April 21, 2026 • 44 mins
Stewie and Myles break down the details of Breanna Stewart’s official contract with the New York Liberty before diving into the NBA Playoffs, including Myles’ upset picks and their predictions for the NBA Awards. They also discuss why Victor Wembanyama is already on another level as a defensive force.
Stewie gives flowers to Azzi Fudd for going No. 1 overall, then breaks down the Liberty’s key additions, including Satou Sabally and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton. Myles brings up A'ja Wilson’s new contract and revisits the Magic vs. Bird rivalry with Stewie.
The episode wraps with a deep dive into go-to moves—what makes them so hard to stop, the counters elite players rely on, and who has the best signature moves in the NBA and WNBA right now.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Y'all got some real magic Johnson Larry Bird shit going on? Man, Like,
what's the state of y'all's rivalries?
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Asian and I have the most respect for each other,
and we know that it's going to be a movie
every time that we're together, and that we're going up
against each other and really just trying to give each
other our bet shot.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Welcome the Game Recognized Game al Miles Turner joining Way
co host Brehanna Stewart. And it is the off season, y'all.
Well for some of us, I'm finally back home. I'm excited,
you know, I know Stewie is getting ready to go overseas. Man,
we got a lot to talk about this episode. But yeah,
what does the first couple of weeks look like for
you out there?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, I mean I'm in Spain, so finally a little
bit full circle being here. We have the final four happening,
so we're finishing nothing strong and then it's it's like
a perfect ramp up for the w Like you're an
off season. I'm in the preseason and getting ready to
start things going to go, And I mean, yeah, so
what else are you doing? You're home? You you're in
(01:07):
Texas and then.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
What man, I'm just excited. Bro. It's been such a
long season, and you know, the past three off seasons,
you know, I've been in the playoffs and you know,
deep runs at that. So this is the first time
in a long time I've had this much time off.
Damn near have you know, four to five months off.
You know, I got time to work on myself. But
it's funny, you know, sometimes office is busier than the season.
Like I'm at the house right now. I just moved
(01:28):
in my house like two years ago, so I'm still
doing renovations. We still got I got like three workers
right now and in at the house.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
You know, it's just a look, you automatically cut out.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
We know why exactly exactly. Man, the living a domesticated
lifestyle and it is fun. Man, you know I'm here
for it. Uh but yeah, no, just just get more
time to train, more time to you know again, just
kind of work with myself and get my body some
rest and you know it's gonna be good. You know,
I'm old man now thirty, so it's a it's a
little different club.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah, it hurts a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Yeah, But speaking of the w man, I know, we
got some big new it was on your end, you know,
officially official, I mean out of what you just to
kind of tell the people what's going on.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I mean officially official. Just signed my contract with New York.
Obviously everybody knew I was I was staying in New York.
But but now it's a done deal. It's a three
year standard max contract, which is like seventeen percent of
the cap, and that will fluctuate as the cap fluctuates.
But I think the biggest thing is, you know, for us,
we needed to make sure that, you know, we're able
(02:28):
to really keep all the best players on the team,
and that's why you'll see a few of us probably
in the millions and then everybody else like trying to
get as much as they can but while also having
a great team. I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Yeah, the ink is dry. Man. Honestly, it's a historic
you know at that you know we would know how
hard you and you know your committee worked, you know
to get this. The CBA, you know the place that is.
Now we're seeing historic contracts all over the place, and
it's dope that you give to be one of the
first people, you know, to really bring that in. So
congratulations once again.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Thanks, you appreciate it. But dinner is still on you.
By the way, dinner's still on you.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I'm already known. I'm already known, you know. Once like
once I get mind my stud York hat, you know me,
I been going that out proudly. Then we'll take it down, Okay,
And man, we got a big show today for y'all.
We're gonna talk about some NBA playoffs and the war predictions.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, we also need to discuss WBA Draft as well
as big free agency moves and of course Asia signing
the biggest contract in WBA history. She got that Supermans
for thirty years. So shout out to Asia for going
to get that bag, and honestly shout out to everybody
for getting their bag because the bag's getting handed out
left and right.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
That's a fact, man, it's a It's really cool just
to kind of see Asia. She's my high school class,
so it's dope and watching her ascension as fire. And
last man, we got a new segment called Inside the
Game where we're taking behind the scenes and basketball at
the highest level. Cool.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
All right, let's get right into it. First team, all NBA,
I'm gonna have you. You're gonna tell me your pick and
then I'll kind of tell you my pick.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
All right, Well, now that the uh this new sixty
five game rule has some they poked some holes in it.
There's some caveats now, some last second editions changed a
little bit. Yeah, I think that you know, clearly gotta
go Sga. You know who's probably from runner for MVP
at this point. You know, I'm throwing Jokichen there. Obviously,
Winby's had an incredible year, you know, in his ascension.
(04:28):
I think you have to throw Luca in there as
somebody's lily average in thirty nine and eight. Think the
Lakers spins like the three or four seed or something
like that, and an historic year out West. And then
my sleeper pick is Jalen Brown. I think that the
Celtics supposed to be in a quote unquote gap year
and now they're a top two seed. They have damp
pretty much their entire team back, and now they're looking
(04:50):
like a dangerous team East. So I have to throw
Jalen Brown. There is the way he just kind of
held it down for his squad this year. What do
you think, Yeah, he.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Was definitely holding him down, especially while Chason Tatum was
out rehabbing and recovering from his achilles, but I got
Cad taken that last spot. I think Kid is taking
Kaylen brown spot. I'm like, they gave the exception for
Luca and Cade for a reason, right, so they have
to win something.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Right, that's real, that's real. It makes sense, And you're right,
you know, Detroit wasn't number one seed this year and
they were, to laugh, gonna win the m v P.
I'm not mad at it. Man, Kate's Dallas kid Man.
I actually wouldn't be mad at that whatsoever. I just
think that it's hard to than I youkich or Sga
though I don't know. He has a tough competition, you know,
to say the least. But uh, I'm not mad at
(05:34):
that pick. You know, at him being first team. I
could see that there's an argument for both on both
sides of things.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah, we're gonna find out. We're talking about it next
on the next show. Who wins what basically probably the
next next next show because I think MVB comes out
a little bit later.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, during the Playoffs's right, Yeah, we'll.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
See, all right, who you got for Coach of the Year.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
What was a couple of candidates. I'm not sure if
he's gonna win it, but I I like Charles Lee
and what he did with Charlotte this year. They were
a big story. Man. They weren't supposed to be They
really weren't supposed to be that good this year, and
he turned that team around after All Star break, and
you know, he's someone who's a young coach on the rise.
But if I had to pick, I'd probably say Mitch
Johnson from the Spurs. You know, he took that team,
(06:18):
he took Opra Popovich, you know, very recently, and he
kind of took their team from security to you know,
being one of the top teams and not only the
league but the Western Conference. You know how hard is
to win out West. So that's my pick, you know, Forgot,
I think she be Mitch Johnson, you know. For Spurs.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Hmmm, I'm gonna go with Joe Missoula. I'm like because
the Celtics, like they everybody just picked up the slack,
Like he got everybody to buy in on what is
Boston Celtics basketball? And so when they became healthy and
people came back, it seemed like it was almost a
pretty seamrous transition, but I don't think anybody was expecting
him to be like second in the East, Like that's crazy.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Yeah. No, he's a borderline crazy person or might be
football and crazy, but I feel like you need that
in a head coach. You know, he has like this
mentality that all his players, you know, adapt intend to
take on. And you know, he's a If he doesn't
get it this year, he'll definitely get one of these years.
I think he's a He's he's a solid coach and
played against some obviously a few times, makes like really
good timely adjustments and again his players buying to him.
(07:17):
So yeah, I like him for sure.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
All Right, Rookie of the Year this.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Year, this is the fun one. Yeah, this is the
fun one. So I think that all year long, Cooper
Flag was the front runner. I think that, you know,
even from the beginning of the draft, everbody knew he's
on Rookie of the Year. He's put a fifty point
fifty point performances. He's one of the youngest. I think
he's the youngest person ever put up a fifty point performance.
He broke multiple records this year, still only nineteen years old,
(07:44):
by the way, which is incredible what he's doing in Dallas.
You know my hometown. So but they came from Wisconsin.
Man Kevin went to Duke Conker Nupple. He really turned
that ship up this year. Bro. I when he first
got picked so high, I think he was like number four,
maybe number five pick. I was very skeptical. I was like, well,
who's his white boy from Duke, you know what I mean? Like,
(08:04):
I don't really know what he does, but shoot, he
can that boy can play. Bro. I played against him
a couple of times this year, and damn, Bro, Like
I was fairly I was really impressed. One, he's he's
bigger than he looks. He's like six to seven, you
know what I mean. Uh, he's he's pretty strong too.
He gets downhill, he's gonna get to his right hand.
You shoot the shoot up the ball. You saw that,
(08:24):
he said, like the you know, I think he's a
led the league in three pointers made this year.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yeah, you know what I mean, two hundred and seventy
three or something like that, and like, uh, real, mellow,
LaMelo was to seventy two.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Oh, I know he was tight. That's funny. But yeah,
I think con has to get it just because one.
Uh he's on a winning team. He's on a I
guess they're the play but there he's on a playoff team,
and he was a big contributor to a playoff team.
And while Cooper Flag you know, may have passed the
eye test broke a lot of records, his impact wasn't
(08:56):
as high as cons was because, uh, he was some
that Charlotte was we relying on, you know, throughout the
year to make to make plays. And charlotteviously is a
good team and got playmakers on the team, but he
was a consistent role player for this year in its
first year. So maybe they at Kobe piece, you know,
you heard it here first on game recognized game call.
They're gonna get cold. They're gonna get cod Rookie of
the Year. That's what I'm gonna say.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like that's that's a topic
for awards, is like do you go with the winning
team or the one that's like performing maybe better stat wise,
but their team is losing. So we'll kind of see
you We'll see where it goes. I'm gonna just keep
asking you the questions because I have my answers. But
like you've played against all these people, So I want
to know, like exactly you breaking it down. I mean,
(09:40):
defensive player of the year, Like, is anybody coming close
to Wemby with with that or do you have a
you know.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
It's not even close. I'm gonna keep it a stack, Like,
I think someone like Wemby, he he so defensive player
of the year to me, right, I think it's someone
who who literally is impactful and you can't you can't
take him off the floor. You're not the same team
with him off the floor, right. I think when Winby
(10:09):
sets on the bench, teams take full advantage of getting downhill,
going to the paint and you know, trying to make
m h when he's in the game, teams don't even try.
