Speaker 1: This is the Baseline discussing the hot button topics of
Speaker 1: the n B A welcome everybody, your tune to the
Speaker 1: baseline Cali one shall discussing the hot button topics of
Speaker 1: the nb. A holiday edition of the Baseline might be
Speaker 1: the mobile edition of the baseline. As my man Shaw
Speaker 1: always you know, he has more of been the clandestine
Speaker 1: one recently, but even but sometimes you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: brothers of the brothers are together, may flock within the
Speaker 1: same state, you know what I mean. So it's kind
Speaker 1: of nice to be back in the old stomping grounds,
Speaker 1: you know, down here in the West Palm, my man
Speaker 1: Shaw rocking down there in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. And obviously
Speaker 1: you know, to our listeners listen, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: We've known each other since what liqual youth is, right,
Speaker 1: so uh, it won't be it won't be too far
Speaker 1: off from us, you know, getting together. But man as always, Man,
Speaker 1: it's it's great, you know, being back down in the
Speaker 1: in the old yard. And you know, warm warm weather
Speaker 1: conditions certainly do not disappoint for us northernness.
Speaker 2: Yes, sure, yeah, Usually I'm the one who's traveling if
Speaker 2: you will and on location sometimes but you know, not
Speaker 2: that you don't travel. You do a good job of,
Speaker 2: you know, not having to podcast when you travel, because
Speaker 2: you go to destinations where the audio and podcasting stuff
Speaker 2: can even be done. But nevertheless, I'm very excited, you know.
Speaker 1: But you know, you know me though, I'm a guy
Speaker 1: for or something. If we have to make it happen.
Speaker 2: Right, No, no, no, I'm not. I'm not knocking to hustle.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to hustle. But you know how to
Speaker 2: plug out a little bit better than I do, and
Speaker 2: I'm I'm envious of that. At the same time, though,
Speaker 2: glad to have year in the interesting state, I want
Speaker 2: to say, the great state, the interesting state of Florida,
Speaker 2: now where our families are. While other things are going on,
Speaker 2: at least our families are still here to kind of
Speaker 2: keep us saying. So we'll be looking forward to catching
Speaker 2: up with you in person, you know, here in the
Speaker 2: in the coming day.
Speaker 1: Absolutely man. And as always, you know, we appreciate everybody
Speaker 1: who's been rock with the baseline from day one today none,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter to you know what I'm saying, what level,
Speaker 1: degree and time frame it's been about rocking with us Man.
Speaker 1: As always, we love discussing the hot button topics of
Speaker 1: the NBA. We had a good little show on tap
Speaker 1: for our listeners right Obviously, the big talk of the conversation,
Speaker 1: a big talk in town is regarding the updated formatting
Speaker 1: suggested formatting for this year's NBA All Star Weekend. Will
Speaker 1: tap into that, and then we have one of our
Speaker 1: favorite segs, Man talk, is your abandoned ship love this one? Man?
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, gives me all those Buster vibes,
Speaker 1: those bustee's.
Speaker 2: All one time.
Speaker 3: Yea, be nice. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna reach out to buses representatives exactly making stuff
Speaker 2: going on.
Speaker 3: To Yeah, man, exactly. You know it would be awesome too.
Speaker 1: We can get like a legit drop, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, Like a double double plate drop from Buster.
Speaker 3: You know what I mean. That would be a featured segment.
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying for sure exactly I'm gonna
Speaker 3: reach out to work on that. Yeah. Absolutely.
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Speaker 1: always got something for your listening pleasure. So Sean, let's
Speaker 1: get right into the goods, right the big conversation that's
Speaker 1: been going around over the last few days in the NBA.
Speaker 1: Is this proposed new format of NBA All Star Weekend,
Speaker 1: specifically the NBA All Star Game, which they're saying is
Speaker 1: they're wanting to implement for this year's upcoming All Star Weekend.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a four team tournament style format in
Speaker 1: which you'll have two semi final games being played up
Speaker 1: to forty points, with the winners advancing to final match
Speaker 1: up to the final match, which will be played up
Speaker 1: to twenty five points. And you know, this is you know,
Speaker 1: basically been announced, you know, through all major outlets, So
Speaker 1: you know, you go to ESPN, NBA dot com, where
Speaker 1: have you, and you'll you'll get more information in regards
Speaker 1: to this.
Speaker 3: And I really wanted to get your take.
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of pushback, you know, from you know,
Speaker 1: the media pundits, you know, with regard cards to this
Speaker 1: tournament style that's being implemented, and I'm really just curious
Speaker 1: what your take is is, you know, as far as
Speaker 1: do you think that the NBA is going too far?
Speaker 1: You know, are they leaning too hard into this or
Speaker 1: you know, where where are we going with this?
