Speaker 1: We're back on the drive with ESPN's Dave mcmanimon joining
Speaker 1: us for today's NBA Daily Assist Alex Jensen five o'clock
Speaker 1: hour tonight, always appreciate his time. Hey Porter, real quick?
Speaker 1: Do you follow? Do you follow Dave mcminimon on Instagram?
Speaker 2: I think so? I think?
Speaker 3: So?
Speaker 2: Okay? Has he ever.
Speaker 1: Posted a photo uh thanking us for bringing him on
Speaker 1: and like saying, Hey, this is really cool. I've been
Speaker 1: doing this for years and Spence rules. Has he ever
Speaker 1: posted any photos like that?
Speaker 2: You sell the Richien hit?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm just saying, like, I like Richison, but
Speaker 1: I do too. You know, I think Dave is on
Speaker 1: Riches show once a year, he's on our show.
Speaker 2: I'm just curious.
Speaker 1: Did I miss a post of Dave saying Wow, it's
Speaker 1: awesome to be on Spencer's show again.
Speaker 2: I know we've had Dave on rem I think we've
Speaker 2: had Dave like on site before. Have we had him
Speaker 2: in studio?
Speaker 3: Uh? No?
Speaker 1: But you know, I'm just wondering if if he holds
Speaker 1: rich Eison on a pedestal, then he doesn't really feel
Speaker 1: like I'm worthy of social media sharing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you may have a point.
Speaker 1: I don't know Dave mcminnimon joins us a Thursday. What's
Speaker 1: the deal, dude? I mean I like Rich Eisen too,
Speaker 1: but I mean, come on equal time.
Speaker 3: I would say in my recollection, when I made sure
Speaker 3: to go remote on site with you Journal Star weekend
Speaker 3: in Salt Lake City, your operation didn't have a cameraman
Speaker 3: there capturing the moment and then sharing that image with
Speaker 3: me so that I could then share with my followers.
Speaker 3: Had I received that japeg and not shared it, I
Speaker 3: think you would have a point. But I would have
Speaker 3: to say, like, you got to up your game. You
Speaker 3: got to start doing it like Eisen, so I can
Speaker 3: start promoting the show the same way.
Speaker 1: Porter, Will you please hire a photographer before Dave gets
Speaker 1: off their so we could do it next time he's
Speaker 1: in town, just for Dave mc minnibe's next hit. Okay,
Speaker 1: thank you, sir. I kid Dave, obviously, I kid.
Speaker 2: All right. Look, you know the deal man, You do
Speaker 2: this job.
Speaker 1: You're in this ecosystem, and you've got to put the
Speaker 1: fan aside, which I try to do. But I have
Speaker 1: not been this excited about a New York Nick team
Speaker 1: truly in twenty five years, since the late nineties, right,
Speaker 1: I am still incredibly skeptical of their ability to get
Speaker 1: two more wins. That's just where I'm at. But where
Speaker 1: are you at with Nick Celtics after two games?
Speaker 3: I mean, listen, they the Knicks deserve so much credit
Speaker 3: for the way they did not give up on either
Speaker 3: of those those games. Day one, Cavs and foul trouble
Speaker 3: didn't find a rhythm, bruntson caught a heater late and
Speaker 3: mckel bridges making every play they needed in overtime. And
Speaker 3: last night, you know, like just they never gave up
Speaker 3: once again. And you know, the Boston I'm not saying
Speaker 3: they're like an intimidating opponent, but they are very, very
Speaker 3: good one. They're a worthy champion, and anyone who watched
Speaker 3: them this year, I think certainly they have the best
Speaker 3: level of play when they are at their best. But
Speaker 3: the Knicks are making it tough for the Celtics to
Speaker 3: play at their best. And man, the Garden's going to
Speaker 3: be insane for Game three. I saw Jared Smith said
Speaker 3: he's going to go there. He needs to be in
Speaker 3: the building. You can imagine I'll surely be a parade
Speaker 3: of former Knicks there, you know, Patrick Ewing going up
Speaker 3: to Boston for these games, but you know Pat will
Speaker 3: be in the building. You know you're gonna see Larry Johnson, etc. Center.
