This is the baseline discussing the hot button topics of the NBA. Welcome everybody,
your tune to the baseline Calie Warrenshaw discussing the hot button topics of the
NBA. Moving forward. As we're recording our podcast, Man, we are
down to the final four of the illustrious twenty twenty three to twenty four NBA
season. And while there are still four teams remaining, there were four teams
that we must once again put on the white jackets and thoroughly bodium. May
they rest in peace. Our coveted autopsy report series continues forward and as always,
Man, we're gonna roll out the red carpet to my right hand man
www. Dot Shaw Sports dot Netwick on UPNC, my man, mister Shaw,
repping out of Fort Lada to Florida. It was good, brother,
good to be back man, back in the saddle as you lived to four
games, four teams, rather team's gone. Four teams still playing kicking and
kicking and screaming here in the Eastern and Western Conference, respectively, in the
middle of those series as we record. But we got to pay our respect,
as you alluded to, our homage to the dead, the forgotten of
the four teams from the semi finals. And I think the one way that
you can kind of sum this up is that it's the parody of death.
You have the reigning defending champions, who have you know, suffered an untimely
demise. You have the team who many didn't feel with confidence was the best
team out of the Western Conference, who suffered an untimely demise. You have
a team that a lot of people felt, if fully healthy, are arguably
as equal to if not, you know, the Boss and Celtics out of
the East, and they're untimely demise. And you have a team which by
all accounts, man, I don't know if it just stays with you know,
a team that down have n rolls with. It's like no one buys
into whether or not the team is actually legit. And we'll talk more about
this Calves team, which you know now has become you know, the Utah
Jazz of the Eastern Conference and stuff like that. So it's just parody with
the way that we're going to have to autop see these four teams, respectively,
show with the Nuggets, thunder Knicks, and Calves. And I think
that's what to me makes it ironic, Like we can sit here and go
into all of the details about you know, the teams remaining and why they
you know, arguably are the best teams remaining, you know what I'm saying,
given what they've done. But you know, these four teams there were
nothing to sniff at given their body of work through the course of the regular
season, and it just didn't come together for them when it needed to when
it mattered the most, or to speak, which was you know, in
the semi finals. The only team that I'm legitimately surprised is here is Denver
just because of their championship pedigree and the way they came back in their series.
Would have thought they might have had it, you know, especially with
the Game seven on their own floor. And I think the second team closest
to that would be the Knicks by virtue of what they were playing throughout the
playoffs. But they just run out of bodies so obviously, which we'll talk
about when we get to them, you know, more and depthly, But
that's my quick assessment of it. You know, the OKC situation you figure
first year really in you know and experiencing this to get to the second round
is is nothing to be embarrassed about in any capacity and losing to a Luka
Dachs and Kyrie Irving led team. Nothing wrong there. Sure they wish they
could have did more, but again I think there's nothing to hold their head
down about. And then I think in the case of the Cleveland Cavaliers,
it's interesting, you know, analogy with the Utah because of the Donovan Mitchell
led aspect of that, and will donnav and Mitchell even being Cleveland, you
know coming into the summer going into next season, we don't know, but
we're to come on that cast team as news has broken since we decided to
do our autopsy report about Cleveland specifically, so we'll kind of save that for
the last part of our show here because it's a little bit juicy as well.
Yeah. Absolutely, and as always, be sure to get on my
Manshaw as Sports NBA Get at Me a Gay Face Leader shows, Twitter and
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to go to the website so you can check out all of the great stuff
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Picks is the way to go. More Baseline Cali Warnts y'all Coveted Autopsy report,
don't go away. Time now for our coveted autopsy report. First on
the slab, we're going to talk about the no longer defending champions because by
the time that the NBA season is done, there will be a new NBA
champion. So the one time Denver Nuggets, who all a lot of people
thought that they were expected to repeat, given they may have lost a couple
of ancillary pieces, but maybe they weren't so ancillary, given you know,
just the way that you know they had to struggle just to get themselves in
a position to probably win this series. But it's you know, it's amazing
to me Shaw because as much as we put this on the fact that a
lot of people think that it's because of the core players, I think it's
more so of the step down from the starters, and it's not Jokic.
I think Jamal Murray may get a pass because he has never been one hundred
percent going into the playoffs. But when you look at KCP, you look
at Aaron Gordon, and you look at Michael Porter Junior, which I know
there's gonna be a focal point in our conversation with these guys, I think
you hone in on that, and you say to yourself, the inconsistencies of
getting that type of dominant play that they showed last year in the play layoffs
kind of ridest ugly head when they played against a really good, consistently defensive
minded basketball team like the Minnesota Timberwolves, who up and down the roster all
displayed something and exposed some kind of weakness, you know that Unfortunately, Mike
Malone just couldn't surpass x's and O's out of it just kind of you know,
and there's no there weren't enough yokches on the basketball court for him to
utilize for them to get past you know, his Timberwolves team to probably participate
in this year's Western Conference Finals. Yeah, the depth seemed to really be
an issue, you know, for them, And much was made about the
Minnesota Timberls specifically being built constructed to beat the Denver Nuggets, you know,
and the way Tim Poney assessed that former Nuggets team as a former president general
man over there are now moving over to Minnesota, And again what a difference
of the year makes from the ru to Gobert trade, right, But the
Minnesota, the way Minnesota came in there and stole that game from Denver is
really an interesting I think lesson in terms of the being the hunted and the
hunter if you will, and I think that was, you know, the
Jamal Murray pseudo cop out if you will. Minnesota was just better and ultimately
Denver in some ways, I think to for granted the importance of bench depth,
you would think they still had enough, and I think we all thought
they would probably still have enough, but ultimately they came up short and Yo
Kich and Jamal Murray and like they were gassed, you know, that timber
Wolves team, you know, like they ran them out of random, out
of gas by the time Game seven came. It took so much for Denver
to come back into that series after falling down oh two and credit the championship
grip to actually take control of the series, you know, winning three straight
games, but then ultimately not being able to close it out and hence now
a new champion in the NBA for the six straight year, which is almost
unprecedented for the dynasties that we've seen in the NBA first for such a long
time. I think Denver will be back. I know this is obviously a
really good basketball team, but what can they do now in essence to improve
the depth that they will clearly need. And I don't know that it's so
much of taking the ball out of Jokich's hands, but I think it's taking
the pressure out of Joki should do so much every single night, especially when
the playoffs come to come to town. Hey, he delivered, but I
think you know it was it was kind of tough to watch him not,
you know, shoot over fifty percent, which were very much used to him
doing that, and Jamal Murray being hobbled yet again. They need some more
depth behind Murray that's electric in a way that can take some pressure off of
the offensive load that the bench doesn't seem to have. Right now, you
got you bring up so many different points, I'm going to start a little
controversy, Shaw, Okay, let's go. Do you remember how I talked
about one of the things that concerned me about the beginning of that series between
the Timberwolves and the Nuggets, And I think I saw some glimpses of it
as well too in the series before against you know, the Los Angeles Lakers,
that I think with Jokic, it comes so easy to be as talented
and as good as he is, and I think a lot of his leadership
is manifested in just the way that he goes out in the court and he
just does his thing. And I think it makes it easy for Mike Malone
to get away with the things that he says because he knows that when it's
all said and done, he has to ride the shoulders of Nikola Jokic.