Speaker 2: We'll stop me if you've heard this one before, you know,
Speaker 2: fans don't like NBA format, NBA tries to change format,
Speaker 2: fans still unhappy. I mean, it's it's just a vicious cycle,
Speaker 2: you know that. I think that we're in. We didn't
Speaker 2: really want to embrace the NBA Cup or the nc's
Speaker 2: Tournament as it was last year. Now the Emirates and an
Speaker 2: NBA Cup, and we got to get used to maybe
Speaker 2: some some changes in format. So if it goes away,
Speaker 2: people are going to be upset, like if they cancel
Speaker 2: it altogether. So I'm going to continue to applaud the
Speaker 2: league at least for trying things. And while I don't
Speaker 2: know that this is the best fit, well, it's nobody
Speaker 2: liked what happened last year, so well, a pickup style,
Speaker 2: you know, four team, eight eight guys per team situation
Speaker 2: work out in the Many tournament. I don't know. I
Speaker 2: just I don't know until it actually happens. It's clear
Speaker 2: I don't know anything about how the league works when
Speaker 2: it comes to, you know, in rule changes if you will,
Speaker 2: because I guess this isn't a rule change or a
Speaker 2: competition change. Since it's an unofficial game, it doesn't count
Speaker 2: for anything. So they can continue to tweak the format
Speaker 2: as the proverbally see fit. Even going back to the
Speaker 2: years when they made Dwayne Wayne and Drug and Whisky
Speaker 2: honorary members of All Star teams or whatever, like, it's
Speaker 2: always kind of like they do it what they want
Speaker 2: to base on. However, the year is I have no
Speaker 2: real issue with this as on its face, I'm more
Speaker 2: intrigued by if they're going to expand All Star Saturday
Speaker 2: Night to some degree, what they're going to do about
Speaker 2: the Dunk Contest of anything. But I'd love to see
Speaker 2: more stuff with like, you know, the Sabrina Sabrina Ionescu
Speaker 2: and and Steph Curry. You know, if you get Katelin
Speaker 2: Clark into that situation now the three point competition, getting
Speaker 2: the w NBA more involved in some of the All
Speaker 2: Star Saturday Night stuff that interests me Sunday I'm kind
Speaker 2: of lukewarm on, but I'm not going to poop poo
Speaker 2: it until I actually see it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So a lot of the pushback has really been
Speaker 1: and I and and I get it. A lot of
Speaker 1: the pushback I think people have is they think that
Speaker 1: the NBA is just masking, you know what the elephant
Speaker 1: in the room is speaking to is that listen to
Speaker 1: all stars are just not competitive, right, Like they're just no,
Speaker 1: there's no incentive for them. And I think what really
Speaker 1: angers them is the fact that why do you need
Speaker 1: to be incentivized to do something that naturally has been
Speaker 1: always a part of the fabric of growing the game right.
Speaker 1: And So it's a really interesting situation, Shaw because I've
Speaker 1: you know how I feel about the Ncason Tournament, And
Speaker 1: it's not that I don't think that it's a quality idea,
Speaker 1: it's that it doesn't absolve a lot of what we
Speaker 1: keep saying the NBA falls privy to. Instead of what
Speaker 1: it used to do, which is take bold steps. It
Speaker 1: seems like it takes these side steps and doesn't go
Speaker 1: fully all in, and then they dance around with it,
Speaker 1: they mess around with it, and then they don't really
Speaker 1: they don't really articulate exactly what they're going for, what
Speaker 1: they're trying to achieve, what they're trying to accomplish, Like
Speaker 1: this could actually be something.
Speaker 3: That's great, no different than we have pickup ball.
Speaker 1: And I think a lot of people who come from
Speaker 1: the urban area, who come up from you know, some
Speaker 1: type of basketball background, would look at this and be
Speaker 1: like Yo, this.
Speaker 3: Is pretty dope.
Speaker 1: But again it'll fall short if the players don't buy
Speaker 1: in properly. They don't invest in it properly. So I
Speaker 1: think that, to me is the is the key overall. Say, listen,
Speaker 1: you can, you can toss out as many great ideas,
Speaker 1: but if the players don't put themselves into this with
Speaker 1: the intent of what it's supposed to do, it'll never
Speaker 1: come off clean.
Speaker 3: It'll never come off soundly.
Speaker 1: And again it'll be to to the you know, to
Speaker 1: the uh, to the to the fans' eyes, it's just
Speaker 1: you know, another marketing ploy scheme.
Speaker 3: You already got them there.
Speaker 1: But I think what will make them upset is knowing
Speaker 1: that these guys are not walking onto the court with
Speaker 1: the intent that they're trying to actually be the best
Speaker 1: of the best in an all star format like it
Speaker 1: used to do back in the day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love what you're saying, and I think a
Speaker 2: common what I think is a misnomer is and I'm
Speaker 2: saying that that's what you're What you said was a misnomer,
Speaker 2: But most people don't think. Most people think things happen
Speaker 2: to the players. The players have say in this right.
Speaker 2: The Players Association is involved in how these things go.
