fifty nine.

1568
01:45:05,760 --> 01:45:11,039
It's how I tried a bid time. I'd say it's However, you

1569
01:45:11,079 --> 01:45:13,439
would say, like, oh,
he was the scoring champer of the block

1570
01:45:13,520 --> 01:45:16,840
champ, so I assume it means
the average. But I bet that's like

1571
01:45:16,920 --> 01:45:20,920
led the league in blocks, or
you know whatever led the league in scoring.

1572
01:45:20,920 --> 01:45:24,119
You wouldn't say the guy that had
the most total points. I don't

1573
01:45:24,159 --> 01:45:29,359
think new Bowl. No good guess
though, you have to try the guests

1574
01:45:29,399 --> 01:45:31,159
on the first one, just on
the off chance you get it, all

1575
01:45:31,239 --> 01:45:35,239
right, Clue number two. Despite
my two time league leading block seasons,

1576
01:45:35,479 --> 01:45:40,520
my career also included nine seasons of
averaging less than one and a half blocks

1577
01:45:40,520 --> 01:45:53,760
per game. What so like someone
playing in a I mean less than one

1578
01:45:53,760 --> 01:45:55,840
and a half one and a half, Like, if it's one point four,

1579
01:45:55,880 --> 01:46:00,800
that's still a shit ton of blocks. Also fair sean Bred. Nope,

1580
01:46:02,800 --> 01:46:05,840
let's see, all right, you're
ready for the next clue. You

1581
01:46:05,880 --> 01:46:10,560
want to throw some more names Clue
three. I was also a three time

1582
01:46:10,760 --> 01:46:17,880
All Defensive team member and an NBA
champion. Ooh, three time All Defense

1583
01:46:19,000 --> 01:46:24,479
NBA champion. So it's not Ben
Wallace because wasn't he like a ninety time

1584
01:46:24,560 --> 01:46:29,119
All Defensive player. Four for Ben
Wallace, that's a little bit fewer than

1585
01:46:29,239 --> 01:46:33,880
ninety good. Championship thing has thrown
me off now, becas I'm trying to

1586
01:46:33,880 --> 01:46:41,159
think of like title winning bigs.
I know two time block champion. Well,

1587
01:46:41,800 --> 01:46:45,600
I was gonna give you. I
was going to give you a subtle

1588
01:46:45,640 --> 01:46:51,520
clue, but I'm going to refrain. David Robinson, Nope, you want

1589
01:46:51,560 --> 01:46:56,079
the next one. You might get
it on this next clue. I participated

1590
01:46:56,199 --> 01:47:02,000
in the twenty twelve Olympics and won
a silver medal. Was Anthony Davis on

1591
01:47:02,039 --> 01:47:08,720
that team? It is? I
don't know, and it is not Anthony

1592
01:47:08,760 --> 01:47:18,239
Davis won a silver medal in twenty
twelve. Oh, that's just gonna make

1593
01:47:18,279 --> 01:47:24,199
this infinitely harder for me. So
I won't guess Dwight Howard or DeAndre Jordan

1594
01:47:25,359 --> 01:47:31,079
who in twenty twelve that was a
minute ago. Yeah, I guess.

1595
01:47:31,079 --> 01:47:34,319
Give me the next clue, all
right, Uh, Clue five. I

1596
01:47:34,399 --> 01:47:39,199
was drafted in two thousand and nine, along with seven players who made an

1597
01:47:39,199 --> 01:47:43,840
All Star team from that class,
one being my teammate. Unfortunately, I

1598
01:47:43,920 --> 01:47:46,960
was never able to do so myself
make an All Star team despite my defensive

1599
01:47:46,960 --> 01:47:50,039
dominance. That's okay, though,
I still managed to rake in over one

1600
01:47:50,119 --> 01:47:55,279
hundred and forty million in career earnings. I'm gonna fucking kick myself when I

1601
01:47:55,319 --> 01:47:59,640
can't get this. There's no chance
you don't get this in the next two

1602
01:47:59,680 --> 01:48:04,039
clues or maybe three. You got
three more. Two thousand and nine Andrew

1603
01:48:04,079 --> 01:48:14,319
Bogie No good guess though two thousand
and nine won a silver medal, never

1604
01:48:14,359 --> 01:48:17,760
made an All Star team. Was
on a team with someone from the two

1605
01:48:17,760 --> 01:48:21,479
thousand and nine draft class that made
an All Star team. Uh, yes,

1606
01:48:24,600 --> 01:48:27,239
I don't know who that is though, trying to think who that is.

