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Hello everyone, and welcome to the
latest episode of Hardwood Knocks. This is

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Adam from here with my fantastic co
host Dan for Valley. We're about to

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torture ourselves by trying to come up
with the most underrated player on each and

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every one of the fifteen Eastern Conference
teams in the NBA. It's a daunting

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task. I think we both struggled
to come up with names for some teams.

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And it's even harder because the very
concept of underratedness is this nebulous idea,

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like, how are we determining how
players are properly rated and then how

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they exceed that? I think my
approach and I would assume Dan the same

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as you know, we're at least
fairly in tune with the popular perception of

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players and just involved enough with articles
and social media content and social media replies

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to big accounts that we see who
gets talked about and who doesn't. So

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that's kind of how I'm basing this. So my two questions for you,

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Dan, first and most importantly,
how are you doing? And secondly,

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how did you do this all?
As well? Over here, my brains

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till hurts from trying to do this
exercise I kind of tried to. I

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did it independent of whether the players
might be underrated amongst their own fan baser

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team, because I do think that, especially with their way league cover skews

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regionally now, which is I'm not
saying that's a bad thing, but the

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way fans are so in tune with
everything about their team, they're gonna be

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like, oh, you know,
we appreciate them just fine, and that's

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great. I did this from the
more pullback national perspective, who doesn't get

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enough shine. I didn't hesitate to
throw stars into the mold or fringe stars,

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I should say, but like I
wasn't picking for Miami. I didn't

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pick Jimmy Butler even though you could, or Drew Holiday in Milwaukee, even

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though I think you could argue that
those guys might still be underappreciated. It's

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more so what guys I don't think
are being talked about enough or bringing the

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most value that nationally isn't being recognized, or maybe people don't yet understand how

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good they are. And so I
did it that way, steering clear of

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basically entrenched stars and then just trying
to measure it, not independent again of

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what a team's fan base actually thinks
of that player. Yeah, I took

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basically the same approach. You know, it's funny just how the timing worked

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on this, because we were We've
spent an earlier portion of the week trying

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to come up with these names,
and then as we were preparing to record

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this podcast, I promoted a tweet
from Owen Phillips, the F five dot

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substack dot com author, where he
actually looked at the number of page views

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for every single player on Basketball Reference
in the NBA and compared that to a

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number of different catchall metrics and determined
that far and away de Anthony Melton was

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the most underrated player in the NBA. Obviously, because he's on the Memphis

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Grizzlies, we're not going to be
talking about him because that's the Western Conference

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on this particular episode. But I
really liked that approach, and I think

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that's what we're attempting to approximate,
just the amount of coverage a player receives

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versus how good they are. And
I think Dan, what you said about

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skewing towards the national coverage rather than
the local coverage that is so entrenched in

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the undergoings of every single player and
every single fringe roster member on a team

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is important, right, And I
tried to find like whether it's statistical or

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just you know, watching back clips
of the players, try to find just

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something so make this digestible. We're
not doing like ten minutes on each player,

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but just something that stands out to
me about the way they're playing or

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what I think maybe isn't being necessarily
talked about enough. Absolutely, Yeah,

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I'm in the same boat. So
let's let's go ahead and kick this off.

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We'll go alphabetically and Dan and I
will kind of alternate taking the lead

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on each team. So we'll start
with the Atlanta Hawks, which naturally I

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have to get, and I waffled
between Clint Capella and Kevin Herder. Capella

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has just been so important to the
defensive foundation of a Hawks team that is

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like playing fairly average defense for the
most part, with some ups and a

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few more downs than ups. But
the impact that he's had as a rebounder

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and a defensive presence has been huge
and has allowed the offensive pieces to exhibit

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more freedom on that end. But
I think it still has to be hurt

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just because he doesn't he flies so
far beneath the radar, especially now that

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the focus is on when they're going
to have Camraddish and DeAndre Hunter on the

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court and available at the same time. But Hurter has quietly been shooting thirty

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seven percent from threes and contributing in
just every single area he's taken. He's

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taken on more of a scoring workload
recently, and it hasn't cut into his

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playmaking abilities. He's contributing on the
defensive end, he grabs rebounds, he

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always seems to be in the right
spot. It seems like on a nightly

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basis, he's managing to do something
positive that just doesn't garner as much attention

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as what Trey Young is doing,
or John Collins is doing, or boy

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On Bogdan Bogdanovitch is doing, or
whoever else it may be on that night,

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because he's rarely the marquee star so
much as the consistent supporting piece.

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Yeah, I don't think you had
to worry about waffling to either, because

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Clint Cappello was my actual pick for
them. So I think we cover all

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the bases here. I think Kevin
hurt people still I don't think appreciate or

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recognize how much he can actually do
off the dribble. There is that element

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of Jay crowderness to him, I
call it, where he's a little too

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adventure adventurous on some occasions. And
so that's why you would probably prefer a

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Bogey to operate on ball, maybe
even a Daniela Gallinari when when he's healthy,

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maybe even DeAndre Hunter. At this
point he was you know, he

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would have been in play for this
were he not injured. He was not

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being talked enough in the most improved
player conversation. I went with Capella because

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of all the things he's doing on
defense for them, A monster around the

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basket. He'll box out, he'll
grab contested rebounds. Only Rudy Gobert's contesting

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more shots at the rim than him
per game right now. He is somewhat

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who I've just mentioned before, always
finds a way to play really well within

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his role. And I think his
value got opeuse gated a little bit in

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Houston towards the end there because of
how much of not a liability he became,

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because of how much the roster changed
after that Chris Paul trade, where

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it was they couldn't necessarily afford to
have him on the court with the way

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they wanted to play when you already
had another non shooter in Russell Westbrook.

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So he's been really great for this
team. And I don't you know,

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this isn't someone who's going to be
in the Defensive Player of the Year even

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All Defense conversation because there are only
two center spots in those or has that

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done regardless of a position? I
always regardless of position, but he would

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be someone who you know, when
you look at estimated defensive plus minus from

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dunks and threes, like he's in
the top twenty in the league in that

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right now, ninety five percentile,
I believe. So he's just been super

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impactful for this team and he's closer
to a star than not or an All

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Star I guess than not. But
it's just one of those I picked two

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fringe stars throughout all this and he
was the first one because I don't think

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it's he's never really been fully appreciated, because I do think players like him

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really quickly. There's there's that tendency
a lot to want to branch out,

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and he I'm sure maybe he wants
to, but like, this isn't someone

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you need to give a ceremonial post
up too, like he's still going to

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screen for you. He's going a
role, he's going to hit the glass,

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he's going to defend hard. His
motor isn't impacted by how much offensive

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volume he's he's generated. And it's
flippersera DeAndre Jordan. Yeah, I mean

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that's totally fair. It's you know, it's so it's that role is just

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I think it's been huge for them, and he's had more of a making

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more of a defensive impact, and
he's credit with because so much is focused

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on I think it's been surprised.
You already mentioned that the Hawks are about

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league average defensively so far this year. He's among the I think most people

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have actually said this. I was
on another podcast today that I mentioned this.

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He's probably been Atlanta's most consistent player
this year too, when he's been

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available. Yeah right, I mean
every just assumed that availability is an astray

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for every team, but especially Atlanta. Just when you've had Trey Young be

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so up and down this year,
it helps that you've had Capella as that

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steadying force in the middle for sure. And it did seem like in Houston

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particularly particularly, so much of his
reputation was he's a product of James Harton.

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You know, he scores all his
points off the role, and he's

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only doing that because Harden is such
a unique gravitational force and a gifted pick

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and roll passer. And you know, Trey Young is too, obviously,

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But I think it's now pretty clear
that he is capable of anchoring a defense

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and contributing on offense, regardless of
the star that's beside him. So I

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don't think there's a wrong choice between
the two. No, not at all.

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That would leave me with the Boston
Celtics. I have time lord here.

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There is still a level of concern
about how successful can he be in

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a larger role, and we've seen
him struggle against some of the burlier bigs.

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You could also say that, you
know, maybe someone Capella might be

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a good example, though I think
he's improved at that aspect of his game

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as his career has gone on.
This is just someone who's a much smarter

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player than I think we talk about. When you kind of look at his

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defensive positioning or doesn't feel like he's
getting burned all these times. Maybe he

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gets overpowered, but it's not because
he's necessarily in the wrong spot. You

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can count on him to finish around
the basket. He has over the past

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two seasons just really established himself as
hey, I'm going to keep the ball

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moving, and he's throwing some nice
passes on the move too. Can be

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a little turnover happy, which is, you know, tough. When you

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have basically the same turnover rate or
a higher turnover rate than your usage is

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never a great sign. But fantastic
hands, you know, you can look

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at the blocks are great, but
like he can really get he's going to

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force some steals too, and he's
gonna be very aware of bad passes or

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he's going to en force those deflections. One of the more underrated big men

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right now. And I do think
when you watch him play, you forget

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that he's listed at six eight.
This is someone that feels like he plays

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a lot bigger, at least seven
one big. That was like a very

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specific number. I'm here for it. I appreciate that, But no,

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I think I think Rob Williams is
the right choice. I do. I

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think we have to give a shout
out to Peyton Pritchard, probably just because

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he was only the twenty sixth the
twenty sixth pick of the first round this

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year. And has shown that he's
not just a pesky defender. He's a

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consistent three point shooter. He's starting
to flash more off the dribble juice as

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a scorer, which is important as
the Boston Celtics, much like every other

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team in the NBA, suffers way
too many key injuries. I don't think

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he should be the choice here,
but we would be remiss not to at

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least mention him. Marcus Smart might
need to be a perennial honorable mention.

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I don't think people appreciate you know, there's the jokes about his confidence as

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a shooter, but like he continuously
hits big shots and the clutch numbers don't

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always back this up, like he's
shooting thirty six percent on threes in the

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clutch. This year, he's turned
into a more viable three point shooter,

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and whether he's you know, three
of thirteen or three of six, like

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he's just going to fire away,
and that's something I appreciate. He's more

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mainstream, So I don't think,
yeah, I think I just I view

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him as like the non star version
of Mike Conley, where he's so universally

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recognized as underrated that even though He's
not overrated. He's not underrated anymore.

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He was number three list because I'd
Pritchard too. But it's tough for me

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sometimes with to mention rookies necessarily,
but I agree with I would be there

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for that selection as well. And
look, Pritchard on defense is just I

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don't watch a lot of college basketball
anyway, so not that I've known this,

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but everything I was reading like didn't
really focus on his defensive He moves

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really well. I can play kind
of physical on the defensive end too.

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He's willing to pick guys up like
at least three quarter quart two, which

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is huge. He's got that t
J. McConnell, Javon Carter Jane in

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him exactly. Brooklyn Nets, I
think there's only one choice here and it's

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Nick Claxton. And the Nets basically
cemented this decision. For me, it

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felt like Claxton was starting to get
the love that he deserved for just the

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enthusiasm with which he played, the
relentless energy, the willingness to protect the

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rim and fill those non glamorous voids
while also taking on more of a scoring

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role. But then the Nets basically
decided that they weren't going to play him

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much anymore by signing LaMarcus Aldridge on
the buyout market who has since retired,

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and acquiring Blake Griffin the same way. And it was just this clear message

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that they wanted the bigger names and
weren't willing to commit to him in the

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rotation, which I still think was
a mistake. He's played really well whenever

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he's been on the court, and
it just hasn't been enough. Yeah,

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they've played him more since the even
before Aldridge retired, because he wasn't necessarily

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playing with them, but his minutes
were down when they had aldridg in the

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rotation. So this might be a
situation where he could still be underappreciated in

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his on his own team. And
there but there is, and you knew,

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you know I wrote about him.
If you go to b ball Index's

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database, there is. We're talking
about switchability among bigs, and so among

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five hundred and eleven players who stands
six ten or taller and logged at least

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three hundred minutes in a single season
since twenty thirteen twenty fourteen, he is

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second in partial possession possession spent defending
point guards, behind only this season's Ben

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Simmons. According to be Bowl Index. He's also seventh in that time in

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switching on to shooting guards within the
same group, So it's or guarding shooting

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guards, since this isn't it's basically
a switch for the most part. But

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so I found that absolutely fascinating.
There are still holes in his game.

