Sean Brace and #Sixers/#NBA Insider Sean Barnard talk #NBACup detractors, #Bucks/#Thunder - who gained more from the #NBACup Final? And more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you can wager on it, We're talking about it.
It's The Gambler, The Fox Sports Radio, The Gambler. Fox
Sports Radio in Philly is The Gambler. The Gambler, Philly's
home for all things sports, gambling, Picks and Roll, Handicapping
(00:20):
the Hardwood with Sixers insider Sean Bernard and Sean brace An.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Away we go another edition Picks in Roll. I feel
like it's the second half of the season after what
took place last night in Las Vegas, although we're not
quite just here, quite just there yet, which is a
good thing for the Sixers, all right, Sean brace Chan Bernard, Sean,
how we doing today?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Can't complain?
Speaker 4 (00:44):
I did enjoy I guess a little bit of an
underwhelming final in that NBA Cup last night, but regardless,
still some decent hoops. And I don't understand why we
have a full night off from the NBA slate today,
So disappointed in that, but ultimately can't complain a good
morning doing well.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
All right, Well, I'm going to complain and and I
would say that I like it's so let's just start
off with this and we're gonna get into the game.
We'll talk a little bit more about the big takeaway
from last night's game. If there is anything to me,
I think I think there's more to take away from
the standpoint of the Oklahoma City Thunder. I think they're
(01:20):
going to gain something more from losing that game versus
the Milwaukee Bucks who refused. Oh yeah, doc yeah, Because
come April, when you blow a three to one series lead,
we're all going to look back on the fact that
you refused to have a good time in the locker
room and pop some bottles of champagne after the NBA
(01:42):
Cup Final. Oh that's that's really gonna play out for
you down the road again. It's just ridiculous. But we'll
get into a little bit as well. I want to
open up with the fact that, you know, to me,
the league, the NBA itself, has the most negative fans, yeah,
(02:02):
out of any professional league. And that's saying something, man,
because there's a lot of negativity in this world, and
specifically in social media and definitely with sports when it
all connects. But man, there's nobody more negative than an
NBA basketball fan on social media. And you know, look, Sean,
(02:23):
I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that it's
a perfect format in a perfect situation, the NBA Cup
Rah rah, like do you respect the Cup? Like we
have fun with it? I thought it was good. That
was good. I think it's something you could build off of.
And and you know, I know, like there are people
out there that are like, oh, well, you're trying to
turn it into soccer. Yeah, there is a little bit
(02:44):
of that. You know, it's something different other than the
fact that what you're seeing is eighty two regular season
games and then the second season and then you hope
and pray that you're healthy enough to make it through
it and maybe maybe you might get to an NBA
finals there an Eastern or Western Conference. Other than that,
the NBA is saying, you know what, let's try something different.
And I got to give them thumbs up on that,
(03:05):
on the attempt itself to put something together the way
that they had. Again, it's not perfect. I think it's
good though. I think it's something they can build off of.
Had my attention and let me just finally end on
this and I'll hand it over to you, because everybody
wants to lose their minds over the NBA All Star Game,
and the big issue about the NBA All Star Game
is what competition there is. It's just a free throw line,
(03:30):
or not a free throw line, a warm up line,
donks three pointers and there's zero competition. Dude. If you
watched if you watched the semi final, the knockout round, yeah,
these games had high competition. There were some battling going
on on the floor. So you're getting highly competitive NBA
(03:50):
basketball in December, and yet you people out there it's
not good enough for you because the jerseys are ugly
and they don't man, the court gets tuned into a
game and the courts are too bright, or you're doing
it in Vegas. You shut the league down like you
guys are whiners. Man, if you just watched the product
(04:11):
on the floor, that was damn good. Last night dud
Saturday was good. Yeah, and then the knockout round. As
I said, there were a couple of good games there.
Last year there were good games. This is something they
can build off of. Then you people are so negative.
It's like sickening sometime. It really is.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Yeah, it's been more of a success than I expected
with the Cup overall, and I do think it's something
to build off. I thought this year was better than
last year, and I think next year can be better
than this year, that they can kind of keep trending
in that direction there. It is disappoint in the final
did end up to be a dud of a game
that they're really you know, the thunder just shot themselves
out of that game or were never able to get
any sort of consistent production, particularly from beyond the three
(04:48):
point arc. I mean, that was their lowest scoring output
of the season and the worst they've shot from three
on the entire year. So a tough break that had
happened on that stage in that moment there. But as
far as the negativity conversation, what I think unique about
NBA fans specifically is it feels like there's like this
such direct, like linear relationship with players in a way
that other sports are.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Like for example, James Harden.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Here, there's very clearly people that are James Harden fans,
not necessarily a fan of a team, And when he
goes to the Sixers, they're with him.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
When he goes to the Clippers, they're with them.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
And I don't really think that there's a parallel to that,
like when that happens in the NFL, or a guy
gets traded teams, it feels like we don't see you know,
Aaron Rodgers fans all of a sudden coming Packers fans
to Jets fans. So it's always kind of strange to
me how that is the case there. I guess. I
guess basketball is more of like an individualistic sport where
you know, one player can make that much of a difference.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
But it does feel like there's a different.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Lens that NBA fans view sports through the compared to
other sports.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Well said, yeah, I would say, like you the one
offs in the NFL, like Mahomes, I think he's built
up a fan base. Of course he goes somewhere else, Brady,
you know, and even then that's tough because I don't
know if you became a fan of Brady if you
weren't a Patriot, right, But I feel like it has changed.
When Brady went to the Bucks, there were a lot
of people that were Bucks fans because of Brady saying
(06:07):
through Mahomes, Mahomes leaves Kansas City, there are a lot
of kids out there that love Mahomes and rightfully, so
he's incredible. But you're right, you don't see it from
Jalen Hurts. Let's put it that way. I don't see
many Jalen Hurts fans out there that aren't Philadelphia Eagle
of fans, So it is interesting you bring that up.
I don't know, man Like I said to me, if
(06:29):
they're if the players didn't take it serious right and
the level of competition did not change whatsoever, I'm probably
singing a different tune. I'm probably not saying it with
my chest. But dude, come on, man like you want
to kill him about the NBA All Star Game and
they and to a point, they do deserve a little
(06:50):
bit of slack over that. I think the players more
so than anybody because they they've let it down over
the years. And to me, I just didn't get rid
of the NBA All Star Game. And then until we
get an opportunity down the road where people will lose
their minds going, oh, bring it back, bring it back.
We're gonna change the way we play, and then that
will be a good thing. Build off of this. This
is good. You got high level competition in the beginning
(07:14):
of December, and is it perfect? No, the stopping of
the season, obviously people don't like that. But I got
to give credit to the NBA and Silver and everybody
because it's it's there's a reason why they're doing that,
so everybody has the equal amount of rest off, if
I'm correct, right, John.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
Yeah, exactly, And the fact that it's kind of a fluid,
like a fluid schedule, you don't know exactly who the
teams are gonna be obviously when the season starts, so
you kind of got to leave a gap so you
can fill it in withever whatever teams are necessary there.
So it takes some juggling. It's gonna lead to a
little bit of a backup. The Sixers, for example here,
I believe have still played the fewest games of any
team in the NBA at this point in the season,
(07:51):
So that's gonnaly do a crank up there. But regardless,
they've done a decent job of being able to juggle
this in way that I was kind of skeptical of
it at first.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Yeah, right with you? All right, anything else, well, we'll
come back to it, because I got some other things
I want to get into. Let's go ahead and dive
into what took place till last night. Milwaukee and ok
see in a dud of a final. But that's why
you age on these games, man, you could cash in.
Hopefully you were listening to the Daily Ticket picks and
roll last week when we gave out Yannis plus five fifty. Again,
(08:22):
not going to sit here and say that I was
beating my chest over it, because there were still at
that point in time six eight teams left. But you
saw the path eight teams. You saw the path for
the Milwaukee Bucks. And I remember remember when the light
bulb went off and I said, wait a minute, MVP,
you gotta win this whole thing. If you don't win
this thing, you're not gonna win the MVP. And Yanni
said plus five point fifty. That was a nice play
(08:44):
right there, hopped on that little sprinkle, nothing too crazy.
Essentially had a play because of what we discussed here.
But yesterday, heading into that game, as we broke it
down in the Daily Ticket, plus two thirty five, that
was a no brainer. You know, you could have got
even money from the Milwaukee Buck standpoint as far as
moneyline was concerned, or a little bit more plus one
thirty I think it was. But Jannis plus two thirty
(09:06):
five that was an error. And essentially what it was
built off of the fact that, yes, the oddsmakers didn't
see Milwaukee Bucks winning the game. But they did, and
hopefully you were listening yesterday and hopefully you said, you
know what, screw the game. I'm just gonna take Giannis
plus two thirty five. He ran away with the MVP award,
he was the best player all tournament, and let's go
(09:27):
ahead and start with the game real quick. As far
as that is concerned, stayed under the total. Your big takeaway,
I know you already hit on it the fact that
or Oklahoma Thunder or missing some shots, but your big
takeaway from the final.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
Is what, Yeah, I think if asked like, what is
the reason for the loss, it is just shooting the basketball.