Speaker 3: It's going to be awesome. And I think this is
Speaker 3: kind of what everyone was hoping for last year, that
Speaker 3: NIXT team to make it to the conference finals, obviously
Speaker 3: upset by Indiana and they go were injured at the
Speaker 3: end of their run. They look like a real contender
Speaker 3: right now. I will say this, though, the series is
Speaker 3: far from over. And you know, I picked Boston in seven,
Speaker 3: and you know, I guess my confidence and etic is
Speaker 3: shaken ever so slightly, but I don't think it's going
Speaker 3: to be easy from here on out for.
Speaker 1: The next I'm surprised you picked Boston in seven. Most
Speaker 1: people picked Boston in four or five or six, so
Speaker 1: I'm surprised you thought it would go seven. And look,
Speaker 1: I completely agree with you, and we really should give
Speaker 1: Tom Tibodau and the New York Knicks a ton of
Speaker 1: credit for a number of different things.
Speaker 2: They've changed their defensive approach.
Speaker 1: Some of the switches that Boston is trying to force
Speaker 1: has not worked because Og is just such a beast
Speaker 1: and when the switches don't work.
Speaker 2: It allow it allows the defenders to stay home.
Speaker 1: So a lot of the Boston misses are can test it,
Speaker 1: but a lot of the Boston missues are not contested. Dave, So,
Speaker 1: do you feel like we're in for like a regression
Speaker 1: to the mean situation? Part of me believes one of
Speaker 1: these games Boston is just going to go like twenty two
Speaker 1: of forty two from three and win by like thirty.
Speaker 3: I mean, you'd think that's going to be the case here.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's clearly the style of play that they
Speaker 3: look to go for, and they have the personnel to
Speaker 3: do it. You know, it's not just Jason Tatum, but
Speaker 3: Jalen Brown and Derek White and Pritchard Howser, etc. Like
Speaker 3: even a Horford and forzeingis when he's right, Like they
Speaker 3: have a ton of guys who can hit from the outside,
Speaker 3: and like you do have a non well, I want
Speaker 3: to get this word out right, anominally type things that
Speaker 3: occur in NBA playoffs run. You know the Kimberwolves, who
Speaker 3: I've covered now in the first and second round. They
Speaker 3: open up Game one against the Lakers. They hit twenty
Speaker 3: two threes these last two games between game five against
Speaker 3: the Lakers and Game one against the Warriors. They're twelve
Speaker 3: for seventy six from three. Are they the twenty two
Speaker 3: to three team. Are they the twelve for seventy six.
Speaker 3: They're probably neither, right. But with teams you know, throwing
Speaker 3: the kitchen sink at you defensively, they're going to have
Speaker 3: some ups and downs on a huge stage. And the
Speaker 3: question is, you know, will we get the rooty t
Speaker 3: type of semerity from this Celtics group going into Game three?
Speaker 3: That you never underestimate the heart of a champion, and
Speaker 3: they look like a different team and they have kind
Speaker 3: of the stable sense of mind to be able to
Speaker 3: recognize that two oh really doesn't matter. It doesn't matters,
Speaker 3: Like what do we do? Tip off for Game three,
Speaker 3: play our best forty eight minutes of basketball, and then
Speaker 3: you know, continue to get back into the series that way.
Speaker 1: So the rise of kind of the analytical approach to
Speaker 1: the game of basketball certainly is not new. I think
Speaker 1: John Hollinger was one of the first to kind of
Speaker 1: help people understand how new numbers can be digestible and
Speaker 1: not completely boring. I hate broadcast that are steeped and analytics.
Speaker 1: I think they're boring anyway, But ultimately I understand how
Speaker 1: the approach from a front office and a coaching staff
Speaker 1: can lead to more efficient you know, efficient play and
Speaker 1: rotational decisions and such. But look, man, you're up twenty
Speaker 1: with thirteen or fourteen minutes left in the game. The
Speaker 1: craziest stat Dave for me from Game one is after
Speaker 1: Boston goes up twenty with three and a half minutes left,
Speaker 1: ten straight possessions they shoot a three and nine of
Speaker 1: those possessions the ball didn't even break the pain. Like,
Speaker 1: at what point do you say, okay, our style and
Speaker 1: the person now we have to your point that is
Speaker 1: suited to play this style won a championship a year ago,
Speaker 1: has led to a tremendous couple of year run. But
Speaker 1: maybe it's okay to try to attack the glass and
Speaker 1: get twos and ones when you're up twenty with fourteen
Speaker 1: minutes left to play, Like, at what point do you
Speaker 1: kind of scrap the whole approach in the name of
Speaker 1: just running the game out so you can get to win.