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Can be a little bit foul happy. There's you look at his offense.

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There might be a much better player
there because he's shown he's comfortable putting the

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ball on the floor. But when
you're shooting in the thirty, like,

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you know, thirty something percent on
drives, he's shooting a disastrous clip on

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his hook shots. He was like
three of thirteen on those the last time

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I checked. So his decision making
could stand to get a little bit better

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there. But this is someone who
you know, he's still he's he's getting

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better at setting screens. You can
use him as a roller, can use

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him as a lob catcher. He
does just a lot of things. He's

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at thirty three point three percent on
hook shots this year, by the way,

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to correct myself there, I think
that this is just someone who is

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though a genuine defensive game changer already, not just because of the switchability.

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But when you look at his recovery
around the basket too helps side defense,

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really swatting shots away. I think
everyone's probably seen the clips of him defending

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Damian Lillard and crunch Time like this
is just who It wasn't blocking a shot,

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it was forcing the ball out of
Damian Lillard's hands. Damian Lillard and

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crunch Time forcing the ball out of
his hands. So there's a really good

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player there, and I'm very intrigued
to see how the Nets use him in

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the playoffs. It does seem like
they're giving him more run now. I'm

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just curious to see if he's going
to get a longer leash, the same

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amount of leash a shorter leash once
they get to the postseason. Did you

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have a second option for the Nets, because, like you might laugh at

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this, but my backup choice was
James Harden because it feels like everyone on

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the Nets gets the proper amount of
attention, if not a little too much.

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But Harden is just hated by such
a wide portion of the NBA fan

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base because of his style of play
that I think the ridiculous historic offensive effectiveness

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still gets a little bit under sold. I guess you could go with him.

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I'd be more inclined to go with
a Bruce Brown or a Jeff Green

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in that situation, just guys who
have been solid them and especially Jeff Green

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too, like the if he can
go in their downsize lineups. We've seen

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Bruce Brown hanging around in the dunker
spot this season. I'd be way more

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inclined to go with those two guys. There might be people who might even

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say Alisa Johnson, but I was
trying to pick guys who have an actual

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role on their team with sort of
the other stipulation that I had, so

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I wouldn't regrudge you that. I
do think what happened in Houston has kind

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of still been held against Harden,
and it's definitely been brought up even by

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me when we've had them. I'm
not picking him for Houston, but I'm

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talking about like, look in the
MVP discussion, they're using the Houston stuff

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against him, and I've even used
that against him, even though it doesn't

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matter anymore at all the time he's
missed. So oh, that's the other

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thing too, James Harden just out
right now, that is, and maybe

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not coming back to the playoffs I'm
talking about this level of play. No,

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I get it, I just wouldn't. He wouldn't have cracked my top

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three for the now. I just
I think there's too large a percentage of

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NBA fans who just aren't willing to
admit because they don't like how he generates

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his offense, like this is one
of the best offensive forces we have ever

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seen the NBA. I'm with it
for the Charlotte Hornets I had. I

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was tempted to go with Miles Bridges
here, and you could probably even throw

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some love to PJ. Washington if
you wanted to. I went with Terry

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Rozier. And while we've seen the
limitations to his game when you have LaMelo

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Ball and Gordon Hayward both out,
this is someone who was just build as

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like a terrible player. When he
first signed that three year, fifty six

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point seven million dollars deal in the
it was a sign and trade with Charlotte

249
00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:34,159
and Boston. I do think we
need to get better at evaluating players independent

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of their contracts, Like once they
sign it, if there's a chance they

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might not live up with it,
but you have to start evaluating them outside

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that number. He's actually living up
to his price point. You know,

253
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when you look at his scoring and
the efficiency fifty plus percent on twos and

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then shooting about forty percent on threes, they're only a handful of other players

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that are matching those throughout the season. They're they're all stars. And Marl

256
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Rozier is not a star. He
is a knockdown shooter off the catch.

257
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He's shown me can do some off
the dribble stuff both beyond the arc and

258
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inside the arc because playmaking has gotten
better. He's second on the Hornets and

259
00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:10,759
point score possession as the pick and
roll ball handler this year. So there's

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that element of just like, hey, he can't run an offense, not

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going to be ideal, and as
I much before, we've seen limitations.

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You end in the fact though,
that he's just going to give you some

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00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:25,079
like stout defensive minutes against either guard
position on more I'll say more than occasional

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stout the defense in those situations.
That's that's absolutely huge, And so we're

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talking about one of the best compliments
in the league now where no, you

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don't want him to be your first
or second option if you're on a championship

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team, but after that, when
you're talking about accessory players or just scalable

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talents who can make an impact aside
from just being plug and play. He's

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in that conversation. I also thought
about mentioning Miles Bridges here, but I

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kind of think he's just dunked his
way out of the conversation because some of

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his highlights have garnered so much attention
that people have started paying attention to him

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more as just this ideal running made
for LaMelo ball when he's healthy. But

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yeah, I think it has to
be Terry Rogier, especially just given the

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clutch numbers. I mean, the
dude is slashing fifty two point six,

275
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fifty and eighty nine point five when
games are within five points in the final

276
00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:19,279
five minutes and the Hornets rout scoring
opponents by three point four points in those

277
00:18:19,319 --> 00:18:25,519
situations like that, That's huge.
It is a stark contrast from the player

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that he was immediately after signing his
mega deal with the Hornets, and he's

279
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just come so far that I think
it's becoming clear how good he is to

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00:18:36,279 --> 00:18:41,400
everyone, but he's still overcoming that
overpaid reputation. He has to be the

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choice. I don't really even have
a backup here. This is someone who

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and I guess the best way to
cantetualize is he is even at his like

283
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near twenty million dollars a year price
point, and it is lower than that

284
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you would get a first round pick
if you were to trade him over the

285
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off season. Yeah, and I
don't think they should shut that clear,

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but nor do I definitely hope they
do not for the Chicago Bulls. Know,

287
00:19:03,519 --> 00:19:07,839
I toyed with with naming Denzel Valentine
here just because I refuse to give

288
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up on him being a useful rotation
player, but he's his play has not

289
00:19:11,559 --> 00:19:15,359
merited that selection, so I think
it has to be Thaddious Young, where

290
00:19:17,039 --> 00:19:21,200
after a couple of years with the
Indiana Pacers where he was a good rotation

291
00:19:21,279 --> 00:19:25,799
player but nothing special, and then
his first season in Chicago just didn't go

292
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particularly well, but he is reinvigorated
during this age thirty two season. You

293
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know, It's it's not about the
scoring numbers. It's about the versatility that

294
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he brings in his willingness to fill
so many different roles, and beyond that,

295
00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:44,359
just the sheer defensive presence. I
mean, he is everywhere for that

296
00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:48,920
Chicago Bulls team, which is so
important when Zach Lavine is on the court

297
00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:53,039
and still isn't a great defender,
and now you're adding Nikola Vuchovitch into the

298
00:19:53,039 --> 00:19:57,400
mix, and Kobe White isn't a
great defender, and you need that guy

299
00:19:57,519 --> 00:20:03,160
who can scratch the wingitch while also
protecting the rim as a help defender.

300
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You know, I think we see
it just in like the box plus minus

301
00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:11,200
numbers with the Pacers zero point five, zero point two, one point five.

302
00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:14,880
He plummeted to minus one point two
last year, and he's skyrocketed to

303
00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,119
three point two this year, which
is one of the single biggest year to

304
00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:22,039
year improvements that we've seen in the
NBA. This season, he is a

305
00:20:22,599 --> 00:20:27,160
legitimately game changing presence for the Bulls
right now, which no one could have

306
00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:32,480
expected after the last few years.
Yeah, he was my pick two,

307
00:20:32,559 --> 00:20:37,440
and it's interesting Jordan Clarkson was considered
fate to complete for six Men of the

308
00:20:37,519 --> 00:20:40,279
Year. I don't even know if
he's in my top three right now.

309
00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:41,799
I have Joe Angels, Chris Bouchet, and I don't know what to do

310
00:20:41,839 --> 00:20:45,400
with Daddy is young because he started
seventeen games this season, was in the

311
00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:49,799
starting lineup for a bit with Chicago
post trade deadline and even pre trade deadline.

312
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Now he's out. He has not
started the past three games for them,

313
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so I don't know where I land
up there. But if he if

314
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you can get if he hasn't started
too many games by the end of the

315
00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:02,839
year, he might need to be
the front runner for sixth man. It's

316
00:21:02,839 --> 00:21:06,720
probably him or that at all,
and I the only things I could really

317
00:21:06,759 --> 00:21:08,039
add to you is just the passing
on the short role from him, And

318
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he's just one of the defenders when
you look at I don't want to say

319
00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:15,160
he's the best help defender at the
NBA, but he might be. You

320
00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,200
could also count on him to do
a lot of one on one stuff where

321
00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,880
if you need to match up against
like a Jannis or Bam. No,

322
00:21:22,039 --> 00:21:26,119
he's not the answer to those guys
like that's the type of mobility and body

323
00:21:26,519 --> 00:21:30,720
that he has. So he has
easily been one of the more unsung players

324
00:21:30,799 --> 00:21:33,920
this season. But I think he
was towards the trade deadline. I think

325
00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,720
you could kind of understand with the
reports that kept coming out where the Bulls

326
00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:38,519
saying we're not interested in trading and
we're not insured in trading him. It's

327
00:21:38,559 --> 00:21:42,079
because of the interest that there wasn't
acquiring him and would just be that really

328
00:21:42,119 --> 00:21:47,319
helpful player on any really good team
in the league. Yeah, yeah,

329
00:21:47,319 --> 00:21:51,119
he has to be the choice here
with Cleveland, I debated a few guys.

330
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:55,359
I Darius Garland ended up being my
second place guy, with Larry Dance

331
00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:57,279
Junior being in third. I think
because he's starting to get the Larry Dance

332
00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:00,039
Jr. His availability has been long. I think he's gotten a lot more

333
00:22:00,079 --> 00:22:04,200
recognition for basically being like this do
a little bit of everything guy. Although

334
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,839
when you see someone who could legitimately
play the three through five on either end

335
00:22:07,839 --> 00:22:11,480
of the floor, even though Cleveland
likes to steer away from playing him at

336
00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,759
the five, that's huge, and
him being a perimeter throat an offense is

337
00:22:14,839 --> 00:22:18,920
huge just a passing. I still
landed on Colin Sexton because I don't think

338
00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:25,920
when we talk about the Calves it's
as if they don't have any true blue

339
00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:27,960
chip cornerstones, and they might not, I want to make that clear,

340
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:33,519
but Sexton gives them a possibility there. And I even think Garland he's been

341
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:37,599
who's just been tearing it up since
the middle of March, by the way,

342
00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,279
and been pretty good all season.
He gives them an option too,

343
00:22:40,319 --> 00:22:44,359
but Colin Sexton comes really close.
There are only right now ten other players

344
00:22:44,599 --> 00:22:48,200
who average more than twenty four points
a game while matching Sexton's efficiency inside the

345
00:22:48,319 --> 00:22:52,200
arc at fifty one point six percent
as of this recording, and behind it

346
00:22:52,279 --> 00:22:55,680
thirty seven percent on threes. Now. Among that group, they're only three

347
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,640
players that have a higher three throw
attempt rade Kadie, Joel Embiade and Corlin

348
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,720
Anthony Counts. Sexton has improved his
game dramatically as a playmaker on the move,

349
00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:07,599
doesn't get as too much tunnel vision
on drive, and make better decisions.