1607
01:48:30,039 --> 01:48:33,079
Oh well, dude, I'm not
sure I know who that is.

1608
01:48:34,159 --> 01:48:36,520
Yeah, I keep going, holy
shit, all right, who's six.

1609
01:48:38,039 --> 01:48:42,640
I have built up a pretty solid
second career in the entertainment industry, with

1610
01:48:42,680 --> 01:48:47,520
a whopping five hundred k plus subscribers
to my YouTube channel as a chef Serge

1611
01:48:47,520 --> 01:48:51,680
Abaca Surge of Baca. Oh god
it, I didn't know he won a

1612
01:48:51,720 --> 01:48:57,000
silver medal. I think he was
on Spain or something like. Do you

1613
01:48:57,000 --> 01:49:00,800
remember when he was considered the unicorn
because he could hit set threes and block

1614
01:49:00,840 --> 01:49:04,800
shots and he could shoot like he
shot like one point six per game,

1615
01:49:04,880 --> 01:49:09,119
and it was, yeah, this
guy, he's the But he was also

1616
01:49:09,159 --> 01:49:13,560
playing power forward, like they just
didn't use him at center. We weren't

1617
01:49:13,640 --> 01:49:16,840
quite there yet with the with like
had Serge Ibaka. Serge Ibaka was like

1618
01:49:16,960 --> 01:49:21,439
seven years too early. If you
got Serge Ibaka as a rookie like now,

1619
01:49:23,239 --> 01:49:27,199
like he would just be he would
be the New Orleans Pelicans ideal center.

1620
01:49:27,359 --> 01:49:30,520
Like that's he would would stop talking
about Miles Turner forever. It would

1621
01:49:30,560 --> 01:49:33,119
just be dribbling and stuff more too. Yeah, yeah, probably, Yeah,

1622
01:49:33,159 --> 01:49:35,920
you'd have way more diverse skill sets. Do you have one for me?

1623
01:49:36,000 --> 01:49:39,279
Or should I give you this one
that I think I know the answer

1624
01:49:39,319 --> 01:49:42,520
to? What don't I give?
Oh? Is that one from Austin?

1625
01:49:42,960 --> 01:49:45,800
Yeah, I'm gonna look it up
real quick. I'm like ninety nine percent

1626
01:49:45,840 --> 01:49:48,239
sure Austin give us the players when
you give us the guests of players,

1627
01:49:48,399 --> 01:49:50,960
I mean, I know mine from
Austin, but I'm wondering if I should

1628
01:49:50,960 --> 01:49:55,680
go find one from Mike now,
so we don't like. Uh yeah,

1629
01:49:55,760 --> 01:49:59,800
let me bring up Mike's document here. I actually do not as of right

1630
01:49:59,800 --> 01:50:02,640
now. I'm gonna double check.
Actually, I don't know if you're gonna

1631
01:50:02,680 --> 01:50:08,119
have to get into a mind of
a cycle path this week. Let me

1632
01:50:08,239 --> 01:50:13,039
just yeah, wow, be Rich
does not like you anymore. I don't

1633
01:50:13,079 --> 01:50:17,960
blame him, to be honest.
Okay, ready from Mike, I'm ready.

1634
01:50:18,000 --> 01:50:20,600
Who won? I was selected outside
the lottery by the Bucks in nineteen

1635
01:50:20,640 --> 01:50:26,600
ninety five out of the University of
Ohio and then was traded on draft day

1636
01:50:26,640 --> 01:50:33,199
to Portland. Hmm, Bucks to
Portland ninety five. I could not name

1637
01:50:33,239 --> 01:50:39,760
a single player from the University of
Ohio. You're not gonna get this one,

1638
01:50:41,039 --> 01:50:43,000
No, not at all. I
never would have gotten this one.

1639
01:50:43,000 --> 01:50:45,199
Maybe you might. You're better with
history than I am. So maybe I

1640
01:50:45,199 --> 01:50:48,560
don't mean to I don't mean to. No. I like it, like

1641
01:50:48,640 --> 01:50:51,239
I like being set up this way. If I fail, it's no one's

1642
01:50:51,239 --> 01:51:00,720
disappointed. Uh Bucks to Portland ninety
five. I'm just gonna say, oh,

1643
01:51:00,720 --> 01:51:02,720
that's way too late for him.
One shot. I killed this.