They don't even like look at the rim. And I
played against him this year a couple of times, and
their defensive scheme is very interesting. They basically play a
four man defense and it's let Winby roam the entire time.
Like if he's guarded me and I'm a stretch big, right,
(10:31):
so I want to shoot grease if I'm in the corner,
he's still defending the rim and they just have someone
rotate for him to cover me. That he covers the
next guy. He just keeps roaming the entire game. He's
not like it like just guarding one person or in
any sense.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
It's like a one man's zone basically.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Literally quite literally. And obviously you know he's he leads
leads the league in blocks, defensive defensive rim percentage is
probably like one of the highest. Uh. He plays an
effective pick and roll the defense. And I'm telling you, bro,
like I've he right, I've hit him in the chest.
I've tried to step back, like there's yeah, i gotta
put that ship all the way up there, bro, Like
there's He's just there's no one that's coming close, right,
(11:09):
you know. And then there's obviously great defenders in the league,
like people talk about Nasar Thompson. Derek White's obviously a great,
you know, defensive player as well. There's guys out there,
but nobody has close an impact as Wimby does. And
I see him winning this award for a long time.
Like I think I'll break Rudy Gobert's streak.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yeah, I mean he's like obviously I don't play against him,
but his length is something that seems super disruptive, and
that's what I was gonna ask you, like, Okay, you
can't give it to Wimby. Let's say you have you
can only give the defensive player with you to a
guard or a guarter wing. Who are you giving into?
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I definitely probably say to Thompson kid in Detroit, Asar Thompson.
He is just an athletic freak, bro, and he can
guard really one through five. I say one through four
to be safe, but he can guard any position. I
watched him pick up we had Ryan Rawlins. I watched
him pick up Ryan Ron's full court and Ryan Rollins
probably what six to two stars like six to seven, Bro,
He's picking this kid up full court. He's quick as shit,
(12:03):
he's he he blockshots, he's very he gets very vertical,
he's disciplined. He's ripping our guards, ripping our bigs' making
snapback steals like he's doing all the stuff that guards
do at six seven. So I like the way he
plays and I think he's a big part of you
know what Detroit does, you know on their side of
the ball. So I think he's a good defensive player.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Yeah, I mean I feel like the same happens in
the W There's like some some guards in some wings
that are a great defenders. But because you have like
a big that's like does things that nobody else can do, no,
they never win it. So maybe Asar will be on
all defensive team, which probably he will be. I'm switching
gears a little bit. Let's talk about the NBA playoffs
(12:42):
they've started, and I want to know your pick on
the series. Well, first of all, do you watch like
you're out? So what you still watch? Or you don't watch?
Speaker 1 (12:51):
So okay, I'll say this. I really like the Playing Tournament.
I think that shit is dope, bro. I think it's fire.
I think teams are on the line. Everything's on the
line for the teams. Right. I got to play in
the inaugural Playing Tournament like four years ago, and you know, again,
this is a tanking isn't a whole another topic, but
(13:11):
it was really put into place to stop teams from tanking, right,
And it's funny how you know that part didn't work.
But the Playing tournamentself, the product of it is unreal.
The fans are super into it. It feels like a
playoff game. It really is a do or die type
of thing. All the games are close. It's very rare
that these games have been a blowout, you know what
I mean. And I like the fact that if you're
(13:33):
the seventh seed or seven or eight seed and you lose,
you still have a chance like to win, you know
what I mean, because you worked all year long to
get such a great record, you know, and you can
literally be the tenth seed and get the eighth seed
or the seventh seed end up playing the you know,
the one A two seed in the playoffs. So like
all hope isn't lost, whereas you know, few years ago,
it's like, you know, by February, you're basically shutting down
your season. So man, I watched the games over the
(13:57):
past couple of days, the playing games, and they were due.
I watched the Clippers and Warriors last night. That was
a great game. I watched Miami versus Charlotte that was
a really good game. Again, they were all close. So yeah,
to answer your question, I typically don't watch, you know,
much in the playoffs on while I'm out, but a
little more invested here, you know, for some reason, you know.
(14:18):
I mean, I think it's a it's a great product.
It's fun to watch, and I think that you know,
I'm not really just uh not really on the beach
of my with my my feet kicked up. This year,
I'm more domesticated at home, so it's doing so much
to do, you know, have me a little beer, just
kick it.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
I mean, people, he's thirty's, he's domesticated that home. He
is going on vacation for a little while. So I
probably will be doing this show by myself. But all right,
you're gonna I'm gonna ask you this and the for
the series, and you're gonna tell me. But it's gonna
be like almost like rapid fire. Okay, Okay, So Lakers Rockets,
no Luca, No Austin Reeves is old school Lebron versus Katie.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
You got, Okay, I'm gonna say I think Luca comes back.
I don't know about Austin Reeves, but I think Luca
comes back. And I'm gonna pick the Lakers. The only
reason I'm picking the Lakers is because I played against
Houston a couple of times this year. The chemistry isn't there,
you know. I think that they have very talented guys
in the roster, But you can have all the talent
(15:18):
in the world. If there's no chemistry, there's no symmetry
with your team by the time the playoffs comes around,
like it's over with you know. I think again, Katie
is gonna be kd uh. Sam Goon's a great player,
you know, I like even I even like to read
Shepherd Kid. But the playoffs is a different type of pressure,
and I think the Lakers are more of a team
than the Rockets are a team. So I have to
(15:38):
give it to the Lakers. And you know, Lebron did advancing.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Also, the homecourt advantage like that, that's something that you
know is huge anytime you have a playoff series. Okay,
Nuggets versus Timberwolves, this work is fun.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I think I think the Nuggets win this one, but
I think it'll be very close. I think that again
going back to my you know, to what we're talking
about last series. The Nuggets are a great team, bro.
They have a they have Yokis, who's gonna be the
head of the snake do whatever he wants to do.
But a team full of role players I know exactly
what they're supposed to do. Nobody's trying to play outside
(16:13):
of themselves, and you got Jokich and Murray, you know,
kind of hold it down. Like I think that they
go to the distance there. Now the Tea Wolves individual talent,
right for sure, they have everything they need. And Anthony
Edwards is obviously, you know, great player. I think he's
getting back in shape, you know, he I think he
lost a lot of games and it's kind of tough
to ramp up this side of the year, so he's
getting back in shape. But I think that again, the
(16:35):
Nuggets have like a better overall team as opposed to
this individual talent.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Okay, Nicks versus Hawks, I'm not got it. I don't
even know the Hawks were in the playoffs, but he's
no Tray, so they must they must have that chemistry
like you were talking about. That's very important.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Yeah, they're I think when Trey underparted, they banded together
a lot more. Uh they got a good group, very
explosive offensive team. Not the best defensive team though, and
I'm not sure. And then you know in the playoffs,
the defenses everything, you know. Uh So the kids, Jalen
Johnson has taken a really big leap over the past
you know, two years. He's the head of the snake
(17:13):
for them. He's playing really well. And yet Congo's gotten
a lot better he's able to space the floor now
is a big Kilelexander Walkers might probably win, you know,
most approved player. You know, Ryan Rownins doesn't win, into
my opinion. So they got weapons, they got pieces, But
the Knicks, Bro, jaylen Brunson, it's hard to stop. I'm
not going tough, Bro. He he's got everything, and in
(17:37):
the playoffs he's been they played the rules so well
in his favor. You know, he's got the refs on
his side. Carl Towns, I've had to I've had to
play him obviously the past two playoffs whatnot. He's a
lot to deal with. You know. I think that he's
someone if he gets hot, he's gonna be hard to stop.
I don't think that the Hawks have anybody they can
just guard him individually, you know, Gianna Nobi, Mickel Bridges.
I think the next win this one just because of
(17:59):
their playoff experience. I think the Hawks are young and
they're an upcoming team. But I'm gonna go ahead and
give the Nats to the Knicks just because of their experience.
And it's hard to win in the garden, man, It's
hard the garden.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeah, shout out to New York, all right, last week
calvs Versus Raptors. I'm like, all right, James dams Harden
gotta get like, we gotta get close, right, He's got
to get closer to a chip, right.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Yeah. So people aren' gonna agree with me with this one,
but it's whatever I'm giving to the Raptors. And the
reason I say this is because, Bro, the Raptors, they
are a menace. Defensively, Bro, they are a minute. They
play that old school like pick up ninety four feet,
like there's no rhyme of reason and how we play.
We're just gonna cause as much havoc as possible. And
(18:44):
they're very versatile. They got Yakapodle, who is a traditional
drop big and they pick and roll who they can
play or they can play. I'm gonna butcher his last name,
Mama Shuleski, Mama Kuleki. He's from he's from Georgia. I
can't help you, yeah, Sandro Mamak. So I'm like that, like,
no shame, Bro, you know you're a great player, but
I don't know. I can't. I can't do it. But anyways,
(19:05):
he's someone who go you know, and play in the
backup five as well, and you know, move around and
Scottie Barnes and gave me a wile go small and
play him at the five as well. But again you
go back to the Cavaliers. You know they're starting to
get their full roster. But I think Max Strews is
finally back. Donovan Mitchell is, you know, the proven playoffs
score James hard as someone was trying to, you know,
be thehead of the snake. It's got to be either
(19:26):
have to be James or Donovan. And that's a tough part.
Both those guys can can't. They can't play off the ball.
You have to have one person with the ball on
their hands, and Donovan's gonna want that ball, bro, I'm
telling you, especially fourth quarter. But James Harden is also
a Bob Dominan dude as well, great point guard, makes
great plays, but he's a scorer. So I don't know
if the chemistry is all the way there yet for Cleveland.
I think they're a great regular season team, but when
(19:47):
the playoffs come around, you have to be able to
figure a shit out. And I think that the Raptors
are a sleeper team and they have nothing to lose
because no one's expecting them to win. That series. So again,
you know, Brandon Ingram's having a really good year. He's
someone that's you know, really hard to stop in the
half court All star and Emmanuel Quickly as someone as
well who people don't even talk about a lot, who's playing,
you know, really well at high level this season. So
(20:08):
I'll get into the Raptors just because of the randomness
of their offense and the randomness of their defense. And
all the pressure is on Cleveland too early, thanks for
the Pacers too early, like first round exits, you know,
the past couple of years and not first round playoff exits,
and all the pressures on them to reform this year.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, well we've heard it here. First from analyst Miles
Turner turn for a quick break, and up next we
talked WNBA draft, Angel Wilson's new deal, and Liberty's free
agent moves. Please rate, review, and subscribe to Game Recognized Game,
but Stewie and Miles wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Welcome back to the Game Recognized Game with stew A, Miles,
and Off brid Man our Game Recognized Game of Love.
