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Speaker 1: What is up, fellow Sikos, I am Dan Valley coming

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at you with the one, the only, my certified, fantabulous

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co host, mister Grant Hughes. Not only is it the

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first podcast of the regular season, it's also the first

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live Hardwood Knocks of the regular season. You know what

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that means? Like comment, subscribe on YouTube, hype points those

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are the thing now, hype us up? But again, comments, likes,

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recommend us subscribe, share the episodes, all that good stuff.

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We appreciate it. We are here to do before we

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even ask how Grant is doing. Our first ever over

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Reactions draft, where Grant and I we've seen obviously, we

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know enough to understand how the season is going to unfold.

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At this point, it's been the season's now three whole

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days old, and I feel confident in saying I don't

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need to watch another game. So we have parsed the discourse.

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We have come up with fifteen over reactions that we

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think would be the biggest or most hurting and overreactions.

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They're not necessarily things, we believe, but we think that

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they are talking points worth discussing. We will not get

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to all of them. We will only be doing ten

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or twelve, hence the draft element. So we will have

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a card up on screen where we will pick from,

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and then we will dig into each topic. We will

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alternate selections. No one has ever turned anything like this

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where we're takesmithing into a draft. So I'm really excited

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to be just in vogue and ahead of the curve.

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And with that, I will throw it to you, sir,

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How the heck are you doing?

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Speaker 2: I'm doing great, Happy to be here on our first

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podcast of the season. I thought when you said and

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you know what that means, referring to the live aspect,

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I thought you were gonna say mistakes, screw ups. That's incredible,

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regrettable comments. It's all on the table. No, this is great.

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This It is overreaction season, just like by definition, so

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this is the perfect way to address what as we're recording.

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This has been basically two and a half nights of

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games and really only one full slate. But god damn,

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like this has been unbelievable. Some of these games already right, like,

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we're getting double overtimes left and right, we're getting well,

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I'm not gonna spoil what else we're getting, because we're

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gonna talk about it, But I get we're getting overreaction

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Dan to say that the first three days of this

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season as we sit here today, have been pretty badass,

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and I've enjoyed it very very much.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I've had a lot of fun. I do wonder

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if we might get into this. We might not. Who

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knows is a draft. I do wonder if Oklahoma City

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is trying to set the record for just the number

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of games that go outside not just outside regulation, but

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into double overtime.

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Speaker 2: Most minutes played in a season. They got to be

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the leaders through two games. That's guaranteed. That's a lock.

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Speaker 1: So do you have any thoughts about how you're gonna

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approach this or game it before we actually get started

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with it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, here's how I've been thinking about this. I didn't

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sleep last night because I was really concerned with how

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I'm gonna win the draft. I'm gonna pick the things

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that I want to talk about the most as soon

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as I can in the draft. I hope. I know

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that's nowhere near your strategy, though, so I feel pretty

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safe confiding.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to try and pick the things that you

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want to talk about the least so that I can

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just vamp for like thirty minutes on end.

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Speaker 2: Great.

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Speaker 1: I think the one final thing before we get started,

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I'm going to give you the first pick. One because

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I feel like I'm a very generous and super kind person.

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But two, also, I'm doing so many things to set

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this up at the moment that I think is just

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better off if you started right.

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Speaker 2: We want to Yeah, well, you know what, I'll as

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a courtesy to you, I'll also let you opine on

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the thing I pick first, which there was only ever

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one first pick here to discuss, and that is that

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Victor wembin Yama is only sixty four games played away

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from winning MVP, because he's already got one and that

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one was uh, I just I think so he scored

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forty points. He didn't shoot a bunch of threes, He

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got to the line a lot, had some great you know,

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had a handful blocks. I think it was three double

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digit re might have got fifteen boards. And as I'm

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hearing the numbers that I'm saying, what I want to

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convey to you is that they kind of make it

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seem like that's all he did, and those numbers are nuts.

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They don't come close to capturing what the experience of

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watching that season opener for San Antonio really was because

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Wemby did eight ten things that are unthinkable, just like

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physical feats that you don't we've never seen, Like let

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me ask you, what do you think or what got

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you off the couch? What like made you giggle? Like

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what was the thing that he did that was the

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most like the thing you'll take away from that game

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as like you're telling someone about what Wemby did against

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Dallas in the opener, Is there a single play that

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stands out? Because I have trouble narrowing it down for

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like a half dozen so it's definitely.

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Speaker 1: Tough to narrow it down, but it has to be.

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He swallows Derek Lively shot at one end, comes up

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the floor, and then just hits this crossover step back

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three over not even over Derek Lively because he had

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kind of shook him by that point. He was still

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inside the arc and closing out from there, while Wemby

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was like already getting off his release. And that was

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just it was a it was a moment in a

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long line of many moments where you just felt like

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it's over, this is just what are we supposed to do?

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And it was also just to add on to what

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you were saying, you and I we put Wemby in

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our preseason MVP discussion. We both I don't remember where

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we had him exactly, but we both had him in

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the top the top five of our ballot. It made

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me start thinking that we overthought the Spurs to where

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we were wondering, oh, is this really a team that

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could be above five hundred A bunch and I still think.

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You look at a team like Denver, you look at

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a team like Okay, see, you look at a team

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like Houston. Maybe ifn Minnesota ken they with them, but

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this idea that maybe they won't be a top six

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team in the West if Wemby is going to play

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like that. They played like that Grant and have yet

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to incorporate the Aaron Fox who's only going to juice.

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The shooting might be a question, but the speed at

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which they're playing Almost thirty percent of their points came

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in transition one game. But this is the thing. It's

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is Wemby going to win MVP? Is he the best

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player in the league? And just how good are the

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Spurs going to be because of it?

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Speaker 2: Here's what I would add. Uh One, Yes, we did like,

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there's a very simple way to evaluate the Spurs, and

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that is to say, if Wemby is this, then they

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are winning fifty five games period as a floor the

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plays that so his sound nuts that game was. I

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forgot about that play, and as you mentioned, the Derek

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Lively like just an inhalation block that led to the

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transition score. I definitely did like gasp when he did that.

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So the the other couple that stand out to me,

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the driving reverse baseline dunk where his feet are clearly

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on the floor as he is touching the rim finishing

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that play was like it was like Vince Carter against

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the Pacers twenty five years ago, but the opposite direction

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and Wemby was standing as he reversed dunk. Don't see

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that all the time. There was another play where he

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gave two hard dribbles and moved Anthony Davis backwards, just

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like a totally different brand of dominance where he's just

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gonna be physical, which was hinted at a little bit

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in the preseason. But I was down on some of

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his preseason offense because I thought he was just taking

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it to trouble and didn't know what to do. He

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just bullied Anthony Davis for a baby hook, like that's

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if that's on the table. What Like there's a million

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reactions of like what do you do with this guy?

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Which answer I don't know because here's the other thing.

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What team in theory is better equipped to give Webbin

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Yama problems than Dallas, whose whole deal is Anthony Davis

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as a four. We have a legitimate five and Derek

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Glavely who can move his feet, Cooper flags the lurking

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around like if anyone is gonna slow him down. It's

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a team like that. Now, the Houston games will be

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fascinating too, because you can't you can't bully Steven Adams

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for example, on Aman Thompson's gonna make things difficult, but

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like in terms of the opponent, even like that shouldn't

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have happened. So I don't know. It's it's it's impossible

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to be like too hyperbolic in my opinion. Oh before

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I forget, I know I'm rambling, but like this is

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what happens when women Yamba does stuff like this. If

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if he's gonna get the Yannis, like that's three steps, bro,

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but it's never a travel if he's gonna get that

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kind of benefit of the doubt, which he did at

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least twice against Dallas Late Gather whatever you wanna call it,

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the late Gather, you will not. He can't be guarded

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because his steps are even longer than Yanni's and he's

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a better ball handler. It's just like, if he's gonna

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get that leeway on top of all these other just

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genetic advantages that he has, it it's it's a wrap.

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He's gonna win MVP. He's sixty four more games all

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end where I started. If he does anything like this

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and meets the games requirement, you can't give MVP to

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anybody else. Because the offense was like the most shocking part.

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We haven't even talked about his defense other than one block,

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and he was like, I don't know, maybe we need

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to move on, but on all this other stuff.

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Speaker 1: Well, I want to ask you if this is if

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this is victim Wemenyama's default, then the stat line won't

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stay the same the entire time, even looking at the

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things he's able to do offensively. I mean, one, are

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we sure he's not seven to eight?

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Speaker 2: No?

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Speaker 1: This is like it right, okay, because now he's listed it.

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He went from what seven three to seven to five,

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and they've like listed him at seven four. Now into

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the he looks at least seven and a half feet

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and that might even like just w maybe it's because

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he makes everyone look so peenny. But the handle grant

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you're talking about him moving Anthony Davis, not only is

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he stronger, I don't think the handle's ever going to

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be it's well, he's never gonna have a Kyrie or

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a steph handle, but he might as well, like relative

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to his size, like what he's doing right now, like

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it just looks tighter, more fluid. How I have two questions.

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You did say that isn't Dallas supposed to be the

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team that be able to frustrate him? And I would

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say maybe, but they're not. Do you look at their

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individual defenders and think, oh, like this is someone who

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should really frustrate wemen Yama or is it is there?

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Like I'm gonna ask you, what is the team that

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you think is most suitor has the player or player

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is most suited to make Wemby look, I'll say mortal. Well,

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we're we're semi mortal.

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Speaker 2: Just theoretically, like Anthony Davis is not that far. He's

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not this guy anymore, but we're not that far removed

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from when he was the guy you'd say as an

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anchor to a playoff defense. He's my number one pick

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because he could shut the rim off and he could

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move in space, and he's bigger and he's stronger, I

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thought than wemen Yama still probably is. Derek Lively is

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one of the most mobile bigs in the league can

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defend the rim. Dallas is huge just collectively, so like,

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I don't know overall, that's to answer your question, Like

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Dallas is kind of on a very short list of teams.

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I would have thought, well, it's gonna be harder tonight

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for Wemby than against most teams, at least offensively. Defensively,

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I think it plays very much into his hands because

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like just nobody's a bigger and quicker than him on

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that team. So yeah, I mentioned Houston. I'm trying to

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think who else would even.

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Speaker 1: Do you think? I know they're small, but does ok

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See have the guys.

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Speaker 2: Maybe as like a as a good luck dribbling against

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us kind of kind of proposition, and like Chet definitely

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is up for it. Like I think that's a budding

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rivalry that I'm very excited to see the next time

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they meet. But yeah, I just Dallas was very high

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on my list of this is this is going to

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be a team that will make things difficult for him.

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I do want to talk about the defensive side, just

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silly blocks aside. I think one of the things that

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we don't we don't appreciate enough about Wimby's defense, which

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is an insane thing to say because everybody's over them

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about it. But like, one of the things every offense

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wants now are paint touches because of what paint touches create, kickouts,

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put the get start the blender. Everybody says, get the

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rotations going, make a mistake happen, find an open shooter,

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drive dish drive, like, just start that whole process. If

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when when ban Yama devalues paint touches, because when he's around,

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you saw this against Dallas over and over again. Guys

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would see him, they'd get into the paint, they'd kick

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it to a shooter and that shooter would be guarded

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because none of the spurs. Other defenders are moving off

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their guys because they don't have to. Because when Binyama

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has the paint covered, he's just deterring guys from getting

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in there and doing anything because they're afraid to put

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the ball up, and they're all He's also making it

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so everybody else can just stay home because why would

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you help, Why would you dig down on a driver

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or a post up threat when wehen Banyama's around, you

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just don't have to. So, like, the thing every offense

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wants to accomplish is now worth almost nothing because he's there. Like,

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whether he blocks the shot or not, it's just so

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like what's plan B, whatever it is, it's not gonna

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give you as high of an expected value as pain

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touches do against literally any other defender. So he's just

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like short circuited the most valuable thing offenses want to

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do by existing by just standing there. So I mean like,

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and that's not going to show up in stats other

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than maybe like we'll see some incredible dip in opponent

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at rimfield goal attempt rate when he's in the game.

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But like, the blocks aren't gonna cover it. They they

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won't show the impact because it's a cliche, but it

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is very much the shots he prevents from even being taken.

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And it's just at a level with him that I don't.

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I can't remember ever seeing.

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Speaker 1: And I think what complicates all that to make it?

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Macro about the Spurs Steph Castle as a monster, and

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then already the Cornette Wemby minutes seem like they might

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be insane, and so you're gonna be a like imagine

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the idea of Wemby just being able to roam even

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more than he can alright, because Luke Cornette is on

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the floor, that is that's horrifying if you're an opposing offense.

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So I will throw this. We spend too much time

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on Wemby. But I have to ask this question because

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I think it assigns a value to this quote unquote overreaction.

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Is Victor wembin Yama going to be the best player

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in the NBA by the end of the season. Are

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you ready to put him over? There's Jokic, there's Sga.

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They're not at this moment, I'm saying by the end

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of the season. But there's Luca, there's Giannis. You could

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throw maybe another name or two in there.

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Speaker 2: We've seen one game. He has been better in that

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one game than anybody else has been this year. And

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SGA has a fifty five point game on the season.

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So I think there's a case to be made that

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this is an overreaction. This is what we're here to do.

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He's the best player in the league right now, today,

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like through through. If this is what he is and

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we're overreacting, he's the best player in the league. It's

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everybody else's is playing for second at the moment, because

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you can't tell me there's a single other performance to

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day this season that has touched what he did against Dallas.

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It's not close.

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Speaker 1: I agree, based off what we've seen so far. I

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think in the grand scheme, like I'll hedge, I'll take

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your job in Hedge here great. I view him as

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just if anyone is going to enter the SGA Yokic

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conversation over this larger portion of the schedule, it is him,

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And I don't know that there's anyone else who has

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the power to do it, not at this moment, not Giannis,

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not Luca, who might maybe some people want to throw

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Anthony Edwards in there. I don't think that would That's

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just not going to cut it. He is absolutely insane.

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Speaker 1: Also insane, though Grant is it is now my turn

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00:16:50,759 --> 00:16:53,240
to pick who am I going to go with?

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Speaker 2: Here?

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Speaker 1: What is left? Okay, I'm going to go with Let's

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talk a little bit about Alpa and Shangoon. I'm going

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to say the overreaction would be Alprin Shangoun is going

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to be high on the MVP ballot, or he is

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just the best play This is Houston is his team now.

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So you watch him against when they're going up against

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OKAC in the first game of the season, he has

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thirty nine points, seven assists, eleven boards. I think a

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few of the things that stand out the most to

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me is one very clearly their offense was at its

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best when it was running through him. Fred van Fleet injured,

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Reed Shepherd. Maybe we might need to get him at

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some point. Just not ready for that moment. Kevin Durant,

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that's not his like, that's just not his game, not

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setting up for everybody else, or even at this point

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when you look at the way that he's handling pressure,

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like that's not really his strong suit, Like Alpern Channglin

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is gonna be more physical uses his shoulders and also

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to Okase's credit, he wasn't super efficient from beyond the arc,

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and he was taking a lot of tough shots. He

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has those just like they're like a combination of Yokich

358
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Sibonis where they're like ugly, but there's also finesse and

359
00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,240
there's some force there. He might have a this is

360
00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,000
the bigger takeaway, he might just have a perimeter game.

361
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At this point, we could focus on the three point shooting,

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which would be a big deal. He finishes five of eight,

363
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he was ten of eleven at the foul line, and

364
00:18:15,839 --> 00:18:17,839
he was no great shakes as a free throw shooter

365
00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:22,559
to date. If this is someone who now reliably stretches

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the floor and Will was I talking to you about

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this where we were laughing at you can't call doma

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Sibonis a floor space or because of the volume, it

369
00:18:29,839 --> 00:18:32,920
was probably you No, no, your Sabonis takes if you're

370
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gonna take like four threes a game, but what is

371
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the what is the line of demarcation for you when

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you're looking at does this guy's reliable? And I think

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from the big man spot specifically, because if you saw

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a wing taking four to three pointers per game, it's

375
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all right whatever.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I the cop out answer is, there's not

377
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a hard number. It's just how the defense reacts to

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that player. And I think based on the opener, you

379
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sort of as a defender can't can't dare him to

380
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shoot threes anymore because I think in addition to him

381
00:19:01,519 --> 00:19:06,039
making enough, it felt to me like there was a one.

382
00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:08,559
I think the aesthetics of his form looked better, it

383
00:19:08,559 --> 00:19:10,480
looked smoother, and I think that translated to his free

384
00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:14,640
throws too, But the willingness to shoot him the clear

385
00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:18,880
like lack of hesitation, the understanding, like I think, like

386
00:19:19,039 --> 00:19:21,960
Shang Gun's a very smart offensive player, and it wouldn't

387
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,079
have taken a very smart offensive player to diagnose what

388
00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,960
this Rockets offense is gonna need, having lost its three

389
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,920
highest volume three point shooters from last year, and so

390
00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,279
I think he entered the first game of the season

391
00:19:34,559 --> 00:19:37,680
just fully understanding like somebody's got to shoot these, and

392
00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:39,440
it looked like he worked on it over the summer

393
00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,960
just because again the form looked better. So I think

394
00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:45,160
he he you know, if he goes over six in

395
00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:47,279
the next game, which we've only seen again one game

396
00:19:47,279 --> 00:19:50,680
we're overreacting. Maybe the calculus changes, but I think you

397
00:19:50,839 --> 00:19:53,640
probably have to guard him pretty differently than you used to,

398
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,119
where maybe you'd sag off, maybe maybe he would pass

399
00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:59,599
up those open shots. That's maybe the biggest thing is

400
00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:02,839
he wasn't passing up touches, you know, where he might

401
00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,400
have looked for a pass instead, like if he got

402
00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:07,039
it in he had space, it was going up and

403
00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:09,480
that was the right decision and the results were good.

404
00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:11,240
So I don't see a reason for him to back

405
00:20:11,319 --> 00:20:14,640
off that. And so relatedly, I think defenders have to

406
00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:18,279
treat him three level score is not quite right because

407
00:20:18,279 --> 00:20:21,319
those those weird little push shots and hooks are still

408
00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:23,839
kind of like short mid rangers, Like he's not shooting

409
00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,960
sixteen seventeen footers, which, like I guess why would you

410
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:30,000
because he can get closer with his physicality, But you

411
00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,359
know what I mean, he's he's kind of become or

412
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:36,599
it looks like he's become someone you have to guard

413
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,039
everywhere as a scoring threat, which was just really not

414
00:20:39,839 --> 00:20:43,680
the sort of the write up on him leading into

415
00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:46,640
this season. So he looked great to me. The other

416
00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:49,839
thing is like this is a different conversation or maybe

417
00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:52,559
less meaningful in terms of MVP or whatever if he

418
00:20:52,599 --> 00:20:55,039
hadn't used last year to prove that he can be

419
00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:57,680
in the middle on a great defense, because that was

420
00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,359
another question is like, well can he defend the rim?

421
00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,400
Is he mobile enough? You know, the personnel around him

422
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:05,839
has a lot to do with it. But the results

423
00:21:05,839 --> 00:21:08,759
were the results, and he was a key figure at

424
00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,039
a critical position on a defense that was awesome last year.

425
00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:15,799
So adding this offensive dimension is that's how you get

426
00:21:15,799 --> 00:21:17,000
into the MVP discussion.

427
00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:21,759
Speaker 1: What do you think about this as a second pick

428
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,200
in this thing? Like how big of a how much

429
00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:26,599
validity do you assign to I think saying that it

430
00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:28,839
needs to be alphern Shang Gun's team is really just

431
00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:30,160
not spicy at this point.

432
00:21:30,319 --> 00:21:33,559
Speaker 2: He is, well, there's because the fair amount of Am

433
00:21:33,559 --> 00:21:35,759
and Thompson hype, right, like because he had did a

434
00:21:35,799 --> 00:21:38,559
few things in the in their game against the thunder

435
00:21:38,599 --> 00:21:40,839
there which like some of his drives like that kind

436
00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:41,200
of thing.

437
00:21:41,559 --> 00:21:44,559
Speaker 1: And the thing too is I saw I'm not against

438
00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,000
this take, by the way, is I still think that

439
00:21:47,039 --> 00:21:48,720
he can be the fulcrum of their offense. I'm an

440
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:50,839
above average offense. What do you think that would look

441
00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:52,720
like in the playoffs, I think if Kevin Durant is

442
00:21:52,759 --> 00:21:55,400
zooming around you, and maybe the April version of Reed

443
00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:58,880
Shepherd who knows that he could be I saw a

444
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,079
lot of the Rockets need another ball handler. They have

445
00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:04,359
to get another ball handler. I actually don't disagree. I

446
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,240
think when you get to the playoffs, you want someone

447
00:22:06,279 --> 00:22:08,759
unless read Shepherd's going to pop, who's going to be

448
00:22:08,759 --> 00:22:11,160
more reliable and those spots can handle pressure. But I

449
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:14,759
would just like to point out it was Oklahoma City.

450
00:22:15,279 --> 00:22:17,599
I know they were missing Jane, but that I know

451
00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:20,079
that's the team you have to beat. So I understand

452
00:22:20,079 --> 00:22:22,480
why reviewing it through that lens, But the first game

453
00:22:22,519 --> 00:22:24,480
of the season, for what some of the things that

454
00:22:24,519 --> 00:22:26,599
aman Thompson was able to do, and even just read

455
00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:30,119
Shepherd moving a little bit on the ball, I just wasn't.

