1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:04,120 What's up, y'all is Drewski and I've teamed up with Mountain Dew to produce 2 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:08,640 a hilarious new basketball podcast called The d Zone with Drewski. Learn the backstories 3 00:00:08,679 --> 00:00:11,839 of your favorite balls and celebrities like Jamal Murray. Did you have like a 4 00:00:11,919 --> 00:00:14,720 favorite team? Was it the Raptors at the time or no, was the 5 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,800 Raptors even started on the top? Come on, bro Hi, tell you 6 00:00:18,839 --> 00:00:21,559 like I'm vivit, the Taylor Roges, Asian Wilson, and any more. 7 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:24,800 You won't want to miss this. Listen to The Dzone with Drewski on Apple 8 00:00:24,839 --> 00:00:36,280 Podcast, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Hello everyone, and 9 00:00:36,359 --> 00:00:40,240 welcome to the latest episode of Hardwood Knocks. This is Adam Prommel here with 10 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:45,439 my fantastic co host Dan Favalley, and we have a special All Hardwood Knocks 11 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:51,920 edition of the podcast today. Rather than going over the traditional all NBA teams, 12 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,600 which we will be doing in a later episode, we're gonna be going 13 00:00:55,640 --> 00:01:00,840 over the players who we enjoyed watching most. This is different than the Awards 14 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:04,840 Conversation, which we will actually be doing on Locker Room this Sunday at four 15 00:01:04,879 --> 00:01:08,439 pm Eastern, So please join us there for that, we're definitely excited to 16 00:01:08,439 --> 00:01:11,840 go over all the biggest awards. But again, this is not that we're 17 00:01:11,879 --> 00:01:15,599 looking at the players who entertained us the most, who made us want to 18 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:19,439 watch them the most, to put up big numbers in an entertaining way, 19 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,959 however you define it. That's how we approached this, Dan, was it 20 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:29,359 a fun exercise an enjoyable one? How did you personally approach this? I 21 00:01:29,439 --> 00:01:34,680 think it was really enjoyable. It was definitely interesting, though to the extent 22 00:01:34,719 --> 00:01:38,000 of how it made me think of measuring enjoyment, because there is that natural 23 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:44,120 pull to stars and the big names. But you also, when you really 24 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,920 think about this, you start to realize there are just players. Maybe some 25 00:01:47,959 --> 00:01:49,760 of them are off beat, maybe they're more middle of the road who you 26 00:01:49,799 --> 00:01:55,040 just still really enjoy watching. And so I'm still personally when you look at 27 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,200 my first team, let's say I gravitated towards stars there because like, those 28 00:01:59,239 --> 00:02:01,560 are the players I'm watching most frequently. But as I got deeper, I 29 00:02:01,599 --> 00:02:05,519 think you even noted about my third team. It's there is like a finer 30 00:02:05,519 --> 00:02:07,400 appreciation for it. And I did try to wait that where it's like just 31 00:02:07,479 --> 00:02:12,840 because as a spoiler, like Lebron James didn't make any one of my teams. 32 00:02:13,039 --> 00:02:16,360 It's not that I don't enjoy watching Lebron James, it's there are people 33 00:02:16,439 --> 00:02:21,360 that he gets enough shine, and so especially after my first team, I 34 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:25,319 tried to focus on those who I just wanted to highlight that maybe weren't necessarily 35 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:32,159 obvious inclusions. You know what's really interesting about Lebron James here is we incorporated 36 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:37,599 fan voting for this as well. So the All Hardwood Knox team is determined 37 00:02:37,719 --> 00:02:42,400 by my ballot, which counts for a third, Dan's ballot, which counts 38 00:02:42,439 --> 00:02:46,599 for a third, and fans submissions because we ask you on Twitter or wherever 39 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:51,000 else you are engaging with the Hardwood Knocks account the NBA math account to submit 40 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,199 your own All Hardwood Knox teams, and we compiled those and then created the 41 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,759 overall composite rankings that are the All Hardwood Knox team. So, again, 42 00:03:00,039 --> 00:03:04,159 full parts between myself, Dan and the fans. Lebron did not get love 43 00:03:04,199 --> 00:03:07,919 from anyone. He was not on my list. He actually didn't even make 44 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:12,319 my honorable mention this season. Had I ended up writing down thirty six names 45 00:03:12,319 --> 00:03:15,680 as I was trying to pull this down to fifteen. The fans also did 46 00:03:15,719 --> 00:03:19,840 not vote him on there Is. He finished twenty first in the fan vote, 47 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:23,319 which was really surprising to me. I figured that the name value alone, 48 00:03:23,479 --> 00:03:28,919 especially considering the fan vote, tended to gravitate a little bit more towards 49 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:31,039 stars than either you or I did. Dan, I thought that he would 50 00:03:31,039 --> 00:03:35,400 be hiring that one. I'm surprised he fell aside the top twenty the fan 51 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,759 vote. I'm also surprised that you only had thirty seven players written down as 52 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:40,759 the initial thing. Well, I had like thirty eight down, and then 53 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,759 you told me to remove Dylan Brooks. Yeah, I don't. I can't 54 00:03:44,759 --> 00:03:47,520 believe you enjoy watching Dylan brook I enjoy watching his defense, and then I 55 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:52,000 closed my eyes and don't watch well he has the ball exact. I mean 56 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:53,560 there are probably some nights though, where you really could enjoy when he does 57 00:03:53,599 --> 00:03:57,000 have the ball. I guess that's the appeal of Dylan Brooks. Yeah, 58 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,520 kind of like the car crash theory. Can't take your eyes off it, 59 00:04:00,599 --> 00:04:03,080 and then there's also a chance that maybe something good will happen too. Also, 60 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,639 I didn't actually remove him from my honorable mentions. To spite your disapproval, 61 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,280 I didn't even come up with honorable mentions. I deleted everyone off my 62 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,759 Google spreadsheet once I pinned it down to my final fifteen. And I will 63 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:16,040 say no, I'll wait till I get to him. But one player ended 64 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,920 up on two different teams. There's the same I didn't keep it that way, 65 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:21,800 but when I went through it to proof it before I sent it to 66 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:25,920 you, I had the same player list. That's how much that I enjoy 67 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,199 watching said player. I'm going to be very curious to hear who that is. 68 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:30,240 But do you want to start from the first team or the third team 69 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:34,639 here? Oh, I don't know, what do you think? I think 70 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:39,279 we should start from the first team? That works for me? Okay, 71 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:45,480 so yeah, we're gonna these follow the traditional All NBA format, which the 72 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:49,120 validity of that is a topic for another time. Shout out to Joel Embiid 73 00:04:49,199 --> 00:04:53,439 there. But it does have two guards, two forwards in a center, 74 00:04:53,759 --> 00:04:57,439 and the forwards in the centers are are kind of interchangeable now more than ever. 75 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:00,720 So I think both of us kind of cheated a little bit at times 76 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:05,040 there, and validly so, I believe because we wanted to get our favorite 77 00:05:05,079 --> 00:05:10,600 guys in there. But let's start with our first team guards. We had 78 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:15,759 one in common across the board, so our first entry on the All Hardwood 79 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,040 Knox team is Steph Curry, who made the first team for me, made 80 00:05:18,079 --> 00:05:20,639 the first team for you, and made the first team for the fans, 81 00:05:21,079 --> 00:05:25,399 and among fans, he was actually the second highest vote getter of any player. 82 00:05:27,879 --> 00:05:30,319 I don't know that there's another player in the NBA that, realistically, 83 00:05:30,319 --> 00:05:34,480 I'll probably say some hyperbolic shit throughout this podcast that I enjoy watching more than 84 00:05:34,519 --> 00:05:39,000 Stephen Curry. One of my favorite basketball players to watch of all time, 85 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:43,079 and I think clearly my favorite player to watch in the NBA right now. 86 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,040 I mean, there have been moments stretches where it's I don't even want to 87 00:05:46,079 --> 00:05:48,199 name their names because they're coming up. They are players who are close to 88 00:05:48,319 --> 00:05:56,839 equally as enjoyable. But Stephen Curry is just like this perpetually erupting volcano who 89 00:05:57,519 --> 00:06:01,000 fucked everything up for opposing defenses even if he doesn't have the ball. And 90 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:05,439 that's just to watch someone to have the impact on the rest of the court, 91 00:06:05,519 --> 00:06:09,360 not even what he's doing off the ball, which he can be pinballing 92 00:06:09,399 --> 00:06:13,680 and coming off screens and relocating doing all these things, but watching just the 93 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:15,800 shift of the geometry of the court or how other players are reacting on the 94 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:23,319 court what he doesn't have the ball. It's really fun. Absolutely, I 95 00:06:23,319 --> 00:06:27,759 mean spoiler alert. But Nicola Yokich makes this team as well, and he's 96 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,879 going to be the runaway MVP, and deservedly so. But Steph Curry was 97 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:33,920 the first name I wrote down. It had to be, like, there 98 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:39,560 is no more enjoyable player in the league right now. He has almost single 99 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:44,120 handedly carried the Warriors back to relevance this season, despite the injuries they've suffered, 100 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:48,079 despite the poor roster construction around him, to put it kindly, and 101 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:53,480 he's just had a blast doing it. And it's so readily apparent every time 102 00:06:53,519 --> 00:06:58,199 he takes the floor, And even as he's greeted with these nightly double and 103 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,199 triple teams, and we even saw a qua druple team, like a legitimate 104 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:04,720 quadruple team the other night, he still finds a way to just shoot flames 105 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:10,160 out of that right wrist. It's unbelievable the shots that he's able to make 106 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:15,600 on a consistent basis. That would be foolish for like basically any other player 107 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,720 in the NBA to even dream about attempting a few exceptions. Sure, you 108 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:21,120 know, like, you're not going to be shocked if Dame Lillard pulls up 109 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:25,040 from three feet inside the half court line. You're not going to be surprised 110 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:29,680 if Luca don Chich attempts a ridiculous step back over an outstretched hand. But 111 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:36,240 Steph does those so routinely that he still manages to play effortlessly despite this incredibly 112 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:41,519 high energy output that he has to exert on a nightly basis just to extricate 113 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:45,959 him from a defense. I don't know that I can add anything to that. 114 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:48,720 We've Stephen Curry is enjoyable to watch that. There was a comment we're 115 00:07:48,759 --> 00:07:51,439 breaking news here. Yeah, there was a comment or in interviews that said 116 00:07:51,439 --> 00:07:56,639 we need to be spicier with our takes. There is all right, Steph 117 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:01,240 Curry. The first inclusion the second was not unanimous. You and I both 118 00:08:01,279 --> 00:08:03,720 had LaMelo Ball on our first team. The fans had Luca don Chich in 119 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,120 this second spot. So we did get to overrule the fans here. Luca 120 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:13,279 will be showing up later, But yeah, I mean I don't LaMelo Ball 121 00:08:13,319 --> 00:08:16,040 was also the first guard included on the second team for the fans. So 122 00:08:16,079 --> 00:08:20,439 it's not like we're like totally superseding the opinion of the voters here. I 123 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:24,040 mean, it's not quite as much as stuff, but it's pretty darn clear 124 00:08:24,439 --> 00:08:28,720 how enjoyable he is when he's making those underhand flip passes the length of the 125 00:08:28,759 --> 00:08:33,279 court and just showing that he has eyes in the back of his head on 126 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:37,000 every single possession, and just the joy that he plays with as a rookie, 127 00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:39,679 and the impact he's already been able to make on the Charlotte Hornets was 128 00:08:39,759 --> 00:08:43,559 so palpable from the very start until he broke his wrist, and even since 129 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:50,799 he's returned, there's a nonchalantinists the way, a nonchalance to the way he 130 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:54,240 plays that you see it with nicolea Yoki too. You know, I'm not 131 00:08:54,279 --> 00:08:56,159 saying that they don't try or that this is easy for them, but they 132 00:08:56,200 --> 00:09:03,600 make the exceedingly difficult look possibly easy, effortless, and so I can't get 133 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:07,240 enough of that. And like you said that, the full court passes that 134 00:09:07,279 --> 00:09:11,679 look like they're just flicks of the wrist basically, or like those underhanded tosses, 135 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,600 the decisions he can make after he leaves his feet, he can even 136 00:09:16,799 --> 00:09:20,399 he can go to posing offenses into turnovers too. I think that's been what 137 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:24,879 sort of pleasantly surprising is that. I think we mentioned this on a previous 138 00:09:24,919 --> 00:09:28,240 podcast. There have been a few rookies that have made better, much better 139 00:09:28,279 --> 00:09:31,120 than expected impacts on defense. I think that he is one of them. 140 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:37,840 I'm so interested to see how his career progresses from here because if he becomes 141 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:43,200 more of just like a flashier off the dribble finisher or shooter like that, 142 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:46,519 how are you ever supposed to take your eyes off of that player? You're 143 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:50,720 not? And the other thing about him, he makes everyone else on the 144 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:54,159 team so much more fun too. Miles Bridges, for example, has always 145 00:09:54,200 --> 00:10:01,360 been entertaining because of the turbojet hops that he has and is able to exhibit 146 00:10:01,399 --> 00:10:05,080 on a nightly basis, but he's done so much more, so much more 147 00:10:05,159 --> 00:10:09,679 frequently because he spent so much time with LaMelo Ball that Bridges was one of 148 