Shout out to Azy fudd Man. She went number one
to the Dallas Wings, my hometown team, and I think
we all saw it coming, but now that it's actually,
you know, Caine fruitioning, we're all proud of her. We're
very happy for her. You know, it's a historic feed
being a number one pick, A lot of pressure that
(21:19):
comes with it. But I think she's built for the moment.
How do you think as will fit in, you know,
with the team on the court.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Yeah, I mean I definitely agree. I think shout out
to Asy another Yukon number one pick. I think that
for her it's got to feel like surreal almost because
of all that she's been through, like the childs and
tribulations of injuries and you know, roller coaster of a
year or year or career at Yukon and now still
like she's she's came out on top. So really happy
(21:45):
for Asy. I think that how she's gonna fit. I
think that you know, Dallas is putting a team together
to be a contender, you know, with obviously every que
taking US page is still on a rookie deal, easy
coming in like okay, that's that's your three starting guards.
And then you have Alana Smith who just signed there
(22:05):
and justsic Shepherd also signed her. She signed like a
million dollar deal, which shout out to her. But I
think it's gonna be great. I think that, you know,
kurt Is, Kurt Miller has done a great job of
really putting the team together. They have a new coach
who used to be at USF, Jose Fernandez, who's gonna
really just take the reins, and it seems like everybody
has the confidence in and really is behind him and
(22:28):
what they're planning to do.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Hometown team. Man, I'm excited for him both for real,
I have a you know, been to a couple of
one thing. I will say that the Wings do get
a good crowd. They play over at UTA in Arlington. Yeah,
and you know, I think it's kind of a dope
that they the fancier Dallas assistant show up for that team,
So they got some of the cheer for this year
and I'm excited for that. A little too early to tell,
but you know, Rookie of Year odds, you know, where
(22:51):
who do who? Do you think?
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Honestly, it's it's tough. I think that this draft class,
especially like between the easy between Olivia Miles, but between
Awa fam who a Spanish player that was drafted third
to Seattle. Lauren Betts, Like there's it's really gonna come
down to like fit, you know, who fits the best
in their team and how they make that impact. But
(23:15):
you know, of course I'll give my shout out to Easy,
so Easy come on Rookie of the Year, like only
because New York doesn't have any rookies, but like.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
That's real, you kind shit, I get it, I get it.
So this one also one of my favorite, one of
my fairite players watching the past couple of years, and
I think we talked about it a couple of times.
Olivia Miles, you know, I think she made that transition
Notre Dame to TCU at an incredible year. She gets
drafted to Minnesota, you know, and Minnesota a stacked team
and already added more and more weapons, you know, especially
(23:46):
when we're coming in. You know, I think they're gonna
be tough to beat. What do you think?
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yeah, I think Olivia Miles is gonna really fit right
in in Minnesota. I think that Cheryl obviously, you know,
is uh a master of what she does, you know,
really putting people in their best places to be successful.
And to have the option between putting Olivia or Courtney
Williams as the one guard or they can alternate back
(24:10):
and forth on who's going to bring the ball up
or run the offense, uh while also finding their sniper Kmack.
And then Natasha Howard just signed back to Minnesota, so
she was there like years ago when they won, so
this will be a little bit of a homecoming for her.
And then obviously in the FISA, she won't be back
probably until halfway through the season. But you know, they
(24:33):
got a good group to really build that foundation and
get get things going, so then they'll just slop you
back in whenever she's ready.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
That's real. I forgot about a piece of injury. I
mean I watched that live that was that was tough. Yeah,
that was Alyssa Thomas something like kind of hit her
with the transition. I think.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Yeah, so she got she got hurt against Vegas and
she had like a nasty like over over like rolling
your ankle that way, and you know sometimes it's an
athlete like when it looks bad, it's actually not that bad.
But she had like two nasty ankle injuries. So we're
pushing for you to get back on the court and
(25:13):
can't wait for you to be back, but don't want
anybody to play good against New York's.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
That's real, that's real. We'll speaking of New York. You know, Liberty,
y'all had a third round pick this year. Believe y'all
picked to flor I think it was Manuel manuela Pope. Yeah,
probably not gonna be in the team this season, but
I was excited for this one, and this one was dope.
The Satu signing is actually gonna be something that's gonna
be special to watch. I watched her here in Dallas.
(25:37):
You know when she was here. She can play bro.
I think she's I remember when she was at Organ Bro.
She can really play. You know, what are your thoughts
on the signing? And man, there's another big wing for y'all.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Yeah, I'm really excited for Satu. I think that you know,
I actually the last time I was at Fenner, I
played with Satu, so we have a little bit of
a shared experience on the court. And you know, she
she had like her growing pains when she was in Dallas.
She was in Phoenix for a year and they made
it to the finals. But I think that, you know,
for her to sign a longer term deal shows that
(26:09):
she's really invested in what we're doing here in New
York and really building with our core and I think that,
you know, that's what we want, is we want the chemistry.
We're not just trying to like win right away. We
are trying to win this year obviously, but we're trying
to win for like multiple or consecutive years in a
row and forsaught to to have some some leadership, some
bets to continue to look up to. Like I'm excited
(26:29):
to just be back on the court with her. I
know she's in New York working already, and yeah, Unicorn
is coming to New York.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
That's real ship man. Peter's over here, you know, trying
to start starting.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Peter talking about when I already talked about that. So
I'm also looking at they go back to the old
podcast The Liberty.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Also back back Benija and Landy Hamilton. You know, what
does she bring that people might not be aware of.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
He's a huge piece for for what we do in
New York and you know, hopefully those haven't forgotten. But
she was out last season with a knee injury because
she got hurt unrivaled unfortunately, and the year before our
championship year, she brought this toughness, this tenacity, this grit,
this you know, really gonna be a player up ninety
(27:17):
four feet and make their life really hard offensively. But
I think that what I'm most excited about is to
be back on the court with her. But even from
what I've seen her in the gym, her her shot
looks great, her you know, her body like, she looks
like she's kind of in like a great flow and
rhythm as far as how she's feeling and how she's playing.
(27:39):
So I can't wait to kind of share the court
with her again and you know, go after another one.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
It's good news. Man shipping gears a little bit, big
shout out to Asia Wilson. Man. Like I said, She's
someone who I've watched really yeah, not just shine, but
kind of just grow from a standpoint, you know, we're
the same high school class. I met her McDonald All
American game and just be able to kind of like
personally get to know her and watch her essentially the
entire time. The way she's carried herself, the way she's
(28:07):
put on for our culture, the way she's put on
for the basketball culture at that I'm just proud of,
like the woman and the player that she's become and
she signs the biggest contract in WNBA history. What did
you think when you saw that?
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yeah? I think that, you know, really happy for Asia
all the things that you said obviously, the way that
she carries herself, the way that she's just grown, you know,
on and off the court from when she came into
the league. Like she's someone that's developed year after year
after year as far as her skill set, and you know,
she's a four time MVP, like three WBA championships, Like
(28:41):
there's a lot that she's done and she's someone that
I have a tremendous amount of respect for whenever we
go like head to head. But for her to have
a three year Supermax, like, that's that's stability. You know,
she's showing that Vegas is her home and you know
that's where she wants to be and continue you to
to fight for championships.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, speaking of that, y'all got some real magic Johnson
Larry Bird shit going on. Man, what's the what's the
state of y'all's rival for you know, I think it's
a y'all have individually had an amazing careers or whatnot,
But as competitors, you want to go against the best.
So like, what is like, you know, your mindset when
you guys are matching up or whatnot? Like what are
the fans not seeing? You know, just you know, speak
to it.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Yeah, from my perspective, you know, it is not it's
it's that rivalry of you know, Asian and I have
the most respect for any for each other, and we
know that it's going to be a movie every time
that we're together, and and that we're going up against
each other and really just trying to give each other
our bet shot. You know, I'm going to try and
pull things out of my bag and I know she's
(29:41):
going to try to pull things out of her bag,
and uh, just just compete, you know. I think that
when we're when we're matched up defensively, it's it's hard
for both sides because there's so many each of us
have so many tools in our toolbox to really go
to as far as offensively. But but between us, yeah,
(30:02):
we're competing. Yeah, people can say rave you, but it's
like a respected rivalry. Yeah. And then Vegas liberty is
definitely your rivalry. And I think that'll just stay the
way it is.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
Of course, I like what you said there, y'all just
bring out the best in each other, you know what
I mean. It's not so much about like the rivalry
it self, it's just as a competitor at the highest level,
like you guys are starting to push it off that
you may not even know was there just because of
the matchup, you know, and just that that mutual respect
you have towards each other. You know, it's fun, especially
at the biggest stage. So it's it's kind of dope
to hear just from your perspective.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Yeah, we know that we're setting the tone in the
bar basically every time that we come out. So making
sure that we do that year after year is it's
something that's not easy, but it's really important for the game.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
All right, all right, y'all, time for one more break.
Next we go inside the game and talk about our
go to moves. Welcome back to the game, recognized game
(31:12):
Stward Miles, Tom Bran inside the game and it's a
new second we're introducing. You know, we have two hoopers
at the highest levels, you know, both sides of the game.
And yeah, I just think that people watch us play,
but they may not necessarily know what's going through our heads.
We're playing, so start it all off. Like for you personally,
what's a go to offensive move, like in a big
moment that you got in your bag.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
A go to move for me, Well, if you're going
to set it up right, if you're facing the basket,
I want to be on the left block, and from
there I'm gonna have like my one two dribble, my
little shimmy, and my right shoulder fade. I feel like,
especially when I'm in that area, I know, like the
depth perception and everything that I'm super confident in that
(31:54):
shot and know that it's really hard for anybody to
kind of contest. What about you? I feel like, I
feel like I feel like the right shoulder fade is
something that most writings have for.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Sure, And I like that you were setting up for
the fans. Like when you are faceball, most of us
right handed, we want to be on the left block
because if anything, you can get to your right hand
to the middle of the floor. For me personally, I
like facing up right. I feel like when you're backing
somebody down too much and go wrong, you know, I
feel like you can somebody can you have a dig defender,
you can get double team and whatnot. When you face up,
(32:28):
you can see everything. You see the shot clock, you
can see this floor, you can see where uh maybe
a double team is coming from. You can see the
weak side. So my favorite move is it can be
left block and be right block. It doesn't matter. I'm
gonna face up on my left pivot foot, I'm gonna
get gonna give a jab at the defender to my right,
and I'm going left and I'm stepping back. That is
my favorite shot in basketball because no matter what happens,
(32:51):
I can drop a If I have a more physical
guy on me, or a smaller guy, I can drop
my shoulder into his chest and create space. Or if
I have someone like you said, like a womby who's long.