Speaker 2: So if they if the majority of the players don't
Speaker 2: like it, then they need to take that up with
Speaker 2: the representatives from from their teams and the Players Association
Speaker 2: that are also you know arbitrates if you will, with
Speaker 2: the Board of Governors, if you will, tea you know,
Speaker 2: for the for the league and you know who whatever
Speaker 2: else is involved there they and yeah, the governor that ownership.
Speaker 2: So to me, it's just like, oh, you know when
Speaker 2: they all start, a product goes bad and like they
Speaker 2: are out there kind of like, you know, half ass
Speaker 2: in it, so to speak. It's just like, well, you
Speaker 2: know the league wanted this, well, the league includes the players,
Speaker 2: so you know they at this stage. You know what
Speaker 2: we're reading, you know, is that somebody like I'm not
Speaker 2: I'm not putting him, putting him out there, but Stephan
Speaker 2: is going to be the face of All Star WEEKND.
Speaker 2: It's going to be in Golden State, right, So I
Speaker 2: don't know that he is the one. He's not driving
Speaker 2: this per se. But the Players Association is alongside Adam Silver,
Speaker 2: you know, and and the governorship of the NBA. So
Speaker 2: this is something that you know they're going to buy into.
Speaker 2: We will have to see if it actually works out
Speaker 2: and actually comes to fruition. It may take a sharp
Speaker 2: left here and maybe they go back with their traditional format.
Speaker 2: But I applaud them for at least trying and not
Speaker 2: just kind of shoving the same thing that didn't work
Speaker 2: and was kind of you know, boring and disgusting to
Speaker 2: watch last year. But again, I if you remember, I
Speaker 2: wasn't really all that irritated because I was like, well,
Speaker 2: I don't really expect anything from most of our weekend anymore, right,
Speaker 2: And while that might be you know, taking an attitude
Speaker 2: of dissonance, so to speak, that's just kind of where
Speaker 2: I'm at with it. So hey, try something new, all right,
Speaker 2: I'll give it a shot. If not, then hey, I'll
Speaker 2: still strug my shoulders. I won't be overly disappointed.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't have a problem with them trying. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, This is what you can clearly tell,
Speaker 1: is that it's the NBA that is trying. They're they're
Speaker 1: trying to appease and at the same time eight a
Speaker 1: heightened you know, vibrance, you know, to the idea of
Speaker 1: what All Star Weekend is supposed to mean. But again,
Speaker 1: you can lead a horse to water. Bro can't make
Speaker 1: them drink. This is on the players. The players have
Speaker 1: to be bought into this. And and I think this
Speaker 1: is one other thing. I'm just mentioned this before we move,
Speaker 1: you know, move on. A lot of this is coming
Speaker 1: from a place of now we're talking about what this
Speaker 1: generation values, what this generation prioritizes as far as what
Speaker 1: what matters to them in the in the sport of basketball,
Speaker 1: in sports entertainment. And I think this is there's a
Speaker 1: disconnect here because a lot of the anger is coming
Speaker 1: from the players who laid the foundation to give you
Speaker 1: this coute quote quote unquote open platform of being able
Speaker 1: to take the games in these different directions and ways
Speaker 1: and stuff like that.
Speaker 3: And yeah, the.
Speaker 1: Most fundamental thing that has to still come from this,
Speaker 1: and this is even when we you know, when we
Speaker 1: visited you know, All Star weekends numerous time.
Speaker 3: Shaw.
Speaker 1: It's great that you can get all of these big
Speaker 1: name companies out there, and we can use the word
Speaker 1: brand activation, but the ultimate brand that has brought this
Speaker 1: together is the NBA. And if the NBA doesn't, you know,
Speaker 1: oversee this in a manner. And I say that collectively,
Speaker 1: it's not just the board it's not the committee. It's
Speaker 1: the players too. It's everyone, the veterans, the former NBA players,
Speaker 1: the union, all of everyone has to be bought in
Speaker 1: when it comes to these type of events, even when
Speaker 1: we talk about the finals, and we talk about Summer
Speaker 1: League and all of it has to be bought in collectively.
Speaker 3: If you're expecting.
Speaker 1: People to buy into the brand, it should not be
Speaker 1: a fragmented thing like some of the time I like it,
Speaker 1: some of the time I'm not. And I think that's
Speaker 1: where a lot of this disconnect is coming from. So
Speaker 1: when you have these new idea ideas that can sound
Speaker 1: very innovative, that could sound very you know, creative, if
Speaker 1: you're not getting all of the buy in from everyone in.
Speaker 1: And I'm not saying scrap it. What I am saying
Speaker 1: is is that critical aspects of what is not being
Speaker 1: invested properly. To do it properly, you will have the
Speaker 1: kind of you know your word dissonance that takes place.
