Ep. 76: The Knicks Are In Trouble! - 04/22/25

Sean Brace and Sean Barnard dive into the #NBAPlayoffs beginning with the #Pistons-#Knicks series, which is tied 1-1 (and should probably be 2-0 DET). Lakers-Timberwolves, Warriors-Rockets, Thunder-Grizzlies, Bucks-Pacers, Cavaliers-Heat, and Celtics-Magic.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Number one on your car radio preset hand then new
and improved Diehard.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Radio, Yes and WD two seven three D Philadelphia is
Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
The Gambler.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Here, let me go.

Speaker 4 (00:16):
Here we are on a beautiful Tuesday, Chabray Schambinard with you,
of course, all things NBA Playoffs front and center right
here on a brand new edition of Picks and Roll.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Sean and Sam went live yesterday. Great job setting the
table for all things what we saw last night, and
boy did we see a lot on the twenty first
of April in the NBA Playoffs. In those two games,
great games, both of them, both road teams winning on
the road, both teams trailing one to zero in those series.

(00:50):
So therefore both teams now evening up in those series.
One game's a piece, Sham Barnard, Let's not bury the lead,
let's jump right into it. I texted you and Sam
last night because if front and center to conversation has
been about the New York Knicks, and we understand why.
I think there has been times that you have been

(01:11):
a little over the top. But at the same time,
we're talking about teams that are playing for something. We're
talking about teams that could potentially win a championship, the
teams that could compete and make things interesting, and you
never bought in. You never saw what I the vision
I was trying to pitch as far as the Knicks
was concerned. Sam was even more positive as far as

(01:33):
the Knicks were concerned, because he didn't even want to
go down the path of comparing him to the Sixers
from years ago, from a few seasons ago, when the
Sixers had a lot of good things going in their favor,
finishing in the overall one seed, which oh, by the way,
the Knicks did not, but still like the Knicks won
a lot of games this year in the regular season,
they finished third overall in the Eastern Conference. They went

(01:55):
out and made multiple trades this offseason. They are all
they have a great player in Jalen Brunts and Josh
har We can go down the list really good team.
But man, they are in trouble against the Detroit Pistons.
So I tip my cap to you on that one, sir.

Speaker 5 (02:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
And by the way, the Knicks are a good basketball team.
I'm not dodging that directly there. But when we have
the conversation of can this team actually compete for a championship.
The answer has been no, that there has not been
a day where that's change. And speaking of those names
that they went all in on, let's talk about them.

Speaker 5 (02:28):
Last night.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Karlosity Towns did not score in the second half, attempted
one field goal attempt, did not shoot the ball in
the fourth quarter.

Speaker 5 (02:35):
Mikale Bridges had.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Not one but two clean three point attempts to knock
down change that game and give your team a chance
to win.

Speaker 5 (02:42):
He came up short there.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
The guys that they went all in on are not
the caliber of players or the missing pieces for what
that team needed in the way that they should have
gone all in. I've been pretty vocal about my belief
that they cashed in the chips to be a role
player super team, and that is how I view them.

Speaker 5 (02:56):
When you look at this Pistons team, they know exactly
who they are.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
They're gonna be hard news, They're gonna be physical, They're
gonna play hard. Kate Cunningham is going to be a
legitimate All NBA guard, a guy that, when he plays
his best, is the best player in this series. I
do think the Knicks should be wired after last night,
and I took a lot of heat for the Karl
Anthony Town's unplayable statement. A guy who doesn't score in
the second half and played pretty mediocre defense in the
second half of that game. That fits the unplayable category

(03:22):
to me.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
But somebody has to fill in those spots, right like
you Like Cat, Cat played thirty four minutes last night,
and I could see the frustration from TIBs. That's understood.
But he's got he's flawed. He's flawed specifically on the
defensive side. You know, last night I saw Tobias Harris
d him up in the lane.

Speaker 5 (03:43):
I'm suck what happened.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Pretty much like I mean, Kat still gets his perimeter
stuff that and and to be fair to him, like
some of this absolutely has to fall on Fipps, Like
you have to do a better job creating looks for him.
When you have a guy that is that talent and
that's his skill set, it's on you as a coach
put that together create opportunities for him.

Speaker 5 (04:02):
And fip certainly failed in that category.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Now, if your Cat, you still got to have a
little bit of get me the ball, like assert yourself,
be a that's kind of you know, this is the
same Karl Anthony Towns problem that we've talked about his
entire career. It's not really a talent thing with him,
but there is, whether it's an attitude or personality. He
hasn't been able to kind of take that next step
into the true stars the way his talent should.

Speaker 5 (04:24):
And I think we're seeing this with the bright lights on.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
Right now draft Kings sportsbook showing the Pistons plus two hundred.
Of course, as I said, series tied one game a
piece heading to Detroit, you can still get the Pistons
at plus two hundred.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
Is that a good play in your mind?

Speaker 2 (04:37):
I'm surprised to move that much. Mind you would open
plus three ten for Pistons to win the series.

Speaker 5 (04:41):
It was up to a plus.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
I think it was plus six fifty yesterday if I'm
not mistaken. There so some pretty significant movement. Vegas has
seen it the exact same way we are. As far
as why this next team should be worried, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
Look game one. If it wasn't for campaign, they're not
winning that game.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, if it wasn't for a fourth quarter meltdown, we
are very likely talking about a two zero Pistons lead
right now that they were they were up eight points
heading into that fourth quarter, and that was their wake
up call. That was that's the doubt, that's the legitimate doubt,
like affair cons learned about this Pistons team. That's that
organization's first playoff win in like fifteen years at this point.
That this team's first time being back in the playoff

(05:16):
in six seasons since twenty eighteen nineteen at this point,
so it is a new experience rising to that playoff atmosphere.
They did get swallowed up on that in that fourth
quarter with Madison Square Garden, with the crowd, pilon On
being outscored by nineteen points in the period there. That
was their wake up call. But we see how they
responded and I was really impressed with them last night.