456
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:32,759
First of all, they can't unless you want them to

457
00:22:32,799 --> 00:22:35,480
trade aman Thomson or Alpern Jangun. They can't really trade

458
00:22:35,519 --> 00:22:37,599
anybody at the moment. So let's come and have this

459
00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:42,400
discussion in mid December January, and I want to My

460
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,160
point is I saw enough to know that I want

461
00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:47,720
to see more as they are currently constructed, because I

462
00:22:47,759 --> 00:22:51,200
don't know that. I think the conversation then becomes, well,

463
00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:53,319
what level of ball handler do you need to get

464
00:22:53,319 --> 00:22:55,200
because there's a difference between we need someone in our

465
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:58,319
closing lineup to run the offense and we need just

466
00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,799
someone who can eat up fifteen to twenty minutes per game,

467
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,319
hopefully into the playoffs, but doesn't need to be a

468
00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:06,359
part of our closing unit.

469
00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:09,400
Speaker 2: Do you think you know how? I guess I've said this,

470
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,480
but I feel like you've co signed it to some extent.

471
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:16,839
The take of the absolute apex version of the Caves

472
00:23:17,319 --> 00:23:19,799
has like this version of Donovan Mitchell, but he's the

473
00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:23,119
second best player behind Evan Mobley, which might be true already,

474
00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:25,160
but like in a playoff setting, I still think Mitchell

475
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,079
is kind of the guy that makes it work. Yeah,

476
00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:30,759
do you what do you think about applying that to

477
00:23:31,039 --> 00:23:34,759
Thompson and the Rockets, where the argument is the apex

478
00:23:34,839 --> 00:23:37,119
version of this Rockets team, the one that could win

479
00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,839
a title, has a version of Thompson that is even

480
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,759
better than the current shangoon. Like that is on you know,

481
00:23:43,799 --> 00:23:45,440
you know what I mean? Like for them to get

482
00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:47,880
really where they want to go, Thompson has to ascend

483
00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:52,480
to that level. And surpass Shangoon, even this iteration of Shangoon,

484
00:23:52,519 --> 00:23:55,160
which we agree is like, holy shit, this guy's really

485
00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:56,119
good on both ends.

486
00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:58,839
Speaker 1: Yeah, I do think that needs to happen in large

487
00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:01,440
part when you're talking about this Zach version of the Rockets,

488
00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:03,440
he is the person that is going to be bringing

489
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,920
the ball off the court, like off those dead balls

490
00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:09,400
off makes yeah, Shane gun sometimes and off of rebounds

491
00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,119
for sure. But if you're looking at who's gonna have

492
00:24:12,599 --> 00:24:14,960
like the most touches in that situation, those most full

493
00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:17,240
floor touches, I would assume it's going to be him,

494
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:19,920
And if it's Kevin Duran, I don't think you're doing

495
00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:22,079
a service to Kevin Durant at that point.

496
00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,759
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is interesting. We've reached the point where Kevin

497
00:24:25,839 --> 00:24:29,000
Durant is He's look, he's he's still just like a

498
00:24:29,039 --> 00:24:33,000
five alarm fire offensively, but he's not like an additive

499
00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:35,319
player in the way that maybe he used to be,

500
00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:37,400
or in maybe the way that he's thought of where

501
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:40,759
he's making other guys better just by being out there.

502
00:24:40,799 --> 00:24:42,200
It's kind of it kind of feels like if he

503
00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:45,599
were on the Wizards or the Thunder, he would kind

504
00:24:45,599 --> 00:24:48,359
of do the same stuff and it would just you

505
00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:50,519
would know what you were getting. So there's value in that.

506
00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:53,279
But I don't think anybody believes like the Rockets live

507
00:24:53,319 --> 00:24:55,640
and die with Kevin Durant's there's like at least two

508
00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:58,279
players you get to before that feels true.

509
00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:01,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, which is it's not an insult when you look

510
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:03,519
at the stage of his career, still being an All

511
00:25:03,599 --> 00:25:05,720
NBA caliber player, looking at what he can do on

512
00:25:05,759 --> 00:25:09,559
the the offensive end. Now, to wrap this up, I'm

513
00:25:09,559 --> 00:25:12,039
going to say the overreaction should be al prinshang Gun

514
00:25:12,039 --> 00:25:14,640
will be I'll say, finish in the top seven of

515
00:25:14,759 --> 00:25:21,400
MVP voting this year too hot, not to look they

516
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:24,039
might need him to like they it feels like they

517
00:25:24,039 --> 00:25:26,400
need someone to enter that discussion if they want to

518
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,319
be a contender, barring some sort of a big, big trade.

519
00:25:29,599 --> 00:25:31,359
Speaker 2: Yeah, if it's not Thompson, it has to be him

520
00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:33,200
for them to get where they want to go. All right,

521
00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,920
I will surprise precisely no one, least of all you

522
00:25:37,079 --> 00:25:40,519
with my next pick, and that dan is the over

523
00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:46,079
reaction that claims Jimmy Butler is the most complimentary teammate

524
00:25:46,279 --> 00:25:50,519
Steph Curry has ever had. The reason that's an overreaction

525
00:25:51,039 --> 00:25:54,160
is that he's played with basically Pete Kevin Durant before,

526
00:25:54,559 --> 00:25:58,079
won some titles with him, and also Draymond Green's whole

527
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:02,400
deal is that he is the most complimentary player to

528
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,680
Steph and maybe like the most complimentary non superstar to

529
00:26:05,799 --> 00:26:09,240
a superstar we've ever had, just because of he sort

530
00:26:09,279 --> 00:26:11,680
of couldn't be more different than Curry in terms of

531
00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:15,240
like what he provides, the gaps he feels, the way

532
00:26:15,319 --> 00:26:19,039
he tailors his entire game to sort of maximizing stuff.

533
00:26:19,319 --> 00:26:21,599
Here's the here's the case, and we've seen this is

534
00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:24,279
this is why this isn't an overreaction. We've seen two

535
00:26:24,319 --> 00:26:26,680
games of the Warriors so far, not just one, so

536
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:31,119
we have twice as much data. The way that Butler

537
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:36,119
is a counterpoint to the total like batshit chaos that

538
00:26:36,279 --> 00:26:40,039
even the old war like the old meaning, like these

539
00:26:40,039 --> 00:26:42,799
guys are in their mid and late thirties even now,

540
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,920
they have not calmed down. They have so many empty

541
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:50,119
possessions with dumb passes from Curry from Green front like

542
00:26:50,319 --> 00:26:54,680
just thrown away, just chaos, nonsense, and like they'll span

543
00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,920
entire quarters, entire halves, like that's just priced in. It's

544
00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:02,240
never going away. Clearly, maybe it gets worse as those

545
00:27:02,279 --> 00:27:06,880
guys lose it athletically over time. The way that Butler's

546
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:13,480
just total deliberate, calm control of possessions, sets, sets, is

547
00:27:13,519 --> 00:27:16,799
set against that like sort of core identity of the

548
00:27:16,799 --> 00:27:21,240
Warriors is just like it saves them. So it's it

549
00:27:21,279 --> 00:27:24,640
did last year and it has this year too. Things

550
00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:29,440
are getting ridiculous, and then Butler just gets fouled. Or

551
00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:32,519
Butler passes up a shot, moves the ball, oh my god,

552
00:27:32,519 --> 00:27:34,400
it's getting late in the shot clock, gets it back,

553
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:38,680
passes up another shot, gets into a spot up, fakes fouled,

554
00:27:38,839 --> 00:27:42,440
or just like waits longer, just is more deliberate, takes

555
00:27:42,519 --> 00:27:45,759
more time in a way that like we've the Warriors

556
00:27:45,799 --> 00:27:48,680
have never had that guy that just settles it. And

557
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,279
so that's that's independent of but related to. I guess

558
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,839
what he does with the non Steph minutes which have

559
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:59,799
been good, like they've eaten into deficits when Steph has

560
00:27:59,799 --> 00:28:04,160
set a couple times already this season, because that, yeah, no,

561
00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:06,000
he's that's the one I'm getting to if you'd let

562
00:28:06,039 --> 00:28:08,640
me get to the point. Steph Curry is super overrated

563
00:28:09,079 --> 00:28:12,440
and should be shipped out for maximum value. No, it's

564
00:28:12,519 --> 00:28:16,759
just specifically in the sense that Butler gives Golden State

565
00:28:16,799 --> 00:28:20,000
a way to just like chill out and relax and

566
00:28:20,079 --> 00:28:23,240
be confident that we can get a good shot when

567
00:28:23,279 --> 00:28:26,480
we need to, or like just stop throwing the ball

568
00:28:26,519 --> 00:28:30,240
over the gym. That element is new and it's been

569
00:28:30,319 --> 00:28:35,039
like badly, badly needed for fifteen years more. I mean,

570
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:37,759
maye slightly more than that, I guess. So that's that's

571
00:28:37,799 --> 00:28:40,079
the claim I'm making through two games, is that his

572
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:45,680
influence is just just unique in this version of the

573
00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:46,519
Warriors history.

574
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:51,680
Speaker 1: I think I agree with you, and it sounds counterintuitive,

575
00:28:51,839 --> 00:28:55,400
not even because like Steph Curry has played with Kevin

576
00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:57,960
Durant and those are two of the most plug and

577
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:02,000
play superstars of all time, right, but because that almost

578
00:29:02,039 --> 00:29:04,720
because Jimmy Butler in Fury isn't his plug and play

579
00:29:04,759 --> 00:29:06,920
when you look at his limitations, like for his fit

580
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:08,599
and I'm probably stepping on the toes of a lot

581
00:29:08,599 --> 00:29:10,960
of what you said. It feels like he just papers

582
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,000
over a lot of the gaps rather than coming in

583
00:29:13,039 --> 00:29:15,880
and just coexisting into what everything else that they do.

584
00:29:16,279 --> 00:29:18,599
And I think there's value, there's more value in that

585
00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:22,880
for the Warriors because historically of just how much they

586
00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:25,880
have struggled when Steph Curry is off the floor, and

587
00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:27,720
so to have someone come in whould have that comic

588
00:29:27,799 --> 00:29:30,640
presence when it's without Steph, I think is a big deal.

589
00:29:30,839 --> 00:29:33,400
I have been impressed though, like just the way that

590
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:35,799
they've all worked together. I mean, even just looking at

591
00:29:35,839 --> 00:29:39,279
throwing Jonathan Kaminga into the full grant would have been

592
00:29:39,279 --> 00:29:41,920
your early impressions of just this is a team that, okay,

593
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:45,119
one of its core lineups apparently just in theory, isn't

594
00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:47,960
going to have a bunch of good spacers, and yet

595
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,559
it's just going to work anyway. Is that an IQ thing?

596
00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:53,559
Is it like something that you just view as sustainable

597
00:29:53,559 --> 00:29:55,279
like would have been You're just because it's not just

598
00:29:55,279 --> 00:29:57,480
the Butler and the Curry of it all, it's the

599
00:29:57,519 --> 00:30:02,599
Warriors actively separated like Raymond Butler Kaminga dynamic last year,

600
00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:05,240
and they don't seem like they're as inclined to do

601
00:30:05,319 --> 00:30:05,920
that this year.

602
00:30:06,319 --> 00:30:08,279
Speaker 2: I think there's kind of three things that have gone

603
00:30:08,359 --> 00:30:10,799
into that. One is you just kind of got a

604
00:30:10,799 --> 00:30:13,200
shit ter get off the pot, like with the Kaminga

605
00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:15,200
being out there with your best players, thing. They just

606
00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:18,359
wouldn't do it for spacing reasons and other reasons. They

607
00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:21,839
just sort of have to now, partly because Moses Moody

608
00:30:21,839 --> 00:30:23,240
has been hurt the first two games. I think you

609
00:30:23,319 --> 00:30:25,000
might have seen Moody out there for some of that.

610
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:29,000
Speaker 1: The other fact, Moses Moody. When you have Will Richard,

611
00:30:29,319 --> 00:30:30,480
I think, well, Dann.

612
00:30:30,359 --> 00:30:32,799
Speaker 2: I got some Will Richard thoughts, like I know how

613
00:30:32,799 --> 00:30:35,000
to play. He's in the right place all the time.

614
00:30:35,079 --> 00:30:38,759
I love Will Richard. The other another aspect of it

615
00:30:38,799 --> 00:30:43,519
is I do believe they They the Warriors think they

616
00:30:43,559 --> 00:30:47,039
can think their way around the spacing issue. And so

617
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:51,559
far that's that's born out because Curry moving around still

618
00:30:51,599 --> 00:30:53,799
bends a defense even if you don't have other shooters

619
00:30:53,799 --> 00:30:56,400
out there. If Al Horford's out there, then your spacing

620
00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:59,160
issues aren't quite as severe as you think. Butler will

621
00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:01,680
shoot the open one too. He hit a huge one

622
00:31:01,759 --> 00:31:06,400
in overtime against against the Nuggets on as we're recording

623
00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:10,559
this Friday, on Thursday night. So yeah, they believe they

624
00:31:10,559 --> 00:31:12,799
can think their way around it, which so far they have.

625
00:31:13,119 --> 00:31:15,240
The other thing is Kaminga's look better shooting the three

626
00:31:15,279 --> 00:31:17,519
ball like and and I don't know that he's at

627
00:31:17,519 --> 00:31:19,960
it to go back to the shingoon of it all, Like,

628
00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:22,440
I don't know if he's at a level where defenses

629
00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,279
are worried about that. That still feels like a shot

630
00:31:25,279 --> 00:31:29,279
of that that most defenders will view as a little

631
00:31:29,279 --> 00:31:32,759
bit of a win because STEP's not shooting it and

632
00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:35,279
they're not getting a pick and roll shot out of it,

633
00:31:35,319 --> 00:31:38,599
and Butler's not posting up. So Kaminga shooting a three

634
00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:41,680
is like a pretty good result for a defense. But

635
00:31:41,759 --> 00:31:44,000
he's hit him at least certainly in the first game

636
00:31:44,319 --> 00:31:46,200
and was at least a threat and hit a couple

637
00:31:46,519 --> 00:31:48,880
I think in the second game at least one, So

638
00:31:49,079 --> 00:31:52,200
that's part of it. I think if and Kaminga, to

639
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:54,920
his credit, has done some of the stuff they've asked

640
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,359
him to, Like he couldn't guard Luca for shit in

641
00:31:57,400 --> 00:31:59,799
the first game, but what do you want? He has

642
00:32:00,119 --> 00:32:02,759
bounded and his passing has been a lot better. He's

643
00:32:02,759 --> 00:32:05,279
had at least two good passes like that led to

644
00:32:05,319 --> 00:32:08,279
layups in both games so far. So he's doing the

645
00:32:08,319 --> 00:32:10,720
stuff that he didn't before that the Warriors wanted to do.

646
00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:15,480
So that helps too that you know the spacing issue

647
00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:19,319
won't go away. Because Cominga goes cold or stops hustling,

648
00:32:19,519 --> 00:32:22,599
and like then you're just back to why isn't Kurr

649
00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:26,119
playing this guy for now? Though it's looked about as

650
00:32:26,119 --> 00:32:28,400
good as it has and I think to circle all

651
00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:30,640
the way back, A lot of that's because Butler just

652
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:34,720
like positions everybody to succeed. Like he literally shoved Kaminga

653
00:32:34,799 --> 00:32:39,319
out on a kickout switch to stay in the corner

654
00:32:39,799 --> 00:32:42,119
on a key play late in overtime last night, Like

655
00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:44,240
he put him where he was supposed to be, didn't

656
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:46,039
tell him to, he like put his hand on him

657
00:32:46,039 --> 00:32:49,880
and moved him. So just all hail Jimmy Butler, I guess,

658
00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:50,799
is what I'm saying.

659
00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:54,440
Speaker 1: Early in the season. But there's already been thirty plus

660
00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:58,759
minutes of no Jimmy. Like with Jimmy and no Steph,

661
00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:01,480
the Warriors are dead even so plus minus of zero,

662
00:33:01,559 --> 00:33:04,720
net rating of zero, but an offensive rating of one

663
00:33:04,759 --> 00:33:08,319
to twenty five, which is kind of insane. And Jimmy

664
00:33:08,319 --> 00:33:12,480
Butler during this time is averaging twenty five points from

665
00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:14,640
the free throw line per one hundred possessions? Is that

666
00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:17,400
a lot? I'm asking for a friend that guy.

667
00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:20,519
Speaker 2: So what I actually as a Warriors. Fanom concerned about

668
00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:25,599
is that officials, I mean, sixty percent of the fallacy

669
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:28,359
draws are not fouls for anybody else. And if so,

670
00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:31,880
if like there's a concerted effort to like scrutinize how

671
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,160
often is he actually getting fouled, that could hurt uh.

672
00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:37,759
But it doesn't. It doesn't take away the sort of

673
00:33:37,799 --> 00:33:40,279
calming impact that he has, which has just been massive

674
00:33:40,359 --> 00:33:40,680
so far.

675
00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:44,920
Speaker 1: I guess we're on to me now. So I don't

676
00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:47,559
really know who do I want to pick. So Jimmy

677
00:33:47,559 --> 00:33:49,400
Butler's off the board. We all knew I was gonna

678
00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:53,160
pick Jimmy Butler. I feel like I don't want to

679
00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:57,720
go here, but I'm gonna go here. The Sixers need

680
00:33:57,759 --> 00:34:00,920
to be worried about. They're Joelle. They have a Joel

681
00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:03,880
embiid problem. This is just we're at I don't know

682
00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,720
what it is. Def Con one's the highest, right.

683
00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:09,800
Speaker 2: One's the worst. You don't want to be at one.

684
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:13,199
Speaker 1: So we're we're close to def Con one if we're

685
00:34:13,199 --> 00:34:15,920
not there already. And when you look at his debut

686
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:19,199
against the Celtics, I know he was on a minute's restriction.

687
00:34:19,599 --> 00:34:22,039
I know he played a lot with Dominic Barlow. Can

688
00:34:22,079 --> 00:34:24,519
you guess unless you already know the answer, grant how

689
00:34:24,519 --> 00:34:27,239
many of his shots came inside the paint? He was

690
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:30,039
one of nine, which is bad. How many of those

691
00:34:30,039 --> 00:34:31,400
shots came inside the paint?

692
00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:34,320
Speaker 2: I don't know, but I will guess, uh.

693
00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:40,599
Speaker 1: One zero zero. He just he wasn't moving the same.

694
00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:44,079
The defense wasn't great from him. He wasn't on I

695
00:34:44,159 --> 00:34:46,519
understand he's on a minute's restriction as he comes back

696
00:34:46,519 --> 00:34:49,559
from this left knee procedure, but he also just you

697
00:34:49,559 --> 00:34:51,840
would assume that if the game is close, you would

698
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:53,920
put Joel Embiid back in if you think he's going

699
00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:57,400
to help you. They closed with Dominic Barlow. Against the

700
00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:01,800
Boston Celtics. There were plays where just flat out Xavier

701
00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:05,480
Tillman was better than Joel Embiid. That is also just

702
00:35:05,599 --> 00:35:10,760
a problem I understand now. I understand in the past

703
00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:14,199
it has taken Joel Embiid time to ramp up from

704
00:35:14,199 --> 00:35:16,320
injuries from his returns, and any player is going to

705
00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:20,800
need that. My concern here is that Joel Embiid might

706
00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:24,400
need to get used to coming back from these pockets

707
00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:27,320
of time off, coming back and not playing a ton

708
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:30,480
of minutes. Are they playing him in shorter bursts coming

709
00:35:30,519 --> 00:35:33,199
back and maybe having to play with another big man

710
00:35:34,039 --> 00:35:36,039
coming back and figuring out, well, how do I adjust

711
00:35:36,079 --> 00:35:38,840
to the speed at which VJ. Edgecomb and Tyrese Maxey

712
00:35:39,199 --> 00:35:43,119
want to play versus the change of pace that Embiid provides,

713
00:35:43,159 --> 00:35:47,079
and that frankly you need like VJ. Edgecombe even tyres MAXI.

714
00:35:47,199 --> 00:35:49,400
Right now, maybe Maxie gets there or is headed in

715
00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:52,519
that direction, they're not like, let's go break down this

716
00:35:52,599 --> 00:35:54,920
set defense and like create something out of power our

717
00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:56,920
way to the like that is Joel Ebe's job. He

718
00:35:56,960 --> 00:35:58,880
will draw all the fouls, he can do some of

719
00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:01,360
the finesse stuff do the pick can pop, but he

720
00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:04,880
can work from anywhere. The Sixers need that version of him.

721
00:36:05,199 --> 00:36:07,679
And so to me, I look at that performance, and

722
00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:09,599
I'm sure everyone's seen the clips of oh it looks

723
00:36:09,599 --> 00:36:12,599
like he can't jump, just not moving too well. That

724
00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:15,159
could It just concerns me. I know he played better

725
00:36:15,159 --> 00:36:18,039
in the preseason against the Timberwolves. But if Joel Embiid,

726
00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:20,480
if we know that he is going to play in

727
00:36:20,519 --> 00:36:24,199
fifty games, you don't have the margin for Arabilah. We

728
00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:27,639
got like eleven bad Joel Embiid games. And when you

729
00:36:27,679 --> 00:36:29,199
even just sort of look, they were outscored. I think

730
00:36:29,199 --> 00:36:31,519
it was by sixteen points in his twenty minutes of action.