My biggest objective is crazy my space as possible. Is
I trust my shot that much? Now. The reason why
I like the the left block a little bit more, no, sorry,
the right block a little more because I can find
(33:11):
a way to go off glass from there. Now again,
the reason why I like to step back two is
it just counters to it. Right. Yeah, you can't go
up and under exactly. You go up and under, or
you can kind of show like a heavy like you
go like right, you come up, you can kind of
heavy and get back to your right hand and most
people who are righties are want to go left to
(33:31):
set up that step back because going right a little
bit harder off your odd leg on your odd side.
So I have to face up, you know what I said.
I can back down, it's fine, throw a jump hook
here and there, it's great. But if I can face
up and see the entire floor, my life changes, you know, immensely,
And I just like get it to craze my space
as possible.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
And like for the younger generation, like how is how
did you develop this? Because I know you didn't just
come out starting shooting step backs? Like where was Where's
step one? Uh?
Speaker 1 (34:00):
Well, trial and air that's the biggest thing. I think
you have to like give yourself real game reps. I
think you can practice it as much as you want,
but when the shot licks widening down, well, young kids
don't have shot locks, but you know what I'm saying,
Like when the shock lives winded down and the pressure's
on and whatnot, like that's when I can go to
that move just without thinking. So that's my advice Like
to the younger generation is like you have to find
(34:22):
a moved that you can literally just go to, like
without thinking. It's it's literally like you know, just it's
like brush your teeth in the morning. Whatever. You don't
think about it, you just do it, you know. I
think that I developed it over a lot of trial
and air. I tried going right with a step back,
but I figured like kind of going over the shoulders
a lot harder to put more arc on that shot.
But anytime I go left, I'm tall, and everybody I know,
(34:42):
I get the shot off no matter what. Now, you know,
it got criticized a lot because it's like when you're
selling foot tall, where are you fading away from the basket?
But again, yeah, but people don't realize, like you know again,
so at your point there's a lot of counters to it,
you know what I mean. You get it the fender
in the air, you step back, you pump it, you
draw foul. Like, there's a whole bunch of stuff that
you can do. So find something.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
You're like dab, step back and then step through dunk.
I'm sure that happens all the.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Time exactly, And man, I just really like people are
going to criticize your game, No matter what you do,
you can you can literally have the Kareem skyhook. Someone's
gonna say something right, but it has to be what
works for you, and just so much trial and error,
like work on it until work on it until like again,
it becomes so habitual, like you know that in a
(35:26):
game you're not again, you don't think, you just go
to it. You know, I can't say that enough.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
I agree completely so.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
With your's you know what makes it so hard for
defender to stop? Just in general? You know, I know
you developed it over the years. You know you've played
a lot of basketball. Why is it so hard for
people to stop? And why do you trust it so much?
Speaker 2 (35:45):
I think the fade is so hard because, like you
were talking about, even with your step back, it's like
the moment that I'm I'm taking the middle right, so
I can always do the right righty hook, like right
over the top of the rim. That's easy. But then
when you go back, you're like creating a little bit
of contact to the point where they have to step
back and you create that space for your shot. So
(36:08):
it's like finding that right balance and that's really built
by reps. You know, you have to do the move
over and over and over and over again. So you know, like,
all right, where should I catch it? Which hatch mark?
The block is probably too low because you're going to
end up shooting like a baseline fade, which is not
easy and realizing what the defense is going to do
(36:29):
to counter. So if if I'm going from have fade
and they jump it, then it's standing back and you know,
getting back to the front of the rim and that
type of thing, right.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Yeah, that takes a lead footwork too, especially when you're
fading back that way to get back in the side.
And the reason why I like you your move as
well as phase because a defender is going to overact.
You can draw fouls that way too, you know, especially
people who are trying to get to you. So again
I think that you know, just find what works for you. Man.
It doesn't matter what you do, what other people are
going to say, everybody's going to criticize you. What you
(36:59):
think you're moving. Is once you find your move, like
stand on it too.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Yeah, yeah, like it really really gets super confident in it,
and then from there you can kind of build out
your bag. I feel like everybody needs to, Like, if
I'm talking to the younger, younger generation, like find that
one move that's really gonna make make you feel different
and separate yourself on the court, and then get to
the second one and then the third one because you
(37:23):
never you don't really realize how much one move works
on the basketball court, like a lot.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Exactly, who do you think has some of the toughest
go to moves in basketball? Right now? You know what's started,
like the women's side, because you you know, you have
to get to guard these ladies. Like who do you
think has like one of the best like go to moves?
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Yeah, some of the toughest moves in the w Obviously,
Fee also has a right right shoulder. She's someone that's
like really, what's the word I'm looking for? Like you
know what she's gonna do, Like you know, she wants
to get to that right shoulder, but she can like
(38:01):
double pivot and like create just amount of just enough
space to kind of get it off. Asia. Asia has
this little step back going to her she she likes
the right block because she's lefty. So but I think
that usually she's gonna like rip to the left or
(38:22):
do like a little punch or step back to her
right that that make it super tough. Like anytime you
can create spaces, it is really difficult. At has this
spin move when she gets downhill. She she's going left
and she's gonna spin back right. But that's just from
the guard or the from the post perspective. Like I'm
giving away the scouting report right now. There's there's a
(38:44):
lot of players that have go to moves in our league.
And you know, as you know in the NBA, like
which which players like Luca jok What's what's their go
to moves? I want to know James Harden's go to
a move too.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
I was just about to say that, brother, So James
Harden has two two go to moves. I think it's
really tough to garb. Obviously everybody knows him for that
step back. He creates so much space to the point
where it looks like a travel but uh hardest step
back going to He's a leftyt so going right, there's
only so much you could do because he's gonna draw
that foul as well. He kind of sets you up
(39:18):
with a cross, like a little cross. He kind of
just like gets to his bag a little bit, you know,
maybe twenty twenty tween, but like you just never know
what's coming next. So his go to is that little
step back, but the counter to that is getting downhill,
and his floater looks just like his lob, so as
a big as a defender, I don't know, there's a defender, sorry,
there's a there's a guy behind me who's trying to
go for that lob or him going up to that floater,
(39:39):
and like you can't like figure it out. So he
gets by the initial defender, you know, with his fake
step back with a right steps back. He has sets
it up against downhill and as he's coming at me, I
don't know whether he's trying to throw the lob or
floats in. He's got that floater on the lock. So
that's that's a tough one to garb right there as well,
Jokic has his go to move and you know it's coming.
I'm gonna butcher your name. But it calls like a
(40:01):
somdboard shuffle or a sombod shuffle whatever. But basically it's
like an awkward turnaround over his right leg. And Peter
can clipp this for sure, but this ship is so
impossible to guard. Bro. He literally takes the ball, he
turns over this shoulder to the point where his back
is to you and he takes an additional step, it
just flicks it up like over his head. Yeah, and
(40:21):
that ship is water every time, bro like, and there's
just not much you can do about it. He'll use.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
His left with that shot.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
It might be his odd leg, it might be his
right leg. I think I'd have to watch the actual clip,
but I think it's so awkward that you to the
point where like you can't even like describe it, you
know what I'm saying. And he usually doesn't like the
end of the shot clock but it's almost the point
where he's like harder where he creates so much space,
but he shoots the ball behind his head, so you
can't like really, I mean, so it's a it's a
(40:50):
tough move. I think it's called a somdboard shuffle or
some I don't know how to pronounce it. But like again,
Peter will clip it. It'll be it'll be pretty sick.
He's got a great go to move, could step back,
it's going. It's really tough going as well, uh, because
he creates so much space and he's so big. Who
else trying to think anybody else I'm missing, Oh Donovan
(41:10):
Mitchell has a dope ass move where he gets downhill. Uh,
it's kind of like a he's coming at you full
speed and then there will be a health defender. He
kind of takes the ball and cradles it over people.
I guess, yeah, I think that ship. I think that
ships hard as fuck. I think that. I think it's
a dope ass move because again, he's coming at you
full speed. It's kind of like he's gonna get to
his right handly just carries the ball and like, you know,
(41:31):
takes it over this summer, come on, I know it's there. Now,
it's there, you know what I say, It looks a
little there. And then trying to think anybody else. Uh,
Andrew Nimhard. He's someone who you know, obviously I've been
teammates with, but people don't watch him play a lot.
(41:51):
He's got a shoulder from hell. Bro right shoulder hit
from hell, like bro, you can look it up. He
hit brook Lopez so hard, and brook Lopez is literally
seven foot one, two hundred and ninety pounds. He hit
him so hard with his right shoulder that like knocked
him out of bounds. H he was able to like
to finish. Did this? Yoki did this? Ant Yoki yokis
is damn hear three hundred pounds or however big he
(42:13):
is six seven foot, hits him as hard as he can,
like in the shoulder like it's his chest, knocks him
back and he's able to slow step. I think that's
a great ass, great ass move. And then this is
so he stole them from somebody. This is one of
my new teaments. His name is Kormack Ryan. Have you
ever heard of the penoid step the pinoid step? You've
(42:33):
probably seen it before, like a lot of like European
players do it zero step probably. It's like it's kind
of when they slow the momentum, but they kind of
fake like they're about to throw alive. So they come down,
they come downhill and then they plant with their left
they fake like throw alive. They gets the defender in
the hill up in the air. Then they come down
with their other foot like kind of like slow motion
and it kind of finished. So it's like a huh huh.
(42:56):
Then they finished, And yeah, I like the negative steps
people are taking now when the fish downhill, people are
getting a lot more crafty. A lot of times you
know stuff looks like travels, but you watch the film
and it's just elite work.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
I mean, there's so many people that you can go
to and so they're like their go to moves where
we're literally giving what it's down and reports right here.
But it's it's things that you know, you'll keep working
on in your off season and I'll be trying to
add things to my bag and my preseason to to
really get ready for what's to come for sure.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
Man. You know, I think Shaquille O'Neil said this, Man,
you have to be a thief, like in this league,
you got to steal from other players and add everything
to your back because like you don't have to give
the players respect publicly. But there there are some players
out there who really work on their game and you
can literally just study their film and add it to
your bag whenever you want. Katie did it with Dirk,
you know what I mean. Katie took his you know,
his one legged you know, a fade when a lot
(43:49):
of people did it from him. You know, just find
the players that you like, watch the film on YouTube,
and just start working on it. Man. Just like endless stuff,
endless amount of the you know, things you can add
to your bag. When there's you don't have to be,
you know, one dimensional in the basketball court. It's a
canvas for you to go out there and create if
you're a true artist out there with that y'all. Thanks
for checking us out and be a part of the show.