Speaker 3: It's a great point, and it's why, as we've seen
Speaker 3: the analytical movement basically say teams just want layups, dunks,
Speaker 3: and threes and specific corner threes where you've had people
Speaker 3: like Lebron James publicly be vocal pushing back against that, saying, like,
Speaker 3: what about the midrange? You need to have a midrange
Speaker 3: game because that's the shot you can get to at
Speaker 3: the end of the shot clock that teams are going
Speaker 3: to give it to you, Like, you should have that
Speaker 3: in your bag. And look at the maestro for the
Speaker 3: Knicks in Jalen Brunston. I mean, he has every single
Speaker 3: three level score type of bag to his game, whereas
Speaker 3: you know Tatum, right, like that's what he's kind of
Speaker 3: been critiqued for over the last several years, where when
Speaker 3: he goes to that mid range step back, it's not
Speaker 3: a very efficient shot for him. And so you wonder
Speaker 3: do they have the personnel to get those shots you're
Speaker 3: talking about on the fly? And also like who is
Speaker 3: their penetrating guard to, you know, other than Richard can
Speaker 3: do that in moments off the bench, but that's more
Speaker 3: of a change of pace type guy who's going to
Speaker 3: be the guy consistently getting into the pain for them.
Speaker 3: So as great as they are with their fastball, and
Speaker 3: obviously there's a reason they were the champion, and they're
Speaker 3: a team that hit more threes last year in their
Speaker 3: postseason run than any other team has an NBA postseason history.
Speaker 3: But they if they aren't hitting, they all of a
Speaker 3: sudden look vulnerable. Now, I think the numbers will bear
Speaker 3: out and they're gonna win with that style in the
Speaker 3: long run personally, but I mean, they are certainly playing
Speaker 3: with fire going to the Game three.
Speaker 1: So as you know the Missoula the portion of the
Speaker 1: basketball I don't know media or ecosystem that criticizes Missoula.
Speaker 1: It's okay. Inherit he inherited emy Udoka's team. He fell
Speaker 1: into the job because Will Hardy took the Jazz job.
Speaker 1: Will was Joe's number one assistant and then Will takes
Speaker 1: the Jazz job like two weeks later, loses the job
Speaker 1: because of what happened off the floor of Missoula.
Speaker 2: Kind of falls into it.
Speaker 1: So the criticism is, did he just inherit a roster
Speaker 1: and a system that is self sustainable because of the
Speaker 1: roster that Danny Danny Ainge then Brad Stevens put together,
Speaker 1: which I still believe is the best roster in pro
Speaker 1: basketball on paper. And so the criticism has kind of
Speaker 1: been all right, it's a it's an auto drive car,
Speaker 1: like you don't really have to do much.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure how fair that is.
Speaker 1: But what are you expecting from him as it pertains
Speaker 1: two adjustments that people think that he needs to make,
Speaker 1: or do you think he just rides with the system
Speaker 1: that won him the chip a year ago.
Speaker 3: He seems to be And I covered the finals last year,
Speaker 3: so I got to spend a little bit of time
Speaker 3: around him. He seems to be a guy who's pretty
Speaker 3: strong in his divinchs and not one to meddle with
Speaker 3: the big picture. Now, of course, I imagine Neils some
Speaker 3: sort of adjustments, but I wouldn't even venture like a
Speaker 3: guess as to what specifically that would be. But I
Speaker 3: think in general this roster has perfected to some degree.
Speaker 3: This approach of shooting forty three is a game, and
Speaker 3: I think if you look at the long time term
Speaker 3: sample size, right, you'd even say that for the two
Speaker 3: games so far the series, it worked for seventy out
Speaker 3: of the eighty six minutes or whatever ninety six minutes, right,
Speaker 3: So I wouldn't anticipate whole sold wholesale changes, but you know,
Speaker 3: he would be kind of a sleep of the wheel
Speaker 3: if he doesn't make some tweeks.
Speaker 1: Last question before we move on, My goodness, I could
Speaker 1: talk to you for three hours today. This playoffs has
Speaker 1: been so insane. But should the Celtics?