731
00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:34,039
That is the single worst plus minus he has ever

732
00:36:34,079 --> 00:36:37,800
had while playing fewer than twenty one minutes. It's one game,

733
00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:42,280
but like this is this is a it's close to

734
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:45,719
alarming for me. I don't think the whole can Joel

735
00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:49,760
Embiid win MVP again? That conversation's been done for a while,

736
00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:51,960
But I think the hope was always can he get

737
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:55,400
back to an MVP level for X number of games

738
00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:59,840
and X minutes of those games? I honestly don't know.

739
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:01,639
And the final thing I'll say is just what's most

740
00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:06,840
jarring is minutes. Be damned. We should all be peeved

741
00:37:07,039 --> 00:37:10,480
that Joelle Embiid wasn't on the court closing against that

742
00:37:10,599 --> 00:37:12,199
version of the Celtics. By the way, when you look

743
00:37:12,199 --> 00:37:16,400
at their front court, I think it's even more unsettling

744
00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:19,079
to know that not playing him was the right decision

745
00:37:19,079 --> 00:37:20,320
if you wanted to win that game.

746
00:37:21,039 --> 00:37:24,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, great, great call, right, Like, and what world are

747
00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:27,320
we living in where he's capable of playing and you

748
00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:30,199
can't put him out there? So that to me, this

749
00:37:30,199 --> 00:37:34,000
this raises a couple questions. The first is, and you

750
00:37:34,199 --> 00:37:37,239
you alluded to it. He did look better in the

751
00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:42,000
preseason for stretches. He didn't look quite as just immobile,

752
00:37:42,079 --> 00:37:45,119
I guess is the word. So then do you think

753
00:37:45,199 --> 00:37:50,199
that these types of games are just going to happen

754
00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:53,719
and then and then? But I guess this is a positive.

755
00:37:55,079 --> 00:37:57,760
You'll also get games where he just looks better, right

756
00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:00,679
like is is? So it's the The issue is the

757
00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:03,840
knee is tricky, right like, some days it feels okay,

758
00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:06,599
some days it feels terrible. We should probably assume it

759
00:38:06,599 --> 00:38:10,280
felt terrible in the opener for him, and you're gonna

760
00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:12,719
have to live with the inconsistency. But the upside of

761
00:38:12,719 --> 00:38:15,000
that is there will be some like quote unquote good

762
00:38:15,159 --> 00:38:17,880
embid nights. Do you think that's the way to view

763
00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:21,000
this or do you look at a game like the

764
00:38:21,079 --> 00:38:24,000
opener where he looked so bad that you just sort

765
00:38:24,039 --> 00:38:27,480
of have to say the ceiling for him, like the

766
00:38:27,559 --> 00:38:29,639
level he can get to even on the good nights

767
00:38:29,679 --> 00:38:31,679
is way lower than we thought it was. You know, what,

768
00:38:32,119 --> 00:38:33,920
do you understand the distinction I'm trying to draw.

769
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:36,480
Speaker 1: I get the distinction. I think what worries me the

770
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:38,840
most is that I find myself leaning more and more

771
00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:41,239
towards the ladder of it. Yeah, because even if that

772
00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:44,920
ceiling is still super high relative to an average NBA player,

773
00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:47,880
how do you continue if he's going in and out

774
00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:49,599
of the lineup too. And I'm not saying he's gonna

775
00:38:49,599 --> 00:38:52,960
miss every other game, but how do you make sure

776
00:38:53,039 --> 00:38:55,480
that well we are catering to the way that VJ

777
00:38:55,639 --> 00:38:57,920
edgecomb and Tyree's MAXI want to play versus well, then

778
00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:01,079
how do we integrate it? Finding that balance between those

779
00:39:01,079 --> 00:39:04,519
two styles feels like it could take like like not

780
00:39:04,599 --> 00:39:07,119
just time, but that it might just be something you

781
00:39:07,119 --> 00:39:10,039
can't even do again one game. We still haven't seen

782
00:39:10,079 --> 00:39:13,800
Paul George with this team. I just I came away

783
00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:17,280
not feeling great about it. And we'll see. He's always

784
00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:19,320
I mentioned this before, He's always needed time to work

785
00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:21,360
his way into form. But I think the idea of

786
00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:25,400
Joel Embid now is forget everything we just said and

787
00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:27,280
focus on what I just said, and focus on what

788
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:30,559
you said. When Embiid plays, I would say seventy to

789
00:39:30,599 --> 00:39:32,199
eighty percent of the time, you want him to be

790
00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:36,239
this dominant force then, so you're willing to surrender those games,

791
00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:38,519
maybe even some of those minutes to say we know

792
00:39:38,639 --> 00:39:41,760
we're gonna have seventy to eighty percent of the Joel

793
00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:45,079
Embiid we had three years ago, whatever it was. I

794
00:39:45,199 --> 00:39:47,960
don't know if you can say you're gonna get that

795
00:39:48,079 --> 00:39:50,840
version of Joel Embiid on how many games a year

796
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:52,960
for like, just how many games do we expect him

797
00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:54,559
to play in and how many games do we expect

798
00:39:54,639 --> 00:39:57,239
him to look close to the Joel Embiid that we've

799
00:39:57,280 --> 00:39:58,960
all come to know and appreciate. And this is not

800
00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:00,599
the other thing I want to get out in front

801
00:40:00,599 --> 00:40:04,280
of I'm not basking in this by I hate this

802
00:40:04,519 --> 00:40:06,840
watching him and seeing that type of a game from him,

803
00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:09,679
and he's dealt with on the court, off the court,

804
00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:13,119
the injuries, the life stuff. Yeah, it's a lot of trauma.

805
00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:17,000
It just to be here though, And we already knew,

806
00:40:17,119 --> 00:40:19,880
like the alarm bells were going off way before where

807
00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:21,400
there was the port he's never gonna play in back

808
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:23,239
to backs again. Their status was up in the air

809
00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:25,719
basically all throughout training camp. I was personally, were you

810
00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:27,719
surprised that he even got in a preseason game?

811
00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:30,440
Speaker 2: Because I was, yeah, yeah, no, I think I think

812
00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:35,119
one thing that the earl returns have done is change

813
00:40:35,639 --> 00:40:39,199
the way because preseason it was like, well the Sixers

814
00:40:39,199 --> 00:40:41,480
over unders forty two and a half. It just if

815
00:40:41,519 --> 00:40:43,599
you could tell me how many games Embiid's gonna play,

816
00:40:43,599 --> 00:40:45,719
I could tell you whether they're going fifty seven or

817
00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:48,800
twenty three. Right. I don't think that's I don't think

818
00:40:48,840 --> 00:40:51,519
you actually get a whole lot of information now based

819
00:40:51,559 --> 00:40:54,000
on just well, how many games is Embiid gonna play?

820
00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:57,360
Because because now it's just like because that presupposed that

821
00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:00,800
he would be very, very good in the games he played,

822
00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:02,519
and now it's like, well, if half of them are

823
00:41:02,599 --> 00:41:05,480
going to be just trash and he's not helpful, and

824
00:41:05,519 --> 00:41:07,679
you're at the point where you like you have to

825
00:41:07,719 --> 00:41:10,679
decide early in the first quarter, is he just going

826
00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:13,000
to be in the way of MAXI and edgecomb and

827
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,840
whatever else we want to do tonight? Like so you know,

828
00:41:16,239 --> 00:41:19,760
like I think we've totally or you know, somebody probably

829
00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:22,360
made this point, but I think we overlooked the possibility

830
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:24,119
that like, no, it's not how many games he plays

831
00:41:24,119 --> 00:41:27,199
that determines the Sixers floor and ceiling. It's like if

832
00:41:27,199 --> 00:41:30,159
he plays sixty five games and thirty two of them

833
00:41:30,239 --> 00:41:34,519
are this. Who cares how many games he played, You

834
00:41:34,519 --> 00:41:36,440
would think they can't be right.

835
00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:39,039
Speaker 1: But even just even just as someone who like picks

836
00:41:39,079 --> 00:41:41,320
him pops, if that's what you turned him into strictly

837
00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:43,760
that yeah, he's going to have better shooting nights.

838
00:41:43,840 --> 00:41:46,360
Speaker 2: Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah. This is why it's an overreaction.

839
00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:50,159
And I will offer you another one with my next pick,

840
00:41:50,519 --> 00:41:53,800
which is again, these are overreactions. The MAVs are going

841
00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:57,639
to ruin Cooper Flag, everybody's favorite number one pick of

842
00:41:57,639 --> 00:41:58,119
all time.

843
00:41:58,920 --> 00:42:02,159
Speaker 1: This is number five though, Grant, so you're assigning some

844
00:42:02,239 --> 00:42:04,760
real value to the Cooper flag.

845
00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:07,639
Speaker 2: Alarmis I just want to talk about it. I think

846
00:42:08,199 --> 00:42:12,840
more than anything, this is an inroad to discussing what

847
00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:15,880
Dallas is doing holistically, which is just an interesting way

848
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:18,239
to try to play NBA basketball. In twenty twenty five,

849
00:42:19,119 --> 00:42:22,400
He's flag started at a point guard. The MAVs were

850
00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:25,159
super huge, Klay Thompson at the two, PJ. Washington three,

851
00:42:25,239 --> 00:42:30,199
Anthony Davis power forward. Just sure, we're just gonna continue

852
00:42:30,199 --> 00:42:33,840
to embrace this fiction, Derek Lively at the five, and

853
00:42:34,519 --> 00:42:37,480
the offense was clunky, shocker right like they and get

854
00:42:37,559 --> 00:42:40,519
also Victor wembin Yama was on the other side, So

855
00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:44,199
maybe we're not measuring Dallas against a fair did you

856
00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:45,599
opponent on.

857
00:42:45,599 --> 00:42:48,000
Speaker 1: The occasions that you saw, because there was points where

858
00:42:48,039 --> 00:42:50,519
he was You had mentioned this with Webbin Yab in general,

859
00:42:50,559 --> 00:42:53,000
but you saw Cooper Flag, I felt like, actively avoid

860
00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:54,880
the rim or he's falling away because he couldn't get

861
00:42:54,920 --> 00:42:56,719
there even when he was going up to the ramon

862
00:42:56,760 --> 00:42:58,760
Wemby's on the court. I almost just felt bad.

863
00:42:58,559 --> 00:43:02,639
Speaker 2: For Yeah, because you just have to be thinking it

864
00:43:02,679 --> 00:43:06,480
for him. He made several good moves to get space

865
00:43:06,559 --> 00:43:09,400
and get to the basket, and I guess maybe this

866
00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:11,199
is a credit to him. He just holstered a couple

867
00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:13,719
shots that he could have attempted because he saw wembin

868
00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:16,199
Yama there. Yeah, it's got to be a rude awakening,

869
00:43:17,199 --> 00:43:20,079
that's all to say, though I actually don't. I thought

870
00:43:20,119 --> 00:43:23,440
I was very impressed with like Cooper Flag colon point guard,

871
00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:27,320
because he could get the ball over half court job

872
00:43:27,360 --> 00:43:32,159
one uh check and he he actually I thought I

873
00:43:32,159 --> 00:43:34,119
thought he spun a little too much. That feels like

874
00:43:34,159 --> 00:43:36,039
a move that has always worked in high school and

875
00:43:36,079 --> 00:43:38,400
college for him. Just a lot of spins and it

876
00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:40,559
was less effective, but he still did get to spots

877
00:43:40,639 --> 00:43:42,599
using it. I wouldn't be surprised if that's something he

878
00:43:42,679 --> 00:43:45,679
kind of xcizes or limits going forward. I thought he

879
00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:48,239
was fine as a point guard as an eighteen year

880
00:43:48,280 --> 00:43:51,239
old rookie against the defense led by Victor Wembenyama. The

881
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:55,519
problem to me with Dallas's whole deal is that nobody

882
00:43:55,519 --> 00:43:58,079
else on the floor with him can do anything with

883
00:43:58,119 --> 00:44:01,559
the ball, Like Klay Thompson just zero as a shot

884
00:44:01,599 --> 00:44:04,039
creator for himself. He'll take some bad leaners or whatever

885
00:44:04,079 --> 00:44:07,000
when he just feels like he hasn't shot recently enough.

886
00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:11,800
Davis not creating lively, not certainly not supposed to create PJ.

887
00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:15,159
Washington kind of a dependent scorer unless you're in transition,

888
00:44:15,599 --> 00:44:19,079
and so like, this guy is the most important figure

889
00:44:19,079 --> 00:44:22,039
in your franchise by a mile, right. He's the reason

890
00:44:22,559 --> 00:44:25,960
Fan Revolts have like simmered down and not boiled over

891
00:44:26,039 --> 00:44:29,599
post Luca, And you're making it impossibly difficult for him.

892
00:44:29,599 --> 00:44:32,159
You're putting him in a position that like, it's incredible

893
00:44:32,199 --> 00:44:34,559
he can handle as well as he can, But who

894
00:44:34,639 --> 00:44:37,760
is out there on the floor with him helping him

895
00:44:38,119 --> 00:44:40,800
be like the best version of himself. Like maybe you

896
00:44:40,880 --> 00:44:44,000
say the counter is trial by fire. If he's this great,

897
00:44:44,679 --> 00:44:46,840
that he's not someone whose hand you have to hold,

898
00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:49,559
he just figures it out. I still think there's room

899
00:44:49,639 --> 00:44:53,119
for considering you want to be a huge lineup, great,

900
00:44:53,199 --> 00:44:55,239
let's see how it works. There's got to be room

901
00:44:55,719 --> 00:44:58,360
for focusing on who do we put out there that

902
00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:01,800
make things easy, that make easier for Cooper Flag? Because

903
00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:05,239
shouldn't you care that he's not just getting you know,

904
00:45:05,679 --> 00:45:11,639
maximum difficulty situations every game all season? Like, I just don't.

905
00:45:11,719 --> 00:45:14,199
That's the problem to me with Dallas's offense, not the

906
00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:15,920
lack of a point guard, but the lack of other

907
00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:19,159
creators out there with Flag that could come at any position.

908
00:45:19,199 --> 00:45:20,679
They just don't have any of those guys.

909
00:45:21,519 --> 00:45:23,320
Speaker 1: Do you think I would echo a lot of what

910
00:45:23,360 --> 00:45:25,119
you said about him? That I saw a lot of

911
00:45:25,159 --> 00:45:26,960
people ciding who was one of six at the rim?

912
00:45:27,039 --> 00:45:28,519
The fact that he was getting to the rim at

913
00:45:28,519 --> 00:45:30,920
all against that spurs defense and within Dallas's spacing, the

914
00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:33,800
on ball speed is there. I think the handles a

915
00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:36,119
little bit better than I expected to be. He looked comfortable.

916
00:45:36,400 --> 00:45:38,360
I know they weren't necessarily going in, but like on

917
00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:40,639
the pull ups on the turnarounds, like that's something he

918
00:45:40,679 --> 00:45:43,960
can clearly do. Do you think though? So it comes

919
00:45:44,000 --> 00:45:46,679
down to, like you, it needs to be someone else

920
00:45:46,679 --> 00:45:48,760
who could create with the ball rather than what if

921
00:45:48,800 --> 00:45:50,599
they did. We're able to surround him in lineups that

922
00:45:50,719 --> 00:45:52,599
have three actual shooters.

923
00:45:53,480 --> 00:45:55,840
Speaker 2: You could go either way. That either way would work, right,

924
00:45:55,960 --> 00:45:59,320
Like if you're experimenting, do one or the other? I hesitate,

925
00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:00,039
I can say.

926
00:46:00,079 --> 00:46:02,400
Speaker 1: They can't do either, to be clear, because what is it?

927
00:46:02,519 --> 00:46:05,360
What is Cooper Flag plus Davis or Lively? So it's

928
00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:07,639
only one of those. How do you get to three

929
00:46:07,639 --> 00:46:08,840
shooters without Kyrie?

930
00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:12,639
Speaker 2: He has D'Angelo Russell has to be one. I think, Okay,

931
00:46:12,639 --> 00:46:13,039
we're done.

932
00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:15,320
Speaker 1: That's that's what I.

933
00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:17,840
Speaker 2: Was gonna say. Is I hesitate to suggest that, well,

934
00:46:17,880 --> 00:46:22,599
D'Angelo Russell is the answer to anything like so, but

935
00:46:23,440 --> 00:46:26,239
he's the only guy. It's it's it's obvious right that

936
00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:30,000
this is the most like foreseeable take regarding Dallas as

937
00:46:30,079 --> 00:46:31,960
Dangela Russell is gonna need a bigger role at least

938
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:34,800
until Kyrie comes back, because he can make open shots,

939
00:46:34,800 --> 00:46:37,920
because he can dribble, because he can playmake uh and

940
00:46:37,920 --> 00:46:40,320
and if there's ever been a team that can cover

941
00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:42,960
up for what he doesn't do defensively? Isn't it one

942
00:46:42,960 --> 00:46:46,320
that plays four power forwards next to him? So like

943
00:46:46,559 --> 00:46:50,360
that that can move. I just this was this was

944
00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:53,840
easy to see coming. I guess I I still respect

945
00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:56,800
the willingness to experiment. I just have a hard time

946
00:46:57,360 --> 00:46:59,719
with the idea that Flag at this stage of his

947
00:46:59,800 --> 00:47:02,440
career is being asked to do something that like, we

948
00:47:02,440 --> 00:47:05,119
don't think Devin Booker can do in Phoenix, which is

949
00:47:05,199 --> 00:47:08,800
like be someone that creates shots for himself, also is

950
00:47:08,840 --> 00:47:11,079
a spacer for others and has to make plays like

951
00:47:11,119 --> 00:47:13,280
that's just that's too much for him.

952
00:47:13,960 --> 00:47:16,960
Speaker 1: This is it can't be because they have Kyrie, But

953
00:47:18,679 --> 00:47:20,880
this should be the Kobe White team that would be

954
00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:23,480
the perfect sort of in between. But you know you

955
00:47:23,519 --> 00:47:25,880
have Kyrie comming. Does that make it more difficult too?

956
00:47:26,280 --> 00:47:27,960
We don't need to get into trades this early in

957
00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:30,840
the season. But this is a team seemingly operating on

958
00:47:30,880 --> 00:47:33,280
a timeline that implies urgency. But how do you go

959
00:47:33,320 --> 00:47:36,039
out and get someone who addresses this issue, assuming they

960
00:47:36,039 --> 00:47:38,159
could game it because their cap situation is just they're

961
00:47:38,159 --> 00:47:41,400
towing a fine line underneath the second apron. How do

962
00:47:41,440 --> 00:47:43,880
you even go about it when you know that well

963
00:47:44,039 --> 00:47:46,400
or you don't know when Kyrie's well. First of all,

964
00:47:46,440 --> 00:47:50,960
we've heard everything from Christmas February when his power crystal

965
00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:53,920
glows a hue of teal after a full moon. It's like,

966
00:47:54,639 --> 00:47:56,480
I don't know, you don't know when he's gonna coming back.

967
00:47:56,480 --> 00:47:57,719
That complicates it even further.

968
00:47:58,760 --> 00:48:03,800
Speaker 2: Sure, and I mean part of that specific complication does

969
00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:06,760
just tie to what we need to admit is just

970
00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:12,960
a weirdly conflicting set of priorities and organizational decisions in Dallas.

971
00:48:13,039 --> 00:48:16,119
Like just going back to you traded Luka Doncic because

972
00:48:16,119 --> 00:48:18,239
you're on a win now timeline after he just took

973
00:48:18,239 --> 00:48:20,840
you to the finals and you got the number one pick,

974
00:48:20,880 --> 00:48:23,599
and now I guess you're still in win now mode.

975
00:48:23,679 --> 00:48:27,519
So you're just completely sabotaging his development early because he

976
00:48:27,559 --> 00:48:30,559
has to play point guard. I just it's do you

977
00:48:30,599 --> 00:48:33,960
think it's a wild take Dan to say that Dallas

978
00:48:34,000 --> 00:48:37,199
has sort of like not done the best you know,

979
00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:40,679
planning timeline wise over the last eighteen months or so.

980
00:48:40,840 --> 00:48:41,880
Speaker 1: You can't see the vision.

981
00:48:41,960 --> 00:48:43,320
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, I can't see the vision.

982
00:48:43,400 --> 00:48:46,079
Speaker 1: I will say this to me is a clear overreaction,

983
00:48:46,199 --> 00:48:48,119
because I think he's good enough to where you can't

984
00:48:48,159 --> 00:48:50,639
even ruin. I can't. This is I might have already

985
00:48:50,639 --> 00:48:52,320
said this about him, but I came away from you.

986
00:48:52,360 --> 00:48:54,159
Remember the Victor Women Yama game a few years ago

987
00:48:54,159 --> 00:48:56,920
in summer Legue, whe people were panicking. I told you,

988
00:48:57,360 --> 00:48:59,119
I think he's gonna be one of the best players

989
00:48:59,159 --> 00:49:01,119
I've ever seen in my entire life. I don't know

990
00:49:01,159 --> 00:49:03,679
if I would go that far, but I came away

991
00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:06,639
if I had only seen that Spurs game, I came

992
00:49:06,679 --> 00:49:09,760
away thinking about Cooper Flag. Yeah, this guy's going to

993
00:49:09,800 --> 00:49:10,920
make multiple MBA team.

