January 22, 2024 • 19 mins
Sarah is joined by NBA senior writer John Schuhmann to talk about his latest Power Rankings column. They discuss the Clippers crazy come from behind win over the Nets and their rise to #2 in the rankings, Joel Embiid's record breaking numbers for the Sixers and John and Sarah debate their votes for All-Star starters.
NBA Pulse is a production of iHeartPodcasts and the NBA
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Welcome in into NBA Pulster production of iHeartRadio in the NBA.
I'm Sarahkustak, NBA analyst for the Yes Network, and today
is Monday, January twenty second, and from our extraordinary core
group of NBA journalists. We're joined now by NBA dot
Com Senior writer John Schuman and Shoe. You got your
power rankings out? We got some movement in the top five.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I like to see it.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
The Boston Celtics move up from the number two spot
to number one. Los Angeles Clippers are up to number
two from number five. Philadelphia seventy six Ers make a
jump up to three. The Denver Nuggets dropped down to
four in the Oklahoma City Thunder after losing two games
in Los Angeles last week to the Clippers and to
(00:57):
the Lakers, drop down from one to number five. Those Shoe,
I want to get into your number two team for
this week. The Los Angeles Clippers haven't talked about them
too much.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I just saw them.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I was out in Los Angeles calling some Brooklyn Nets games.
Saw their win over the Lakers and their loss in
tough fashion against the Los Angeles Clippers team that had
a tremendous comeback in the fourth quarter. Clippers now have
won five of their last six games, eight of ten.
It's just impressive, not just with the wake k why
(01:29):
Leonard is playing, and he by all accounts had a
bit of an off night, Paul George and off night
James Harden was very good, but the depth of this
group and still how they're continuing to play the way
they are with the Viza Zubat's sideline for a stretch
here shot, tell me about this Clippers team and what
you see in your perspective, not just what they're doing offensively,
(01:51):
but defensively, and how there's such kind of just a
balanced team in the way that they can operate.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, I mean, well, I think we've mentioned multiple times
on this podcast that they started zero to five with
James Harden. Since then they're twenty four and seven, which
is the best record in the league over that time.
And I think, you know, last week was just you know,
they only played two games, but it was two impressive wins.
(02:18):
One and that they beat the Thunder and they were
trailing late in that game and ended the game on
a fourteen to two run. And then obviously, as you saw,
they were down eighteen in the fourth quarter, down eleven
with a few minutes left, and then finished the Nets
off with a twenty ridiculous twenty two to nothing run Westbrook.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
Oh big time tennis for the Clippers.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I still find them super intriguing as far as lineups
are concerned, just because you know, they finished most of
that twenty two oh run came with James Harden, Russell Westbrook,
Paul George, Norman Powell, and Kawhi Leonard, which I guess
means Kawhi Leonard was the was the five man in
(03:08):
that on that lineup, and that lineup it only played
like twelve minutes prior to Sunday, So I find them
kind of interesting. I think that part of interesting. They
obviously need their bigs. He beached the zoo Box was
having a great season before he got hurt. Daniel Tye
and Mason Plumley have both been more than serviceable. But
(03:31):
I think they're they're kind of fun to watch when
you start to put, you know, all the talent on
the floor right And I remember I was at their
first game with James Harden in New York and I
just watched them run out onto the floor and thought,
oh my gosh, this team has so much talent, and
obviously it took a few a while for them to
(03:52):
put it all together, but they did, and they have
the ability to be ridiculously good offensively. But I think
defensively is where they've been. They've been a little bit
more consistent. And god, I mean they have Kawhi Leonard
and Paul George. It starts right there. But you know,
(04:13):
Tyleru is just an excellent coach. He's always been very
good even when they've been shorthanded. Over these last few years,
when they've played without Leonard or played without Leonard and George,
they they've been really good defensively. Terrence Mann is a
really good defender. He's a guy that they will sick
on Steph Curry and he'll sort of take Steph Curry
(04:34):
out of a game as much as anybody can take
Steph Curry out of a game. He'll do the same
with you know, Shay Gilgess, Alexander and you know, if
that's not working, they put Paul George on him, and
if that's not working, they put Kawhi Leonard on him.