Speaker 3 (05:33):
Yeah, really impressed. I could not agree with you more.

Speaker 1 (05:35):
One hundred and ninety four was your final score, six
and a half point spread. The Knicks were favored in that,
so we know what took place there. Two twenty one
and a half was our total hanging into that game.
So of course, only one team living up to a
little bit of the hype there yesterday. As far as
the scoring is concerned. Pistons, though ended up with one

(05:56):
hundred story for the Pistons. I do want to give
Kid Cunningham his flowers here, man, because he didn't have
a good first game, so he bounced back in a
second game, put the team on his shoulders. He attacked,
he pulled down boards. He's a big body, you know.
I was really impressed with Kay cutting him in his
play in that second game, specifically after what took place

(06:16):
in game one.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
Yeah, I thought he did a really nice job early
on in that game, getting out in transition, attacking before
the Knicks defense got set, and I thought that set
the tone for this Pistons team. He pretty much was
the leading scorer from start to finish. That he exploded
for double digit points really early in that game. And
by the way, like while we have that he didn't
play well in the first game, he certainly didn't in
the first half. He ultimately finished that game with twenty
one points, twelve assists, and six rebounds. And I thought

(06:40):
in the second half that he did find some stuff there.
Obviously that carried into game two and we saw it.
I just love, like you mentioned, the physicality. He is
like a big.

Speaker 5 (06:49):
Body when he gets downhill man.

Speaker 2 (06:50):
He loves creating using that shoulder to create separation and
he's big enough to do it like. That is a
guy that I think we still have not been fully
aware of when we have this higher talk around the
NBA of where he can climb to. That's a guy
that can be a face of the franchise, all NBA
guy for a decade to come. And I think we
will have those conversations about Kate Cunningham when the time
does come.

Speaker 1 (07:10):
Shooter, big time deal off the bench. He's a stud like,
he is not shy away from the moment.

Speaker 3 (07:17):
He lets it rip.

Speaker 1 (07:18):
He talks trash, great handles and man.

Speaker 3 (07:22):
How old is he? Thirty one? All right?

Speaker 1 (07:25):
I feel like he's been around the league a little
bit longer. He's a hell of a get off the
bench for Detroit.

Speaker 5 (07:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Unique season for Dennis Schroeder too. He played for three
different teams this year. He started on the Brooklyn Nets,
was having career highs. They ultimately were trying to lose games,
traded him to the Warriors.

Speaker 5 (07:39):
I believe he.

Speaker 2 (07:39):
Spent twenty three games in the Nets, twenty four games
with the Warriors, and twenty eight games in Detroit this season.

Speaker 5 (07:44):
So kind of a bizarre year for him.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
But the dude can play man like he is exactly
who he's been and for this Pistons team specifically, the
questions are not Kate Cunningham, it's Ken. The other guys
beat them. And having kind of a relief album that
offense like Schroeder, who is a company ball handler who
can shoot ball, can play make for others, just do
the things that you need a guard to do, is
a huge deal for this Pistons team.

Speaker 5 (08:05):
So he stepped up.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
That three pointer he hit to put them up three
was a huge bucket last night. He does have stones,
he's willing to talk. He got into it with Josh
Hart a little bit. He's a perfect match for this
Pistons team and he's going to be a huge part
of this playoff run or to this series, regardless of
how long it goes.

Speaker 1 (08:20):
Detroit first wins first playoff wins since two thousand and eight,
fifteen straight playoff losses by the Pistons, and that's a
heck of a win. And I was texting you guys
last night, I just was hopeful that they didn't blow
that one. That's just because it was like, if they
lose this one, I'm out. I am done. And that's
what we want, you know, we want some some really

(08:42):
good first round series here to have our attention. And
we got one between the Knicks and Pistons, something that
you called so here we are. The play that you
loved the most was up five and a half games.

Speaker 5 (08:52):
Yep over that.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
So it would still need one more win from Detroit
or you know, maybe New York to win one. If
it's four two Detroit and the other way there, So
I need at least one more of this.

Speaker 3 (09:02):
Keyp that that would be hysterical. Yeah, four to one
Pistons roll, I mean go.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
And by the way, like for all the Madison Square
Garden love playing at home, it's gonna be walking into
Detroit and playing a playoff game there. It is going
to be rowdy in that arena that I think that
is going to grow into one of the better home
courts in the NBA that like, I don't know if
you've seen any games there this season. The crowd brings it,
Detroit brings it. So I'm very excited to see what
that looks like. With the playoff atmosphere.

Speaker 1 (09:29):
They did have to roll out the fact that they
weren't selling tickets to out out of state fans though,
so Knicks, for whatever it is, they do travel well,
we'll give them credit, and they do love their team,
so we'll see. But again, it's all tied up. It's
a great series, has our attention right now. Game three
Thursday night will be live for it. We're gonna have

(09:51):
some fun with that streaming. Knicks are a point favorite
to fourteen and a half. Oh yeah, a lot of
tension on that one. And of course the NFL Draft
going down on Thursday night. Let's talk a little bit
about Jalen Brunson here because he's getting a lot of
attention right now.

Speaker 5 (10:04):
Sure is it's funny.

Speaker 1 (10:05):
Because you know, Knicks fans are now defending their guy
and he can't do anything wrong when clearly it's everybody
is seeing it right now across the board and it's
so egregious. And I don't think that he's getting those calls.
How many free throws he shot eleven free throws last night?
I thought the refs swallow the whistle. It hit me
a little bit though, Sean and the games one and two,

(10:27):
and we know that this is the case d NBA playoffs,
they tend to swallow the list little whistle a little more.

Speaker 3 (10:31):
I just think why not do that in the regular season?

Speaker 1 (10:34):
It helps the game flow. It is so much easier
to watch enjoy. Just like, can we have a little
bit less officiating throughout the course of the regular season
as well?