994
00:49:10,920 --> 00:49:11,239
Speaker 2: Oh yeah.

995
00:49:11,280 --> 00:49:13,559
Speaker 1: I won't even hesitate to predict it.

996
00:49:13,679 --> 00:49:16,800
Speaker 2: I just wish Dallas would maybe not ask him to

997
00:49:16,840 --> 00:49:18,440
do everything right away.

998
00:49:18,880 --> 00:49:21,440
Speaker 1: But what I guess we run into the issue of, though,

999
00:49:21,480 --> 00:49:23,760
would we criticize them though if they went out and

1000
00:49:23,800 --> 00:49:26,199
made a move that ensured he didn't need to do

1001
00:49:26,440 --> 00:49:29,079
this is something one the criticism is, why didn't you

1002
00:49:29,119 --> 00:49:31,360
do more to address this over the offseason, because we're

1003
00:49:31,400 --> 00:49:34,119
focusing on something that was very clearly going to be

1004
00:49:34,519 --> 00:49:37,440
an issue. I think even had they done it in July,

1005
00:49:38,119 --> 00:49:39,760
or had they done if they do it now, they

1006
00:49:39,760 --> 00:49:44,000
do it before February fifth. I think I don't know.

1007
00:49:44,079 --> 00:49:46,679
I think we would probably criticize them if they if

1008
00:49:46,679 --> 00:49:48,559
we see that they gave up future first rd equity

1009
00:49:48,639 --> 00:49:50,840
to get Kobe White when they were ready have Kyrie Irving.

1010
00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:52,360
You think you and I are gonna come on and

1011
00:49:52,400 --> 00:49:54,320
paint that deal in the rosiest of terms.

1012
00:49:55,639 --> 00:49:57,679
Speaker 2: I don't know what I would think about that. I

1013
00:49:57,719 --> 00:50:00,079
do like Kobe White.

1014
00:50:00,320 --> 00:50:03,199
Speaker 1: Comment from l ol troll two one seven Cooper point

1015
00:50:03,199 --> 00:50:05,679
Guard Trial by Fire will pay dividends in the future year,

1016
00:50:05,800 --> 00:50:09,119
is my opinion, that's a least That's not after your

1017
00:50:09,159 --> 00:50:11,519
handle at all. That's a least trolley comment we've honestly

1018
00:50:11,519 --> 00:50:14,079
ever received. I would I would agree there's nothing. Do

1019
00:50:14,079 --> 00:50:16,039
you think anything bad? Is it gonna come out of

1020
00:50:16,039 --> 00:50:18,039
this for Cooper? No other than the numbers might not

1021
00:50:18,079 --> 00:50:18,559
look great.

1022
00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:21,639
Speaker 2: I I my my zag on this is just that

1023
00:50:23,039 --> 00:50:25,760
he's not the problem. Is that he's not the problem.

1024
00:50:26,199 --> 00:50:28,440
I think he actually could buy well at this Uh,

1025
00:50:28,639 --> 00:50:30,760
it's just you need to put somebody out there that

1026
00:50:30,840 --> 00:50:32,639
can also pass and dribble.

1027
00:50:34,199 --> 00:50:38,079
Speaker 1: I believe we are up to my pick correct, So

1028
00:50:38,119 --> 00:50:40,159
we're this pick number six. What do I have left

1029
00:50:40,159 --> 00:50:43,280
on the board Grant. I think you know where I'm

1030
00:50:43,280 --> 00:50:46,280
gonna go, but I am gonna go exactly where you

1031
00:50:46,360 --> 00:50:50,159
don't expect me to go. Let's talk about Anthony Edwards

1032
00:50:50,320 --> 00:50:52,960
is going to win the scoring title, and I don't

1033
00:50:53,000 --> 00:50:55,960
know if that's a good thing more after this break,

1034
00:50:56,000 --> 00:50:57,519
how is that for a teaser that we won't have?

1035
00:50:57,679 --> 00:51:00,880
This is one of those thumbnails the one he's the

1036
00:51:00,960 --> 00:51:03,239
one bad reason you should be rooting against the andby

1037
00:51:03,360 --> 00:51:05,840
Edwards winning the scoring title if you're a Timberloves fan,

1038
00:51:06,079 --> 00:51:08,119
that might be too long when it comes to character count.

1039
00:51:08,440 --> 00:51:11,760
So look, he has to do everything for this offense.

1040
00:51:11,800 --> 00:51:14,199
Now we've they saw it in Game one, Dante de

1041
00:51:14,280 --> 00:51:17,880
Vincenzo starts over Mike Conley, who doesn't really play. Neither

1042
00:51:17,960 --> 00:51:20,519
of them were good. That seems to be a little

1043
00:51:20,519 --> 00:51:23,000
bit of a problem. And then who else on this roster?

1044
00:51:23,079 --> 00:51:25,320
You okay, Julius Randall, fine, but after that it's his

1045
00:51:25,440 --> 00:51:29,079
Terren Shannon Junior doing their creation. Rob Dillingham Chris Finch

1046
00:51:29,159 --> 00:51:31,320
was evasive when I asked about it, But let's just

1047
00:51:31,360 --> 00:51:33,000
call a spade as bait. He's not ready, he's not

1048
00:51:33,039 --> 00:51:34,639
an insult, He's a sophomore, doesn't have a ton of

1049
00:51:34,639 --> 00:51:36,559
playing time under his belt. This team's trying to win.

1050
00:51:37,079 --> 00:51:41,679
Anthony Edwards the basketball player looks absolutely terrifying. I don't

1051
00:51:41,760 --> 00:51:43,920
know if he's going to average forty plus points a game.

1052
00:51:44,119 --> 00:51:45,679
I'm not ready to rule it out, though, because I

1053
00:51:45,679 --> 00:51:48,440
think that he needs to carry that level of burden

1054
00:51:48,840 --> 00:51:53,320
for the offense. What say you, mister Grant Hughes, I yeah.

1055
00:51:53,079 --> 00:51:55,519
Speaker 2: I had the same thought. I will say. Well, let

1056
00:51:55,519 --> 00:51:58,440
me ask you also, were you surprised because the de

1057
00:51:58,519 --> 00:52:01,800
Vincenzo is gonna start? It all kind of came out

1058
00:52:01,880 --> 00:52:04,679
late and I was ready to make the case earlier

1059
00:52:05,119 --> 00:52:08,119
that I could see this happening a couple weeks in

1060
00:52:08,360 --> 00:52:11,400
if Conley looks his age and the offense is kind

1061
00:52:11,400 --> 00:52:13,760
of sputtering like it did for stretches last year. But

1062
00:52:13,840 --> 00:52:16,760
to go with the Vincenzo game one really felt like,

1063
00:52:17,679 --> 00:52:21,159
to me, an admission of we know what we need,

1064
00:52:21,199 --> 00:52:24,360
which is more dynamic shooting, just someone who's more mobile,

1065
00:52:24,639 --> 00:52:27,719
et cetera, et cetera, and Conley just doesn't have it anymore.

1066
00:52:28,719 --> 00:52:30,840
I wouldn't be surprised to see this flip back if

1067
00:52:30,880 --> 00:52:34,079
the offense continues to be so Edward centric. I do

1068
00:52:34,119 --> 00:52:36,800
think it would be a problem if he is out there,

1069
00:52:37,079 --> 00:52:40,960
you know, crazy higher usage than before, blows away his

1070
00:52:41,079 --> 00:52:45,480
previous career high for scoring, just because if that happens,

1071
00:52:46,079 --> 00:52:48,679
it's a situation. You were kind of touched on this weirdly,

1072
00:52:48,760 --> 00:52:52,239
like the Dallas issue and even the Houston issue of like,

1073
00:52:53,079 --> 00:52:56,039
this guy's got to do too much, and it's like,

1074
00:52:56,079 --> 00:52:58,639
as great as he is and like, you know, athletically

1075
00:52:58,679 --> 00:53:01,559
unlimited and as much growth as he's shown just adding

1076
00:53:01,559 --> 00:53:05,559
a three point shot last year, it almost gets to

1077
00:53:05,599 --> 00:53:09,159
where if he is leading the league in scoring, the

1078
00:53:09,480 --> 00:53:12,400
Wolves are good, But it almost gets into like good

1079
00:53:12,440 --> 00:53:16,559
stat big numbers, bad team guy, because if you're a

1080
00:53:16,599 --> 00:53:19,480
better team, you don't need Anthony Edwards to get forty

1081
00:53:19,480 --> 00:53:21,920
every night. But it feels like the Wolves maybe are

1082
00:53:22,280 --> 00:53:26,519
trending that way, especially if Gobert takes another step down.

1083
00:53:28,119 --> 00:53:31,719
I don't know, Conley really can't be played. Dillingham's never

1084
00:53:31,760 --> 00:53:34,239
gonna be ready this year. Like there's a scenario where

1085
00:53:34,320 --> 00:53:36,519
Edwards is leading leaguan scoring and the Wolves just like

1086
00:53:36,559 --> 00:53:39,519
aren't a top six threat, which is not what I

1087
00:53:39,519 --> 00:53:41,400
thought they would be. I think they'll be that good,

1088
00:53:41,840 --> 00:53:44,800
but it's got to happen with somebody running the offense

1089
00:53:44,880 --> 00:53:47,719
besides Edwards, Right, it can't just be him, certainly, not

1090
00:53:47,760 --> 00:53:49,559
in the playoffs especially, and those should be the games

1091
00:53:49,599 --> 00:53:51,679
they care about. He's got to have somebody else out

1092
00:53:51,679 --> 00:53:52,440
there doing stuff.

1093
00:53:53,519 --> 00:53:56,679
Speaker 1: Do you think this is all? Are we overthinking it?

1094
00:53:56,800 --> 00:53:58,880
Or is it a problem? When they do have Julius

1095
00:53:58,960 --> 00:54:00,239
Randall on the team.

1096
00:54:01,320 --> 00:54:07,159
Speaker 2: Julius Randall will confound me forever because it's undeniable that

1097
00:54:07,920 --> 00:54:12,119
as a secondary creator at the four, like he's valuable.

1098
00:54:12,440 --> 00:54:15,920
And it's not because he's a Jokic level court mapper

1099
00:54:16,039 --> 00:54:18,440
or anything, but it's because he'll compromise the defense with

1100
00:54:18,480 --> 00:54:21,760
a drive and make the easy pass and sometimes that's

1101
00:54:21,800 --> 00:54:24,400
all you need from a secondary guy. He can do that.

1102
00:54:26,039 --> 00:54:28,800
I don't know how valuable that is still, like just

1103
00:54:28,800 --> 00:54:32,079
just because sometimes he seems like the problem. But for

1104
00:54:32,159 --> 00:54:34,840
this Wolves team, and this was kind of the analysis

1105
00:54:34,840 --> 00:54:38,159
when they made the trade last year, like makes sense

1106
00:54:38,400 --> 00:54:41,199
somebody besides Edwards to move the ball and create a

1107
00:54:41,239 --> 00:54:44,440
shot once in a while, especially since Conley's slipping, Like,

1108
00:54:45,000 --> 00:54:46,920
I just don't know what to do with with Randall

1109
00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:51,199
because I guarantee you at points this year he'll seem

1110
00:54:51,239 --> 00:54:53,679
like the solution, and he'll also seem like the problem

1111
00:54:53,920 --> 00:54:56,639
like that that's just how he exists in my brain.

1112
00:54:57,800 --> 00:54:59,400
Speaker 1: I think I'm with you in the sense that I

1113
00:54:59,400 --> 00:55:01,599
don't think I don't think he needs to get forty

1114
00:55:01,599 --> 00:55:04,559
one points every game, But I don't know Anthony Edwards

1115
00:55:04,599 --> 00:55:08,360
needs to hover around thirty five usage. Yeah, it feels

1116
00:55:08,400 --> 00:55:10,599
as if they're going to need that from him this year,

1117
00:55:10,679 --> 00:55:13,320
or at least is it's not going to be solved internally,

1118
00:55:13,599 --> 00:55:14,360
is what I would.

1119
00:55:14,159 --> 00:55:17,760
Speaker 2: Say, Well, it is, does can I pitch you on something?

1120
00:55:17,840 --> 00:55:21,559
Does doesnas Reed starting over Gobert to just give you

1121
00:55:21,639 --> 00:55:25,199
another offensive option and be a five out type of option?

1122
00:55:25,480 --> 00:55:25,639
Speaker 1: Now?

1123
00:55:25,760 --> 00:55:29,079
Speaker 2: Is that a way to work around neither the Vincenzo

1124
00:55:29,199 --> 00:55:31,960
nor Conley is really good enough to start at the one,

1125
00:55:32,000 --> 00:55:35,840
like do you get do you get better offense through him?

1126
00:55:35,920 --> 00:55:39,159
And you compromise the defense pretty badly obviously, But that's just.

1127
00:55:39,079 --> 00:55:42,159
Speaker 1: How I guess you connect Conley and Gobert again coming

1128
00:55:42,159 --> 00:55:44,719
off the bench. But now you're just getting away so

1129
00:55:44,920 --> 00:55:47,920
fundamentally away from what got you to two conference finals

1130
00:55:48,000 --> 00:55:50,719
right that it's just I don't know the idea of

1131
00:55:50,840 --> 00:55:53,199
Randall and nos Reed in the front court is just

1132
00:55:53,239 --> 00:55:56,639
a counter like throughout the game. Sure, but as you're

1133
00:55:56,639 --> 00:56:01,159
starting front court, which team? Which which playoff team? Would

1134
00:56:01,199 --> 00:56:03,719
you feel comfortable with that starting front court against?

1135
00:56:04,440 --> 00:56:06,360
Speaker 2: I mean none. That's why I think there's a threat

1136
00:56:06,400 --> 00:56:08,119
that they're not in the top six. If that's how

1137
00:56:08,159 --> 00:56:12,519
they have to go, oh wow, Well if you don't

1138
00:56:12,559 --> 00:56:18,119
get a I'm still a you know, top five dpoy

1139
00:56:18,400 --> 00:56:21,760
season from Gobert and you don't have good point guard play, Like,

1140
00:56:21,800 --> 00:56:24,599
how what does Edwards have to do to get you

1141
00:56:24,719 --> 00:56:28,079
up over fifty wins? You know, it's just it's there.

1142
00:56:28,239 --> 00:56:30,079
It just feels like they're gonna have to make concessions

1143
00:56:30,119 --> 00:56:35,440
somewhere after one game again overreacting, it is your turn?

1144
00:56:35,800 --> 00:56:38,239
Speaker 1: Which pick are this? We're six picks in. What's still

1145
00:56:38,239 --> 00:56:39,360
on the board for you? Grant?

1146
00:56:39,719 --> 00:56:44,000
Speaker 2: Oh okay, let's do this one. Nobody can beat a

1147
00:56:44,039 --> 00:56:48,760
fully healthy Thunder four times and seven tries. The counter

1148
00:56:48,840 --> 00:56:51,400
to that is they need a double overtime in both

1149
00:56:51,400 --> 00:56:53,159
their wins this year, and they went to seven games

1150
00:56:53,159 --> 00:56:56,360
in two series last postseasons, so obviously the Thunder are beatable.

1151
00:56:57,400 --> 00:57:00,440
The counter to the counter is it kind of looks

1152
00:57:00,480 --> 00:57:03,280
like aj Mitchell is just another guy that is going

1153
00:57:03,360 --> 00:57:06,239
to be really good, and he's gonna do it in

1154
00:57:06,280 --> 00:57:10,119
ways that this Thunder team specifically desperately needs, which is

1155
00:57:10,559 --> 00:57:12,599
he can get to the paint and he can make

1156
00:57:12,639 --> 00:57:14,320
a pass, and he can finish, and he can make

1157
00:57:14,360 --> 00:57:18,679
open threes. You don't get that consistently from Wallace, from Dort,

1158
00:57:18,880 --> 00:57:22,760
from I mean, even Aaron Wiggins, who's also been pretty awesome.

1159
00:57:23,159 --> 00:57:25,960
You don't necessarily get that from who else? Am I

1160
00:57:25,960 --> 00:57:32,559
forgetting Wallace Dort? Anyway, Caruso so already missing games, already

1161
00:57:32,559 --> 00:57:36,480
missing games. The other aspect of it, Shay is still Shay,

1162
00:57:36,639 --> 00:57:38,639
and if he's gonna get twenty six foul shots and

1163
00:57:38,719 --> 00:57:41,639
I it was double overtime, but still good luck winning

1164
00:57:41,679 --> 00:57:45,960
close games against the Thunder. I thought, especially against Houston

1165
00:57:45,960 --> 00:57:49,039
in the early going, Holmgren looked like he'd leveled up offensively.

1166
00:57:49,400 --> 00:57:53,360
The three point shot still rattles in. It rarely looks perfect,

1167
00:57:53,360 --> 00:57:55,400
but it looks a little better. And I think some

1168
00:57:55,440 --> 00:57:57,400
of his drives and some of his like just his

1169
00:57:57,440 --> 00:58:01,960
aggression level getting downhill, just building off of last year,

1170
00:58:01,960 --> 00:58:04,119
which I flagged that last year is like, this is

1171
00:58:04,199 --> 00:58:07,760
impressive what he's doing offensively. I think I think Chet

1172
00:58:07,800 --> 00:58:12,760
being someone that can be the secondary scorer when because

1173
00:58:12,800 --> 00:58:17,079
Jalen Williams hasn't played yet, that's a factor. I think

1174
00:58:17,119 --> 00:58:22,280
that really gives the Thunder, along with Mitchell, another way

1175
00:58:22,559 --> 00:58:25,920
to keep the offense from looking really bad, which even

1176
00:58:26,280 --> 00:58:29,039
against houston great defense, it still did. There were some

1177
00:58:29,239 --> 00:58:32,719
gnarly stretches where the threes weren't falling. That was a

1178
00:58:32,760 --> 00:58:35,639
huge part of it. But Mitchell addresses that too, and

1179
00:58:35,679 --> 00:58:37,840
maybe Chet does. There's just like this team is not

1180
00:58:37,920 --> 00:58:40,280
at full strength and you can still squint and see

1181
00:58:41,199 --> 00:58:46,639
major growth from guys that address specifically what few frailties

1182
00:58:46,719 --> 00:58:49,639
the Thunder have. So by the time you get to

1183
00:58:49,679 --> 00:58:54,159
the postseason, maybe that growth has even increased and guys

1184
00:58:54,159 --> 00:58:58,280
are healthy. Just like, what do you how do you

1185
00:58:58,320 --> 00:59:01,079
hold out hope if you're some other team, especially in

1186
00:59:01,360 --> 00:59:02,199
the West, right.

1187
00:59:03,199 --> 00:59:06,480
Speaker 1: I think you're doing too much here. The fact that

1188
00:59:06,480 --> 00:59:09,480
they just haven't had j dub and now he'll come

1189
00:59:09,519 --> 00:59:12,320
back and everything will trip. You mentioned that Aj, Mitchells,

1190
00:59:12,320 --> 00:59:15,159
even Chat Holmgren, just all their jobs gets so much

1191
00:59:15,159 --> 00:59:17,760
easier that should I feel like that should terror. I

1192
00:59:17,800 --> 00:59:20,079
know it took double two, double overtime for them to

1193
00:59:20,079 --> 00:59:22,119
be two and zero and they're pretty beaten up right now.

1194
00:59:22,440 --> 00:59:24,119
Look at who they were missing in the set. I know,

1195
00:59:24,159 --> 00:59:26,679
Indianda was missing a ton of players, including Andrew dedmar

1196
00:59:26,880 --> 00:59:30,000
by the end of it. But like, this team is

1197
00:59:30,119 --> 00:59:34,440
just it. It has the ability to win in what

1198
00:59:34,480 --> 00:59:36,440
you would can say in what you would say is

1199
00:59:36,559 --> 00:59:39,960
unconvincing fashion, and then it just makes them more convincing

1200
00:59:40,360 --> 00:59:43,960
because they're just able to win imperfectly. A lot of

1201
00:59:43,960 --> 00:59:45,800
these guys are gonna shoot better from three, and I

1202
00:59:45,880 --> 00:59:48,519
just can't unless you think Jadav's gonna be out forever

1203
00:59:48,760 --> 00:59:50,679
or come back and the wrist injuries really gonna have

1204
00:59:50,760 --> 00:59:54,760
like impeded his handle or something. I'm sure that's on

1205
00:59:54,840 --> 00:59:59,280
the table. I especially after watching Nuggets Warriors a kind

1206
00:59:59,280 --> 01:00:02,599
of gameway, think, oh all right, like maybe the thunder

1207
01:00:02,679 --> 01:00:06,079
are ahead of the field more so than I thought.