Like that's it's just an amazing just how much the
talent they have, especially when you consider both ends of
the floor.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
You just said it, and I think that's where them
coming at you in waves and the length in the
way that they could shrink the floor collectively, but also
with individual defenders. And I think to just watching you
mentioned about Tyleru. I I've always been just it's so
impressed and fascinated by him pushing the right buttons.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
How he gets teams to.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Gel together in game adjustments throughout the course of a season.
You even saw it. You know, cam Thomas is going
off a bit yesterday and so he has them double
a little bit. But the back line rotations who he
puts on multiple guys that he could toss with them.
They were going small, so they could switch all across,
but half the time they don't need to because guys
(05:35):
can stay in front. But more so to me, you
mentioned that about Harden when I last saw them. I
think it was one of the first games that Harden
was was traded over there. How James Harden has acclimated
and you saw this in Brooklyn when he first came over,
of understanding his role, what he needs to do when
he needs to be a score, how to facilitate just
(05:57):
playing at such a deliberate tempo and pace, and you
got Westbrook that will come in and all of a sudden,
it's like you are a running in a different in
a different mode when you got Terrence Mann with you,
or when Norm Poll comes in, and just what that
second unit looks like. I think Westbrook has entirely embraced
his role, understands where to be on the floor, where
(06:18):
they're giving him the ball, just more decisive in ways
that I think just benefit what they're doing offensively, and
so overall, like I said, I'm just I'm impressed with
how they've all worked together in the optionality that they
have within their lineup. And hopefully Zoobots comes back because
as you mentioned, they can use him and he was
playing so well for them. Clippers are a team number two.
(06:43):
The team right behind them that you have in your
power rankings. Philadelphia seventy six Ers. I'm talking about a
big man. Joel Embiid has been out of this world.
The seventy six Ers are currently sitting third in the
in the Eastern Conference right here, but Joel is just
tremendous and I think watching just kind of what he's
(07:03):
done with him on the floor and being healthy and
off the floor, shoe. I'm curious how the numbers stack
up with that and just the rate that he has
been been producing for the seventy six ers team.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
It's pretty amazing. Uh, you know they're for the season.
The Sixers are twenty five and six with Joel Embiid
in the lineup, and that's fifteen and two since Thanksgiving.
He was out for a little bit. He came back
last week. They won four straight games. And the offense,
(07:35):
the scoring is is just ridiculous. He scored thirty or
more points in twenty straight games.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
MB just a free throw line and MB layup make
it twenty six for Joel Tonight.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Over that twenty game stretch, he's averaged thirty six point
eight in just thirty four point two minutes. For the season,
he's averaged you know, thirty five is it? Let me check.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Thirty five thirty five.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Points in thirty four minutes basically, so his thirty he's
per thirty six minutes, he's averaging thirty six point nine points.
That would be the second highest scoring per thirty six
minutes in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain's thirty seven
(08:24):
point four per thirty six, so it's not that far
off the highest mark in NBA history in nineteen sixty
one sixty two. We'll average more than fifty points per
game that year, but he averaged more than forty eight
minutes per game. He basically played every minute, including overtime
that season, and so you know, the following year, he
(08:45):
averaged more than forty points per game, but he also
averaged like forty seven minutes. So when you think about
it on a per minute basis, and Beads is the
second greatest scoring season in NBA history, which is pretty amazing.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Thirty one for Joel Tonight's nine rebounds, thirty three for
Joel emb It is the Sixers effort to put this
game away.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
And what's funny is that he's actually been slightly less
efficient scoring this year than he was last year. But
his usage rate is the third highest in the in
the twenty eight years for which we have play by
play data, trade trailing only one James Harden season and
one Russell Russell Westbrook season. So that I mean, those
(09:30):
are two guards, right, you know, two guards that have
the ball in their hands all the time. You know,
Westbrook went with Oklahoma City after Kevin Durant left James
Harden in Houston. This is MBI, who was a big man,
who's got that you know, high usage rate. So it's
pretty amazing. I mean, I don't you know, I don't
(09:50):
know what he's He's a he's a terrific shooter. I mean,
he's just so deadly from that mid range and and
you know, defenders don't want to pressure him too much
because they're gonna faul him or he's gonna drive buy
them for a dunk. And so they give him that
you know, fifteen to eighteen footer and he's just so
good at it. It's just become automatic. It's just a
(10:11):
matter of the sixers just getting the ball in that position.