Speaker 5 (10:45):
Yeah, that would be nice.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
And like, by the way, when we get into these
like critiques over the faubating or the style of play
in the end, that always to me falls on the
shoulders of the referees that if you stop rewarding that
guys will stop doing it. And we've clearly seen like
how the habits have grown, like everybody does it now.
And my personal problem with the Jalen Bronson conversation is
it feels like he's held to a different standard than

(11:07):
guys like Joel and the like James Harden, likes, Shay Gills,
Alexander who all do this.

Speaker 5 (11:11):
Yes, they tried to draw fouls.

Speaker 2 (11:13):
It is a high IQ basketball play and a fishing
basketball play to work yourself and get to the free
throw line. And that's why Jalen Brunson does it. So
don't act like he doesn't. He is guilty of it.
He is not the quote unquote ethical hooper. The way
that continues to be talked about by Knicks fans. I've
never made the mess fake and don't get me wrong,
like it's fine to wear that, to be that guy
to intentionally get to the free throw line because that's

(11:35):
what he does. But with last night specifically, I thought
Asar Thompson did an awesome job beating Brunston to the
spot on a lot of occasions. The play that Thompson
filed out on is the direct play that the NBA
came down on saying they're taking out of the game.
And with that play, Brunson got him on the pump
fake of the three point line. Thompson's was going to
land a couple feet in front of Brunson, so Brunson

(11:55):
takes a step forward into his jump shot path, so
Thompson falls on him. That's not a best and that
is the stuff that should be taken out of the game.
And that was the sixth vul and Brunson knew it
because while he's laying on the floor, he's holding up
six fingers to indicate that he just got this guy
to out the game. So you want to talk what
he's doing, he knows exactly what he's doing. It's still
a referee conversation because these guys are rewarded. But yeah,
Brunson is as guilty of that as anyone, and I

(12:17):
think it's anyone who's acting like he doesn't do it
is just trying to kind of, you know, put this
in a little bit of a nicked lens right here.

Speaker 3 (12:24):
I like that.

Speaker 1 (12:25):
No, you're right, And there was one I don't know
if it was first half or early second half, but
Thompson's running down the floor and Brunson like has them
and they reviewed it. It was such a bogus call. Again,
it's playoff basketball. Swallow the whistle. There's no need for it, right, Like,
if there's a turnover, I get it, call it. But
you know, everybody on my timeline, a lot of NBA

(12:46):
fans are now like, all right, enough of this, Bruntson,
Like we enjoy watching you play.

Speaker 3 (12:51):
You don't need to do this.

Speaker 1 (12:52):
But I do believe you're spot on with your assessment
when you talk about the fact that this is a
referee conversations being rewarded and there's a reason why these
guys do it. Look Juelle Embiid doesn't. Yeah, he does it.
There's no doubt about it. He does it. He also
takes a beating a heck of a lot different than
what Brunson does and all those other guys, but still,

(13:13):
you know, he does it, and he gets rewarded, and
he goes to the line a bunch and he nails
him from the free throw line.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
SGA.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
Like you said, Harden's the one that comes to my mind.

Speaker 3 (13:22):
Yeah, he's the innovator, right, he changed the NBA with
that man.

Speaker 1 (13:25):
We got to start looking at Harden a little bit
different when we start talking about players that actually changed
the way we look at the NBA.

Speaker 3 (13:31):
AI steph Yeah, Harden's got to.

Speaker 5 (13:34):
Be up there.

Speaker 2 (13:35):
Oh yeah, the three pointers, the isolation and the feet
throat draw, like he stylistically played a different brand of
basketball than we'd really ever seen before.

Speaker 5 (13:43):
When you look at Houston Rockets era.

Speaker 2 (13:45):
When we're just talking like pure influence, James Arden is
pretty near the top of the list for the impact
that he's had on basketball there and those Houston Rocket
teams did have greater success than they sometimes get credit.
Pushing a Golden State Warriors team with Kevin Durant to
seven games in a playoff series is not something to
just brush off.

Speaker 5 (14:02):
The shoulders there.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
I do you think the history will remember James Harden
a lot more fondly than we probably do at this
current time. And by the way, still playing very well
for that Clippers team which also won last time.

Speaker 1 (14:11):
We're gonna get into them in just a second. But yeah,
bruns and stuff is really intriguing. And it's just funny
because again you were you were early and right, you know,
as you pointed out, and it's the truth, like you
were calling this out all the way back to last year.
And I know that we've seen this before with Brunson,
but not to this level and.

Speaker 3 (14:33):
The extreme that we're seeing it now.

Speaker 1 (14:35):
And he's being rewarded and he's going to the line
a bunch, but he's flopping even when he doesn't get fouled.
He's getting to like it seems like he's constantly on
the ground begging for a call, and as you said,
the fact that he knows how many fouls that Eric
Thompson has, Like I don't know, I think there's a
line play your game. Let's ball out, it's playoffs. All
that other stuff could be regular season esque. Right now,

(14:57):
let's go. It's it's man versus man and Brunt's and
kind of coming up a little soft.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
That's the point, Tim, Albeit though he did drop thirty seven.

Speaker 5 (15:04):
Yeah no, and he still didn't play bad.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
From the actual basketball conversation, I would like to be
played more just basketball rather than this foulbating game here.
And I did love Malik Beasley last night, who's certainly
a tone setter for this Pistons team. He did foul
Brunson on one on kind of like an arm checking.
Bronston was coming off the screen trying to get free,
Beasley sort of clamped onto him.

Speaker 5 (15:22):
They called a foul.

Speaker 2 (15:23):
Beasley turns right to the referee and just goes playoff basketball,
playoff basketball, playoff basketball, repeats it six times right to
his face, which I love the message there. Yeah, let
these guys play. Let these guys figure it out on
their skill set, not who shoot more free throws or
have the game. So the referees will have a pretty
significant impact on how this series is played moving forward.