350
00:23:07,599 --> 00:23:11,160
There is more of a trustworthy guy
if you need him to put pressure

351
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,279
on multiple levels, not just two
of them or even one of them.

352
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And he's doing a lot of on
ball stuff where I think there tends to

353
00:23:17,079 --> 00:23:21,400
be this discrepancy and how he's viewed. It keeps coming back to will he

354
00:23:21,519 --> 00:23:23,160
just can't run an offense or he's
not a four general. Okay, cool,

355
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:26,519
he's not supposed to be. The
Calves don't use him in that way.

356
00:23:26,799 --> 00:23:29,920
I will still argue he's more a
combo guard than not, but he's

357
00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,079
not supposed to be this actual if
you want to say pure point guard,

358
00:23:33,079 --> 00:23:37,240
whatever you want to say. So
once you view him outside of that specter,

359
00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,400
I think it's really easy to appreciate
that, hey, he might be

360
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:42,519
a future All Star, and this
is someone that is he going to be

361
00:23:42,519 --> 00:23:45,440
the best player on a championship team. My guests would be no. But

362
00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,519
that's ninety nine percent of league where
the guests would be no. And so

363
00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:52,680
if you found someone who could be
the number two on a great team,

364
00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:56,920
that's huge fore or rebuild. I
love this one because it's the first time

365
00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:03,359
we're like really differing. I think
Sexton got enough love with his ridiculously hot

366
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:07,519
start to the year that people were
viewing him as that future All Star.

367
00:24:07,599 --> 00:24:14,559
And even though Cleveland's play tailed off
after the unsustainably good opening to the season

368
00:24:14,599 --> 00:24:18,720
that they had, I think that
reputation has persisted to some extent. You

369
00:24:18,759 --> 00:24:23,519
actually didn't even mention my top choice
among your top three candidates, and that's

370
00:24:23,599 --> 00:24:27,880
Jared Allen. Sometimes I yeah,
he's on the calves. I'm not gonna

371
00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:30,279
lie. I was running, yeah
he's the other day and I was like,

372
00:24:30,319 --> 00:24:33,480
oh, that's right, Jared Allen
is on the calves. Yeah,

373
00:24:33,519 --> 00:24:37,440
he's somewhat forgettable, which is kind
of weird to say about, like such

374
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:42,519
a highlight generating shot blocking big man, But the calves as a whole have

375
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:47,200
been forgettable after the hot start,
and he wasn't there for the hot start,

376
00:24:47,519 --> 00:24:51,720
so I think that plays into the
forgettableness. But ultimately, like,

377
00:24:51,839 --> 00:24:56,920
he's exactly the kind of big man
who I enjoy watching because he's so mistake

378
00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:03,119
a verse. He's a great challenger
around the rim. He has the potential

379
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:07,200
to become a defensive anchor even if
he's definitely not there yet. He's getting

380
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:11,880
to the free throw line almost six
times per thirty six minutes, which I

381
00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:15,240
don't think many people realize, and
he's hitting seventy percent of those charity shots.

382
00:25:15,759 --> 00:25:19,759
But beyond that, he just doesn't
make mistakes, shooting sixty one point

383
00:25:19,799 --> 00:25:22,839
nine percent from the field. He's
taken the occasional three, but it happens

384
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,000
to be in the right situation.
Granted, he's not really much of a

385
00:25:26,079 --> 00:25:30,480
ballhandler, but he still only turns
the ball over one point four times per

386
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:34,519
game. Like, just the ability
to avoid negative plays while contributing on both

387
00:25:34,599 --> 00:25:37,440
ends like he does. I think
he needs a lot more love. I

388
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:41,240
mean, and you're kind of helping
prove it for me by not even mentioning

389
00:25:41,319 --> 00:25:47,079
him. Yeah, I guess I've
just never viewed him really as he felt

390
00:25:47,079 --> 00:25:51,680
more underrated by the nets themselves than
actually underrated in general, because it felt

391
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:56,279
pretty clear among NBA intelligenza that Jared
Allen was ridiculously good. What's hard about

392
00:25:56,319 --> 00:25:59,519
this is and I'm not even I
guess he's going to come off as like

393
00:25:59,559 --> 00:26:03,359
being an as sol, But I
sometimes forget that the way that we might

394
00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:06,720
view players is just not the same
where a majority of the fans will They're

395
00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:08,880
not gonna be here, you know, talking about a lot of people aren't

396
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,720
gonna be a lot of people are
gonna think Jared Awen is underready, they

397
00:26:11,759 --> 00:26:15,240
might have more mainstream names than you
are, right, So that's the hard

398
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:19,440
part of like doing the doing this
exercise, I still I knew he was

399
00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,519
on the Cavs while I was doing
the exercise. He just didn't even crack

400
00:26:22,599 --> 00:26:26,720
my top three. I'm just I
was shocked that you had like Darius Garland

401
00:26:26,799 --> 00:26:29,680
over him, Dad. If you
watched Darius Garland, Darius Garland feels like

402
00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:32,880
he's so much more man of the
game he's improved a ton since that awful

403
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:37,440
rookie season. My thing. My
thing with Garland though two, is or

404
00:26:37,519 --> 00:26:41,359
with sex didn't rather is even if
you were going to disqualify him, which

405
00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:42,839
is fine. If I feel like
there are people playing at a fringe star

406
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:45,759
level that aren't getting enough recognition,
I might gravitate towards them, but I

407
00:26:45,799 --> 00:26:48,680
would still pivot the g I would
still pivot the Garland is number two.

408
00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:52,359
It feels like he is. His
control of the game, especially when he's

409
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:56,079
in the lane, has gotten so
much better. And that's not I think

410
00:26:56,079 --> 00:26:59,920
when everyone talks about the Calves,
they are talking about Sexland first and four

411
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:03,000
most, but they're going to Colin
Sexton first. And I still I keep

412
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:07,559
coming back to the fact why those
two players are highlighting is people look at

413
00:27:07,559 --> 00:27:11,079
the Calves is absent a blue ship
cornerstone. That being said, Jared Allen

414
00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:14,559
is actually a part of that conversation
because you're looking at three guys and four

415
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:18,079
with Isaac Okoro who feel like they
really are long term keepers and helpers.

416
00:27:18,519 --> 00:27:22,400
Yeah, I'm still willing to put
Jared Allen in that blue chip conversation,

417
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:26,119
which I think speaks to why I'm
picking him here. Yeah, I mean

418
00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:30,160
he's shown a little bit of a
passing improvement too since he's arrived in Cleveland.

419
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:36,799
Detroit is one that I really struggled
with and ended up with a rookie,

420
00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:38,960
which I know you're not a huge
fan of because they have four of

421
00:27:40,839 --> 00:27:44,160
right, and that's why I wasn't
more specific right off the bat, But

422
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:49,880
it's I think it's Isaiah Stewart.
It feels like he is a perfect example

423
00:27:51,519 --> 00:27:55,839
of the differentiation that you made at
the top of this podcast, that we

424
00:27:55,920 --> 00:28:00,640
are looking at this from a national
perspective rather than a local effective where he

425
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:04,880
has been playing so well lately.
Over the last nine games, he's averaging

426
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:08,119
twelve point four points and ten point
two rebounds. He's shooting sixty seven point

427
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:11,200
six percent from the field. He's
made a pair of three pointers. He's

428
00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:15,720
been blocking shots, he's getting a
little bit more involved as a passer,

429
00:28:15,759 --> 00:28:18,880
though still not doing much. He's
avoiding fouls, he's staying on the court.

430
00:28:18,519 --> 00:28:25,480
But as much love as he's getting
from Detroit writers and Detroit fan base,

431
00:28:26,039 --> 00:28:30,400
I don't think that's translated to the
national attention that he deserves as a

432
00:28:30,559 --> 00:28:37,880
potential legitimate building block in Detroit,
which is sorely needed. Well, I

433
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,039
will tell I picked Isaiah Stewart as
well, and I think you're totally You're

434
00:28:41,119 --> 00:28:42,880
on point there and this wasn't hard
for me at all. I mean,

435
00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:47,400
they did have four rookies to choose
from. I still remain off the limited

436
00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:51,319
sample we've seen from Killian Hayes.
I remain tanglized by Killian Hayes. He

437
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:55,079
was my second choice, so he
could be there even if you just used

438
00:28:55,119 --> 00:28:56,759
a deep bay as this three and
D guy. He has more ball skills

439
00:28:56,799 --> 00:29:02,000
than advertised with Isaiah Stewart. Though
there is a br comment or who disagrees

440
00:29:02,039 --> 00:29:04,839
with you because I was talking.
I wrote an article on the worst teams

441
00:29:04,839 --> 00:29:07,480
this season, was talking about the
choice future and I said, they're among

442
00:29:07,519 --> 00:29:11,640
the teams where you look at them
and don't know who their north star is.

443
00:29:11,279 --> 00:29:17,319
Someone argued that Isaiah Isaiah Stewart is
a future star, and there you

444
00:29:17,359 --> 00:29:21,519
go, that's just proof that he
is maybe not underrated within the Pistons fan

445
00:29:21,559 --> 00:29:23,759
base. I would echo everything you
said. The two notes that I would

446
00:29:23,759 --> 00:29:27,319
add are that dude just keeps going. There's just running the floor, just

447
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:32,480
like being around the basket. Right
right place. I like how he can

448
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:34,319
put the ball on the floor off
the catch where it's like if he's sort

449
00:29:34,319 --> 00:29:37,319
of it's like maybe he didn't screen
and roll, but he's diving to the

450
00:29:37,359 --> 00:29:41,559
basket and he needs one or two
dribbles to before he can finish and is

451
00:29:41,599 --> 00:29:44,920
able to do that, and he
is, you know, I wouldn't say

452
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,759
that he's like the best rim protector, but he definitely impacts shots or shot

453
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:55,440
choices. This season, opponents are
shooting eight point two percentage points worse at

454
00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:57,960
the rim when he's on the floor. That's the fifth highest differential or fifth

455
00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:03,720
largest differential all players who've logged at
least five hundred minutes. So Detroit got

456
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:06,480
a good one in Isaiah Stewart,
and I'll let go this one more time.

457
00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:08,359
In fact, they have like four
rookies and you throw Saban Lee in

458
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,720
there as well, where it's like, hey, those guys might just be

459
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:15,759
Those are definitely MBA players, and
Lee is probably the most questionable A bunch

460
00:30:15,079 --> 00:30:18,519
so far. That's you know,
that's that's rock solid depth for them.

461
00:30:18,519 --> 00:30:22,240
I still think they need their north
star, and Killian Hayes still is the

462
00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:23,880
best chance. In my opinion,
to be that more so than Bay or

463
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:27,160
a Stewart. But I don't think
anyone, at least of all myself,

464
00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:30,759
I didn't think he was gonna make
it. I just didn't think he had

465
00:30:30,799 --> 00:30:33,960
like them, as I say with
the Bigs, and he just clearly does.