And when you have a guy a guard as quick
as Tyrese Maxi, that's not that difficult because he's going
to bend the defense and you know, allow and be
to sort of sit into his spot and get the
ball in position to score.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
That's what's been fun to watch.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
And I also think give Nick Nurse credit for just
being creative in ways how they operate so much. One
runs through him. As you said, he's averaging a career
high five point nine assists per game. So the fact
that Maxi leads the team you're talking about, as you said,
with guards with perimer players with primary ball handlers. You know,
Maxi had six point seven assists, Joel right behind him.
(10:55):
But how they're able to compliment one another and playoff
one another hit has been just tremendously fun to see
how that has evolved.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
I think we've talked about this before, but when you
catch the ball in the middle of the paint or
at the at the nail, yep, it's hard to double, right,
Like if you double, every every other teammate is one
is one pass away. So that's the perfect spot for
him to operate.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
M and you got shooters all around him. Speaking of
Joel Embiid, we're going to get to your All Star
All Star Voting All Star starters. They will be announced
this Thursday on tn T. Take a quick break and
find out Shoe.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Who you voted for.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Welcome back to Emmy, Paul Sarah Kustak, joined by John
Schuman and Shoe. It is about that time a year
All Star is inching closer to us. On Saturday, you
had to turn in your votes for the All Star starters,
which will be announced this Thursday on T and T
it's seven pm Eastern. We will later find out about
(12:02):
who the coaches voted for the reserves. But show what
can you can you reveal your your ballot. You're you're
you're voting, uh to us, to us listeners.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
All right, we'll start in the Eastern Conference. Because the
front court was very easy. Uh. We just mentioned Joe
l Embiid, Janni Santo, Jason Tatum. Didn't. I didn't. I
don't think anybody had to think twice about those three
guys in the front court. I think the first backcourt
spot was fairly easy with Tyrese Haliburton, but the second
(12:35):
backcourt spot spot was tough, and and for me it
came down to, you know, five different guys were in
sort of I gave strong consideration to, and those are
Jalen Brunson, Damian Lillard, Tyres Maxie, Donovan Mitchell, and Derek White.
Derek White doesn't have like the box score numbers that
(12:57):
all those other guys do, but he's been super and
the best team in the league has been much better
when he's been on the floor than it's been with
him off the floor. But ultimately I went with Tyres Maxie.
You know, I think you know he's sort of it
was between him and Mitchell. I think ultimately Mitchell had
(13:19):
the slightly better box score numbers, two more points per game,
but Maxi's been just on the better team. And at
the time I was looking at it, Maxi had played
in nine more wins than Donovan Mitchell had. It was
like twenty seven wins that Maxie had played in. Donovan
Mitchell played in only eighteen. So I think that's what
(13:41):
came down to it. So my backcourt was Tyrese Haliburton
and Tyrese Maxie. In my front court, like I said,
was Giannis Antetokunpo, Joel Embiid and Jason Tatum.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I love it. I like that logic. I like that thought.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
I am a huge, huge fan of Tyres Maxie. I
think if I had to put in votes, Donovan Mitchell
likely would have gotten mine, Cleveland, Kevaliers and fourth there
in the Eastern Conference. A huge part of that has
been Mitchell. You consider how much time Mobley has missed
and Darius Garland some of those things, and I know
(14:15):
just Cleveland how they've continued to put things together behind
some super strong play of Jared Allen. But I think
with MAXI being an All Star but being a starter,
I think I'd probably spread things out a little bit there.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
But I like it. I like it.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
There's a lot of good options. And to your point
about those other four, pretty easy to lock in. What
about the Western Conference?