(44:10):
Send your question through our social channels and leave the
comments on YouTube videos. If please subscribe the game recognized
game Gonna catch y'all next time.
Y'all got some real magic Johnson Larry Bird shit going on? Man, Like,
what's the state of y'all's rivalries?
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Asian and I have the most respect for each other,
and we know that it's going to be a movie
every time that we're together, and that we're going up
against each other and really just trying to give each
other our bet shot.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Welcome the Game Recognized Game al Miles Turner joining Way
co host Brehanna Stewart. And it is the off season, y'all.
Well for some of us, I'm finally back home. I'm excited,
you know, I know Stewie is getting ready to go overseas. Man,
we got a lot to talk about this episode. But yeah,
what does the first couple of weeks look like for
you out there?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, I mean I'm in Spain, so finally a little
bit full circle being here. We have the final four happening,
so we're finishing nothing strong and then it's it's like
a perfect ramp up for the w Like you're an
off season. I'm in the preseason and getting ready to
start things going to go, And I mean, yeah, so
what else are you doing? You're home? You you're in
(01:07):
Texas and then.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
What man, I'm just excited. Bro. It's been such a
long season, and you know, the past three off seasons,
you know, I've been in the playoffs and you know,
deep runs at that. So this is the first time
in a long time I've had this much time off.
Damn near have you know, four to five months off.
You know, I got time to work on myself. But
it's funny, you know, sometimes office is busier than the season.
Like I'm at the house right now. I just moved
(01:28):
in my house like two years ago, so I'm still
doing renovations. We still got I got like three workers
right now and in at the house.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
You know, it's just a look, you automatically cut out.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
We know why exactly exactly. Man, the living a domesticated
lifestyle and it is fun. Man, you know I'm here
for it. Uh but yeah, no, just just get more
time to train, more time to you know again, just
kind of work with myself and get my body some
rest and you know it's gonna be good. You know,
I'm old man now thirty, so it's a it's a
little different club.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah, it hurts a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Yeah, But speaking of the w man, I know, we
got some big new it was on your end, you know,
officially official, I mean out of what you just to
kind of tell the people what's going on.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I mean officially official. Just signed my contract with New York.
Obviously everybody knew I was I was staying in New York.
But but now it's a done deal. It's a three
year standard max contract, which is like seventeen percent of
the cap, and that will fluctuate as the cap fluctuates.
But I think the biggest thing is, you know, for us,
we needed to make sure that, you know, we're able
(02:28):
to really keep all the best players on the team,
and that's why you'll see a few of us probably
in the millions and then everybody else like trying to
get as much as they can but while also having
a great team. I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Yeah, the ink is dry. Man. Honestly, it's a historic
you know at that you know we would know how
hard you and you know your committee worked, you know
to get this. The CBA, you know the place that is.
Now we're seeing historic contracts all over the place, and
it's dope that you give to be one of the
first people, you know, to really bring that in. So
congratulations once again.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Thanks, you appreciate it. But dinner is still on you.
By the way, dinner's still on you.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
I'm already known. I'm already known, you know. Once like
once I get mind my stud York hat, you know me,
I been going that out proudly. Then we'll take it down, Okay,
And man, we got a big show today for y'all.
We're gonna talk about some NBA playoffs and the war predictions.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, we also need to discuss WBA Draft as well
as big free agency moves and of course Asia signing
the biggest contract in WBA history. She got that Supermans
for thirty years. So shout out to Asia for going
to get that bag, and honestly shout out to everybody
for getting their bag because the bag's getting handed out
left and right.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
That's a fact, man, it's a It's really cool just
to kind of see Asia. She's my high school class,
so it's dope and watching her ascension as fire. And
last man, we got a new segment called Inside the
Game where we're taking behind the scenes and basketball at
the highest level. Cool.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
All right, let's get right into it. First team, all NBA,
I'm gonna have you. You're gonna tell me your pick and
then I'll kind of tell you my pick.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
All right, Well, now that the uh this new sixty
five game rule has some they poked some holes in it.
There's some caveats now, some last second editions changed a
little bit. Yeah, I think that you know, clearly gotta
go Sga. You know who's probably from runner for MVP
at this point. You know, I'm throwing Jokichen there. Obviously,
Winby's had an incredible year, you know, in his ascension.
(04:28):
I think you have to throw Luca in there as
somebody's lily average in thirty nine and eight. Think the
Lakers spins like the three or four seed or something
like that, and an historic year out West. And then
my sleeper pick is Jalen Brown. I think that the
Celtics supposed to be in a quote unquote gap year
and now they're a top two seed. They have damp
pretty much their entire team back, and now they're looking
(04:50):
like a dangerous team East. So I have to throw
Jalen Brown. There is the way he just kind of
held it down for his squad this year. What do
you think, Yeah, he.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Was definitely holding him down, especially while Chason Tatum was
out rehabbing and recovering from his achilles, but I got
Cad taken that last spot. I think Kid is taking
Kaylen brown spot. I'm like, they gave the exception for
Luca and Cade for a reason, right, so they have
to win something.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Right, that's real, that's real. It makes sense, And you're right,
you know, Detroit wasn't number one seed this year and
they were, to laugh, gonna win the m v P.
I'm not mad at it. Man, Kate's Dallas kid Man.
I actually wouldn't be mad at that whatsoever. I just
think that it's hard to than I youkich or Sga
though I don't know. He has a tough competition, you know,
to say the least. But uh, I'm not mad at
(05:34):
that pick. You know, at him being first team. I
could see that there's an argument for both on both
sides of things.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah, we're gonna find out. We're talking about it next
on the next show. Who wins what basically probably the
next next next show because I think MVB comes out
a little bit later.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, during the Playoffs's right, Yeah, we'll.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
See, all right, who you got for Coach of the Year.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
What was a couple of candidates. I'm not sure if
he's gonna win it, but I I like Charles Lee
and what he did with Charlotte this year. They were
a big story. Man. They weren't supposed to be They
really weren't supposed to be that good this year, and
he turned that team around after All Star break, and
you know, he's someone who's a young coach on the rise.
But if I had to pick, I'd probably say Mitch
Johnson from the Spurs. You know, he took that team,
(06:18):
he took Opra Popovich, you know, very recently, and he
kind of took their team from security to you know,
being one of the top teams and not only the
league but the Western Conference. You know how hard is
to win out West. So that's my pick, you know, Forgot,
I think she be Mitch Johnson, you know. For Spurs.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Hmmm, I'm gonna go with Joe Missoula. I'm like because
the Celtics, like they everybody just picked up the slack,
Like he got everybody to buy in on what is
Boston Celtics basketball? And so when they became healthy and
people came back, it seemed like it was almost a
pretty seamrous transition, but I don't think anybody was expecting
him to be like second in the East, Like that's crazy.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Yeah. No, he's a borderline crazy person or might be
football and crazy, but I feel like you need that
in a head coach. You know, he has like this
mentality that all his players, you know, adapt intend to
take on. And you know, he's a If he doesn't
get it this year, he'll definitely get one of these years.
I think he's a He's he's a solid coach and
played against some obviously a few times, makes like really
good timely adjustments and again his players buying to him.
(07:17):
So yeah, I like him for sure.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
All Right, Rookie of the Year this.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Year, this is the fun one. Yeah, this is the
fun one. So I think that all year long, Cooper
Flag was the front runner. I think that, you know,
even from the beginning of the draft, everbody knew he's
on Rookie of the Year. He's put a fifty point
fifty point performances. He's one of the youngest. I think
he's the youngest person ever put up a fifty point performance.
He broke multiple records this year, still only nineteen years old,
(07:44):
by the way, which is incredible what he's doing in Dallas.
You know my hometown. So but they came from Wisconsin.
Man Kevin went to Duke Conker Nupple. He really turned
that ship up this year. Bro. I when he first
got picked so high, I think he was like number four,
maybe number five pick. I was very skeptical. I was like, well,
who's his white boy from Duke, you know what I mean? Like,
(08:04):
I don't really know what he does, but shoot, he
can that boy can play. Bro. I played against him
a couple of times this year, and damn, Bro, Like
I was fairly I was really impressed. One, he's he's
bigger than he looks. He's like six to seven, you
know what I mean. Uh, he's he's pretty strong too.
He gets downhill, he's gonna get to his right hand.
You shoot the shoot up the ball. You saw that,
(08:24):
he said, like the you know, I think he's a
led the league in three pointers made this year.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yeah, you know what I mean, two hundred and seventy
three or something like that, and like, uh, real, mellow,
LaMelo was to seventy two.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Oh, I know he was tight. That's funny. But yeah,
I think con has to get it just because one.
Uh he's on a winning team. He's on a I
guess they're the play but there he's on a playoff team,
and he was a big contributor to a playoff team.
And while Cooper Flag you know, may have passed the
eye test broke a lot of records, his impact wasn't
(08:56):
as high as cons was because, uh, he was some
that Charlotte was we relying on, you know, throughout the
year to make to make plays. And charlotteviously is a
good team and got playmakers on the team, but he
was a consistent role player for this year in its
first year. So maybe they at Kobe piece, you know,
you heard it here first on game recognized game call.
They're gonna get cold. They're gonna get cod Rookie of
the Year. That's what I'm gonna say.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like that's that's a topic
for awards, is like do you go with the winning
team or the one that's like performing maybe better stat wise,
but their team is losing. So we'll kind of see
you We'll see where it goes. I'm gonna just keep
asking you the questions because I have my answers. But
like you've played against all these people, So I want
to know, like exactly you breaking it down. I mean,
(09:40):
defensive player of the year, Like, is anybody coming close
to Wemby with with that or do you have a
you know.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
It's not even close. I'm gonna keep it a stack, Like,
I think someone like Wemby, he he so defensive player
of the year to me, right, I think it's someone
who who literally is impactful and you can't you can't
take him off the floor. You're not the same team
with him off the floor, right. I think when Winby
(10:09):
sets on the bench, teams take full advantage of getting downhill,
going to the paint and you know, trying to make
m h when he's in the game, teams don't even try.
They don't even like look at the rim. And I
played against him this year a couple of times, and
their defensive scheme is very interesting. They basically play a
four man defense and it's let Winby roam the entire time.