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:15,360 my honorable mentions here. He got some votes from the fans. That impact 149 00:10:15,399 --> 00:10:20,000 alone helps justify Lamello's presence here. And I should also say that he ended 150 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:24,120 up ninth in the fan vote Yeah, I don't know what else to add 151 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:26,639 that I am surprised he didn't end up on the first team for the fans. 152 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:30,600 There's there is when looking at the fans team, I think there's probably 153 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:35,120 only one inclusion that actually surprises me, and they're all justifiable, but I 154 00:10:35,159 --> 00:10:37,240 am still a little bit surprised. I thought I pretty much thought there was 155 00:10:37,279 --> 00:10:41,799 going to be like a consensus top five here. Yeah, I kind of 156 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:46,960 did as well, But we did have another near consensus with the first forward 157 00:10:46,039 --> 00:10:50,080 spot. You and I both had Zion Williamson, who was on the second 158 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:56,200 team for fans, and among the fan votes he ended up ranking eighth, 159 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:01,159 So I'm not surprised by that one either. Again, we're kind of gravitating 160 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:05,919 towards stars on this first team, but how can you not enjoy watching Zion 161 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:11,000 play basketball? Just the effortless power that he exhibits on a nightly basis, 162 00:11:11,039 --> 00:11:16,200 and the glides to the rim and the offhand finishes and the inability of any 163 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:20,559 defender to stay in front of him, especially once New Orleans started featuring him 164 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:24,840 more as that primary playmaker, which I think really allowed his game to just 165 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:30,960 jump to that next level almost immediately after the roll shift happened, Yeah, 166 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:35,240 putting the ball in his hands. More aside from giving the Pelicans a blueprint 167 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:39,720 for the future, just the results were absurd. And this is someone who 168 00:11:39,759 --> 00:11:43,039 doesn't have a perimeter game that yeah, he could work from the outside in 169 00:11:43,159 --> 00:11:46,919 and one of the things that I don't think it's surprising, but it's definitely 170 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,559 underappreciated when looking at his game because everyone just considers him this force of nature. 171 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:56,120 There's more variance in how he's attacking it, Like he can use angles, 172 00:11:56,159 --> 00:11:58,240 he can change directions. He's just not barreling straight through these guys, 173 00:11:58,279 --> 00:12:01,720 even when he doesn't have a ball, and he's like going up for an 174 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:05,159 alley oop, Like they're not even always like these straight line paths that he's 175 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,440 taking. So the way he moves on or off the ball isn't is incredible, 176 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:11,639 So he doesn't receive enough credit for that. The passing acumen, it 177 00:12:11,639 --> 00:12:16,200 it's clearly there. I would love to see what happens if he's working with 178 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:18,039 more space in the half court because New Orleans has not been a good shooting 179 00:12:18,039 --> 00:12:22,000 team. There just might be more highlight plays in storm, maybe more highlight 180 00:12:22,039 --> 00:12:26,360 passes. Even but as my original point that I was making and then just 181 00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:30,879 took a huge ass detour off of This is something who doesn't have an outside 182 00:12:30,879 --> 00:12:33,519 game, doesn't shoot just like it's a it's not a thing, it's not 183 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:37,440 a part of his game. And yet he has like a true shooting percentage 184 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:41,559 of a zillion. How do you it's not even I know he's getting to 185 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:46,039 the rim at all time frequency, but he's also like he shouldn't. I 186 00:12:46,039 --> 00:12:48,039 don't know if he should be finishing at as high as a clip because of 187 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:52,679 the contact he's absorbing. I do think there's probably something too. I know 188 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:56,879 you probably saw David Griffin complaining a week or so ago. I was going 189 00:12:56,919 --> 00:13:00,279 to ask you about it right after this. Yeah, referees don't know how 190 00:13:00,279 --> 00:13:03,480 to officiate him, and I do think that's clear. It's the shock conundrum, 191 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,559 but it's like something entirely different because you're upping the volume as well, 192 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,519 and this is just a this is just a body type that we've never shack. 193 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:16,879 Was never this mobile and was never operating like that from the from the 194 00:13:16,919 --> 00:13:20,559 outside into which probably makes it more difficult. It's almost like this might be 195 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,120 a terrible comparison because I never thought it's like Shaq and Lebron rolled into one. 196 00:13:24,399 --> 00:13:28,039 Almost when you're looking at Lebron's agility, sure, I can go with 197 00:13:28,039 --> 00:13:31,240 that. Shack's build so so enjoyable to watch, and he's so much more 198 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:35,320 than just those dunks. It's just the entire play, from when you put 199 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:37,919 the ball in his hands start to finish. It's an absolute joy to watch. 200 00:13:39,159 --> 00:13:43,320 I'm totally on board with him not being officiated properly and still managing to 201 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:48,559 thrive to such an extent on the interior that it's just even more impressive that 202 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:52,559 he's able to do that. I was a little bit surprised that he was 203 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:56,080 not even higher in the fan vote. He if you had to, let's 204 00:13:56,080 --> 00:14:00,200 say, if we had to narrow three players that had to be consent his 205 00:14:00,279 --> 00:14:05,759 first team, I would have had Steph Zion, and then I might have 206 00:14:05,799 --> 00:14:07,639 had Yokich over Lamello. But like one of those, I would those four 207 00:14:07,879 --> 00:14:11,320 I just thought were non negotiable. Basically, yeah, I figured Zion would 208 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:15,200 be a lock as well, but I guess like still eighth overall, not 209 00:14:15,279 --> 00:14:20,600 too shabby. Sugar Ray, Leonard, Roberto Duran, Marvelous, Marvin Hagler, 210 00:14:20,679 --> 00:14:26,200 and Thomas Hearns Legends whose four way rivalry define one of the greatest errors 211 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:31,679 in boxing history. Relive their decade of dominance in the new Showtime Sports documentary 212 00:14:31,799 --> 00:14:35,840 The Kings, a four parts series premiering Sunday, June sixth, only on 213 00:14:35,879 --> 00:14:43,559 Showtime. The other forward on the consensus first team. You're laughing a lot 214 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:46,480 about that, but I feel like, I don't know if people are gonna 215 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:50,279 be surprised who made my own first team. I'm just thinking about the conversation 216 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:54,159 that's to come. I apologize, no, I'm glad that you're just hyping 217 00:14:54,200 --> 00:15:01,240 this reveal up a little bit more. Unsurprisingly, the consensus first team forward 218 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:05,120 joining Zion is Jannisana da Cumbo, who was third in the fan vote, 219 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:07,720 so obviously on the first team. He was on my first team as well. 220 00:15:09,639 --> 00:15:13,200 I'm scanning Dan's first team, he's not there. I'm scanning his second 221 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:18,080 team. He's not there. And he's not on the third team either. 222 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:24,360 So your first team forward is fan favorite and especially dan favorite, Chris Bouche, 223 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,759 and he is the guy that made two teams. I had him on 224 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:31,240 first and second. It wasn't so I don't know. I figured he might 225 00:15:31,279 --> 00:15:35,639 be the first name you wrote down. He well, he was one of 226 00:15:35,679 --> 00:15:39,240 the first names I wrote down before it's ordered them into teams. I think 227 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:41,440 I was grappling with whether I was brave enough to put him in first team. 228 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:46,720 And look, Chris Brusche one. There's some todd foolery going on here. 229 00:15:46,759 --> 00:15:48,440 He spent most of his minutes at center, but he's also played alongside 230 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:52,360 other bigs. So I'm letting you know, if Joe Ellenbi can qualify as 231 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:58,000 a forward on All NBA, Chris Brusche can qualify as a forward on the 232 00:15:58,039 --> 00:16:02,320 All Hardwood Knocks team. That's all. It's my logic here. I don't 233 00:16:02,399 --> 00:16:06,320 before you, before you continue. I feel I feel compelled to say that 234 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:11,120 Chris Bouche does actually make the Composite rankings solely because of you. Like he 235 00:16:11,159 --> 00:16:15,120 was in my honorable mentions, he was twenty six in the fan voting, 236 00:16:15,399 --> 00:16:18,639 so it just barely missed the cut for their third team. But he does 237 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:25,039 make our third team center spot thanks to your best efforts. How many so, 238 00:16:25,039 --> 00:16:30,960 how many ballots was he on overall? He was on? He was 239 00:16:32,039 --> 00:16:37,720 on thirteen percent of ballots. That's not insubstantial, It's not now. I 240 00:16:37,759 --> 00:16:42,480 don't know how many of those were your submissions fair enough? Did you get 241 00:16:42,519 --> 00:16:47,120 the ballot that was just fifteen Chris Bouchees. Yeah, I deleted that one 242 00:16:47,159 --> 00:16:49,720 along with the one that was all Mavericks for the third time. Also, 243 00:16:49,919 --> 00:16:52,480 wonder before I actually get into why I picked him, Well, I guess 244 00:16:52,519 --> 00:16:56,159 this factors into it too. Swatter Boy is a fantastic nickname. I'm sorry, 245 00:16:56,200 --> 00:17:00,720 that's just actolutely a fantastic nickname. Look, he has if you care, 246 00:17:00,799 --> 00:17:03,559 if you care about numbers at all, on this shooting over sixty percent 247 00:17:03,599 --> 00:17:07,079 on his two's, over thirty eight point three percent on threes, almost two 248 00:17:07,079 --> 00:17:11,160 blocks per game in under twenty five minutes. You want a shot blocking, 249 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:15,880 floor spacing center who can also sort of. He's got the hardest roll over 250 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:18,680 the basket, but he got really good at navigating the seams off the ball, 251 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:22,799 whether he was coming from the corner or actually coming off a screen. 252 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:26,039 He's really good. He deserved more love than the six man of the year 253 00:17:26,079 --> 00:17:32,200 discussion before his injury. He still leads the league. I believe in blocked 254 00:17:32,319 --> 00:17:34,839 jumpers despite going down with that injury, and he's gonna wind up playing and 255 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:38,079 I mean, I say, just sixty games, but the season is only 256 00:17:38,079 --> 00:17:41,640 gonna be seventy two games, so given what the Raptors have gone through, 257 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,839 that's actually really impressive. That's the thing that I enjoy watching most is there 258 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:51,079 is like an unhinged element to his game where it's like, oh, okay, 259 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:55,160 he can still get into foul trouble and take too many risks and his 260 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:59,279 closeouts could be just absolute anarchy. But I appreciate those clothes outs, that 261 00:17:59,319 --> 00:18:03,160 effort of that. Even if he is at the elbow, or if he's 262 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:04,559 in the restricted area and you think you're about to take a jump shot, 263 00:18:04,599 --> 00:18:08,680 like Chris Bruche is gonna come out and try and block that shot. I 264 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:12,160 absolutely love that energy. And I also think what I've latched on in the 265 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:17,920 fact is I don't think he's been appreciated enough. I'm not gonna throw Raptors 266 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:19,799 fans into here, but nationally it was just, oh, the Raptors need 267 00:18:19,839 --> 00:18:22,839 a big they need a big I get it, Like he's just not going 268 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,119 to be this guy who helps you rebound a ton. They're more inclined to 269 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:30,319 put Ogna Nobi on a five than him. It feels like defensively, sometimes 270 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,240 I really don't care Chris Bruche is one of the most enjoyable players to watch 271 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:37,559 in the NBA. I would call him my foremost guilty pleasure, but I 272 00:18:37,559 --> 00:18:41,960 don't feel bad about this at all. So he's just my outright, unconditional, 273 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:45,799 no strings attached pleasure. I make no apologies for putting him on my 274 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:49,559 all hardwood en off first team. I wonder how much love the video of 275 00:18:51,039 --> 00:18:55,400 that monologue is going to get from from raptors Twitter. You think that I'll 276 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:56,759 cut that one up, that's the we're gonna I think you have to. 277 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,359 Yeah, I think you have to. Yeah, there was some passion there. 278 00:19:00,759 --> 00:19:06,000 But you know, Chris Buche is included at the expense of Jannisanza Dakumba, 279 00:19:06,039 --> 00:19:08,759 who again did not make your first, second, or third team. 280 00:19:08,799 --> 00:19:15,799 I'm just going to assume that this is like MVP fatigue translated to a different 281 00:19:15,839 --> 00:19:21,119 exercise, because that dude is still a joy to watch. The hustle, 282 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:26,079 the energy, the physicality, the athleticism, the ridiculous length that allows for 283 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:29,960 plays that no one else can make. The dunks that feature an outstretched arm 284 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:32,559 after he starts at the top of the key and picks up his dribble there, 285 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:37,200 Like everything about his game is made to be ridiculously entertaining, and you 286 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:41,359 don't have him on any of the teams. Look, I'm gonna be honest 287 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:45,160 with you too. Is as I said, like I really committed to the 288 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:48,920 star bit at the top and then tried to be dispersed it out more towards 289 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:52,279 the bottom. I probably would have had Kyrie here over. Be honest, 290 00:19:52,279 --> 00:19:56,079 It's not that I don't enjoy watching Jannis. They're just his game feels. 291 00:19:56,200 --> 00:20:00,440 I'm not on defense so much. There's that fun unpredictability here of there fromhim, 292 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:02,559 and it's almost always good. I'm not saying he's bad on defense. 