1208
01:00:06,280 --> 01:00:08,239
And it's I do think I was just kidding when

1209
01:00:08,239 --> 01:00:10,400
I'm saying you were doing too much, like just you

1210
01:00:10,639 --> 01:00:13,039
justify your points too much, sir. It's really what you

1211
01:00:13,079 --> 01:00:16,559
were too thorough, keep it simple. I I don't know

1212
01:00:16,599 --> 01:00:20,920
where Caseon Wallace was in the most Improved Player ballot,

1213
01:00:20,960 --> 01:00:23,400
but he was too low like he was just too low,

1214
01:00:23,760 --> 01:00:27,639
So I there's always just gonna be another guy here.

1215
01:00:27,800 --> 01:00:30,400
And I think that the big takeaway from all this

1216
01:00:30,519 --> 01:00:32,519
is there are gonna be games where hey, maybe at

1217
01:00:32,639 --> 01:00:34,760
least one of Caruso, Wallace and j dub are playing.

1218
01:00:34,800 --> 01:00:36,159
Imagine how good the Thunder might be?

1219
01:00:36,199 --> 01:00:39,559
Speaker 2: Then do you? I I find myself and I wonder

1220
01:00:39,559 --> 01:00:41,719
if you do. Like, as I'm watching the Thunder, because

1221
01:00:41,760 --> 01:00:45,840
you do have to start from the greatest point differential

1222
01:00:45,840 --> 01:00:51,239
of all time, you know, baseline, I find myself looking

1223
01:00:51,320 --> 01:00:55,320
for reasons why they aren't clearly the best team, so

1224
01:00:55,400 --> 01:00:58,400
I'll fixate on, well, they were five of twenty eight

1225
01:00:58,400 --> 01:01:01,360
from three or something at one point against Houston and

1226
01:01:01,639 --> 01:01:04,199
all Man, this offense looks clunky and if SGA is

1227
01:01:04,239 --> 01:01:07,039
not getting downhill, they can't score. I'm looking for stuff

1228
01:01:07,280 --> 01:01:10,440
because the do you do that or because it's like

1229
01:01:10,599 --> 01:01:14,079
obviously this The basic take is like they're the best

1230
01:01:14,079 --> 01:01:15,920
team by a lot, and I almost I think I

1231
01:01:16,000 --> 01:01:18,159
do that because I just want things to be more

1232
01:01:18,199 --> 01:01:22,199
interesting competitively, So like, are you when you watch the Thunder?

1233
01:01:22,239 --> 01:01:24,280
It sounds to me like you're just kind of like, man,

1234
01:01:24,320 --> 01:01:26,880
this is overwhelming. They're really great, But do you like

1235
01:01:27,000 --> 01:01:29,199
nitpick as much as I do, because that's because what

1236
01:01:29,239 --> 01:01:31,119
else are we looking at when we're watching the Thunder

1237
01:01:31,159 --> 01:01:33,639
other than saying, like, Wow, this team's good.

1238
01:01:34,360 --> 01:01:37,440
Speaker 1: Well, I think what you do, I think you could

1239
01:01:37,440 --> 01:01:39,400
and would be fair is and how often, as we

1240
01:01:39,480 --> 01:01:43,159
talked about it is are they still too over reliant

1241
01:01:43,239 --> 01:01:47,159
on Shay Gilt just Alexander offensively? And that's looked like

1242
01:01:47,199 --> 01:01:50,159
the case so far this season. At the same time,

1243
01:01:50,519 --> 01:01:53,039
they're missing a huge piece, and that huge piece is

1244
01:01:53,079 --> 01:01:55,440
their second option on the offensive end, if not just

1245
01:01:55,480 --> 01:01:58,920
their second best player overall. But I do focus on

1246
01:01:59,320 --> 01:02:02,159
picking knits because, like, isn't that our job. We're supposed

1247
01:02:02,199 --> 01:02:04,840
to believe that the NBA has this ton of parody,

1248
01:02:04,840 --> 01:02:07,039
and I believe it does. I'm not saying the Thunder are.

1249
01:02:07,400 --> 01:02:10,039
You know, there was an air of anevitability with the

1250
01:02:10,119 --> 01:02:13,559
Kevin Durant Error Warriors that I don't think this Thunder

1251
01:02:13,599 --> 01:02:16,239
team has. But maybe they have the potential to reach

1252
01:02:16,599 --> 01:02:18,920
that level. It's you could still you know, you mentioned

1253
01:02:18,920 --> 01:02:20,480
the three point shooting. There are still nights where it

1254
01:02:20,519 --> 01:02:23,440
feels like they look imperfect. It looks like their wins

1255
01:02:23,440 --> 01:02:27,519
are they're coming. They're harder than they need to be. So, yeah,

1256
01:02:27,559 --> 01:02:29,960
I'm open to the idea that a Denver, a Golden State,

1257
01:02:30,199 --> 01:02:32,320
a Cleveland or New York or somebody could come in.

1258
01:02:32,400 --> 01:02:35,400
But I do think that sometimes we overthink it that

1259
01:02:35,800 --> 01:02:37,599
I think that's that's what happened to last season.

1260
01:02:37,840 --> 01:02:40,519
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm guilty of that because I'm looking for reasons

1261
01:02:40,519 --> 01:02:42,920
why this team isn't the juggernaut it seems to be.

1262
01:02:43,880 --> 01:02:46,679
I think you have a pick next if you can

1263
01:02:46,719 --> 01:02:48,559
get your get your light situation.

1264
01:02:48,679 --> 01:02:51,679
Speaker 1: We're having some light situation. I'm having some light situations,

1265
01:02:51,679 --> 01:02:53,880
I should say. And so it's very very annoying.

1266
01:02:53,920 --> 01:02:56,360
Speaker 2: But the show to steal a pick. I'll steal your

1267
01:02:56,360 --> 01:02:59,719
pick if you want you if you need time for maintenance.

1268
01:02:59,360 --> 01:03:01,280
Speaker 1: No, I can get us to another pick. So let's

1269
01:03:01,320 --> 01:03:04,159
see what do we have left. So I feel we've done.

1270
01:03:04,159 --> 01:03:06,000
How many West teams in a row have we done?

1271
01:03:06,039 --> 01:03:07,440
I feel like it's time to go to the East.

1272
01:03:07,920 --> 01:03:11,480
Let's do Okay, here's this one. Giannis attent to Kompo

1273
01:03:11,679 --> 01:03:15,159
Grant is going to post the highest usage rate in

1274
01:03:15,320 --> 01:03:18,800
NBA history. Now, just as a little bit of a background,

1275
01:03:19,239 --> 01:03:23,360
Russell Westbrook currently owns the record. He had forty one

1276
01:03:23,440 --> 01:03:28,760
point six. I believe it was in twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen.

1277
01:03:29,280 --> 01:03:33,119
After one game, Jannis has a forty eight point three

1278
01:03:33,440 --> 01:03:35,079
usage rate, or depending on what you go by, it

1279
01:03:35,159 --> 01:03:38,039
might be in the forty five. They're also it should

1280
01:03:38,119 --> 01:03:40,079
I should know they're dealing with an injury to Kevin

1281
01:03:40,119 --> 01:03:43,280
Porter Junior. So it's just like it's not gonna be honest,

1282
01:03:43,320 --> 01:03:45,360
who else is it gonna be? Type deal here?

1283
01:03:46,519 --> 01:03:50,440
Speaker 2: This is how else is it gonna happen? For the bucks?

1284
01:03:50,639 --> 01:03:54,920
Like now, of this is an overreaction, So it would

1285
01:03:54,960 --> 01:03:57,559
be kind of amazing if he could get up into

1286
01:03:57,559 --> 01:03:59,679
the high forties and usage rate or even forty five,

1287
01:04:00,199 --> 01:04:04,840
But like, where else is the is the offense coming from?

1288
01:04:04,920 --> 01:04:08,599
If not him getting downhill and scoring or kicking the

1289
01:04:08,679 --> 01:04:12,000
shooters or turning it over, Like that's just that's how

1290
01:04:12,039 --> 01:04:14,559
that's the recipe here, because there are they're just aren't

1291
01:04:14,880 --> 01:04:18,760
especially with Kevin Porter, like he could sort of create shots.

1292
01:04:18,800 --> 01:04:22,400
He's never been efficient at that task. Specifically, He's had

1293
01:04:22,400 --> 01:04:25,880
some good shooting seasons, but like other than him, they're

1294
01:04:25,880 --> 01:04:28,039
going to start Ryan Rollins with With Porter out and

1295
01:04:28,159 --> 01:04:31,000
Rolins offense is very much a question mark. I think

1296
01:04:31,079 --> 01:04:33,199
I thought he might get that job eventually because he

1297
01:04:33,239 --> 01:04:36,280
can guard, but now he's tasked with more of an

1298
01:04:36,320 --> 01:04:40,880
offensive role with the starters. Like, I just think this,

1299
01:04:40,880 --> 01:04:44,199
this was always going to be built around Giannis. I

1300
01:04:44,239 --> 01:04:46,559
would not be at all surprised if he's at least

1301
01:04:46,559 --> 01:04:48,639
threatening that. This is one of the over the first

1302
01:04:48,639 --> 01:04:51,199
overreactions we've gotten to other than Wenby of course, where

1303
01:04:51,199 --> 01:04:52,639
it's like, yeah, I kind of see it, like he

1304
01:04:52,760 --> 01:04:54,719
might actually lead the league in usage. He might ever

1305
01:04:54,800 --> 01:04:57,280
set the record, because what is Miles Turner going to

1306
01:04:57,360 --> 01:04:59,519
turn into like a self sufficient scorer all of a sudden?

1307
01:04:59,519 --> 01:05:01,039
Where's it to come from?

1308
01:05:01,360 --> 01:05:04,639
Speaker 1: I honestly have no idea what would be the best

1309
01:05:04,679 --> 01:05:07,199
option if you had to pick. Let's assume everybody's healthy.

1310
01:05:07,360 --> 01:05:10,559
Is it KPJ? Do you trust it to be? Not? Trust?

1311
01:05:10,920 --> 01:05:13,320
Trust is a strong word. I apologize no, is it

1312
01:05:14,360 --> 01:05:18,239
Kyle Kuzma? They also so there's just no options. And

1313
01:05:18,280 --> 01:05:21,039
then if you're the Bucks, let's say you have the

1314
01:05:21,079 --> 01:05:24,199
ability to go out and change that I don't like.

1315
01:05:24,320 --> 01:05:26,880
Do you do that when you have all the kind

1316
01:05:26,880 --> 01:05:29,679
of Yannis stuff floating in the ether, The speculation, the

1317
01:05:29,719 --> 01:05:34,239
rumors surrounding his future, his opaque oh opaque comments on

1318
01:05:34,320 --> 01:05:36,880
his future. I don't I do not know, and I

1319
01:05:36,880 --> 01:05:40,280
think that makes it tough. But if Yannis is going

1320
01:05:40,320 --> 01:05:42,800
to have a let's say a forty five usage, how

1321
01:05:43,119 --> 01:05:45,320
how good do you feel about Like it's the only

1322
01:05:45,360 --> 01:05:46,679
answer putting the ball in His says, but do you

1323
01:05:46,679 --> 01:05:48,400
think the bucks are bad? Do you think that if

1324
01:05:48,400 --> 01:05:50,280
he's healthy that they'll still just be fine.

1325
01:05:51,199 --> 01:05:54,519
Speaker 2: I just don't think you can expect, to ask Russell Westbrook,

1326
01:05:54,639 --> 01:05:57,760
you can't expect high efficiency if your usage is that high,

1327
01:05:57,840 --> 01:06:00,400
Like that just is sort of impossible. Like the gold

1328
01:06:00,480 --> 01:06:03,840
standard always was. If you're a thirty percent usage guy

1329
01:06:03,880 --> 01:06:08,159
and your true shooting's over sixty, that's like that's Kevin Durant,

1330
01:06:08,360 --> 01:06:11,119
you know, that's like that's that's Steph Curry or the

1331
01:06:11,280 --> 01:06:13,239
and the usage was hard to get to for those guys.

1332
01:06:14,000 --> 01:06:16,559
Jannis is a very efficient scorer, at least has been.

1333
01:06:16,599 --> 01:06:18,760
If if his usage is that high, I think even

1334
01:06:18,800 --> 01:06:21,840
he who just makes all the two point baskets because

1335
01:06:21,880 --> 01:06:22,920
he dunks and la.

1336
01:06:23,880 --> 01:06:25,320
Speaker 1: Twos in the first game.

1337
01:06:25,199 --> 01:06:27,840
Speaker 2: Yes he so I just don't feel like that sustainable.

1338
01:06:27,880 --> 01:06:30,079
I think the other issue is not to bring everything

1339
01:06:30,119 --> 01:06:34,119
back to this like this is the recipe for him

1340
01:06:34,320 --> 01:06:38,920
finally deciding I can't win here because if you have

1341
01:06:39,000 --> 01:06:42,360
to do everything, and he's always a player that's done everything,

1342
01:06:42,440 --> 01:06:44,880
even with Drew Holliday and Chris Middleton and Brook Lopez

1343
01:06:44,920 --> 01:06:47,880
on the title winning teams, Like if he goes through

1344
01:06:47,880 --> 01:06:50,559
this season and it's just running himself into the ground

1345
01:06:50,840 --> 01:06:53,719
and every possession lives and dies with him, and the

1346
01:06:53,760 --> 01:06:56,840
Bucks are five hundred, he has to finally look around

1347
01:06:56,880 --> 01:06:59,000
and be like, if I actually do want to win

1348
01:06:59,039 --> 01:07:02,320
a title, it must be conceded that it cannot happen

1349
01:07:02,320 --> 01:07:05,679
here because we don't have the ability to play any

1350
01:07:05,679 --> 01:07:07,960
other way. And this isn't working, Like, this isn't enough.

1351
01:07:08,079 --> 01:07:12,039
So like the narrative of he's killing himself out there

1352
01:07:12,079 --> 01:07:13,920
and the Bucks are the seven seed or the eight

1353
01:07:14,039 --> 01:07:16,280
like that, that will have to drive the point home

1354
01:07:16,400 --> 01:07:19,159
finally and that's what will trigger the trade request.

1355
01:07:19,159 --> 01:07:19,440
Speaker 1: You could.

1356
01:07:19,440 --> 01:07:20,960
Speaker 2: I can just see it playing out that way.

1357
01:07:21,480 --> 01:07:24,639
Speaker 1: Now. Is it counterintuitive to say Yannis will have the

1358
01:07:24,719 --> 01:07:27,440
highest usage rate in NBA history, but Anthony Edwards is

1359
01:07:27,440 --> 01:07:28,639
gonna win the scoring title?

1360
01:07:29,280 --> 01:07:29,559
Speaker 2: Hmm.

1361
01:07:31,400 --> 01:07:34,039
Speaker 1: Edward shoots more threes, Yiannis will get more free throws,

1362
01:07:34,079 --> 01:07:36,880
So I don't think he's Yeah.

1363
01:07:36,679 --> 01:07:39,920
Speaker 2: What's what's uh? Yeah? What what? What's the scoring average?

1364
01:07:39,920 --> 01:07:43,079
Look like? If Giannis is up there above Westbrook levels

1365
01:07:43,079 --> 01:07:45,280
of usage, he's gonna have to be like thirty five

1366
01:07:45,360 --> 01:07:46,000
a game? Right?

1367
01:07:46,599 --> 01:07:48,679
Speaker 1: Do you think this is? So? I don't think this

1368
01:07:48,760 --> 01:07:52,159
is an overreaction. I know what? Would you go as

1369
01:07:52,159 --> 01:07:54,920
far as to predict it? I would say his usage

1370
01:07:54,960 --> 01:07:58,360
rate is gonna be at least forty and if it's not,

1371
01:07:59,000 --> 01:08:00,800
I feel like he might have been traded.

1372
01:08:01,559 --> 01:08:04,039
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like that one. Maybe that's that's the like.

1373
01:08:04,679 --> 01:08:08,199
Neither of those are overreactions. I support and favorite both

1374
01:08:08,199 --> 01:08:11,440
of them. All right, I'm gonna take my next pick here.

1375
01:08:12,559 --> 01:08:15,280
Speaker 1: Let's see pick number nine. We're nearing the end. Aren't

1376
01:08:15,280 --> 01:08:16,239
you getting a little sad?

1377
01:08:16,319 --> 01:08:18,399
Speaker 2: I think there's a certain Yes, well, I'm sad because

1378
01:08:18,399 --> 01:08:20,680
there's one on the board. But I if you don't

1379
01:08:20,720 --> 01:08:22,319
take it, I guess I have to take it with

1380
01:08:22,399 --> 01:08:24,720
my next pick because I have two left. I'm gonna

1381
01:08:24,760 --> 01:08:26,239
leave it because I want you to have to talk

1382
01:08:26,279 --> 01:08:31,479
about it. Let's go with where's my Lakers one? Here

1383
01:08:31,520 --> 01:08:34,079
we go. The Lakers dan are headed for the play

1384
01:08:34,079 --> 01:08:39,000
in or worse. This is an overreaction. Lakers fans. By definition.

1385
01:08:39,199 --> 01:08:41,840
I'm not one hundred percent sure that it's true. I

1386
01:08:41,880 --> 01:08:45,960
will just say that based on one game again where

1387
01:08:46,039 --> 01:08:52,239
Luka Doncic was really good, it was abundantly clear that

1388
01:08:52,479 --> 01:08:56,840
there is not enough around him in the shooting department,

1389
01:08:57,000 --> 01:09:01,880
in the shot creation department, in the DeAndre Ayton department,

1390
01:09:02,000 --> 01:09:05,079
which is what everybody focused on, he looked really bad.

1391
01:09:05,840 --> 01:09:08,680
It's Draymond Green, it's Al Horford, It's the Warriors. You know,

1392
01:09:08,800 --> 01:09:12,199
that's a tough that's a tough set of opponents to

1393
01:09:12,239 --> 01:09:15,439
go at. I just we kind of knew this about

1394
01:09:15,439 --> 01:09:18,359
about the Lakers a little bit. Like without Lebron, everything

1395
01:09:18,399 --> 01:09:20,640
goes through Luca Austin Reeves can even have a good game.

1396
01:09:20,920 --> 01:09:23,000
There's just too many guys that when the ball gets

1397
01:09:23,000 --> 01:09:26,000
swung to them, either you don't trust him as shooters

1398
01:09:26,119 --> 01:09:27,560
or they're not gonna put it on the floor and

1399
01:09:27,600 --> 01:09:31,680
do something with it or both. And just the makeup

1400
01:09:31,720 --> 01:09:35,479
of the team offensively feels it's kind of a banging

1401
01:09:35,520 --> 01:09:37,680
the same drum here, like Luca has to do too much.

1402
01:09:38,079 --> 01:09:42,319
And then defensively, like there are good there are defensive

1403
01:09:42,359 --> 01:09:44,800
lineups that they can get to. It's just they involved

1404
01:09:44,880 --> 01:09:47,560
Jared Vanderbilt and maybe Marcus Smart, who, by the way,

1405
01:09:47,640 --> 01:09:51,039
Dan was not doing what I would call playing basketball

1406
01:09:51,399 --> 01:09:53,800
against Golden State. If you saw any of that game,

1407
01:09:54,000 --> 01:09:56,159
whatever he was doing out there was a different sport

1408
01:09:56,479 --> 01:10:00,399
that involved falling down and trying to dislocate stuff. Curry's

1409
01:10:00,479 --> 01:10:04,760
arm would is to say, like, I don't trust the

1410
01:10:04,760 --> 01:10:08,560
defense at all, even with Lebron, and offensively, if Lebron's

1411
01:10:08,600 --> 01:10:09,560
not out.

1412
01:10:09,399 --> 01:10:09,880
Speaker 1: There and.

1413
01:10:11,760 --> 01:10:14,439
Speaker 2: Just pretty close to what he was last year, I

1414
01:10:14,439 --> 01:10:16,399
think this is I don't think Luca has anything close

1415
01:10:16,439 --> 01:10:17,920
to the level of talent around him that he did

1416
01:10:17,920 --> 01:10:19,720
on like a lot of those Dallas teams. It's just

1417
01:10:20,800 --> 01:10:23,880
that this team doesn't have enough around him on either

1418
01:10:24,000 --> 01:10:26,359
end to feel like a clear top six. And I

1419
01:10:26,399 --> 01:10:28,960
don't think either of us necessarily had them their preseason.

1420
01:10:29,479 --> 01:10:32,399
Just the first game drove it home to me, like

1421
01:10:32,479 --> 01:10:35,039
the issues are what we thought they were and they're legit.

1422
01:10:36,359 --> 01:10:39,399
Speaker 1: I from what am shocked that signing the fifteenth best

1423
01:10:39,399 --> 01:10:42,720
center from the twenty twenty one season did not just

1424
01:10:43,039 --> 01:10:43,760
fix everything.

1425
01:10:44,119 --> 01:10:46,760
Speaker 2: You've always been an ad and defender too, Like you know,

1426
01:10:46,800 --> 01:10:49,359
you weren't the whole like snowed in thing. The ice

1427
01:10:49,399 --> 01:10:51,600
at the house, the mattress, like, none of that. Ever,

1428
01:10:51,920 --> 01:10:53,359
you were on board the whole time.

1429
01:10:53,920 --> 01:10:56,199
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've never I've been in the bad look. I

1430
01:10:56,239 --> 01:10:58,640
think he's fine at this point, as you're even, he

1431
01:10:58,680 --> 01:11:00,560
could probably be a starting center on a team that

1432
01:11:00,600 --> 01:11:05,319
had not Luca and Austin Reeves defensively as their backcourt.