(15:43):
But let the boys play would be my message there.

Speaker 1 (15:45):
Damn right, all right, anything else from last night's game
that you want to put out there and again so
we understand where we're at. If the Knicks do come
up short TIBs is one hundred percent out. They'll be
trying to find a new head coach. Is there is
there a coach that you think could get the most
out of this New York Knicks squad because they do
have talent. They spin a boatload of picks to go
ahead and get both of their players with cat and bridges.

(16:08):
You know, it's not to say that they're the perfect team,
but it's a pretty good squad, and I would imagine
that's a good job to have, right Madison Square Guard
and the Knicks, the fans, they love it. Team just
won fifty plus games. Is there a coach that potentially
is out there right now? Do you think could be
somebody that they have their eye on.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
Yeah, I don't have a specific name of off the
top of my head here, but I would like for
them to lean more in kind of like an offensive
minded guy that I do think.

Speaker 5 (16:32):
I've been a Tom Thibodeau guy.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
I still like him as a coach and think like
he deserves a lot of credit for helping to turn
this franchise around, as he's done at a couple different stops now.
But I don't know if he's the guy that can
maximize the skill sets of guys in the way that
they need. I do think Karl Anthony Towns could be
a more effective player than what he proved this year,
and that is a coaching thing. Micheal Bridges wasn't unlocked
in the offense to the level that should be the

(16:54):
case when you traded five first round picks to get
a guy here. That it's certainly very reliant around Jalen Brown,
and I understand he is the sun that everything rotates
around in New York from their basketball perspective there, but
you gotta find a way to unlock these other guys
a little deeper there. So I do think there's fair
complaints about Phibida as far as how the coaching the
offense overall looks here will be interesting if they go

(17:14):
that direction and if there are the injuries that pop
up towards the tail end of the season, which tends
to happen because he plays all these guys a million
minutes here, Like, I think you have to correlate that
in a way that you can't if that happens. And
I'm not wishing that or expecting that to be the Keja.
It just has been a theme in the Knicks and
the Thibdeaux right here, you gotta look at the correlation.

Speaker 1 (17:33):
If that is the case, too, Pistons plus two point
five of the money line they cash in. Congratulations, nice
work if you did, if you did take Detroit in
Game two at MSG. Now to Game three on Thursday night,
we'll talk about that one a heck of a lot
more tomorrow and of.

Speaker 3 (17:49):
Course on Thursday as well.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
There was a second game that took place last night,
and it was a pretty darn good one as well.
The backs against the wall for the La Clippers, a
lot of expectations. I knew it was gonna be tough
going into Detroit. They were winning by a bunch, though
they should have won that game. I knew it was
gonna be tough to go into Denver and win that game.
But all in all, I do have the Clippers. I
still think the Clippers are going to win this series.

(18:11):
Great victory last night led by Kawhi, but with Kawhi's
thirty nine points, the question has to be asked right
now is if Kawhi doesn't produce that type of result,
are the Clippers in trouble? Do you see the Nuggets
advancing first of all your take on last night's.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
Game, Yeah, I think Kawhi Leonard has to be the
front and center. Take that beyond just the thirty nine points,
which speaks for itself, and the efficiency that he did
it with fifteen of nineteen from the field, four to
seven from three felt like he hardly hit the rim
last night.

Speaker 5 (18:40):
And his movement, man.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
Like, what he does this looks like the Kawhi Leonard,
the twenty eighteen nineteen Kawhi Leonard that we've seen carry
a franchise through the playoffs and winning the NBA Championship,
the two time finals MVP Kawhi Leonard.

Speaker 5 (18:52):
That is the way that he's moving out there.

Speaker 2 (18:54):
So it is always that hold your breath a little
bit when having these conversations. Is we know the injury tracker,
but this is the vision. This is why the Clippers
were so tactical and so strategic in building up his
minutes and preparing him to be ready for the playoffs
playing just third seven regular season games. For all the
slack that load management gets, and you know the injuries
that these guys battle, this is why you do it

(19:15):
so you can have one playoff run with a guy
of this caliber. I do think in the Kawhi Leonard conversation,
if you were to redo his career and turn injuries off,
we would probably be having some pretty scary conversations about
how this guy stacks up in the all time great conversation.
He is that caliber of talent. It has been robbed
due to injuries, but he looks like he is fully there,
and I think this type of performance is here to

(19:37):
stay as long as his body allows him.

Speaker 1 (19:40):
Yeah, and you know, I know a lot of people
are out there wondering if this is something that Juell
Andbie can go off and you never know anything that
helps you sleep at night whatever, But yeah, you're right,
Kawhi is. And the funny thing that you brought up
that he doesn't hit the rim, it's the truth.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
That's just Kawhi man. Just It's why we all.

Speaker 1 (19:59):
Were fearful of him getting that final shot up there
in Toronto in that game seventh spot, because if Kauai
is putting it up most of the time, it's going
to go into the rim. And last night he didn't
miss at all. Really, he was on fire and it's
what was needed.

Speaker 5 (20:13):
Again.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
One oh five to one oh two was your final
score was a point spread into the game. Denver was
favored in this one and Kawhi Leonard had twenty at
the Halffish with thirty nine, he was fifteen to nineteen.
Just an animal of the ballgame. But as we've been
discussing Harden, he plays well. He filled his role in
the first two games. Powell played well Zubaka on defense.

(20:35):
But I want to bring it back as far as
where should we be focused it because Denver's getting a
lot of production from.

Speaker 3 (20:41):
The players that they need it.

Speaker 1 (20:42):
But if the Clippers don't get thirty nine thirty five
points from Kawhi, I think he stayed under the twenty
five point mark.

Speaker 3 (20:49):
In game one, are they in trouble moving forward?

Speaker 5 (20:52):
I wouldn't go that far.