293 00:20:02,599 --> 00:20:06,240 Sometimes the offense is just like, yeah, it's cool. We've seen him 294 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:08,039 get up the court in two steps now and is finishing at the rim is 295 00:20:08,079 --> 00:20:11,680 also ridiculous. The dunking is absurd. He's he's been better as a passer 296 00:20:11,759 --> 00:20:15,000 this year too. I don't know, I need to see him like, 297 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:18,240 let's I don't I don't know what he needs to add. I'm not saying 298 00:20:18,279 --> 00:20:22,559 it's because of his jumper and he takes them like he's gonna take those turns 299 00:20:22,559 --> 00:20:26,720 and fades or he'll pull up for three. I'm just maybe it is MVP 300 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:30,519 fatigue, but he wasn't. I didn't view him as a snub. It's 301 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:32,960 if you wanted him on your first team. I get it. But once 302 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,640 the focus was pulled off of stars, he needed to be You know, 303 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:38,400 this wasn't Chris Bouchet instead of Jannest attends to Cuba. It was probably Chris 304 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:44,920 Bouche instead of Kyrie Irving. So Kyrie Irving is a forward though, Oh 305 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,319 good points. So maybe it was Chris. Kevin Durant was on my initial 306 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:51,920 list. He might have been in there too. I did have Lebron penciled 307 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:55,559 in. You know, there's there's a part of me that likes watching Kauai 308 00:20:55,599 --> 00:21:00,200 operate just as much as Yannis because he's Kawai's just so damned methodical on both 309 00:21:00,279 --> 00:21:03,400 ends of the floor. I again, maybe it's taken as an insult, 310 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:07,920 but I'm going to appreciate. You know, I'm a fan of chaos, 311 00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:11,720 and Chris Brouchet is like controlled chaos. Almost. All I'm saying is that 312 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:15,519 we have to take this podcast seriously, so like, I just need you 313 00:21:15,519 --> 00:21:18,519 to stop drinking so heavily when you're putting together this kind of stuff. I 314 00:21:18,519 --> 00:21:22,039 have not had a sip of alcaol since October twenty eighteen. If you're talking 315 00:21:22,039 --> 00:21:26,640 about the caffeine I'm currently consuming at the moment, even though it's eleven PM 316 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:30,680 Eastern time as we're recording this, then fair. That's basically what I meant. 317 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:36,799 Anyway, moving on, you're yanna certification. I understand why you included 318 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:38,240 him, if if that helps at all, I don't think it's egregious. 319 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:42,319 I'm like slightly mollified, not fully. People are going to be mad at 320 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:45,680 me again, aren't they. They're definitely gonna be goose dumb dan again. 321 00:21:49,039 --> 00:21:55,640 Fortunately, you, much like myself and much like the fans who voted him 322 00:21:55,680 --> 00:22:00,359 first overall by a lot, had Nicola Yokich as our first team center, 323 00:22:00,759 --> 00:22:04,359 and do we, like, do we even need to justify it at this 324 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:10,240 point? I think we could. We know why, But there's for you. 325 00:22:10,319 --> 00:22:11,319 I don't know if this for me, this is how it was, 326 00:22:11,319 --> 00:22:14,880 and I don't know if it was the same for you. It's not even 327 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:18,519 just his passing anymore, like he's scooting by people off the dribble. It's 328 00:22:18,559 --> 00:22:23,839 the samboar shuffle, obviously, but like he's become one of the most clutch 329 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:30,279 players in basketball in and so much more aggressive too. Yeah, he's scoring. 330 00:22:30,599 --> 00:22:33,680 You know, when we had the question on the last podcast about why 331 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:37,559 isn't he most improved player, or maybe that was the conversation, I don't 332 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,200 think. You know, he's doing a lot of the same things he's always 333 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:42,759 done, just in higher volume. But there's the real argument is just the 334 00:22:42,799 --> 00:22:47,319 scoring. Because of how much more aggressive he is. DeMar Deroson is the 335 00:22:47,359 --> 00:22:51,240 only player who has made more baskets in the final two minutes of one possession 336 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:55,480 games. There's nicoleo Kit. He's doing everything and so they're going to mister 337 00:22:55,559 --> 00:22:56,559 mum Murray. I want to make that clear. In the postseason, I 338 00:22:56,599 --> 00:23:00,240 think his absence will matter more. But like this, we're seeing Joel Embiid 339 00:23:00,279 --> 00:23:03,359 do it too, because he gets to the foul line a bunch. This 340 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:07,319 idea that you necessarily need that conventional crunch time option in the form of a 341 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:11,319 guard or a wing might be true in some cases. Maybe it's even true 342 00:23:11,319 --> 00:23:14,519 for Denver. We'll have to see this this, you know, once the 343 00:23:14,559 --> 00:23:17,960 playoffs rolling around. But the things he's doing and to be so, he's 344 00:23:18,039 --> 00:23:21,960 so freaking quick and he's in you know, I don't think we're giving enough 345 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:23,680 credit to He's in the best shape of his life after going through the shortest 346 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:26,440 offseason in sports history. There were two teams that had a shorter offseason than 347 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:30,400 the Nuggets, maybe three. I can't remember when the Eastern Conference Finals ended. 348 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:34,319 I think it's only two though, So just that it didn't push him 349 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:37,680 over the top. But it's just like a wrinkle in his game where it's, 350 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,480 oh, he's getting past people on face ups and off the dribble. 351 00:23:41,599 --> 00:23:45,640 That's just why that baseline that's spin to the baseline is just unstoppable at this 352 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,599 point, Like if he feels your hand on the wrong hip, you're just 353 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:52,960 toast. Even if and if you provide help, like you know that he's 354 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:57,960 going to find the guy that was helped off of He's just unstoppable on that 355 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:03,400 low block now. And there's even his postgame commentary where he talks about like 356 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:07,039 the bond he has with Mike Malone, Like part of watchability for me is 357 00:24:07,559 --> 00:24:11,680 are they going to hit me in the fields? And Nicoleoki, maybe some 358 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:14,400 of it will get lost in translation, but like he'll hit me in the 359 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:15,960 fields. There's another player onund here that will that has definitely hit me in 360 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:18,119 the fields multiple times, but like that's so cool. And then yeah, 361 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:22,759 there is his passing, like those are just how many passes a game does 362 00:24:22,759 --> 00:24:26,559 he throw? Where you're just like he did that? Did he really just 363 00:24:26,599 --> 00:24:29,759 do that? Well, I think my follow up question is how many passes 364 00:24:29,799 --> 00:24:33,759 per game does he throw? Because that's the answer. Fair enough. I 365 00:24:33,759 --> 00:24:36,400 thought you were going to give me a real over under question there, Oh, 366 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:40,720 definitely not. This is this is definitely one of our least numbers based 367 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:45,279 episodes, I would say, which is definitely why I cited final two minutes 368 00:24:45,319 --> 00:24:47,440 of Crunch Time play. Yeah, but I mean I get that, you 369 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:49,480 know, if you find close games exciting like some people do. Also, 370 00:24:49,599 --> 00:24:52,480 because I was writing something and I happened to just know that that's not even 371 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,920 pulled up on my computer, right, So that's an unfair advantage you have 372 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:00,440 over me these days. But still, but still I'm not the one referred 373 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:03,519 to as the dumb guys. The fact that I write, yeah, I 374 00:25:03,519 --> 00:25:06,480 was gonna say it just means I have one more job in which people need 375 00:25:06,519 --> 00:25:10,839 to call for me to lose it. Yeah, fair enough, fair enough. 376 00:25:11,559 --> 00:25:14,039 We just we want those calls to get more creative, Like if they're 377 00:25:14,039 --> 00:25:17,400 gonna come like, let's at least like show a little more creativity these days. 378 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:19,400 That's my that's my lead to our listeners and actually be more hostile in 379 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:23,279 the past that I'm giving where I'm not trying to play a character right now 380 00:25:23,319 --> 00:25:26,200 where I'm spitting out these takes. And by the way, one of the 381 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:29,880 things that people took issue with was Isaiah stew It over Manuel Quickly for first 382 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:33,240 Team All Rookie. I actually I absolutely agree with that after watching Manuel Quickly 383 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:37,359 a little bit more since then I was working on something where I was watching 384 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:41,880 past highlights and then he came back against the because of the Knicks beating the 385 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:45,680 Spurs, I would absolutely have a Manual Quickly over Asaia stew It on first 386 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,400 Team All Rookie. Now, I don't want apologize for having Fakuno Compazo over 387 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:52,039 you know, Sadi bay or giving Jaden McDaniel credit for second Team All NBA 388 00:25:52,079 --> 00:25:56,119 when he's been as good. That's besides the point, though I clearly need 389 00:25:56,160 --> 00:26:00,000 to be I'm not trying to be a troll, but maybe that's the problem. 390 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:02,519 Pete Kennedy, if you're listening to this episode, first of all, 391 00:26:02,559 --> 00:26:06,000 we appreciate it as always. And second of all, we in the last 392 00:26:06,039 --> 00:26:10,359 week we have generated a much more definitive answer to which of us gets more 393 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:17,039 hate on Twitter. That feels like a good segue to the second team, 394 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:18,279 right, and I think from here on, I'm changing all my teams to 395 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:22,160 just agree with yours. To Mini, I'm gonna get That's how fragile I 396 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:26,680 am right now. It's a cowardly, cowardly play, but I'll respect it 397 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:30,720 if you do it, except I won't. Anyway, the second team, 398 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:33,599 Uh, there's gonna be a lot more deviation here. I'm I'm trying to 399 00:26:33,599 --> 00:26:37,440 figure out how the hell I'm going to present all of this information, So 400 00:26:37,599 --> 00:26:42,359 just barrow with me as that changes. Let's give the fans to special treatment. 401 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:45,480 Why don't you read there is first? Well, I'm just I'm going 402 00:26:45,519 --> 00:26:49,000 down our composite list because that's in order of who got the most overall points. 403 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:52,000 So we are going to start with the one that the fans carried into 404 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:56,519 this spot, which is Russell Westbrook. He was tenth in the fan vote, 405 00:26:56,559 --> 00:27:00,000 actually tied with LaMelo Ball for ninth, but because as Dan and I 406 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:03,920 also had LaMelo Ball, he won the overall tiebreaker and got that first team 407 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:08,960 spot I had. Russell Westbrook is my third team guard. He did not 408 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:15,400 appear on yours. I guess we should go to you to justify that first. 409 00:27:15,519 --> 00:27:18,319 It's the same thing with Jannas Atenta Kompo. It's I did veer away 410 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:22,359 from from stars and I don't know that I've I enjoyed watching Russell Westbrook during 411 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:26,039 his MVP campaign because it was just he actually was russ against the world. 412 00:27:26,519 --> 00:27:30,400 That play style has graded on me a little bit. I've enjoyed him immensely 413 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,839 this season, particularly during the closing kick run with the Wizards, and I've 414 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:37,799 never, I guess I've been lower on him than the consensus, and I 415 00:27:37,839 --> 00:27:41,559 think you've been there too. I've never not enjoyed watching him, though just 416 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:45,880 the way that he has played it has sort of chipped away at my enjoyment 417 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,880 a bit. But I also do appreciate the energy with which he does play 418 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:55,400 on every single night. It's just that's definitely unmatched. It's, you know, 419 00:27:55,519 --> 00:27:57,119 there's a thing with him. There's a thing with Jannie. Although Russes 420 00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:02,119 doesn't always apply to defense, they take like every possession personal, it feels 421 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:04,599 like, and that's how they play it. That was basically like a theme 422 00:28:06,039 --> 00:28:11,400 for my overall selections. If you go through the non stars who gained admission 423 00:28:11,599 --> 00:28:15,359 to my ballot, it's very much those guys who don't take possessions off, 424 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:19,599 who are just going to blow you away with their hustle and their more hidden 425 00:28:19,599 --> 00:28:23,119 contributions on a nightly basis. I totally get not having Russ here, just 426 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:27,240 because the way that he plays can be grading. There are nights when it 427 00:28:27,279 --> 00:28:32,039 just flat out doesn't work and he wants to keep shooting and makes these mental 428 00:28:32,079 --> 00:28:36,440 mistakes. But you can be one hundred percent sure that he is never taking 429 00:28:37,039 --> 00:28:41,319 a possession off, much less a game, and that counts for so much, 430 00:28:41,319 --> 00:28:45,240 and it's why this Wizard's season has been turned around. It's why you 431 00:28:45,279 --> 00:28:49,880 suddenly have people arguing in the comment sections that maybe Bradley Beal isn't the best 432 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:53,279 player on the Wizards anymore, which I still think he is. I don't 433 00:28:53,279 --> 00:28:56,319 think he's been the most valuable player on the Wizards this year, and that's 434 00:28:56,359 --> 00:29:03,200 part of what has made Westbrook so entertaining. Is just that relentless, indefatigable 435 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:07,119 motor that he plays with every time he hits the court because he can't help 436 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:14,799 but take everything personally in like kind of that Michael Jordan motivational way. And 437 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:18,480 maybe also the thing that I didn't mention before, and you saying this about 438 00:29:18,519 --> 00:29:22,720 me and Jannie, where is it MVP fatigue. I'm not gonna say it's 439 00:29:22,759 --> 00:29:25,839 not. I do have him. He's going to be in the top three 440 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:27,799 of my MVP ballots. I didn't think I had MVP fatigue. But with 441 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:33,880 Russ, it's almost just like I'm exhausted from the discussion about Russ over the 442 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:38,319 past half decade essentially, and that's not his fault. I just maybe that's 443 00:29:38,359 --> 00:29:42,680 contributing to this too. I ye, so, but yeah, I don't 444 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:45,720 begrudge anyone who has him here, I totally I totally get. But it 445 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:49,079 also me leaving off Yannis and Russ kind of makes sense because when you're looking 446 00:29:49,079 --> 00:29:53,079 at they playing the open floor, Russ is basically if Yannis were a guard 447 00:29:53,359 --> 00:29:56,839 type, you're definitely consistent. Yeah, no doubt about that, And I 448 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:02,839 totally understand that argument. But I need a name who I did or no, 449 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:06,960 let's what did you have? Yeah, how do we want to handle 450 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:10,680 that? Let's let's not reveal those until the end, and we'll go over 451 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:12,480 our final ballots and kind of talk about anyone we skipped over. Ok. 452 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:18,880 Does that work? Sweet? So we're gonna move to Yeah, exactly. 