1433
01:11:05,439 --> 01:11:08,279
And that's where I find myself more concerned about this

1434
01:11:08,319 --> 01:11:10,560
team is. Yeah, they might have a limited decision making

1435
01:11:10,560 --> 01:11:13,479
on the offensive end, but Lebron will play at some point,

1436
01:11:13,520 --> 01:11:15,880
we believe in. So just between him, Luca and Reeves,

1437
01:11:16,560 --> 01:11:18,920
you'll figure you'll figure it out on offense, would be

1438
01:11:18,960 --> 01:11:21,520
my belief. And if you don't, we have we have

1439
01:11:21,760 --> 01:11:24,239
way Like they are so far gone we don't even

1440
01:11:24,239 --> 01:11:26,760
need to be talking about them on this podcast. Quite frankly,

1441
01:11:27,159 --> 01:11:29,640
I don't know, and you mentioned this already, how do

1442
01:11:29,680 --> 01:11:32,600
you get to even if you're willing to torpedo the offense?

1443
01:11:32,640 --> 01:11:34,560
I know you mentioned Jared Vanderbilt, but how do you

1444
01:11:34,640 --> 01:11:38,039
get what is their best defensive lineup? On paper? It

1445
01:11:38,119 --> 01:11:42,159
is Jared Vanderbilt, Jake la Ravia.

1446
01:11:42,479 --> 01:11:44,279
Speaker 2: Jordan good Gabe Vincent.

1447
01:11:44,439 --> 01:11:47,399
Speaker 1: Is he playing Gave Vincent? I said Jordan Goodwin. I

1448
01:11:47,399 --> 01:11:49,279
meant Gabe Vincent, Jordan Goodwin's on the sun. They probably

1449
01:11:49,279 --> 01:11:51,439
should have kept Jordan Goodwin. Does it have to be

1450
01:11:51,520 --> 01:11:54,399
smart by default and then you just put Lebron or

1451
01:11:54,479 --> 01:11:58,279
Luca in there? I don't. And what is that defense anyway?

1452
01:11:59,000 --> 01:12:03,199
I so it's man, it's and it's funny because so

1453
01:12:03,239 --> 01:12:06,560
they come out of their first game and they allowed

1454
01:12:06,600 --> 01:12:09,960
one point one eight points per possession. I know it

1455
01:12:10,000 --> 01:12:11,960
was the Warriors. You could look at that and say like, oh,

1456
01:12:11,960 --> 01:12:14,640
there are other teams that did worse. I just I

1457
01:12:14,640 --> 01:12:16,600
don't see it for this team on defense. And we

1458
01:12:16,680 --> 01:12:18,640
talked a lot about this in the preseason, is they're

1459
01:12:18,760 --> 01:12:22,039
kind of short on If you think that DeAndre Ayton's

1460
01:12:22,039 --> 01:12:25,359
fine as your starting center, I will concede that I don't.

1461
01:12:25,399 --> 01:12:27,720
I didn't see anything that made me think he's still

1462
01:12:27,840 --> 01:12:31,640
just allergic to rolling all the way, which is mind boggling.

1463
01:12:31,640 --> 01:12:34,119
It it's it's not even the Dwight Howard thing to

1464
01:12:34,119 --> 01:12:36,920
where it's Dwight just didn't want to do it. It's

1465
01:12:37,079 --> 01:12:38,840
like he just bails out of it. Like at least

1466
01:12:38,840 --> 01:12:41,079
when Dwight rolled, he rolled. It was more about why

1467
01:12:41,079 --> 01:12:44,079
won't you actually put yourself in place? Where you can roll.

1468
01:12:44,600 --> 01:12:48,680
I really do not. I just don't like Jackson Hayes

1469
01:12:48,720 --> 01:12:50,279
still needs to play, is what I'm getting at. So, like,

1470
01:12:50,359 --> 01:12:52,680
if you think your starting center is set, what is

1471
01:12:52,680 --> 01:12:54,800
happening at the backup five? You try and just get

1472
01:12:54,840 --> 01:12:57,680
away with Jared Vanderbilt minutes there At some point more

1473
01:12:57,840 --> 01:12:59,720
is MAXI klebe Ever gonna be someone that you could

1474
01:12:59,720 --> 01:13:02,520
trust there? And then the other thing. This sounds stupid

1475
01:13:02,600 --> 01:13:06,399
to say, but like JJ Reddick, only how many guys

1476
01:13:06,399 --> 01:13:09,000
were actually part of the game one rotation When you

1477
01:13:09,039 --> 01:13:11,560
really think about it, it was nine, but it kind

1478
01:13:11,560 --> 01:13:13,760
of felt like it was seven or eight really to

1479
01:13:13,760 --> 01:13:15,520
where it's like the Jackson hayeses on the floor, we're

1480
01:13:15,560 --> 01:13:17,600
just conceding that these minutes are gonna be a disaster

1481
01:13:17,640 --> 01:13:21,279
and we're throwing him to the Wolves. So I don't

1482
01:13:22,000 --> 01:13:26,000
this might be an overreaction. I had them as a

1483
01:13:26,000 --> 01:13:27,840
playing team I think coming into the season, So it's

1484
01:13:27,880 --> 01:13:30,399
not an overreaction to me. I think. I don't know

1485
01:13:30,439 --> 01:13:33,119
that Lebron comes back and it, yeah, they'll win more games,

1486
01:13:33,119 --> 01:13:36,279
they'll be a better team. But to your point, he's

1487
01:13:36,319 --> 01:13:39,079
not fixing the defense, and it's been when's the last time.

1488
01:13:39,119 --> 01:13:41,479
We even pointed to Lebron as someone who is helping

1489
01:13:41,880 --> 01:13:42,960
your defensive ceiling.

1490
01:13:43,399 --> 01:13:46,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, not consistently, maybe in spurts. I just think it

1491
01:13:46,760 --> 01:13:49,920
would have been nice in their opener to have seen

1492
01:13:50,600 --> 01:13:54,199
a couple things that would have put the lie to

1493
01:13:54,359 --> 01:13:57,199
our preconceived notions of the defense is just gonna struggle,

1494
01:13:57,319 --> 01:14:01,000
or like you had the Lakers schemed differently or use

1495
01:14:01,119 --> 01:14:04,079
Vanderbilt at center a lot. They've done something to give

1496
01:14:04,159 --> 01:14:06,239
us a sense of like, well, okay, it could work

1497
01:14:06,319 --> 01:14:10,039
this way, you know, as opposed to just reaffirming all

1498
01:14:10,079 --> 01:14:12,520
of the concerns that we had that had us kind

1499
01:14:12,520 --> 01:14:14,159
of putting them in the play in territory, that would

1500
01:14:14,159 --> 01:14:14,640
have been nice.

1501
01:14:15,159 --> 01:14:18,119
Speaker 1: Maybe me get that, is there anything too well, this

1502
01:14:18,199 --> 01:14:22,840
team has to shoot better from three? There is that

1503
01:14:23,039 --> 01:14:24,319
we're simplifying.

1504
01:14:23,800 --> 01:14:26,680
Speaker 2: It, you could say, because they do have like I

1505
01:14:26,960 --> 01:14:29,880
you know, if it's like Hachimura and Gabe Vincent and

1506
01:14:30,039 --> 01:14:33,039
you know Jake Lauravia or maybe Dalton connect does what

1507
01:14:33,039 --> 01:14:35,479
he did earlier last year, there are guys that you

1508
01:14:35,520 --> 01:14:37,760
would you've got a guard at least, and Luca can

1509
01:14:37,920 --> 01:14:40,479
find them. So maybe that's a way for that doesn't

1510
01:14:40,479 --> 01:14:43,319
address the defensive stuff. I don't know that anything can

1511
01:14:43,399 --> 01:14:46,159
at this point, You've got to pick to go here?

1512
01:14:46,680 --> 01:14:49,720
Speaker 1: Oh, I do what? What am I gonna go with? Though, Grant,

1513
01:14:49,840 --> 01:14:51,479
I do what you want me to go with. I'm

1514
01:14:51,479 --> 01:14:53,039
not even sure if I want to talk about it,

1515
01:14:53,479 --> 01:14:56,439
but I feel like to stay true to the brand,

1516
01:14:56,479 --> 01:14:58,119
I should be the one to pick it though. So

1517
01:14:58,239 --> 01:15:00,520
we're going to talk about the New York Knicks and

1518
01:15:00,520 --> 01:15:04,000
how they are the clear favorite in the Eastern Conference

1519
01:15:04,079 --> 01:15:07,840
after one game, a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers that

1520
01:15:08,239 --> 01:15:10,079
looked like at one point it was gonna be a blowout,

1521
01:15:10,199 --> 01:15:12,479
and then they almost let well they did let the

1522
01:15:12,479 --> 01:15:13,600
Cavs come back until.

1523
01:15:13,680 --> 01:15:15,079
Speaker 2: Mitchell happened in the third quarter.

1524
01:15:15,319 --> 01:15:17,720
Speaker 1: Don Mitchell happened in the third quarter. Evan Mowley was happening

1525
01:15:17,800 --> 01:15:20,000
throughout that game quite frankly, even when the shots were

1526
01:15:20,359 --> 01:15:23,159
going in. I came away from that I was surprised

1527
01:15:23,159 --> 01:15:25,279
at how many people didn't come away from that game

1528
01:15:25,399 --> 01:15:28,880
thinking that the Knicks are materially different. You see like

1529
01:15:28,920 --> 01:15:31,680
og Ananobi bringing the ball up on the floor, bring

1530
01:15:31,680 --> 01:15:35,000
the ball to the floor after rebounds. McHale bridges more initiation,

1531
01:15:35,119 --> 01:15:38,520
there was a stat from aop underscore NBA. Someone I've

1532
01:15:38,560 --> 01:15:41,119
actually worked with on the side. Shoutouts to him, does

1533
01:15:41,159 --> 01:15:44,479
great work with his graphics. Jalen Brunson Grant since he's

1534
01:15:44,560 --> 01:15:46,600
joined the Knicks, has never spent more time off the

1535
01:15:46,640 --> 01:15:48,680
ball or had more of his field goal attempts come

1536
01:15:48,720 --> 01:15:52,359
off assis. That isn't That is insanity, And I think

1537
01:15:52,399 --> 01:15:55,800
you could say not Jalen Brunson's most efficient game. The

1538
01:15:56,039 --> 01:15:58,880
like some of the shots he was taking, they're gonna

1539
01:15:58,960 --> 01:16:00,800
go in, and yeah, they still went to him in

1540
01:16:00,800 --> 01:16:02,680
crunch time. You're still gonna need him to bail you

1541
01:16:02,720 --> 01:16:06,199
out a lot. I think that he's like, I think

1542
01:16:06,199 --> 01:16:08,880
it's gonna come together for him, and like in this

1543
01:16:08,920 --> 01:16:11,600
offensive playing off the ball more. I've never subscribed to

1544
01:16:11,640 --> 01:16:14,680
the idea that he's not adaptable. I'd be more worried

1545
01:16:14,680 --> 01:16:17,840
about Karl Anthony Towns quite frankly. The other thing that

1546
01:16:17,880 --> 01:16:20,039
I noticed, and this is probably the wrong takeaway to

1547
01:16:20,159 --> 01:16:22,720
come away from that game, just mchal Bridges getting two

1548
01:16:22,720 --> 01:16:25,000
feet in the paint. This is someone who and we

1549
01:16:25,039 --> 01:16:27,680
saw this in preseason, but last year he took almost

1550
01:16:27,720 --> 01:16:30,159
twenty percent of his shots came his twos outside of

1551
01:16:30,159 --> 01:16:31,800
the paint. I think it was like eighteen point six

1552
01:16:31,840 --> 01:16:35,000
percent or something. He took one of those shots in

1553
01:16:35,039 --> 01:16:36,840
the first game of the season. It was kind of

1554
01:16:36,840 --> 01:16:38,800
and I know that he only took eleven, but like

1555
01:16:38,840 --> 01:16:41,239
when you look at his drives, his drives per minute

1556
01:16:41,239 --> 01:16:43,039
were up. He was getting deeper into the paint. They're

1557
01:16:43,079 --> 01:16:45,680
trusting him with more initiation. His number of touches in

1558
01:16:45,720 --> 01:16:48,920
the front court were technically down, but his ball possession

1559
01:16:49,119 --> 01:16:52,319
per minutes of court time were actually up. They weren't

1560
01:16:52,319 --> 01:16:54,920
putting him at the point of attack as much. Defensively,

1561
01:16:55,039 --> 01:16:57,359
I think being able to play Deuce McBride with him helps.

1562
01:16:57,359 --> 01:17:00,439
We saw og Anobi there as well, I would say,

1563
01:17:00,439 --> 01:17:02,199
and we saw Grant. I don't know if you saw this.

1564
01:17:02,239 --> 01:17:04,079
We even saw some og an Andobe at the five

1565
01:17:04,680 --> 01:17:05,319
for a high.

1566
01:17:05,119 --> 01:17:07,439
Speaker 2: Did I watched the whole game. I clocked I don't

1567
01:17:07,479 --> 01:17:08,359
remember clocking that.

1568
01:17:08,479 --> 01:17:12,159
Speaker 1: But that's a it's a new dawn in the Mecca, sir.

1569
01:17:12,479 --> 01:17:15,439
And what I will say is that Ojiannowi's gonna make

1570
01:17:15,479 --> 01:17:17,880
First Team All Defense, Jalen Bruns will be top five

1571
01:17:17,920 --> 01:17:19,520
on the MVP ballot. And I think this team wins

1572
01:17:19,560 --> 01:17:22,000
sixty something games even though they're center rotation is banged

1573
01:17:22,000 --> 01:17:24,880
the shit. Here's my actual takeaway from this, though, is

1574
01:17:24,920 --> 01:17:27,920
that I do believe the Knicks are more dynamic than

1575
01:17:28,039 --> 01:17:31,079
last season. I think it's an overreaction right now to

1576
01:17:31,119 --> 01:17:33,199
say they're the clear favorites to come out of the East.

1577
01:17:33,359 --> 01:17:36,039
And I think Cleveland's gonna be better as they get

1578
01:17:36,039 --> 01:17:38,319
Max Shrus back, as they get DeAndre Hunter back, as

1579
01:17:38,319 --> 01:17:40,800
they get Darius Garland's pretty good, right who see already

1580
01:17:40,840 --> 01:17:43,760
season he's semi important. Lonzo Ball might make a three,

1581
01:17:43,840 --> 01:17:46,039
who knows. Yeah, I do find I find myself a

1582
01:17:46,039 --> 01:17:48,079
little worried about the Cavs defense. I know they have

1583
01:17:48,159 --> 01:17:50,600
Allen and Mobley, and Allen will get better once Garland

1584
01:17:50,680 --> 01:17:54,600
comes back specifically, but you know, I wasn't an Isaaca

1585
01:17:54,640 --> 01:17:57,000
Corro guy, but as a defensive innings eater in the

1586
01:17:57,000 --> 01:17:59,800
regular season, I find myself wondering, oh, did they need

1587
01:18:00,039 --> 01:18:02,359
as a good quorl a little bit now? But also

1588
01:18:02,399 --> 01:18:05,560
the Orlando magic exists and there we don't know if

1589
01:18:05,600 --> 01:18:07,800
their offense is gonna be good, but they're probably gonna

1590
01:18:07,800 --> 01:18:10,119
make some more threes. Apparently they're not gonna play faster,

1591
01:18:10,239 --> 01:18:13,640
which whatever, So I just I don't think the Knicks

1592
01:18:13,640 --> 01:18:17,720
are there yet, in part because what the fuck grant

1593
01:18:18,279 --> 01:18:21,199
emphasis on fuck is going on with their injuries right now.

1594
01:18:21,439 --> 01:18:24,399
The Josh Hart back tweak, no big deal, He'll be

1595
01:18:24,439 --> 01:18:26,600
ready for Opening Night, except he won't be And by

1596
01:18:26,600 --> 01:18:29,000
the way, he's not gonna practice or participate in anything

1597
01:18:29,039 --> 01:18:30,880
that has to do with contact. In the meantime, we're

1598
01:18:30,920 --> 01:18:34,880
going to load manage Mitchell Robinson so meticulously that he

1599
01:18:34,920 --> 01:18:37,359
can't play on Opening night. There's nothing to see here

1600
01:18:37,720 --> 01:18:41,079
about his ankle. And you have Karl Anthony Towns after

1601
01:18:41,199 --> 01:18:43,760
Game one saying I'm trying to play through a great

1602
01:18:43,840 --> 01:18:47,399
two quad straight. Yeah, that's not. First of all, I'm

1603
01:18:47,399 --> 01:18:51,239
not accusing anybody of anything. That's not something you do.

1604
01:18:51,880 --> 01:18:54,960
Like Gray two. I looked it up. Those are classified

1605
01:18:55,000 --> 01:18:58,920
as partial significant tears, right, you're not. I If the

1606
01:18:58,960 --> 01:19:02,960
Knicks let him play through that, someone needs to get fired.

1607
01:19:03,239 --> 01:19:05,119
I know he wants to be out there for the fans,

1608
01:19:05,119 --> 01:19:07,840
but you need to shut him down again if that's

1609
01:19:07,880 --> 01:19:11,439
the injury. So they were pretty healthy last season. I

1610
01:19:11,479 --> 01:19:14,720
know Jalen Brunton missed time, but Michel Bridges, Josh hard Ogann,

1611
01:19:14,760 --> 01:19:18,279
Andobi even Towns like they played a bunch, and I'm

1612
01:19:18,319 --> 01:19:21,560
just starting to wonder the depth is important because they

1613
01:19:21,680 --> 01:19:24,199
might need it just to get by. But when in

1614
01:19:24,239 --> 01:19:27,239
game one you've already found yourself, Oh, Trey Jemison needed

1615
01:19:27,239 --> 01:19:30,840
to get minutes. Yeah, Ariel Huckporty was starting. That's actually

1616
01:19:30,840 --> 01:19:33,199
my question with the Knicks is one, are they as

1617
01:19:33,239 --> 01:19:36,600
deep as we think? But two of these three sort

1618
01:19:36,640 --> 01:19:41,319
of just wtf injury situations? Are we just of the

1619
01:19:41,399 --> 01:19:44,720
belief that they're all just gonna resolve themselves and be

1620
01:19:44,800 --> 01:19:48,319
perfectly fine. I don't so. I think the Knicks are better.

1621
01:19:48,520 --> 01:19:51,199
I think they're more dynamic. They could win the East.

1622
01:19:52,000 --> 01:19:54,439
I think it's a stretch to say, especially because they

1623
01:19:54,479 --> 01:19:56,920
just beat the Calves who were shorthanded themselves, that they

1624
01:19:56,960 --> 01:19:59,479
need to be the clear favorites. Look, our viewers went

1625
01:19:59,520 --> 01:20:01,239
up as I would yelling about the Knicks. Is that

1626
01:20:01,279 --> 01:20:01,760
the recipe?

1627
01:20:02,239 --> 01:20:05,760
Speaker 2: I'll say the quiet part out loud. This These injuries

1628
01:20:06,439 --> 01:20:10,880
are just the result of unbending task master Mike Brown

1629
01:20:11,279 --> 01:20:15,640
and his three a day preseason practices and his ridiculous

1630
01:20:15,680 --> 01:20:19,239
minute demands and his refusal to lengthen the rotation. And

1631
01:20:19,319 --> 01:20:21,880
until the Knicks get a coach that's willing to be

1632
01:20:21,960 --> 01:20:24,560
more dynamic and not run his players into the ground.

1633
01:20:24,760 --> 01:20:26,960
This is just gonna be your reality, Dan, You're gonna

1634
01:20:26,960 --> 01:20:30,159
have to adjust to it. Uh. This week, Like, isn't

1635
01:20:30,159 --> 01:20:32,119
it funny that like TIBs is gone and this is

1636
01:20:32,159 --> 01:20:34,800
what's like, how all these guys seem broken down? It's

1637
01:20:34,840 --> 01:20:38,359
like maybe maybe, well maybe Tims was onto something. Maybe

1638
01:20:38,640 --> 01:20:40,640
maybe running guys into the ground keeps him healthy.

1639
01:20:40,680 --> 01:20:43,880
Speaker 1: Dan, Well, isn't it counter? Wouldn't the counter be he's

1640
01:20:43,920 --> 01:20:46,560
the one that broke them and then left before get out?

1641
01:20:46,680 --> 01:20:50,960
Speaker 2: I mean, there's no way to prove that playing everybody

1642
01:20:51,000 --> 01:20:54,279
forty seven minutes a night leads to injury down the line.

1643
01:20:54,319 --> 01:20:55,800
Good luck, good luck with that one.

1644
01:20:56,039 --> 01:20:58,159
Speaker 1: Can we go on it aside? Really quickly? One, he

1645
01:20:58,239 --> 01:21:00,560
did play eleven players, but at the end of the

1646
01:21:00,600 --> 01:21:03,640
first quarter. But you what did you see the report

1647
01:21:03,680 --> 01:21:06,840
that the Knicks also did background exploration of talking to

1648
01:21:06,920 --> 01:21:09,640
Joe Mizzoula before they hired Mike Brown. I have two

1649
01:21:09,680 --> 01:21:14,119
takeaways from this. That is a level of just audacious

1650
01:21:14,199 --> 01:21:16,079
due diligence that I just respect at this.