1644
01:51:03,279 --> 01:51:08,960
I know I have to have to
give a name just because it would be

1645
01:51:09,000 --> 01:51:14,079
so awesome. Bucks to Portland ninety
five. Who the fuck even is on

1646
01:51:14,119 --> 01:51:16,319
Portland in the mid nineties. All
the guys I can think of were like

1647
01:51:16,880 --> 01:51:19,720
way too old, but they were
there in the eighties that were still good

1648
01:51:19,720 --> 01:51:26,840
in the nineties. I have no
idea this guy didn't play for them until

1649
01:51:26,880 --> 01:51:30,399
later in his career. I'll just
say, della shrimp no, okay,

1650
01:51:30,479 --> 01:51:31,960
clue too. I was an anomaly
at the time in that I was an

1651
01:51:32,039 --> 01:51:40,319
undersized power forward at six six and
two hundred and fifty pounds. Bucks to

1652
01:51:40,479 --> 01:51:46,960
Portland, small power forward. It's
not this isn't who it is but Clarence

1653
01:51:47,000 --> 01:51:51,840
Weatherspoon no good, yes though I
like that CLU three. I played in

1654
01:51:51,880 --> 01:51:57,239
Portland until nineteen ninety eight, when
the team's absurd collection of traditional bigs left

1655
01:51:57,239 --> 01:52:00,159
me out of the rotation. I
was traded with Alvin Williams for Damon Stotdommeier

1656
01:52:00,319 --> 01:52:08,039
and Walt Williams. So he's in
goes Portland to Toronto. Who's like a

1657
01:52:08,079 --> 01:52:15,720
little stocky power forward? Like do
you just not know this guy's name?

1658
01:52:15,920 --> 01:52:17,920
Is it that up score? Like
I'm sorry, no, you'll I know

1659
01:52:18,039 --> 01:52:25,000
the name, but it's sort of
just like I just I wouldn't have gotten

1660
01:52:25,039 --> 01:52:29,039
it, So I was assigning that
feeling to you as well. Yeah it's

1661
01:52:29,079 --> 01:52:31,920
not Gary Trent, because oh my
god, is Gary Trent? Let me

1662
01:52:31,960 --> 01:52:40,039
know? Holy GARYR. I should
have let you you obviously were talking about

1663
01:52:40,039 --> 01:52:42,399
senior. So Klue four. I
played the rest of the season with the

1664
01:52:42,479 --> 01:52:45,319
Raptors before spending three years each with
the Wolves and the MAVs. And that's

1665
01:52:45,319 --> 01:52:47,520
literally all Wikipedia has for me,
my none year NBA career summed up in

1666
01:52:47,560 --> 01:52:53,000
two paragraphs, which is insulting.
My son was drafted in twenty eighteen by

1667
01:52:53,000 --> 01:52:56,159
the Blazers, making us one of
the few father son duos who have played

1668
01:52:56,199 --> 01:52:59,600
for the same franchise. The similarities
didn't stop there this Clu six, as

1669
01:52:59,600 --> 01:53:01,680
he was also traded forty one games
into a season from Portland Toronto in his

1670
01:53:01,720 --> 01:53:05,840
third season, the exact same circumstances
as I had Clue seven. I'm probably

1671
01:53:05,840 --> 01:53:10,680
better known for being on the sidelines
of Raptors games nowadays wearing outlandish puffy jackets.

1672
01:53:10,760 --> 01:53:13,319
Oh that I might have that I
might have gotten. I didn't read

1673
01:53:13,319 --> 01:53:15,560
that clue. He had a fun
fact though this should have been a clue

1674
01:53:15,600 --> 01:53:19,960
somehow like the last one. All
of Gary Trent Junior's sons have names based

1675
01:53:20,000 --> 01:53:25,119
on his own name, Gary Trent, the second Gary Trent Junior Gary Trent

1676
01:53:25,319 --> 01:53:31,800
because Garyson spells out Gary Son,
Rayton, and Graydon. I feel like

1677
01:53:31,840 --> 01:53:35,239
that's a form of child abuse,
like you get good for you. That

1678
01:53:35,439 --> 01:53:39,239
was a not a one shot kill, but that was a really good That

1679
01:53:39,399 --> 01:53:43,479
was good by you, great showing. I would have gotten it, I

1680
01:53:43,560 --> 01:53:47,239
think by the Wolves MAVs question,
because I or I only associate him with

1681
01:53:47,279 --> 01:53:51,119
the Wolves for some reason. I
don't know why. Okay, cool,

1682
01:53:51,159 --> 01:53:56,720
all right, I'm fairly sure I
have the correct person for Austin's second.