With that, I think the Thunder had an outlier bad performance.
With that, I mean they were held the fourteen points
in the third quarter, seventeen in the fourth, super uncharacteristic
stuff there. Again, eighty one is the lowest or just under.
It looked like they were gonna break the record for
fewest points in a season that is eighty Currently, they
(09:58):
hit a three pointer of late in that game in
garbage time to ultimately get to eighty one, so did
not crack that record there. But we're looking at their
shooting splits like Oklahoma City was five for thirty two
from beyond the arc last night. That's fifteen point six percent.
They were twenty nine of eighty six from the floor outright,
thirty three point seven percent.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
That's not gonna win you basketball games right there.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
And I was a little disappointed that Shakeyotess Alexander wasn't
able to grab the spotlight. And you know, this is
a guy who has some legitimate MVP buzz and is
very much being pushed into that next spotlight for one
of these faces of the NBA, and deservingly so. He
has played up to it in the larger scale, but
he did not quite have it last night.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
So it was frustrated there.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
But I think the storyline to me is this was
a grown up victory by the Milwaukee Bucks. This was
something that from start to finish, they imposed themselves Yannis
just so physically commanding on both ends of the floor.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
Thought he was excellent defensively last night.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
And I've been a little bit critical of his defense
at times that there's at times, I would say a
little bit of fake defense. To be honest, that was
not the case last night. He was locked in from
start to finish, impacting shots around the rim. And I
mean his statistical output was awesome as well, that he
finished the game last night with twenty six points, nineteen rebounds,
tenn assists, two steals, and three blocks. There, So pretty
(11:08):
absurd stuff from the Greek freak. And beyond just speaking
about the MVP of the NBA Cup, I think there
should be a conversation about MVP of the entire NBA again,
because by my money's worth of the season stop today,
that should be the guy that's crowned that award.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Really, Yahana MVP right now, you're giving him that award.
If you had to give it out, I would. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
He's leading the league in scoring thirty two point seven
points per game looking at kind of his entire statistical
output from the out for the season. He's also adding
eleven point five rebounds six point one assist. Has added
a little bit of midrange to his game this year,
which has been a weakness of his shooting number forty
percent from the mid range. Still not something that you
know you're going to be Shay Gilbs, Alexander Jowell, Embiid
with that kind of touch, but the fact that that
(11:47):
is another level of weapon that he has in his
arsenal is something notable there. I think he's been very
good defensively and has been the spearhead of this turnaround
for Milwaukee. Let's not forget just a couple of weeks
ago we were talking about this team looking dead in
the water, and they've been nine and two in their
past eleven games at this point, ripping off wins and
look like a borderline contender. So still a lot of
season left to be played, but I think, like for
(12:09):
ready to hand it to the next generation of the
Luka Dancic, the Shay Gilds Alexander, I think jokanis have
still very pretty clearly been the top two players in
the NBA of the season, just as it has been
the past couple of years.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah, you're not getting an argument. It's just, you know,
look from the standpoint of if you're giving it out
right now, we haven't really I guess been I don't
know about fair, but we haven't mentioned Giannas. Let's put
it that way. And based off of the the bad
start and we you know, of course we got a
little bit more of a slant towards dock rivers than
the most here in Philadelphia, so we're reluctant to give
(12:43):
them a little bit more shine than what they'd probably deserve.
But they are Rivers. Hello, Hello. I was listening to
that bod in their bite when he chewed them out,
and he's like, I think we know a little bit better,
a little bit more than you, and it's just cracking up.
It just brought me back to those be ball Paul
Victory Tour. Yeah, he's got some gyms, man, he's got
(13:04):
some gyms. Fourteen and eleven on the season, Doc Rivers
and the Milwaukee Bucks currently are in the five spot
right now in the East. Yeah. Look from the the
game last night, no doubt about it stayed way under
total of two sixteen. We talked about that yesterday Luke.
Luke asked the question. It's perfectly phrased at that point
(13:25):
in time where he was like, man, that that under
is so low, it's almost like they're begging you to
take the over. Yep, And there it was now five
for thirty two. Wasn't something that we probably foresee, right,
the Oklahoma City thunder going from downtown from the other direction,
from Milwaukee Bucks on the other side. But yeah, that
was that was probably number one, number two. Though watching
(13:47):
the game, those shown You're right, like grown up performance. Yeah,
to me, they looked more aggressive, they looked like they
wanted it more. Sure, the shots were falling. But even
if even if Okaysee was making half of those threes,
I still look like I still would think that the
Milwaukee Bucks were winning that game. So I got a
tip my cap. They said that they were going to
win it all, They were in a spot to win
(14:08):
it all. They hit the gas pedal, They beat a
Hawks team that was really good. The Milwaukee Bucks were
the best team right now, and we'll go ahead and
take it from there to Okay, so last year, we
saw the Lakers and we saw the Pacers, and I
think the bigger deal for all of us at that
point in time was like, man, are we looking at
the Pacers in the right light? And then they went
(14:29):
on a little bit of run and had success in
the postseason. Are we looking at the Milwaukee Bucks at
this point time? Of course, Oklahoma City Thunder, sure, But
from the standpoint of like the team that you could
see taking the baton and running with this more having
success this season, is it the Milwaukee Bucks for you?
Speaker 4 (14:46):
Yeah, I'm more open to it than I have been,
for sure, and I've been pretty critical of the Bucks
just generally because it has not looked right to me.
I don't think there's been very many consistent stretches where
the two man actions with Damian Lillard and Giannis have
functioned as DIES has believed as they believed would be
the case there. But in fairness to them, they have
dealt with some pretty notable injury hurdles. That really was
the reason that they were eliminated from last year's playoffs,
(15:09):
with both Giannis and Dame getting hurt in that opening round.
That was the story in last year's NBA Cup, where
I believe Dame was banged up throwing a part of that.
I think that was the hamstring injuries early on in
the season or something that he dealt with that kept
him unavailable for those games. So if they have a
true healthy run, they have as good a chance as anybody,
And there are some legitimate pieces there. Gary Trent Junior
add some of that team. Bobby portis an awesome impact
(15:30):
off the bench. Brook Lopez looks played far better basketball
last night than I'd seen him in quite some time.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
In most of this season.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
That was kind of one of my concerns for this
Bucks team, and he looked a lot better last night,
so it could be forming into shape. I can hear
the case a little bit more than I could have
at any point until now, So still have my eyes
on them. But they've been impressive these past few weeks
and kind of cap that off with a statement performance
last night.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
All right, as far as the thunder side of things,
and again it wasn't falling for them, and that's understood.
But man, walking off the the the the court, and
I saw Sga and like he was tweaked, like he
was frustrated, he was mad. Again, they played a bad game,
so nobody's gonna be happy. But I think, like, tell me,
(16:14):
I'm maybe making a little bit too much about this,
or do you see where I'm going? Like to me, sure,
the Milwaukee Bucks. You got Giannis who's already won a championship.
You got great players on that team, Damian Lillard. Come on,
Doc Rivers, I get it. You know he hasn't gotten
them to the Promised Land or won it all before.
But man, a successful coach, right, we can't say Doc
Rivers is not a successful coach. So the Milwaukee Bucks
(16:36):
are gonna continue to play and they're gonna be in
competition for the East. And I would have said that
before last night. I would have said that that's gonna
be a tough out versus Orlando Magic in the playoffs.
Anybody but the Celtics. If you tell me the Celtics
and Bucks are playing tomorrow, I'm gonna take the Celtics. However,
maybe we might see something different from April. Don't know,
but am I making too much that If you ask
(16:58):
me who's gonna take more from what took place last night?
I think Okac. Again, expectations are there. Their coach came
out last night even said as much like, hey man,
we're going through a tough spot here in December. I
like this. This is good and that's how I came away,
like watching those guys walk off the floor. Yeah, they
played a bad game, but at the end of the day,
(17:19):
that was a championship game, a hat and T shirt game,
Champagne if you want them, you're in Vegas. It's a
nationally televised game. And you played, you played a bad game,
you came up small. I think that's going to work
out really well for okcee. Again, they were already a
lot of people's favorites to win it all. I see
a million one tickets out there in OKC to win
(17:41):
the NBA title this year. Good luck on that. But
I'm coming away from last night's game going, you know what,
that's probably going to be better for OKC in a
long run to win an NBA Championship, which everybody puts
way above the NBA Cup, as they should. So I
think it was a good thing that the OKC did
come up short last night.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Your thoughts on that, Yeah, I agree with that, and
I think the most the more big game experience you
can get as possible, the better for this team.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
And that's what you got last night.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Like again, making all the jokes about the Cup or whatever,
that was a different stage that this youthful roster just
had to step into the battlefield and see how they
stood up. Now, they're a better team than they played
last night. I feel incredibly confident in saying that. Again,
the worst shooting performance they've had all year, the fewest
points they've.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Scored all year, And just looked at the record.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
They're twenty and five on the season, so they haven't
had the amount of lows that we expect. There are
some real deal decisions that still need to be made
within that team though, like guys like Cason Wallace, how
big is his role. There's a lot of excellent young talent,
but you're gonna have to make some tough kind of
decisions as far as what that rotation is. So I
think Mark dagnell or I think I said his name
right there is how is kind of working through.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
That exactly there.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
There's still a lot of questions with this team, but
that's a huge step in the right direction and starts
with the head of the snake share Gildis Alexander didn't
quite hold up his end of the bargain last night.