1651
01:21:16,159 --> 01:21:17,359
Speaker 2: Is that just googling him?

1652
01:21:17,359 --> 01:21:17,560
Speaker 1: Though?

1653
01:21:17,600 --> 01:21:21,239
Speaker 2: Is that just googling Joe Missoula and head coach, like,

1654
01:21:21,279 --> 01:21:23,840
oh shit, they's already taken, or like chat.

1655
01:21:23,680 --> 01:21:27,199
Speaker 1: GP team, what's his contract status? Probably, but with this

1656
01:21:27,319 --> 01:21:30,079
information coming out, I know that these open just hot.

1657
01:21:30,159 --> 01:21:32,000
Like if you're Mike Brown and you're saying, so why

1658
01:21:32,079 --> 01:21:34,720
was their seventh choice behind Billy Donovan at some point

1659
01:21:34,760 --> 01:21:37,119
that that has to clock. I know there's only thirty

1660
01:21:37,159 --> 01:21:39,479
head coaching jobs, but I want to say, as someone

1661
01:21:39,520 --> 01:21:41,760
who went off on their coaching search at first, and

1662
01:21:41,800 --> 01:21:44,359
I did walk it back after, I respect it, I

1663
01:21:44,520 --> 01:21:47,079
just it was so just brazen. I'm like, you know what, yeah,

1664
01:21:47,079 --> 01:21:50,000
what the hell? I don't just huge with psychopath Joe Missoula.

1665
01:21:50,520 --> 01:21:52,880
And by the way, some of these guys owe the

1666
01:21:52,920 --> 01:21:55,840
Knicks to thank you because of I think they seven

1667
01:21:56,119 --> 01:21:59,520
or six currently employed head coaches. Four of them ended

1668
01:21:59,600 --> 01:22:01,359
up getting extensions after the fact.

1669
01:22:01,520 --> 01:22:04,159
Speaker 2: So yeah, you think the Knicks get a cut of

1670
01:22:04,159 --> 01:22:06,319
that just because clearly they made it happen.

1671
01:22:06,960 --> 01:22:09,399
Speaker 1: Maybe they get made through like carbon credits or something.

1672
01:22:09,640 --> 01:22:12,039
Where are you at with the Knicks though relative to

1673
01:22:12,079 --> 01:22:12,560
the rest of the.

1674
01:22:12,520 --> 01:22:16,760
Speaker 2: East, I still I came into the year viewing Cleveland

1675
01:22:16,840 --> 01:22:19,960
as probably better, but the Knicks in that tier of two,

1676
01:22:20,279 --> 01:22:23,399
and then you've got your like Orlando not quite there

1677
01:22:23,479 --> 01:22:25,720
for me yet, but obviously as the one you'd pick

1678
01:22:25,800 --> 01:22:28,560
to get into that top echelon of the East. I

1679
01:22:28,600 --> 01:22:31,520
don't know that I left the opener thinking a whole

1680
01:22:31,600 --> 01:22:34,640
lot differently other than like, as you alluded to, the

1681
01:22:34,720 --> 01:22:37,840
Knicks are gonna play differently like they're and their players

1682
01:22:37,960 --> 01:22:40,560
like Brunton will be doing different stuff, and Og will

1683
01:22:40,600 --> 01:22:44,039
be doing and bridges. So that was my main takeaway.

1684
01:22:44,119 --> 01:22:47,800
I think the the other side of it was I

1685
01:22:47,920 --> 01:22:51,840
was pretty unimpressed by Cleveland, at least until Donovan Mitchell

1686
01:22:51,880 --> 01:22:54,039
made it a game in the second half, and and

1687
01:22:54,159 --> 01:22:56,119
but that was sort of all he had. He couldn't

1688
01:22:56,159 --> 01:23:02,640
carry that through to the fourth good like obviously Cleveland

1689
01:23:02,680 --> 01:23:06,199
was missing critical players like Garland being chief among them.

1690
01:23:06,319 --> 01:23:10,039
Pretty impressed by Mobili, I still think. I still think

1691
01:23:10,079 --> 01:23:13,760
at full strength, I just trust the Calves to say,

1692
01:23:13,800 --> 01:23:16,039
win more games in the regular season or or play

1693
01:23:16,119 --> 01:23:18,319
like a team that can win more games. Obviously being

1694
01:23:18,319 --> 01:23:20,479
at full strength effects how many games you're gonna win.

1695
01:23:21,520 --> 01:23:24,279
But very encouraged by the Knicks just because it does

1696
01:23:24,359 --> 01:23:27,960
feel different, and that was always the hope is that like, well,

1697
01:23:27,960 --> 01:23:30,319
maybe they aren't better on balance but it'll look they'll

1698
01:23:30,359 --> 01:23:32,359
try to get there a different way and maybe there's

1699
01:23:32,359 --> 01:23:35,640
a higher ceiling that way. Early indications are just like, yeah,

1700
01:23:35,680 --> 01:23:38,039
this is this is not going to be the same operation.

1701
01:23:38,520 --> 01:23:40,920
That's all you that's all you want, right Like really

1702
01:23:41,279 --> 01:23:43,399
from the Knicks, it's not like they they lack talent.

1703
01:23:43,479 --> 01:23:45,399
It just needed to be deployed a little differently, and

1704
01:23:45,439 --> 01:23:46,279
I think we saw that.

1705
01:23:46,920 --> 01:23:48,760
Speaker 1: I'm curious. I really want to know what the defense

1706
01:23:48,840 --> 01:23:51,279
is going to look like when everyone's together, because it's

1707
01:23:51,319 --> 01:23:53,000
just you can't get a good sense of it right now.

1708
01:23:53,000 --> 01:23:56,479
But ogn Andobi looks fantastic. McHale Bridge is not defending

1709
01:23:56,479 --> 01:24:00,520
at the POA. Every second looked really good on him.

1710
01:24:00,640 --> 01:24:02,359
How much of that was I mean Cleveland made some

1711
01:24:02,399 --> 01:24:04,560
offensive mistakes. I will say he's a bonus. Is this

1712
01:24:04,600 --> 01:24:07,560
even an overreaction? I'd mobile in my top five in

1713
01:24:07,640 --> 01:24:10,600
my preseason NBA ballot. He looked feeling pretty good about it,

1714
01:24:11,079 --> 01:24:14,159
handled it. Yeah, he looked really good. Your last pick

1715
01:24:15,039 --> 01:24:15,760
handle with care.

1716
01:24:16,000 --> 01:24:18,600
Speaker 2: Here's where the question comes in, like do I trust

1717
01:24:18,640 --> 01:24:22,720
you to take this one so we can talk about it?

1718
01:24:23,399 --> 01:24:26,000
Or are you too afraid? Are you too much of

1719
01:24:26,039 --> 01:24:28,399
a of a coward to take it.

1720
01:24:28,880 --> 01:24:32,760
Speaker 1: I think it's always safe to assume that I'm a coward.

1721
01:24:32,800 --> 01:24:34,359
So if you want to talk about it, you should

1722
01:24:34,359 --> 01:24:37,119
probably talk about it now, all.

1723
01:24:37,119 --> 01:24:40,960
Speaker 2: Right, I'm gonna do it. Dan overreaction time read Shepherd

1724
01:24:41,079 --> 01:24:45,960
is a bus man. Would you did it? Would you know?

1725
01:24:46,960 --> 01:24:49,239
Speaker 1: I figured I was gonna go someone we've already talked about,

1726
01:24:49,239 --> 01:24:51,760
the Rockets. I was gonna go to something else.

1727
01:24:51,800 --> 01:24:57,520
Speaker 2: But so this is this is one of the few

1728
01:24:57,600 --> 01:25:00,520
overreactions that in the moment as I was watching the

1729
01:25:00,560 --> 01:25:05,600
game that almost verbatim the thought occurred to me. So

1730
01:25:06,000 --> 01:25:09,079
I feel like, just to be honest about my thoughts,

1731
01:25:09,079 --> 01:25:09,880
I feel attacked.

1732
01:25:10,079 --> 01:25:11,760
Speaker 1: I can't attacked.

1733
01:25:11,800 --> 01:25:17,600
Speaker 2: It's one game, so don't feel too attacked. I don't

1734
01:25:17,640 --> 01:25:21,199
even care that he couldn't make shots. The concern for

1735
01:25:21,319 --> 01:25:26,520
me too, The main one is, and the most conspicuous issue,

1736
01:25:27,199 --> 01:25:32,279
is he got absolutely torched. Not just by Shay because

1737
01:25:32,279 --> 01:25:35,680
that's gonna happen, but like lou dort Is driving downhill

1738
01:25:35,720 --> 01:25:38,840
at him and spinning for clean layups like he I

1739
01:25:39,039 --> 01:25:44,079
was didn't read Shepherd have a reputation in college as

1740
01:25:44,159 --> 01:25:48,000
like a shockingly disruptive defender, like someone that actually I mean,

1741
01:25:48,039 --> 01:25:50,720
it's like the steel raid and the deflection stuff and whatever.

1742
01:25:52,159 --> 01:25:56,840
He is going to have to figure out how to

1743
01:25:56,960 --> 01:26:02,119
not be completely targeted on every possession by every team

1744
01:26:02,640 --> 01:26:05,960
or he will not be playable that side of the ball.

1745
01:26:06,159 --> 01:26:09,279
Like maybe it was nerves, maybe it was the thunder

1746
01:26:09,279 --> 01:26:14,479
are just mean, but it wasn't just major offensive threats

1747
01:26:14,520 --> 01:26:16,880
that were making him look really bad. It was kind

1748
01:26:16,880 --> 01:26:20,880
of everybody. So that's a huge red flag and a

1749
01:26:20,960 --> 01:26:24,399
huge problem that could be significant enough on an Imma

1750
01:26:24,479 --> 01:26:27,880
Oodoka team that a lot like Jamal Moseley in Orlando,

1751
01:26:28,000 --> 01:26:31,720
like basically demands that you can guard and so like,

1752
01:26:31,840 --> 01:26:34,520
even if it were true that if given the minutes,

1753
01:26:34,600 --> 01:26:38,640
Shepherd could really be the other offensive folkrum or like

1754
01:26:38,760 --> 01:26:41,800
a playmaker, I guess shot generator that this team needs

1755
01:26:42,239 --> 01:26:45,239
to support Thompson to support Sangoon. Even if that were true,

1756
01:26:45,840 --> 01:26:48,520
which nothing so far we've seen suggests that it is,

1757
01:26:49,279 --> 01:26:51,119
he might not get the opportunity because he just can't

1758
01:26:51,159 --> 01:26:55,920
guard specifically on this team that requires that, right, So like,

1759
01:26:56,720 --> 01:27:00,279
I just think I think the the reed Shepherd is

1760
01:27:00,279 --> 01:27:04,640
is coming in to save this operation was always like ridiculous.

1761
01:27:04,079 --> 01:27:08,880
Speaker 1: But whoa I mean, you know, but now I feel

1762
01:27:08,880 --> 01:27:09,119
a to.

1763
01:27:10,199 --> 01:27:13,479
Speaker 2: I just think like if if he's not gonna he

1764
01:27:13,560 --> 01:27:15,000
might not be able to get on the floor. If

1765
01:27:15,039 --> 01:27:18,319
he's gonna defend like this, an overreaction, caveat flashing neon

1766
01:27:18,399 --> 01:27:21,039
sign like one game, so on and so forth. It

1767
01:27:21,079 --> 01:27:23,960
was the Thunder, so on and so forth. If his

1768
01:27:24,000 --> 01:27:26,199
defense looks like this, I don't know why he's gonna

1769
01:27:26,239 --> 01:27:28,760
get more than the five hundred whatever minutes he got

1770
01:27:28,840 --> 01:27:29,279
last year.

1771
01:27:31,279 --> 01:27:34,319
Speaker 1: This is an overreaction. You're an idiot. I don't know

1772
01:27:34,319 --> 01:27:39,079
who even nominated it. Here's my thing, and you already

1773
01:27:39,560 --> 01:27:42,319
said this. It was one game, but you said this

1774
01:27:42,399 --> 01:27:44,760
at the end. It was one game from someone who

1775
01:27:44,840 --> 01:27:47,239
is basically in his rookie season. When you look at

1776
01:27:47,239 --> 01:27:50,399
how much he played yep last year. And I think

1777
01:27:50,439 --> 01:27:53,600
that while the Thunder offense was like no starter was

1778
01:27:53,640 --> 01:27:55,520
allowed to make a three for the most of that game,

1779
01:27:56,199 --> 01:27:58,960
they have someone who is kind of able to pick.

1780
01:27:59,279 --> 01:28:00,880
The way that they can on their offense is they're

1781
01:28:00,920 --> 01:28:04,960
gonna pick on certain guys. And they singled read jepherd

1782
01:28:04,960 --> 01:28:08,479
out for whatever not for whatever reason, because he struggled

1783
01:28:11,439 --> 01:28:15,039
to your previous point, some of the people building him

1784
01:28:15,119 --> 01:28:16,680
up coming him out of the draft was like, we

1785
01:28:16,680 --> 01:28:18,520
you look at his side like he might have some strength,

1786
01:28:18,520 --> 01:28:21,039
like he'll be fine on defense. So if you want

1787
01:28:21,039 --> 01:28:23,560
to panic about the defense, sure, I look at the

1788
01:28:23,600 --> 01:28:26,520
offense and the fact that he couldn't handle Okase's pressure

1789
01:28:26,560 --> 01:28:28,760
bringing the ball up a few times. It did make

1790
01:28:28,800 --> 01:28:31,800
me a little queasy. But then we just talked about

1791
01:28:31,800 --> 01:28:34,840
it with Aman Thompson and the Rockets at large, it

1792
01:28:34,880 --> 01:28:38,159
was okay. See, And so I think what needs to

1793
01:28:38,239 --> 01:28:42,039
happen with sophomores who are less than a thousand minutes

1794
01:28:42,239 --> 01:28:46,159
or whatever into their NBA regular season careers. They need reps,

1795
01:28:46,439 --> 01:28:48,319
and the Rockets need to figure out whether they have

1796
01:28:48,359 --> 01:28:50,880
the stomach to offer him those reps. I'm not saying

1797
01:28:50,880 --> 01:28:52,600
you need to run the entire offense through him. I

1798
01:28:52,640 --> 01:28:55,079
also think, by the way, that is something I know

1799
01:28:55,199 --> 01:28:58,199
what this team needs. But part of the read Shepherd

1800
01:28:58,199 --> 01:29:01,000
feature is, well, don't put him on the ball all

1801
01:29:01,039 --> 01:29:03,960
the time, run him off some screens, help him space

1802
01:29:04,039 --> 01:29:06,880
the floor. Four Amen Thompson or four Alpern Shangun. I

1803
01:29:06,880 --> 01:29:10,600
think they can do more of that moving forward to say,

1804
01:29:10,720 --> 01:29:12,479
and I'm not saying you're saying this, this was just

1805
01:29:12,520 --> 01:29:14,399
a topic even though, I just want to reiterate, you

1806
01:29:14,479 --> 01:29:18,359
suck and this is mean. He's not how many games

1807
01:29:18,680 --> 01:29:22,840
before we would legitimately say, oh he can't play. This

1808
01:29:22,880 --> 01:29:24,920
isn't someone who's gonna be on the court during the playoffs.

1809
01:29:25,199 --> 01:29:28,680
It's not after one game against the Oklahoma City Thunder

1810
01:29:28,720 --> 01:29:31,880
of all teams. But is it twenty one games a

1811
01:29:31,960 --> 01:29:34,640
quarter of the season, Like is it fifteen when do

1812
01:29:34,720 --> 01:29:37,840
you actually start to get or do you start sounding

1813
01:29:37,840 --> 01:29:38,479
the alarm bells.

1814
01:29:38,720 --> 01:29:40,920
Speaker 2: I was gonna say, if we get past the midway

1815
01:29:40,960 --> 01:29:43,119
point of this season and we feel the same way,

1816
01:29:43,119 --> 01:29:46,119
where like the you know, the offensive efficiency isn't where

1817
01:29:46,119 --> 01:29:48,359
it needs to be, even after maybe trying him in

1818
01:29:48,399 --> 01:29:51,119
the ways, I think you're wise. You're correctly suggesting he

1819
01:29:51,279 --> 01:29:54,920
might be better used on offense. And if it's I

1820
01:29:54,960 --> 01:29:57,560
mean the thing the defense I think might crystallize sooner.

1821
01:29:57,720 --> 01:30:00,640
Like if we go a month and every time he's

1822
01:30:00,640 --> 01:30:02,760
out there he's getting targeted and he's not holding up,

1823
01:30:03,399 --> 01:30:08,319
we can probably make some pretty like firm conclusions on

1824
01:30:08,359 --> 01:30:11,000
what he can be defensively. At that point, I think

1825
01:30:11,039 --> 01:30:14,239
offense is just gonna take longer and and will take

1826
01:30:14,319 --> 01:30:17,439
exploration of, Like how else can we make him valuable.

1827
01:30:17,960 --> 01:30:21,439
That's a half season thing for me. I do think,

1828
01:30:21,520 --> 01:30:25,319
like you know, we always say like the team itself

1829
01:30:25,319 --> 01:30:27,399
knows a little more about the guy, right Like they

1830
01:30:27,439 --> 01:30:29,399
see him in practice, they see what it looks like

1831
01:30:29,439 --> 01:30:32,760
against you know, internal competition. The fact that he the

1832
01:30:32,800 --> 01:30:35,279
fact that Thompson just got the starting point guard job.

1833
01:30:35,399 --> 01:30:37,600
And I don't know about you, but I kind of thought, well,

1834
01:30:37,760 --> 01:30:40,279
Sheppard and Thompson will start together like that, that'll be

1835
01:30:40,319 --> 01:30:43,159
your backcourt coming into the season, like most of the summer.

1836
01:30:43,159 --> 01:30:45,399
That's what I thought. The fact that he didn't get

1837
01:30:45,399 --> 01:30:48,199
that job at the outset and then looks bad right away.

1838
01:30:48,239 --> 01:30:51,880
This is why we're overreacting. But that's that's not a

1839
01:30:51,920 --> 01:30:54,359
positive sign. And I really do think there is something

1840
01:30:54,359 --> 01:30:58,760
too the defense just making it so Doka is not

1841
01:30:58,800 --> 01:31:01,960
going to play him, even if he becomes a much

1842
01:31:01,960 --> 01:31:05,840
better offensive player, especially as a playoff proposition. I would

1843
01:31:05,840 --> 01:31:07,760
love it if he were an innings eater and got

1844
01:31:07,760 --> 01:31:09,840
to run the show as a point guard against second units.

1845
01:31:09,840 --> 01:31:11,560
Maybe we haven't seen a ton of that, like that

1846
01:31:11,600 --> 01:31:14,840
would be something to explore. But the defense could just

1847
01:31:14,920 --> 01:31:18,119
be the non negotiable, right, Like that might be the

1848
01:31:18,199 --> 01:31:22,600
thing that he sorry, man, you can't play.

1849
01:31:21,760 --> 01:31:24,000
Speaker 1: Do you? And I guess how much of that though,

1850
01:31:24,039 --> 01:31:27,119
So when you look Dorian Phinney Smith not healthy right now?

1851
01:31:27,319 --> 01:31:30,800
Try Eastan was pretty awful? Is that a stretch to say?

1852
01:31:30,840 --> 01:31:33,520
Speaker 2: In that first game conspicuously bad?

1853
01:31:33,800 --> 01:31:36,479
Speaker 1: You already know even though I said, okay having him

1854
01:31:36,520 --> 01:31:38,960
space the floor around Aman Thompson, it's well because A'm

1855
01:31:38,960 --> 01:31:40,880
and Thompson has so much ball handling responsibility. Right now,

1856
01:31:40,920 --> 01:31:43,960
you already know those two should be staggered. Is it?

1857
01:31:44,039 --> 01:31:46,560
They need to experiment more with who they're tying him to,

1858
01:31:46,720 --> 01:31:48,640
Like there was the I can't remember what the lineup was,

1859
01:31:48,840 --> 01:31:52,199
but he was with Shangun and Durant Reed Shepherd and

1860
01:31:52,239 --> 01:31:54,159
I think Easan might have even been a but like

1861
01:31:54,239 --> 01:31:56,079
it worked and it was maybe you just need to

1862
01:31:56,119 --> 01:31:58,079
insulate he should he probably shouldn't be on the floor

1863
01:31:58,079 --> 01:32:01,079
with Clint Capella at this stage. Now that gets fuzzy

1864
01:32:01,119 --> 01:32:04,760
because you're dealing with because then you're dealing with bench units.

1865
01:32:04,800 --> 01:32:06,880
But I'm actually wondering if you can put better defense

1866
01:32:06,920 --> 01:32:09,960
around him, And yes, it's it's probably I'm twisting myself

1867
01:32:10,000 --> 01:32:12,039
into a pretzel saying, well, how many really good defenders

1868
01:32:12,079 --> 01:32:14,079
do you need around him. But I'm even saying you

1869
01:32:14,119 --> 01:32:17,279
look at the lineups, you probably just need one really

1870
01:32:17,319 --> 01:32:20,359
good perimeter defender on the court with him. And it

1871
01:32:20,399 --> 01:32:23,039
gets harder for them to do that if when Fred

1872
01:32:23,079 --> 01:32:25,439
Vanvliet's not healthy, so you're gonna stagger him from Am

1873
01:32:25,479 --> 01:32:27,239
and Thompson so rule him out a lot of the time.