Speaker 2 (20:53):
I mean, I think James Harden has another level that
he can play too. He played well in the first game,
but he really kind of exploded early. Had fifteen points
in that first and sort of cruised a little bit
from there.

Speaker 5 (21:02):
Last night he was held the eighteen points.

Speaker 2 (21:03):
There will be at least one hard and like full
heater game that he can kind of carry you to.
From an offensive perspective, I think defensively is where the
Clippers are really kind of imposing themselves. I've said it
coming into the series, but I think a Vika Zubac
specifically is a guy that like is the most difficult
playoff matchup from an individual standpoint, that Jokic has ever
seen in a playoff setting. Here that he is real
deal seven foot with a seven foot four wingspan that

(21:26):
is capable of moving on to the perimeter a little bit.
I did like and wrote about this for a DraftKings
Network yesterday. The Nicola Jokic three point props is something
I would keep an eye on for this series moving forward.
Last night, he shot four of six from beyond Dog.
That's kind of the counter that I see him leaning
into with Jokic having a little bit of trouble with
Zubac on the interior. I don't get me wrong, He's
still Nicola Jokic. He's still going to impose himself, get

(21:47):
his numbers and make his impact. But that's an area
where I do think there's a little bit of value.
I still kind of like just the Clippers other guys
more than I like the Nuggets other guys that I'd like.
The response from Michael Porter g Jamal Murray played well,
But when looking outside of like their core stars, I
think the Clippers have more guys than they can tap into.
When you start getting into the Chris Dons, de Niko Batoombs,

(22:09):
the Derek Jones, Junior Bogdanovich I thought played really well
last night, even though we went scoreless. I thought his
impact was there. So I like this Clippers team, think
they needed to even at one to one. I saw
nicolea Jokic with the quote that if you like basketball,
this is the best series to watch. I do kind
of agree with them there that I think this is
gonna be an excellent series that does go seven.

Speaker 5 (22:27):
So I'm not worried about this Clippers team yet.

Speaker 3 (22:29):
Good Well, I'm all about that series.

Speaker 1 (22:32):
But I do believe that we have some really good
series across the board in the NBA playoffs, and like
that's where I'm focused at, Like we got some really
good series. Put the games to the side, Like you know,
the Clippers or the Lakers in Minnesota is going to
be a great series. Yea, the Knicks and Pistons great
series one to one, that Clippers in Denver get great series. Yeah,

(22:53):
we got some really good series to be paying attention
in the first round of the NBA playoffs. So I'm
with you on that one joker. All right, let's go
ahead and take a look at some of the numbers
that matter the most for us here. First of all,
that series right now that was minus won ten both ways,
wasn't it going in?

Speaker 5 (23:10):
That was? Yeah, it started.

Speaker 2 (23:11):
I believe it opened at minus one sixty in favor
of the Clippers and slid down to a pick gum
by the end of it.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
Well, Clippers are back up the minus one sixty five
now with the next two games at home. Of course,
series tied at one apiece Denver plus one of forty.
Going over the numbers here as far as the games
are concerned, back at it Thursday night, Clippers at home
five point favorites two fifteen. So any one of those
games on Thursday night you have your.

Speaker 3 (23:36):
Eye on from the Nickson Pistons, Nuggets and Clippers.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
I mean both to be honest, I think they're both
gonna be excellent games there. I do like Detroit getting
the victory in front of the home crowd. As I mentioned, like,
I think people we're gonna have some like takeaways. The
fact of like that fan base was starved for this.
They brought it. The energy in that building was unbelievable.
I think that's gonna be kind of a wake up
call and these guys do get fired up for it.
And also well know, I forgot to mention with the

(24:00):
Pistons no Isaiah Stewart last night, which is sort of
a big deal from a guy that is a tone setter.
They got the victory without him, and I'm pretty optimistic
that he does return for Game three. It is the playoffs,
and he's the type of guy that's gonna play through
whatever he can. It is kind of concerning. We don't
have an injury label just right the inflammation, and I
know he went through cat scans, MRIs all that, so
it seems like there could be something serious there. But

(24:21):
at least that's worth noting a little bit more split
on how the Clippers and Nuggets go. I probably lean
towards the home team in both games there, but feel
more passionate about Detroit getting the win. All right, to
talk about tonight's games. First, one up, we got the
Bucks and Pacers. That game goes off at seven to ten.
Of course, Pacers routed in Milwaukee, but a little bit
of a difference. Hopefully we can expect in game two
for tonight we'll see Grizzly is an okay, see.

Speaker 3 (24:44):
That was a demolishing as well. Yeah, okay, see just
wiped the floor with Memphis. I'm not so sure we're
gonna see something different in game two tonight. We'll talk
about that. One and at ten o'clock, Lakers looked.

Speaker 1 (24:57):
A little tired, weren't ready for for the physicality of Minnesota.
Minnesota playing up the fact that nobody has in them has.

Speaker 3 (25:06):
Been winning this series, had been winning.

Speaker 1 (25:07):
In that first game, all of that and that amounted
to an ugly game as well, one that Lebron was
held at nineteen points.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
If I'm not mistaken, just look lethargic.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
Out there, I would imagine that we're gonna see a
little bit more from Lebron and the Lakers tonight. But
they're six point favorites. So do with that, which you will.
We'll talk about that one last year. Let's open up
with the Bucks and Pistons or Bucks and Pacers. Excuse me,
Sean DraftKings right now showing Pacers four point favorites two
twenty nine from the game one flow, what do you

(25:39):
expect we'll see a difference in Game two tonight if anything.

Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yeah, biggest story is certainly Damian Lillard and whether or
not he will be available. He has been upgraded to questionable,
but it does feel like a pretty like legitimate questionable,
not just kind of one of these he's in.

Speaker 5 (25:54):
We're just kind of keeping a label there. So that's
something to watch leading up to this.