Like if he's guarded me and I'm a stretch big, right,
(10:31):
so I want to shoot grease if I'm in the corner,
he's still defending the rim and they just have someone
rotate for him to cover me. That he covers the
next guy. He just keeps roaming the entire game. He's
not like it like just guarding one person or in
any sense.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
It's like a one man's zone basically.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Literally quite literally. And obviously you know he's he leads
leads the league in blocks, defensive defensive rim percentage is
probably like one of the highest. Uh. He plays an
effective pick and roll the defense. And I'm telling you, bro,
like I've he right, I've hit him in the chest.
I've tried to step back, like there's yeah, i gotta
put that ship all the way up there, bro, Like
there's He's just there's no one that's coming close, right,
(11:09):
you know. And then there's obviously great defenders in the league,
like people talk about Nasar Thompson. Derek White's obviously a great,
you know, defensive player as well. There's guys out there,
but nobody has close an impact as Wimby does. And
I see him winning this award for a long time.
Like I think I'll break Rudy Gobert's streak.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yeah, I mean he's like obviously I don't play against him,
but his length is something that seems super disruptive, and
that's what I was gonna ask you, like, Okay, you
can't give it to Wimby. Let's say you have you
can only give the defensive player with you to a
guard or a guarter wing. Who are you giving into?
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I definitely probably say to Thompson kid in Detroit, Asar Thompson.
He is just an athletic freak, bro, and he can
guard really one through five. I say one through four
to be safe, but he can guard any position. I
watched him pick up we had Ryan Rawlins. I watched
him pick up Ryan Ron's full court and Ryan Rollins
probably what six to two stars like six to seven, Bro,
He's picking this kid up full court. He's quick as shit,
(12:03):
he's he he blockshots, he's very he gets very vertical,
he's disciplined. He's ripping our guards, ripping our bigs' making
snapback steals like he's doing all the stuff that guards
do at six seven. So I like the way he
plays and I think he's a big part of you
know what Detroit does, you know on their side of
the ball. So I think he's a good defensive player.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Yeah, I mean I feel like the same happens in
the W There's like some some guards in some wings
that are a great defenders. But because you have like
a big that's like does things that nobody else can do, no,
they never win it. So maybe Asar will be on
all defensive team, which probably he will be. I'm switching
gears a little bit. Let's talk about the NBA playoffs
(12:42):
they've started, and I want to know your pick on
the series. Well, first of all, do you watch like
you're out? So what you still watch? Or you don't watch?
Speaker 1 (12:51):
So okay, I'll say this. I really like the Playing Tournament.
I think that shit is dope, bro. I think it's fire.
I think teams are on the line. Everything's on the
line for the teams. Right. I got to play in
the inaugural Playing Tournament like four years ago, and you know, again,
this is a tanking isn't a whole another topic, but
(13:11):
it was really put into place to stop teams from tanking, right,
And it's funny how you know that part didn't work.
But the Playing tournamentself, the product of it is unreal.
The fans are super into it. It feels like a
playoff game. It really is a do or die type
of thing. All the games are close. It's very rare
that these games have been a blowout, you know what
I mean. And I like the fact that if you're
(13:33):
the seventh seed or seven or eight seed and you lose,
you still have a chance like to win, you know
what I mean, because you worked all year long to
get such a great record, you know, and you can
literally be the tenth seed and get the eighth seed
or the seventh seed end up playing the you know,
the one A two seed in the playoffs. So like
all hope isn't lost, whereas you know, few years ago,
it's like, you know, by February, you're basically shutting down
your season. So man, I watched the games over the
(13:57):
past couple of days, the playing games, and they were due.
I watched the Clippers and Warriors last night. That was
a great game. I watched Miami versus Charlotte that was
a really good game. Again, they were all close. So yeah,
to answer your question, I typically don't watch, you know,
much in the playoffs on while I'm out, but a
little more invested here, you know, for some reason, you know.
(14:18):
I mean, I think it's a it's a great product.
It's fun to watch, and I think that you know,
I'm not really just uh not really on the beach
of my with my my feet kicked up. This year,
I'm more domesticated at home, so it's doing so much
to do, you know, have me a little beer, just
kick it.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
I mean, people, he's thirty's, he's domesticated that home. He
is going on vacation for a little while. So I
probably will be doing this show by myself. But all right,
you're gonna I'm gonna ask you this and the for
the series, and you're gonna tell me. But it's gonna
be like almost like rapid fire. Okay, Okay, So Lakers Rockets,
no Luca, No Austin Reeves is old school Lebron versus Katie.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
You got, Okay, I'm gonna say I think Luca comes back.
I don't know about Austin Reeves, but I think Luca
comes back. And I'm gonna pick the Lakers. The only
reason I'm picking the Lakers is because I played against
Houston a couple of times this year. The chemistry isn't there,
you know. I think that they have very talented guys
in the roster, But you can have all the talent
(15:18):
in the world. If there's no chemistry, there's no symmetry
with your team by the time the playoffs comes around,
like it's over with you know. I think again, Katie
is gonna be kd uh. Sam Goon's a great player,
you know, I like even I even like to read
Shepherd Kid. But the playoffs is a different type of pressure,
and I think the Lakers are more of a team
than the Rockets are a team. So I have to
(15:38):
give it to the Lakers. And you know, Lebron did advancing.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Also, the homecourt advantage like that, that's something that you
know is huge anytime you have a playoff series. Okay,
Nuggets versus Timberwolves, this work is fun.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I think I think the Nuggets win this one, but
I think it'll be very close. I think that again
going back to my you know, to what we're talking
about last series. The Nuggets are a great team, bro.
They have a they have Yokis, who's gonna be the
head of the snake do whatever he wants to do.
But a team full of role players I know exactly
what they're supposed to do. Nobody's trying to play outside
(16:13):
of themselves, and you got Jokich and Murray, you know,
kind of hold it down. Like I think that they
go to the distance there. Now the Tea Wolves individual talent,
right for sure, they have everything they need. And Anthony
Edwards is obviously, you know, great player. I think he's
getting back in shape, you know, he I think he
lost a lot of games and it's kind of tough
to ramp up this side of the year, so he's
getting back in shape. But I think that again, the
(16:35):
Nuggets have like a better overall team as opposed to
this individual talent.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Okay, Nicks versus Hawks, I'm not got it. I don't
even know the Hawks were in the playoffs, but he's
no Tray, so they must they must have that chemistry
like you were talking about. That's very important.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Yeah, they're I think when Trey underparted, they banded together
a lot more. Uh they got a good group, very
explosive offensive team. Not the best defensive team though, and
I'm not sure. And then you know in the playoffs,
the defenses everything, you know. Uh So the kids, Jalen
Johnson has taken a really big leap over the past
you know, two years. He's the head of the snake
(17:13):
for them. He's playing really well. And yet Congo's gotten
a lot better he's able to space the floor now
is a big Kilelexander Walkers might probably win, you know,
most approved player. You know, Ryan Rownins doesn't win, into
my opinion. So they got weapons, they got pieces, But
the Knicks, Bro, jaylen Brunson, it's hard to stop. I'm
not going tough, Bro. He he's got everything, and in
(17:37):
the playoffs he's been they played the rules so well
in his favor. You know, he's got the refs on
his side. Carl Towns, I've had to I've had to
play him obviously the past two playoffs whatnot. He's a
lot to deal with. You know. I think that he's
someone if he gets hot, he's gonna be hard to stop.
I don't think that the Hawks have anybody they can
just guard him individually, you know, Gianna Nobi, Mickel Bridges.
I think the next win this one just because of
(17:59):
their playoff experience. I think the Hawks are young and
they're an upcoming team. But I'm gonna go ahead and
give the Nats to the Knicks just because of their experience.
And it's hard to win in the garden, man, It's
hard the garden.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeah, shout out to New York, all right, last week
calvs Versus Raptors. I'm like, all right, James dams Harden
gotta get like, we gotta get close, right, He's got
to get closer to a chip, right.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Yeah. So people aren' gonna agree with me with this one,
but it's whatever I'm giving to the Raptors. And the
reason I say this is because, Bro, the Raptors, they
are a menace. Defensively, Bro, they are a minute. They
play that old school like pick up ninety four feet,
like there's no rhyme of reason and how we play.
We're just gonna cause as much havoc as possible. And
(18:44):
they're very versatile. They got Yakapodle, who is a traditional
drop big and they pick and roll who they can
play or they can play. I'm gonna butcher his last name,
Mama Shuleski, Mama Kuleki. He's from he's from Georgia. I
can't help you, yeah, Sandro Mamak. So I'm like that, like,
no shame, Bro, you know you're a great player, but
I don't know. I can't. I can't do it. But anyways,
(19:05):
he's someone who go you know, and play in the
backup five as well, and you know, move around and
Scottie Barnes and gave me a wile go small and
play him at the five as well. But again you
go back to the Cavaliers. You know they're starting to
get their full roster. But I think Max Strews is
finally back. Donovan Mitchell is, you know, the proven playoffs
score James hard as someone was trying to, you know,
be thehead of the snake. It's got to be either
(19:26):
have to be James or Donovan. And that's a tough part.
Both those guys can can't. They can't play off the ball.
You have to have one person with the ball on
their hands, and Donovan's gonna want that ball, bro, I'm
telling you, especially fourth quarter. But James Harden is also
a Bob Dominan dude as well, great point guard, makes
great plays, but he's a scorer. So I don't know
if the chemistry is all the way there yet for Cleveland.
I think they're a great regular season team, but when
(19:47):
the playoffs come around, you have to be able to
figure a shit out. And I think that the Raptors
are a sleeper team and they have nothing to lose
because no one's expecting them to win. That series. So again,
you know, Brandon Ingram's having a really good year. He's
someone that's you know, really hard to stop in the
half court All star and Emmanuel Quickly as someone as
well who people don't even talk about a lot, who's playing,
you know, really well at high level this season. So
(20:08):
I'll get into the Raptors just because of the randomness
of their offense and the randomness of their defense. And
all the pressure is on Cleveland too early, thanks for
the Pacers too early, like first round exits, you know,
the past couple of years and not first round playoff exits,
and all the pressures on them to reform this year.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, well we've heard it here. First from analyst Miles
Turner turn for a quick break, and up next we
talked WNBA draft, Angel Wilson's new deal, and Liberty's free
agent moves. Please rate, review, and subscribe to Game Recognized Game,
but Stewie and Miles wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Welcome back to the Game Recognized Game with stew A, Miles,
and Off brid Man our Game Recognized Game of Love.
Shout out to Azy fudd Man. She went number one
to the Dallas Wings, my hometown team, and I think
we all saw it coming, but now that it's actually,
you know, Caine fruitioning, we're all proud of her. We're
very happy for her. You know, it's a historic feed
being a number one pick, A lot of pressure that
(21:19):
comes with it. But I think she's built for the moment.