What really struck me, Shaw, was the lack of urgency that I just
saw permeate through the rest of the team. In other words, when I
see a determined Jamal Murray, right, you see it and maybe the injuries
really you know, hampered him, bothered him. It really kind of you
know, took a hold mentally of how much work it was going to take
for him to be able to exert against a team as talented as a Minnesota
Timberwolves, given what his responsibility are, especially in this type of offense,
because it's really predicated on how him and Yokic feed off of each other,
move off of each other. You can clearly see Jamal Murray was being suffocated
everywhere he went. So Aaron Gordon just I just wasn't seeing that hunger.
You see glimpses in the way that he played great, right, but I
just didn't see it throughout the course of the series. And that look,
I'm not gonna say what I know, I'm gonna get to the point about
MPJ. But what I'm getting at seaw with this first point is you're gonna
have to find somebody who is going to help offset the demeanor of what a
Yokic brings for the rest of the guys to understand the moment and to find
another gear. Then leaning on what Jokic shows you and manifests in what he
does, I think it just comes too easy. He can make it work
for him, because you saw how the look on his face in that Game
six getting blown out by forty five. Knew he was going to come in
and you knew he was going to put on a damn good performance. But
for everybody else, that switch doesn't come on right, and it looked like
those guys are just like, damn, this may have been the best opportunity
for us to actually get this done because we don't have the legs, or
we don't have that other gear, or they rested on their laurels knowing that
they had home field advantage for Game seven, and to still not find it
within themselves to do what was necessary. I think spoke loudly about the disconnect
where guys understand not just collectively as a team to what they need to do,
but also more so about the lean the dependency that they have on Jokic.
Well. I think in some ways, the way I'm interpreting that is
that the rest of the team may feel like, hey, that's our lead
horse. He can he can kind of get us through all things. But
you all have a have a proverbial part to play, and you know,
when you run up against a team like Minnesota, and there's obviously not too
many teams like Minnesota, but a hungry team like they or it's going to
require you digging down and figuring out another way to take some of that pressure
off. And what it was in that game seven, right, they scored
like eighty or seventy something points of like the ninety seven points they scored or
whatever, you know, between he and Murray. That that that's problematic.
The other thing that it's interesting because it doesn't get talked about a lot from
from the Denver side because they shoot a decent percentage from three. I think
there were tenth overall in the regular season, but that dropped down. You
know, they shot thirty seven percent from three in the regular season down to
thirty one percent, you know in the playoffs. So the three ball wasn't
falling. And you know, Michael Porter Junior had a very good first race
with Lakers an average or to blow average one against the Timber Bowls KCP.
Also, you know, didn't shoot the ball well in this series. And
then you add that to an ailing Jamal Murray and it's the recipe for disaster,
especially when you need to score points against a staunch defense like Minnesota,
and that's something I think they need to address a couple of other quick points
because when it goes back to the bench, you know, Christian Brown,
he wasn't even looking at the rim. He was like, I think there's
a lot of people who like this young man and feel like he's got a
great future and it could be a good role player. But he's gott at
least look at the rim and then eventually has to be able to stretch the
floor. I think at some point, I think he's more of a you
know, a garbage guy at this point, or you know, kind of
slashing and driving to the garbage, I mean around the rim. You know,
you know put backs and you know back cut back, back cut.
Dunsan. He was supposed to be. He's supposed to be an energy bunny,
right like, I mean, he's supposed to come in and give you
like energy hustle. And even that he was, he was relegated or steimied,
you know, by when you think about their bench, it was the
first person you think of. And some people might say Reggie Jackson, some
might say Brown or whatever the case would be. Kyt Watson didn't really get
a whole lot of minutes in this but he's still more of a defender at
the stage. My point in saying all that Holliday got more run, Yeah,
I don't know. I don't know if that's really the answer. But
at the end of the day, they need to figure out a way to
get more offensive punch off that bench and more consistent three point shooting, whatever
that looks like in the future. And it's interesting because I don't think Bruce
Brown and Jeff Green were you know, three point specialists in any capacity,
but they provided other intangibles that got Denver over the hump in some other ways
last year. Yeah. So look, this to me is the bottom line
of why now I want to focus my attention on Michael Porter Junior for a
second or maybe Michael Porter Junior to me is the greatest anomaly right now in
sports basket in the NBA. I don't understand how a guy with his skill
set, his height, length and advantage can't figure out a way to elevate
his game to a point where I have to question whether or not And remember
Sean I was kind of doing this even last year on whether or not the
combination of him, Murray and Yokic is considered the three, right, like
the trifecta of the team, or it's really Gordon and this performance again,
this inconsistency again rears his ugly head. And part of it is it just
seems like Porter's purpose right now is to shoot the three. It's like he
has totally forgotten that his length could have caused mismatched problems in the paint,
especially if Yokic is getting the ball. It's like, I didn't see Porter
cut. I didn't see him do anything relegated to the basket more than just
the fact that he's just flanking out and just jacking up shots. And to
me, that's the part that just disturbs me more than anything, because that's
exactly what the Nuggets needed. They didn't need more three pointers, they didn't
need more three points shooting. They needed someone to get to the cup.
They needed to get to the free throw line. And it shouldn't have only
been Yokic and Murray, right, and especially with Gordon, who doesn't shoot
a high percentage from the free throw line anyway, this would have been a
great opportunity to really display your versatility by getting to the basket. And I
don't know how many times, Mike. I mean, it was so bad
that even the Minnesota Timbers were confident putting a smaller guy on Porter because they
know he's just gonna sit out there and flank around a three point line.