1683
01:53:57,079 --> 01:54:00,760
I guess the player. Are you
ready? Yes, Clue number one.

1684
01:54:00,800 --> 01:54:05,880
I was a lottery pick in twenty
fourteen. Go just me our lottery pick

1685
01:54:05,960 --> 01:54:12,680
in twenty and fourteen, because it's
from Austin. This guy played for the

1686
01:54:12,720 --> 01:54:27,439
Pacers. Okay, Uh, that's
too late for Danny Granger. I just

1687
01:54:27,479 --> 01:54:29,960
need to take it. Yes,
I just don't kind of think of just

1688
01:54:30,199 --> 01:54:33,439
Pacers during that era. Yeah,
just give me the next clue. All

1689
01:54:33,560 --> 01:54:38,039
right, this isn't going to help
you. I have played for six different

1690
01:54:38,039 --> 01:54:46,199
teams. Okay, the next clue
will help you. Clue three. I

1691
01:54:46,239 --> 01:54:50,039
am a career forty one percent shooter
from deep, with my best season coming

1692
01:54:50,039 --> 01:54:56,119
in twenty seventeen with forty nine percent
from three forty nine. Let's see,

1693
01:54:56,159 --> 01:55:00,199
I want to make sure that's right. Okay, I have to give a

1694
01:55:00,239 --> 01:55:05,479
small correction. This player shot forty
nine point four percent with a team to

1695
01:55:05,680 --> 01:55:14,680
which he was traded mid season,
so his full season stats for twenty seventeen

1696
01:55:14,760 --> 01:55:17,039
eighteen are forty two point six percent. This, of course, is all

1697
01:55:17,079 --> 01:55:20,920
assuming that I have the correct player, which I think I do. Really

1698
01:55:20,920 --> 01:55:24,600
funny if you didn't, No,
I got because he did shoot forty one

1699
01:55:24,600 --> 01:55:28,479
percent for his career and he was
a lottery pick in fourteen. Uh but

1700
01:55:28,560 --> 01:55:31,079
yeah, so forty nine point four
percent. I'll just I'll give you forty

1701
01:55:31,159 --> 01:55:35,600
nine point four percent in twenty six
games for the MAVs in twenty seventeen eighteen,

1702
01:55:36,159 --> 01:55:43,239
thirty eight point seven percent for the
Knicks in fifty five games in seventeen

1703
01:55:43,319 --> 01:55:53,520
eighteen. Holy shit, Oh Tim
Harway Junior. Uh No, damn good

1704
01:55:53,520 --> 01:55:58,239
guess though? Got the Knicks MAVs
overlap there? I wonder if they were

1705
01:55:58,279 --> 01:56:03,199
traded together. Is that lineup right, I can't remember. Uh oh,

1706
01:56:03,279 --> 01:56:06,760
sorry, I didn't even finish that
clue. Despite my sharpshooting abilities that I'm

1707
01:56:06,880 --> 01:56:11,119
solely known for, I have never
competed in the All Star Weekend three point

1708
01:56:11,119 --> 01:56:15,840
contest. That's the end of Clue
three. Oh my god, I feel

1709
01:56:15,840 --> 01:56:17,800
like I should know this one.
The Knicks in the MAVs is something I

1710
01:56:17,840 --> 01:56:24,119
need to get hung up On twenty
seventeen, twenty eighteen, he was traded

1711
01:56:24,159 --> 01:56:29,399
from the MAVs to the Knicks.
I think it's the other way. I

1712
01:56:29,439 --> 01:56:35,399
think it's to MAVs from the Knicks
to the MAVs in twenty seventeen, twenty

1713
01:56:35,600 --> 01:56:43,239
eighteen from the Knicks. Do you
know that? No, no, way,

1714
01:56:43,319 --> 01:56:46,680
too late, terrible? Yes,
my god, yeah no, keep

1715
01:56:46,720 --> 01:56:50,840
going, all right? Clue number
four. In twenty fourteen, I led

1716
01:56:50,880 --> 01:56:55,520
the country in scoring at twenty six
point seven points per game and went on

1717
01:56:55,600 --> 01:57:00,399
to become the NCAA National Player of
the Year. So he took you back

1718
01:57:00,439 --> 01:57:04,560
to college here. Yeah, I
know nothing about college, so please carry