I thought he got to his spots. The shots looked
normal to me, but he just did not quite hit.
He'll overall shot eight of twenty four from the field
of nine from three last night. You expect more from
him and he's delivered at a far higher level than
that for most of the year. So not worried about
(19:06):
this Thunder team and think of the long run, they're
gonna be just fine.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
But I think it was good f rohim get punched
in the mouth a little bit.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Yes, I had to google how to say his how
to pronounce his last name, and I saw a tweet
that popped up with my timeline from a couple of
years ago. He said, here's how you pronounced Thunder's new
head coach, Mark Dagnault's name dag as in dagger, as
in Chris Ball hit so many dagger shots for Okay,
see last season. Nult rhymes with malt, as in Whopper's
(19:34):
malted milk balls or a thick, delicious chocolate malt. Okay,
I'm going to broms. That's uh, this dude, so dagger malt, daga, malt,
dag malt dag.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Maulta nault naut. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
There you go, there you go, there you go there. Yeah. Anyways, okay,
see of course, uh yeah, I think that they're gonna
be all right. The shots weren't falling. When's check coming.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
Back a couple of weeks still, I want to say
three or four weeks at this point, so that's kind
of a long term that it was labeled six to
eight weeks when it first happened, So it hasn't been
any sort of update that I've seen since then.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
All Right, finally to put a bow on this. Your
thoughts are not touching the champagne.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
I think this was a Doc Rivers specials what this is.
I think that he can make that posture statement of
the media of we're taking this really serious. And what
I think honestly probably happened, and I have no problem
with this, is they probably hopped on the team playing
together and enjoyed some nice beverages just alone on the
private jet, which again I have no issue with that,
as you should enjoy the moment. That's probably my prediction
(20:34):
for what happened there, that Doc's gonna love to lean
on the image of what we're taking the season so seriously,
not doing all this kind of stuff and keeping that
within the walls of the locker room.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Yeah, I thought so too. I didn't know that. I
thought they probably went out into town a little bit.
I mean you are in but yeah, but you know,
I like where your minds that as well. And if
Doc Rivers actually would give Doc a little bit more
credit than that, if he said, you know what, we're
hopping back on the flight. We're gonna get back to Milwaukee,
relaxed for a day, you know, enjoy a couple beverages.
(21:05):
On the flight. I like that, that's not a bad move.
But yeah, maybe it's a little over the top with
the champagne and the goggles and all that, and that's
their right. But to sit there and say that these
teams aren't taking it serious because they didn't. They choose
not to celebrate. Come on, man, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
And for the trophy presentation last night, I thought the
trophy presentation was a little thick.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
But again, this is what you have to do, right.
You have to do it. If you're gonna do it,
you gotta be full throttle. I don't think you can.
I don't think you can do it both ways. It's
either like, are you making a big damn deal about this?
Is it a big deal to you the NBA? Yes,
all right, then this is what you gotta do. You
(21:48):
gotta treat it as such. Again, nobody wants to hear it,
but they understand it. It is from the world of soccer.
And trust me, as a soccer fan, it took me
a long time to get there. A long time, not
even comfortable. Half the time you talk about Manchester United
and all these great teams that are out there, and
then next thing you know, they got to play in Europa,
and then they got to play in this Cup and
(22:08):
then and you almost need like four different lineups to
compete in all these tournaments. But guess what, when you
do get to a final, it means something. And this pays.
This means something financially for those other tournaments. It will
get you into the Champions League and so on and
so forth, which is a huge deal. But at the
(22:28):
end of the day, this is what they have and
this is the only thing they can offer you. And
I think you know what five hundred thousand dollars goes
a long damn way I saw Damian Lillards is you
go hook up the people that work on them, the
training stuff. That's awesome. Good for him, that's great.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Yeah, definitely, And I mean I won't lie to you.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
As I was watching the trophy ceremony, it did get
through my brain of like, all right, this is getting
out of control.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
I agree, I said the same thing, but.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
Kind of a question about this, I'm I would say,
a surface level soccer fan that I watched every so often,
not certainly a guy that follows a ton of it
isn't what makes those tournaments unique, like being able to
play teams from different leagues, and you know, having an
opportunity for teams from Spain and you know, teams from
Italy to face off in England and all that type
of thing. That's generally kind of the case for those
soccer style tournaments, right, Yeah, there's.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
A lot of that, right, Europa League, Absolutely, there's some
teams from other countries that you're playing. You know, even
for the MLS you have the US Open Cup, which
you're playing like the teams that are under you. So yeah,
there is that, But in the I think in the
big picture, you are like the Europa I'm sorry, I'm
drawing a blank on these other tournaments that take place
(23:37):
toward the course of an APL league. But if you
win those those leagues are those tournaments you get a
birth into the Champions Champions League, which is the best
of the best from an eight team perspective, and that
you know, the you in that opening round you could
be very well playing Ronaldo or you know, Liverpool or
(23:59):
mess whatever. It is a messy place for Inner Miami now,
so that's not the case, but it's a huge deal.
So yeah, there is a little bit of that. But
you're right, what do you suggest a G League get involved.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
No, I'm more curious if in Adam Silver's brain and
kind of the long term plan here, because we clearly
see the emphasis on you know, overseas presence and you know,
have it globally like that, if there is an attempt
to kind of tie that together to where maybe they
play a team out of Spain or a team you know,
out of China or something like that, I have nothing
to suggest that is the case, but I'm curious if,
(24:31):
like in the long term game plan, if that's something
they have in the back of their minds, it's a
great call.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
It'd be cool. It's another layer that they can add in. Again,
you and I are looking eye to eye and we say, hey, man,
they thumbs up. They got something here. Good for them.
It's not perfect, but build on it and hear what
people are saying. And if they if their take is
it was just terrible. You're trying to be soccer No.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
One.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Then don't listen to them. Don't listen to them, because
there's too many of those people out there that exist.
And then they're the same ones that complain it's stale
and nothing changes, and it's like, get me to the playoffs, Like, dude, like,
I'm sick of hearing about the playoffs. I'm sick of it.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Like people love to complain.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Yeah they do, but I'm sick and tired as a
Sixer fan, Like I can't focus on the playoffs. Why
so we get a series if we're lucky, you know,
that's it. So we need to enjoy the regular season.
And how do you do that with stupid stuff like
this A and then B. Hopefully you get a good
regular season from your team. Unfortunately Sixers are struggling right now.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:30):
And by the way, I got waxed out of that
US Open tournament when I was younger. I do remember
playing in that on the sideral hitch there. Yeah, it
did not go well for my teammates.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
That's funny, really all right, Just to let you know too,
from some Sixers conversation, I did see that the they
announced Hubey brooks our Hube Brown. Excuse me, Hube Brown
ESPN Ninety one year old Hubie Brown will call the
final game of his career like great Hube Brown February ninth,
(26:01):
when the Sixers visit the Bucks. A little tie in there.
I had a little funny you know quip and said
that MBAT has already ruled out Paul George is questionable.
So I thought that was good. But he you know, look,
he's legendary and ninety one years old, still sharp at
attack too. Man, you listen to him call game on
the radio. He still got it. Dude, ninety one years old,
(26:24):
still got it. What a career he'll be. You know,
I had moments where I'm like, man, this guy is
still calling games. But like that was, you know, decade
plus year ago, and then you know, just eventually a
year after year, was like, man, like coach knows a
thing or two, Like shut up and man, just be
impressed by the fact that this guy is still doing
(26:46):
it at that age. And we all, we all would
be very lucky to live until we're ninety one, let
alone called basketball games until we're ninety one. So that's
pretty cool stuff there.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:56):
By the way, he has seen every single season of
NBA basketball. I've been a part of it in some way,
which is pretty crazy to think about.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Get out of here. He's been a part of it.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
Yeah, I believe so. Because he started off he was
pretty early.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
He may not have been through the first couple of
years at the minimum, like the NBA is younger than
ninety one that they're going on right around eighty years now.
So Hubey Brown's been in it for the long haul.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Man, dude, Salute, Salute the great Hubey Brown. All right, Sean,
but no, let's have some fun here and wrap up shop.
We did a good Sixers hit yesterday, so I don't
want to revisit a lot of those conversational points. But
first and foremost, Sixers back in action on Friday. They're
taking on the Hornets again, which is a good thing
(27:42):
as far as where we're at right now, and the
spread is down, so they took it off the board.
The expectation on who's going to be suiting up for
the Sixers on Friday.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Paul George should be good to go.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
He played without the brace last game and seems to
be fully out of restrictions at this point.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Tyrese MAXI good to go as usual. We did get
the update yesterday.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Jad McCain did officially have surgery, so that's probably the
latest breaking news from a Sixers injury perspective, but not
that he was expected back anytime soon either.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
They did not release the terms of the surgery.