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Western Conference? Two guys were written in Penn before I
even started. Those were Nikolay Jokic and Shay gilg just Alexander.
I actually would have had them, like if we had
like an MVP vote at the midpoint of the season,
I think they would have been one and two in
some order, ahead of himb just because they played a
lot more minutes than he had. But they were fairly easy.
(14:58):
Gilgas Alexander in the back or Yokic in the front court.
And then Luka Doncics was a fairly easy pick for
the second back court spot. With apologies to Steph Curry,
of course, don you know is you know the foundation
for one of the you know, best teams in the
Western Conference just puts up huge, absolutely huge numbers. So
(15:22):
then it was just two front court spots in addition
to Jokic, and I considered six different guys for those
two spots. Ultimately I went with Rudy Gobert and Kawhi
Leonard uh Leonard.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Okay, Yeah, so I like this.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
I like alogies to Paul George, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis
and Lebron James Davis and James you know, your team's
in tenth or eleventh place. Sorry, apology, you know it's
not not good enough. And then you know, Durant I
considered pretty heavily, but you know, like I think Phoenix,
(16:11):
you know, at the time was eighteen and sixteen in
games that he had played. Rudy Gobert is the foundation
for the best defensive team in the league. And that
great best defensive team in the league has been so
much better defensively when he's been on the floor than
when he's been off the floor. So I didn't really
(16:32):
hesitate too much with that one. I know the offense
isn't there, but the offense is better than it's been,
you know for most of the last few years. He's
still an efficient scorer, you know, when he does score,
and like I said, the defense is just there. And
I'm sorry, I know it's an All Star game, but
(16:53):
I still consider defense. When I'm voting for All Star
starters and then Kawhi Leonard, I mean, we're gonna say
he's the best player on one of the best teams
in the league. And you know, his numbers are great,
his efficiency is great. Uh, and the Clippers have been
much better with him on the floor than they've been
with him off the floor.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Should I love you? I love your thought process.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
I can't vote Rudy Gobert into my All Star starters.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
I understand it.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
But that's why we have like a hundred of us voting,
right Like, I'm gonna I'm gonna be somebody that's partial
to Rudy Gobert.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
I appreciate it, I respect it.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
I respect Like they're the number one team in the West, right.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
It had been for pretty much the entire season.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
And it's not because their offense, right, Like, their offense
is in the bottom half of the league. They're number
one team in the West. It's not because their offense,
because of the defense. And that defense is built around
that one dude. And I know either like even like
you're going to get to the playoffs and it's not
gonna his value is going to diminish a little bit
(17:59):
you're going to play team that has Yeah, you could
play Phoenix, and his value isn't as much because those
guys can hit, you know, mid range jumpers. But if
you want a good defense in this league over the
course of eighty two games, you know, you put Rudy
go de Beer on the floor and you put him
in drop coverage and you're in good shape. He's also
having a great, great season relative to his last season
(18:21):
and maybe even the season before.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
You're saying, you're saying all the right things.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
I though, don't want to see the bedrock of a
league best defense in the All Star Game. I want
to see the league's all time leading score. The Lakers
are not in ninth place because of Lebron James.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
A good thing about it is we're we're just voting
for the starters, So I don't like stress it all
that much.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Like if it was like they will you know, follow up, Yeah, my.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Vote had something, you know, whether a guy made the
roster or not, that would be a little bit more stressful.
But you know, it's always like, well, I'm not gonna
I'm you know, the sky is going to get slighted
in my vote a little bit. But he's still going
to make the team.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I love it, and I love Minnesota. I'm a huge
fan of Go Bear. This is this is why I
appreciate just being able to flippantly say things and not
actually put it in pen.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
But she as.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Always, we appreciate you, We appreciate your time. Your power
rankings are absolutely awesome, nuggets in sight, just great stuff
about every single team. So read that on NBA dot
com and we will look forward to talking with you
again soon.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
All right, Sarah. Thanks.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
NBA Pulse with Sarahkustack is a production of the NBA
and iHeartRadio. Please rate, review, and subscribe on the iHeartRadio
app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome in into NBA Pulster production of iHeartRadio in the NBA.