Speaker 1: You know, whether it's from the media side, whether it's
Speaker 1: from the fans side, whether it's from the player side,
Speaker 1: or whether it's from the NBA, you know, the NBA
Speaker 1: leadership or executive side. And that's where I think is
Speaker 1: where it becomes so disheartening is that it just feels
Speaker 1: like no matter what you do, Like my group Little
Speaker 1: Brother says, man can't win for losing, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, Like, we just need to get back to
Speaker 1: a point where there was a joy in this level
Speaker 1: of competitiveness that comes out of us putting these type
Speaker 1: of things on. And until we get to that point,
Speaker 1: a lot of these ideas they sound great and like
Speaker 1: special ed to ten fifteen years ago, We're gonna wish
Speaker 1: it was here. It was at that time that we
Speaker 1: started appreciating it because it's never going to be available.
Speaker 3: To us, you know, down the road.
Speaker 2: Players got to not just be apathetic to the idea
Speaker 2: and just say, hey, it's it's a vacation to wherever
Speaker 2: it is or whatever. And some players at this point
Speaker 2: don't want to go. They'd rather actually go on vacation
Speaker 2: with their families. So we're getting the results of a
Speaker 2: lot of different things here. But maybe this will be
Speaker 2: the elixir to kind of get things back on track.
Speaker 1: As if they buy it, as you're losing absolutely your
Speaker 1: tune to the baseline. Cali Warrenshaw discussing the hot button
Speaker 1: topics of the NBA coming up. Man, we got favorite
Speaker 1: segment haha, talk ish and abandoned ship Man, we got
Speaker 1: we got some good teams to talk about whether or
Speaker 1: not day on that ish or it's time for them
Speaker 1: to It's time for us to abandon ship with these dudes.
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Speaker 1: PC more baseline Cali Warrenshaw, Don't go anywhere. We're back
Speaker 1: Cali Warrenshaw basedline NBA podcast. Time for our story, our
Speaker 1: favorite joint. Man, I feel like you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: getting up, jumping in a mosh pit, talk ish or
Speaker 1: abandoned ship. Man, shout out to our man, bust the
Speaker 1: rhymes and Last Boy Scout his cousin, Last Boy Scout.
Speaker 3: That was one of my favorite songs. You know what
Speaker 3: I'm saying when the.
Speaker 1: Coming came out that I know everybody was on wuha,
Speaker 1: got you all in check and everything remains raw, which
Speaker 1: is another you know classic. But man, that beat on
Speaker 1: abandoned ship. I'm sorry, man, people just don't understand that
Speaker 1: type stuff right there?
Speaker 2: What and keep going and get the people going for sure?
Speaker 1: Absolutely, brother, Absolutely all right. So let's get right into it.
Speaker 1: So let's do a little talk ish or abandoned Ship.
Speaker 1: First on the docket, the Philadelphia seventy six Ers out apropos,
Speaker 1: my friend, they are first their lead off. We're still
Speaker 1: gonna talk that ish about the Philadelphia seventy six is
Speaker 1: or is it time to abandon ship?
Speaker 2: So I don't want to hedge, so I think the
Speaker 2: short answer is I'm going to abandon ship it. Everything
Speaker 2: smells and looks and feels bad about the Sixers vibes
Speaker 2: right now, three and thirteen as a recording here, you know,
Speaker 2: next to last, and what is a low the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 2: You know, unceremoniously you figure out out there's still time
Speaker 2: for them to climb themselves and at least obviously the
Speaker 2: play in situation. But that's what we thought would be
Speaker 2: the case with the Sixers. We thought this would be
Speaker 2: at least a top four team in the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 2: Right now, that seems very very far off. As we're
Speaker 2: recording and beat is out again, you know, swelling in
Speaker 2: the knee. Paul George's should be back maybe sometime next week.
Speaker 2: Jared McCain is proving to be the Sixers' best player
Speaker 2: this year, even with Tyres Maxi kind of in and
Speaker 2: out of the lineup. Nothing about the Bobs and Sixers
Speaker 2: makes me want to talk my ish. I'm abandoned ship
Speaker 2: on this joint real quick, and I just hope I'll
Speaker 2: wish for the best for them. I ain't gonna hate
Speaker 2: on them, but I can't take this ride anymore.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, you know me, I was already abandoning that ship
Speaker 1: when we had our conversation about Joel Embiid, And as
Speaker 1: far as I'm concerned, I just feel bad for Tyrese
Speaker 1: Maxi because he, to me, is really the only person
Speaker 1: on that roster right now.
Speaker 3: That is part of that.
Speaker 1: Transition that I think Philly fans are just hoping and
Speaker 1: praying that he isn't contaminated by what's taking place.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: We can sit here in point fingers on whether or
Speaker 1: not it's the leadership problem, it's an Embiid problem.