And if you're Mike Malone, I don't know what you got to do in
order to get this guy to you know. I understand he had a whole
lot of stuff that's going on, especially off the court or whatever, but
this, to me is indicative of the lack of maturation in Michael Porter junior.
And I think a lot of people were talking about when he got drafted
like this is why they say that it's a project, because you should be
able to see this from a mile away. You knew that the Timber was
gonna put you in that position, and the fact that you didn't even attempt,
You didn't even try in one of the most important situations, which was
the last two games of that series, just speaks about whether or not he
really fits in this system. And I think that you have to question that
moving forward, y'all. More than anything else. You can get all the
role players you want, but if you got a guy eating up minutes because
you assume that he's just he should be gelling with the rest of your core
guys. He's got to figure out a way to score points other than just
jacking up shots, because you can see when his shot failed him, he
completely dissipated and disappeared for you know, for the Nuggets throughout most of those
games, and those are wasted minutes. Yeah, I mean, you know,
ten and six, you know, after you know, almost twenty points
or twenty something points per game in the in the Lakers series. You know,
it says a lot. Again, you think you still got a credit
Minnesota's defense here, Right, I think I'm not disagreding in what I'm saying
is that so they had a game plan, but right, I think when
when you see that stuff needs to change, you know, do you actually
adjust or do you continue to kind of, you know, do the same
thing and just say, all right, well, this is what I'm supposed
to be good at, even if it's not working over the course of a
seven game series. And I think, you know, once you get the
game, once you go down on two, I think to be obviously adjusting,
adjusting your play, you know, and then you know, as the
series continues to rest like it really should be about anything to win, so
I would agree I'm disappointed in his inability I think to rise to the proverbial
moment here, especially with Murray being you know, maybe not his his his
normal self, and then it does bring into question, but I don't think
Denver is as asking themselves that question honestly. You know, if they've committed
a crap ton of money to Michael Porter Junior over the next next amount of
years, you know, and this is a core, you know, with
that four of Gordon, Porter, obviously, Jokich and Murray, I think
those guys are are pretty much locked in and all the pieces around it are
probably subject to some semblance of change. But they have a pretty high salary
right now, and they're gonna be scratching, you know, getting into repeaters
centrom here in a little bit. Don't know what they'll be able to do.
You'd figure playing with Yokich is hey should be everyone's dream, But how
many other guys like Aaron Gordon are out there like what roles can Can they
really feel around what this team has and needs and then pay somebody here properly?
I think guys are gonna have to want to take less money, and
now that they're not the defending champions anymore, that might be a little bit
harder to come by than it was going into this past summer. All right,
So you so you stay, you know, Malone and guys, they're
gonna figure this out with with MPJ, and they're gonna probably ride on the
idea that they're really gonna do some searching, you know, to help bulk
up and beef up that that bench. I mean, listen, Eventually something's
gonna have to give as well, too, especially from the center position.
Also, because you can't keep running your kitch out there like that. There's
only gonna be so much before you leave them susceptible to injuries and stuff.
So I get that part of it, but ultimately to the fact that you
have to address like the other thing as well too, is that it would
be nice to see Jamal Murray get back to being more the two guard than
just only the primary point guard. I think to your point that that in
and of itself was part of the tangibles and why Bruce Brown was so important
because he played a hybrid point guard play and was able to run him out
there. I don't think you can continue to do that with Reggie Jackson,
and clearly Malone didn't have the confidence enough to do that to run Jackson out
there, because you could have basically switched it up and had Jackson murray On
playing off the two. But you can only do that for so long.
So clearly they're gonna probably have to upgrade that point guard position, whether it
be via starter or via through somebody that you're gonna come in is gonna be
the true six man coming off the bench to take up those minutes and move
Jamal back over to the two old player options for both KCP and Reggie Jackson
next year, and imagine both of those guys takes that options and so that
you know, puts Denver at roughly one hundred and ninety million in change.
So it's it's gonna be It's gonna be tough. DeAndre Jordan comes off the
books, Justin Holliday comes off the books. You can resign those guys at
better, more minimums if you if you just need the bench depth. But
I will be intrigued by the aspect of who they go after. As we
said, the free agent class is an amazing but it's not amazing from in
terms of stars. They don't need stars, you know, they need competency,
if you will, and guys who are going to be able to stay
on the floor. And I think they will be able to find that in
this just phrasia class. But those guys have to take a pay cut to
play with the Great Yo Kitchen the number Nuggets. All right, well let
it be said, man, the Denver Nuggets got to do a little bit
of soul searching, man, because the Minnesota Temple will snatch that right out
they chest. You know what I'm saying, your terms of the baseline.
Cali warrns y'all discussing the hot button topics of the NBA. Coming up,
we'll talk about the number one seeded Oklahoma City Thunder and their demise. But
was it really a demis or was it just more so us kind of recognizing
that, hey, they have arrived and we may have to take notice come
next year just how damn good they can possibly be. You find out here
on the other side. Don't go away. We're back. Cali Warrnshaw based
on NBA podcast, continuing our covet At autopsy report, and now we're going
to focus our attention on Oklahoma City Thunder team that came out as the number
one seed in the Western Conference. A lot of chirping from a lot of
analysts who believed that the Yoklahoma City Thunder weren't deserving to be a number one
seeded team. Some of even said that they were the weakest number one seeded
team in the Western Conference in NBA history, which, you know, that's
just fodder for clicks in my opinion. But obviously this team fell short of
the expectations that as a number one seed you should at least be in the
Western Conference finals. But listen, man, they played against a really,
really difficult, you know, Dallas Mavericks team that was on another level when
it made its trades after the trade deadline. Clearly was not the same Dallas
Mavericks team that we would have made our predictions off of, and I think
because of that, it really had us taking a second look on whether or
not this young team could overcome its circumstances, which is young and has never
really been in that situation against you know, one, an NBA champion,
right, two some guys who have already gotten quite a bit of playoff experience,
and three, arguably you know one of the more well respected head coaches
in the NBA who is able to coach up and utilize a very well rounded
and dangerous Dallas Mavericks team. But let it not be said, y'all,
it's okay. See thunder team put the world on notice that this wasn't fake
and that them getting that number one seed mere bag of shells. Now it's
a question of how many wins come next year can this team amass and really
what room of improvement it can be done. Is it more of the roster
or just more about these guys taking that next step, all of them elevating
themselves to that next level. I think there's some roster construction, not issues,
but things they can tweak to be more competitive. The physicality seem to
be a little bit of an issue. So do they find some more size
behind Chet who's obviously slighter frame, you know, playing that five position,
and whether you think he's truly a four or whether he can man the middle
if you will, as a five man is not even enough for debate for
me. The aspect is like he's still gonna need somebody takes some pressure off
of him in these years. Okay, see what they did a lot of
people said they should have did more at the deadline addressing that specific need,
like, hey, you need more size, you need more rebounding, more
physicality. And the MAVs, unbeknownst to us, when and got guys who
were more physical and Gafford and PJ. Washington really bolster their lineup. But
they thought, well, let's see how it goes. And I can't necessarily
fault them for that. They make one small move a getting Gordon Hayward or
whatever the case, that doesn't really pan out. Don't think he'll be back
next year, and he's already complaining about the role that he had or didn't
have, I guess with this team. But to me, that's where Okaysee
is going to try to focus on. And they still have draft equity.