Speaker 2 (25:57):
Listen to Doc Rivers quotes about it, and didn't like
love his outlook on Dame. He just kind of didn't
feel as like this dude's definitely playing as I would
like to hear. That's definitely a difference maker for this
Bucks team whether or not you have Damian Lillard on
the floor, and their entire offense changes when you have
a player of his caliber, a guy that can space
the floor that he can't play off giannest So that's
certainly the biggest storyline if Damian, if Lillard is able

(26:18):
to return the floor. I do think that this Bucks team,
like probably I'm not gonna go as far as it
comes back and wins the series, but certainly makes it
like I don't think they have a chance if Dame
does not return to the series or if the blood
clot issues continue. He's been cleared, he's doing basketball activities,
but it's so hard to gauge on something like that.
Like I never said this before, but this isn't a
sprained ankle, this isn't a sore nee. This is something

(26:39):
that you have to fully adhere to what the doctors
are saying. So that's probably the biggest storyline here. But
I think the Bucks are gonna play better in general.
I think they probably win tonight regardless.

Speaker 3 (26:49):
Yeah, I don't know. You got the Bucks winning tonight.

Speaker 5 (26:53):
I do. I think they even it up.

Speaker 2 (26:56):
Giannis is still I don't think he played it overly
impressed Game one. The numbers don't look bad, but like
I thought, his impact wasn't quite there defensively. I didn't
think he imposed himself in the way that we typically
see the case there, and Tyres Albert is feeling himself. Man,
it's a scary thought when he is feeling himself. Pascal
Siakam I thought did his thing as well. I think
this is going to be a series that when we
fast forward a week or two, that we kind of

(27:18):
have up there in one of the more fun series
across the NBA. So I think that Milwaukee has it
in them to make this competitive.

Speaker 3 (27:24):
Who else is going to produce besides Giannis for that team?

Speaker 1 (27:28):
That's where it starts and ends without Dame in there, right, Like,
if Dane doesn't go tonight, because it was originally put
out there before game one that he is, and even
in following game one, because when he picked up the technical,
the big thought process is like, oh, he's going to
be back for game two. I think he was saying
that he'll be back up there for game two, but
then immediately following that game is he was expected to

(27:48):
miss more than one game. So if that's the case,
he's not going to go tonight. Who else is producing
for Milwaukee? If it's not Yannis and they don't have Dangle.

Speaker 5 (27:56):
Up to to start with.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
You cannot get a Tony Snell stat from Kyle Kuzma again,
that just cannot happen, who not only put up zero points,
zero assists, and zero rebounds across his twenty two minutes
of action, but also got to the free throw line
and missed both those to make sure he kept that
stat line intact. So mass twenty four, yeah, minus twenty
four in that game.

Speaker 5 (28:16):
That cannot happen.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
That's an initiate A Kuzma has been a brutal watch
pretty much since he got to Milwaukee. There's a brief
stretch where he got there where I saw the vision
and saw it working well. But that is certainly something
that I think needs to change. Tarreen Prince also had
zero points in the starting lineup from Milwaukee. There Brook Lopez,
the age is showing on him, so there are concerns
about the other guys.

Speaker 5 (28:35):
I think you got to lean into the youth, go
off the bench a little bit. Aj Green.

Speaker 2 (28:38):
I do think he is a guy who can get
red hot. He shot five to eleven from three in
Game one. Gary Trent Junior can bring it. Pat Countington,
Kevin Porter Junior I don't love, but I think that's
at least there's something there in a way that I
don't fully see with Kyle Kuzma. So it's sort of
gonna be able Doctor Rivers to mix things up a
little bit. I didn't like what he did with the
starting lineup, having guys like Ryan Rolins. Tarreen Prince, I

(28:58):
would like to see a statement from Doc Rivers tonight
of I'm knocking the boat. I'm changing things up and
I'm giving the young guys a chance. That hasn't been
the biggest track record of Doc Rivers doing that, but
that would be if I was in his shoes the
move tonight.

Speaker 3 (29:11):
All right, Yeah, I'm gonna go with the home team
in this one.

Speaker 1 (29:15):
I think there's a little bit too much fight with
the Indiana Pacers here. It's a good team, they're still
at home. They believe they were able to turn it
around after a sluggers start to the season, plus off
of what they did last year.

Speaker 3 (29:25):
I'm gonna ride with the Pacers here to make this
a two to oh series lead.

Speaker 1 (29:29):
We'll see what happens there, though four point spread, Dame,
if you had the guests, does he play?

Speaker 5 (29:34):
I think so?

Speaker 2 (29:35):
But again, I have such a hard time with like
the blood clock issues specifically, it's like whatever you read,
like you can read some stuff that it's like like
his life is on the line, he may never play
basketball again, and like his life may be shortened, and
then there's other stuff that it's like he's on meds,
he's good to continue life as usual. So whatever the
doctor said say is certainly what they should adhere to.
But my gut says he is probably out there based

(29:57):
on the way that he talked with Haliburn in games.

Speaker 1 (30:00):
Aked into the line because there's six point spread in
game one, Indiana never trailed. They were up by thirty
at half, I think, and now they're only four point favorites.
So are the odds makers expecting Dame to play tonight.

Speaker 5 (30:13):
I would have to imagine.

Speaker 2 (30:14):
So, I mean he is upgrade to questionable, and the
track record is questionable. Guys do tend to play more
often than not there and like he was obviously ruled
out for Game one pretty well in advance. So the
fact that that door is open, I think is a
little bit telling there.

Speaker 5 (30:27):
But I need I need to.

Speaker 2 (30:28):
Directly hear that before I'm fully buying in that. Yes,
he will be on the floornite.

Speaker 3 (30:32):
Minus one ninety two in the money line.

Speaker 1 (30:33):
So that kind of comes back on the other side
that I'm looking at Indiana.

Speaker 3 (30:37):
Yeah, that's that's a tough play. Yeah, it's a tough one.
Good luck, I think. Yeah, you should hold out until
till we find out what's the latest with Dame.

