What is krack alac and fellow thermonuclear afs, I am Dana Valley coming at
you with my certified fantabulous thermonuclear af co host, mister Grant Hughes. We're
here to rap off, wrap up. I still can't talk our playoff predictions
with the final two series, one in the East, one in the one
in the West. Excuse me. And before we get to that, though,
we will also maybe at the end be talking some undone Golden State Warriors.
I don't know, some stuff happened with them earlier this week. They
missed the playoffs. That's what happens. We're gonna talk about their future a
little bit. But first and foremost, before we get to our first series,
Grant, how the heck are you doing? I'm doing very well.
I am ready to wrap off and rap on and well that would have worked.
Let's wrap on these these playoff series. We got some one versus eights
to talk about. Let's go to the Western Conference one versus eight. We
have the Oklahoma City Thunder versus the play in surviving New Orleans Pelicans, who
you know are gonna be short. A certain player names Zion Williamson that really
might oppose some problems for a thin, not super physical inside Oklahoma City Thunder
team. So I think we maybe start there with the fact that the guy
that maybe could have been not just because he's New Orleans best player, but
the downhill attacks, the physicality, the force. You could really talk yourself
into Zion having been like a like dominating some stretches of this series right like
that that I think was on the table. But with the hamstring, he's
probably going to be out for most as we're recording this. He hasn't been
ruled out as far as we know, but it'll be limited. Yeah,
the hamstring is like a pretty and just the look on his face after we
talked about this on the previous pod when like he felt it against the Lakers,
just it makes you incredibly uneasy, fully healthy Zion, fully healthy.
I mean obviously that changes who were picking in this series, or I mean
it changes like the duration of the series. Would it give you any real
pause? We'll get into the more details, but like would you be like
thinking, like, I don't know, New Orleans is looking kind of frisk,
like they could, I would say, just because of their ability if
they wanted to hit the offensive Glass with size and physicality and make that kind
of a Jonnis Malla Tchuna series. I don't know if they could necessarily do
that on the defensive end the way he's been playing though, And are you
banking on brandon Ingram getting back to what he was pre injury. I just
the way Zion was defending, coupled with Herb Jones being able to play Tray
Murphy, it would have just been interesting to see them go up against Oklahoma
City because this is another team that's gonna get provided on going downhill. They
don't space the floor nearly as well because they don't have the shooters. But
Oklahoma City the offense is efficient enough to where they can ensure their defense gets
set. But like the Pelicans, if they're gonna be able to board,
okay, so he's misses like they're gonna be able to get out and run
again. This is all with Zion on the court, and it's just there's
no solution to Zion, but a team that is like, like, who
is the best option to defend Zion Williamson on the thunder? It's probably j
dubb and not him? Is it like big j will It's one of them
it's go. I think you start with he's just like but Dord is just
so small relative to Zion. He's still built like a mack truck. But
yeah, I think and by the way, just to so, Zion's gonna
be reevaluated in two weeks, which is always like, well, okay,
so that's like the absolute soonest, we could say he's still a week away
or something like that. That's May first, that's game five, give or
take. So like we're definitely not getting him for the first four games unless
thing dramatic changes, and like the series may not go much longer than that.
I think, Like let's talk about a couple other things that struck me
here, Like I do you mentioned it? I do like the pelican's length
on the perimeter. You got her, you put her about there, you
could put Dyson, Daniels, Murphy, Ingram, varying levels of quality.
That's the solution without Zion, right, is we need a bunch of those
minutes with those three wings together, kind of the offensive creation aspect to be
damned. Yeah, I think that's right, And like I think you probably
have to play McCollum just you know, he's gonna have to play a Ton
just for the offensive creation, but like I think to hold up against the
Thunder there, you know, between Williams and between Sga, like you got
to have multiple rangey, switchable wing defenders out there just to kind of hang
tight. And like you know, Valentunas banging around against Chet in the paint.
I think there's you know, there's a way there that's outside pay.