453 00:30:19,039 --> 00:30:23,400 We're so prepared for this, which I say sarcastically, but at the same 454 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:26,279 time, like we have a very elaborate spreadsheet in front of us tracking all 455 00:30:26,279 --> 00:30:32,319 of this, which is not a surprise to anyone who knows me anyway. 456 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:36,799 Second, the other second team guard in the composite is another guy who does 457 00:30:36,839 --> 00:30:40,079 not appear on your list. He also does not appear on mind, but 458 00:30:40,119 --> 00:30:44,319 he is in the honorable mentions. This is solely carried by the fan ballot, 459 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:49,480 which had Luca don Chich fourth overall and as a first team guard alongside 460 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:53,480 Steph Curry, which is enough to get him the second team spot. I'm 461 00:30:53,480 --> 00:31:00,079 gonna guess that your argument against having him is very similar to the russ and 462 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,400 they, honest one, just a little different in terms of playing style, 463 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:07,759 but it's that same like star level inclusion kind of thing. For me, 464 00:31:07,799 --> 00:31:11,640 it was just as entertaining as he is on a nightly basis, Like in 465 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:17,519 a weird way, that almost worked against him a little bit, just because 466 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:19,920 you know, that you can miss some of the highlights because he's going to 467 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:26,519 generate fairly similar one sometimes. And that was enough to as convoluted as that 468 00:31:26,519 --> 00:31:30,240 logic may seem, that was enough for me to want to favor other guys 469 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:36,359 who don't necessarily get as much shine, especially because this whole season, as 470 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:42,160 ridiculously good as don Chich has been, it's also had this slight undercurrent of 471 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:47,880 disappointment because the Mavericks were supposed to ascend to a higher tier of the Western 472 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:52,119 Conference, and don Chich was the MVP favorite going into the season, and 473 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:57,480 I think because we were expecting even more from him, it made the ridiculously 474 00:31:57,559 --> 00:32:02,359 high level at which he's playing feel a little bit disappointing. There's and I 475 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:07,400 think for my ballots specifically, I've clearly shown that I either favor this suddenness 476 00:32:07,599 --> 00:32:15,759 when you're looking at Zion Williamson specifically, or LaMelo ball or just the the 477 00:32:15,799 --> 00:32:20,240 brain bending factor, which I think Luca definitely has as a passer. But 478 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:24,480 his you know, his shot selection is not trickery like it is with Stephen 479 00:32:24,559 --> 00:32:30,160 Curry. When you look at Curry's handles compared to Lucas, and this exercise 480 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:34,079 sucks because now I feel like I'm just demeaning the way that Don plays. 481 00:32:34,079 --> 00:32:37,160 He's fantastic, one of the best passers in the game, top five or 482 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:40,720 seven passers in the game already, but I probably appreciate a little bit more 483 00:32:40,759 --> 00:32:46,400 speed and less, you know, having less methodology to what you're doing, 484 00:32:46,759 --> 00:32:50,559 and like, yeah, there is that unpredictability with Luca when you're looking specifically 485 00:32:50,559 --> 00:32:52,480 at his passes, or like, yeah, you kind of know his three 486 00:32:52,519 --> 00:32:58,079 pointers coming, but there's the nonchalances with he fires it up. And I 487 00:32:58,119 --> 00:33:00,039 did pick Yoki, who was just one of the most players in the games, 488 00:33:00,079 --> 00:33:05,039 but that he still feels more unpredictable or sudden than a dontage or you 489 00:33:05,039 --> 00:33:07,079 know, I didn't have James Harden on this list for among those reasons too. 490 00:33:08,799 --> 00:33:12,359 Yeah, I mean I didn't have him either. I get it. 491 00:33:12,359 --> 00:33:16,079 It's I don't think we need to frame it as negative though, Like Luca's 492 00:33:16,119 --> 00:33:21,359 going to get mentioned quite frequently when we're talking about our all NBA teams, 493 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:27,519 Like it's very easy to appreciate the efficacy of his game the aesthetics as well, 494 00:33:27,839 --> 00:33:31,960 But maybe it's just the narrative around him right now where I just wanted 495 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:37,279 to highlight other guys. I don't hate that he's included, though I don't 496 00:33:37,319 --> 00:33:38,599 I don't hate that he's included. I also don't hate that we didn't include 497 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:45,400 him ourselves. Fair we are going to jump to a guy who we carried 498 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:49,200 though, because only one other person, and if it was you, let 499 00:33:49,319 --> 00:33:52,720 us know had Nicholas Claxton on their ballot at all. Both you and I 500 00:33:52,799 --> 00:33:55,680 had him as a second teamer. I had him at forward, You had 501 00:33:55,720 --> 00:34:00,119 him at center. Again, those positional definitions are so amorphous these days. 502 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:04,720 That didn't really matter that much, but that was enough to earn him our 503 00:34:04,799 --> 00:34:09,079 first of the two second team forward spots. Yeah, he's how do you 504 00:34:09,199 --> 00:34:15,559 not enjoy his switchability on defense? And I think the flashball moment for a 505 00:34:15,599 --> 00:34:20,360 lot of people, maybe myself, is the game where he forced the ball 506 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:22,320 out of Damian Lillard's hands, not once, but twice in crunch time. 507 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:28,360 That's Damian Lillard's hands and crunch time. That's huge, and he can defend. 508 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:31,199 He's weren't like Dame dribbling off his foot either, No, it was 509 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:34,880 actually the ball before. He wasn't forcing a turnover, he was just forcing 510 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:37,440 the ball out of Damian Lillard's hands, and that's a twenty one year old 511 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:42,920 big man doing that. By the way, wtf would be my reaction the 512 00:34:43,039 --> 00:34:45,039 nets They switched liberally overall, but they have not shot to tapping into it 513 00:34:45,039 --> 00:34:49,000 with Claxton, so that definitely helps. There is his you know, I 514 00:34:49,079 --> 00:34:53,079 talk about controlled chaos with Chris Bruche. I don't think Clackson has that much 515 00:34:53,079 --> 00:34:55,360 of an element. But he can be foul happy as well. But that's 516 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:59,199 also sort of part of the fun because he's taking so many chances or doing 517 00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:04,480 things that are so diff cult. I think on offense too, what's taken 518 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,639 me by surprise and which I've enjoyed is the comfort with which he'll put the 519 00:35:07,679 --> 00:35:09,880 ball on the floor and it doesn't It does not always end well. I 520 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:14,119 want to make that clear. And that's not necessarily something they need him to 521 00:35:14,159 --> 00:35:17,400 do. He probably suffers from cases of doing too much on both ends of 522 00:35:17,519 --> 00:35:22,320 the floor. At the same time, it's like his off the dribble johnts 523 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,599 are encouraging because he's trying them out, and so I'm very interesting to see 524 00:35:24,639 --> 00:35:28,639 he's not just going to be to me. Maybe he won't just be this 525 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:31,320 pick and roll guy. Maybe there will be other things that he does. 526 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,559 No, I don't think they're going to post him up, even though he 527 00:35:34,599 --> 00:35:38,559 loves to really get off those occasional hook shots. But when he is driving, 528 00:35:38,599 --> 00:35:42,599 he's not turning the ball over a ton. Can he just get better 529 00:35:42,599 --> 00:35:44,840 at passing and finishing overall? There, then all of a sudden, there's 530 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:50,159 really this super versatile player at both ends of the floor, not just on 531 00:35:50,199 --> 00:35:54,119 defense. Yeah, it's all about the energy for me, just the switchability, 532 00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:59,440 the willingness to dive on the floor for loose balls, to challenge shots 533 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:02,960 at the rim. If you look at like shots contested for thirty six minutes, 534 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:06,639 he's at fifteen and a half, which is pretty darn high on the 535 00:36:06,679 --> 00:36:12,800 leaderboard among players who are actually in rotations. He is always active on that 536 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:15,559 end. I do think there's more to plumb on the offensive end. As 537 00:36:15,559 --> 00:36:19,159 you mentioned, that doesn't even matter to me. It's it's all about the 538 00:36:19,159 --> 00:36:22,559 defense here, and I just have to end with the obligatory go dogs. 539 00:36:25,199 --> 00:36:29,519 We're gonna get We're gonna get to more go dogs too soon, I think 540 00:36:29,519 --> 00:36:31,800 we are. We are. But first we're gonna go with the second of 541 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:35,599 the second team forwards. It's another guy that you and I carried. I 542 00:36:35,599 --> 00:36:37,639 had him on my third team. You had him on your second team. 543 00:36:37,679 --> 00:36:42,519 He did get one other vote from the fans, So again, if that 544 00:36:42,599 --> 00:36:45,639 was you, please identify yourselves so we can thank you. Actually we know 545 00:36:45,679 --> 00:36:47,559 who it is. It's friend of the Pod Jacob Borne, because it's one 546 00:36:47,599 --> 00:36:52,119 Tuscano Anderson. Yeah. Look, by the way, this is going to 547 00:36:52,199 --> 00:36:55,599 earn him. It earned him points after they've already pretty much team. But 548 00:36:55,639 --> 00:37:00,639 just like, he's had just some awesome quotes this season, and we were 549 00:37:00,679 --> 00:37:05,360 set one where he called his mom after signing his contract with the Warriors being 550 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:07,239 converted to then be a contract. That's just a cool moment. I wish 551 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:10,559 you know. He definitely is worth more than the contract that they gave him. 552 00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:14,719 What I really like about his play style though, is he is just 553 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,880 like hustle in bodily form. And we've seen some scary moments too. I 554 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:21,639 think did he suffer a concussion on that play where he like literally cleared the 555 00:37:21,639 --> 00:37:24,719 scorers table and flipped over. I don't think he did, but I don't 556 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:29,679 encourage people. I would make the business decision and most definitely not go after 557 00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:32,360 that ball. But the fact that he will when you're not on the guarantee 558 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:36,079 contract at the time is incredible to me. And then I do like how 559 00:37:36,079 --> 00:37:39,800 he kind of just plugs every single hole just he does. I don't know 560 00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:44,760 that he does anything exceptionally. I do think he's really good at holding his 561 00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:47,519 own defensively across multiple positions. But I'm not even sure are you gonna call 562 00:37:47,599 --> 00:37:51,119 him like you know that defense is a specialty. I don't know. But 563 00:37:51,119 --> 00:37:52,360 he gives you range on offense. He will put the ball on the floor 564 00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:55,960 there too. He'll also keep it moving. I'm very interesting to see moving 565 00:37:57,000 --> 00:37:59,960 forward, and I think this seasons has proven it. Even though the Warriors 566 00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:05,159 they're very clearly reluctant to use Draymond Green at the five, they've basically been 567 00:38:05,199 --> 00:38:08,920 forced into it as the season is worn on. But when Draymond Green is 568 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:13,760 at the five with Juan Tiscano Anderson on the floor and he's predominantly the four 569 00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:17,199 in this situation, they have a The Warriors have a one seventy possession sample 570 00:38:17,239 --> 00:38:22,400 size. They have a net rating of plus thirteen point three. This is 571 00:38:22,519 --> 00:38:25,320 I like that Mottel, like that's the if you're gonna play Green small or 572 00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:29,199 play sorry if you're gonna play smaller with Green at the five. I think 573 00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:36,719 JTA can sort of help abbreviate the burden that's placed on Draymond Green defensively because 574 00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:38,079 he can guard some five. It's not a ton, But if you look 575 00:38:38,079 --> 00:38:43,199 at his defensive matchup data according to be Ball Index, he's defended every single 576 00:38:43,239 --> 00:38:46,920 position at least fifteen percent of the time this season. That versatility, that 577 00:38:47,079 --> 00:38:51,639 hustle, and then the fact that I do think he's just an effective gap 578 00:38:51,679 --> 00:38:53,639 filler maybe on offense for them, not somebody gonna turn to to create. 