Remember Sam Presty is, you know, is the draft king in terms of
being able to just hobble picks together and then and actually doing something with him
wherever he's picking, whether he's in the top five, whether there's in a
lot of room in the back half or the second round. He seems to
be able to mind guys who are good basketball players. So that's why there's
a lot of optimism for this team, and yeah, they felt like they
should have moved on to the conference finals. Sure, some people said they
were pay per number one, you know seeds in the Western Conference. But
this team is here to stay. Sga is a legitimate and the perennial MVP
candidate. You know my guy, you know j Dubb that's that's one of
my dudes. And we're also hearing as we're recording today that Josh Getty might
be on the move, so you know, they Guddy is not a bad
basketball player. He obviously has some off the court issues as well and then
seem to be maybe a little bit unplayable because of his lack of shooting.
But there's there's teams who will take a not say take a chance, would
be willing to you know, pick him up and maybe even give something for
okay see, to continue bollstering the rest of their lineup. So all is
really rosy and okay see, despite a disappointing loss in six games starts,
I guarantee you the Denver Nuggets would have loved to Vowegiohn on their roster.
Right, all great points. The one thing that I disagree with with people's
perception about what the Oklahoma City Thunder, you know, having to do something
that the trade deadline is. Look at where the Oklahoma City Thunder was at
the time of the trade deadline to what they had gotten themselves or positioned themselves
to do. You know, the question wasn't about whether or not this Oklahoma
City Thunder team was competing against the Dallas Mavericks. By all accounts, while
the Dallas Mavericks made some really solid moves, Dallas Mavericks were in a you
know, quandary themselves. They had to make sure that they played themselves out
of the play in situation. Right, So it wasn't like, you know,
those particular pieces were just going to sell catapult them to the top seeded.
The Oklahoma City Thunder had been hanging around the top three primarily for most
of this season, you know what I'm saying. It wasn't until the Denver
Nuggets made a surge, right. It was really the Oklahoma City Thunder and
the Minnesota Timberwolves jockeying for that number one seed, Okay, and all of
them had little hiccups here and there through the course of the year. So
if I'm pressty, if I'm Dagonol. I'm saying to myself, look at
how my guys are growing through the season. Look at how they're elevating through
the season. You go in and you try to just get some guy,
and you're gonna assume, you know, you know, get a guy that's
gonna come in and what be a sudden rebounder you want check Holmgren getting those
minutes. You want to see can he match himself up against the bigger front
courts that are out there? Right so they knew this going in. If
you go in, you start throwing out capital. Not to say that you
don't have confidence in them getting it, but it's the wrong fit. Right.
Then you put yourself in a position where you're now hampered with a guy
that you don't know if you're gonna be able to get rid of them.
You can't offload the contract. And then now you got to figure out you
got to put something more on Dagonolf's plate to figure out how to use him
for the upcoming season. Doesn't make any sense. I understand they went and
got Gordon because even we said, it's a pretty good move by them,
nothing splashy, but well needed and necessary for what they were lacking at the
time. Okay, now we fast forward and we see how teams based on
the moves that they have made. What that meant. I would challenge you
to say, Shaw, while the idea is to get a big, my
thing is get you some physicality from the front court side of it. Doesn't
necessarily have to be a center. Could have been a wing player, you
know what I'm saying, Because it's obvious that the MAVs were able to use
their bigs in a way just as undersized Lively is just as undersized as home
Grin, but he played much more physical and much stronger because he understood what
was required for this MAVs team given the type of players he had around them.
So all I'm saying is is that I think this comes down to what's
the next step for j Dubb, for Isaiah, Joe, for Loot Door
for you know, each of these guys are all gonna take another step forward
in what made them so great for this season, and will it equate to
the level of greatness that we're seeing from the remaining teams now, which is
the MAVs and the Timberwolves in kind that they're going to be able to match
up with them, and then when you tell me homegrown can't hang with these
dudes, homegren can't. All right, now, you got to really look
at how do you offset that in order to balance out what the roster is
giving you in order to make them as effective as they are. It's a
tricky situation. We've seen where the thunder Of attempted to do things like this
and they failed miserably at it. So I like the idea that they held
pat because now this comes down to our guys are gonna take that next step,
and if they take that next step, you're just feeling down the roster
to be as deep and as dangerous as ever. Yeah, I mean real
talk. And you know, if they were to move off of Giddy,
that freeze up now eight million, but they're already well below. They're only
one hundred and two million dollars level. All the teams we've talked about,
no team this deep that got this, even the playoff, has a salary
that low because they have all pretty much young players commanding that shit. Obviously,
she is on his on his second deal here, so he's in the
thirty to forty million dollar range now, but everybody else is ten million or
under like that. That is a wild and then it's an amazing place to
be from an organizational structure. So it backs up everything you just said.
It's like, listen, why they had the money that they could have thrown
to kind of maybe do something while if they wanted to. But does that
upset the team chemistry? Why not play it out see how this team does.