If he's outside the pain, we got real big problems. And that's why,
well he comes back to where would you hide? It's like you need
the Giddy or the dort situation, I guess, the missing shots. It's
one of those where like if you're the Thunder and you just choose not to
play Giddy at all because you don't want to. You know, he's been
playing too well for that, right, But that's that's an option that a
team as good as the Thunder have, Like we could, yeah, we
don't need him, he's been great, but like we could just take this
this option off the table that you that the Pelicans might exploit and it's not
going to hurt the bottom. I mean, I guess yeah. I mean
he was already what was he posts All Star Break at about twenty five minutes
per game, So Yankee Matt down, and it's funny that we view what
did he shoot? Thirty six from three post All Star break? It's like
it was lights out, so you hide the guy. Let's see what else
do we have? Yeah, I series, I wish Ion, I mean,
duh, right, becomes so much more interesting if he's on. I
do think I hope Willy Green gets like because it's the Thunder and they're not
like they have size and length, but they don't have girth. Willy Green's
got to get like fucking kooky with his lineup, Like I'm talking Dyson Daniels
at the five shit, Like Dyson Daniels, Herb Jones, Let's go Dyson
Herb Jones, brandon Ingram, Trey Murphy. Who's the other? We just
throw Naji Marshall in there? Sure? I think what so valentunis we've we've
just said is like maybe an advantage on one end, like sort a kind
of but a huge disadvantage on the other. I think you probably will see
a ton of nance. I don't think even he as a switchable guy is
enough to like the Thunders driving and kick like whirlwind thing is gonna either exploit
valentunis as a room protector or nance as like as a switch defender. Like
there's just I just don't know how you stop the parade of layup slash like
six to eight foot shots, Like I just don't know where healthy zion maybe
maybe right, healthy Zion maybe or healthy Zion means that as those get scored,
they just score on the other end because he barrels down the lane and
makes layups. But it's hard to see a real clear like Okay, the
Pelicans can go to this on one end or the other. That feels like
a solve, you know, for what the thunder want to do, because
the thunder will space them out. They'll exploit whether you have size or speed.
Like it's just I just don't know what the what the obvious like the
Pelicans have this advantage is I am willing to give a Zion the Pelicans one
game though, just because of the pressure they can put on three point shooters.
And we've seen, you know, in this kind of helped seal helped.
I'm not saying victim he Miyam would have been rookie the year anyway,
just playing three quarters of the season. Amazing chat Holmgan wasn't shooting as well
from three. After the All Star Break shake, Gillis Alexander went through one
of his above the break truffs, and if Giddy and or dort isn't knocking
down their shots in certain games when they're wide open things, he get interesing.
So I trust even without Zion, the Pelicans defense in that regard to
where if they can really force the Thunder into becoming and inside the ARC team.
I don't know if it necessarily benefits them, but they can at least
put enough pressure and stress on Oklahoma City shooters. Yeah, I think that's
fair. I got I got the Thunder in five too. It's another one
that feels like four is likelier than six. You know, just the Zion
thing, it sucks. There's so many of these where it's just a key
guys not there, and it just completely makes any analysis beyond that fact for
the series feel like we're just grasping it stuff. You know. It's just
that's just it's a shame. This is kind of like, is this kind
of the the proxy for Pacers Bucks in the East where you're missing and it's
like the series would be completely it just flip flop because the Pelicans never would
have been favored even if Ion was Hell, that's that's true. But I
mean we would have had a much longer conversation if Zion were healthy, I
think, and it would have been more favorable to New Orleans. Let's go
to the East now here where we have the Boston Celtics in the Miami Heat.
Yet again we have we have an injury. Like so several other series
we've talked about that, I think we have to start with Jimmy Butler's got
a knee. Uh, it's several weeks, I believe was the phrasing.
So we're talking significant too. When it's significant MCL injury, that's always harrowing.
Yeah, I feel like he's unlikely to play at all. Right,
Like of all the injuries, like we think Giannis might show up at some
point in the series. Obviously Embiad is healthy. Some of these other injury
is Kawhi we think is probably going to show up in that Clipper series.
But this one just it seems like Zion has a better chance of making it
into a hype of would have had a better chance of making it into a
hypothetical. Pelican's thunder matchup than Butler has of getting into this matchup with the
Celtics, which and again it's it's a shame because like the heat yet again
survived and here they are having emerged from the play in, Oh, let's
let's run it back, let's upset another looking hilacious. Yeah, defense looking
hilarious, Like I now trust, I now trust everyone on the roster again.
I trust Cayler Martin, I trust Hayward high Smith, Nikolayovitchyeah, I
get him out there every he've been defending his butt off too. They did
the think again, I believe in everyone on that roster all of a sudden,
and I can't believe I ever thought gave Vincent and Max Struce mattered.
But like, no, Jimmy is just this offense sucks as it is and
you can't just say, oh, Tyler heroes back. So that sawid like
no without Butler, a team that really struggles to create shots, which they
did against the Sixers, by the way, with Butler for like a healthy
quarter. I just I don't see the offense that like that's that's the whole
thing. And you know this, we haven't even said a word about the
Celtics yet, which like, what's that we need to frame it this way?