Speaker 4 (28:10):
As far as whether this was the minisectoctomy or you know,
the minisectomy there we go getting that out there, or
it was just the clean up repair type thing, so
that obviously impacts the timeline quite a bit. They did
not release that information just yet. Wouldn't shock me if
the outlook is just let's see how things go the
next couple weeks before we give any sort of timeline
for Jad McCain specifically here, but something to watch there.
(28:33):
But yeah, I would expect the same starting lineup that
we saw earlier this week against the Hornets and pretty
much all hands on deck based on the hands.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
That we do know are available right now. No Dwell embead.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
So the Hornets play tomorrow and they'll get him back
to back in Philadelphia. So again another opportunity for the
Sixers to win a game, and that's all we need
at this point in time. Then they go on the
road to take on the Cabs on Saturday, Spurs on Monday.
I might want to get to that game, Sean ban Are,
what are you doing Monday?
Speaker 4 (29:01):
I worked till six and then who knows Wimby.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
I'll go see Wimby.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
Yeah, that'd be cool.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
All right, let's let's lock that one and we'll talk
about whatever do we can. All right, good? I like
that And I haven't been to a six Ers game
this year, how about that? But I would definitely go
see Wimby, that's for damn sure. All right. From the
Jay McCain. One quick note on this, I talked about it.
I don't think you were on the show just yet,
but do you remember when he hit his He hit
his head twice. That was terrible, and then he got
(29:31):
up and then everyone thought he was woozy and Paul
George got him.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
Yeah, that was his knee.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
That slipped out. That wasn't him. Yeah, like you know
that again, it was probably a combination of both, right,
But that was crazy because you thought Paul George stepped
in because he was woozy, and like, whoa dude, he's
got concussion. Slow down there, young and but no, man,
then that was his actual knee and who knows, but wow,
that's a terrible break. But hopefully surgery obviously, like you said,
(29:59):
when well, and he'll be back. Is he done for
the season in your mind?
Speaker 3 (30:03):
They haven't announced yet.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
I think probably the outlook is like it's going to
be probably around six weeks, is sh at the minimum
that they're going to basically see how these six week
go and say, what is the risk reward here, the
value of bringing back to this team, and what are
our goals for the season At that point in the air,
A lot, a lot is going to be determined over
that stretch whether or not this team is staying afloat
or if this truly does go to disaster mode for
the season.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
So I think it's a little bit of a wait
and see approach right now.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
All right, we'll close up shop with just some fun
stuff here on the way out again. DraftKings sportsbooks showing
US Boston plus two forty okay see plus three seventy,
Knicks ten to one, MAVs eleven to one, Nuggets fourteen
to one, Warriors fifteen to one, Bucks seventeen to one,
Cavs seventeen to one, and then we jump up to
the t Wolfs and the Suns at twenty five of
(30:47):
twenty eight to one. If I've removed Boston and Oklahoma City,
give me one from the east, give me one from
the west.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
Do you have your attention on I'll start from the west,
and I do think This is kind of an outside
the box call. The Phoenix Suns to me, should be
considered in that contender category that I do believe there's
something there with Kevin Durant, with Devin Booker, Bradley Beal
isn't quite the Bradley Beal that we need. We continue
to hear some of these Jimmy Butler whispers, which certainly
would in my mind, would improve their outlook there. They're
(31:14):
still trying to upgrade that team and fully put together.
Nurkic has absolutely been a weak spot for them, but
it doesn't get much better than a one two punch
of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant man And I do
think it means something that this team has bought in
more defensively this season, the way that they're playing. I
just have my eyes out that I do think the
Phoenix Suns could be in that mix there.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Now.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
The East I think is far weaker that to me,
I think there's a much wider gap between the Celtics
being one and everyone else there. But I guess I'll
stick with Milwaukee Bucks. Conversation of him not entirely counting
them out, I did kind of going into this year
so I'm more open minded about them. Man, I'll still
throw a little love to Philadelphia seventy six ers too. Man,
if it all breaks right, the chances aren't zero. The
(31:55):
chance of a breaking right maybe zero. But we'll see
how things shake out there.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
I just gonna let you say that, all right. Fourteen
and eleven right now are the Phoenix Suns currently in
the sixth spot. The Clippers. The Clippers got something next
to their do They have a new logo? Did I
miss it?
Speaker 4 (32:11):
They changed it coming into this year? Not a fan,
I did I miss this?
Speaker 2 (32:19):
I guess I did what. I don't know. It's the
first time I've seen it next to the name like that. Yeah,
what is it? Is it a bullseye?
Speaker 3 (32:28):
It's like a it looks like a shit ship.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
Yeah yeah, okay.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
I don't understand really the relevance of it. But this
was kind of packaged with like the new arena and
you know, the rebranding into a dome all that type
of thing.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
So yeah, they rolled that out this year.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
All right? And well, yeah the Jerseys. Yeah, I saw
the Jerseys, but I always liked their logo earlier. Whatever,
it's new dome, I get it, all right, cool. And
then from the standpoint, what was I saying there from
the west side of things again? Thunder at the top
of the chart. Twenty five Grizzlies Rockets. One quick thought
(33:03):
on the Rockets, man, I'd say again, were looking at
them to package and make a move here, and then
we are gonna be looking at somewhat of a different team.
They've had a great start to the season, the big
takeaway for me, and then you saw them against Golden
State and I know that they weren't able to win
the game against Okay see, but defensively, that's a team
that will get you, you know, in the mud. Let's
(33:25):
just put it that way.
Speaker 4 (33:27):
Yeah, I think they absolutely need to package some sort
of three for one trade or two for one trade,
a consolidation trade where you are patching a couple of
these young guys for a win now talent. I think
it is the time to do that. I'm curious if
they are how heavily they get involved in the Jimmy
Butler conversations or if they try and go down that
pathway there. But there's just too much talent here, and frankly,
I think just about every other team in the league
(33:47):
should be circling both the Houston Rockets at Oklahoma City
Thunder for which players can they not keep a part
of their core here? For the Rockets specific, specifically the
i'min Thompson's, the Tari Eastons, even a guy like Cam Whitmore,
who of course went to Villinover and we know we're
here in the Philadelphia area. That's a guy who's barely
touching clock for them, and I frankly think would on
a lot of other NBA rosters. So I think there
(34:08):
is to an extent too much young talent that it
would be of their benefit to make this decision for
who is the true part of our core, kind of
trim the edges there and really go for it. But
it wouldn't shock me if they take this season to
continue to evaluate, let these guys fight it out, and
then next year is when they really start to make
those decisions. And I still think it's fair to assess
like Jalen Green is probably the biggest question mark for
(34:30):
what is.
Speaker 3 (34:30):
The ceiling of that team.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
He hasn't looked particularly good this year, And I'll say
like perhaps even more concerning is you can just get
a drastically different player on a night to night basis,
there will be stretches where he looks like every bit
of the all star level talent talent guard that you expect,
and then there's stretches where you're like, you can't win
with that guy on the floor there. So Jalen Green
certainly somebody that I have my eye on for What
is his future or how do the Rockets view him?
(34:52):
I guess, but I do think they absolutely need to
make a deal and kind of trim up that roster.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Right, great job across the board, sham Bnard. Oh yeah,
as far as the Phoenix Suns are concerned. The one
thing with Jimmy Butler is Bradley Beal will be on
the way out. His salary matches would have to But
is Bal gonna say, I'm cool, let me go to Miami.
I don't think he will.
Speaker 4 (35:12):
I mean, if we want to flashback to win the
first Bradley Beal trade talks initiated is that Miami was
his desired location there, or at least the spot that
he wanted to I think he would have a larger
role down in Miami as far as like Jimmy Butler
would basically be walking into being able to do Jimmy
Butler things of playing defense, rebounding and doing some of
this scrappy stuff. Bradley Beal is basically playing that way
(35:33):
right now, and I don't think he's ever been tailor
made for that to be his role there, So I
don't know what the vibe is behind the scenes or
how he likes fitting in that system playing like that.
He still has injury concerns as well, but from a
financial standpoint, they both would absolutely have to be involved
in that. And I will note also Bial's got a
no trade clause, so that he would obviously have to
be involved in these conversations. So curious how it plays out,
(35:55):
but I think that there's a, i would say, relatively
decent chance that that actually happens, which I kind of
shocked that to believe that at this point.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Interesting stuff. It's the NBA. Yeah, all right, negative, Nancy's
out there. The NBA in season tournament is over. We
respected the NBA Cup right here, I'm picks and roll.
Great job across the board represent the squad from DraftKings
sportsbook Sean Bernard. We did the takeover multiple times, got
people going, great job by DraftKings rolling out the fact
(36:26):
that they gave you to double up promos for all
the games, and of course tonight no NBA action, so
no King the Court, so we get to relax a
little bit and enjoy some college football Bowl season rolls on.
But of course we'll be back at it talking about
things NBA later in the week. Six ers back at
it on Friday, and I look forward to hitting them
all with you, Sean Bernard. All right, great stuff. Continue
(36:49):
to follow Sean on so so that Sean underscore Binard
one that will do it for us here on Picks
and Roll, And as always, if you missed anything, you
can get it over at FOXPHL Gambler dot com.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Roll podcasts can be found on FOXPHL gambler dot com.