Speaker 2: Should they? Should they not find their way back?
Speaker 1: If if Missulla stays stubborn and the Knicks get it,
Speaker 1: Let's say, I don't know, maybe the next go to
Speaker 1: MSG and get two. They're on the hook next year
Speaker 1: for twenty three, you're two hundred and twenty three million
Speaker 1: dollars in change, almost two hundred and twenty four million
Speaker 1: dollars in change. They have a new ownership group who
Speaker 1: I would imagine would not be thrilled to pay a
Speaker 1: luxury tax bill for a team that lost in the
Speaker 1: second round. If Boston doesn't get back into this thing
Speaker 1: and win, what do you think.
Speaker 2: The offseason looks like for Joe Missoula and this roster?
Speaker 3: And that is a very very good question. And obviously
Speaker 3: the owners group putting up on precedent amounts of money
Speaker 3: just to be able to take over. And that's a
Speaker 3: huge bill. And you know some of the pieces, you know,
Speaker 3: a guy like Al Horford not getting any younger. I
Speaker 3: don't know, I think it certainly would have them reevaluate
Speaker 3: things and and look again at the the brunt excuse me,
Speaker 3: the Jalen Brown situation and him with Jason Tatum and
Speaker 3: figure is just really our best pathway forward paying both
Speaker 3: these guys incredible sum of money when there's still a
Speaker 3: bit of an overlap. I would tend to think that
Speaker 3: they would try to keep them together together one more year,
Speaker 3: because again you're be talking about the big picture of
Speaker 3: this team is that this would be a second round exit, right,
Speaker 3: but over the last nine years, it would be that
Speaker 3: would be the earliest sex that they had. I've including
Speaker 3: two finals appearances, a championship, and six conference finals appearances.
Speaker 3: So do you trust the eject button on that? I
Speaker 3: think probably not. But I think some of the kind
Speaker 3: of the role players, you would have to look at,
Speaker 3: what specifically were we missing against the Knicks and is
Speaker 3: it going to be something that we are going to
Speaker 3: achieve by continuing to pay some of these role players.
Speaker 3: And I think obviously there would be some degree of
Speaker 3: a shakeup.
Speaker 1: You like dogs, Dave love Do you love dogs? Okay,
Speaker 1: We're gonna move over to Indiana and Cleveland. Now here's
Speaker 1: the deal. Donovan Mitchell is a golden doodle. We love
Speaker 1: golden doodles. Everyone loves golden doodles. The golden doodles are cute.
Speaker 1: You can enter them to a dogs show. They're gonna
Speaker 1: win a dog show here there. To win the NBA Playoffs,
Speaker 1: you got to have Rott Wilders and the Pacers have
Speaker 1: a bunch of dogs. Man, they got a bunt Nie
Speaker 1: Smith and them. I mean, Benedict Matherin wants to fight
Speaker 1: everybody all the time.
Speaker 2: And do you know, and we love Donovan here, I
Speaker 2: cheer for Nonavan.
Speaker 1: And look, he nearly hung half a hundred and he's
Speaker 1: without three of his four best teammates.
Speaker 2: So this is not even a criticism.
Speaker 1: But we all thought we were a high speed ahead
Speaker 1: to Boston Cleveland and the Calves are up a creek. Man,
Speaker 1: what do you make of what we've seen so far
Speaker 1: with the Pacers taking that to a lead.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, that's what a brutal game. Brutal ending.
Speaker 3: I say, for Donovan Mitchell, you're missing three of your
Speaker 3: keyp rotation guys. You know DeAndrea Hunter, no Evan Mobley
Speaker 3: who just was named Defensive Player of the Year and
Speaker 3: can't go because of an ankle. Obviously Daris Garland has
Speaker 3: been out since the first round. You put up forty
Speaker 3: eight I think you have nine to fifth four steals,
Speaker 3: and in the last two minutes and thirty seconds you
Speaker 3: can't hold on to a seven point lead, in part
Speaker 3: because you missed two free throws and you have a
Speaker 3: bad turnover, and of course Matt Screws also had a
Speaker 3: terrible turnover. But I mean, that is devastating. And you know,
Speaker 3: he said the right thing postgame, Okay, we got to
Speaker 3: go down to Indiana and get two, And like, I
Speaker 3: hope there's confidence behind that statement because this is a
Speaker 3: really tough Indiana team and a lot of I mean
Speaker 3: a commentary is through the lens of the Lakers. JJ
Speaker 3: Reddick was so high on this Pacers team all season long.