Speaker 3: It doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: All I know is is that you know, Nick Nurse,
Speaker 1: I'm sure came in with the best of intentions to say, Hey,
Speaker 1: you know, I think I can you know, turn this,
Speaker 1: I can fix this. I can I can kind of
Speaker 1: unlock you know what I'm saying, what's holding back to
Speaker 1: Philadelphia seventy six ers. And I even think he's even
Speaker 1: realized right now he would just like to just get
Speaker 1: a core group of guys that he doesn't feel like
Speaker 1: all have personal agendas and get him on the page
Speaker 1: of doing what he was doing, you know, when he
Speaker 1: was the head coach of the Toronto Raptors. So I'm
Speaker 1: just hoping that what we salvage now for the remainder
Speaker 1: of this season. One the upside potential that we see
Speaker 1: with Jared McLain, because that could really be an awesome
Speaker 1: combination of him and Tyresse Maxi, and I mean, you
Speaker 1: can certainly build from there. And then obviously Tyrese Maxi,
Speaker 1: like I understand, Tyrese Maxey's got a good relationship or
Speaker 1: you know, he says that he's you know, he has
Speaker 1: a great relationship with Joel Embiid, and you know they're obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, very upfront with each other, and all of
Speaker 1: that stuff that was going on with the you know,
Speaker 1: players only meeting and it leaking out, all that kind
Speaker 1: of stuff, I don't think mitigates. The bigger picture when
Speaker 1: we talk about the Sixers is the fact that this
Speaker 1: is supposed to be Joel Embiid's team, and this clearly
Speaker 1: is Tyrese Maxi's team, and Tyrese Maxy's motor, his effort.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, That, to me, I think
Speaker 1: is what should drive the Philadelphia seventy six Ers forward.
Speaker 1: The moment that Joel Embiid really made things more of like,
Speaker 1: you know, this is like a play like types of situation,
Speaker 1: like you can never take him seriously. Like the moment
Speaker 1: that you started seeing those type of signs from him
Speaker 1: is when you just began to realize that what he
Speaker 1: does and how he goes about doing it just doesn't
Speaker 1: comport with some of those type of players that the
Speaker 1: Philadelphia seventy six Ers have had as great role players
Speaker 1: to him, have now ascended themselves to being core guys
Speaker 1: that you want on a quality team that really want
Speaker 1: to make a championship run. So again, all well and good,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, I just think that if
Speaker 1: you're the Philadelphia seventy six ers, you need to let
Speaker 1: go of this idea that Joel and Beach and remain
Speaker 1: in the face of this franchise.
Speaker 3: You figure out a way.
Speaker 1: To see if you can move him and get some
Speaker 1: quality pieces. I think the train is left with him,
Speaker 1: and I think if you're the Philadelphia seventy six Ers,
Speaker 1: you do not want to hurt your ability to keep
Speaker 1: a Jared McLean or a Tyrese Maxy.
Speaker 3: You do what you need to do with this roster.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I'll just say they didn't expect to have
Speaker 2: to deal with both Paul George and and be being
Speaker 2: out most of the season. They knew and Beid obviously
Speaker 2: would miss time, but figure out HOLPG would be there
Speaker 2: part of the time. They've struck goal I think within,
Speaker 2: but just hasn't been good there too. I'll transition this
Speaker 2: one here now because it is Laker.
Speaker 3: Cow time, so please give me a break.
Speaker 2: Come Laker Cow back up in the joint here. As
Speaker 2: the Lakers are ten and six, fourth in the Western Conference,
Speaker 2: are you then you picked them to be fourth in
Speaker 2: the West? I'm in our prepredictions. Me and Grant picked
Speaker 2: them to be less than that. Let's just say talking
Speaker 2: ish or abandon the ship on your earlier prediction of
Speaker 2: the Lakers.
Speaker 1: No, listen up, I'm not gonna be you know, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna Laker hate and I'm not gonna Laker col either,
Speaker 1: but I will talk ish for for the.
Speaker 3: Time being with them.
Speaker 1: Look, they're still a legitimate team and as long as
Speaker 1: they continue to win games that they should be winning,
Speaker 1: and you know, hang around, they'll be right in the
Speaker 1: thick of it, because if you really look at it,
Speaker 1: the Denver Nuggets certainly are not helping their own cause,
Speaker 1: right The Minnesota Timberwolves are going through its ebb and
Speaker 1: flows as well too, and really even the Dallas Mavericks,
Speaker 1: which you know, with Luka Dankic coming in and out
Speaker 1: of the lineup, and you know, there's been a rash
Speaker 1: of injuries that have been plaguing them. It looks like
Speaker 1: the win totals, you know, doesn't seem like there's gonna
Speaker 1: be too many teams that are gonna be exceeding like,
Speaker 1: you know, fifty eight games or something like that. Right, Like,
Speaker 1: just it's just a very competitive field. So the Lakers, listen,
Speaker 1: you stay above five hundred, you hang around, you might
Speaker 1: very well be in that four or five range, which
Speaker 1: is what I expect because when you got quality guys
Speaker 1: like Lebron and Anthony.
Speaker 3: Davis, you know you're gonna be good.