579 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:58,599 You take Stephan Curry off the floor, or Draymond and Draymond Green or Draymond 580 00:38:58,599 --> 00:39:00,760 Green even though they don't really split the two up. Yeah, he's going 581 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:02,440 to be put in a disadvantage. He does need other creators around him. 582 00:39:02,679 --> 00:39:05,840 But I also don't think he's someone's going to hurt you too much. And 583 00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:09,440 I'm so interested to track his career moving forward. He's also a sneaky good 584 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:15,280 passer. Four point eight assists for thirty six minutes with minimal turnovers is pretty 585 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:19,800 solid, and they're coming from those swings around the perimeter. The Warriors love 586 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:23,000 to find relocating shooters. They're coming off the short roll, and they're coming 587 00:39:23,039 --> 00:39:27,239 in a wider variety of ways. As the season has progressed, I think 588 00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:30,159 there's more there than we've seen to this point, which just gives the Warriors 589 00:39:30,199 --> 00:39:36,239 another fun element with this six six versatile wing. Yeah, that's a great 590 00:39:36,239 --> 00:39:37,800 point. I mentioned it with keeping the Blab movie. But there's some flare 591 00:39:37,840 --> 00:39:40,320 to the passes too, where it's you know, he's not always going to 592 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:44,400 throw them off the dribble, but like he's gonna let you know that he's 593 00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:47,840 throwing this quickly right off the catch. To me, if I had to 594 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:52,639 pick one player in the NBA where it's like, given what we've seen this 595 00:39:52,679 --> 00:39:58,159 season, you just and I'm only talking about watching how they play and how 596 00:39:58,199 --> 00:40:01,079 they approach the game, if you had to just find that one guy who 597 00:40:01,119 --> 00:40:06,079 you just can't help but root for, I think Jta is my choice this 598 00:40:06,159 --> 00:40:08,840 year. Yeah, he would be up there for me for sure. If 599 00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:14,400 not the outright pick, another guy who would be high up there is the 600 00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:17,880 second team center. He appeared on the third team for the fans. He 601 00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:22,599 was on the second team for me. He did not make your ballot, 602 00:40:22,039 --> 00:40:24,519 though, I'm sure you at least considered him because it's bam out of Baio. 603 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:30,119 Yeah. I love his feet. He has happy feet that he does, 604 00:40:30,199 --> 00:40:36,599 and they let him stay with everyone. Like you talk about switchability and 605 00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:42,039 you see it from guys like Nicholas Claxton. You see it from other other 606 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:45,480 wings like Draymond Green or Kawhi Leonard, kind of those pseudo wing bigs. 607 00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:51,239 But if you want to talk about that one through five switchability from a high 608 00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:55,239 minutes guy, it's bam out of Baio. Yeah, I would totally agree 609 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:58,800 with you. I was interested in what your thoughts were. We haven't done 610 00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:00,960 all defense teams yet, but he had commented at the end of did he 611 00:41:01,079 --> 00:41:05,599 beat the Celtics whatever? It was the TNT game last Thursday where he said 612 00:41:05,639 --> 00:41:07,440 he thinks he's Defensive Player of the Year. I think that's very clearly going 613 00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:10,599 to go to Rudy Gobert. But is he Is he going to finish third 614 00:41:10,639 --> 00:41:19,320 on the ballot? Ye for d po y Maybe just because of the sheer 615 00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:23,719 minutes he's played for all defensive I think that he's behind Miles Turner as well, 616 00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:28,440 but there's all defense. Doesn't care about positions, so he probably has 617 00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:30,280 a better chance of making one of those ten spots for sure. Agreed, 618 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:35,239 Agreed, But yeah, I don't know. I think that Rudy Gobert is 619 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:38,840 the obvious winner. I don't think that's a spoiler at all for the upcoming 620 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:45,239 Awards episode. Again, tune in Sunday four PM on Locker Room. I 621 00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:50,760 wouldn't make Bam infinitely more watchable if he cared about scoring more, not like 622 00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:52,159 he doesn't care, but if he was more selfish, maybe it might be 623 00:41:52,199 --> 00:41:57,360 the way to put it. Yeah, but we've talked about that on a 624 00:41:57,400 --> 00:42:00,480 Mailbag episode and I still push back on that a little bit. I don't 625 00:42:00,559 --> 00:42:06,920 think that being more It's like it's kind of like Lebron and Crunch Time, 626 00:42:07,599 --> 00:42:10,360 where you know, I'm not comparing you to Skip Bayless. First of all, 627 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:14,679 let me let me make that I'm nervous to hear what you say now 628 00:42:14,679 --> 00:42:20,119 that that was the qualifier. But no, like for years, Skip Bayless 629 00:42:20,119 --> 00:42:25,159 has erroneously criticized Lebron James for wanting to pass in the biggest moments. And 630 00:42:25,159 --> 00:42:30,000 it's not that Lebron is scared of drawing contact and having a shoot free throws 631 00:42:30,079 --> 00:42:35,320 or having to make the game winner himself. It's that he is a robot 632 00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:39,480 designed to make the most efficient basketball play in every situation, regardless of what 633 00:42:39,519 --> 00:42:44,239 that situation is. And I think there's some of that in Bam, where 634 00:42:44,239 --> 00:42:50,480 like he's just so conditioned to playing the right way that if you ask him 635 00:42:50,480 --> 00:42:52,599 to be more aggressive, it might work, but it might come at the 636 00:42:52,639 --> 00:42:55,960 detriment to the team. And I don't know, like I think he's going 637 00:42:57,000 --> 00:43:01,400 to be a twenty five point per game scorer. Does he gets naturally better 638 00:43:01,599 --> 00:43:07,480 at finding mid range jumpers and maybe the occasional three, or generating contact within 639 00:43:07,519 --> 00:43:10,960 the flow of the offense. But I don't know if I want him to 640 00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:19,679 be that takeover looks to get his own points first kind of guy. And 641 00:43:19,719 --> 00:43:22,719 that's that's like why I have him here too, just because I really appreciate 642 00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:25,679 that kind of style. You're also you're the one that said he is best 643 00:43:25,719 --> 00:43:29,440 player in the league potential or top five players. I think he does. 644 00:43:29,559 --> 00:43:32,639 Yeah, yeah, I mean, like given that plus that one through five 645 00:43:32,679 --> 00:43:37,079 switchability, Like I don't think he's going to be the best player in the 646 00:43:37,199 --> 00:43:39,400 NBA, to be clear, Like I don't think that he's ever going to 647 00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:43,800 hit that that ceiling. I think that ceiling exists. I think that there's 648 00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:49,840 a reasonable out future outcome where he has a season where he's the best player 649 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:53,519 in the league. I don't know if he'll get there, but that is 650 00:43:54,679 --> 00:43:59,360 shame Adam for that take. Again, I'm saying, I don't think it's 651 00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:02,440 going to happen, but I don't want to rule out that possibility. He's 652 00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:06,800 good. I do enjoy watching bam Adebio. I considered Jimmy Butler too as 653 00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:07,800 well. By the way, he didn't make my ballot at all, but 654 00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:14,679 you talk about someone who plays with sort of a Janis Russell Westbrook type edge 655 00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:17,840 to him at both ends of the floor, He's definitely up there, and 656 00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:22,239 he got a lot of love from fans as well. I think Jimmy Butler 657 00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:27,480 finished seventeenth in the overall voting, but forward was just so packed on those 658 00:44:27,519 --> 00:44:29,880 ballots that that was not good enough to make any of the three teams. 659 00:44:30,239 --> 00:44:34,679 So to recap, though, the first team on the composite is Steph Curry, 660 00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:37,760 LaMelo Ball, Zion Williamson, Jannisan Dia Dacoumpo, and Nicole Yokich. 661 00:44:37,199 --> 00:44:40,800 The second team is Russell Westbrook, Luca don Chich Nicholas Claxton, want to 662 00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:45,960 Scotto Anderson and Bam Auto Baio, which brings us to the third team, 663 00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:51,039 and our first guard on the third team also happened to be the first overall 664 00:44:51,079 --> 00:44:54,119 pick of the most recent NBA draft, and that is Anthony Edwards, who, 665 00:44:54,559 --> 00:44:59,400 in a huge one eighty was single handedly carried to this position by me 666 00:45:00,119 --> 00:45:04,360 because I had him on my second team. He did finish nineteenth, one 667 00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:07,880 spot ahead or he was tied with Bam Auto Baio for nineteenth among fans, 668 00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:14,199 which was one spot ahead of Lebron James. I feel like I've justified this 669 00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:20,079 because I notoriously hated on the selection and actually went as far as saying that 670 00:45:20,119 --> 00:45:23,280 I wouldn't want to take him in the lottery, and I I have eaten 671 00:45:23,320 --> 00:45:30,159 those words on a number of occasions. I have very publicly renounced that take 672 00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:35,639 on my Twitter account, and I regret saying it, but I don't regret 673 00:45:35,719 --> 00:45:39,559 like coming to that conclusion because I didn't really enjoy watching him play in college, 674 00:45:39,599 --> 00:45:45,880 despite him playing for the school that I went to, the growth that 675 00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:51,880 he's shown, the joy on the basketball court, the displays of athleticism like 676 00:45:52,559 --> 00:45:57,079 it's beyond clear watching him, especially since the All Star Break, he just 677 00:45:57,119 --> 00:46:00,079 gets it now, like he is finding himself in the right positions on both 678 00:46:00,159 --> 00:46:04,639 ends of the floor more. The energy level is more consistent, still not 679 00:46:04,679 --> 00:46:07,119 one hundred percent, but more consistent. He's taking better shots, he's making 680 00:46:07,119 --> 00:46:09,960 more shots, he's getting the line more, he's involving his teammates more. 681 00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:16,440 Just the improvement is staggering, and it has completely changed how I felt about 682 00:46:16,519 --> 00:46:21,719 him to the point that I can just wholeheartedly enjoy those displays of athleticism now. 683 00:46:21,840 --> 00:46:23,960 And beyond that, the quotes that he's given, the interviews that he's 684 00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:28,559 given, the viral moments that he's given, talk about a player who knows 685 00:46:28,599 --> 00:46:30,480 who he is and is true to himself and is not afraid to be himself. 686 00:46:30,519 --> 00:46:37,119 And that is so refreshing in a world where there's so much cliche athlete 687 00:46:37,159 --> 00:46:40,480 speak to have somebody just willing to speak his mind and say that he doesn't 688 00:46:40,519 --> 00:46:45,360 know who Alex Rodriguez is, or that you know, he thinks he could 689 00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:47,440 still throw one hundred mile per hour pitch if you gave him a month to 690 00:46:47,519 --> 00:46:53,400 ramp up to that despite not knowing who Alex Rodriguez is the honesty, the 691 00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:59,719 openness is so refreshing, especially coupled with this style of play. Yeah, 692 00:47:00,119 --> 00:47:02,159 is you mentioned the quotes thing would be the only thing I could add on 693 00:47:02,199 --> 00:47:06,519 top of that. I think my favorite one definitely a one from day one. 694 00:47:06,599 --> 00:47:08,519 That entire video, if no one's seen the interview was fantastic, But 695 00:47:08,599 --> 00:47:12,599 his most recent one where he said he's going to travel to Spain to learn 696 00:47:12,639 --> 00:47:17,039 Spanish just so he could understand what Ricky, Rubio and wan Her and Gomez 697 00:47:17,159 --> 00:47:21,880 are are talking about. I found that it's just fantastic. Yeah, he's 698 00:47:21,920 --> 00:47:25,039 he's he's great. I'm sure you at least considered him, right, he 699 00:47:25,079 --> 00:47:28,960 did not make my initial list, my big list of players. No, 700 00:47:29,199 --> 00:47:30,880 oh really, maybe I was tainted by the fact that I already knew you 701 00:47:30,920 --> 00:47:35,880 had him on yours. It's possible, but you did have I had to 702 00:47:35,880 --> 00:47:38,559 figure out two to three spots to fit Chris Bouche in. So that's fair. 703 00:47:38,719 --> 00:47:43,440 That's fair because he hustles so much he can fit all of them exactly. 704 00:47:44,119 --> 00:47:45,719 M I see, I see what you're doing there. But you did 705 00:47:45,760 --> 00:47:51,800 have a member of the rookie class beyond Lamella Ball on your second team because 706 00:47:51,840 --> 00:47:57,320 you single handedly carried Tyrese Halibert into the second guard spot on our third team, 707 00:47:57,400 --> 00:48:00,400 which means that we have three rookie guards on the all her with anox 708 00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:02,840 team. Maybe we're paying too much attention to rookies just because that's part of 709 00:48:02,880 --> 00:48:07,559 the job is Honestly, though, I'm not surprised that we went that way 710 00:48:07,599 --> 00:48:10,920 because by definition, rookies are new to the league, they're fresh, they're 711 00:48:10,920 --> 00:48:17,679 exciting. We're discovering more about them than we're discovering about veterans. Yeah, 712 00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:21,320 that's a that's a good point with Tyrris Haliburton, though I don't think his 713 00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:24,440 game is gonna disarm you, not even in the way that you know wants 714 00:48:24,480 --> 00:48:31,840 Uscano Anderson is not Jannie or Russ, But Tyris Haliburton is even less so 715 00:48:32,159 --> 00:48:35,800 like that, I'm not He does hustle, but it's not the same, 716 00:48:35,880 --> 00:48:40,280 it's not in the same vein as wants Scono Anderson. He's just so fundamentally 717 00:48:40,280 --> 00:48:44,159 sound. But there's that's not even just why I picked him. It's the 718 00:48:44,280 --> 00:48:49,639 disarming nous with which he can play, goading opponents into a steel just like 719 00:48:49,719 --> 00:48:52,199 being a lull in his stance. But then being able to pulp the ball 720 00:48:52,199 --> 00:48:54,679 away or jump the passing lane when he's working off the dribble on offense, 721 00:48:55,679 --> 00:48:59,800 being able to change his speeds, being able to hit shots off the dribble. 722 00:49:00,239 --> 00:49:04,440 Maybe there is a fascination bump at play here where I'm saying there should 723 00:49:04,519 --> 00:49:07,760 not be a rookie who's this good at both ends of the floor already. 724 00:49:07,840 --> 00:49:12,199 I'm also married to the idea that he can be an All Star in this 725 00:49:12,280 --> 00:49:14,719 league, where people have said when talking about the Rookie of the Year conversation, 726 00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:16,480 specifically, they didn't want to bump him over LaMelo Ball when it looked 727 00:49:16,480 --> 00:49:20,679 like Lamello might not play again this season. They didn't even want to put 728 00:49:20,760 --> 00:49:22,960 him above Anti Edwards. I feel like now a lot of people as the 729 00:49:23,039 --> 00:49:28,159 runner up because those two have higher ceilings. Great grand I'm not ready to 730 00:49:28,159 --> 00:49:30,440 write off that he is going to be an All Star All NBA type player, 731 00:49:30,440 --> 00:49:34,639 because when you're this fundamentally sound as a rookie, why does the implication 732 00:49:34,719 --> 00:49:40,280 have to be because you're not you're throwing these highlight reel passes all the time, 733 00:49:40,480 --> 00:49:45,039 or you're not hitting these as many off the dribble jumpers as Anthony Edwards, 734 00:49:45,079 --> 00:49:47,199 who has probably missed more off the dribble jumpers than Tyres Albert has even 735 00:49:47,280 --> 00:49:52,000 taken this year. Why does the application have to be that you're somehow going 736 00:49:52,079 --> 00:49:53,639 to top out? And do I think he has as high as this ceiling 737 00:49:53,760 --> 00:49:58,079 as Anti Edwards are in La lah Blah. I would skew towards though at 738 00:49:58,079 --> 00:50:01,119 the moment, but this looks like it might be a star in the making. 739 00:50:01,320 --> 00:50:04,760 And I don't know that I have a comp for him. I think 740 00:50:04,760 --> 00:50:08,039 I call him in the last podcast would have manho genobly played within finds of 741 00:50:08,119 --> 00:50:12,679 himself. I don't know that that's perfect, but I love Tyres Haliburton. 742 00:50:12,920 --> 00:50:16,119 He's one of the foremost reasons I've watched the Kings at all this year, 743 00:50:16,119 --> 00:50:20,119 because they haven't given you, I guess individually some reasons. I love the 744 00:50:20,159 --> 00:50:24,440 Aaron Fox, Rah Holmes on his hell but Tyrese Haliburton before his injury absolutely 745 00:50:24,440 --> 00:50:29,280 amazing. Yeah, I'm right there with you. I originally had him on 746 00:50:29,320 --> 00:50:32,039 my third team. He was the last player cut because I had to give 747 00:50:32,079 --> 00:50:36,679 credit to my favorite player of all time who we haven't gotten too yet. 748 00:50:37,119 --> 00:50:40,039 The fans also did give him some credit he finished thirty third, and I 749 00:50:40,039 --> 00:50:44,639 should say that one hundred and fifty three different players showed up on the fans 750 00:50:44,679 --> 00:50:47,519 ballots, so finishing thirty third is pretty solid. And I don't really have 751 00:50:47,639 --> 00:50:52,320 much to add to your description of why he's here. I just want to 752 00:50:52,320 --> 00:50:59,079 share that he is part of the most naturally grouped together players imaginable to finish 753 00:50:59,719 --> 00:51:01,800 in the with the same amount of points from these fan ballots. And that 754 00:51:01,840 --> 00:51:08,480 group is comprised of Tyrese Haliburton, Nikola Vukovich, Devin Booker and bull Ball. 755 00:51:10,239 --> 00:51:15,079 Oh so you know, of course you're going to put that foursome together. 