Let them not knowing, they take their lumps, but learn and experience
and then see where you need to adjust. And now it allows them to
be major players. And again not necessarily from the free agent side, but
in the trade market if they want to, because Prescy's done such a great
job in acquiring draft capital, they could move a guy like Giddy if they
so wanted to. They could move a guy like Door if they were so
inclined. I don't think they would, but I think those are the pieces
that are available to them. And then I think, if I'm not mistaken,
Isaiah, Joe has as a as a team option. I don't think
they picked it up. If they didn't, I can see Pressey doing the
right thing here in declining the option with the wink wink agreement, Like,
hey, Joe, we need to pay you more than like two point seven
million dollars, like you're valuable to us, So go ahead and knocked out
of that, or we'll decline that option and then he can resign for something
that's more in the you know, to twelve to fourteen million dollars range as
well too, because remember there's also a salary floor. Okay, so he
needs to be going into the start of next season. So there's a lot
of machinations that are happening here with the thunder, but all of it is
good. Home Grid really will be and essentially his second year playing, third
year in the league next year, so all the things that he learned from
this playoff run he'll be able to take into so health health provided. This
is a team that should be in the think of the Western Conference conversation for
a very long time. And one last point seaw before we transition, you
know, the conversation, you know to the next thing that we're gonna autopsy.
What we also saw as well, too, is a young team that
that didn't understand where they needed to be to be as good as they got,
right, Like it just finally kind of came out. It just kind
of just just showed itself so to speak. You know what I mean,
Like, I don't know why everybody is making this big deal if you really
think about it, outside of the Denver nugget Shaw, nobody has truly dominated
the Western Conference. So when people keep talking about, oh, you know,
they weren't deserving to be the number one seeded team, I'm sorry,
I argue. When was there ever outside of the Denver Nuggets, a true
dominant number one seed. That's the whole point. This is why everyone kept
saying the Western Conference is the most challenging. It is a gauntlet from one
to ten. And the Oklahoma City Thunder won the games that they need to
win to best position themselves to make as deep a run with the type of
roster that they had to get to the semi finals. I do not fall
you know what I'm saying. You talking about playing the game. They played
the game not just intelligently, they've played it smartly, and they even realized
that they probably could have been playing in the Western Conference finals a few you
know, ball bounces their way a couple of times here and there, they
probably are going to be representing the Western Conference finalists other than the Dallas Mavericks
you know what I'm saying. And let's not forget the Dallas Mavericks were in
this position with Luka Doncic a few years ago, back in twenty nineteen,
so it isn't as like again, I just want people to truly understand that
when we're talking about the Oklahoma City Thunder and what they've shown us, they've
shown us that they can easily be a legit number one seeded team, no
different than you could have easily put the Timberwolves, no different than you could
have put the Denver Nuggets, no different than you could have put the Dallas
Mavericks. If this is Dallas Mavericks team that people are watching right now,
was at the beginning of the season, they probably would have as many wins
as the other three teams that were there and not be a four to five
seed, a five seeded team, you know what I'm saying. So again
people need to slow their role and with the disrespect about what you saw from
this team, because they showed you how dangerous and versatile they are, and
Presty still got pieces to play with before he actually has what is now being
dubbed as probably a dynastic run for the Oklahoma City Thunder team of successful winning
seasons, which was something that you couldn't count going all the way back to
when it was the Big Three with Durant, Harden and Westbrook. Yeah,
they still have clips in and it's about to be unleashed. So this is
going to be in their league. There's not a younger team in the NBA,
and there's not a team I think I'd rather be moving forward than Okay
see right now, especially with that cost control that they have over two of
their main pieces, especially with Jay Dubb and chenhol Then amazing, amazing,
amazing job by Presty crazy in organization. You're tuned to the baseline, Cali
warns y'all discussing the hot button topics of the NBA coming out. We're going
to focus our attention on the New York Knicks team that was hampered so much
by injuries. But damn were they ever so close from putting themselves back into
the Eastern Conference finals, something that they haven't done in over a decade.
You'll hear more about that on the other side. Don't go away, We're
back. Cali Warrnshaw basedline NBA podcast, continuing our autopsy report and now we'll
focus our attention on the New York Knicks, and look what more can be
said? Man, this team you talk about going all out, like throwing
it all in. You know this team, And it's ironic because I think
while a lot of people want to hate on the New York Knicks because of
the New York Knicks fan base and the way that they kind of operate,
at times, you can't help but feel like, damn, you feel bad
for the fan base, and you feel bad for the players, you know,
to fall short and to not be able to kind of see themselves in
this Cinderella situation sort of speak shaw I think speaks a lot more to like,
Man, don't we wish that this script was rewritten just a little bit
for us to properly assess whether or not this was hyperbole or this is the
truth about what the Knicks showed us and the way that they played not just
through the course of the season, but all the way leading up to that
Game seven against the Indiana Pacers. I mean, there is a lot to
cheer about. Me personally, I am so ecstatic for this Knicks team,
just simply because the organization finally got it right with the way that they constructed
this roster, and I hope that they take this, they bottle it up,
they leave it on their desk right, walk away from it for a
couple of weeks, you know whatever. Come back after draft and whatever,
and look at that that that that that bottle again. Before you open that
nonsense up, you you clear out everybody that's gonna be talking some craziness about
you know, gotta go big free agency, this, that, and the
third stay keep your eye on the prize. That is what I'm hoping for
for this New York Knicks, the organization and team. Well, before we
get into the basketball side of it, I'm gonna say something that's a little
tongue in cheek here. While I agree with you, I don't think they
need to go, you know, big game hunting into whatever free agent or
player says that are unhappy and becomes available. What I think they ultimately need
to do, and I'm not disparaging their their current staff here now, but
they need to is as long as this as the coach, they need to
invest in UH an elite level training staff and an elite level recovery team.
And and I say that with the utmost respect because I think at this point
it's it's foolish to combat what this is gonna do, Like he's he's gonna
Thibodaux was gonna Thibodeaux, and at this stage we understand that. So I
think, if this is who you've hit your wagon to as as a lead
coach, understanding that players are going to play heavy minutes, you might as
well invest in the supplemental and auxiliary staff that helped those players when it comes
to recovery and injury management to some degree. So I would have loved to
see this next team healthy. And there's a lot because we won't know that
said, hey, this team could have made a finals run, and they
could have. They very well could have had everybody been there. But with
Randall being lost for you know, a large chunk of the year, and
Annobe being in and out after his acquisition from Toronto, it just it just
was too much to overcome, even Bogdanovich going down that, Mitchell Robinson going
down. Hartenstein missed parts of the regular season as well too, you know,
think the Achilles situation, it was it was a rough year, you
know, when it comes to battling injuries. But this the team the heart
that this team showed is something that is really great for the NBA and great
for the hustlers in the league. If you will, like not everybody's going
to be elite. When we talk about elite guys, you better mention mister
Jalen Brunson, whatever the hell Bicky Hammon have to say about him not being
a guy, whatever people said about him signing the contract. You know,
I wouldn't pay Yellant rushing twenty five million dollars or whatever it was. He's
all that and then some and so the next half, didn't we say,
on my hands, you know what that guy? Didn't we say this though?