466
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:37,440
I missed the mark on him so
hard. I will say with Sadique

467
00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:41,559
Bay, I am firmly on board
with him developing into a non star with

468
00:30:41,599 --> 00:30:47,279
the star's impact, kind of like
what we thought Otto Porter Junior was going

469
00:30:47,319 --> 00:30:52,960
to be before injuries derailed him.
Fair enough, Uh, that's going to

470
00:30:52,079 --> 00:30:56,480
bring us to the Indiana Pacers.
This one was kind of tough because I

471
00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:02,079
feel like it's between Indiana and Utah
teams that have the best or the most

472
00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:07,039
really good players on their rosters,
and yet Indiana has struggled a lot this

473
00:31:07,079 --> 00:31:11,160
season. I would argue mostly due
to you know, spotty availability from essentially

474
00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:15,599
everyone. I think it's Doug McDermott
here, and I vascinated between he and

475
00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:18,359
TJ. McConnell. But I think
McConnell's starting to get like, you know,

476
00:31:18,559 --> 00:31:22,400
national burn for the way that he
just really defends and wakes up and

477
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:27,079
he's in your jersey already if you're
his opponent McDermott, just as you know,

478
00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:32,599
he brings that shooting, that shooting
value, and he is playing a

479
00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:37,640
combo forward role right now. He's
an excellent cutter and he's been essentially when

480
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:42,680
you look at players who have finished
at least fifty such of those plays with

481
00:31:42,759 --> 00:31:47,440
those cuts, he is third in
points per possession, behind brook Lopez and

482
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:49,559
Zach Lavie. And I found I
found brook Lopez there being funny, and

483
00:31:49,559 --> 00:31:52,559
so he really keeps defenses on his
toes because he's able to hit that three

484
00:31:52,559 --> 00:31:55,799
ball and he can do that,
you know, quickly. He can do

485
00:31:55,799 --> 00:31:57,599
that in motion if you need him
too. And when he's going up,

486
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,680
you'll find those seats, find holds
towards the basket, or capitalize on a

487
00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:05,799
sleeping defender, or go back door
on you. That's really valuable. And

488
00:32:05,799 --> 00:32:09,079
I do think that he's been able
to relative to how the Pacers have used

489
00:32:09,119 --> 00:32:14,480
him, that he just hasn't been
like this huge defensive liability where when there

490
00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:16,119
have been a lot of half court
breakdowns, it's not even really because of

491
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:21,599
him, it's just because the whole
system there seems broken. And Caitlyn Cooper

492
00:32:21,759 --> 00:32:25,400
of any Cornrows has run about this, just different sorts of defensive lapses.

493
00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:29,519
She's way more specific and more schooled
on it than I would ever be.

494
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:32,400
I think McDermott entering free agency this
season is someone who's going to be pretty

495
00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:37,359
heavily targeted, and it wouldn't surprise
me if he's due for a salary in

496
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:42,759
the eight figures where you're cracking that
ten million annually territory. There's a chance

497
00:32:42,799 --> 00:32:47,000
that Caitlyn Cooper is the most underrated
person affiliated with the Pacers. She better

498
00:32:47,039 --> 00:32:50,720
not be underrated. First of all, they should have her on their staff

499
00:32:50,799 --> 00:32:54,359
already. And I agree the analysis
is so good. She is in the

500
00:32:55,000 --> 00:33:01,519
one hundred percentile of people who are
able to ver eyes two dumb people like

501
00:33:01,559 --> 00:33:07,599
you and I complicated x's and os
stuff that her her flow, her prose

502
00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:12,640
fantastic. If you don't read her
Kalen Cooper at I don't have her Twitter

503
00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:14,799
hand in front of me. I
look it up since well shout out here.

504
00:33:14,799 --> 00:33:16,319
But she was She's so good,
writes Herndy corn Rows. And she

505
00:33:16,519 --> 00:33:19,240
has to be, you know,
I don't know how if you want to

506
00:33:19,319 --> 00:33:22,119
learn something every time you read an
article, that's where you should go Yeah,

507
00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:27,720
the specific unlike and she's so specific
and it's at C two underscore Cooper,

508
00:33:27,839 --> 00:33:30,240
so be sure to check her out. But since we're talking about players,

509
00:33:30,559 --> 00:33:34,079
you know, I don't begrudge you
either of your choices. I think

510
00:33:34,119 --> 00:33:38,200
that those are totally valid arguments.
I went bigger here with either Malcolm Brogden

511
00:33:38,279 --> 00:33:44,440
or Miles Turner. I think with
Turner some national writers like still aren't willing

512
00:33:44,519 --> 00:33:46,839
to put him in the defensive Player
of the Year race early in the season

513
00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:51,440
and have to like come around to
that later. I'm sure you have no

514
00:33:51,559 --> 00:33:57,359
idea who I'm talking about, none, anything, anything, just silence.

515
00:33:57,839 --> 00:34:00,680
Okay, no, but for real, I think my answers broad gun where

516
00:34:01,559 --> 00:34:05,880
there's recognition just how good he is. But I don't think people realize just

517
00:34:06,079 --> 00:34:13,400
how fucking good he is. He
thrived as this complimentary figure on the Milwaukee

518
00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:19,039
Bucks, you know, clearly excelling
in the ginormous shadow of Jana Santa Da

519
00:34:19,039 --> 00:34:23,360
Cumbo. But he's become like a
legitimate north star for a competitive organization.

520
00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:29,480
I mean, he's capable of putting
up twenty one, six and six on

521
00:34:29,559 --> 00:34:32,320
a nightly basis. He's always going
to flirt with the fifty forty ninety club.

522
00:34:32,639 --> 00:34:36,599
He doesn't make mistakes. He can
fill any role. If you need

523
00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:39,280
him to serve as a lead ball
handler who can get his shots off the

524
00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:43,039
bounce, who can create for others
in the pick and roll, he can

525
00:34:43,119 --> 00:34:45,519
do that if he wanted to fill
an off ball role. He's always going

526
00:34:45,559 --> 00:34:47,639
to make the right cuts. He's
always going to end up in the right

527
00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:51,880
spots. He knows how to play
in transition. There just is not a

528
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:57,000
weakness to his game. And I
don't think he's viewed as that potential like

529
00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:01,400
top thirty, top twenty five player, but he would be. Malcolm Brogan

530
00:35:01,559 --> 00:35:05,960
is a top twenty five player.
I think he can. I think he

531
00:35:06,039 --> 00:35:08,000
can play like that. Maybe not
for the extent of a season, but

532
00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:13,920
in short spurts he is capable of
that. That is a spicy take.

533
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,519
You need to cut that out and
throw it on Twitter for people to hear

534
00:35:16,599 --> 00:35:19,679
you say that one. I'd be
more inclined to go with Miles Turner.

535
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:23,880
Maybe I'm just trying to generate some
goodwill from Pacers Twitter, which is absolutely

536
00:35:24,039 --> 00:35:28,480
destroyed me when I predicted that he
wouldn't win Defensive Player of the Year.

537
00:35:28,559 --> 00:35:31,800
Essentially way back when I took ownership
of the confusion in a way I approached

538
00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:35,760
that exercise. So I'm not doing
a victory lap here, but the pressure

539
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:40,440
that they've put on that he just
that they allow him to face defensively when

540
00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:45,000
he's been healthy this year is just
I think his defensive workload is probably like

541
00:35:45,079 --> 00:35:49,840
among the top three in the league. I'm not talking about just shot contests

542
00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:52,719
at the rim, but especially when
you're gonna isolate Biggs. Rudy Gobert is

543
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:57,079
one. I'm trying to think of
another big maybe a healthy Anthony Davis,

544
00:35:57,119 --> 00:35:59,639
but he hasn't really played. I
still think Davis is a little underrated in

545
00:35:59,639 --> 00:36:04,840
that regard because he's not that traditional
rim protector. So he's right there for

546
00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:07,159
me, and I don't think that's
probably talked about enough. People might be

547
00:36:07,199 --> 00:36:08,039
more likely to harp on, yeah, he's been in the defensive player of

548
00:36:08,039 --> 00:36:12,960
the year conversation, but they'll harp
on his overall shooting splits this year where

549
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:16,159
he's been below average. Has had
peaks and valleys like anyone in any season,

550
00:36:17,039 --> 00:36:20,360
but they look at I think I
even made the joke I think Rashawn's

551
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:23,440
home is Rashaun Holmes is averaging more
points per shot on his voters than Miles

552
00:36:23,519 --> 00:36:29,519
turn is averaging on wide open threes, So that's he is. I would

553
00:36:29,559 --> 00:36:31,400
say he's like a top fifty guy, and it's probably not recognized as such

554
00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:35,519
nearly enough, and that's Miles Turner. I do not think Malcolm Brogden is

555
00:36:35,599 --> 00:36:37,760
a top ten player in the NBA
like you do, though. Yeah,

556
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,440
I'm going to backtrack a little bit
and just kind of clarify what I meant

557
00:36:40,519 --> 00:36:44,480
better than what I said. I
don't think that he is a top twenty

558
00:36:44,519 --> 00:36:47,519
five or top thirty player when everyone's
available. I do think he's capable of

559
00:36:47,639 --> 00:36:52,199
playing like that for a ten game
stretch of twenty game stretch when he needs

560
00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:55,920
to, but he's not going to
maintain that workload for an entire season.

561
00:36:57,079 --> 00:36:59,679
I think it's adorable that you don't
think. I'm going to cut that part

562
00:36:59,679 --> 00:37:01,440
out and it's all as you're gonna
hear. Is you saying you think Malcolm

563
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:05,760
Broddon's the top twenty five per se
you trying to do that anyway or whatever?

564
00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:08,719
I believe you're on Miami right,
this was this was the hard Lets

565
00:37:09,039 --> 00:37:13,119
can we just move on. I
don't have an answer. I don't I

566
00:37:13,199 --> 00:37:15,960
don't think that there's a legitimate answer
for the Miami heat. So I came

567
00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:22,400
I came up with Max Strews.
I think I was I was close to

568
00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:28,199
picking pneumonia be Elitesa because of what
he might be able to do there well,

569
00:37:28,639 --> 00:37:31,400
but he's also shooting like negative three
percent on threes this year. Yeah,

570
00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:35,880
and he's he has like a little
like up. He has like a

571
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:37,840
little motherfucker in his game where he's
more physical when he puts the ball on

572
00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:43,159
the floor. So I could see
that as a theoretical I understand why Shrews

573
00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:46,519
doesn't get like consistent minutes in Miami
unless they're really banged up. But someone

574
00:37:46,559 --> 00:37:51,079
who's who can relocate off the ball, hit some difficult threes and gives you

575
00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:53,199
just like you know, six five
on defense, and he's covered like a

576
00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:58,239
bunch of in at least. And
I will say, if not watched a

577
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:01,280
ton of Mac Struce this season of
the Games live scene where he's played like

578
00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:04,639
he can give you something positionally on
defense where it's not just oh, he

579
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:07,519
needs to cover a two guard because
he's six five. He's been on some

580
00:38:07,639 --> 00:38:09,480
three he's been on some fours.
I'm just curious to see, Like,

581
00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:14,440
you know, he's twenty five.
What becomes of him? Is this like

582
00:38:14,559 --> 00:38:17,199
someone who's going to you know,
land somewhere in the NBA. So I

583
00:38:17,719 --> 00:38:22,280
had him, but he's got two
choices. Have played a combined four hundred

584
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:23,639
and sixty two minutes this year,
right, And the problem with him is

585
00:38:23,719 --> 00:38:28,039
that they've really only needed him as
like this emergency guy on the perimeter because

586
00:38:28,039 --> 00:38:30,760
they are for all that they don't
have. I don't want to say they're

587
00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:35,159
stacked there, but like that between
Tyler Hero and Jimmy Butler Fazerladipo's injured,

588
00:38:35,159 --> 00:38:37,199
but they have him. Draggas have
been injured a lot, but they still

589
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:39,920
have him. They have Kendrick Nunne
like they're just they're set at like in

590
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:44,280
those guards spots, and so even
if you look like you could use them

591
00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:45,719
sure on the wings more just as
a as a three, and I think

592
00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:50,239
that's where he's played most of his
minutes actually this year. Yeah, or

593
00:38:50,239 --> 00:38:52,360
about he's been split evenly between the
two and the and the three. So

594
00:38:53,679 --> 00:38:57,079
but I needed to come up with
a name, and I just be Etlitz

595
00:38:57,119 --> 00:38:59,519
has played so bad this year that
I don't know, but that's a product

596
00:38:59,559 --> 00:39:02,960
of maybe consistent playing time since the
beginning of the season basically or definitely since

597
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:06,880
the middle of it. Still I
felt a little weird. You're right,

598
00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:08,440
I think we can get away with
picking no one here, but I'm settling

599
00:39:08,559 --> 00:39:13,920
on on officially my guy, Max
Drews. I think if I, if

600
00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:16,800
I truly had to pick someone,
it might be Dwayne Dennett, who's played

601
00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:22,960
three games for Miami this season,
but like, it shouldn't be taken him

602
00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:25,800
this long to land on a roster
exactly like a couple of nights ago,

603
00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:30,559
he had ten points on one shot. I'm not miss speaking. He made

604
00:39:30,599 --> 00:39:34,559
eight free throws in one field goal
on one field goal attempt, and he

605
00:39:34,679 --> 00:39:37,599
followed that up with twelve and six
like he's played well the last few games,

606
00:39:37,679 --> 00:39:44,559
which also happened to be the only
games he's played. Let's move on.