I'm Sarahkustak, NBA analyst for the Yes Network, and today
is Monday, January twenty second, and from our extraordinary core
group of NBA journalists. We're joined now by NBA dot
Com Senior writer John Schuman and Shoe. You got your
power rankings out? We got some movement in the top five.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I like to see it.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
The Boston Celtics move up from the number two spot
to number one. Los Angeles Clippers are up to number
two from number five. Philadelphia seventy six Ers make a
jump up to three. The Denver Nuggets dropped down to
four in the Oklahoma City Thunder after losing two games
in Los Angeles last week to the Clippers and to
(00:57):
the Lakers, drop down from one to number five. Those Shoe,
I want to get into your number two team for
this week. The Los Angeles Clippers haven't talked about them
too much.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I just saw them.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
I was out in Los Angeles calling some Brooklyn Nets games.
Saw their win over the Lakers and their loss in
tough fashion against the Los Angeles Clippers team that had
a tremendous comeback in the fourth quarter. Clippers now have
won five of their last six games, eight of ten.
It's just impressive, not just with the wake k why
(01:29):
Leonard is playing, and he by all accounts had a
bit of an off night, Paul George and off night
James Harden was very good, but the depth of this
group and still how they're continuing to play the way
they are with the Viza Zubat's sideline for a stretch
here shot, tell me about this Clippers team and what
you see in your perspective, not just what they're doing offensively,
(01:51):
but defensively, and how there's such kind of just a
balanced team in the way that they can operate.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, I mean, well, I think we've mentioned multiple times
on this podcast that they started zero to five with
James Harden. Since then they're twenty four and seven, which
is the best record in the league over that time.
And I think, you know, last week was just you know,
they only played two games, but it was two impressive wins.
(02:18):
One and that they beat the Thunder and they were
trailing late in that game and ended the game on
a fourteen to two run. And then obviously, as you saw,
they were down eighteen in the fourth quarter, down eleven
with a few minutes left, and then finished the Nets
off with a twenty ridiculous twenty two to nothing run Westbrook.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
Oh big time tennis for the Clippers.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I still find them super intriguing as far as lineups
are concerned, just because you know, they finished most of
that twenty two oh run came with James Harden, Russell Westbrook,
Paul George, Norman Powell, and Kawhi Leonard, which I guess
means Kawhi Leonard was the was the five man in
(03:08):
that on that lineup, and that lineup it only played
like twelve minutes prior to Sunday, So I find them
kind of interesting. I think that part of interesting. They
obviously need their bigs. He beached the zoo Box was
having a great season before he got hurt. Daniel Tye
and Mason Plumley have both been more than serviceable. But
(03:31):
I think they're they're kind of fun to watch when
you start to put, you know, all the talent on
the floor right And I remember I was at their
first game with James Harden in New York and I
just watched them run out onto the floor and thought,
oh my gosh, this team has so much talent, and
obviously it took a few a while for them to
(03:52):
put it all together, but they did, and they have
the ability to be ridiculously good offensively. But I think
defensively is where they've been. They've been a little bit
more consistent. And god, I mean they have Kawhi Leonard
and Paul George. It starts right there. But you know,
(04:13):
Tyleru is just an excellent coach. He's always been very
good even when they've been shorthanded. Over these last few years,
when they've played without Leonard or played without Leonard and George,
they they've been really good defensively. Terrence Mann is a
really good defender. He's a guy that they will sick
on Steph Curry and he'll sort of take Steph Curry
(04:34):
out of a game as much as anybody can take
Steph Curry out of a game. He'll do the same
with you know, Shay Gilgess, Alexander and you know, if
that's not working, they put Paul George on him, and
if that's not working, they put Kawhi Leonard on him.