Speaker 1: Where I worry about is, you know, you get a
Speaker 1: hot start, like a guy like ruy haa Chamor and
Speaker 1: he still seems to be a lost cause, you know,
Speaker 1: that you don't need, like, you need a solid third
Speaker 1: person that the Lakers can truly rely on. Now, maybe
Speaker 1: they'll find that with Austin Reeves, maybe they'll find that
Speaker 1: with Dalton connect.
Speaker 3: Or collectively as a team they just become better.
Speaker 1: But I definitely think that they need a third person
Speaker 1: that they can rely on with some level of consistency
Speaker 1: to help out Lebron and help out Anthony Davis and
Speaker 1: and I think you know they'll be all right. You know,
Speaker 1: that's just the way I see it. How does that
Speaker 1: is that all out of love? Am I giving him? Am
Speaker 1: I give him good snuggles? No?
Speaker 2: It's an appropriate level of analysis, which I can always appreciate.
Speaker 2: So but in short, I'm going to say, you're talking
Speaker 2: ish that you feel like they can still be where
Speaker 2: they're at, And I'm going to talk my ish in
Speaker 2: opposition of where I originally predicted them. I still think
Speaker 2: this is a seven or eight seed team. I think
Speaker 2: they've been benefited from a nice hot start, good vibes,
Speaker 2: you know, especially switched with the home record and things
Speaker 2: of that nature. Tough times are coming. The Angela Russell
Speaker 2: situation seems to be not all that amazing, you know,
Speaker 2: no vibes there really to be honestly, I don't think
Speaker 2: ru Hochmur is quite as good as he's played. Things
Speaker 2: played a little bit above his ceiling connect his dope.
Speaker 2: Austin Reeves has more bounced to him than I thought
Speaker 2: he did. And this is the guy that I thought
Speaker 2: we saw we thought we'd see last year. So I
Speaker 2: think JJ Redk is doing an amazing job there. But
Speaker 2: you know, in short, I think that like our team
Speaker 2: is going to eventually kind of come back to earth
Speaker 2: a little bit and be more in aligned with what
Speaker 2: I predicted.
Speaker 1: So I'm talking my issue, okay, And I certainly can
Speaker 1: respect that. You know, Austin Reeves reminds me a lot
Speaker 1: like Kirk Heinrich, except Heinrich Captain Kirk.
Speaker 3: Yeah man, Captain Kirk when.
Speaker 1: And the way I'm saying it is is that I
Speaker 1: think Austin Reeves actually is is a is a more athletic.
Speaker 3: Player than Kirk Hinrich.
Speaker 1: But I think he I think he can be groomed,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, to be a quality guard.
Speaker 1: And I think that's what they're really pushing for, because
Speaker 1: that's why you know, he's he's become more that primary
Speaker 1: ball carrier and can afford to you know, bench D'Angelo Russell.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: And look, that doesn't mean that he's gonna, you know,
Speaker 1: have crazy handles or anything like that. You just want
Speaker 1: a copy a guy who's able to shoot the rock.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's certainly a step clearly step above above
Speaker 1: like a guy like Josh Giddy.
Speaker 3: But Josh Giddy gives you those.
Speaker 1: Those numbers though, you know what I'm saying, Like he'll rebound,
Speaker 1: he'll you know, he doesn't have to score a ton
Speaker 1: of points, but he finds a way to score the basketball.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, maybe that's where JJ Reddick has
Speaker 1: That's where you want to see JJ Reddick's imprint on
Speaker 1: this team. Can't he coach up a guy like Austin
Speaker 1: Reeves at that guard position to get those type of
Speaker 1: quality buckets that you're asking for from your back court
Speaker 1: because he has no problems getting the scoring from the
Speaker 1: front court players. Right, Dalton connect slides down to the wing.
Speaker 1: He comes out as the two from time to time,
Speaker 1: but you know, he's got to get the ball. So
Speaker 1: if you've got a guy that Wustin Reeves eating up
Speaker 1: a lot of minutes, he's got to figure out a
Speaker 1: way to get that ball to those guys and at
Speaker 1: the same time be able to use out of lesicism
Speaker 1: for him to shure up what they can get out
Speaker 1: of their back court scoring wise, because right now I
Speaker 1: think maybe I'm off in my thinking. So here's here's
Speaker 1: hater cal right like coming in and trying to bring
Speaker 1: levity to this Laker love situation. Their backcourt is horrible
Speaker 1: as far as scoring goes, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: They're not as like up there as where everybody thinks
Speaker 1: it is. And it's basically a revolving door in rotation
Speaker 1: of what they're getting from Vincent from Reeves. So even
Speaker 1: while they're winning, they're still not getting the quality that
Speaker 1: I think JJ Reddick would like to see from their
Speaker 1: back court, complementing what they're already getting from their front court.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, they're going to stand in the Nicks and
Speaker 2: always be trying to upgrade. That's what the Lake are them,
Speaker 2: and that he'd always be rooming around everything too. So
Speaker 2: let's go to a little surprise team here, the Brooklyn Nets.