1719
01:57:04,600 --> 01:57:09,399
on, all right. Clue five, I am ranked good news more college

1720
01:57:09,439 --> 01:57:12,920
clues. Uh. Clue five,
I am ranked seventh all time and score

1721
01:57:13,119 --> 01:57:15,720
scoring an NCAA history currently and was
ranked fifth all time during the year I

1722
01:57:15,800 --> 01:57:19,720
left for the NBA. Oh,
I feel like that's probably something I should

1723
01:57:19,760 --> 01:57:24,880
know. I'm just still thinking about
the Knicks Mavericks link and I hope I'm

1724
01:57:24,920 --> 01:57:28,840
not misleading you by saying it was
Knicks to MAVs. But just looking at

1725
01:57:28,880 --> 01:57:31,840
his basketball reference page, the Knicks
are first and the and the MAVs are

1726
01:57:31,840 --> 01:57:36,119
second. I assume that suggests who
we played for, you know, first

1727
01:57:36,199 --> 01:57:41,680
versus second. Traded from the Knicks
to the MAVs. Who's someone that might

1728
01:57:41,840 --> 01:57:45,039
seems like they're relatively good that the
Knises gave up on. That doesn't really

1729
01:57:45,119 --> 01:57:50,279
narrow the field that much. Oh, this is going to frustrate the hell

1730
01:57:50,279 --> 01:57:54,680
out of me. Keep going,
all right, Clue six, I was

1731
01:57:54,720 --> 01:58:03,520
coached in college by my father.
Clue seven, I am playing for my

1732
01:58:03,640 --> 01:58:11,479
current team for the second time in
my career. Awesome. If I don't

1733
01:58:11,520 --> 01:58:15,239
know the player is, I would
know what that means. Oh this is

1734
01:58:15,119 --> 01:58:19,560
I would say. I would say, if you'll accept a small hand,

1735
01:58:20,520 --> 01:58:28,560
that you do need to remember who
this clue is from when you consider this.

1736
01:58:28,560 --> 01:58:33,840
This guy is playing for this this
team for the second time. Okay,

1737
01:58:41,159 --> 01:58:44,840
I literally can't think of anybody on
the Indiana Pacers roster right now.

1738
01:58:44,960 --> 01:58:48,720
That's like the level of just that's
how the deep into thee. I am

1739
01:58:48,760 --> 01:58:54,840
not one hundred percent sure that I
remembered that this guy is on the Pacers.

1740
01:58:55,479 --> 01:59:00,439
So that's how much that helps you. Damn you didn't remember he was

1741
01:59:00,479 --> 01:59:02,760
on the Pacers. Well, I'll
give you another clue, because you only

1742
01:59:02,760 --> 01:59:05,359
do have one more, and it's
not going to help you because the clue

1743
01:59:05,439 --> 01:59:10,720
is I went to Creighton. Maybe
that does help you. Oh, dougmy

1744
01:59:10,800 --> 01:59:13,279
Dermott, you got it. I
good, Okay. I didn't have to

1745
01:59:13,279 --> 01:59:15,239
help you, and that was good. That was a disaster. Take us

1746
01:59:15,279 --> 01:59:17,279
out of here, please get us
out of here. Thanks, thanks for

1747
01:59:17,359 --> 01:59:23,279
listening, Thanks for contributing your clues. Thanks for making Dan sweat with so

1748
01:59:23,439 --> 01:59:29,520
many college related related clues. Just
bring them on. Do some McDonald's All

1749
01:59:29,560 --> 01:59:32,640
America clues. Let's just make it
even harder going forward. If you have

1750
01:59:32,680 --> 01:59:35,439
not done so already, please remember
rate, review, subscribe, tell your

1751
01:59:35,439 --> 01:59:38,880
friends, tell your enemies, join
our discord link to do that. As

1752
01:59:38,880 --> 01:59:42,479
in the YouTube and podcast description,
buyer merch same place for all that stuff.

1753
01:59:43,159 --> 01:59:45,800
I think that's going to cover it, looking forward to all the playoffs

1754
01:59:45,800 --> 01:59:49,359
stand looking forward to more podcasts,
probably more frequently. I don't want to

1755
01:59:49,359 --> 01:59:54,600
make any promises, but yeah,
so that'll be good. Thanks everybody.

1756
01:59:54,680 --> 02:00:02,439
Shout out Frank Melaquina. Apologies chair
it Own. This time about as compass

1757
02:00:02,600 --> 02:00:05,199
and as outpoint, mister