Didn't didn't we say this right? And and and I said the way
I described this was, if the Knicks don't do this right, if they
don't do this right, they will do more damage to the person that they're
signing than they even imagine or realize. Because if the talk is still about
Donovan Mitchell, if the talk is still about them missing again on signing who
they were coveting and talking about, I mean to the damn point where like
even the NBA had to be like, are you guys tampering? Is that
what's going on here. You know what I'm saying, I mean, you're
we tampering with this notion that he had to be You know what I'm saying,
we gotta go after Donovan, but give credit. And this is what
I'm saying, give credit to Jalen Brunson because I wasn't sure what kind of
mentality he was going to have coming into this situation. Let's not sugarcoat this,
okay. And this is the reason why I'm saying New York Knicks fans
are funny, right, they are hilarious. They didn't want Jalen Brunson in
the beginning. They didn't want it to be giving up this kind of money
for him because they were so sour on the fact that the Knicks missed out
on Donovan Mitchell. You know what I'm saying, Now you love the guy
now, my god, hey, own it, Okay, own it.
And at the same time you can say thank you as well too. You
can say thank you Jalen Brunson, because you showed us that our temperament needs
to be better about our expectation for our star players or players who are going
to be stars for this jersey. Right, he earned that. You know
what, I'm saying, and Knicks fans can never take that away, even
if they're you know, they'll be all He'll forever be a Nick and things
of that nature. That's great, that's awesome. But guess what, you
could have had that so many times over. You could have demanded that so
many times over, and this roster could have been constructed exactly in that way.
You had that with Julius Randall at times, right, you had that.
And yet and this is the reason why I'm saying people have to pay
attention to what we're seeing here and why it's important that Tom Thibodeau stays as
the coach because of the fact that, to your point, Shaw, this
is the give and take with him, and you know, yeah, he's
gonna run players down to the ground, but there is a hustle and respect
factor that just was just never there prior to Tips, and no matter how
many coaches you put out there. And this is why it made it impossible
for Rose to get rid of Tips, because you can clearly see that with
the right guys on that roster and they stay healthy, they can all practically
be championship caliber. But to your point, y'all, you brought up such
an excellent point at the beginning. This is where the organization needs to quote
unquote recalibrate on where its investments really need to be in right, it shouldn't
be in the splash of the players that you bring. It should be on
all of the other things to accommodate the intent that the run is real for
these guys and that you want it to be everlasting. And it requires these
guys to be fully healthy, fully on board, and fully discipline in whatever
regiment is required to maintain them being on the court for as long as possible.
Yeah, it really is, Like it sounds corny and cheesy, guess
from us say, but no, it's really the sports science of it now
is could I think you have a You have players that are bought into this
system. These guys want to play these minutes extended minutes and give their effort
and run through a wall. You know, for their coach, you can't
teach that. You literally cannot buy that. So now that you've cultivated it,
how do you maintain it in a way that can be conducive to an
extended run? Because they they should have beat the Anama Pacers like they should
have and would have had they been able to stay healthy, and who knows
what have happened, you know, because the Celtics are shaky, and so
going up against that type of force and that type of energy and grit,
that relentlessness might have Ultimately the Knicks could have fumbled their way if you will,
you know, and to the NBA Finals, and then once you're there,
anything can happen. So I know there's a lot of optimism about this
team. They have two draft sticks in this year's draft, late in the
first round. They can do some stuff with that they want to or bring
it in for the depth. I'll be interested to see if they bring Boganovan
back or Boganovic or they decline. Not Declient he doesn't have an option,
but he has a non guaranteed deal. Brooks is up, so they can
do some stuff on the edges there. But they got to obviously make sure
their main horses are healthy. But one quick point before we move on,
and the irony, and I don't know if it was brought up, you
know, in New York radio because obviously I'm not there, but remember the
Knicks should have drafted Tyres Haliburton and then obviously they wouldn't have Jalen Brunson right
now. So I don't know which player most people will take, you know,
especially now or moving forward. I think it's close. I think the
Knicks are happy where they're at, and I think Indiana's happy where they're at
and now as well too. But by all intentsive purpose of tality should be
a New York Nick anyway, So I know that was way sweet? Are
sweet? Very sweet for him to beat that team, especially going down two
and they're coming back and beating them in the games up. Yeah, listen,
we all we all said that, right. Remember we had our pre
draft, we had our draft uh uhraft draft review, and you know we
commentated on the fact that, like, what the hell of the Knicks thinking
right like you needed a point guard? Tylery's Haliburton was available. By all
accounts, everybody praises how quality of player Tyrese Haliburton was coming out of college.
You know, some things made and needed to be polished. And listen,
give credit where credit is due. The Indiana Pacers figured out a way.
Rick Carlisle figured out a way to open this kid up. I don't
know if something you know was a miss when he was in Sacramento whatever,
but minus you know, the little you know shade with him wearing that hoodie.