607
00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:49,440
Let's move on the Milwaukee Bucks.
So I already know who you picked,

608
00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:52,199
which is why I specifically didn't pick
him. I went with Bryn Forbes.

609
00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,639
Dude is a bucket. I don't
think that gets talked about enough.

610
00:39:55,800 --> 00:40:00,559
He leads the NBA in points per
shot. I'm not filtering out anything.

611
00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:05,639
I'm not. There's no minutes threshold
here, no minimum game, no minimum

612
00:40:05,679 --> 00:40:09,239
games played. He just leads the
NBA in points per shot. That's pretty

613
00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:13,280
damn good for someone who's living on
the perimeter. He's also when you look

614
00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:16,280
at his affective field goal percentage on
pull up jumpers fifty three point three.

615
00:40:16,599 --> 00:40:20,320
They're one hundred and three players who
have attempted at least one hundred and twenty

616
00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:25,039
five pull up jumpers this season.
He ranks in the top thirteen of affective

617
00:40:25,039 --> 00:40:30,719
field goal percentage among that group.
So not someone who's going to and I

618
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:32,119
think we saw it. He's not
going to oversee the offense. That's why

619
00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:36,119
you go and you get a jeftigue. He's also not going to give you

620
00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:40,639
basically anything defensively. But there's like
he has levels to his scoring where I

621
00:40:40,639 --> 00:40:44,320
think you could probably safe the com
A two level score at this point.

622
00:40:44,719 --> 00:40:47,119
And I found that fascinating because I
don't you don't need to read like a

623
00:40:47,199 --> 00:40:52,280
ton into it, but to not
filter out anything. So just five hundred

624
00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:54,159
and twenty four players, he leads
the MBA in points per touch. I

625
00:40:54,320 --> 00:41:00,599
just want to note, can you
guess who ranks fourth in that absolutely not

626
00:41:01,199 --> 00:41:06,800
Max Strus, Yes, yes I
did. I can guess it. I

627
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:09,000
will say the two I'm most impressed
by in the top five. Norman Powell

628
00:41:09,119 --> 00:41:12,960
is three, Gary Trent Junior is
five, and my guy Doug McDermott,

629
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,639
by the way, because he's shooting
these wide open threes and off cuts,

630
00:41:15,719 --> 00:41:19,360
he is six. I just honestly
went through points per touch, and that's

631
00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:22,400
how I picked the underrated players.
That's all that happened. Sounds about right,

632
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:27,719
just totally discounting everything that happens on
defense, which is why you're not

633
00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:32,599
picking my guy. Bobby portis here
because he has developed into this effective bruiser

634
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:37,000
of a defender off the Milwaukee Bucks
bench. He's also shooting forty six point

635
00:41:37,039 --> 00:41:42,000
five percent on threes, like he's
kind of become that three and D center

636
00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:46,760
who is somehow having a seven point
five points per one hundred possessions swing when

637
00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:50,679
he's on the court, despite coming
off the bench on a team with the

638
00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:53,599
honis Andrei Kombo like he he is
a huge reason, along with Brent Forbes,

639
00:41:53,679 --> 00:41:59,119
that the second unit in Milwaukee has
been better than it's been in years

640
00:41:59,199 --> 00:42:02,440
past, and he's one of the
reasons that I have. Yeah, I

641
00:42:02,519 --> 00:42:07,039
think so, he's a reason I
have more confidence in them in the playoffs

642
00:42:07,039 --> 00:42:10,079
this year. There's just there are
more quality contributors. I think when you

643
00:42:10,119 --> 00:42:13,719
look at their nony, honest minutes, which have been generally worse than they

644
00:42:13,719 --> 00:42:17,480
were last year. Maybe that's a
byproduct of Drew Holiday miss time. Still,

645
00:42:17,639 --> 00:42:22,000
I think they're They've had They've had
to overcome a few too many injuries

646
00:42:22,079 --> 00:42:24,400
for the like for the second unit
to really play together like they did last

647
00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:30,840
year. So Milwaukee was real healthy
last year. Yeah, that's also a

648
00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:32,960
good point. I will say,
I think you're I went into this thinking,

649
00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:37,679
you know, he has not been
terrible defensively and has given them like

650
00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:40,079
some value there where he's not taking
it where he might be like average if

651
00:42:40,079 --> 00:42:44,960
he just needs to do a straight
rim contest. You sung his praises way

652
00:42:45,039 --> 00:42:47,840
more on that end than I ever
would, So I guess, you know,

653
00:42:49,519 --> 00:42:51,800
kudos to you. So I'm just
saying you might be a little bit

654
00:42:51,840 --> 00:42:54,159
higher on Bobby Porter's defensively than I
am at the moment. No, that's

655
00:42:54,199 --> 00:43:00,559
fair. So the New York Knicks, this was another tough one because it

656
00:43:00,719 --> 00:43:07,239
feels like anyone who plays in New
York gets national attention because Madison Square Garden

657
00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:14,039
remains the mecca, especially during a
season where the Knicks are still above five

658
00:43:14,159 --> 00:43:17,639
hundred at this point and now coming
off a victory over the Atlanta Hawks that

659
00:43:17,719 --> 00:43:22,199
pushes them closer to earning the number
four seed in the Eastern Conference. So

660
00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:25,159
it's hard because it's it's not going
to be one of the stars. Like

661
00:43:25,360 --> 00:43:30,280
everyone is aware that Julius Randall,
except for a few of the people who

662
00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:34,599
responded to the NBA Math promo of
how good he has been, that he

663
00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:38,920
is that good. Everyone is aware
that RJ. Barrett has developed tremendously.

664
00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:45,159
You know, Mitchell Robinson is still
this intriguing potential star down the road if

665
00:43:45,199 --> 00:43:51,079
he can get the fouls under control
and stay healthy. It's definitely not going

666
00:43:51,159 --> 00:43:53,679
to be like Derek Rose or Emmanuel
Quickly. So for me, it had

667
00:43:53,719 --> 00:43:59,239
to be Nerland's Noel where I think
there's a general awareness that he's a good

668
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:02,039
defender. I'm not sure that there's
a general awareness that he is a great

669
00:44:02,119 --> 00:44:07,719
defender there. It is it is
so difficult to find big man who can

670
00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:15,119
move like he does and who have
hands like he does. Defensive in no

671
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:21,400
way talking about his offensive hands.
But he is a master of positioning who

672
00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:25,039
can switch on to virtually anyone he
impacts passing lanes. He can poke the

673
00:44:25,079 --> 00:44:30,079
ball away from careless ball handlers.
He is a rim protector. I mean

674
00:44:30,119 --> 00:44:34,440
he's averaging a steal and two point
one blocks per game despite playing under twenty

675
00:44:34,480 --> 00:44:38,559
four minutes per contest. Those are
unfathomable numbers. He is a game altering

676
00:44:38,639 --> 00:44:43,679
defensive force when used in small spurts, which is what the Knicks are doing.

677
00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:47,079
I'm hesitant to make him the choice
because again, I think that there's

678
00:44:47,400 --> 00:44:52,440
a general awareness that he's a good
defender, but I think it's still sold

679
00:44:52,480 --> 00:44:58,119
a little bit short. He could
definitely be underrated in the sense that people

680
00:44:58,199 --> 00:45:00,719
look at the Knicks shot profile,
where they give up more looks than you'd

681
00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:04,480
want to in theory at the rim
and a ton of threes. He's part

682
00:45:04,519 --> 00:45:07,679
of the reason why they like that
rim volume is almost Oh, guys are

683
00:45:07,719 --> 00:45:12,000
going to challenge him, but they're
not necessarily going to shoot all that well

684
00:45:12,119 --> 00:45:15,800
because he's really sort of everywhere.
And Mitchell Robinson can have that that similar

685
00:45:15,239 --> 00:45:19,679
effect as well too. And I'm
with you on the hands, just when

686
00:45:19,719 --> 00:45:25,320
you look at the defensive hands.
Yeah, we're both mistake at this point.

687
00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:29,800
And there's really his ability to get
steals is a big too, and

688
00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:32,920
bust up plays that way. There
are and look, I am clearly saying

689
00:45:34,440 --> 00:45:37,199
that this is this is who we
should be compared to. They're only three

690
00:45:37,239 --> 00:45:40,920
players in NBA history who have logged
as many minutes for their career and have

691
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:44,840
a block rate of at least five
and steel rate of at least two.

692
00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:50,440
Do care to guess who either of
those players might be? Not particularly David

693
00:45:50,559 --> 00:45:53,000
Robinson and a Keen Okay, I
was, I was if you had made

694
00:45:53,039 --> 00:45:58,039
me guess, I was gonna say
Robinson and Carolenko. I refuse to believe

695
00:45:58,039 --> 00:46:00,760
that you're gonna say David Robinson you
already got the maxt one. I'm we're

696
00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:04,039
gonna David Robinson is one of my
all time favorite players. I have looked

697
00:46:04,079 --> 00:46:07,800
over his numbers way too many times. Yeah, I'm still gonna give you

698
00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:10,000
an o fourth there. I did
not go with Norlands Noel just to be

699
00:46:10,079 --> 00:46:13,159
different from you. I knew he
was someone that you were going to pick.

700
00:46:13,440 --> 00:46:15,880
And also I do think there's that
conversation point that you were talking about

701
00:46:15,880 --> 00:46:19,719
where it's his defensive he has been
kind of known. He's just become a

702
00:46:19,800 --> 00:46:22,440
meme because of the deal that he
turned down years ago. It was Dallas

703
00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:27,000
that offered it to him, right, it was, Yeah, that was

704
00:46:27,360 --> 00:46:30,880
Did you see his Instagram story after
they beat Dallas? I don't have an

705
00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:34,480
Instagram account, so no he posted. Do you remember the hot dog thing

706
00:46:34,519 --> 00:46:37,800
at halftime with Nourrilan's Noel? Yeah? Yeah I do, because man,

707
00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:39,679
that was just such a disastrous tenure. He did post a picture of a

708
00:46:39,760 --> 00:46:44,119
hot dog in his story after they
beat Dallas. I freaking loved it.

709
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:46,960
It's fantastic. I went with I
went with Reggie Bullock. I don't how

710
00:46:47,000 --> 00:46:51,840
could you see that Instagram story and
not pick Noel? What's wrong with you?

711
00:46:52,199 --> 00:46:54,239
Maybe on social media he might be
underrated at that that's part of it.

712
00:46:55,519 --> 00:47:00,039
I went with Reggie Bullock. He
is. I think there must have

713
00:47:00,159 --> 00:47:02,519
been a conversation where because the Knicks
don't on a night tonight basis, there

714
00:47:02,559 --> 00:47:06,119
are some nights where they have they
don't take enough threes. I don't think

715
00:47:07,159 --> 00:47:08,679
they just decided to tell they gave
him the more green light. He's at

716
00:47:08,719 --> 00:47:13,760
over seven attempts per per game Since
March first, he's hitting them at a

717
00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:17,039
forty two percent clip, averaging twelve
points per game. But like that's his

718
00:47:17,239 --> 00:47:21,440
role, Like they need you to
knock down threes and score in that regard.