The Gambler, Philly's home for all things sports gambling.
If you can wager on it, We're talking about it.
It's The Gambler, The Fox Sports Radio, The Gambler. Fox
Sports Radio in Philly is The Gambler. The Gambler, Philly's
home for all things sports, gambling, Picks and Roll, Handicapping
(00:20):
the Hardwood with Sixers insider Sean Bernard and Sean brace An.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Away we go another edition Picks in Roll. I feel
like it's the second half of the season after what
took place last night in Las Vegas, although we're not
quite just here, quite just there yet, which is a
good thing for the Sixers, all right, Sean brace Chan Bernard, Sean,
how we doing today?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Can't complain?
Speaker 4 (00:44):
I did enjoy I guess a little bit of an
underwhelming final in that NBA Cup last night, but regardless,
still some decent hoops. And I don't understand why we
have a full night off from the NBA slate today,
So disappointed in that, but ultimately can't complain a good
morning doing well.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
All right, Well, I'm going to complain and and I
would say that I like it's so let's just start
off with this and we're gonna get into the game.
We'll talk a little bit more about the big takeaway
from last night's game. If there is anything to me,
I think I think there's more to take away from
the standpoint of the Oklahoma City Thunder. I think they're
(01:20):
going to gain something more from losing that game versus
the Milwaukee Bucks who refused. Oh yeah, doc yeah, Because
come April, when you blow a three to one series lead,
we're all going to look back on the fact that
you refused to have a good time in the locker
room and pop some bottles of champagne after the NBA
(01:42):
Cup Final. Oh that's that's really gonna play out for
you down the road again. It's just ridiculous. But we'll
get into a little bit as well. I want to
open up with the fact that, you know, to me,
the league, the NBA itself, has the most negative fans, yeah,
(02:02):
out of any professional league. And that's saying something, man,
because there's a lot of negativity in this world, and
specifically in social media and definitely with sports when it
all connects. But man, there's nobody more negative than an
NBA basketball fan on social media. And you know, look, Sean,
(02:23):
I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that it's
a perfect format in a perfect situation, the NBA Cup
Rah rah, like do you respect the Cup? Like we
have fun with it? I thought it was good. That
was good. I think it's something you could build off of.
And and you know, I know, like there are people
out there that are like, oh, well, you're trying to
turn it into soccer. Yeah, there is a little bit
(02:44):
of that. You know, it's something different other than the
fact that what you're seeing is eighty two regular season
games and then the second season and then you hope
and pray that you're healthy enough to make it through
it and maybe maybe you might get to an NBA
finals there an Eastern or Western Conference. Other than that,
the NBA is saying, you know what, let's try something different.
And I got to give them thumbs up on that,
(03:05):
on the attempt itself to put something together the way
that they had. Again, it's not perfect. I think it's
good though. I think it's something they can build off of.
Had my attention and let me just finally end on
this and I'll hand it over to you, because everybody
wants to lose their minds over the NBA All Star Game,
and the big issue about the NBA All Star Game
is what competition there is. It's just a free throw line,
(03:30):
or not a free throw line, a warm up line,
donks three pointers and there's zero competition. Dude. If you
watched if you watched the semi final, the knockout round, yeah,
these games had high competition. There were some battling going
on on the floor. So you're getting highly competitive NBA
(03:50):
basketball in December, and yet you people out there it's
not good enough for you because the jerseys are ugly
and they don't man, the court gets tuned into a
game and the courts are too bright, or you're doing
it in Vegas. You shut the league down like you
guys are whiners. Man, if you just watched the product
(04:11):
on the floor, that was damn good. Last night dud
Saturday was good. Yeah, and then the knockout round. As
I said, there were a couple of good games there.
Last year there were good games. This is something they
can build off of. Then you people are so negative.
It's like sickening sometime. It really is.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Yeah, it's been more of a success than I expected
with the Cup overall, and I do think it's something
to build off. I thought this year was better than
last year, and I think next year can be better
than this year, that they can kind of keep trending
in that direction there. It is disappoint in the final
did end up to be a dud of a game
that they're really you know, the thunder just shot themselves
out of that game or were never able to get
any sort of consistent production, particularly from beyond the three
(04:48):
point arc. I mean, that was their lowest scoring output
of the season and the worst they've shot from three
on the entire year. So a tough break that had
happened on that stage in that moment there. But as
far as the negativity conversation, what I think unique about
NBA fans specifically is it feels like there's like this
such direct, like linear relationship with players in a way
that other sports are.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Like for example, James Harden.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Here, there's very clearly people that are James Harden fans,
not necessarily a fan of a team, And when he
goes to the Sixers, they're with him.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
When he goes to the Clippers, they're with them.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
And I don't really think that there's a parallel to that,
like when that happens in the NFL, or a guy
gets traded teams, it feels like we don't see you know,
Aaron Rodgers fans all of a sudden coming Packers fans
to Jets fans. So it's always kind of strange to
me how that is the case there. I guess. I
guess basketball is more of like an individualistic sport where
you know, one player can make that much of a difference.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
But it does feel like there's a different.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Lens that NBA fans view sports through the compared to
other sports.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Well said, yeah, I would say, like you the one
offs in the NFL, like Mahomes, I think he's built
up a fan base. Of course he goes somewhere else, Brady,
you know, and even then that's tough because I don't
know if you became a fan of Brady if you
weren't a Patriot, right, But I feel like it has changed.
When Brady went to the Bucks, there were a lot
of people that were Bucks fans because of Brady saying
(06:07):
through Mahomes, Mahomes leaves Kansas City, there are a lot
of kids out there that love Mahomes and rightfully, so
he's incredible. But you're right, you don't see it from
Jalen Hurts. Let's put it that way. I don't see
many Jalen Hurts fans out there that aren't Philadelphia Eagle
of fans, So it is interesting you bring that up.
I don't know, man Like I said to me, if
(06:29):
they're if the players didn't take it serious right and
the level of competition did not change whatsoever, I'm probably
singing a different tune. I'm probably not saying it with
my chest. But dude, come on, man like you want
to kill him about the NBA All Star Game and
they and to a point, they do deserve a little
(06:50):
bit of slack over that. I think the players more
so than anybody because they they've let it down over
the years. And to me, I just didn't get rid
of the NBA All Star Game. And then until we
get an opportunity down the road where people will lose
their minds going, oh, bring it back, bring it back.
We're gonna change the way we play, and then that
will be a good thing. Build off of this. This
is good. You got high level competition in the beginning
(07:14):
of December, and is it perfect? No, the stopping of
the season, obviously people don't like that. But I got
to give credit to the NBA and Silver and everybody
because it's it's there's a reason why they're doing that,
so everybody has the equal amount of rest off, if
I'm correct, right, John.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
Yeah, exactly, And the fact that it's kind of a fluid,
like a fluid schedule, you don't know exactly who the
teams are gonna be obviously when the season starts, so
you kind of got to leave a gap so you
can fill it in withever whatever teams are necessary there.
So it takes some juggling. It's gonna lead to a
little bit of a backup. The Sixers, for example here,
I believe have still played the fewest games of any
team in the NBA at this point in the season,
(07:51):
So that's gonnaly do a crank up there. But regardless,
they've done a decent job of being able to juggle
this in way that I was kind of skeptical of
it at first.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Yeah, right with you? All right, anything else, well, we'll
come back to it, because I got some other things
I want to get into. Let's go ahead and dive
into what took place till last night. Milwaukee and ok
see in a dud of a final. But that's why
you age on these games, man, you could cash in.
Hopefully you were listening to the Daily Ticket picks and
roll last week when we gave out Yannis plus five fifty. Again,
(08:22):
not going to sit here and say that I was
beating my chest over it, because there were still at
that point in time six eight teams left. But you
saw the path eight teams. You saw the path for
the Milwaukee Bucks. And I remember remember when the light
bulb went off and I said, wait a minute, MVP,
you gotta win this whole thing. If you don't win
this thing, you're not gonna win the MVP. And Yanni
said plus five point fifty. That was a nice play
(08:44):
right there, hopped on that little sprinkle, nothing too crazy.
Essentially had a play because of what we discussed here.
But yesterday, heading into that game, as we broke it
down in the Daily Ticket, plus two thirty five, that
was a no brainer. You know, you could have got
even money from the Milwaukee Buck standpoint as far as
moneyline was concerned, or a little bit more plus one
thirty I think it was. But Jannis plus two thirty
(09:06):
five that was an error. And essentially what it was
built off of the fact that, yes, the oddsmakers didn't
see Milwaukee Bucks winning the game. But they did, and
hopefully you were listening yesterday and hopefully you said, you
know what, screw the game. I'm just gonna take Giannis
plus two thirty five. He ran away with the MVP award,
he was the best player all tournament, and let's go
(09:27):
ahead and start with the game real quick. As far
as that is concerned, stayed under the total. Your big takeaway,
I know you already hit on it the fact that
or Oklahoma Thunder or missing some shots, but your big
takeaway from the final.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
Is what, Yeah, I think if asked like, what is
the reason for the loss, it is just shooting the basketball.
With that, I think the Thunder had an outlier bad performance.