Like that's it's just an amazing just how much the
talent they have, especially when you consider both ends of
the floor.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
You just said it, and I think that's where them
coming at you in waves and the length in the
way that they could shrink the floor collectively, but also
with individual defenders. And I think to just watching you
mentioned about Tyleru. I I've always been just it's so
impressed and fascinated by him pushing the right buttons.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
How he gets teams to.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Gel together in game adjustments throughout the course of a season.
You even saw it. You know, cam Thomas is going
off a bit yesterday and so he has them double
a little bit. But the back line rotations who he
puts on multiple guys that he could toss with them.
They were going small, so they could switch all across,
but half the time they don't need to because guys
(05:35):
can stay in front. But more so to me, you
mentioned that about Harden when I last saw them. I
think it was one of the first games that Harden
was was traded over there. How James Harden has acclimated
and you saw this in Brooklyn when he first came over,
of understanding his role, what he needs to do when
he needs to be a score, how to facilitate just
(05:57):
playing at such a deliberate tempo and pace, and you
got Westbrook that will come in and all of a sudden,
it's like you are a running in a different in
a different mode when you got Terrence Mann with you,
or when Norm Poll comes in, and just what that
second unit looks like. I think Westbrook has entirely embraced
his role, understands where to be on the floor, where
(06:18):
they're giving him the ball, just more decisive in ways
that I think just benefit what they're doing offensively, and
so overall, like I said, I'm just I'm impressed with
how they've all worked together in the optionality that they
have within their lineup. And hopefully Zoobots comes back because
as you mentioned, they can use him and he was
playing so well for them. Clippers are a team number two.
(06:43):
The team right behind them that you have in your
power rankings. Philadelphia seventy six Ers. I'm talking about a
big man. Joel Embiid has been out of this world.
The seventy six Ers are currently sitting third in the
in the Eastern Conference right here, but Joel is just
tremendous and I think watching just kind of what he's
(07:03):
done with him on the floor and being healthy and
off the floor, shoe. I'm curious how the numbers stack
up with that and just the rate that he has
been been producing for the seventy six ers team.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
It's pretty amazing. Uh, you know they're for the season.
The Sixers are twenty five and six with Joel Embiid
in the lineup, and that's fifteen and two since Thanksgiving.
He was out for a little bit. He came back
last week. They won four straight games. And the offense,
(07:35):
the scoring is is just ridiculous. He scored thirty or
more points in twenty straight games.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
MB just a free throw line and MB layup make
it twenty six for Joel Tonight.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Over that twenty game stretch, he's averaged thirty six point
eight in just thirty four point two minutes. For the season,
he's averaged you know, thirty five is it? Let me check.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Thirty five thirty five.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Points in thirty four minutes basically, so his thirty he's
per thirty six minutes, he's averaging thirty six point nine points.
That would be the second highest scoring per thirty six
minutes in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain's thirty seven
(08:24):
point four per thirty six, so it's not that far
off the highest mark in NBA history in nineteen sixty
one sixty two. We'll average more than fifty points per
game that year, but he averaged more than forty eight
minutes per game. He basically played every minute, including overtime
that season, and so you know, the following year, he
(08:45):
averaged more than forty points per game, but he also
averaged like forty seven minutes. So when you think about
it on a per minute basis, and Beads is the
second greatest scoring season in NBA history, which is pretty amazing.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Thirty one for Joel Tonight's nine rebounds, thirty three for
Joel emb It is the Sixers effort to put this
game away.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
And what's funny is that he's actually been slightly less
efficient scoring this year than he was last year. But
his usage rate is the third highest in the in
the twenty eight years for which we have play by
play data, trade trailing only one James Harden season and
one Russell Russell Westbrook season. So that I mean, those
(09:30):
are two guards, right, you know, two guards that have
the ball in their hands all the time. You know,
Westbrook went with Oklahoma City after Kevin Durant left James
Harden in Houston. This is MBI, who was a big man,
who's got that you know, high usage rate. So it's
pretty amazing. I mean, I don't you know, I don't
(09:50):
know what he's He's a he's a terrific shooter. I mean,
he's just so deadly from that mid range and and
you know, defenders don't want to pressure him too much
because they're gonna faul him or he's gonna drive buy
them for a dunk. And so they give him that
you know, fifteen to eighteen footer and he's just so
good at it. It's just become automatic. It's just a
(10:11):
matter of the sixers just getting the ball in that position.