756 00:51:15,320 --> 00:51:20,239 It just makes sense, right balls. I like that deep cut. 757 00:51:20,280 --> 00:51:22,159 I don't know. I tried to focus on players who are getting at least 758 00:51:22,199 --> 00:51:28,119 a moticom of consistent playing time with bull balls. I respect whoever put bull 759 00:51:28,199 --> 00:51:32,199 Ball on the ballot absolutely, so that brings us to our first or the 760 00:51:32,280 --> 00:51:37,639 third team forwards. And in keeping with the theme, since I single handedly 761 00:51:37,639 --> 00:51:40,880 put Anthony Edwards there, you single handedly put Tyrese Halliburton there, the fans 762 00:51:42,000 --> 00:51:45,920 single handedly put Julius Randall there. I will say it was really tough for 763 00:51:45,960 --> 00:51:52,039 me to keep him off because He's made the Knicks infinitely more watchable and more 764 00:51:52,039 --> 00:51:58,960 competitive. The spin move to baseline fadeaway does not get old, the aggression 765 00:51:59,119 --> 00:52:04,800 the last second. I think Zach Low called at the eleventh hour passing the 766 00:52:06,679 --> 00:52:12,199 everything, the defensive improvement, Like I really struggled not including him here. 767 00:52:12,360 --> 00:52:15,920 He's one hundred percent among my honorable mentions. But again this is solely the 768 00:52:15,920 --> 00:52:21,480 Fans fifth place overall, a member of their first team. Yeah, Julius 769 00:52:21,559 --> 00:52:24,440 Randol has been eminently enjoyable. I think his passing that you mentioned that Zach 770 00:52:24,480 --> 00:52:29,239 Low was written about where he leaves his feet and is throwing these passes has 771 00:52:29,280 --> 00:52:34,880 been most fun. And the difficult jumpers he's hitting it's I will be interesting 772 00:52:34,880 --> 00:52:37,559 to see if this holds next year when it's not a pen or as affected 773 00:52:37,559 --> 00:52:43,039 by the pandemic type of season. But Julius Randol has been an absolute monster 774 00:52:43,159 --> 00:52:45,920 this year. I think he's a shoe in for all NBA at this point, 775 00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:50,119 the way that they classify players, I don't know that he has a 776 00:52:50,159 --> 00:52:53,119 shot at second team anymore, just because what happens if people use Luca don 777 00:52:53,199 --> 00:52:57,280 Chi as a forward or in Beater yokas a forward to get both him on 778 00:52:57,280 --> 00:52:59,920 the first team. I'll be shocked if he doesn't make the third team, 779 00:53:00,199 --> 00:53:05,079 though I think it's definitely a worthy choice. I don't know that I consider 780 00:53:05,159 --> 00:53:07,599 him like one of the most enjoyable players in the league to watch. For 781 00:53:07,639 --> 00:53:12,480 me, I will say the level of difficulty on his role is just magnetic, 782 00:53:12,639 --> 00:53:15,239 and that's what I enjoy watching most about how he's thriving is this is 783 00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:19,440 just what he's doing is not easy. The results aren't always great. We've 784 00:53:19,480 --> 00:53:22,559 seen it in crunch time a lot this year. We saw it in one 785 00:53:22,599 --> 00:53:25,480 of the nixt's more recent losses too. Could he stand? You know his 786 00:53:25,559 --> 00:53:29,039 in between games can go off the rail sometimes, but you talked about the 787 00:53:29,039 --> 00:53:32,079 baseline jumper already to step back threes, just the everything, and I think 788 00:53:32,119 --> 00:53:37,880 you have to appreciate when players are in this very complete, it's complicated role. 789 00:53:37,920 --> 00:53:39,360 It's why it was such an advocate for Shay Giler Alexander being a Most 790 00:53:39,360 --> 00:53:45,519 Improved Player candidate before he had a torn plant or fashion on his right foot. 791 00:53:45,039 --> 00:53:49,320 Was just the level of difficulty ascribed to his role right now is through 792 00:53:49,360 --> 00:53:52,159 the roof. And it's the same thing with Julius Randold he's putting up lebron 793 00:53:52,320 --> 00:53:58,000 esque numbers when you're looking at scoring an assists and rebounding more. Obviously, 794 00:53:58,760 --> 00:54:01,199 it's been amazing and it's it has been, to steal a phrase from before, 795 00:54:01,199 --> 00:54:06,199 fund is hell to watch. So my question for you, and I 796 00:54:06,239 --> 00:54:09,079 want to preface this by saying that I'm in no way trying to diminish the 797 00:54:09,119 --> 00:54:15,159 impact that Tom Thibodeau has had as a coach, that RJ. Barrett's incredible 798 00:54:15,239 --> 00:54:21,719 improvement has had, that Derrick Rose's play lately has had. But is Julius 799 00:54:21,760 --> 00:54:28,239 Randalls single handedly responsible for reinvigorating the entire Knicks franchise or is that too hyperbolic? 800 00:54:30,320 --> 00:54:32,559 I think it's a tad over the top. Just I think what Tom 801 00:54:32,599 --> 00:54:37,119 Thibodeau has done for them has really helped defensively, because that's been the driving 802 00:54:37,159 --> 00:54:39,760 force of their success this year. Right, They're still not a great offense, 803 00:54:40,159 --> 00:54:44,159 and they've been better. They've been like top ten efficiency since April first 804 00:54:44,239 --> 00:54:46,840 or whatever it is. But I also just the improvement of RJ. Barrett 805 00:54:46,840 --> 00:54:51,280 at both ends what they've got. They made some really smart one year signings 806 00:54:51,280 --> 00:54:53,480 over the offseason. When you look at No. One's No. Alec Burke's 807 00:54:55,199 --> 00:55:00,000 So I don't. He's one of the two biggest reasons why the Knicks are 808 00:55:00,079 --> 00:55:02,760 where they are right now, and that's the big If there's a reason bigger 809 00:55:02,760 --> 00:55:06,320 than him, I don't know that it's an individual player. So much is 810 00:55:06,320 --> 00:55:09,199 the culture that's been laid down there, or their overall defensive play and hustle. 811 00:55:10,119 --> 00:55:14,559 Yeah, I don't. I still don't know that. I think it's 812 00:55:14,559 --> 00:55:19,719 that hyperbolic, just because, while giving due credit to all of the other 813 00:55:19,760 --> 00:55:25,519 factors, he's the talking point, right Like, the Knicks are a prominent 814 00:55:27,400 --> 00:55:34,280 figure within typical NBA conversations these days, and it centers around him. He's 815 00:55:34,320 --> 00:55:37,400 the reason that they're becoming must watch television. He's the one whose highlights you're 816 00:55:37,440 --> 00:55:42,880 going to see. He's the one who's getting fringe MVP talk and all NBA 817 00:55:43,199 --> 00:55:47,519 consideration and most Improved Player love. Of course, I just think because so 818 00:55:47,599 --> 00:55:52,840 much of the narrative has featured him, that it's allowed the conversations about the 819 00:55:52,880 --> 00:55:59,840 Knicks to shift tone entirely. Yeah, that's that is a great way to 820 00:55:59,840 --> 00:56:04,719 put it. And there's also the element of has he given them the foundational 821 00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:10,440 star that they need for this to be sustainable and also real enough for them 822 00:56:10,480 --> 00:56:14,639 to build upon it moving forward. No, even with RJ. Barrett, 823 00:56:14,800 --> 00:56:16,199 I think you can reasonably assume that, yeah, maybe he does still have 824 00:56:16,280 --> 00:56:20,400 that all star ceiling. I mean we had a RJ. Barrett versus John 825 00:56:20,440 --> 00:56:23,840 rand debate at one point on this podcast. Julius Randalls still probably your best 826 00:56:23,840 --> 00:56:27,280 shot, just looking at what he does as a passer and shot creator, 827 00:56:27,400 --> 00:56:31,079 at having that player into so I totally understand where you're coming from. So 828 00:56:31,159 --> 00:56:36,360 let's move on to our second of the third team forwards, again single handedly 829 00:56:36,400 --> 00:56:39,840 carried by the fans who had Joe LMB in sixth. Overall, he was 830 00:56:39,880 --> 00:56:45,320 an honorable mention for me. He was not on yours either, but still 831 00:56:45,360 --> 00:56:50,679 obviously a deserving candidate, just for the sheer defensive terror that he exerts on 832 00:56:50,719 --> 00:56:52,880 a nightly basis. I've used a nightly basis a lot on this pot. 833 00:56:53,480 --> 00:56:55,679 It's okay. I'll use fun as hell at least three more times to make 834 00:56:55,719 --> 00:57:00,440 it better. Thank you. Were you surprised he made the list? Yes? 835 00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:07,760 They too. Yeah, I think that he's It's universally accepted just how 836 00:57:07,760 --> 00:57:13,960 good he is. But he gets a lot of hate. There are fan 837 00:57:14,039 --> 00:57:19,079 bases that can't stand him. There were no like Sixers heavy submissions like Ben 838 00:57:19,079 --> 00:57:22,079 Simmons, for example, did not get a lot of love on the fan 839 00:57:22,199 --> 00:57:27,679 votes. So yeah, I think I was a little surprised that the reception 840 00:57:27,840 --> 00:57:32,880 was so universally positive from an entertainment standpoint, that he was very close to 841 00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:40,199 earning a first team spot on the fan ballot because of that forward eligibility. 842 00:57:42,159 --> 00:57:46,800 I will say, if we were factoring in postgame instagram locations, joelbe reply 843 00:57:46,920 --> 00:57:52,599 be first team. That's fair. But yeah, I mean I had him 844 00:57:52,599 --> 00:57:57,559 on my honorable mention list. I don't know that I really gave much thought 845 00:57:58,119 --> 00:58:01,880 to including him. Yeah, I gave more thought to guys like and this 846 00:58:02,000 --> 00:58:06,039 is a spoiler, like Damian Lillard is someone who didn't make the cut for 847 00:58:06,079 --> 00:58:08,039 me. Even Chris Paul a little bit was on there, and Joel Wilbead's 848 00:58:08,039 --> 00:58:13,199 fantastic. I do appreciate defense. I probably enjoy watching him on defense a 849 00:58:13,280 --> 00:58:15,800 little bit more than I do his offensive, though his shooting has been out 850 00:58:15,800 --> 00:58:17,159 of this world and when he's hitting off the dribble jumpers, perhaps that's not 851 00:58:17,199 --> 00:58:25,159 true. Sorry yack that statement. Yeah again, I don't mind that he's 852 00:58:25,199 --> 00:58:32,400 included here, obviously like he's an unquestionable MVP candidate, shouldn't win over Yokich, 853 00:58:32,480 --> 00:58:36,400 but absolutely deserves to be one of the most prominent candidates out there. 854 00:58:36,960 --> 00:58:40,599 He should get second place votes for Defensive Player of the Year from a lot 855 00:58:40,599 --> 00:58:45,199 of people. He is an incredible basketball player who's really entertaining. But I 856 00:58:45,239 --> 00:58:50,039 still didn't really consider him over a lot of the hustle guys at center. 857 00:58:51,000 --> 00:58:52,800 So how do we want to do this? Now? Do you want to 858 00:58:52,840 --> 00:58:55,719 recap overall than go through the fans, then go through Let's wait to recap. 859 00:58:55,800 --> 00:59:00,000 Let's go through the people we didn't mention on ballot, starting with the 860 00:59:00,000 --> 00:59:04,079 fans, so we can both kind of talk about those, and then we'll 861 00:59:04,119 --> 00:59:07,000 go through the players on yours who aren't mentioned, and then mine. Sounds 862 00:59:07,000 --> 00:59:13,079 good to me, So the fans had the following players who did not appear 863 00:59:13,400 --> 00:59:15,960 on the composite rankings. As you probably just heard, since we're making up 864 00:59:15,960 --> 00:59:22,280 the plant as we go. Second team forward Kevin Durant surprised. No. 865 00:59:23,519 --> 00:59:25,840 I might have put him on there if he'd played more this season. He's 866 00:59:25,880 --> 00:59:30,039 said, that's what it was for me. I probably also would have liked 867 00:59:30,039 --> 00:59:32,679 the team have a little bit more control over the game, but at the 868 00:59:32,719 --> 00:59:38,280 same time there's the effortlessness which with which he can score thirty plus points is 869 00:59:38,320 --> 00:59:44,239 mesmerizing. If you if aliens landed on the planet and asked us just to 870 00:59:44,280 --> 00:59:49,000 like teach them about the aesthetics of scoring basketball, you're probably telling them to 871 00:59:49,039 --> 00:59:52,599 watch tape of Stephen Katie. Yeah, the Mothership. I'm always worried he 872 00:59:52,639 --> 00:59:55,559 is going to call one of those two hold for sure and look the other 873 00:59:55,599 --> 01:00:00,000 thing. And I wouldn't begrudge anyone who did this having been able to watch 874 01:00:00,039 --> 01:00:02,199 Katie play basketball this season? Would Clay Thompson has made my list, just 875 01:00:02,199 --> 01:00:07,400 been able to if were totally valid. Yeah, totally turns like the night 876 01:00:07,440 --> 01:00:08,360 before we did this, he would have been first team for me. So 877 01:00:08,360 --> 01:00:14,599 I totally get that as Yeah. Absolutely on the third team at guard they 878 01:00:14,639 --> 01:00:17,360 had Damian Lillard. I think that's from this project. Yeah, it's it's 879 01:00:17,360 --> 01:00:20,400 such a tough one, one of my all time favorites, like one of 880 01:00:20,400 --> 01:00:25,599 our absolute go to war for this player selections. That's the next, that's 881 01:00:25,599 --> 01:00:30,000 the next hard one. Not they all follow them into hell and let's do 882 01:00:30,039 --> 01:00:32,320 it. We should definitely do that. At some point, I already know 883 01:00:32,320 --> 01:00:37,480 who would be on your team. Their other guard was Facundo Composo. I 884 01:00:37,519 --> 01:00:40,840 don't hate that one at all. You know, the peskiness he plays defense 885 01:00:40,840 --> 01:00:45,440 with which he plays defense, the highlight reel passes. It is almost unfair 886 01:00:45,519 --> 01:00:50,119 to have him and Yokich on the court together, just in terms of esthetic 887 01:00:50,199 --> 01:00:54,400 passing. I totally get that selection. He was on my honorable honorable mentions. 888 01:00:54,559 --> 01:00:58,719 I actually liked that the fans did that type of a It's not super 889 01:00:58,760 --> 01:01:01,360 deep too, it's a deep cut. It's a pretty deep cut. Well, 890 01:01:01,360 --> 01:01:04,840 I didn't want to say by no means a household name. Yeah, 891 01:01:04,840 --> 01:01:07,079 I didn't want to make it seem like people don't know who he is though. 892 01:01:07,119 --> 01:01:08,039 I was trying to give a fans credit here. But that's a deep 893 01:01:08,480 --> 01:01:12,679 that's a that's a deep cut relative to I mean, relative to all the 894 01:01:12,679 --> 01:01:15,119 other names on this list. For them, for the we call them fans. 895 01:01:15,159 --> 01:01:20,440 But how many people hate follow listen to this, so the followers might 896 01:01:20,480 --> 01:01:23,199 be a better way to put them. I'm gonna keep calling them fans enough. 897 01:01:23,920 --> 01:01:28,480 I love that. That's my favorite fans selection, probably aside from Damian 898 01:01:28,480 --> 01:01:31,400 Lillard. Just because I had so much invested in him. Oh yeah, 899 01:01:31,079 --> 01:01:35,840 it's it's a great one for sure, not the only nugget on the third 900 01:01:35,840 --> 01:01:38,320 team, because Michael Porter Junior also made it. Again, I'm not surprised, 901 01:01:38,320 --> 01:01:43,000 Like a guy who can put up thirty points and it's just ultra flammable, 902 01:01:43,400 --> 01:01:45,840 one of the prettiest jump shots you'll find out there. Just getting better 903 01:01:45,880 --> 01:01:51,079 at those relocation threes, at creating off the dribble. He's an offensive machine. 904 01:01:52,679 --> 01:01:55,320 He hasn't look if he can, They've already increased his on ball responsibility. 905 01:01:55,360 --> 01:01:59,360 If he ever becomes more of a creator, it'd be easy to you 906 01:01:59,360 --> 01:02:01,039 know, if you like watching KD, then yeah, you're gonna like watching 907 01:02:01,039 --> 01:02:06,639 Michael Porter Junior. It's not a perfect correlation, but like just the size 908 01:02:07,400 --> 01:02:10,360 and there the potential that you could see with him on the ball creating his 909 01:02:10,400 --> 01:02:15,079 own shot, Like there are similarities there, right. And then rounding out 910 01:02:15,159 --> 01:02:17,880 the fans team for players that we have not yet talked about is Kawhi Leonard, 911 01:02:19,400 --> 01:02:22,639 And I'll admit this is one that did not appear on my honorable mentions. 