With that, I mean they were held the fourteen points
in the third quarter, seventeen in the fourth, super uncharacteristic
stuff there. Again, eighty one is the lowest or just under.
It looked like they were gonna break the record for
fewest points in a season that is eighty Currently, they
(09:58):
hit a three pointer of late in that game in
garbage time to ultimately get to eighty one, so did
not crack that record there. But we're looking at their
shooting splits like Oklahoma City was five for thirty two
from beyond the arc last night. That's fifteen point six percent.
They were twenty nine of eighty six from the floor outright,
thirty three point seven percent.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
That's not gonna win you basketball games right there.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
And I was a little disappointed that Shakeyotess Alexander wasn't
able to grab the spotlight. And you know, this is
a guy who has some legitimate MVP buzz and is
very much being pushed into that next spotlight for one
of these faces of the NBA, and deservingly so. He
has played up to it in the larger scale, but
he did not quite have it last night.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
So it was frustrated there.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
But I think the storyline to me is this was
a grown up victory by the Milwaukee Bucks. This was
something that from start to finish, they imposed themselves Yannis
just so physically commanding on both ends of the floor.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
Thought he was excellent defensively last night.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
And I've been a little bit critical of his defense
at times that there's at times, I would say a
little bit of fake defense. To be honest, that was
not the case last night. He was locked in from
start to finish, impacting shots around the rim. And I
mean his statistical output was awesome as well, that he
finished the game last night with twenty six points, nineteen rebounds,
tenn assists, two steals, and three blocks. There, So pretty
(11:08):
absurd stuff from the Greek freak. And beyond just speaking
about the MVP of the NBA Cup, I think there
should be a conversation about MVP of the entire NBA again,
because by my money's worth of the season stop today,
that should be the guy that's crowned that award.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Really, Yahana MVP right now, you're giving him that award.
If you had to give it out, I would. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
He's leading the league in scoring thirty two point seven
points per game looking at kind of his entire statistical
output from the out for the season. He's also adding
eleven point five rebounds six point one assist. Has added
a little bit of midrange to his game this year,
which has been a weakness of his shooting number forty
percent from the mid range. Still not something that you
know you're going to be Shay Gilbs, Alexander Jowell, Embiid
with that kind of touch, but the fact that that
(11:47):
is another level of weapon that he has in his
arsenal is something notable there. I think he's been very
good defensively and has been the spearhead of this turnaround
for Milwaukee. Let's not forget just a couple of weeks
ago we were talking about this team looking dead in
the water, and they've been nine and two in their
past eleven games at this point, ripping off wins and
look like a borderline contender. So still a lot of
season left to be played, but I think, like for
(12:09):
ready to hand it to the next generation of the
Luka Dancic, the Shay Gilds Alexander, I think jokanis have
still very pretty clearly been the top two players in
the NBA of the season, just as it has been
the past couple of years.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah, you're not getting an argument. It's just, you know,
look from the standpoint of if you're giving it out
right now, we haven't really I guess been I don't
know about fair, but we haven't mentioned Giannas. Let's put
it that way. And based off of the the bad
start and we you know, of course we got a
little bit more of a slant towards dock rivers than
the most here in Philadelphia, so we're reluctant to give
(12:43):
them a little bit more shine than what they'd probably deserve.
But they are Rivers. Hello, Hello. I was listening to
that bod in their bite when he chewed them out,
and he's like, I think we know a little bit better,
a little bit more than you, and it's just cracking up.
It just brought me back to those be ball Paul
Victory Tour. Yeah, he's got some gyms, man, he's got
(13:04):
some gyms. Fourteen and eleven on the season, Doc Rivers
and the Milwaukee Bucks currently are in the five spot
right now in the East. Yeah. Look from the the
game last night, no doubt about it stayed way under
total of two sixteen. We talked about that yesterday Luke.
Luke asked the question. It's perfectly phrased at that point
(13:25):
in time where he was like, man, that that under
is so low, it's almost like they're begging you to
take the over. Yep, And there it was now five
for thirty two. Wasn't something that we probably foresee, right,
the Oklahoma City thunder going from downtown from the other direction,
from Milwaukee Bucks on the other side. But yeah, that
was that was probably number one, number two. Though watching
(13:47):
the game, those shown You're right, like grown up performance. Yeah,
to me, they looked more aggressive, they looked like they
wanted it more. Sure, the shots were falling. But even
if even if Okaysee was making half of those threes,
I still look like I still would think that the
Milwaukee Bucks were winning that game. So I got a
tip my cap. They said that they were going to
win it all, They were in a spot to win
(14:08):
it all. They hit the gas pedal, They beat a
Hawks team that was really good. The Milwaukee Bucks were
the best team right now, and we'll go ahead and
take it from there to Okay, so last year, we
saw the Lakers and we saw the Pacers, and I
think the bigger deal for all of us at that
point in time was like, man, are we looking at
the Pacers in the right light? And then they went
(14:29):
on a little bit of run and had success in
the postseason. Are we looking at the Milwaukee Bucks at
this point time? Of course, Oklahoma City Thunder, sure, But
from the standpoint of like the team that you could
see taking the baton and running with this more having
success this season, is it the Milwaukee Bucks for you?
Speaker 4 (14:46):
Yeah, I'm more open to it than I have been,
for sure, and I've been pretty critical of the Bucks
just generally because it has not looked right to me.
I don't think there's been very many consistent stretches where
the two man actions with Damian Lillard and Giannis have
functioned as DIES has believed as they believed would be
the case there. But in fairness to them, they have
dealt with some pretty notable injury hurdles. That really was
the reason that they were eliminated from last year's playoffs,
(15:09):
with both Giannis and Dame getting hurt in that opening round.
That was the story in last year's NBA Cup, where
I believe Dame was banged up throwing a part of that.
I think that was the hamstring injuries early on in
the season or something that he dealt with that kept
him unavailable for those games. So if they have a
true healthy run, they have as good a chance as anybody,
And there are some legitimate pieces there. Gary Trent Junior
add some of that team. Bobby portis an awesome impact
(15:30):
off the bench. Brook Lopez looks played far better basketball
last night than I'd seen him in quite some time.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
In most of this season.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
That was kind of one of my concerns for this
Bucks team, and he looked a lot better last night,
so it could be forming into shape. I can hear
the case a little bit more than I could have
at any point until now, So still have my eyes
on them. But they've been impressive these past few weeks
and kind of cap that off with a statement performance
last night.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
All right, as far as the thunder side of things,
and again it wasn't falling for them, and that's understood.
But man, walking off the the the the court, and
I saw Sga and like he was tweaked, like he
was frustrated, he was mad. Again, they played a bad game,
so nobody's gonna be happy. But I think, like, tell me,
(16:14):
I'm maybe making a little bit too much about this,
or do you see where I'm going? Like to me, sure,
the Milwaukee Bucks. You got Giannis who's already won a championship.
You got great players on that team, Damian Lillard. Come on,
Doc Rivers, I get it. You know he hasn't gotten
them to the Promised Land or won it all before.
But man, a successful coach, right, we can't say Doc
Rivers is not a successful coach. So the Milwaukee Bucks
(16:36):
are gonna continue to play and they're gonna be in
competition for the East. And I would have said that
before last night. I would have said that that's gonna
be a tough out versus Orlando Magic in the playoffs.
Anybody but the Celtics. If you tell me the Celtics
and Bucks are playing tomorrow, I'm gonna take the Celtics. However,
maybe we might see something different from April. Don't know,
but am I making too much that If you ask
(16:58):
me who's gonna take more from what took place last night?
I think Okac. Again, expectations are there. Their coach came
out last night even said as much like, hey man,
we're going through a tough spot here in December. I
like this. This is good and that's how I came away,
like watching those guys walk off the floor. Yeah, they
played a bad game, but at the end of the day,
(17:19):
that was a championship game, a hat and T shirt game,
Champagne if you want them, you're in Vegas. It's a
nationally televised game. And you played, you played a bad game,
you came up small. I think that's going to work
out really well for okcee. Again, they were already a
lot of people's favorites to win it all. I see
a million one tickets out there in OKC to win
(17:41):
the NBA title this year. Good luck on that. But
I'm coming away from last night's game going, you know what,
that's probably going to be better for OKC in a
long run to win an NBA Championship, which everybody puts
way above the NBA Cup, as they should. So I
think it was a good thing that the OKC did
come up short last night.
Speaker 4 (17:58):
Your thoughts on that, Yeah, I agree with that, and
I think the most the more big game experience you
can get as possible, the better for this team.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
And that's what you got last night.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Like again, making all the jokes about the Cup or whatever,
that was a different stage that this youthful roster just
had to step into the battlefield and see how they
stood up. Now, they're a better team than they played
last night. I feel incredibly confident in saying that. Again,
the worst shooting performance they've had all year, the fewest
points they've.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Scored all year, And just looked at the record.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
They're twenty and five on the season, so they haven't
had the amount of lows that we expect. There are
some real deal decisions that still need to be made
within that team though, like guys like Cason Wallace, how
big is his role. There's a lot of excellent young talent,
but you're gonna have to make some tough kind of
decisions as far as what that rotation is. So I
think Mark dagnell or I think I said his name
right there is how is kind of working through.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
That exactly there.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
There's still a lot of questions with this team, but
that's a huge step in the right direction and starts
with the head of the snake share Gildis Alexander didn't
quite hold up his end of the bargain last night.