719
00:47:21,559 --> 00:47:25,480
I'm just I don't think we talk
enough about how good he is or

720
00:47:25,519 --> 00:47:30,800
solid he is for them defensively.
Alfred Payton is the only other nick who

721
00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:34,280
has spent more time guarding number one
options, and that's by virtue of being

722
00:47:34,280 --> 00:47:37,840
a point guard. But it's not
because it's Alfred Payton is this fantastic defender

723
00:47:37,159 --> 00:47:40,000
and no one on the team is
logged more. And it's also because Tom

724
00:47:40,039 --> 00:47:44,880
Thibodeau wants to play Alfred Payton as
much as humanly possible. Yes, and

725
00:47:44,960 --> 00:47:46,360
that should still be something we troll
him for. I will say, when

726
00:47:46,400 --> 00:47:51,519
you dig into like how well their
second units are faring, especially with Derek

727
00:47:51,639 --> 00:47:53,519
Rose and Manuel Quickly. At the
same time, I get the rationale because

728
00:47:53,559 --> 00:47:55,800
Alfred Paytons at least someone who could
get you into your offense and you won't

729
00:47:55,800 --> 00:47:59,400
split them up. It should still
be Frankie la keenness. Let me make

730
00:47:59,440 --> 00:48:01,239
my jokes. No, I want
to make it clear. I'm still the

731
00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:05,440
wrong call, but I'm kind of
seeing where Tips is coming from. No

732
00:48:05,559 --> 00:48:07,800
one on the team, by the
way, has spent more time versus number

733
00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:10,599
two options. So this is someone
who's guarding the first or second best player

734
00:48:10,760 --> 00:48:14,320
on a team on any given night, and it's form one of the top

735
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:17,000
five defenses in the NBA. And
he's part of why they're so good at

736
00:48:17,039 --> 00:48:22,320
limiting above the break three pointers.
So he's been absolutely huge for them.

737
00:48:22,400 --> 00:48:25,039
I'm they'll have his early bird rights
and free agency and they have cap space,

738
00:48:25,079 --> 00:48:29,199
so it doesn't matter. This is
someone who could get like real money

739
00:48:29,599 --> 00:48:31,239
in free agency, though, and
I don't think that's talked about enough with

740
00:48:31,360 --> 00:48:36,480
the Nicks in general, where this
season is a Cinderella season Alec Burks,

741
00:48:36,599 --> 00:48:40,000
new Lands Noel and Reggie Bullock three
guys who have been instrumental in their success.

742
00:48:40,079 --> 00:48:44,599
I would argue they're all going to
be free agents this summer. It'll

743
00:48:44,599 --> 00:48:46,840
be interesting you see where that ends
up. But I think Bullock's been underrated

744
00:48:46,960 --> 00:48:52,519
just because people have been more inclined
to talk about of New Ryland's Noel and

745
00:48:52,559 --> 00:48:55,280
obviously Julius Randall or RJ. Barrett, even Immanuel Quickly even Derrick Rose,

746
00:48:55,320 --> 00:49:00,559
even Alec Burks before a Bullock,
just based on the here a number of

747
00:49:00,599 --> 00:49:04,480
people I've I've heard say Reggie Bullock
instead of Bullock. You might be right

748
00:49:04,599 --> 00:49:07,599
that he might still be massively underrated
apparently. I'm sure I used to say

749
00:49:07,639 --> 00:49:12,559
that because I think he corrected a
reporter once or noted it to a reporter,

750
00:49:12,760 --> 00:49:15,400
and just he let it go for
years without ever saying it everything.

751
00:49:15,599 --> 00:49:19,480
I'm happy when players say stuff because
I butcher pronunciations where I've studied them,

752
00:49:19,480 --> 00:49:21,800
and then I just get nervous because
I feel like I can't pronounce them.

753
00:49:21,840 --> 00:49:23,679
It's not been as a sign of
disrespect, but it's I would like if

754
00:49:24,039 --> 00:49:28,719
I, like Vujevich, came out
and said it's not it's not Vousevic or

755
00:49:29,320 --> 00:49:32,079
Vousevic like that. We I think
players should be within their rights to say

756
00:49:32,079 --> 00:49:36,880
that, if that's such a common
refrain or mispronunciation. So I agree with

757
00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:39,880
you. Do you remember the whole
that it's not Yannis, it's Yanni though

758
00:49:40,320 --> 00:49:45,159
I can't remember if that was from
Yeah, that was something that I remember

759
00:49:45,239 --> 00:49:47,320
reading. I'll have to look that
up. We're onto the Toronto Raptors,

760
00:49:47,480 --> 00:49:53,039
and so I don't know, what
are we on the Orlando Magic Oh that

761
00:49:53,159 --> 00:49:59,760
might be OH becomes OH comes before
T alphabetically. Yeah, why do I

762
00:50:00,039 --> 00:50:05,079
of them after this? That is? I have no idea. That's a

763
00:50:05,119 --> 00:50:08,760
little bit disturbing. So shout out
to one of our locker room listeners who

764
00:50:08,800 --> 00:50:12,840
said that there might be more to
plumb with James Ennis. Feels like he

765
00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:15,239
could be that he's been a good
screener this year and could create more of

766
00:50:15,280 --> 00:50:22,000
his own offense. I sadly did
not go with James Ennis. I went

767
00:50:22,079 --> 00:50:25,480
with RJ. Hampton because he's really
only gotten playing times since he came over

768
00:50:25,519 --> 00:50:29,880
to Orlando. It looks like that
dude's gonna be really good. He has

769
00:50:30,480 --> 00:50:32,440
like he has serious control over the
offense where I don't know, you know,

770
00:50:32,519 --> 00:50:35,440
is he going to be the best
passer? And he's clearly not the

771
00:50:35,480 --> 00:50:38,119
most efficient score right now, but
he can really do things that at every

772
00:50:38,239 --> 00:50:42,199
level and is going to hit a
lot of difficult shots, and I,

773
00:50:42,639 --> 00:50:45,719
you know, I can envision that
being someone who's more likely to be a

774
00:50:45,760 --> 00:50:49,639
building block for them. I'm talking
about, let's say, the first or

775
00:50:49,679 --> 00:50:52,960
second best player on a really good
team than a Chuma Okeiki, maybe even

776
00:50:53,000 --> 00:50:55,960
a Jonathan Isaac at this point,
because we need to see him flesh out

777
00:50:57,039 --> 00:51:00,639
his offense or at least find a
niche on offense out of curiosity without looking.

778
00:51:00,840 --> 00:51:07,320
Do you know how many people have
played for the Magic this season twenty

779
00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:13,960
six? Oh, you're so close. It's twenty five. It's just been

780
00:51:13,960 --> 00:51:17,079
a weird year for them, and
it made it's so hard to pick someone

781
00:51:17,159 --> 00:51:23,400
just with the constant roster roster flux
and them trying to figure out identities on

782
00:51:23,440 --> 00:51:30,719
the fly and taking away the obvious
central figure of the offense. So yeah,

783
00:51:30,719 --> 00:51:34,320
I struggled with this one. I
considered Wendell Carter Jr. I considered

784
00:51:34,400 --> 00:51:37,199
RJ. Hampton. I ultimately went
with Cole Anthony. I'm glad with a

785
00:51:37,280 --> 00:51:40,239
person that's been there the entire year, because it's almost a little unfair to

786
00:51:40,280 --> 00:51:43,840
be like, hey, RJ.
Hampton comes in, I get it,

787
00:51:44,039 --> 00:51:46,079
I get it. But yeah,
I went with Cole Anthony, And it's

788
00:51:46,239 --> 00:51:53,000
to me, it's like a proactive
underrated nous, like nothing he's done consistently

789
00:51:53,119 --> 00:51:59,800
has made him underrated so much as
like I understand, having followed the NBA

790
00:52:00,039 --> 00:52:05,639
for so long that the pitfalls that
rookie point guards typically have to undergo,

791
00:52:05,840 --> 00:52:09,639
especially ones who are thrust into larger
than expected roles and who have to overcome

792
00:52:09,719 --> 00:52:16,880
injuries and who are playing with sub
quality NBA players for much of the season.

793
00:52:17,360 --> 00:52:21,599
So yeah, like he's shooting poorly
from the field, he can't shoot

794
00:52:21,679 --> 00:52:24,519
threes. His defense is inconsistent,
though I would argue it's been a little

795
00:52:24,559 --> 00:52:29,800
better than I expected. But you
just if you watch him run the offense

796
00:52:29,880 --> 00:52:34,760
and some of the passes that he
sees, and the way he already understands

797
00:52:34,840 --> 00:52:39,360
how to read defenses and watch things
unfold before they actually unfold, It's been

798
00:52:39,440 --> 00:52:44,639
pretty obvious to me that there's something
there, and I don't know if it's

799
00:52:44,679 --> 00:52:49,320
going to be realized or how quickly
it's going to be realized. But I'm

800
00:52:49,400 --> 00:52:52,920
just trying to get ahead of the
curve because inevitably we're going to see people

801
00:52:53,079 --> 00:52:59,280
look at his rookie numbers and write
him off after this first season, despite

802
00:52:59,440 --> 00:53:01,880
all of the hurdles he's been forced
to overcome. I feel like it's a

803
00:53:01,920 --> 00:53:05,360
bit of a cop out, but
I'm going with it. I don't think

804
00:53:05,360 --> 00:53:09,159
it's a cop out, And there
it feels like his outside shooting will eventually

805
00:53:09,639 --> 00:53:15,000
come around, put him with better
spacing and maybe give and I think the

806
00:53:15,079 --> 00:53:16,639
confidence level in it is there.
I will say, if we're speaking about

807
00:53:16,679 --> 00:53:22,400
confidence, Dwayne Bacon's confidence is aspirational. I want to have the confidence that

808
00:53:22,480 --> 00:53:28,239
Dwayne Bacon has when he's taking a
contested mid range jumper. Look. And

809
00:53:28,639 --> 00:53:31,639
I think what's also kind of you
know, important for this is he has

810
00:53:31,679 --> 00:53:36,639
shouldered a larger as you already mentioned. I'm only equiness to prove one point

811
00:53:36,719 --> 00:53:40,639
is that he has shouldered like more
of a playmaking burden without like seeing like

812
00:53:40,760 --> 00:53:45,480
out being super sloppy. He's a
turnover rate of thirteen point two against an

813
00:53:45,480 --> 00:53:50,440
assist percentage of twenty five, which
is really rare for a first year league

814
00:53:50,440 --> 00:53:53,239
guard. Right, So I think
that that's like it's like, oh,

815
00:53:53,320 --> 00:53:55,559
hey, maybe he is now you
have him and RJ. Hampton. That's

816
00:53:55,599 --> 00:54:00,559
and Mark L. Faults if you
want to run really small in the future,

817
00:54:00,960 --> 00:54:04,559
that would be lineups that that would
be a three man trio that I

818
00:54:04,559 --> 00:54:06,760
would just be very interested in seeing
play. I don't know, you know,

819
00:54:06,880 --> 00:54:08,559
RJ. Hampton all of a sudden
becomes I guess Faults defends the threes

820
00:54:09,039 --> 00:54:14,400
in those scenarios. But you know
that is I'm with you, and I

821
00:54:14,519 --> 00:54:16,360
think you could if you really wanted
to. Wendell Carter Juniors played well for

822
00:54:16,400 --> 00:54:20,880
them since he came over. And
I still I'm an Obamba believer. I

823
00:54:20,920 --> 00:54:22,920
don't know if that means he's underrated, but just be he's his season,

824
00:54:25,199 --> 00:54:29,400
that's awesome. I mean, look, this season he has been like just

825
00:54:29,519 --> 00:54:31,599
screwed over by health, Like it
really took him a long time to come

826
00:54:31,639 --> 00:54:36,920
back from from COVID. What about
the previous seasons. I mean that's that's

827
00:54:36,960 --> 00:54:38,920
also for he was He's dealt He
dealt with injuries though, like that was

828
00:54:39,000 --> 00:54:44,440
the other thing. So you know, cut my guys, some slack is

829
00:54:44,480 --> 00:54:51,760
a lot. Oh and to to
uh your point about col Anthony's assist percentage

830
00:54:51,800 --> 00:54:55,159
to turnover percentage, the last player
to do that. I guess this really

831
00:54:55,280 --> 00:54:59,360
isn't like and to qualify for the
minutes per game lab, I don't know

832
00:54:59,360 --> 00:55:01,320
if this is aspirational. It was
Trey Burke thirteen forty as a rookie,

833
00:55:04,039 --> 00:55:07,079
all right. You know I once
viewed Trey Burke as the next Chris Paul

834
00:55:07,159 --> 00:55:10,119
when he was at Michigan. So
I'll take that. The list is it's

835
00:55:10,159 --> 00:55:14,679
Trey Burke, Brian Roberts, Kemba
Walker, Brandon Jennings, Nick Van Exel,

836
00:55:15,519 --> 00:55:17,880
Pooh Richardson, and Michael Jordan.
That's not like that's a that's a

837
00:55:17,920 --> 00:55:22,519
pretty decent list. There are some
wide range of outcomes there. Brandon Jennings

838
00:55:22,639 --> 00:55:29,480
was real good as a rookie there. Nick van Exel's pretty underrated historically.