Speaker 3: Uh so, I mean the Brooklyn Nets, not the Brooklyn Nets.
Speaker 3: The Brooklyn Nets.
Speaker 2: Well, they they are an interesting bunch right. We figured
Speaker 2: they would probably be where the Sixers are right now,
Speaker 2: like they should be toying around with the with the
Speaker 2: with the Wizards of the world. But here they are
Speaker 2: finding themselves just a couple of games below five hundred
Speaker 2: as we record signature win of the season on the
Speaker 2: road against the very hot Golden State Warriors. While I
Speaker 2: don't think Cam Thomas is camp Thomas has not been
Speaker 2: the twenty nine point per game guy. He's been twenty four.
Speaker 2: Had been injured here and there too. But Jordy Fernandez
Speaker 2: has done an amazing job with this team. Guys have
Speaker 2: been in that line of Plakson has been in an
Speaker 2: on lineup of getting some stuff out of Iron Williams.
Speaker 2: He's playing some center.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: This this next team has been interesting. So I'll go first.
Speaker 2: I am going to abandon ish on my prediction of
Speaker 2: them being this as bad as I thought they were.
Speaker 2: I don't think that they're going to be quite this good.
Speaker 2: But I don't know that they're going to be a
Speaker 2: team that wins in the teams. See, they're already halfway
Speaker 2: there to that right now. So I think there's a
Speaker 2: team that can muster maybe thirty three to thirty even
Speaker 2: thirty five wins because I didn't realize whaty Fernanze was this,
Speaker 2: you know, this much of a swan if you will
Speaker 2: to extrapolate this level of effort from this team. Ninth
Speaker 2: and offensive rating, yes, or twenty fifth in defensive rating.
Speaker 2: But they figured out something to you no matter who
Speaker 2: out there on the floor. So I'm going to abandon
Speaker 2: ship from my earlier prediction on Brooklyn.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I'm gonna abandon ship on my earlier prediction
Speaker 1: as well too. They're they're a good team. They're a
Speaker 1: solid team, and they're an annoying team. I listen, they
Speaker 1: annoy me with every like fiber in me. They annoy me, right,
Speaker 1: But I guess that's a good thing, right because here
Speaker 1: they sit and they've been at every Listen, man, they
Speaker 1: could have knocked off the Cleveland Cavaliers during you know,
Speaker 1: their undefeated stretch. They could have knocked off the Boston Celtics, right,
Speaker 1: So let's not act like, you know, just because those
Speaker 1: l's that they've taken are you know l's. It's just like, okay,
Speaker 1: well's the Brooklyn nest. No. They they fight and they compete,
Speaker 1: and so it's to your point. You know, props.
Speaker 3: To to to to.
Speaker 1: Jay Jay Fern, you know what I'm saying, because he's
Speaker 1: got that burning them and stuff like that. As a
Speaker 1: matter of fact, Shaw I would love to talk is
Speaker 1: about all of the new young coaches who have had
Speaker 1: an impact.
Speaker 3: Lee in Charlotte.
Speaker 1: You know, uh, Jay, like these guys, man, they're really
Speaker 1: doing a quality job.
Speaker 3: Look, even JB.
Speaker 1: Bickerstaff has got the Detroit Pistons back on one. Just
Speaker 1: when we thought, here we go again with the Pistons
Speaker 1: and the struggles and can't get out of their own way,
Speaker 1: can't learn how to win, can't look at them, they're
Speaker 1: you know, they're hanging around and they're becoming one of
Speaker 1: the most fiercely competitive teams. So listen, man, Props to
Speaker 1: all of these new head coaches coming in for some
Speaker 1: of these maligned organizations and teams and getting to kind
Speaker 1: of you know, out the box, hot hot, out the box,
Speaker 1: you know, just rampant, you know, just doing their thing.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 1: I'm loving it, and I think this is making a great, great,
Speaker 1: great talking point for the NBA season.
Speaker 2: Yes, Sir, I would definitely agree with that. Just continue
Speaker 2: to surprise. There's a lot of the young time out there,
Speaker 2: and this is why some of the retreads that we've
Speaker 2: been talking about for years are not getting those opportunities
Speaker 2: to go back in the head coaching chair. Some of
Speaker 2: them are going and being high level assistants. But I think,
Speaker 2: you know, it's great to see some of these younger
Speaker 2: guys getting a shot, although JB's obviously been doing this
Speaker 2: for a while. I'm gonna combine the last two here,
Speaker 2: cl and we talk about two teams in the Western Conference,
Speaker 2: so Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets. We had
Speaker 2: both of these teams right around the plane. I think
Speaker 2: you might have had the Rockets maybe a little bit
Speaker 2: lower than I did, and if I recall, you might
Speaker 2: have had them at ten. I think I had them
Speaker 2: at eight. But your thoughts on the Warriors Rockets, you know,
Speaker 2: are you going to abandon shit? Because we both had
Speaker 2: them like at least in playing territory, and they're both
Speaker 2: exceeding expectations soaring near the top and middle parts of
Speaker 2: the conference.