How do you think as will fit in, you know,
with the team on the court.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Yeah, I mean I definitely agree. I think shout out
to Asy another Yukon number one pick. I think that
for her it's got to feel like surreal almost because
of all that she's been through, like the childs and
tribulations of injuries and you know, roller coaster of a
year or year or career at Yukon and now still
like she's she's came out on top. So really happy
(21:45):
for Asy. I think that how she's gonna fit. I
think that you know, Dallas is putting a team together
to be a contender, you know, with obviously every que
taking US page is still on a rookie deal, easy
coming in like okay, that's that's your three starting guards.
And then you have Alana Smith who just signed there
(22:05):
and justsic Shepherd also signed her. She signed like a
million dollar deal, which shout out to her. But I
think it's gonna be great. I think that, you know,
kurt Is, Kurt Miller has done a great job of
really putting the team together. They have a new coach
who used to be at USF, Jose Fernandez, who's gonna
really just take the reins, and it seems like everybody
has the confidence in and really is behind him and
(22:28):
what they're planning to do.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Hometown team. Man, I'm excited for him both for real,
I have a you know, been to a couple of
one thing. I will say that the Wings do get
a good crowd. They play over at UTA in Arlington. Yeah,
and you know, I think it's kind of a dope
that they the fancier Dallas assistant show up for that team,
So they got some of the cheer for this year
and I'm excited for that. A little too early to tell,
but you know, Rookie of Year odds, you know, where
(22:51):
who do who? Do you think?
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Honestly, it's it's tough. I think that this draft class,
especially like between the easy between Olivia Miles, but between
Awa fam who a Spanish player that was drafted third
to Seattle. Lauren Betts, Like there's it's really gonna come
down to like fit, you know, who fits the best
in their team and how they make that impact. But
(23:15):
you know, of course I'll give my shout out to Easy,
so Easy come on Rookie of the Year, like only
because New York doesn't have any rookies, but like.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
That's real, you kind shit, I get it, I get it.
So this one also one of my favorite, one of
my fairite players watching the past couple of years, and
I think we talked about it a couple of times.
Olivia Miles, you know, I think she made that transition
Notre Dame to TCU at an incredible year. She gets
drafted to Minnesota, you know, and Minnesota a stacked team
and already added more and more weapons, you know, especially
(23:46):
when we're coming in. You know, I think they're gonna
be tough to beat. What do you think?
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yeah, I think Olivia Miles is gonna really fit right
in in Minnesota. I think that Cheryl obviously, you know,
is uh a master of what she does, you know,
really putting people in their best places to be successful.
And to have the option between putting Olivia or Courtney
Williams as the one guard or they can alternate back
(24:10):
and forth on who's going to bring the ball up
or run the offense, uh while also finding their sniper Kmack.
And then Natasha Howard just signed back to Minnesota, so
she was there like years ago when they won, so
this will be a little bit of a homecoming for her.
And then obviously in the FISA, she won't be back
probably until halfway through the season. But you know, they
(24:33):
got a good group to really build that foundation and
get get things going, so then they'll just slop you
back in whenever she's ready.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
That's real. I forgot about a piece of injury. I
mean I watched that live that was that was tough. Yeah,
that was Alyssa Thomas something like kind of hit her
with the transition. I think.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Yeah, so she got she got hurt against Vegas and
she had like a nasty like over over like rolling
your ankle that way, and you know sometimes it's an
athlete like when it looks bad, it's actually not that bad.
But she had like two nasty ankle injuries. So we're
pushing for you to get back on the court and
(25:13):
can't wait for you to be back, but don't want
anybody to play good against New York's.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
That's real, that's real. We'll speaking of New York. You know, Liberty,
y'all had a third round pick this year. Believe y'all
picked to flor I think it was Manuel manuela Pope. Yeah,
probably not gonna be in the team this season, but
I was excited for this one, and this one was dope.
The Satu signing is actually gonna be something that's gonna
be special to watch. I watched her here in Dallas.
(25:37):
You know when she was here. She can play bro.
I think she's I remember when she was at Organ Bro.
She can really play. You know, what are your thoughts
on the signing? And man, there's another big wing for y'all.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Yeah, I'm really excited for Satu. I think that you know,
I actually the last time I was at Fenner, I
played with Satu, so we have a little bit of
a shared experience on the court. And you know, she
she had like her growing pains when she was in Dallas.
She was in Phoenix for a year and they made
it to the finals. But I think that, you know,
for her to sign a longer term deal shows that
(26:09):
she's really invested in what we're doing here in New
York and really building with our core and I think that,
you know, that's what we want, is we want the chemistry.
We're not just trying to like win right away. We
are trying to win this year obviously, but we're trying
to win for like multiple or consecutive years in a
row and forsaught to to have some some leadership, some
bets to continue to look up to. Like I'm excited
(26:29):
to just be back on the court with her. I
know she's in New York working already, and yeah, Unicorn
is coming to New York.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
That's real ship man. Peter's over here, you know, trying
to start starting.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Peter talking about when I already talked about that. So
I'm also looking at they go back to the old
podcast The Liberty.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Also back back Benija and Landy Hamilton. You know, what
does she bring that people might not be aware of.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
He's a huge piece for for what we do in
New York and you know, hopefully those haven't forgotten. But
she was out last season with a knee injury because
she got hurt unrivaled unfortunately, and the year before our
championship year, she brought this toughness, this tenacity, this grit,
this you know, really gonna be a player up ninety
(27:17):
four feet and make their life really hard offensively. But
I think that what I'm most excited about is to
be back on the court with her. But even from
what I've seen her in the gym, her her shot
looks great, her you know, her body like, she looks
like she's kind of in like a great flow and
rhythm as far as how she's feeling and how she's playing.
(27:39):
So I can't wait to kind of share the court
with her again and you know, go after another one.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
It's good news. Man shipping gears a little bit, big
shout out to Asia Wilson. Man. Like I said, She's
someone who I've watched really yeah, not just shine, but
kind of just grow from a standpoint, you know, we're
the same high school class. I met her McDonald All
American game and just be able to kind of like
personally get to know her and watch her essentially the
entire time. The way she's carried herself, the way she's
(28:07):
put on for our culture, the way she's put on
for the basketball culture at that I'm just proud of,
like the woman and the player that she's become and
she signs the biggest contract in WNBA history. What did
you think when you saw that?
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yeah? I think that, you know, really happy for Asia
all the things that you said obviously, the way that
she carries herself, the way that she's just grown, you know,
on and off the court from when she came into
the league. Like she's someone that's developed year after year
after year as far as her skill set, and you know,
she's a four time MVP, like three WBA championships, Like
(28:41):
there's a lot that she's done and she's someone that
I have a tremendous amount of respect for whenever we
go like head to head. But for her to have
a three year Supermax, like, that's that's stability. You know,
she's showing that Vegas is her home and you know
that's where she wants to be and continue you to
to fight for championships.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, speaking of that, y'all got some real magic Johnson
Larry Bird shit going on. Man, what's the what's the
state of y'all's rival for you know, I think it's
a y'all have individually had an amazing careers or whatnot,
But as competitors, you want to go against the best.
So like, what is like, you know, your mindset when
you guys are matching up or whatnot? Like what are
the fans not seeing? You know, just you know, speak
to it.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Yeah, from my perspective, you know, it is not it's
it's that rivalry of you know, Asian and I have
the most respect for any for each other, and we
know that it's going to be a movie every time
that we're together, and and that we're going up against
each other and really just trying to give each other
our bet shot. You know, I'm going to try and
pull things out of my bag and I know she's
(29:41):
going to try to pull things out of her bag,
and uh, just just compete, you know. I think that
when we're when we're matched up defensively, it's it's hard
for both sides because there's so many each of us
have so many tools in our toolbox to really go
to as far as offensively. But but between us, yeah,
(30:02):
we're competing. Yeah, people can say rave you, but it's
like a respected rivalry. Yeah. And then Vegas liberty is
definitely your rivalry. And I think that'll just stay the
way it is.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
Of course, I like what you said there, y'all just
bring out the best in each other, you know what
I mean. It's not so much about like the rivalry
it self, it's just as a competitor at the highest level,
like you guys are starting to push it off that
you may not even know was there just because of
the matchup, you know, and just that that mutual respect
you have towards each other. You know, it's fun, especially
at the biggest stage. So it's it's kind of dope
to hear just from your perspective.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
Yeah, we know that we're setting the tone in the
bar basically every time that we come out. So making
sure that we do that year after year is it's
something that's not easy, but it's really important for the game.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
All right, all right, y'all, time for one more break.
Next we go inside the game and talk about our
go to moves. Welcome back to the game, recognized game
(31:12):
Stward Miles, Tom Bran inside the game and it's a
new second we're introducing. You know, we have two hoopers
at the highest levels, you know, both sides of the game.
And yeah, I just think that people watch us play,
but they may not necessarily know what's going through our heads.
We're playing, so start it all off. Like for you personally,
what's a go to offensive move, like in a big
moment that you got in your bag.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
A go to move for me, Well, if you're going
to set it up right, if you're facing the basket,
I want to be on the left block, and from
there I'm gonna have like my one two dribble, my
little shimmy, and my right shoulder fade. I feel like,
especially when I'm in that area, I know, like the
depth perception and everything that I'm super confident in that
(31:54):
shot and know that it's really hard for anybody to
kind of contest. What about you? I feel like, I
feel like I feel like the right shoulder fade is
something that most writings have for.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
Sure, And I like that you were setting up for
the fans. Like when you are faceball, most of us
right handed, we want to be on the left block
because if anything, you can get to your right hand
to the middle of the floor. For me personally, I
like facing up right. I feel like when you're backing
somebody down too much and go wrong, you know, I
feel like you can somebody can you have a dig defender,
you can get double team and whatnot. When you face up,
(32:28):
you can see everything. You see the shot clock, you
can see this floor, you can see where uh maybe
a double team is coming from. You can see the
weak side. So my favorite move is it can be
left block and be right block. It doesn't matter. I'm
gonna face up on my left pivot foot, I'm gonna
get gonna give a jab at the defender to my right,
and I'm going left and I'm stepping back. That is
my favorite shot in basketball because no matter what happens,
(32:51):
I can drop a If I have a more physical
guy on me, or a smaller guy, I can drop
my shoulder into his chest and create space. Or if
I have someone like you said, like a womby who's long.