839
00:55:29,599 --> 00:55:32,079
Like there's some talent on that list
if you if you kind of filter it

840
00:55:32,119 --> 00:55:35,960
out by who played, let's just
say five hundred minutes as the benchmark.

841
00:55:36,599 --> 00:55:40,079
Can you guess who was the last
point guard to Monty Morris is on the

842
00:55:40,159 --> 00:55:44,480
list, by the way, but
he doesn't cracked a minish threshold. That

843
00:55:44,559 --> 00:55:50,519
makes sense just because he was historically
turnover a verse player minimum five hundred minutes

844
00:55:50,519 --> 00:55:52,960
as a rookie. And that's that's
even weird because he was like a thirty

845
00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:57,519
two year old rookie right twenty seven. I was close by A. You

846
00:55:57,599 --> 00:56:00,239
were off by a half decade.
But let's carry on. Now we're on

847
00:56:00,320 --> 00:56:04,920
to Toronto. They're just not my
team to start with. No, Philadelphia,

848
00:56:06,280 --> 00:56:08,440
what is wrong with me? I
definitely had a rogue list that I

849
00:56:08,519 --> 00:56:14,800
was building in this Google doc.
I'm a I'm just glad that alphabetical order

850
00:56:14,880 --> 00:56:21,159
doesn't matter too much for your job. This is so bad, not a

851
00:56:21,239 --> 00:56:24,760
better moment for you. But anyway, I didn't even question it. I

852
00:56:24,880 --> 00:56:30,599
just have I just have Orlando and
Philadelphia listed after Washington at the bottom of

853
00:56:30,639 --> 00:56:36,280
my Google doc. Yeah, I
have no explanation for that. I also

854
00:56:36,360 --> 00:56:43,280
don't really have like a firm selection
for Philadelphia because they're like very much more

855
00:56:43,400 --> 00:56:47,440
of that Stars and Scrubs mold.
It feels like Tobias Harris has gotten the

856
00:56:47,480 --> 00:56:52,119
shine he deserves. Ben Simmons talks
about himself enough that everyone knows how good

857
00:56:52,119 --> 00:56:59,920
he is. Joel Embiid is obviously
an MVP candidate. Seth Curry has definitely

858
00:57:00,079 --> 00:57:04,480
emerge. I did think about him, just because there's still a perception that

859
00:57:04,559 --> 00:57:08,840
he's Steph Curry's little brother when he
has become a great NBA player in his

860
00:57:08,920 --> 00:57:14,840
own right. I went with Matisse
table hesitantly. He made a pull up

861
00:57:14,880 --> 00:57:20,000
jumper the other day, so that's
progress. But it's it's just it's all

862
00:57:20,039 --> 00:57:24,199
about the ranginess of the defense.
It's having a guy who can block three

863
00:57:24,280 --> 00:57:30,519
pointers consistently is huge. He can
fill any role on the defensive end,

864
00:57:30,559 --> 00:57:35,800
despite being listed as a guard slash
wing. He's just he's that good on

865
00:57:35,920 --> 00:57:39,800
the defensive end that he deserves all
defensive love. Probably not going to get

866
00:57:39,800 --> 00:57:45,039
it, just because he doesn't play
enough minutes, and because his offensive role,

867
00:57:45,320 --> 00:57:50,719
as stupid as is to talk about
an offensive role in all defensive conversation,

868
00:57:51,559 --> 00:57:53,800
isn't large enough for him to get
enough national attention. But that kind

869
00:57:53,800 --> 00:58:00,159
of feeds into the underratedness. I
don't have a convincing argument here. I

870
00:58:00,280 --> 00:58:04,119
could also say that you could go
with the bias. Harris as a guy

871
00:58:04,960 --> 00:58:07,360
just is so associated with this contract
that you almost forget how good of a

872
00:58:07,440 --> 00:58:10,719
season he's had. And also because
of Philly's if you look at the half

873
00:58:10,760 --> 00:58:15,039
court offensive problems in Fury down the
stretch of close games, he's not going

874
00:58:15,119 --> 00:58:16,719
to be the one that solved them, even though he's technically paid like the

875
00:58:16,800 --> 00:58:21,400
guy and plays the position of the
person that sit solved them. I went

876
00:58:21,440 --> 00:58:24,760
with fork cork. Moss has been
I know, the last five games he's

877
00:58:24,760 --> 00:58:29,639
been a huge scoring difference maker,
but he's been like a pretty good difference

878
00:58:29,719 --> 00:58:32,400
maker all year. He's more active
defensively than he's going to get credit for.

879
00:58:34,079 --> 00:58:37,039
I don't mean to say he's good
all the time, but he can

880
00:58:37,079 --> 00:58:39,159
bust up some plays and he can
stick with some of the I won't say

881
00:58:39,159 --> 00:58:42,920
super quick wings, but he's going
to help you out positionally. There,

882
00:58:43,239 --> 00:58:45,440
he'll run the floor, gives you
someone to even though I think he's one

883
00:58:45,440 --> 00:58:51,000
of those players where you expect that
he's shooting a higher clip on his threes

884
00:58:51,039 --> 00:58:53,440
than he actually is thirty seven point
three percent this season, and he was

885
00:58:53,480 --> 00:58:57,199
at forty percent last year, So
maybe I'm just living too much into his

886
00:58:57,320 --> 00:59:00,239
rookie and sophomore campaigns. So as
a compliment, I think he's been really

887
00:59:00,320 --> 00:59:02,760
good for them, and this whole
team is just when you have em Beat

888
00:59:02,800 --> 00:59:07,920
and Simmons and then can like fill
out with Danny Green. There you're able

889
00:59:07,960 --> 00:59:12,880
to all these other defenders. They
almost organically become better. Where it's Tobias

890
00:59:12,880 --> 00:59:15,239
Harris holds up positionally a little bit
more and Furcon cork Mouse could be just

891
00:59:15,320 --> 00:59:19,400
more of an asset on that end
as well. So for what it's worth,

892
00:59:19,559 --> 00:59:22,519
I was I was not laughing at
your argument, which makes a lot

893
00:59:22,559 --> 00:59:27,000
of sense. I was laughing that
we just got the push notification from Sham's

894
00:59:27,039 --> 00:59:30,400
Trania that Neland's Noel just agreed to
a multi year deal with New York Knicks.

895
00:59:31,800 --> 00:59:37,480
Do you mean Norvelle Peal? Did
I get a typo or did I

896
00:59:37,559 --> 00:59:40,960
just misread it quickly? You did? I did misread it. I am

897
00:59:42,039 --> 00:59:45,159
delivering fake news on the podcast,
and I apologize to all of our listeners.

898
00:59:45,199 --> 00:59:49,320
Nerland's Noel is still not signed to
a multi year deal. That would

899
00:59:49,360 --> 00:59:52,039
be I'm pretty sure that's illegal.
So just because he signed as yeah,

900
00:59:52,079 --> 00:59:57,320
I was really I was really confused, but it was a it was a

901
00:59:57,519 --> 01:00:00,400
quick glance at the phone while you
were talking, and I clearly just didn't

902
01:00:00,440 --> 01:00:04,000
read write. I don't know what
became of it, but he Norman's Well

903
01:00:04,000 --> 01:00:07,239
actually got hit in the face of
the Hawks Knicks game right before we recorded

904
01:00:07,280 --> 01:00:08,440
this and he left. I don't
know. I didn't see a status update

905
01:00:08,519 --> 01:00:12,960
on that yet. Way to date
our podcast, I believe now we're on

906
01:00:13,039 --> 01:00:15,519
the Toronto Raptors, though I'm not
mistaken. We are officially on to the

907
01:00:15,599 --> 01:00:20,239
Toronto Raptors. I think you can
understand why I wanted to rush it because

908
01:00:20,280 --> 01:00:23,280
my pick was Chris Bouche. I. So I'm gonna let me say right

909
01:00:23,360 --> 01:00:27,239
off the top that he's also my
pick, and I'm just gonna move on

910
01:00:27,360 --> 01:00:30,400
to the Wizards after you, because
there's no way I will have anything to

911
01:00:30,440 --> 01:00:35,079
add after your Chris Bouche LoveFest.
My case here would be that this podcast

912
01:00:35,159 --> 01:00:37,880
probably shouldn't select him because we spent
enough time talking about him. But I

913
01:00:37,960 --> 01:00:42,920
still don't think, if anything,
he's underrated in the sense that there's this

914
01:00:43,079 --> 01:00:46,320
view the raptor true big and it's
the correct of you. But it's not

915
01:00:46,400 --> 01:00:50,480
because Chris Bouche sucks. There are
just issues when it comes if you need

916
01:00:50,599 --> 01:00:52,760
him to grab a defensive rebound and
then line ups with him and Pascal that

917
01:00:52,840 --> 01:00:57,280
that's your front court, those could
be a little bit iffy. Bruschet isn't

918
01:00:57,360 --> 01:01:00,599
up here five, That's fine.
He's he's like a four point five.

919
01:01:00,719 --> 01:01:05,840
He's that tweeter big. He's he's
really really good. You want the shot

920
01:01:05,920 --> 01:01:09,119
blocking floor spacers, that's exactly what
he is. When you look at his

921
01:01:09,199 --> 01:01:13,880
numbers this season. He's also someone
who will run the floor with you.

922
01:01:14,320 --> 01:01:17,360
He's a jump shot blocker extraordinaire.
No one in the league has blocked more

923
01:01:17,440 --> 01:01:22,440
three point ters this year. He's
averaging one point nine blocks and hitting thirty

924
01:01:22,519 --> 01:01:27,320
nine point one percent of his threes
in under twenty five minutes per game this

925
01:01:27,480 --> 01:01:30,960
season, almost all of which have
come or not actually should say not almost

926
01:01:30,960 --> 01:01:34,360
all of whish. But he's been
in the starting lineup of late, which

927
01:01:34,360 --> 01:01:37,000
also hurts his six Man of the
Year case. I had him in my

928
01:01:37,079 --> 01:01:39,079
top three last time I did it. He gives you some juice inside the

929
01:01:39,199 --> 01:01:42,119
arc two if you need him to
be a roll man. He's getting better

930
01:01:42,159 --> 01:01:44,440
at moving without the ball in general, doesn't need to set a screen to

931
01:01:44,480 --> 01:01:46,440
do it. He can come in
from from the corner or fine scenes there.

932
01:01:46,880 --> 01:01:51,760
This is a keeper for them.
He has a non guaranteed salary for

933
01:01:51,840 --> 01:01:54,079
next year. If I'm Toronto,
obviously I would, you know I would.