You know, I don't mind the brash talking in the Bravado because he's
gonna come and he's gonna bring it, you know what I'm saying. He's
gonna bring it, and I respect that. And I think because of that,
it is renewed the rivalry of the Knicks and the Pacers, and I
think now more than ever, we're gonna see a much fiery, you know,
battle between these two teams. While everyone's focusing attention will still it will
be about the Boston Celtics and things of that nature. I really think people
need to pay attention to this Knicks Pacers situation as well too, because they
are on a collision course and whether or not it's them as the two top
teams in the Eastern Conference, or even if the bosson Celtics want to upset
the apple cart and make sure that they hold ground and tell people, hey,
we still run things in the East. Either way, both of these
teams bring very different styles to their fight, and I think that in and
of itself is the reason why the Eastern Conference is very quickly becoming one of
the more watchable of the two conferences, so to speak, because of what
Tyre's Halliburton, Jalen Brunson, and arguably what Tatum and Brown are doing respectively
at their young ages in the primes of their career. Well, it's not
as destitute as I think some would think. I think most people would still
a grate the West is deeper in just better overall. But I say the
East is not as far behind as people would say because of that, because
of this young talent, and and even if you don't like the aesthetics of
the play, you have to respect the hustle of the play, the relentless
of relentlessness of both of these teams that I think are going to have a
lot to say. The uninvited guests into the conference finals are the Pacers,
but the Knicks are gonna have a lot to say about this, especially if
they can stay healthy going into next season. Oh yeah, I love it,
man. Oh yeah. By the way, the Miami Heater are still
around in some way, shape or form. Right, you're too to the
baseline. Cali warren Shaw coming up, gotta talk about the Cleveland Cavaliers and
Man, the news that just hit while we're recording this podcast. Got to
give it up to the Cavs. Man. They're making themselves. They're they're
they're playing up into the play, into the storyline. So well, you
gotta love it more. Baseline, don't go away. We're bat Cali warrens
Shaw based on NBA podcast Last Team. We're putting on a slab Cleveland Cavaliers.
All right, So Cleveland Cavaliers got dismissed, And not only did the
team get dismissed, the team itself also decided to put a little extra work
on our plate. He said, we just can't body the team. We
got a body to coach with the team as well too, So of course,
the Cleveland Cavaliers decide to part ways with JB Bickerstaff. I don't know
you're surprised by this. Not surprised because it was looming literally seconds after they
lost Game five in the semi finals. You know, Sham had tweets ready
locked and loaded as if as like this this wasn't even this was some someone
of an inside job there players ready just telling the whole story about Donovan Mitchell
and his discontentment and the JB lose the locker room and all this stuff,
and at no time during the Cavaliers run here in the last two years.
Now look at that and say, yeah, JB is the problem, and
all coaches have their issues and growing pains, but the roster was what the
roster was, and a lot of people said, hey, they shouldn't have
played the double Biggs, And then they were saying, well, you can't
play the two backcourt players together in Donovan and Garland, And then you saw
success when one or some of those guys were out because it didn't allow for
that duplicity in those same areas. That's not JB's fault. So I mean
you can say, well JB needed to put Jared Jared Allen on the bench,
Maybe need to put Mobile on the bench, or Garland on the bench
or Donovan Mitchell. Not gonna happen, like when you have that level of
talent, like you're trying to make it work. But it's an unfortunate situation.
As we all know, coaches are always the first to go whether it's
really their fault or not. I think injuries did the Cleveland Cavaliers in especially
at the tail part of this season. You know, Mitchell was out karrisl
was out, Jared Allen was out, Like what were they really supposed to
do, you know, against the team that was the best in the use
and conference at least record wise. So I think it's a little bit of
a cop out to let JB go. But somebody's got a fall. And
if that's if that means JB needed to go so that Donovan Mitchell could stay,
well then that would be the political the politics of star players in the
NBA here, but that still remains to be seen. So I don't want
to put that Donovan Mitchell's you know, plate right now and say, Okay,
here's the reason JB is gone, but JB's not gone. Let's not
of in Mitchell okays it? I think, to correct me if I'm wrong.
Kobe Altman is still the GM right yep. And the hiring of JB.
Bickerstaff was on whose watch he hired JB. JB's been there four years,
okay, So don't you find it kind of interesting Shaw that this was
the call that had to be made by Kobe Alman. But when you look
at the roster construction, there's no accountability for the moves that were made by
Kobe Altman on his behalf to supplement the type of team that JB. Bickerstaff
has had to work with over the last couple of years. And you and
I had said this, we question whether or not Donovan Mitchell was the right
move, like because we were gobsmacked by the fact that it was the Cleveland
Cavaliers that came in and swooped up and decided to take Donovan Mitchell right because
remember they were still trying to figure out what they were gonna do with Colin
Sexton. Now, I'm not saying that they should have kept Sexton. I
mean, look, if you're gonna you're gonna tell me that you legit,
you know, want to go for it. Of course you go after Donovan
Mitchell, no doubt. But I probably would have told you maybe not at
the expense of keeping Darius Garland, because I didn't see where that combination worked
more so than I probably saw Colin Sexton and Donovan Mitchell working. But all
that being said, what did we say about Evan Mobley. What did we
say about this dude? Shaw? He frustrates you the most because on any
given night, that guy can probably look like freaking Victor Wimbanyama. You know,
and then at nights he looks like Michael Porter Jr. And that inconsistency
is it a Is it a bad straight? Oh? It is a bad
Is it? Is it a bad straight? No? Because what I'm basically
saying when I'm talking about Evan Mobley is it's all there. He has the
package. It ain't like it's just high like you know what I'm saying,
you gotta drag it. The problem is is that it's not consistent. The
problem is is that it's not out there on a night in, night out
basis. So that kind of stray is the same kind of straight we spent
all that time talking about Michael Porter Jr. That was the case, the
Nuggets would still be playing in this in in in in the playoffs. You
know what I'm saying. I'm not saying he's the only reason, but I'm
saying he is a big reason why hard for teams to make moves when you're
vested on the potential of someone who should be giving this to you on a
consistent basis, or it needs to happen in the in the most critical times,
which is the freaking playoffs. You know what I'm saying, Like I
understand Jared Allen was there, but that's exactly why Evan Mobley should This is
his time, is his time to shine. Now did he play awful?