What is there even a pathway to the Celtics realistically losing this series when
we know that Jimmy Butler isn't going to be in it. Because the thing
that you harp on with Boston is that the all offense can bog down when
it matters most, when you're just looking at in those crunch time situations.
And they wound up finishing the year. And so let's go really high stakes
here. They have the lead or it's a tie game, it's a one
possession game in the final three minutes. Would you care to guess where they
finished in offensive efficiency points score per possession in I'll stay seventeenth. They were
twenty first, So that's not great. And like if Miami busts out zone
against them, which here's an interesting question that I feel like I'm maybe not
smart enough to answer, does zone become more or less important without Jimmy Butler?
Oh, that's interesting, Well, it definitely becomes less effective because like
he doesn't he could just fly into blind spots and force turnovers. What do
you have like five steals or something before he got hurt wasn't at twelve.
Yeah, it was just like every time someone turned their back to him,
he was just picking the pocket and going the other way. I think,
I guess I would. I would say like it matters, I don't know,
matter more, just because you need every possible like edge you can get
and if that happens to work, Like, look, if you if you
stop the Celtics from getting Porzingis switched on to a smaller guy and posting up
and being the best post up guy in the league, then that's helpful.
Like maybe you know, maybe you just take that out, you know,
take that card out of the Celtics hands. They still have, you know,
there's have plenty of options, but like that's one thing. And maybe
by playing zone you force a lot more of the stagnant like kicking it around
the perimeter waiting for a Celtic guy to take seven dribbles and pull. Like
this season just feels like a jail And Brown or Jason Tatum or Derek White
will just bust through it. Yeah, I mean, like it's just realistically
even. And look, even if the zone really does flummix the Celtics and
they have just some ugly quarters or whatever, they just the even the heat
well and the Heat are gonna have some quarters where they score like seventeen points
because they just you know seven, and I was gonna be so I was
trying to I was as I was like getting that sentence, I was like,
what's a number that's like bad? But you know, I just I
don't know where the offense comes from other than like Tyler Herro running running hot
or if Bam out of bio just I don't know Hero's year could be seen
him put up. So yeah, you know what's fun about this series not
to say that there's a silver lining to know Jimmy Butler just because they're in
it isn't excuse me, but you know that you're just gonna have like the
Hayward high Smith twenty five point game or something. That guy hit a floater
against the Sixers in that first playing game that I was just like, I
forget the exact circumstances, but it was like it was insane that he took
it and he and he made it, and it was like, that's that
seems right. The heat just like everybody that suits up for the heat is
like so empowered to just take the difficult like a high stick shot and everybody's
like, yeah, I'm good with that because you know we're ready. It
will it will be interesting if like whether it's Bam Zone Committee, I'm a
Hawk, is Caleb Martin? If just Jason Tatum has a bad game,
Yeah, what kind of trickle down effect does that have on Boston? But
I just I mean, like the talent is just I don't know, it's
tough. If Boston drops, like just comes out, lays an egg,
all that rest and drops game one, Like the discourse is gonna be so
inflammatory. They'll probably have earned it because this is I'm sorry, this is
a series that they should win either in four or like all four of their
victory should probably be handed. It's a five game gentleman sweep. But like
none of the victories they had wherever really close. I think it has to
be a sweep because like you're the number one seed, you had the you
know, you sewed up the conference in like early March. You're just far
and away better than everyone. You're playing the eighth seed that doesn't have its
best player, Like, what are we doing if we're not sweeping this series?
Like that's you know, I would say, like it won't matter long.
They're gonna Boston's gonna win it. But like it'll almost I guess there's
maybe too much, not enough respect for the Heat or whatever, but like
you have to sweep the series if you're Boston, you have to just like
leave no doubt whatsoever. This playoff bracket broke right for them, not that
they needed it, but I think going up against Cleveland or Orlando after this
kind of beats like a Philly within bead or having to go up against New
York type or Milwaukee with Yiannis. Yeah, and it'll be nice. We're
already looking ahead, but we should, like you'll then you'll get as the
Celtics, you'll get a test like defensively because you're getting Cleveland or Orlando and
so like you're gonna you know, this is your warm up series against the
undermanned Heat team that just wasn't as good during the year as either of those
teams. And now like if you get Orlando, for example, which I
we both in Cleveland's coming out of that series, but like then you'll really
kind of get like that's that's your like intense warm up. Like now you're
really ramping up for like the heavy Lift coming up. Yeah, if you
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