912 01:02:22,800 --> 01:02:28,920 He's amazing, like just absolutely a two way terror. There are moments 913 01:02:28,960 --> 01:02:34,119 during the playoffs when he is like the best reincarnation imaginable of Michael Jordan, 914 01:02:34,400 --> 01:02:37,480 just the way that he elevates for those off the dribble jumpers, the intensity 915 01:02:37,480 --> 01:02:40,320 on defense. But at the same time, like personally, and I don't 916 01:02:40,360 --> 01:02:45,679 know how you feel, I find that my expression watching Kawhi Leonard is often 917 01:02:45,719 --> 01:02:50,760 similar to the one that he has on his face because he's so smoothly, 918 01:02:50,800 --> 01:02:54,320 efficient and calm and collected that my eyes kind of glaze over a little bit 919 01:02:54,360 --> 01:02:59,519 because I just know that he's going to do good things. I would almost 920 01:02:59,519 --> 01:03:01,880 say it's the opposite for me, because I already mentioned that I like the 921 01:03:01,920 --> 01:03:06,519 deliberateness that he operates with. At the same time, this is like a 922 01:03:06,559 --> 01:03:10,679 player where it's what if Tim Duncan gave you highlight dunks every once in a 923 01:03:10,719 --> 01:03:15,400 while, you know, coming down, coming down the lane type deal, 924 01:03:15,159 --> 01:03:20,440 because he's just so to see the way he plays and how much he wants 925 01:03:20,440 --> 01:03:23,400 to get to that jumper and take the difficult jumpers. But then also he's 926 01:03:23,440 --> 01:03:29,360 gonna have like those somewhat wild finishes or finish above the rim, and the 927 01:03:29,400 --> 01:03:34,400 reaction is just percent of the time never gonna be there. It can take 928 01:03:34,440 --> 01:03:37,719 you off guard when he actually finishes a play like that, but then to 929 01:03:37,840 --> 01:03:40,320 appreciate just the non reaction from him when he does it, or if it's 930 01:03:40,320 --> 01:03:45,920 just a clutch jumper or something that's definitely injects some watchability into him. In 931 01:03:45,920 --> 01:03:49,239 my opinion, he does, and he's super watchable and I like watching him, 932 01:03:49,440 --> 01:03:52,559 but I just have to remind myself to like, it's okay to be 933 01:03:52,639 --> 01:03:57,880 excited. Fair enough I do he And also he can steal people's souls on 934 01:03:57,960 --> 01:04:00,360 defense in a way that no one else on the perimeter can, and I 935 01:04:00,400 --> 01:04:02,639 think that has to be that's part of it too for me, for sure, 936 01:04:02,960 --> 01:04:05,800 for sure, definitely a worthy inclusion. Do you want to do yours 937 01:04:05,840 --> 01:04:10,440 or mind next? So I my entire third team, I realized I have 938 01:04:10,480 --> 01:04:13,199 to go through, So would you rather do that first or a last is 939 01:04:13,199 --> 01:04:15,559 based? Let's do that last? Lets you're up, So I'm up. 940 01:04:15,800 --> 01:04:18,920 On my second team, I had Fred van Vleet at guard. I love 941 01:04:19,559 --> 01:04:24,559 the defensive acumen that he brings. I love those ripaways from bigger players. 942 01:04:24,559 --> 01:04:29,039 I love the peskiness on the perimeter. He's also a really smooth offensive player 943 01:04:29,079 --> 01:04:32,239 with a well rounded three level scoring game. At this point, he I 944 01:04:32,280 --> 01:04:39,280 think he's veering towards that most underrated player in the league category, just like 945 01:04:39,360 --> 01:04:42,800 his predecessor. Just like his predecessor. I guess, running mate, Oh 946 01:04:42,840 --> 01:04:45,440 wow, I hope I didn't just send Kyle Lowry out of Toronto. I 947 01:04:45,440 --> 01:04:47,519 really want him to stay. We know, yeah, but I view that 948 01:04:47,760 --> 01:04:51,679 less as Kyle Lowry moving away from the Raptors and more as him vacating that 949 01:04:51,760 --> 01:04:56,360 number one spot. Fr Van Fleet was one of my final cuts too, 950 01:04:56,440 --> 01:05:01,599 so I totally understand where you're coming from. Relentlessly entertaining my second team forward 951 01:05:01,639 --> 01:05:06,800 who was not mentioned as Jay Shawn Tate. I just absolutely love the hustle 952 01:05:06,840 --> 01:05:12,960 he plays with. The length is so readily apparent because he's already such a 953 01:05:13,000 --> 01:05:17,840 smart defensive presence. Very few first year players, even if he's a delayed 954 01:05:17,840 --> 01:05:21,519 first year player, because he went undrafted in twenty eighteen and played Overseas first 955 01:05:21,559 --> 01:05:26,679 before getting his chance in the NBA, very few first year NBA players are 956 01:05:26,760 --> 01:05:30,960 this intelligent in passing lanes and are able to be so disruptive as off ball 957 01:05:30,000 --> 01:05:36,079 defenders, and that, paired with his hustle. I actually had to debate 958 01:05:36,280 --> 01:05:43,719 between him and Jannis for my first team forward spot. Wow. I love 959 01:05:43,760 --> 01:05:49,239 watching him. He has grown on me so fast. That is, I 960 01:05:49,360 --> 01:05:53,079 get it in the spirit of the exercise. I think that's really just final. 961 01:05:53,159 --> 01:05:55,800 I just don't know that that. I'm surprised that that's the player that 962 01:05:55,840 --> 01:05:59,079 you ended up zeroing in on there to that extent. Yeah. He and 963 01:05:59,159 --> 01:06:02,000 Kevin Porter Junior, who was a tough exclusion for me, both have just 964 01:06:02,079 --> 01:06:06,320 made the Rockets watchable even as they're bad. I would I would have definitely 965 01:06:06,320 --> 01:06:11,760 went with Kevin Porter Jr. Just his the nuclearness of the fifty point game. 966 01:06:11,840 --> 01:06:14,119 Yeah, I mean there's something to be said for that for sure. 967 01:06:14,519 --> 01:06:17,000 Moving to my third team though, my all time favorite player Chris Paul. 968 01:06:17,519 --> 01:06:23,599 I know that's not a popular all time favorite player choice, but as greating 969 01:06:23,639 --> 01:06:27,239 as the complaining can be, and like some of the dirtier plays, that 970 01:06:27,320 --> 01:06:32,679 dude is just a basketball savant and it is so fun watching him refuse to 971 01:06:32,719 --> 01:06:39,320 decline as almost every point guard has before him, moving deeper into his thirties 972 01:06:39,360 --> 01:06:43,320 because he can get to whatever scot he chooses. You know he's going to 973 01:06:43,360 --> 01:06:46,840 connect on those snake around pull up jumpers from the elbows. He makes everyone 974 01:06:46,840 --> 01:06:50,280 around him better. He is. You know, you've you've talked about him 975 01:06:50,360 --> 01:06:56,679 versus Devin Booker in MVP conversations and stuff, and she should not win MVP, 976 01:06:56,880 --> 01:06:59,679 but he should be in the conversation because of the impact that he's had. 977 01:07:00,079 --> 01:07:02,440 So the fact that he's still playing at such a high level and elevating 978 01:07:02,480 --> 01:07:06,679 a franchise that has been down in the dumps for so long. He's continues 979 01:07:06,719 --> 01:07:11,679 to be a joy and I continue to just absolutely love watching him. He 980 01:07:11,800 --> 01:07:14,880 was on my honorable if I had honorable mentions, he was one of my 981 01:07:14,960 --> 01:07:19,079 semi final cuts. There's the troll factor for me too, just he It 982 01:07:19,119 --> 01:07:21,559 doesn't he could be friends with him. He's with Donovan Mitchell earlier in the 983 01:07:21,599 --> 01:07:25,440 season. Him and Donovan Mitchell are close off the court, but he's trolling 984 01:07:25,480 --> 01:07:28,800 Donovan Mitchell at the free throw line. It's just I love that, and 985 01:07:28,840 --> 01:07:31,679 I know it's probably he can definitely We've seen him wear on teammates and he 986 01:07:31,719 --> 01:07:35,639 definitely is gonna wear on opponents. I don't care. I just I love 987 01:07:35,760 --> 01:07:42,960 that kind of fu that he brings, and he is I don't want to 988 01:07:42,960 --> 01:07:45,760 say he's ironic, but he just he knows that he's a nudge and he's 989 01:07:45,800 --> 01:07:48,400 just gonna keep doing it, and he's gonna try and get under your skin. 990 01:07:49,199 --> 01:07:54,000 Absolutely, and I think there's something to the idea that he's not the 991 01:07:54,039 --> 01:07:58,400 easiest locker room presence. He is not the easiest teammate. But the way 992 01:07:58,440 --> 01:08:01,840 I've always looked at that, because it's ms from just this relentless competitive drive 993 01:08:02,280 --> 01:08:05,880 and is validated by the way he plays, is to me, that says 994 01:08:05,920 --> 01:08:09,440 more about the guy who can't get along with him than it does about Paul. 995 01:08:11,280 --> 01:08:15,399 That's fair. My next third team selection, who has not yet been 996 01:08:15,399 --> 01:08:20,439 mentioned is San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson, maybe more of a swingman than 997 01:08:20,439 --> 01:08:27,520 a forward. I loved a comparison that Nicias Duncan made on Twitter maybe a 998 01:08:27,520 --> 01:08:30,800 few weeks ago at this point, where he said that Keldon Johnson might be 999 01:08:30,880 --> 01:08:35,479 the closest thing we've seen to peak Gerald Wallace. I love that comparison. 1000 01:08:36,000 --> 01:08:41,880 Just like the crash towards the basket, play with this reckless abandon that more 1001 01:08:41,960 --> 01:08:45,439 often than not works out. You know that he's always going to be willing 1002 01:08:45,439 --> 01:08:49,479 to sacrifice his body to barrel towards the basket, regardless of the contact that 1003 01:08:49,520 --> 01:08:55,560 he's going to endure. I I really have enjoyed watching this not quite star 1004 01:08:55,680 --> 01:09:00,439 turn but turned towards a productive starter for one of the model organizations began in 1005 01:09:00,479 --> 01:09:04,279 the bubble and has continued throughout this season. I'm with it, we need 1006 01:09:04,319 --> 01:09:09,680 a better nickname for him, though he's called big Body and mustang. Yeah, 1007 01:09:09,680 --> 01:09:12,560 those are terrible. I don't I don't have one. I'm just saying 1008 01:09:12,560 --> 01:09:15,039 we need better ones. We should just go with like crash two point er 1009 01:09:15,159 --> 01:09:19,439 or something. Let's be a little bit more creative than that. He probably 1010 01:09:19,479 --> 01:09:23,640 should be. Is he bandicoot? And then I almost said that too, 1011 01:09:26,079 --> 01:09:30,720 we can go with that. My final inclusion on my third team, who 1012 01:09:30,720 --> 01:09:33,600 has not been mentioned is Robert Williams, the third the time Lord. I 1013 01:09:33,640 --> 01:09:38,319 wish that he were able to stay on the court more than he is, 1014 01:09:38,359 --> 01:09:42,880 because his game really isn't made for that kind of big minute role. But 1015 01:09:43,039 --> 01:09:45,359 when he's on the floor, you know that he's going to be involved in 1016 01:09:45,399 --> 01:09:51,359 plays. Another one of those like kind of sneakily underrated passers who is adapted 1017 01:09:51,359 --> 01:09:57,159 at least at passing out after collecting an offensive rebound and finding that open man 1018 01:09:57,279 --> 01:10:00,479 in a situation that so often generates points, but it's it's more about just 1019 01:10:01,439 --> 01:10:06,119 the number and sheer volume of plays that he's able to impact. I mean, 1020 01:10:06,800 --> 01:10:11,000 three point three blocks and one point six steals per thirty six minutes. 1021 01:10:11,039 --> 01:10:15,760 Like I feel like that in and of itself is almost a sufficient justification, 1022 01:10:15,159 --> 01:10:20,119 because he's just so relentlessly active on the office on the defensive end, not 1023 01:10:20,159 --> 01:10:26,319 to mention the lab threat nature that he has on offense. He was the 1024 01:10:26,359 --> 01:10:29,119 guy that I was one of the guys that I knew you were just non 1025 01:10:29,159 --> 01:10:30,119 stars that I knew you were going to have on your list. You've been 1026 01:10:30,159 --> 01:10:35,359 caping for Robert Williams since before he was called, but since before he overslept 1027 01:10:35,359 --> 01:10:40,760 from one of his Celtics workouts or whatever it was exactly, And I was 1028 01:10:40,800 --> 01:10:45,439 pretty close to giving this spot to Neurlans Noel for very similar reasons. I 1029 01:10:45,560 --> 01:10:50,760 view those two players as incredibly similar ones. But Noel is probably a little 1030 01:10:50,800 --> 01:10:56,800 bit better and plays for a better team this season, while Williams is a 1031 01:10:56,840 --> 01:11:00,880 little bit more frenetic, which is kind of what I was going for here. 1032 01:11:01,840 --> 01:11:04,239 Do you want to read? All right? So I'll go into mine. 1033 01:11:04,239 --> 01:11:06,399 Now we want to do that? Yeah, let's do that I'm gonna 1034 01:11:06,399 --> 01:11:10,560 try and do mine quicker because I have basically half my ballot or a third 1035 01:11:10,560 --> 01:11:14,800 of my Yeah, basically half my ballot, which has just been untalked about. 1036 01:11:15,359 --> 01:11:16,720 So my second team, one of my second team guards, I had 1037 01:11:16,720 --> 01:11:19,520 Tyrese Halibert and then I had Kyle Lowry, which is just funny that you 1038 01:11:19,520 --> 01:11:26,359 had fred Van Fleet. There is just he has the Chris Paul type personality 1039 01:11:26,359 --> 01:11:29,000 where he's going to try and get under opponent's skins, but like he'll he'll 1040 01:11:29,039 --> 01:11:31,800 do this weird and sometimes it's shady stuff on defense. I just love it. 1041 01:11:31,840 --> 01:11:35,000 The sacrificing his body is definitely part of it, but just you know, 1042 01:11:35,079 --> 01:11:39,920 like he'll climb through someone's legs basically if he has to, and he 1043 01:11:40,359 --> 01:11:43,560 verges on reckless there and it can come at the expense of the player he's 1044 01:11:43,560 --> 01:11:45,880 guarding or helping onto, but it comes at the expense of himself too, 1045 01:11:45,960 --> 01:11:48,680 and so I view it as that's fair game to me. We all know 1046 01:11:48,760 --> 01:11:51,800 that he is the captain of your follow to Hell and Back team and he 1047 01:11:51,800 --> 01:11:56,039 should be. Damian Lillard is probably the captain to be. Oh really, 1048 01:11:56,359 --> 01:11:59,720 yeah, that's changed. Then that is a new opinion. Kyle Lowry's up 1049 01:11:59,760 --> 01:12:02,439 there for sure. But and the other thing that I like is just like 1050 01:12:03,319 --> 01:12:10,279 his stardom almost isn't powered by his actual numbers, and like his numbers can 1051 01:12:10,399 --> 01:12:13,439 be good, and he is an all star by those most metrics, but 1052 01:12:13,800 --> 01:12:16,359 he is like the essence of the Toronto Raptors. It feels like even fred 1053 01:12:16,439 --> 01:12:23,720 Van Fleet has subsumed some of Kyle Lowry's approach to the game and just overall 1054 01:12:23,800 --> 01:12:28,159 personality. He is the unifier for Toronto. I also love and you can't 1055 01:12:28,239 --> 01:12:31,319 say this. Not every big name is malleable and they're definitely not as infectious 1056 01:12:31,359 --> 01:12:38,359 as I mentioned with his personality, but he gives Toronto their identity without confining 1057 01:12:38,399 --> 01:12:41,159 it. He's his hustle and versatility sets the tone for the rest of the 1058 01:12:41,199 --> 01:12:44,600 team that they visibly follow. But then also it's yeah, he can he 1059 01:12:44,640 --> 01:12:45,640 can run the offense, but he can also play off it. And if 1060 01:12:45,640 --> 01:12:48,640 you watch him, it's not just him relocating at times for shots, it's 1061 01:12:48,680 --> 01:12:53,439 him belocating to set screens. He'll set multiple screens on the same possession. 1062 01:12:53,479 --> 01:12:57,079 That's just not something you see for a six foot guard. And I love 1063 01:12:57,199 --> 01:13:00,279 I just love me some Kyle Lowry one of my favorite players of all time. 1064 01:13:00,079 --> 01:13:02,600 I still want to push back against the idea that he wouldn't be the 1065 01:13:02,640 --> 01:13:05,319 captain of that team, though you know why he would be a great captain. 1066 01:13:08,119 --> 01:13:13,319 Why because he's really good at taking charge. Wow. Moving on to 1067 01:13:13,840 --> 01:13:16,359 my second team forward who wasn't mentioned, I apologize, I'm so sorry I 1068 01:13:16,399 --> 01:13:21,239 had Kyle Anderson. He is just like the idiosyncrasies of his game. I 1069 01:13:21,279 --> 01:13:26,159 can't take my eyes off of them, and people have noted this ad nauseum. 1070 01:13:26,199 --> 01:13:29,600 He plays it as speed entirely his own, but it's almost to the 1071 01:13:29,600 --> 01:13:32,680 point where defenses are so confounded by how is he playing this slow? I 1072 01:13:32,720 --> 01:13:38,960 think the implementation of his jumper and go is improved three point shooting. That's 1073 01:13:38,960 --> 01:13:42,439 been a cool wrinkle to his game. I just love watching him move on 1074 01:13:42,479 --> 01:13:45,600 the ball because his body mechanics don't make sense to me. And the comparison 1075 01:13:45,600 --> 01:13:48,600 I've made is he looks like one of those inflatable two men billowing in the 1076 01:13:48,600 --> 01:13:53,640 wind of those sketchy car dealerships. I can't get enough Kylerson. And I 1077 01:13:53,720 --> 01:13:56,880 also he has the I don't even know who would be the apt comparison it's 1078 01:13:56,880 --> 01:13:59,239 probably a current player where it's like, oh, Joe Ingles in his prime 1079 01:13:59,319 --> 01:14:00,720 being able to keep up with guys on defense even though he doesn't have the 1080 01:14:00,880 --> 01:14:04,199 raw physical tools. Kyla Erson's kind of the same way, where he gives 1081 01:14:04,239 --> 01:14:09,119 you all this positional flexibility because he knows how to use space and angles and 1082 01:14:09,199 --> 01:14:13,119 just timing, just being in the right spot. I appreciate that fundamental value, 1083 01:14:13,159 --> 01:14:15,479 but it's it's the weirdness of his offensive game that I just love so 1084 01:14:15,560 --> 01:14:18,359 much. So that's why he's on there. I'm not gonna say too much 1085 01:14:18,399 --> 01:14:21,840 just because we're going really long as it is, and you have a lot 1086 01:14:21,920 --> 01:14:26,439 more players to get through. But he is like the living basketball embodiment of 1087 01:14:26,439 --> 01:14:30,840 an Ephis pitch like you know when it's coming, you know how once the 1088 01:14:30,880 --> 01:14:32,279 pitcher throws it, you know when it's coming, you know how slow it's 1089 01:14:32,279 --> 01:14:36,600 going to be. You still can't fucking hit it. It's like it's like 1090 01:14:36,600 --> 01:14:40,600 a changeup and a curveball combined. What does that call? Is there a 1091 01:14:40,600 --> 01:14:45,239 pitch for that? I probably they're like, there's so many different pitch types, 1092 01:14:45,239 --> 01:14:48,399 but I'm gonna stick with my ethis comparison. I hope that that will 1093 01:14:48,439 --> 01:14:51,039 I don't. I don't actually don't care. But that's my that's my baseball 1094 01:14:51,079 --> 01:14:54,880 ignorance shining through. That's totally fine. Let me try so. Let me 1095 01:14:54,960 --> 01:14:58,880 run through these players the last five on my third team without interruption. I'll 1096 01:14:58,880 --> 01:15:01,039 trying to do it really quick and then can comment on the sum of them. 1097 01:15:01,359 --> 01:15:06,319 That work. Absolutely. I had Jeante Murray on here because, oh 1098 01:15:06,359 --> 01:15:10,359 my god, I'm talking about Kauai being able to steal souls on defense. 