Speaker 3: He thought that they play with an incredible pace, they
Speaker 3: are really sharp rotations defensively, and they have the size
Speaker 3: and physicality to give you problems on the wings. And
Speaker 3: this Cavs team, they are very, very deep, but all
Speaker 3: of a sudden, there is a big drop off. Whereas
Speaker 3: you know, Dean Wade getting knights Man minutes, they seem deep.
Speaker 3: But when Dean Wade's getting six man minutes. It's a
Speaker 3: different mass that you're dealing with. You know, ty Jerome
Speaker 3: was a six Man of the Year candidate. He starts
Speaker 3: in Game two, goes one for fourteen, you know, and
Speaker 3: it's the guy guarding Haliburton when he makes the game
Speaker 3: winning shot, and you wonder, you know, if he should
Speaker 3: have available up on him closer. I mean, it makes
Speaker 3: you think back to Game seven and twenty sixteen finals.
Speaker 3: Kevin loved it a better CONTESTO and Steph Curry than
Speaker 3: ty Jerome did on Tyrus Haliburton that situation. So I think,
Speaker 3: whereas this is Calf's team, I actually watch a lot
Speaker 3: because I spent four year covered in Cleveland, and I
Speaker 3: really enjoyed this group. I think they're a fun group
Speaker 3: to watch. I think they're I don't have nearly the
Speaker 3: same faith I have in the Calves do I have
Speaker 3: in Boston. Like I think they are up the creek
Speaker 3: without a paddle. This is gonna be a tough one
Speaker 3: for them to advance through.
Speaker 2: I agree.
Speaker 1: One more question with this series though, because of course
Speaker 1: you want Evan Mobley and you want DeAndre Hunter, but
Speaker 1: they need Darius Garland in this series. Any thoughts on
Speaker 1: if they're getting close to healthy with either Garland or
Speaker 1: all three of those guys.
Speaker 3: I mean, what we heard most recently from Kay Etkinson
Speaker 3: was basically putting it on the medical staff and saying
Speaker 3: it's out of Garland's hands. When you start to hear
Speaker 3: stuff like that, you know, let's say, even if he
Speaker 3: does get in uniform at some point the series, or
Speaker 3: even as close as these next two games in Indiana,
Speaker 3: I think they're kind of laying it out there that
Speaker 3: he's not the player that we've accustomed to have received
Speaker 3: his contribution to the multi time All Star Like again,
Speaker 3: maybe I'm wrong, and maybe this is smoke screen from
Speaker 3: Kenny Atkinson, but his most recent comments that I read
Speaker 3: in a Cleveland Plain Dealer makes me think that you're
Speaker 3: not going to be getting prid time Derek Starlin this series.
Speaker 3: So we're gonna have to try to figure a way
Speaker 3: to win without them.
Speaker 1: Man to your point, I'm not sure they can. But
Speaker 1: let's move out west. With a few minutes we have
Speaker 1: remaining Warriors t Wolves. Game one goes to Golden State,
Speaker 1: even though Stephen Wardell Curry played thirteen minutes and left
Speaker 1: in the second quarter, So give us an update on
Speaker 1: Steph and give me your thoughts on whether or not
Speaker 1: Golden State can actually get this thing done if Steph
Speaker 1: isn't ready to go sometime quick.
Speaker 3: Yeah. One, I have to give credit to Steph Curry
Speaker 3: speaking to reporters today Minneapolis. A lot of guys when
Speaker 3: they're injured will not do that, and I think it
Speaker 3: only benefits the fans to have that kind of trust
Speaker 3: with the press, to be able to give some information
Speaker 3: about what you're going through. He is a guy who
Speaker 3: he really doesn't know. You know, he's been in the
Speaker 3: league for forever and has never experienced a hamstring injury period.