No, but he definitely did not play like I didn't see that same kind
of performance. He did that kind of performance. It was it thirty three
points and some twelve fourths. He did it on al halford Man. Come
on, you know what I'm saying. He wasn't gonna do that against Kris
STAPs Porzingis and Kristaph Porzingis is not the best defender, but he's definitely a
step up for the Celtics. You know, MOBILEI wasn't doing that against Howser
and Cornett all throughout the series, so you know that was more him than
it was about the Celtics also as well too. You know what I'm saying,
Like, what I'm saying is the way that this roster was constructed,
Shaw, it's gonna have his EBB and flows. And I don't know if
you were lied more on the fact that JB was supposed to pull you know,
magic out of a hat with this team, but you could clearly tell
this team the way that they were constructed was not suited for what I think
JB really wanted to do. And if you're Donovan Mitchell, I guess you'd
be upset about that, But I think it speaks more to what is necessary
for Donovan Mitchell. It's obvious that Donovan Mitchell wasn't who he thought he was
when he was out there in Utah and he was shouldering basically a team that
was less talented than the team he had access to with the Cleveland Cavaliers,
because by all accounts, the Cleveland Cavaliers talent wise looked a lot like what
we're talking about with the Oklahoma City Thunder. But I guarantee you we're talking
about the Oklahoma City Thunder with more longevity than we'll be talking about the Cleveland
Cavaliers. So let me ask you this. I mean, what do you
think ultimately happens here? And just you know, I think, as succinctly
as you can, do they run this back with tweaks. Isaaca Ocurrow is
a guess as a free agent who they'll need to resign. I don't think
they he got a deal done by the deadline. Do they run this back
and just say, Hey, a new coach put in a new system,
and figure it out, do they? And that could mean they bring some
of those guys off the bench, if you will, so that there's not
the dad duplicity in the starting lineup. Strews wasn't the total answer for them,
but the verse on the contract. Mobiy's on the contract, Allen's on
the contract, Mitchell is on contract. You know it's his last year,
so that's why there's like, oh, he's extension eligible, so blah blah
blah blah. But do you just bring it to coach and say, cool,
let's run it back, or do you make changes with one Garland,
one Mitchell, Jared Allen and I don't think they're gonna move motely, but
you know one of those three guys you make changes And honestly, well,
let's put it like this, It all depends on the coach, right,
This is what Kobe is hitching his wagon on. And obviously Donovan Mitchell I
think has gotten in the ear of the organization, like if you want to
keep me, you're gonna have to the next person you're putting in here is
gonna have to be someone that is that I think is suitable, which now
also usurps Darius Garland right, so, and and it to me, the
dynamics of this is very interesting because if you flake out and get it and
get a coach that's better for for Donovan but not better for for Garland.
What are we talking about here, you know? And how many coaches are
out there that are really as innovative to accommodate the style of play that you
both see from from from Donovan and from from Garland. Listen, their styles
are very different. Shaw Garland to me, is much better when he operates
at a fast pace. Donovan is more deliberate. He plays he acts like
he plays fast, but he really does not play fast. He plays better
half court and I think he slow walks the ball a lot. He his
his usage rate is way high. Taking the ball out of Darius Garland's hands,
to me, I think goes against the rest of the roster because the
rest of those guys eat off of the way Garland facilitates and gets the ball.
So I don't I don't know what you do here with this? Yeah,
well, I do think Garland, even by some of the reports you
know his his agency, I think he's a lebron guy, so clutch guy.
If Mitchell stays. They've already said that that Garland is going to look
into peace out, so we'll see what ends up happening. But I don't
see Mitchell staying though either, Shaw, I really don't. He's still on
the contract, so they would have to find the deal to make that work.
But I don't know, Pil. I just think that we're in this
day in age Shaw where I think the the enticement of the super Max and
things of that nature, I think it's losing a lot of its teeth,
not because of the situation, not not because what's what's one of what is
it that I'm thinking of? It's not because of per se the team as
much as it is the environment of the team, you know what I mean.
I think a lot of that now is being factored so heavily that a
guy like Donovan Mitchell might be the first dude to be like, yeah,
you can offer it to me, but I'm just gonna go elsewhere, you
know, because listen the circumstances by what he got there, I don't think
in like made him feel like you know, I think he was happy he
got out of Utah, But I don't know I whether or not he was
a static that it wound up being Cleveland. And I'm not trying to be
disrespectful to the Cleveland Cavaliers. I think if you're Donovan Mitchell, you look
at this, this is a prime situation with the talented had access to.
I don't know, man, do you go anywhere else? If you're intent
is that you're really wanting to be competitive in any of the conferences. Who
knows where you might land up, and you may not be the featured player
by the time it's all said and done. I agree there, And I
know the old adages are again. Be Hold, the old teams are snipping
around again. So New York is not one of them. And in the
situation, but here comes Miami, Here come the Lakers. You know,
hey, if Donovan Mitchell is available, and that's that's a way all that
those those two franchises will seek and go after. And maybe that will entice
him. You know, maybe he does want to go somewhere in Miami.
He could be the lead guy offensively and maybe could compliment Jimmy Butler, who
takes his annual see us to anyway, So maybe that works itself out.
But I think Cleveland is primed to retain him. You know, he did
not make an All NBA team if I if I'm remembering quickly, so you
know, his extension. He might need to play this one out anyway and
then see that he can get that that that extension at a higher or higher
mount Ley and r on. So Cleveland's in an interesting situation. Uh.
JB is the guy who's been on our podcast. So you know we always
have you know, love for that people showing us love. So we know
he'll be back, you know, in the NBA and whatever capacity that he
wants to or a job in basketball and whatever he wants to do, you
know, sometime soon. Here So shouts to JB Man, good individual,
you know, just a bad situation there in Cleveland for him. Yeah,
he got a raw deal on this one. You know, fortunately you got
you got a raw deal. It's one of those few situations where, you
know, what do you do when you don't have your full pieces healthy?
Competing arguably in a gauntlet of you know, what was going on in the
Eastern Conference And I say that respectfully because you know that's exactly what it was.
You know, you're playing against arguably the best team in the Eastern Conference.
Right in in that in that round, and you don't have your starters
for you to really assess was it you? You know, we always question
too whether or not JB does make those of adjustments. But I think there
wasn't too many adjustments that could be made. Man, it was a monoy
mono circumstances situation, and the Celtics just have more mono than than than the
Cavaliers. And I think part of that, to me, I think speaks
more about the players and what they have to do to get themselves in a
position to put the onus on being either coached up better or stepping up to
just be better. And I think that what's I think because of this,
this circumstance, in this situation, Shaw, now the eyes are really on
Donovan Mitchell right now. The eyes are really on Darius Garland, you know,
are they are they paper superstars? Are they gonna legit be superstars?
You know? And I think you know that's where we are with them,
Yes, sir, I love to hear what our fans listeners have to say
about it, how they feel, you know, the Nuggets, thunder Nicks
and Calves should go into the offseason. Which team would you most rather be
moving forward and you know this, This is a lot more to come.
Did Jamie get get a raw deal? We think so? But do you
agree? So let us know if you're on the baseline and the underscore basedline
you know on Instagram and NBA Baseline on X. Now forward to absolutely Man.
Once again, you'd like to thank you and yours for hopping on board
with us this week for the baseline. Cali warren Shaw. We appreciate you,
guys, you know we do. We'll catch up with you next time.