1099 01:15:10,399 --> 01:15:13,199 I love the defensive pressure he brings. I'm actually kind of surprised he's not 1100 01:15:13,239 --> 01:15:16,479 receiving more consensus consideration for all defense this year. I don't know if he's 1101 01:15:16,479 --> 01:15:19,000 gonna be on one of my two teams, but he definitely belongs in there. 1102 01:15:19,239 --> 01:15:23,199 He's fun to watch in transition, even though it's not the most efficient 1103 01:15:23,279 --> 01:15:27,840 basketball all the time. And he has the different I don't think he uses 1104 01:15:27,880 --> 01:15:31,359 them simultaneously as much. Where you see a DeMar De Rosen or Devin Booker 1105 01:15:31,600 --> 01:15:34,880 can change speeds on the same possession, but he has like different speeds to 1106 01:15:34,960 --> 01:15:40,600 his game that you don't expect. Definitely more comfortable and less predictable off the 1107 01:15:40,640 --> 01:15:45,800 dribble this season on offense, which I've also sort of appreciated my other guard 1108 01:15:45,840 --> 01:15:48,600 on the third team, Devin Booker. Funny you like Chris Paul on yours. 1109 01:15:49,520 --> 01:15:54,880 I feel like I've tilted so far in the direction of just the Devin 1110 01:15:54,920 --> 01:15:59,399 Booker bandwagon, like Chief Devin Booker bandwagon, or among national analysts, because 1111 01:15:59,399 --> 01:16:02,439 Suns fans no how good he is. He has defenses just on a string, 1112 01:16:02,800 --> 01:16:05,239 and he has a change of pace to his game that I think I 1113 01:16:05,439 --> 01:16:09,840 just said it when I was talking about Murray, that he can bake in 1114 01:16:10,479 --> 01:16:14,399 on the same possession where it's when you see guys play up on him, 1115 01:16:14,399 --> 01:16:15,960 like he can get by them in a way that CPS three really can. 1116 01:16:16,039 --> 01:16:19,720 Where he's looking to get off that midrange jumper. Yeah, Devin Booker wants 1117 01:16:19,720 --> 01:16:23,279 to do that. He'll snake into them too, which is something I feel 1118 01:16:23,279 --> 01:16:26,760 like he's borrowed from CP three. But he also he will really just blitz 1119 01:16:26,800 --> 01:16:30,680 past those guys on occasion. I really love his passing and you can just 1120 01:16:30,760 --> 01:16:34,239 see the manipulation out of the pick and roll, the decision making out of 1121 01:16:34,239 --> 01:16:39,000 double teams. I love when it feels like someone has total control over the 1122 01:16:39,000 --> 01:16:42,399 defense and he's miss shots this year, especially in crunch time, I feel 1123 01:16:42,399 --> 01:16:45,960 like he would normally hit. But I wasn't factoring in purely efficiency when I 1124 01:16:45,960 --> 01:16:49,960 was picking these teams. I just want I find myself endlessly appreciating how much 1125 01:16:50,800 --> 01:16:55,399 control and influence he has over the offensive end. And I do think he 1126 01:16:55,479 --> 01:16:59,760 throws just some really smart passes where no they're not the flashiest, but you 1127 01:16:59,760 --> 01:17:01,479 look it and you're like, well, that shot wouldn't exist if Devin Booker 1128 01:17:01,520 --> 01:17:05,000 wasn't on the court. Third team forward, this might be the one that 1129 01:17:05,039 --> 01:17:08,159 catches you off guard the most, even though you already know about it. 1130 01:17:08,159 --> 01:17:12,560 I'd Devin Fassel and this was one of the weird numbers I looked up because 1131 01:17:12,560 --> 01:17:15,960 I wanted to make sure that I wasn't like overweighting it. I feel like 1132 01:17:15,000 --> 01:17:20,439 he just never stops moving, and that it especially happens on defense. So 1133 01:17:20,479 --> 01:17:24,560 I looked it up among all the players, and there are three hundred and 1134 01:17:24,600 --> 01:17:27,119 fifty three of them who have appeared in at least five games and are averaging 1135 01:17:27,159 --> 01:17:31,119 at least fifteen minutes per game. He ranks fifth in average defensive speed. 1136 01:17:31,159 --> 01:17:33,840 I know that doesn't always translate to good defense. One I think he's gonna 1137 01:17:33,840 --> 01:17:38,720 be a fantastic defender, but like, who moves like that that fast on 1138 01:17:38,800 --> 01:17:43,079 defense, Like that's not something that just genuinely happens. And so I think 1139 01:17:43,079 --> 01:17:45,119 he's gonna be great for the Spurs on that I'm moving forward. I'd like 1140 01:17:45,159 --> 01:17:48,199 to see more from his offensive game. But there is also the element for 1141 01:17:48,239 --> 01:17:55,079 him where it's you know, he's not going to move as I guess, 1142 01:17:55,479 --> 01:17:58,359 what do you want to say quickly on offense, because that's just not his 1143 01:17:58,359 --> 01:18:00,880 game. And you're gonna need him to hit spot up three and you're going 1144 01:18:00,920 --> 01:18:04,359 to need him to cuts, and so like, I don't know, he's 1145 01:18:04,359 --> 01:18:10,159 never gonna be that necessarily that quickly, move that as quickly on offense. 1146 01:18:10,520 --> 01:18:13,840 But but he does when you watch him. He just the Spurs if they 1147 01:18:13,920 --> 01:18:16,479 want they like to have guys in different iterations of their teams, different iterations 1148 01:18:16,520 --> 01:18:18,640 of their line ups, they're going to have those guys in constant motion. 1149 01:18:18,920 --> 01:18:23,319 He is someone who's just going to be all over the place on both ends 1150 01:18:23,319 --> 01:18:25,479 of the court. And that was a terrible way to phrase it, to 1151 01:18:25,479 --> 01:18:27,520 say that he's not gonna be as quick on offense. That wasn't really what 1152 01:18:27,560 --> 01:18:30,319 I was saying his role on defense is going to be more complicated was my 1153 01:18:30,359 --> 01:18:32,880 point. But offensively, like there's just zip there. I wonder if he'll 1154 01:18:32,880 --> 01:18:36,199 have more ball skills to plumb, but he's gonna he's going to be a 1155 01:18:36,239 --> 01:18:42,000 really good two way player. My final two spots of this exercise, to 1156 01:18:42,199 --> 01:18:45,560 round out the third team, I had f forward Alex Alexei Pokashevski Poku. 1157 01:18:46,279 --> 01:18:49,960 It's not rooted in effectiveness, but it's like, what if al you took 1158 01:18:50,199 --> 01:18:57,680 Alan Iverson Iverson's confidence and added twelve inches to it. And that's just the 1159 01:18:57,800 --> 01:19:00,840 shots that he takes. The stuff he tries to do off the dribble. 1160 01:19:00,880 --> 01:19:02,600 I don't know if it will ever always come together, but he's had moments 1161 01:19:02,600 --> 01:19:06,920 where it's like, that's a seven footer dribbling the ball like a guard, 1162 01:19:08,319 --> 01:19:13,800 moving like a wing. It's bizarre, it's weird, it can be a 1163 01:19:13,840 --> 01:19:15,199 train wreck. I can't take my eyes away from it, and I love 1164 01:19:15,239 --> 01:19:19,439 it, infatuated with it. This will look poorly if he doesn't turn into 1165 01:19:19,479 --> 01:19:23,359 effective player. I think universally we could say everyone on this list is an 1166 01:19:23,359 --> 01:19:26,319 effective player. Poku is the one from my list you look at and say 1167 01:19:26,439 --> 01:19:29,039 I don't know if he'll ever get there, but he's going to be what 1168 01:19:29,159 --> 01:19:32,119 is the model of this podcast, fun as hell along the journey. And 1169 01:19:32,199 --> 01:19:38,840 finally I have Norland's Noel. Is you already mentioned him as an arnable mentioned 1170 01:19:38,840 --> 01:19:42,720 among yours? The dude watching him on offense can be rough, like where 1171 01:19:42,720 --> 01:19:45,199 he won't give the ball up if he's under the basket, or the stone 1172 01:19:45,239 --> 01:19:48,720 hands that we've talked about. He is so fun on defense and the fact 1173 01:19:48,800 --> 01:19:53,840 that there are no business decisions on that end. He is going to try 1174 01:19:53,880 --> 01:19:57,239 and contest your poster and I think this isn't there's not going to be an 1175 01:19:57,239 --> 01:20:02,239 official staff for this, but of the contesting posters, to successfully contesting posters 1176 01:20:02,319 --> 01:20:05,399 ratio, he has to have the highest in the league, like he has 1177 01:20:05,439 --> 01:20:12,920 stopped so many would be just explosive poster dunks this season, and I love 1178 01:20:13,039 --> 01:20:15,000 watching it. And they're not even just oh he's around the basket. He's 1179 01:20:15,000 --> 01:20:19,560 making these plays. He is coming into those plays on occasion. And then 1180 01:20:19,800 --> 01:20:23,840 obviously I didn't include him in here. This would be my one honorable mention 1181 01:20:23,880 --> 01:20:26,399 because he has not played enough and I was trying to talk about guys got 1182 01:20:26,399 --> 01:20:30,159 mints Frankie Lakina. I feels indicated after watching his no Look pass the other 1183 01:20:30,279 --> 01:20:34,600 night and the defense that he plays. Frankie Lakina is on his own list 1184 01:20:34,640 --> 01:20:41,600 and he takes up all fifteen spots of it. So my thoughts in response 1185 01:20:41,880 --> 01:20:47,319 that are very scattered. After your solo podcast there, my honorable mentions included 1186 01:20:47,439 --> 01:20:55,399 de Jante, Murray and and Nerolan's Noell among those five players, so I 1187 01:20:55,439 --> 01:20:58,159 did think about giving them some love. I thought about the other guys, 1188 01:20:58,199 --> 01:21:02,520 probably less about Fassel, but did at least consider them. You mentioned that 1189 01:21:03,199 --> 01:21:08,359 Poku is is like if you took Allen Iverson and added twelve inches. That's 1190 01:21:08,399 --> 01:21:12,720 actually exactly accurate in terms of height because Iverson was listed at six foot. 1191 01:21:12,720 --> 01:21:15,239 I don't think he was actually six foot, and Poku is seven foot, 1192 01:21:15,359 --> 01:21:20,159 but you would also only be adding twenty five pounds, which is kind of 1193 01:21:20,239 --> 01:21:24,600 hilarious. Ai was listed at one sixty five. Poko is listed at one 1194 01:21:24,760 --> 01:21:27,920 ninety. I just thought that was worth pointing out calling bullshit on that Allen 1195 01:21:27,960 --> 01:21:31,399 Iverson might be the one that's that needs to have twenty five pounds attracted from 1196 01:21:31,479 --> 01:21:35,279 him, So I'm calling bullshit on Poku. Being almost two hundred pounds. 1197 01:21:35,560 --> 01:21:40,319 If we yeah, yeah Thunder fans listening to this, we need we need 1198 01:21:40,319 --> 01:21:43,399 his actual weight. Please find that out for us. Poku, if you're 1199 01:21:43,399 --> 01:21:45,840 listening to this, just send me a text. I will also say that 1200 01:21:45,960 --> 01:21:50,600 you were the only person who had Dejante Murray or Devin Wasssell on even a 1201 01:21:50,640 --> 01:21:56,159 single ballot, not a single fan vote for either of them. And then 1202 01:21:56,159 --> 01:22:01,800 finally, I still just can't get past the missed opportunity that we had because 1203 01:22:01,800 --> 01:22:06,239 it seemed like there was a chance that Anthony Davis and Nerland's Noel were going 1204 01:22:06,279 --> 01:22:13,239 to play on the same team and can you imagine can you imagine that defense? 1205 01:22:14,119 --> 01:22:15,520 And look, it's still possible. They're gonna have their mid level and 1206 01:22:15,520 --> 01:22:18,560 they're obsessed with getting bigs for Anthony Davis and he's gonna be a free agent. 1207 01:22:18,600 --> 01:22:21,319 I would kill to see that. That would be so much fun. 1208 01:22:23,640 --> 01:22:28,000 But now let's real fast. Let's recap all the teams because it's been hard 1209 01:22:28,079 --> 01:22:31,720 to track who made which one, so let's just run through a real fast 1210 01:22:32,359 --> 01:22:36,199 I'll share mine first, where my first team was LaMelo Ball, Steph Curry, 1211 01:22:36,319 --> 01:22:41,720 Zion Williamson, Janisanta to Cumbo, Nicolai Yokich. Second team was Anthony 1212 01:22:41,800 --> 01:22:45,279 Edwards, Fred Van Vleet, Jay Shawn Tate, Nicholas Claxton, damn Adebayo. 1213 01:22:45,760 --> 01:22:48,000 Third team was Chris Paul, Russell, Westbrook, Keldon Johnson, want 1214 01:22:48,039 --> 01:22:51,840 To, Skano Anderson, and Robert Williams. The third My first team guards 1215 01:22:51,840 --> 01:22:56,520 were Stephen Curry, LaMelo Ball, forwards, Chris Bouchet, Zion Williamson, 1216 01:22:56,600 --> 01:23:00,600 center, Nicola Yokich. My second team in full Kyle Lowrys, Haliburton, 1217 01:23:00,680 --> 01:23:04,960 Kyle Anderson, Wantaskano Anderson, Nikolas Claxton. My third team in full Dejanta 1218 01:23:05,079 --> 01:23:10,399 Murray, Devin Booker, Devin Vassell, Alexey Polkashevski and Nerland's Noel. I 1219 01:23:10,439 --> 01:23:13,680 liked that I had double Kyles in the second team and double Devon's in the 1220 01:23:13,680 --> 01:23:16,720 third team, which is actually an accomplishment because it feels intentional. Yeah, 1221 01:23:16,720 --> 01:23:20,680 it wasn't aentional. That's how I did this fair enough. The Fans team 1222 01:23:21,159 --> 01:23:26,319 first team Steph Curry, Lukachi Jannisan To, the Kumbo, Julius Randall and 1223 01:23:26,439 --> 01:23:30,800 Nikola Yokich. The second team LaMelo Ball, Russell, Westbrook, Kevin Durant, 1224 01:23:30,880 --> 01:23:34,319 Zion Williamson, Joel Embiid. The third team at guard, we had 1225 01:23:34,359 --> 01:23:39,359 Damian Lillard and Fecunda Composo. At forward, Michael Porter Junior and Kawhi Leonard 1226 01:23:39,560 --> 01:23:44,600 and at center bam Autubaio. And all of that means that the first annual 1227 01:23:45,239 --> 01:23:49,039 All Hardwood Knox team. At first team we have Stephen Curry, LaMelo Ball 1228 01:23:49,119 --> 01:23:54,159 a guard, Zion Williamson and Janishan to the kum Poe at forward, Nikolai 1229 01:23:54,199 --> 01:23:58,439 Yokich at center. The second team Russell Westbrook and Luka don Chich had guard 1230 01:23:58,920 --> 01:24:01,760 Nicholas Clacks and then one to Skano Anderson it forward and bam on a Bio 1231 01:24:01,840 --> 01:24:06,479 at center. And at the third team we have Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Halliburton 1232 01:24:06,640 --> 01:24:12,119 and a rookie pairing at guard, Julius Randall and Joel Embiid at forward, 1233 01:24:12,479 --> 01:24:15,640 and Chris Bouchet as our center. It's great that he made it as a 1234 01:24:15,680 --> 01:24:20,119 center, even though I put him as a forward. Yeah, I was 1235 01:24:20,159 --> 01:24:24,600 just pigeonholing guys in as I could to get the ones who had the highest 1236 01:24:24,680 --> 01:24:26,800 course. He deserved to be there. That's why I put him on first 1237 01:24:26,800 --> 01:24:29,439 team, to ensure that I could skew the scores enough that he would make 1238 01:24:29,439 --> 01:24:33,000 it. You did it. You succeeded at that task. That does it 1239 01:24:33,039 --> 01:24:36,319 for us. I hope everyone enjoyed this near ninety minute podcast. It was 1240 01:24:38,000 --> 01:24:41,159 fun for us. This was an enjoyable exercise and will now be an annual 1241 01:24:41,159 --> 01:24:45,600 thing as per usual. Please, please, pretty please remember to rate, 1242 01:24:45,720 --> 01:24:49,479 review and subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your podcasts, if you use 1243 01:24:49,520 --> 01:24:53,920 iTunes, if you don't use iTunes either, or head over there search Hardwin 1244 01:24:53,960 --> 01:24:56,600 Knox. Throw us a five star rating, write a review. Those numbers 1245 01:24:56,600 --> 01:24:59,319 have been a little bit stagnant lately, but the ratings and reviews help us 1246 01:24:59,359 --> 01:25:01,000 a ton, so head over there, five star rating right, whatever the 1247 01:25:01,000 --> 01:25:04,159 hell you want in the reviews. Follow us on Twitter at Hardwood Knox. 1248 01:25:04,479 --> 01:25:09,399 Follow our YouTube channel, go to YouTube dot com or Chard Knox will come 1249 01:25:09,479 --> 01:25:15,239 up. Follow the Sports Math networked at the Underscore Sports Underscore Math until next 1250 01:25:15,239 --> 01:25:17,399 time, leave with the shout out? What are you whispering at me? 1251 01:25:17,399 --> 01:25:20,840 Ada, I'm trying to get out of here. I'm trying to subconsciously influence 1252 01:25:20,840 --> 01:25:23,920 your shout out. Oh, until next time, we leave you with the 1253 01:25:23,920 --> 01:25:41,079 shout out two No One The Old Sugar, Ray, Leonard, Roberto Duran, 1254 01:25:41,560 --> 01:25:45,800 Marvelous, Marvin Hagler, and Thomas Hearns. Legends whose four way rivalry 1255 01:25:45,840 --> 01:25:50,760 define one of the greatest errors in boxing history, relive their decade of dominance 1256 01:25:50,800 --> 01:25:56,640 in the new Showtime Sports documentary The Kings, a four parts series premiering Sunday, 1257 01:25:56,720 --> 01:25:58,560 June sixth, only on Showtime