Speaker 3: He was asked if he even experienced tightness at some
Speaker 3: time in his career and he said no. And so
Speaker 3: the plan here is to give him a full week's rest,
Speaker 3: which means Game two, three, and four are out, and
Speaker 3: then see where he is at that moment. So right
Speaker 3: now it's just treatment round the clock. He is doing
Speaker 3: stand still shooting. I think probably just to you know,
Speaker 3: not have himself go nuts during this process more than anything,
Speaker 3: and then we will see where the series stands. If
Speaker 3: it's going back to San Francisco for a Game six.
Speaker 3: I think everyone involved with the Warriors like that is
Speaker 3: the tie of skuy Hope is that we can get
Speaker 3: Steph Curry on the court that game, but we don't
Speaker 3: know if that will be a Willis Reid Steph Curry
Speaker 3: and he's going to be there just to get the
Speaker 3: crowd riled up. You know, people forget what those reason
Speaker 3: we scored four points in that game when the Knicks
Speaker 3: won it, or he will actually be able to recover
Speaker 3: from this thing. A Grade one strain is one of
Speaker 3: two weeks and it's something that if you rush it back,
Speaker 3: you're automatically out for another one to two weeks. So
Speaker 3: it's a tough situation for them. I think the Wolves
Speaker 3: is sixth going into this series. I think it probably
Speaker 3: still goes that direction. But I do think when you
Speaker 3: get a guy like Jimmy Butler, that's a pretty good
Speaker 3: alternative to having. Of course, Steph Curry's, you know, an
Speaker 3: all time great, but Jimmy Butler is someone who will
Speaker 3: not blink at this task that's placed on his plate
Speaker 3: right now. He will come out, he'll come out with
Speaker 3: a game plan. He would be ball dominant. They're probably
Speaker 3: not going to score a ton again, but they're going
Speaker 3: to grind out this game. They're going to be physical.
Speaker 3: They out rebounded the Wolves by ten in game one.
Speaker 3: They're going to try to do the same thing here.
Speaker 3: And if they can get a hot shooting night from
Speaker 3: you know, Brandon Puzhevski or you know, Buddy Healed, they
Speaker 3: could have a chance to stay in this thing. Basically,
Speaker 3: all they got to look at the next three games.
Speaker 3: We got to win one and that'll assure us that
Speaker 3: this thing goes six. And if it goes six, you
Speaker 3: have a chance to get Steph Curry back.
Speaker 1: Give me a thought on tonight. The Tea Wolves are
Speaker 1: a ten point five point favorite. Part of me feels
Speaker 1: like this could look a little bit like Oklahoma City
Speaker 1: and Denver last night. Part of me feels like we
Speaker 1: may see the Tea Wolves wrong. But what do you
Speaker 1: think happens tonight, the first game they're playing without Steph.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm totally with you. I don't know if we're
Speaker 3: gonna be a forty point blowout, but I anticipate the
Speaker 3: Wolves come out like their pants are on fire and
Speaker 3: this thing's not even a game. You have to think,
Speaker 3: and especially because they have the athletes to just you know,
Speaker 3: be able to turn this thing into a track race,
Speaker 3: and you're getting rebounds and steals and deflections, and you
Speaker 3: know if you get the whistle on your side. Chris
Speaker 3: Finch certainly doing his part politically to play the rests
Speaker 3: and put it out there that Rudy Gobert wasn't getting
Speaker 3: a fair whistle in Game one, and a lot of
Speaker 3: times that does work. You get the league's attention and
Speaker 3: it sways back the other direction a little bit. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I would be very I would be very impressed, but
Speaker 3: I'd be very surprised if the Warriors even make this
Speaker 3: a game. I think Vegas kind of has the line
Speaker 3: right on this one. I think the Wolves run away
Speaker 3: with it. And then we reset the series in Golden
Speaker 3: State and see if the Warriors can kind of use
Speaker 3: the hometown energy to go back ahead and get that
Speaker 3: one more win because we have a chance at seeing
Speaker 3: Steph again. The series.
Speaker 1: Would imagine Okase is salivating watching Boston struggling, but of
Speaker 1: course we're getting ahead of ourselves. I was tremendously impressed
Speaker 1: by Denver's just great an attitude to hang around and
Speaker 1: then make a couple of big plays down the stretch
Speaker 1: to get Game one, and then okay See to your
Speaker 1: earlier point, just Curb stomps them in game two. So
Speaker 1: through two games, Dave, what are your thoughts on that
Speaker 1: series and how do you think it plays out?