And when you have a guy a guard as quick
as Tyrese Maxi, that's not that difficult because he's going
to bend the defense and you know, allow and be
to sort of sit into his spot and get the
ball in position to score.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
That's what's been fun to watch.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
And I also think give Nick Nurse credit for just
being creative in ways how they operate so much. One
runs through him. As you said, he's averaging a career
high five point nine assists per game. So the fact
that Maxi leads the team you're talking about, as you said,
with guards with perimer players with primary ball handlers. You know,
Maxi had six point seven assists, Joel right behind him.
(10:55):
But how they're able to compliment one another and playoff
one another hit has been just tremendously fun to see
how that has evolved.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
I think we've talked about this before, but when you
catch the ball in the middle of the paint or
at the at the nail, yep, it's hard to double, right,
Like if you double, every every other teammate is one
is one pass away. So that's the perfect spot for
him to operate.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
M and you got shooters all around him. Speaking of
Joel Embiid, we're going to get to your All Star
All Star Voting All Star starters. They will be announced
this Thursday on tn T. Take a quick break and
find out Shoe.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Who you voted for.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Welcome back to Emmy, Paul Sarah Kustak, joined by John
Schuman and Shoe. It is about that time a year
All Star is inching closer to us. On Saturday, you
had to turn in your votes for the All Star starters,
which will be announced this Thursday on T and T
it's seven pm Eastern. We will later find out about
(12:02):
who the coaches voted for the reserves. But show what
can you can you reveal your your ballot. You're you're
you're voting, uh to us, to us listeners.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
All right, we'll start in the Eastern Conference. Because the
front court was very easy. Uh. We just mentioned Joe
l Embiid, Janni Santo, Jason Tatum. Didn't. I didn't. I
don't think anybody had to think twice about those three
guys in the front court. I think the first backcourt
spot was fairly easy with Tyrese Haliburton, but the second
(12:35):
backcourt spot spot was tough, and and for me it
came down to, you know, five different guys were in
sort of I gave strong consideration to, and those are
Jalen Brunson, Damian Lillard, Tyres Maxie, Donovan Mitchell, and Derek White.
Derek White doesn't have like the box score numbers that
(12:57):
all those other guys do, but he's been super and
the best team in the league has been much better
when he's been on the floor than it's been with
him off the floor. But ultimately I went with Tyres Maxie.
You know, I think you know he's sort of it
was between him and Mitchell. I think ultimately Mitchell had
(13:19):
the slightly better box score numbers, two more points per game,
but Maxi's been just on the better team. And at
the time I was looking at it, Maxi had played
in nine more wins than Donovan Mitchell had. It was
like twenty seven wins that Maxie had played in. Donovan
Mitchell played in only eighteen. So I think that's what
(13:41):
came down to it. So my backcourt was Tyrese Haliburton
and Tyrese Maxie. In my front court, like I said,
was Giannis Antetokunpo, Joel Embiid and Jason Tatum.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I love it. I like that logic. I like that thought.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
I am a huge, huge fan of Tyres Maxie. I
think if I had to put in votes, Donovan Mitchell
likely would have gotten mine, Cleveland, Kevaliers and fourth there
in the Eastern Conference. A huge part of that has
been Mitchell. You consider how much time Mobley has missed
and Darius Garland some of those things, and I know
(14:15):
just Cleveland how they've continued to put things together behind
some super strong play of Jared Allen. But I think
with MAXI being an All Star but being a starter,
I think I'd probably spread things out a little bit there.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
But I like it. I like it.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
There's a lot of good options. And to your point
about those other four, pretty easy to lock in. What
about the Western Conference?