I thought he got to his spots. The shots looked
normal to me, but he just did not quite hit.
He'll overall shot eight of twenty four from the field
of nine from three last night. You expect more from
him and he's delivered at a far higher level than
that for most of the year. So not worried about
(19:06):
this Thunder team and think of the long run, they're
gonna be just fine.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
But I think it was good f rohim get punched
in the mouth a little bit.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Yes, I had to google how to say his how
to pronounce his last name, and I saw a tweet
that popped up with my timeline from a couple of
years ago. He said, here's how you pronounced Thunder's new
head coach, Mark Dagnault's name dag as in dagger, as
in Chris Ball hit so many dagger shots for Okay,
see last season. Nult rhymes with malt, as in Whopper's
(19:34):
malted milk balls or a thick, delicious chocolate malt. Okay,
I'm going to broms. That's uh, this dude, so dagger malt, daga, malt,
dag malt dag.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Maulta nault naut. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
There you go, there you go, there you go there. Yeah. Anyways, okay,
see of course, uh yeah, I think that they're gonna
be all right. The shots weren't falling. When's check coming.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
Back a couple of weeks still, I want to say
three or four weeks at this point, so that's kind
of a long term that it was labeled six to
eight weeks when it first happened, So it hasn't been
any sort of update that I've seen since then.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
All Right, finally to put a bow on this. Your
thoughts are not touching the champagne.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
I think this was a Doc Rivers specials what this is.
I think that he can make that posture statement of
the media of we're taking this really serious. And what
I think honestly probably happened, and I have no problem
with this, is they probably hopped on the team playing
together and enjoyed some nice beverages just alone on the
private jet, which again I have no issue with that,
as you should enjoy the moment. That's probably my prediction
(20:34):
for what happened there, that Doc's gonna love to lean
on the image of what we're taking the season so seriously,
not doing all this kind of stuff and keeping that
within the walls of the locker room.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Yeah, I thought so too. I didn't know that. I
thought they probably went out into town a little bit.
I mean you are in but yeah, but you know,
I like where your minds that as well. And if
Doc Rivers actually would give Doc a little bit more
credit than that, if he said, you know what, we're
hopping back on the flight. We're gonna get back to Milwaukee,
relaxed for a day, you know, enjoy a couple beverages.
(21:05):
On the flight. I like that, that's not a bad move.
But yeah, maybe it's a little over the top with
the champagne and the goggles and all that, and that's
their right. But to sit there and say that these
teams aren't taking it serious because they didn't. They choose
not to celebrate. Come on, man, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
And for the trophy presentation last night, I thought the
trophy presentation was a little thick.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
But again, this is what you have to do, right.
You have to do it. If you're gonna do it,
you gotta be full throttle. I don't think you can.
I don't think you can do it both ways. It's
either like, are you making a big damn deal about this?
Is it a big deal to you the NBA? Yes,
all right, then this is what you gotta do. You
(21:48):
gotta treat it as such. Again, nobody wants to hear it,
but they understand it. It is from the world of soccer.
And trust me, as a soccer fan, it took me
a long time to get there. A long time, not
even comfortable. Half the time you talk about Manchester United
and all these great teams that are out there, and
then next thing you know, they got to play in Europa,
and then they got to play in this Cup and
(22:08):
then and you almost need like four different lineups to
compete in all these tournaments. But guess what, when you
do get to a final, it means something. And this pays.
This means something financially for those other tournaments. It will
get you into the Champions League and so on and
so forth, which is a huge deal. But at the
(22:28):
end of the day, this is what they have and
this is the only thing they can offer you. And
I think you know what five hundred thousand dollars goes
a long damn way I saw Damian Lillards is you
go hook up the people that work on them, the
training stuff. That's awesome. Good for him, that's great.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Yeah, definitely, And I mean I won't lie to you.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
As I was watching the trophy ceremony, it did get
through my brain of like, all right, this is getting
out of control.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
I agree, I said the same thing, but.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
Kind of a question about this, I'm I would say,
a surface level soccer fan that I watched every so often,
not certainly a guy that follows a ton of it
isn't what makes those tournaments unique, like being able to
play teams from different leagues, and you know, having an
opportunity for teams from Spain and you know, teams from
Italy to face off in England and all that type
of thing. That's generally kind of the case for those
soccer style tournaments, right, Yeah, there's.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
A lot of that, right, Europa League, Absolutely, there's some
teams from other countries that you're playing. You know, even
for the MLS you have the US Open Cup, which
you're playing like the teams that are under you. So yeah,
there is that, But in the I think in the
big picture, you are like the Europa I'm sorry, I'm
drawing a blank on these other tournaments that take place
(23:37):
toward the course of an APL league. But if you
win those those leagues are those tournaments you get a
birth into the Champions Champions League, which is the best
of the best from an eight team perspective, and that
you know, the you in that opening round you could
be very well playing Ronaldo or you know, Liverpool or
(23:59):
mess whatever. It is a messy place for Inner Miami now,
so that's not the case, but it's a huge deal.
So yeah, there is a little bit of that. But
you're right, what do you suggest a G League get involved.
Speaker 4 (24:10):
No, I'm more curious if in Adam Silver's brain and
kind of the long term plan here, because we clearly
see the emphasis on you know, overseas presence and you know,
have it globally like that, if there is an attempt
to kind of tie that together to where maybe they
play a team out of Spain or a team you know,
out of China or something like that, I have nothing
to suggest that is the case, but I'm curious if,
(24:31):
like in the long term game plan, if that's something
they have in the back of their minds, it's a
great call.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
It'd be cool. It's another layer that they can add in. Again,
you and I are looking eye to eye and we say, hey, man,
they thumbs up. They got something here. Good for them.
It's not perfect, but build on it and hear what
people are saying. And if they if their take is
it was just terrible. You're trying to be soccer No.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
One.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Then don't listen to them. Don't listen to them, because
there's too many of those people out there that exist.
And then they're the same ones that complain it's stale
and nothing changes, and it's like, get me to the playoffs, Like, dude, like,
I'm sick of hearing about the playoffs. I'm sick of it.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Like people love to complain.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Yeah they do, but I'm sick and tired as a
Sixer fan, Like I can't focus on the playoffs. Why
so we get a series if we're lucky, you know,
that's it. So we need to enjoy the regular season.
And how do you do that with stupid stuff like
this A and then B. Hopefully you get a good
regular season from your team. Unfortunately Sixers are struggling right now.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:30):
And by the way, I got waxed out of that
US Open tournament when I was younger. I do remember
playing in that on the sideral hitch there. Yeah, it
did not go well for my teammates.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
That's funny, really all right, Just to let you know too,
from some Sixers conversation, I did see that the they
announced Hubey brooks our Hube Brown. Excuse me, Hube Brown
ESPN Ninety one year old Hubie Brown will call the
final game of his career like great Hube Brown February ninth,
(26:01):
when the Sixers visit the Bucks. A little tie in there.
I had a little funny you know quip and said
that MBAT has already ruled out Paul George is questionable.
So I thought that was good. But he you know, look,
he's legendary and ninety one years old, still sharp at
attack too. Man, you listen to him call game on
the radio. He still got it. Dude, ninety one years old,
(26:24):
still got it. What a career he'll be. You know,
I had moments where I'm like, man, this guy is
still calling games. But like that was, you know, decade
plus year ago, and then you know, just eventually a
year after year, was like, man, like coach knows a
thing or two, Like shut up and man, just be
impressed by the fact that this guy is still doing
(26:46):
it at that age. And we all, we all would
be very lucky to live until we're ninety one, let
alone called basketball games until we're ninety one. So that's
pretty cool stuff there.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:56):
By the way, he has seen every single season of
NBA basketball. I've been a part of it in some way,
which is pretty crazy to think about.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Get out of here. He's been a part of it.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
Yeah, I believe so. Because he started off he was
pretty early.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
He may not have been through the first couple of
years at the minimum, like the NBA is younger than
ninety one that they're going on right around eighty years now.
So Hubey Brown's been in it for the long haul.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Man, dude, Salute, Salute the great Hubey Brown. All right, Sean,
but no, let's have some fun here and wrap up shop.
We did a good Sixers hit yesterday, so I don't
want to revisit a lot of those conversational points. But
first and foremost, Sixers back in action on Friday. They're
taking on the Hornets again, which is a good thing
(27:42):
as far as where we're at right now, and the
spread is down, so they took it off the board.
The expectation on who's going to be suiting up for
the Sixers on Friday.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Paul George should be good to go.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
He played without the brace last game and seems to
be fully out of restrictions at this point.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
Tyrese MAXI good to go as usual. We did get
the update yesterday.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Jad McCain did officially have surgery, so that's probably the
latest breaking news from a Sixers injury perspective, but not
that he was expected back anytime soon either.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
They did not release the terms of the surgery.