Speaker 3: Thought? Game one is what a tremendous moment that we
Speaker 3: get the two guys up for MVP going against one another,
Speaker 3: one just starting his prime and she goes out Xander,
Speaker 3: the other guy clearly smacked a in his prime and
Speaker 3: the best player in the world, and then both tremendous performance.
Speaker 3: Jokis was so good down the strets in game one,
Speaker 3: the play where he caught it above the foul on
Speaker 3: and he saw he had Caruso on him, and he
Speaker 3: just immediately put it in like Dad in the driveway
Speaker 3: mode and backed him down all the way to two
Speaker 3: feet from the basket, turned around, plopped it in, and
Speaker 3: then a couple of mostons later he gets it now
Speaker 3: top of the key partner scene on him surveys, you know,
Speaker 3: jab steps rise and fire makes it like he's so
Speaker 3: good now. Tremendous credit to Okay see for having the
Speaker 3: right bounce back. But I don't think that means like
Speaker 3: the rest of the series is going to not be competitive.
Speaker 3: I mean, I don't want to hurt any of your
Speaker 3: listeners here and bring up old wound. But we remember
Speaker 3: Bulls killing the Jazz right in game three back what
Speaker 3: was that the ninety eight final, yep, and then Game
Speaker 3: four was a nip and tuck, like right back to
Speaker 3: being a competitive series. The rest of the series, quite frankly,
Speaker 3: was nip and tuck. So I don't think Denver's out
Speaker 3: of this by any means. However, I think okay See
Speaker 3: probably avoided disaster by making sure this is a one
Speaker 3: to one series, and I do it anticipate them at dancing,
Speaker 3: but it could certainly go six or seven.
Speaker 2: Final thing, Dave, I'll set you loose on this.
Speaker 1: We actually have a local story which caught a lot
Speaker 1: of people off guard. Now, Will Hardy had had year
Speaker 1: four and year five options picked up, so he was
Speaker 1: not up against it. But the Jazz elect to extend
Speaker 1: him through twenty thirty one, which means, Dave, if he
Speaker 1: coaches through his contract, he will have a nine year
Speaker 1: run runway before he has to figure out what's next.
Speaker 1: That never happens in pro basketball. He would be the
Speaker 1: third longest standard coach right now. If he coaches through
Speaker 1: the end of his contracts. Are your thoughts on the
Speaker 1: decision of the Jazz to offer and will to accept.
Speaker 3: I was briefly talking about this with your producer porter
Speaker 3: before I came on air. I'd like to think that
Speaker 3: maybe Danny Ainge and you know, Ryan and all the
Speaker 3: decision makers listen to your show because I feel like
Speaker 3: we've talked about this kind of quandary that they may
Speaker 3: have found themselves in by clearly continuing this rebuild. And
Speaker 3: are you going to dim the light of your head coach?
Speaker 3: And is it someone who's going to actually want to
Speaker 3: be involved in this or does he feel like he's
Speaker 3: not being able to like pursue what could be a
Speaker 3: great coaching career if he just goes through this. And
Speaker 3: I think they made it quite clear put their money
Speaker 3: where their mouth is that really value you. You are
Speaker 3: going to be there for now and for the future
Speaker 3: and for the extended future, and you are going to
Speaker 3: be the guy to lead us out of this. I
Speaker 3: think it was a great decision by them. I think
Speaker 3: it's still going to be very hard for Will Hardy
Speaker 3: to actually go through because you know, they are not
Speaker 3: close to being a playoff team, let alone a contender However,
Speaker 3: the lottery goes you know, in their direction, and you
Speaker 3: end up with you know what. I'd say top two
Speaker 3: picks are both should be like can't miss guys. I
Speaker 3: think that it will be a fruitful journey.
Speaker 1: For Hardy based off of the feedback I receive. They
Speaker 1: definitely listen because I'm either welcome with open arms if
Speaker 1: I'm nice, or I am shunned. And yeah, I'm giving
Speaker 1: dirty looks if I'm not nice, Dave, so I know
Speaker 1: I know they're listening. Hey, thanks so much for the time.
Speaker 1: I guy travel safe with chats him here. Dave mcmanman
Speaker 1: covers the NBA for ESPN. He is on the Warriors
Speaker 1: Timberwolve series. But some good stuff from Dave Today