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Western Conference? Two guys were written in Penn before I
even started. Those were Nikolay Jokic and Shay gilg just Alexander.
I actually would have had them, like if we had
like an MVP vote at the midpoint of the season,
I think they would have been one and two in
some order, ahead of himb just because they played a
lot more minutes than he had. But they were fairly easy.
(14:58):
Gilgas Alexander in the back or Yokic in the front court.
And then Luka Doncics was a fairly easy pick for
the second back court spot. With apologies to Steph Curry,
of course, don you know is you know the foundation
for one of the you know, best teams in the
Western Conference just puts up huge, absolutely huge numbers. So
(15:22):
then it was just two front court spots in addition
to Jokic, and I considered six different guys for those
two spots. Ultimately I went with Rudy Gobert and Kawhi
Leonard uh Leonard.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Okay, Yeah, so I like this.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
I like alogies to Paul George, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis
and Lebron James Davis and James you know, your team's
in tenth or eleventh place. Sorry, apology, you know it's
not not good enough. And then you know, Durant I
considered pretty heavily, but you know, like I think Phoenix,
(16:11):
you know, at the time was eighteen and sixteen in
games that he had played. Rudy Gobert is the foundation
for the best defensive team in the league. And that
great best defensive team in the league has been so
much better defensively when he's been on the floor than
when he's been off the floor. So I didn't really
(16:32):
hesitate too much with that one. I know the offense
isn't there, but the offense is better than it's been,
you know for most of the last few years. He's
still an efficient scorer, you know, when he does score,
and like I said, the defense is just there. And
I'm sorry, I know it's an All Star game, but
(16:53):
I still consider defense. When I'm voting for All Star
starters and then Kawhi Leonard, I mean, we're gonna say
he's the best player on one of the best teams
in the league. And you know, his numbers are great,
his efficiency is great. Uh, and the Clippers have been
much better with him on the floor than they've been
with him off the floor.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Should I love you? I love your thought process.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
I can't vote Rudy Gobert into my All Star starters.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
I understand it.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
But that's why we have like a hundred of us voting,
right Like, I'm gonna I'm gonna be somebody that's partial
to Rudy Gobert.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
I appreciate it, I respect it.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
I respect Like they're the number one team in the West, right.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
It had been for pretty much the entire season.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
And it's not because their offense, right, Like, their offense
is in the bottom half of the league. They're number
one team in the West. It's not because their offense,
because of the defense. And that defense is built around
that one dude. And I know either like even like
you're going to get to the playoffs and it's not
gonna his value is going to diminish a little bit
(17:59):
you're going to play team that has Yeah, you could
play Phoenix, and his value isn't as much because those
guys can hit, you know, mid range jumpers. But if
you want a good defense in this league over the
course of eighty two games, you know, you put Rudy
go de Beer on the floor and you put him
in drop coverage and you're in good shape. He's also
having a great, great season relative to his last season
(18:21):
and maybe even the season before.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
You're saying, you're saying all the right things.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
I though, don't want to see the bedrock of a
league best defense in the All Star Game. I want
to see the league's all time leading score. The Lakers
are not in ninth place because of Lebron James.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
A good thing about it is we're we're just voting
for the starters, So I don't like stress it all
that much.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Like if it was like they will you know, follow up, Yeah, my.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Vote had something, you know, whether a guy made the
roster or not, that would be a little bit more stressful.
But you know, it's always like, well, I'm not gonna
I'm you know, the sky is going to get slighted
in my vote a little bit. But he's still going
to make the team.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I love it, and I love Minnesota. I'm a huge
fan of Go Bear. This is this is why I
appreciate just being able to flippantly say things and not
actually put it in pen.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
But she as.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Always, we appreciate you, We appreciate your time. Your power
rankings are absolutely awesome, nuggets in sight, just great stuff
about every single team. So read that on NBA dot
com and we will look forward to talking with you
again soon.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
All right, Sarah. Thanks.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
NBA Pulse with Sarahkustack is a production of the NBA
and iHeartRadio. Please rate, review, and subscribe on the iHeartRadio
app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.