Speaker 4 (28:10):
As far as whether this was the minisectoctomy or you know,
the minisectomy there we go getting that out there, or
it was just the clean up repair type thing, so
that obviously impacts the timeline quite a bit. They did
not release that information just yet. Wouldn't shock me if
the outlook is just let's see how things go the
next couple weeks before we give any sort of timeline
for Jad McCain specifically here, but something to watch there.
(28:33):
But yeah, I would expect the same starting lineup that
we saw earlier this week against the Hornets and pretty
much all hands on deck based on the hands.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
That we do know are available right now. No Dwell embead.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
So the Hornets play tomorrow and they'll get him back
to back in Philadelphia. So again another opportunity for the
Sixers to win a game, and that's all we need
at this point in time. Then they go on the
road to take on the Cabs on Saturday, Spurs on Monday.
I might want to get to that game, Sean ban Are,
what are you doing Monday?
Speaker 4 (29:01):
I worked till six and then who knows Wimby.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
I'll go see Wimby.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
Yeah, that'd be cool.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
All right, let's let's lock that one and we'll talk
about whatever do we can. All right, good? I like
that And I haven't been to a six Ers game
this year, how about that? But I would definitely go
see Wimby, that's for damn sure. All right. From the
Jay McCain. One quick note on this, I talked about it.
I don't think you were on the show just yet,
but do you remember when he hit his He hit
his head twice. That was terrible, and then he got
(29:31):
up and then everyone thought he was woozy and Paul
George got him.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
Yeah, that was his knee.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
That slipped out. That wasn't him. Yeah, like you know
that again, it was probably a combination of both, right,
But that was crazy because you thought Paul George stepped
in because he was woozy, and like, whoa dude, he's
got concussion. Slow down there, young and but no, man,
then that was his actual knee and who knows, but wow,
that's a terrible break. But hopefully surgery obviously, like you said,
(29:59):
when well, and he'll be back. Is he done for
the season in your mind?
Speaker 3 (30:03):
They haven't announced yet.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
I think probably the outlook is like it's going to
be probably around six weeks, is sh at the minimum
that they're going to basically see how these six week
go and say, what is the risk reward here, the
value of bringing back to this team, and what are
our goals for the season At that point in the air,
A lot, a lot is going to be determined over
that stretch whether or not this team is staying afloat
or if this truly does go to disaster mode for
the season.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
So I think it's a little bit of a wait
and see approach right now.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
All right, we'll close up shop with just some fun
stuff here on the way out again. DraftKings sportsbooks showing
US Boston plus two forty okay see plus three seventy,
Knicks ten to one, MAVs eleven to one, Nuggets fourteen
to one, Warriors fifteen to one, Bucks seventeen to one,
Cavs seventeen to one, and then we jump up to
the t Wolfs and the Suns at twenty five of
(30:47):
twenty eight to one. If I've removed Boston and Oklahoma City,
give me one from the east, give me one from
the west.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
Do you have your attention on I'll start from the west,
and I do think This is kind of an outside
the box call. The Phoenix Suns to me, should be
considered in that contender category that I do believe there's
something there with Kevin Durant, with Devin Booker, Bradley Beal
isn't quite the Bradley Beal that we need. We continue
to hear some of these Jimmy Butler whispers, which certainly
would in my mind, would improve their outlook there. They're
(31:14):
still trying to upgrade that team and fully put together.
Nurkic has absolutely been a weak spot for them, but
it doesn't get much better than a one two punch
of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant man And I do
think it means something that this team has bought in
more defensively this season, the way that they're playing. I
just have my eyes out that I do think the
Phoenix Suns could be in that mix there.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Now.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
The East I think is far weaker that to me,
I think there's a much wider gap between the Celtics
being one and everyone else there. But I guess I'll
stick with Milwaukee Bucks. Conversation of him not entirely counting
them out, I did kind of going into this year
so I'm more open minded about them. Man, I'll still
throw a little love to Philadelphia seventy six ers too. Man,
if it all breaks right, the chances aren't zero. The
(31:55):
chance of a breaking right maybe zero. But we'll see
how things shake out there.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
I just gonna let you say that, all right. Fourteen
and eleven right now are the Phoenix Suns currently in
the sixth spot. The Clippers. The Clippers got something next
to their do They have a new logo? Did I
miss it?
Speaker 4 (32:11):
They changed it coming into this year? Not a fan,
I did I miss this?
Speaker 2 (32:19):
I guess I did what. I don't know. It's the
first time I've seen it next to the name like that. Yeah,
what is it? Is it a bullseye?
Speaker 3 (32:28):
It's like a it looks like a shit ship.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
Yeah yeah, okay.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
I don't understand really the relevance of it. But this
was kind of packaged with like the new arena and
you know, the rebranding into a dome all that type
of thing.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
So yeah, they rolled that out this year.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
All right? And well, yeah the Jerseys. Yeah, I saw
the Jerseys, but I always liked their logo earlier. Whatever,
it's new dome, I get it, all right, cool. And
then from the standpoint, what was I saying there from
the west side of things again? Thunder at the top
of the chart. Twenty five Grizzlies Rockets. One quick thought
(33:03):
on the Rockets, man, I'd say again, were looking at
them to package and make a move here, and then
we are gonna be looking at somewhat of a different team.
They've had a great start to the season, the big
takeaway for me, and then you saw them against Golden
State and I know that they weren't able to win
the game against Okay see, but defensively, that's a team
that will get you, you know, in the mud. Let's
(33:25):
just put it that way.
Speaker 4 (33:27):
Yeah, I think they absolutely need to package some sort
of three for one trade or two for one trade,
a consolidation trade where you are patching a couple of
these young guys for a win now talent. I think
it is the time to do that. I'm curious if
they are how heavily they get involved in the Jimmy
Butler conversations or if they try and go down that
pathway there. But there's just too much talent here, and frankly,
I think just about every other team in the league
(33:47):
should be circling both the Houston Rockets at Oklahoma City
Thunder for which players can they not keep a part
of their core here? For the Rockets specific, specifically the
i'min Thompson's, the Tari Eastons, even a guy like Cam Whitmore,
who of course went to Villinover and we know we're
here in the Philadelphia area. That's a guy who's barely
touching clock for them, and I frankly think would on
a lot of other NBA rosters. So I think there
(34:08):
is to an extent too much young talent that it
would be of their benefit to make this decision for
who is the true part of our core, kind of
trim the edges there and really go for it. But
it wouldn't shock me if they take this season to
continue to evaluate, let these guys fight it out, and
then next year is when they really start to make
those decisions. And I still think it's fair to assess
like Jalen Green is probably the biggest question mark for
(34:30):
what is.
Speaker 3 (34:30):
The ceiling of that team.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
He hasn't looked particularly good this year, And I'll say
like perhaps even more concerning is you can just get
a drastically different player on a night to night basis,
there will be stretches where he looks like every bit
of the all star level talent talent guard that you expect,
and then there's stretches where you're like, you can't win
with that guy on the floor there. So Jalen Green
certainly somebody that I have my eye on for What
is his future or how do the Rockets view him?
(34:52):
I guess, but I do think they absolutely need to
make a deal and kind of trim up that roster.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
Right, great job across the board, sham Bnard. Oh yeah,
as far as the Phoenix Suns are concerned. The one
thing with Jimmy Butler is Bradley Beal will be on
the way out. His salary matches would have to But
is Bal gonna say, I'm cool, let me go to Miami.
I don't think he will.
Speaker 4 (35:12):
I mean, if we want to flashback to win the
first Bradley Beal trade talks initiated is that Miami was
his desired location there, or at least the spot that
he wanted to I think he would have a larger
role down in Miami as far as like Jimmy Butler
would basically be walking into being able to do Jimmy
Butler things of playing defense, rebounding and doing some of
this scrappy stuff. Bradley Beal is basically playing that way
(35:33):
right now, and I don't think he's ever been tailor
made for that to be his role there, So I
don't know what the vibe is behind the scenes or
how he likes fitting in that system playing like that.
He still has injury concerns as well, but from a
financial standpoint, they both would absolutely have to be involved
in that. And I will note also Bial's got a
no trade clause, so that he would obviously have to
be involved in these conversations. So curious how it plays out,
(35:55):
but I think that there's a, i would say, relatively
decent chance that that actually happens, which I kind of
shocked that to believe that at this point.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Interesting stuff. It's the NBA. Yeah, all right, negative, Nancy's
out there. The NBA in season tournament is over. We
respected the NBA Cup right here, I'm picks and roll.
Great job across the board represent the squad from DraftKings
sportsbook Sean Bernard. We did the takeover multiple times, got
people going, great job by DraftKings rolling out the fact
(36:26):
that they gave you to double up promos for all
the games, and of course tonight no NBA action, so
no King the Court, so we get to relax a
little bit and enjoy some college football Bowl season rolls on.
But of course we'll be back at it talking about
things NBA later in the week. Six ers back at
it on Friday, and I look forward to hitting them
all with you, Sean Bernard. All right, great stuff. Continue
(36:49):
to follow Sean on so so that Sean underscore Binard
one that will do it for us here on Picks
and Roll, And as always, if you missed anything, you
can get it over at FOXPHL Gambler dot com.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Roll podcasts can be found on FOXPHL gambler dot com.
The Gambler, Philly's home for all things sports gambling.
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