Speaker 1 (30:45):
All right, let's keep it moving. Seven thirty pm. We
got the Grizzlies. Ok see fourteen and a half point spread.
I think that's where we need to focus here, because
I don't believe either one of us are going to
sit here and say that Memphis has a chance of
winning this game. No, No, fourteen and a half point spread. No,
it wasn't too many last time. Of course, they did
play the play in they did play both games. Uh,

(31:08):
they had a game what the two nights before, like,
it's just okay see And my favorite, my favorite thing
was to fire up the timeline the next morning and
go and you saw somebody from ESPN say, well, if
they play like this, they're not gonna lose again.

Speaker 3 (31:25):
Oklahoma City's been playing like that's all yeir. They're that good.
They are that good.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
It should have surprised that they absolutely wipe the floor
with the Grizzlies. Can the Grizzlies do anything different though
in game two to.

Speaker 3 (31:37):
Keep this close?

Speaker 2 (31:38):
I mean they It was a bad game by the Grizzlies,
no doubt about it. But I think like the score
is a little bit more indicative of the gap in
talent than anything that they specifically did. I like the
minus fourteen and a half tonight. Again, I do think
Oklahoma City blows this game out pretty early. The fact
of the matter is, we can talk all we want
about coaching, the coaching change, John Moran, the antics. The
root of the issue here. The Grizzlies big three is

(32:00):
not good enough. They don't have a top fifteen NBA player.
John Rant has not been that for a couple of
years now, Desmond being not quite good enough as like
a co star there, and Jared Jackson Junior is a
pretty flawed basketball player as well.

Speaker 5 (32:11):
Those are your three best players.

Speaker 2 (32:13):
Jackson Junior is like, failure to rebound is really frustrating
to me, and that's on full display when you're going
up against chet Holmgun and Isaiah Hartenstein as in the
case in this series. So the Thunder just straight up
better by just about every single metric you want to
look at on both sides of the floor, the three
point line, the mid range, around the rim. Defensively, you
go down the list and the Thunder check every single box.
The Grids are gonna have to have some uncomfortable conversations

(32:35):
this offseason, but before they get there, I do think
it is a couple more spankings from this Thunder team
to close down the air.

Speaker 1 (32:41):
Yeah. On Sunday had three huge spreads all double digits
and all favorites covered, and of course, okay, see led
the charge winning one thirty one to eighty and if
you were trying to do to math on that one,
as thirteen point favorites, they covered by thirty eight points.
I don't expect to see anything different tonight. I think
I think this is just a tough spot for the

(33:01):
Grizzlies and exactly what you said, we won't waste too
much time on it.

Speaker 5 (33:06):
And you played bad in Game one, by the way,
just like yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
Again, I think the Grizzlies were very content and happy
making where they did.

Speaker 3 (33:16):
And then oh, by the way, now, welcome to the
NBA playoffs. And you're not the only one.

Speaker 1 (33:20):
You know, you're you're seeing it with the Orlando Magic
in the Boston Celtics, right even with the heat and calves,
like it's just good luck. These teams have been that
good all season long. And I think that when we
see those big numbers, we know this that a lot
of people that are going to be wagering on the
NBA Playoffs for the first time, like.

Speaker 3 (33:40):
Oh man, it's the NBA Playoffs. Every game is gonna
be tight.

Speaker 1 (33:43):
Every team has a run in the second half thirteen
points too much to tou lay. No, don't don't think
like that, especially in this round, especially in this round.

Speaker 3 (33:51):
All right, let's go third and final game.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
Really interested to hear your thoughts on this one, of course,
Lakers and Tea Wolves. I asked the question yesterday for
the first game ones when everybody played, like who is
the superstar that shined the most?

Speaker 3 (34:07):
My answer was Tobias Harrison campaign.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
And then who is the superstar that wasn't ready wasn't
you know, ready to go?

Speaker 3 (34:17):
In game one?

Speaker 1 (34:19):
And for me, it was Lebron And it just felt
like that that was the whole Laker team vibe as
a whole. Now, I do want to give Minnesota a
ton of credit. They have some really good players and
it's awesome, and he's got that motivational factor behind him
where it's like, oh, you ain't gonna believe in me
watch this, and I think they all bought in.

Speaker 3 (34:37):
But you know you're gonna get a.

Speaker 1 (34:38):
Much different game from the Lakers, specifically Lebron. Is that
going to be enough in your mind? They're six point
favorites where you got this one?

Speaker 2 (34:46):
Yeah, it's interesting that, like I think I kind of
went into the series with the mindset that because of
we know sort of the outlook for Lakers, they are
as battle tests that they have all these that there
would be sort of this like pressing feeling of we
need to live it as many games as possible, every
single game we can keep the shortest path possible because
of the injuries of this team's battling, the age that
they have. I kind of think I overlooked like the

(35:08):
toll that it took just to get to this point
that the entire second half of the season since Luka
Doncic came to Los Angeles, it has been I'm not
gonna say, must win basketball every single night, but there's
been some important games that they've had to get up
for in battle, earn their way out of the playing tournament,
and make sure that they kind of set themselves up
for this type of matchup. And obviously the Timberwolves felt
the disrespect not seemingly given a chance here. It felt

(35:31):
like way too much Lukable to me, to be honest
with you, in Game one that I think that was
sort of the issue I had with this Lakers teams.
A lot of guys staying around watching and if you
want to be an anti Luka Doncic guy, which there's
not a lot of them running around this year to
only one of them.

Speaker 5 (35:42):
Tends to be running the Dallas Mavericks organization.