Speaker 1: Currently. I'm going to continue to talk is about the
Speaker 1: Warriors and the Rockets, about them as being quality teams
Speaker 1: that I don't think anybody wants to play against on
Speaker 1: the premise that the head coaches don't fm up. So listen,
Speaker 1: Steve Kerr was rolling with how he was utilizing his
Speaker 1: rotation and roster. As of recently, I've been seeing a
Speaker 1: little bit of you know, flaky, shaky you know, decision making.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like kind of old Steve Kerr kind
Speaker 1: of ways with him and his roster, you know, time
Speaker 1: to time.
Speaker 3: But he really does have a pretty solid roster.
Speaker 1: It would be great to see if he could figure
Speaker 1: out a way to kind of continue to blend that.
Speaker 1: And I think they're still going to be in the running.
Speaker 1: Houston Rockets are the team you just really have to
Speaker 1: watch out for because again you're just seeing the imprint
Speaker 1: of of Udoka and in how he coaches. You know,
Speaker 1: his teams and those guys are fighting, those guys are competitive,
Speaker 1: and any given night, they got guys that can come
Speaker 1: out and explode get your points. At first, we thought,
Speaker 1: you know, Seangoon is a cornerstone guide, and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden you see Green come out of the box.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, listen, fan Fleet is just quietly
Speaker 1: having a pretty nice season. But he doesn't have to
Speaker 1: be the star guy, but he's the glue guy.
Speaker 3: Right, you can just.
Speaker 1: Tell man, I love what I'm seeing from both of
Speaker 1: these teams and continue to talk my issue about them.
Speaker 1: While they might be the teams that are going to
Speaker 1: hang around in that playing situation, the way that these
Speaker 1: teams are being, the way that they're formed, they're not
Speaker 1: a team that any one of those higher level or
Speaker 1: the higher seeded teams want to be thinking about messing with,
Speaker 1: because if they're on one, if they are hot coming
Speaker 1: into that playoff situation, at play in situation, I listen,
Speaker 1: I feel for whoever they got to play against.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would agree one thousand percent, especially on the
Speaker 2: Houston side, I would probably I'm going to continue to
Speaker 2: talk my issue thing. I think the words are going
Speaker 2: to come back to earth. I'm going to talk ish
Speaker 2: in the aspect of the think the Rockets are probably
Speaker 2: a good but it would almost be an abandoning ship
Speaker 2: of where I thought they were going to be. What
Speaker 2: I'm seeing from this Rockets team is you're alluding to
Speaker 2: Yudoka getting them to buy in the defensive effort. Second,
Speaker 2: right now, defensive rating often still yet to kind of
Speaker 2: come along. They still can't play all the guys they have,
Speaker 2: and they are right for a solidation trade. I think
Speaker 2: at some point, you know, to get some sort of
Speaker 2: influx of talent in here if there's so inclined. So
Speaker 2: I'm actually abandoning the ship because I think they are
Speaker 2: going to be better than where I had them before
Speaker 2: is eighth and maybe they can even get it above
Speaker 2: that playing line. I'm really buying what the Rockets are
Speaker 2: selling to me right now too, So that's that's that's
Speaker 2: I think this has been a fun and exciting segment. Man,
Speaker 2: more to definitely dive into. I think in a later episode,
Speaker 2: you know, especially, we can get busted back into this
Speaker 2: get it getting into this joint. You know, maybe we'll
Speaker 2: get his his takes and see if he will talk
Speaker 2: is sit or abandon ship some some predictions on the NBA.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, man, And I love the fact that we gotta
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, every time we talk about
Speaker 1: a player or a team and stuff like that, we
Speaker 1: gotta you gotta, we gotta inject like a huge hip
Speaker 1: hop reference. So you know, the nets got kill a cam,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So you know it's a
Speaker 1: you know, once we started, you know, name dropping kill
Speaker 1: a cam out there, Now we got to figure out
Speaker 1: a way to get camera on you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: and Mace onto this show too, so they love Listen. Man,
Speaker 1: we appreciate everybody popping on board with us this week
Speaker 1: and listen. We want to know from you as well too,
Speaker 1: And I posted out there like, what are your thoughts
Speaker 1: about this updated formatting of the NBA All Star Weekend?
Speaker 1: You know, are you feeling our talk issue abandoned ship
Speaker 1: predictions We've got.
Speaker 3: In the sixt's, Lakers and Nest Warriors and Rockets.
Speaker 1: You know, let us know where your thoughts are, what
Speaker 1: you're feeling for the baseline, Calie warren Shaw, we appreciate
Speaker 1: you guys, thanks for hopping on board with this this week.
Speaker 3: That we catch up with you next time.