1874
01:32:27,720 --> 01:32:30,479
And then is tardy Ethan gonna play like he did?

1875
01:32:30,760 --> 01:32:33,359
That wasn't the expectation. And so when Dorrin Phinney Smith

1876
01:32:33,359 --> 01:32:36,720
comes back, I'm wondering if you're like that settles out

1877
01:32:36,760 --> 01:32:38,279
a little bit, and so you're not talking about, oh,

1878
01:32:38,439 --> 01:32:40,720
is it Josha Kogi? Is it Kevin Durant to do

1879
01:32:40,800 --> 01:32:44,039
something defensively on the perimeter. I think Green Sheppard's going

1880
01:32:44,039 --> 01:32:47,159
to be fine. Now. Is my optimism waning a little bit? No?

1881
01:32:47,439 --> 01:32:51,159
Because I am a tried and true Reachepherd believer, and

1882
01:32:51,279 --> 01:32:53,279
if I won't believe in him clearly, who will.

1883
01:32:53,840 --> 01:32:56,239
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just want to say, I really it would

1884
01:32:56,279 --> 01:32:58,479
be a lot more fun if he could just be

1885
01:32:58,600 --> 01:33:00,960
what the Rockets see him to be. I'm not I'm just.

1886
01:33:02,640 --> 01:33:04,319
Speaker 1: I'm sorry I missed it. What were the number of

1887
01:33:04,399 --> 01:33:06,800
games that you said just your dead set on. Oh,

1888
01:33:07,119 --> 01:33:09,000
we need to hit the panic button.

1889
01:33:11,560 --> 01:33:13,720
Speaker 2: Okay, I mean you could give him a full season.

1890
01:33:14,039 --> 01:33:17,199
I'm gonna go half just to be meaner about it.

1891
01:33:18,399 --> 01:33:21,600
Speaker 1: Okay, So we are on to me. It's the final pick,

1892
01:33:21,640 --> 01:33:23,439
and so Grant, we have some decisions to make here.

1893
01:33:23,520 --> 01:33:26,039
Let's talk it through. Help me make my final pick here. Now,

1894
01:33:26,039 --> 01:33:29,000
we could do what I think the masses would do,

1895
01:33:29,680 --> 01:33:33,800
we could do what this podcast would do, or we

1896
01:33:33,840 --> 01:33:35,279
could straddle the in between.

1897
01:33:37,239 --> 01:33:41,039
Speaker 2: I think you got you know what, I definitely just

1898
01:33:41,119 --> 01:33:43,479
picked from my heart and what I wanted to talk about.

1899
01:33:43,520 --> 01:33:46,439
So it might be a mass's pick. I think you

1900
01:33:46,520 --> 01:33:48,920
might want to just keep the most people happy. What

1901
01:33:48,960 --> 01:33:51,159
do you think about that? All?

1902
01:33:51,239 --> 01:33:54,239
Speaker 1: Right, then, so we are going to go with VJ.

1903
01:33:54,439 --> 01:33:57,359
Edge Colemy's Rookie of the Year. It is not Cooper,

1904
01:33:57,520 --> 01:34:01,079
who is who even is Cooper flag? Grant, He's not

1905
01:34:01,159 --> 01:34:01,560
on guard.

1906
01:34:01,680 --> 01:34:02,159
Speaker 2: Tell you that.

1907
01:34:03,600 --> 01:34:06,239
Speaker 1: For all that we took away that was negative about

1908
01:34:06,319 --> 01:34:11,479
Joelle Bead's debut in Philadelphia, VJ. Edgecombe was spectacular, just

1909
01:34:11,560 --> 01:34:14,479
the chemistry. But first of all, Tyr's Maxie was great too,

1910
01:34:14,760 --> 01:34:17,640
the chemistry between him and Maxi. When Maxi was just

1911
01:34:17,640 --> 01:34:19,840
going off for seventeen and VJ. Edgecomb kind of took

1912
01:34:19,840 --> 01:34:22,840
a step back. VJ. Edgecombe scored ten straight points and

1913
01:34:22,960 --> 01:34:24,920
Tyre's Maxie I don't know how much he was on

1914
01:34:24,920 --> 01:34:27,199
the floor for that, but they played off one another

1915
01:34:27,239 --> 01:34:29,720
really well. The speed at which they play is insane.

1916
01:34:30,000 --> 01:34:32,920
If you had to give me one word to describe VJ.

1917
01:34:33,039 --> 01:34:36,079
Edgecomb right now, it might be fearless. He took thirteen threes.

1918
01:34:36,399 --> 01:34:38,239
He doesn't like the way he gets up and down

1919
01:34:38,239 --> 01:34:41,600
the floor in transition. Even just his baseline cuts are

1920
01:34:42,039 --> 01:34:43,399
oh no, I'm gonna go o. I don't care, I'm

1921
01:34:43,439 --> 01:34:45,920
gonna go all the way to the basket. What this

1922
01:34:46,079 --> 01:34:48,920
is just this is the back court of the future

1923
01:34:48,920 --> 01:34:51,159
in Philly is unless you think VJ. Edgecomb is a three,

1924
01:34:51,159 --> 01:34:52,960
which fine, that would actually work out quite well for

1925
01:34:52,960 --> 01:34:54,760
the Sixers because of who else is on the roster.

1926
01:34:55,439 --> 01:34:58,079
Where do you land on? We came into this season

1927
01:34:58,239 --> 01:35:01,319
and everyone said, what, well, let's before we get there.

1928
01:35:01,319 --> 01:35:04,039
What were just your initial impressions of the VJ. Edgecomb experience.

1929
01:35:04,439 --> 01:35:06,800
Speaker 2: I think it's hard for me to divorce them from

1930
01:35:07,000 --> 01:35:11,520
from the fit with Maxi, which gives the Sixers this

1931
01:35:11,680 --> 01:35:15,920
identity of we are faster and more athletic than you,

1932
01:35:16,079 --> 01:35:18,279
and we will get up and down and we will

1933
01:35:18,279 --> 01:35:22,039
attack like that kind of identity that like as a

1934
01:35:22,079 --> 01:35:27,239
tandem one is super exciting and two kind of doesn't fit.

1935
01:35:27,279 --> 01:35:29,119
If Joel embeads in the way and like needs a

1936
01:35:29,159 --> 01:35:31,279
bunch of elbow touches all the time like that, that

1937
01:35:31,319 --> 01:35:37,239
feels like a real like impasse potentially. So that was

1938
01:35:37,279 --> 01:35:39,520
the other thing I thought, just while enjoying it all,

1939
01:35:39,760 --> 01:35:41,720
was Oh, I don't know if like, can you kind

1940
01:35:41,720 --> 01:35:43,640
of do both of these? Can you be both of

1941
01:35:43,680 --> 01:35:47,319
these things? That's that's a good problem, because it would

1942
01:35:47,319 --> 01:35:50,920
be you prefer it to Edgecomb doesn't look ready or

1943
01:35:51,239 --> 01:35:53,439
that athleticism is not going to translate on either end.

1944
01:35:53,439 --> 01:35:55,880
It's just he's not a basketball player. Like if that,

1945
01:35:56,000 --> 01:35:57,640
if that's what we were talking about, that would be

1946
01:35:57,680 --> 01:36:01,000
a bigger issue. But I did kind of fixate on

1947
01:36:01,039 --> 01:36:04,159
the fit stuff. I think it's just really exciting because

1948
01:36:05,079 --> 01:36:08,079
I don't know, maybe also in contrast to the m

1949
01:36:08,079 --> 01:36:12,039
beat stuff, where it's like it's disheartening to watch him

1950
01:36:12,279 --> 01:36:14,760
move like he moves and play like he's playing, and

1951
01:36:14,800 --> 01:36:17,239
then you can see Edgecomb just like explode all over

1952
01:36:17,279 --> 01:36:20,640
the floor. And just be aggressive. Like you said, it's

1953
01:36:20,680 --> 01:36:24,039
a nice like little chaser for the helps the medicine

1954
01:36:24,039 --> 01:36:27,640
go down a little smoother. Uh, really fun, Like I

1955
01:36:27,640 --> 01:36:31,520
I think there it's so Flag like Flag is gonna

1956
01:36:31,560 --> 01:36:34,079
get his numbers, and it'd be a massive upset if

1957
01:36:34,079 --> 01:36:38,199
anybody else pushed him for Rookie of the Year. But

1958
01:36:38,239 --> 01:36:40,640
if Edgecumb's gonna have this kind of role and he's

1959
01:36:40,640 --> 01:36:42,439
gonna get to shoot this much and he's gonna get

1960
01:36:42,479 --> 01:36:44,880
to like just do the whole explore the space kind

1961
01:36:44,920 --> 01:36:47,359
of thing this much, doesn't he have to at least

1962
01:36:47,359 --> 01:36:49,920
be like your clear number two now, like moving Harper

1963
01:36:49,960 --> 01:36:52,359
out of the picture and Ace Baliens we haven't seen,

1964
01:36:52,399 --> 01:36:56,000
by the way, but you know, I think he moves

1965
01:36:56,000 --> 01:36:58,159
to number two at minimum, right, just based on this.

1966
01:36:58,239 --> 01:37:00,239
How many other guys are gonna score thirty plus in

1967
01:37:00,279 --> 01:37:03,439
the rookie season this year? Probably not many, No, look

1968
01:37:03,479 --> 01:37:06,600
Vj's Complainey's an average thirty plus for the sixers, right.

1969
01:37:06,720 --> 01:37:09,560
I like what I really like about him, And I

1970
01:37:09,600 --> 01:37:11,840
don't know if he definitely has the feel for how

1971
01:37:11,880 --> 01:37:16,279
to toggle between the two existences, but like he can

1972
01:37:16,319 --> 01:37:18,199
work as someone who's trying to look for his own

1973
01:37:18,199 --> 01:37:20,319
offense or just work as Oh, I'm gonna play off

1974
01:37:20,319 --> 01:37:22,520
everyone else and within the flow of the game, get

1975
01:37:22,560 --> 01:37:25,159
out in transition, cut shoot threes off the catch. Like

1976
01:37:25,199 --> 01:37:30,039
I mentioned before, I just I curious as to what

1977
01:37:30,239 --> 01:37:33,039
his role is going to be once Paul George comes

1978
01:37:33,079 --> 01:37:34,199
back on the offensive end.

1979
01:37:34,199 --> 01:37:35,720
Speaker 1: Is the bigger deal to me? And then you mentioned

1980
01:37:35,760 --> 01:37:37,439
it before with Jawon and Bed coming in and out

1981
01:37:37,439 --> 01:37:40,399
of the lineup, we have the Quinton Grimes situation here

1982
01:37:40,439 --> 01:37:41,399
too as well.

1983
01:37:41,479 --> 01:37:43,880
Speaker 2: Kane. I mean, you're gonna have McCain's gonna need to play.

1984
01:37:44,399 --> 01:37:47,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I don't expect that he's gonna have these

1985
01:37:48,039 --> 01:37:50,319
gaudy numbers all year. And if he does, does it

1986
01:37:50,359 --> 01:37:53,239
bring into question of well, where are the Sixers in

1987
01:37:53,279 --> 01:37:55,399
the Eastern Conference? Because I don't know if okay, they

1988
01:37:55,399 --> 01:37:57,880
pulled out the victory against Boston, But if if VJ.

1989
01:37:58,039 --> 01:38:02,119
Edgecomb is your second best offense players, it's good and

1990
01:38:02,159 --> 01:38:04,279
it's also kind of, oh where do we sit in

1991
01:38:04,319 --> 01:38:06,680
the standings? I don't know if that's bad, but that

1992
01:38:06,720 --> 01:38:08,680
would bring about an existential question.

1993
01:38:09,159 --> 01:38:11,319
Speaker 2: It is like we do need to acknowledge like if

1994
01:38:11,319 --> 01:38:14,800
he's this best or second best rookie, this year, chances

1995
01:38:14,840 --> 01:38:17,640
are he's like maybe a break even player just because

1996
01:38:17,680 --> 01:38:21,439
of what happens, Like what rookies do you know? So yeah,

1997
01:38:21,479 --> 01:38:24,560
if he's in a massive role all season, that would

1998
01:38:24,600 --> 01:38:27,520
be an interesting like thought exercise. We flash forward to

1999
01:38:27,560 --> 01:38:32,239
April VJ. Edgecomb has played twenty five hundred minutes and

2000
01:38:32,760 --> 01:38:36,520
average twenty two points a game. Where are the Sixers

2001
01:38:36,560 --> 01:38:40,199
in the East standings? It'd be like either second or twelfth.

2002
01:38:40,319 --> 01:38:42,600
I don't know, it's hard to maybe you know what

2003
01:38:42,640 --> 01:38:44,640
we've been wrong all along. Joel Embiid is not the

2004
01:38:44,680 --> 01:38:45,840
barometer for the Sixers.

2005
01:38:45,880 --> 01:38:49,439
Speaker 1: It's Edgecomb it might be. And the other thing, I'll

2006
01:38:49,479 --> 01:38:51,880
just second it's not quite at the level of their

2007
01:38:51,960 --> 01:38:54,760
different body types. But the en ball speed from him

2008
01:38:54,840 --> 01:38:56,479
is just sort of sneaky. And I know there was

2009
01:38:56,479 --> 01:38:58,239
the one plan I thing it was Xavier Tillman. So

2010
01:38:58,279 --> 01:39:01,520
it's Exavier Tillman bringing the ball up and semi transition

2011
01:39:01,920 --> 01:39:04,560
and just blows right through the gap to his right

2012
01:39:04,640 --> 01:39:08,760
and just like thunder dunks the boomstick. I can't I

2013
01:39:08,920 --> 01:39:10,840
liked him coming out of school. I don't remember where

2014
01:39:10,840 --> 01:39:12,760
he ended up on my big board. But this is

2015
01:39:12,920 --> 01:39:15,840
just if he's playing like this doesn't if you're like,

2016
01:39:16,159 --> 01:39:18,000
what does that even do to your future? It makes

2017
01:39:18,039 --> 01:39:20,439
it better and more complicated at the same time because

2018
01:39:20,439 --> 01:39:24,920
of who's also on this roster. I don't even if

2019
01:39:24,920 --> 01:39:27,640
this was really a question of saying VJ. Edgecomb has

2020
01:39:27,680 --> 01:39:29,960
the best chance of challenging Cooper Flag for Rookie of

2021
01:39:30,000 --> 01:39:33,359
the Year? Are you? Because the first one's an overreaction?

2022
01:39:33,439 --> 01:39:35,199
Is the second one also an overreaction?

2023
01:39:35,880 --> 01:39:38,880
Speaker 2: I really still like Dylan Harper, even though he had

2024
01:39:38,880 --> 01:39:42,199
some real hits and misses in his opener, and Bailey

2025
01:39:42,239 --> 01:39:46,760
who knows? But I I mean, certainly right now, Edgecomb

2026
01:39:46,840 --> 01:39:49,920
has shown production and the other guys have been like, well,

2027
01:39:49,960 --> 01:39:52,720
speculatively they might be pretty good. So I don't think

2028
01:39:52,720 --> 01:39:55,239
it's an overreaction if you, based on that game said

2029
01:39:55,279 --> 01:39:58,439
oh this guy he's number two, I don't think that's crazy.

2030
01:40:00,359 --> 01:40:02,359
Speaker 1: Man. That does it for us? Grant, But how did

2031
01:40:02,359 --> 01:40:04,880
you feel about our first Annual Takes draft?

2032
01:40:05,720 --> 01:40:08,039
Speaker 2: I feel like we tied. Actually I feel like I

2033
01:40:08,119 --> 01:40:11,119
won because I because you weren't gonna take the reed

2034
01:40:11,119 --> 01:40:15,079
Shepherd square and I did it and it was the

2035
01:40:15,159 --> 01:40:17,479
right choice, and so I correctly gained the draft. They

2036
01:40:17,520 --> 01:40:19,600
didn't have to waste an early pick on it to

2037
01:40:19,640 --> 01:40:22,119
get it to get it in there. So it felt

2038
01:40:22,119 --> 01:40:24,199
pretty strongly about it because we were competing. I don't

2039
01:40:24,199 --> 01:40:26,000
know if you knew that we were. There was only

2040
01:40:26,000 --> 01:40:26,520
one winner.

2041
01:40:27,159 --> 01:40:30,520
Speaker 1: I think I win because I waited until pick number

2042
01:40:30,600 --> 01:40:33,239
nine or was it ten? Where did I pick the

2043
01:40:33,279 --> 01:40:36,600
knicks that was at number Great restraint by you, the

2044
01:40:36,640 --> 01:40:38,279
great restraint by me. So I feel like I win.

2045
01:40:38,439 --> 01:40:40,319
What do you think was the What was I going

2046
01:40:40,359 --> 01:40:42,720
to pick with the final pick? Because it wasn't j Edgecomb.

2047
01:40:44,159 --> 01:40:46,520
Speaker 2: I think you were gonna go ooh, I bet you

2048
01:40:46,520 --> 01:40:49,359
were gonna go Cam Johnson was as Cam Johnson trade

2049
01:40:49,399 --> 01:40:49,960
was a mistake.

2050
01:40:50,399 --> 01:40:52,560
Speaker 1: I thought. I thought that was the middle ground. I

2051
01:40:52,640 --> 01:40:54,359
was gonna go with what would have been on brand

2052
01:40:54,359 --> 01:40:56,760
for this podcast and say, the Utah Jazz are not

2053
01:40:56,800 --> 01:40:58,640
going to be the worst team in the Western Conference.

2054
01:40:59,359 --> 01:41:02,800
They look fun, the fun. Will Hardy is so getting

2055
01:41:02,800 --> 01:41:04,399
fired for making them too good.

2056
01:41:04,760 --> 01:41:08,319
Speaker 2: That guy can't do anything wrong. That's that's the problem. Yeah,

2057
01:41:08,359 --> 01:41:11,039
that was That was That was the most shocking of

2058
01:41:11,479 --> 01:41:15,279
the full slate of opening night games results. In first quarters,

2059
01:41:15,279 --> 01:41:16,960
by the way, it was like forty three to nineteen.

2060
01:41:17,399 --> 01:41:19,079
Jazz were up on the Clippers.

2061
01:41:18,720 --> 01:41:21,479
Speaker 1: Or halftime score, which, because I wasn't watching it live,

2062
01:41:21,520 --> 01:41:24,760
I saw the halftime score and was thinking, holy crap,

2063
01:41:24,800 --> 01:41:26,399
what is going on in that game? And you dig

2064
01:41:26,439 --> 01:41:28,520
into it and it's oh my god. First of all,

2065
01:41:28,920 --> 01:41:31,479
Walker Kessler, it's good he didn't get an extension. He

2066
01:41:31,520 --> 01:41:35,439
might just get a max contract out this descript Do

2067
01:41:35,479 --> 01:41:37,119
you have anything else or are you ready to take

2068
01:41:37,159 --> 01:41:37,720
us out of here?

2069
01:41:38,079 --> 01:41:40,560
Speaker 2: Nope, that'll do it. Thanks everybody for listening, for watching,

2070
01:41:40,600 --> 01:41:43,680
and remember please rate, review, subscribe, give us the thumbs

2071
01:41:43,760 --> 01:41:45,920
up on YouTube. You can give us hype points as

2072
01:41:46,000 --> 01:41:48,880
Dan mentioned, leave some comments there as well. Which of

2073
01:41:48,960 --> 01:41:51,600
these are not overreactions other than the rest?

2074
01:41:51,640 --> 01:41:54,079
Speaker 1: You know you're overreactions? Yeah, here everyone else is.

2075
01:41:54,159 --> 01:41:56,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is the time to do it, because pretty

2076
01:41:56,520 --> 01:41:58,279
soon they'll just have to be takes and they don't

2077
01:41:58,279 --> 01:42:00,279
get to be called over reactions. You don't get that

2078
01:42:00,760 --> 01:42:01,399
level of cover.

2079
01:42:01,760 --> 01:42:03,439
Speaker 1: Cant takes though.

2080
01:42:04,079 --> 01:42:06,479
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think those you're allowed to hot takes are

2081
01:42:06,479 --> 01:42:09,199
good anytime. I don't think there's a there's really like

2082
01:42:09,199 --> 01:42:11,399
a part of the season. We can't all for those

2083
01:42:12,279 --> 01:42:15,399
what else or over unders are closed cheaters? If you're

2084
01:42:15,399 --> 01:42:17,640
trying to enter one. Now it's too late because we

2085
01:42:17,680 --> 01:42:21,319
already know some results. We'll keep tabs on that all season,

2086
01:42:21,960 --> 01:42:24,000
and uh yeah, I think that's gonna do it. Tell

2087
01:42:24,000 --> 01:42:26,439
your friend Chillier. Aneman shouts Frank Milton and apologies with

2088
01:42:26,520 --> 01:42:26,800
Jared