934
01:01:54,239 --> 01:01:58,639
I would pick it up. And
just because he's not the answer at

935
01:01:58,679 --> 01:02:01,480
the five, because he's gonna be
overpowered by a lot of different fives and

936
01:02:01,480 --> 01:02:06,679
doesn't have the conventional size to be
this fantastic rebounder, it's almost not you

937
01:02:06,719 --> 01:02:08,239
know, it's not fair. And
there can be a level of feast or

938
01:02:08,280 --> 01:02:14,320
famine with him. But when there's
a feast of like he can score drop

939
01:02:14,440 --> 01:02:17,000
thirty plus points because like that's just
something he's capable of with his shot making.

940
01:02:17,320 --> 01:02:22,400
And yeah, they're they're gonna be
in losses, but just whatever.

941
01:02:22,559 --> 01:02:25,199
He's just so active on both ends
of the floor. I think he's a

942
01:02:25,320 --> 01:02:30,880
clearly net positive player for this team. Leads them in shots contested at the

943
01:02:31,000 --> 01:02:35,719
rim this year, which early I
guess isn't a surprise. And when you

944
01:02:35,840 --> 01:02:37,440
look at the threat of he can
be a little bit out of control on

945
01:02:37,519 --> 01:02:40,840
his closeouts because he wants to block
those jumpers. But when you look at

946
01:02:40,880 --> 01:02:45,960
this team, the opposition is shooting
two point nine percentage points worse when he's

947
01:02:46,000 --> 01:02:50,360
on the court from beyond the arc. And that's not just like some numbers

948
01:02:50,440 --> 01:02:52,239
noise that just watched the Nuggets,
and that's accurate. That is the highest

949
01:02:52,280 --> 01:02:57,920
mark of any remaining rotation player the
best differential. Norman Powell actually had the

950
01:02:58,400 --> 01:03:00,880
highest differential, but he's import Eland
now and Ken Birch is there too,

951
01:03:00,880 --> 01:03:05,960
but he's only played one hundred and
twenty seven minutes, So Chris Bruche fantastic.

952
01:03:06,679 --> 01:03:08,679
I still think that there's you know, maybe you have to stagger him

953
01:03:08,679 --> 01:03:10,239
and see Kam a little bit more. You want to get more of a

954
01:03:10,280 --> 01:03:15,119
pure five in there. If he's
strictly playing against second units, though,

955
01:03:15,599 --> 01:03:17,599
that's someone that I think can still
be a majority of his time at the

956
01:03:17,639 --> 01:03:22,239
five and be a net plus at
both ends of the floor. I like

957
01:03:22,400 --> 01:03:27,960
that you took my decision to not
add anything seriously and just went so expansive

958
01:03:28,039 --> 01:03:30,960
on Bouchet. I hope that made
your day. Look, I mean,

959
01:03:30,400 --> 01:03:34,119
we know we all know how I
feel about christ Buche on this podcast.

960
01:03:34,639 --> 01:03:38,239
So I have a question for you, and that that question is what team

961
01:03:38,400 --> 01:03:45,639
comes after Toronto? Alphabetically, I
think it's Philly. We're up to Philly

962
01:03:45,719 --> 01:03:49,440
now, right, We're up to
Philly. Yeah, so the Washington Wizards.

963
01:03:50,000 --> 01:03:53,400
You know, I wrote down Thomas
Bryant and I strongly believe that he

964
01:03:53,559 --> 01:03:58,599
is underrated. He only got to
play ten ten games this year before a

965
01:03:58,760 --> 01:04:01,679
torn acled short his season. But
you know what, Dan, I lie

966
01:04:01,719 --> 01:04:08,320
to you because my actual pick is
Russell Westbrook. I think that he gets

967
01:04:08,519 --> 01:04:13,519
way too much hate. There are
definitely ups and downs with his game.

968
01:04:13,760 --> 01:04:17,079
He is an atrocious free throw shooter. On some nights, he's not much

969
01:04:17,119 --> 01:04:21,480
of a floor spacer. He can
shoot his way into losses, but the

970
01:04:21,639 --> 01:04:28,360
positives that he brings do not get
enough love these days, because his reputation

971
01:04:28,519 --> 01:04:33,960
has shifted so drastically from his superstar
MVP winning triple double averaging days that I

972
01:04:34,079 --> 01:04:39,000
think it's overlooked that the dude is
still averaging a triple double this season.

973
01:04:39,039 --> 01:04:44,039
And granted that is by no means
the sole barometer of greatness or anything like

974
01:04:44,159 --> 01:04:47,000
that, but the roller coaster that
he's endured over the last couple of seasons,

975
01:04:47,320 --> 01:04:51,599
I think there's just too much negativity
associated with him, and the energy

976
01:04:51,679 --> 01:04:57,440
that he brings to this Washington team
is contagious. It has affected all of

977
01:04:57,519 --> 01:05:00,280
his teammates. They all play harder
when he's there. Bradley Beale has been

978
01:05:00,320 --> 01:05:04,480
willing to take a step back and
let Westbrook take over because of the impact

979
01:05:04,599 --> 01:05:09,360
that it has on everyone else.
And the Wizards are back in that play

980
01:05:09,400 --> 01:05:13,400
in tournament hunt because he's there.
No, he's not the best player on

981
01:05:13,440 --> 01:05:16,719
the Wizards, but he might be
the most important player. Now. He's

982
01:05:16,760 --> 01:05:19,320
not going to win MVP, he's
not going to be on an All NBA

983
01:05:19,440 --> 01:05:25,400
team, but the impact that he's
had, both statistically and in terms of

984
01:05:25,679 --> 01:05:30,760
energy and effort is just immense and
it feels like people are just way too

985
01:05:30,920 --> 01:05:35,360
quick to dismiss him because of the
flaws when he is still a phenomenal basketball

986
01:05:35,400 --> 01:05:40,440
player who's going to end up in
the Hall of Fame. That's a fair

987
01:05:40,519 --> 01:05:44,639
pick. I went with Garrison Matthews. I couldn't believe that he remained on

988
01:05:44,679 --> 01:05:46,320
a two way contract going into this
season. He was Something that I pointed

989
01:05:46,400 --> 01:05:49,440
out is, you know, people
should see teams should see if they can

990
01:05:49,519 --> 01:05:54,159
poach him from Washington, and I
stand by that that should have happened.

991
01:05:54,400 --> 01:05:58,440
He is shooting, once again a
fairly high clip on three's thirty nine point

992
01:05:58,519 --> 01:06:01,760
three percent. What I would echo
hears that these are not gimmeys. He's

993
01:06:01,760 --> 01:06:05,400
not just camping out in the corners
though that he will hit corner threes.

994
01:06:05,440 --> 01:06:11,440
He's firing on the move off balance, and he can bake in escape tribles

995
01:06:11,440 --> 01:06:15,400
when necessary. There's also an inside
arc element to his game. I don't

996
01:06:15,400 --> 01:06:19,039
know how long he could sustain until
he becomes a better passer, but he

997
01:06:19,119 --> 01:06:23,440
has a certain comfort level on the
ball putting it on the floor and is

998
01:06:23,559 --> 01:06:27,719
lightning quick when he gets going downhill. I would say almost recklessly. So

999
01:06:28,119 --> 01:06:31,119
sometimes might be someone where you could
see and this kind of happened and even

1000
01:06:31,159 --> 01:06:33,880
more sporadic playing time last year,
but you could kind of see him getting

1001
01:06:33,880 --> 01:06:38,280
to the line at a higher clip
than he has this season. Three attempts

1002
01:06:38,320 --> 01:06:40,400
per thirty six minutes. He was
at five point four last year, but

1003
01:06:40,440 --> 01:06:45,079
again, two hundred twenty seven minutes
he played needs to be There's definitely elements

1004
01:06:45,079 --> 01:06:47,000
of his game that's gonna need to
round out, and he's not. He

1005
01:06:47,199 --> 01:06:50,000
is six five. I don't know
how many minutes you're gonna be able to

1006
01:06:50,039 --> 01:06:54,480
completly get by playing him necessarily at
the wing. He has played a lot

1007
01:06:54,519 --> 01:06:57,199
of three for Washington. The seasons. Will make of that what you will,

1008
01:06:57,599 --> 01:07:00,719
but this is someone he's entering restricted
for agency. This could be just

1009
01:07:00,800 --> 01:07:04,840
one of those lower cost but but
high value adds. Yeah, the only

1010
01:07:04,880 --> 01:07:09,760
other name I would add is Daniel
Gafford. I think that he might deserve

1011
01:07:09,880 --> 01:07:14,199
some love as a future big piece
for the Wizards, but I think that

1012
01:07:14,679 --> 01:07:17,960
that Matthews is a totally valid choice
as well. I will say that I

1013
01:07:18,039 --> 01:07:23,239
had Ruby hatch Moore listed as number
two. I think that maybe he's sort

1014
01:07:23,280 --> 01:07:27,639
of been buried just behind the name
power of Bradley Beale and Russell Westbrook.

1015
01:07:27,679 --> 01:07:30,159
But since really the beginning of February, I feel like he's there's still been

1016
01:07:30,679 --> 01:07:33,320
just you know, those those peaks
and values as I mentioned with another player

1017
01:07:33,400 --> 01:07:35,719
before, but he's you know,
he's going to be able to do some

1018
01:07:35,800 --> 01:07:41,079
damage in transition, he's he's defending
a bunch of different positions. At that

1019
01:07:41,280 --> 01:07:43,880
end, I still think this is
going to be someone where if he can

1020
01:07:43,960 --> 01:07:46,480
get his just jumper sort of more
under control and be more consistent, this

1021
01:07:46,599 --> 01:07:50,360
is going to be a really good
basketball player. So I came pretty close

1022
01:07:50,400 --> 01:07:54,559
to selecting him outright, but he
is still sort of that, you know,

1023
01:07:54,679 --> 01:07:57,760
has that cachet of from where he
was drafted and what they're trying to

1024
01:07:57,840 --> 01:08:00,920
do long term to develop him as
well. I don't know if it's because

1025
01:08:01,000 --> 01:08:05,159
my toddler kept me up all last
night or because of what we did,

1026
01:08:05,280 --> 01:08:10,800
but this was exhausting from the ideation
process to the execution because we just packed

1027
01:08:10,840 --> 01:08:14,039
a lot of info into like an
out rash. Our ish for us is

1028
01:08:14,079 --> 01:08:16,479
seventy minutes ish more like. But
I think that's a good place to end

1029
01:08:16,520 --> 01:08:21,000
it before we get out of here. Please please, pretty please remember to

1030
01:08:21,079 --> 01:08:26,000
rate, review and subscribe to this
podcast wherever you get your podcast downlod over

1031
01:08:26,079 --> 01:08:29,720
episode and regardless of whether you use
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1032
01:08:30,000 --> 01:08:32,359
throw us that fire star rating and
write a review. You can write

1033
01:08:32,399 --> 01:08:34,680
whatever you want in the review,
but give us the five star rating in

1034
01:08:34,720 --> 01:08:39,000
the process. Subscribe to us on
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1035
01:08:39,000 --> 01:08:42,720
our podcasts as well as some short
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1036
01:08:42,800 --> 01:08:46,039
will come up. We are on
Twitter as well at Hardwood Knox and follow

1037
01:08:46,800 --> 01:08:53,880
the sports Math website on Twitter at
the Underscore Sports Underscore Math, so we

1038
01:08:54,000 --> 01:08:56,319
can be found there too. Until
next time, I leave everybody with the

1039
01:08:56,319 --> 01:08:59,479
shout out to the One, the
Only, the player we were both in

1040
01:08:59,600 --> 01:09:01,720
locks dep with and wanted to do
an entire podcast on, but there just

1041
01:09:02,079 --> 01:09:08,119
wasn't time. So damn underrated.
There's so much depth to his game, Maxtrus