My biggest objective is crazy my space as possible. Is
I trust my shot that much? Now. The reason why
I like the the left block a little bit more, no, sorry,
the right block a little more because I can find
(33:11):
a way to go off glass from there. Now again,
the reason why I like to step back two is
it just counters to it. Right. Yeah, you can't go
up and under exactly. You go up and under, or
you can kind of show like a heavy like you
go like right, you come up, you can kind of
heavy and get back to your right hand and most
people who are righties are want to go left to
(33:31):
set up that step back because going right a little
bit harder off your odd leg on your odd side.
So I have to face up, you know what I said.
I can back down, it's fine, throw a jump hook
here and there, it's great. But if I can face
up and see the entire floor, my life changes, you know, immensely,
And I just like get it to craze my space
as possible.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
And like for the younger generation, like how is how
did you develop this? Because I know you didn't just
come out starting shooting step backs? Like where was Where's
step one? Uh?
Speaker 1 (34:00):
Well, trial and air that's the biggest thing. I think
you have to like give yourself real game reps. I
think you can practice it as much as you want,
but when the shot licks widening down, well, young kids
don't have shot locks, but you know what I'm saying,
Like when the shock lives winded down and the pressure's
on and whatnot, like that's when I can go to
that move just without thinking. So that's my advice Like
to the younger generation is like you have to find
(34:22):
a moved that you can literally just go to, like
without thinking. It's it's literally like you know, just it's
like brush your teeth in the morning. Whatever. You don't
think about it, you just do it, you know. I
think that I developed it over a lot of trial
and air. I tried going right with a step back,
but I figured like kind of going over the shoulders
a lot harder to put more arc on that shot.
But anytime I go left, I'm tall, and everybody I know,
(34:42):
I get the shot off no matter what. Now, you know,
it got criticized a lot because it's like when you're
selling foot tall, where are you fading away from the basket?
But again, yeah, but people don't realize, like you know again,
so at your point there's a lot of counters to it,
you know what I mean. You get it the fender
in the air, you step back, you pump it, you
draw foul. Like, there's a whole bunch of stuff that
you can do. So find something.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
You're like dab, step back and then step through dunk.
I'm sure that happens all the.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Time exactly, And man, I just really like people are
going to criticize your game, No matter what you do,
you can you can literally have the Kareem skyhook. Someone's
gonna say something right, but it has to be what
works for you, and just so much trial and error,
like work on it until work on it until like again,
it becomes so habitual, like you know that in a
(35:26):
game you're not again, you don't think, you just go
to it. You know, I can't say that enough.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
I agree completely so.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
With your's you know what makes it so hard for
defender to stop? Just in general? You know, I know
you developed it over the years. You know you've played
a lot of basketball. Why is it so hard for
people to stop? And why do you trust it so much?
Speaker 2 (35:45):
I think the fade is so hard because, like you
were talking about, even with your step back, it's like
the moment that I'm I'm taking the middle right, so
I can always do the right righty hook, like right
over the top of the rim. That's easy. But then
when you go back, you're like creating a little bit
of contact to the point where they have to step
back and you create that space for your shot. So
(36:08):
it's like finding that right balance and that's really built
by reps. You know, you have to do the move
over and over and over and over again. So you know, like,
all right, where should I catch it? Which hatch mark?
The block is probably too low because you're going to
end up shooting like a baseline fade, which is not
easy and realizing what the defense is going to do
(36:29):
to counter. So if if I'm going from have fade
and they jump it, then it's standing back and you know,
getting back to the front of the rim and that
type of thing, right.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
Yeah, that takes a lead footwork too, especially when you're
fading back that way to get back in the side.
And the reason why I like you your move as
well as phase because a defender is going to overact.
You can draw fouls that way too, you know, especially
people who are trying to get to you. So again
I think that you know, just find what works for you. Man.
It doesn't matter what you do, what other people are
going to say, everybody's going to criticize you. What you
(36:59):
think you're moving. Is once you find your move, like
stand on it too.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Yeah, yeah, like it really really gets super confident in it,
and then from there you can kind of build out
your bag. I feel like everybody needs to, Like, if
I'm talking to the younger, younger generation, like find that
one move that's really gonna make make you feel different
and separate yourself on the court, and then get to
the second one and then the third one because you
(37:23):
never you don't really realize how much one move works
on the basketball court, like a lot.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
Exactly, who do you think has some of the toughest
go to moves in basketball? Right now? You know what's started,
like the women's side, because you you know, you have
to get to guard these ladies. Like who do you
think has like one of the best like go to moves?
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Yeah, some of the toughest moves in the w Obviously,
Fee also has a right right shoulder. She's someone that's
like really, what's the word I'm looking for? Like you
know what she's gonna do, Like you know, she wants
to get to that right shoulder, but she can like
(38:01):
double pivot and like create just amount of just enough
space to kind of get it off. Asia. Asia has
this little step back going to her she she likes
the right block because she's lefty. So but I think
that usually she's gonna like rip to the left or
(38:22):
do like a little punch or step back to her
right that that make it super tough. Like anytime you
can create spaces, it is really difficult. At has this
spin move when she gets downhill. She she's going left
and she's gonna spin back right. But that's just from
the guard or the from the post perspective. Like I'm
giving away the scouting report right now. There's there's a
(38:44):
lot of players that have go to moves in our league.
And you know, as you know in the NBA, like
which which players like Luca jok What's what's their go
to moves? I want to know James Harden's go to
a move too.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
I was just about to say that, brother, So James
Harden has two two go to moves. I think it's
really tough to garb. Obviously everybody knows him for that
step back. He creates so much space to the point
where it looks like a travel but uh hardest step
back going to He's a leftyt so going right, there's
only so much you could do because he's gonna draw
that foul as well. He kind of sets you up
(39:18):
with a cross, like a little cross. He kind of
just like gets to his bag a little bit, you know,
maybe twenty twenty tween, but like you just never know
what's coming next. So his go to is that little
step back, but the counter to that is getting downhill,
and his floater looks just like his lob, so as
a big as a defender, I don't know, there's a defender, sorry,
there's a there's a guy behind me who's trying to
go for that lob or him going up to that floater,
(39:39):
and like you can't like figure it out. So he
gets by the initial defender, you know, with his fake
step back with a right steps back. He has sets
it up against downhill and as he's coming at me, I
don't know whether he's trying to throw the lob or
floats in. He's got that floater on the lock. So
that's that's a tough one to garb right there as well,
Jokic has his go to move and you know it's coming.
I'm gonna butcher your name. But it calls like a
(40:01):
somdboard shuffle or a sombod shuffle whatever. But basically it's
like an awkward turnaround over his right leg. And Peter
can clipp this for sure, but this ship is so
impossible to guard. Bro. He literally takes the ball, he
turns over this shoulder to the point where his back
is to you and he takes an additional step, it
just flicks it up like over his head. Yeah, and
(40:21):
that ship is water every time, bro like, and there's
just not much you can do about it. He'll use.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
His left with that shot.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
It might be his odd leg, it might be his
right leg. I think I'd have to watch the actual clip,
but I think it's so awkward that you to the
point where like you can't even like describe it, you
know what I'm saying. And he usually doesn't like the
end of the shot clock but it's almost the point
where he's like harder where he creates so much space,
but he shoots the ball behind his head, so you
can't like really, I mean, so it's a it's a
(40:50):
tough move. I think it's called a somdboard shuffle or
some I don't know how to pronounce it. But like again,
Peter will clip it. It'll be it'll be pretty sick.
He's got a great go to move, could step back,
it's going. It's really tough going as well, uh, because
he creates so much space and he's so big. Who
else trying to think anybody else I'm missing, Oh Donovan
(41:10):
Mitchell has a dope ass move where he gets downhill. Uh,
it's kind of like a he's coming at you full
speed and then there will be a health defender. He
kind of takes the ball and cradles it over people.
I guess, yeah, I think that ship. I think that
ships hard as fuck. I think that. I think it's
a dope ass move because again, he's coming at you
full speed. It's kind of like he's gonna get to
his right handly just carries the ball and like, you know,
(41:31):
takes it over this summer, come on, I know it's there. Now,
it's there, you know what I say, It looks a
little there. And then trying to think anybody else. Uh,
Andrew Nimhard. He's someone who you know, obviously I've been
teammates with, but people don't watch him play a lot.
(41:51):
He's got a shoulder from hell. Bro right shoulder hit
from hell, like bro, you can look it up. He
hit brook Lopez so hard, and brook Lopez is literally
seven foot one, two hundred and ninety pounds. He hit
him so hard with his right shoulder that like knocked
him out of bounds. H he was able to like
to finish. Did this? Yoki did this? Ant Yoki yokis
is damn hear three hundred pounds or however big he
(42:13):
is six seven foot, hits him as hard as he can,
like in the shoulder like it's his chest, knocks him
back and he's able to slow step. I think that's
a great ass, great ass move. And then this is
so he stole them from somebody. This is one of
my new teaments. His name is Kormack Ryan. Have you
ever heard of the penoid step the pinoid step? You've
(42:33):
probably seen it before, like a lot of like European
players do it zero step probably. It's like it's kind
of when they slow the momentum, but they kind of
fake like they're about to throw alive. So they come down,
they come downhill and then they plant with their left
they fake like throw alive. They gets the defender in
the hill up in the air. Then they come down
with their other foot like kind of like slow motion
and it kind of finished. So it's like a huh huh.
(42:56):
Then they finished, And yeah, I like the negative steps
people are taking now when the fish downhill, people are
getting a lot more crafty. A lot of times you
know stuff looks like travels, but you watch the film
and it's just elite work.
Speaker 2 (43:09):
I mean, there's so many people that you can go
to and so they're like their go to moves where
we're literally giving what it's down and reports right here.
But it's it's things that you know, you'll keep working
on in your off season and I'll be trying to
add things to my bag and my preseason to to
really get ready for what's to come for sure.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
Man. You know, I think Shaquille O'Neil said this, Man,
you have to be a thief, like in this league,
you got to steal from other players and add everything
to your back because like you don't have to give
the players respect publicly. But there there are some players
out there who really work on their game and you
can literally just study their film and add it to
your bag whenever you want. Katie did it with Dirk,
you know what I mean. Katie took his you know,
his one legged you know, a fade when a lot
(43:49):
of people did it from him. You know, just find
the players that you like, watch the film on YouTube,
and just start working on it. Man. Just like endless stuff,
endless amount of the you know, things you can add
to your bag. When there's you don't have to be,
you know, one dimensional in the basketball court. It's a
canvas for you to go out there and create if
you're a true artist out there with that y'all. Thanks
for checking us out and be a part of the show.
(44:10):
Send your question through our social channels and leave the
comments on YouTube videos. If please subscribe the game recognized
game Gonna catch y'all next time.
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