Speaker 2 (35:45):
But if you are an anti Luca guy, that is
the complaint there that there is not as much involvement
with teammates. Same conversation back to the prime James hard
that you have to have a very special group of
guys around him for things to operate correctly. I don't
think the Lakers are fully there yet from a standpoint,
but it's still Luka Doncic and Lebron James, so I'm
not panicking. After Game one, I do think the Timberwolves

(36:06):
played well and deserve credit for that well. Anthony Edwards
was fine. I'll give a little bit of love the
Rudy Gobert, who I do think is a punching bag
whenever things are going bad. It never really gets the
praise when he does play well. I thought he played
well in Game one and held his own really limited.
I mean sent Jackson Hayes out of that game in
eight minutes there so, and by the way, the number
is not there for Gobert whatsoever. But defensively that I
thought he was pretty impressive in that game.

Speaker 5 (36:27):
So I still like the Lakers win the series.

Speaker 2 (36:29):
I think they come back and win tonight, But it
certainly was a performance that has a bit more of
a concern, like a takeaway that is concerning to me
than just something on brushing away.

Speaker 3 (36:38):
Is this the series tonight?

Speaker 1 (36:41):
Is this?

Speaker 5 (36:41):
What?

Speaker 1 (36:41):
Is this the series? Can they go down oh two
and win this series?

Speaker 2 (36:45):
Ah?

Speaker 5 (36:45):
Yeah, I still think they can.

Speaker 2 (36:47):
I'm not ruling it out after what happens tonight, certainly
not how you want to start here, and particularly when
you already have the home crowd or had home crowd advantage,
now that you did drop one game one there.

Speaker 5 (36:57):
But I don't think it is over if the Lakers
do lose. Man, this is.

Speaker 3 (37:02):
Really a good number. I would be like if you
made me put my.

Speaker 1 (37:08):
House on the line. I don't know if I'm giving six.
But then you gotta fall back into your your your
your vision when it comes to wagering on these games.
And it's like, Ken Minnesota win this game. They just
won game one. I just don't know if Lakers are
going to let game two slide. Like Luca Lebron, this
is this is all hell right now. But Minnesota's got

(37:30):
a better roster to a point. Nah, it's still Lebron
and Luca. So it's hard to sit there and say,
but top to bottom they have a better roster right.

Speaker 5 (37:40):
Bench, Yeah, I think that's fair.

Speaker 1 (37:42):
Like positions, humble, positions, height, you know, you got you
got Randall down there.

Speaker 3 (37:47):
He's playing. He played, you know, twenty minutes in that game.

Speaker 2 (37:51):
Yeah, and now as read by the way, popping off
for twenty three points off the bench like that is
a guy I thought. Defensively, like the the Lakers were
pretty all over the from start to finish, and it's
we're through the honeymoon period where briefly after the trade
they were putting out these ridiculous defensive metrics. They're not
a good defensive team. They're going to have to kind
of outscore teams and lead the charge with their offense.
We know that to be the case when it is

(38:12):
a Luka Doncis led team. Like for all the noise
that has surrounded this, like Dallas Mavericks, Staga and Nico,
Harrison continues to make things worse every time he opens
his mouth.

Speaker 5 (38:22):
I'm not defending this decision. It's still was incredibly stupid.

Speaker 2 (38:25):
But I do like if that is the theory he
subscribes to, I can get where you got there with
the defense is not good enough. Now again, I think
it's incredibly dumb decision.

Speaker 5 (38:35):
To have traded them.

Speaker 2 (38:36):
But with that all said that, Dallas did an excellent
job putting the guys around Luca to make sure that
you could kind of build that the Daniel Gafferts, the PJ.

Speaker 5 (38:43):
Washington, Derek Lively's.

Speaker 2 (38:45):
The Lakers haven't really had a chance to do that
yet they try to trade for Mark Williams the trade deadline.
Medical issues popped up there that a guy like Jackson
Hayes is not quite good enough as what you need
is a big man. Played just eight minutes in this game,
so there's issues with his Lakers roster.

Speaker 5 (38:57):
There's no doubt about it here.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
I do think if you want to go top the autumn,
you can make the case that Minnesota has the better
overall roster. But it's still Lebron James and Luca Donji.
So I'm not gonna get too ahead of myself before
I'm counting them out yet.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
Yeah, and then it just flips right with Minnesota because
I wanted to give them all the credit in the world.
No one picked them, no one backed them, so on
and so forth. But Minnesota has that vibe where it's
like they got game one. I hate to say it
like this, but it's almost like Mischion accomplished. I could
see them thinking like that, like, hey, we came in,
we took one of two, we did what needed to do,

(39:29):
we stole home home court.

Speaker 3 (39:31):
We'll go back to Minnesota.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
I just don't know if they have that necessary grit
in that determination that, yo, we ain't losing tonight, like
no way. So I probably would give the six with
the Lakers, even though that's just one too many for
my liking.

Speaker 3 (39:48):
But I think I'm back in the Lake Show here.
Where are you at in this one? Lakers?

Speaker 2 (39:51):
Yeah, And for what it's worth, this is still a
Timberwolves team that went to the conference finals last year.

Speaker 5 (39:55):
Yeah, like they have some playoff pedigree.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
But guy like Anthony Edwards, I don't think is going
to back down or roll over like that. So I
still lean towards the minus six in favor of the Lakers.
I do think they even things up tonight, But this
Teverwolves team certainly like is a team that fits the
criteria of like should have the chip on their shoulder,
should be hearing the noise of the lack of belief
in them, because they've been pretty good all season.

Speaker 5 (40:17):
They really have.

Speaker 3 (40:18):
All right, quickly on this one your favorite play tonight?

Speaker 2 (40:22):
Favorite play tonight it would be the Thunder minus fourteen
and a half.

Speaker 1 (40:26):
Is there a player that you know that you're certain
is going to go off? And therefore Cash and his
player prop.

Speaker 5 (40:32):
Let me see scroll through the list right now.

Speaker 2 (40:35):
The Thunder is hard because of the minutes, is always
a possible.

Speaker 5 (40:38):
To get out of control.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
Now, I do kind of like Pascal Siakam over twenty
and a half. I think he's been very good for
this Pacers team. Sam Oshi will point out how he's
been their best player on the larger bulk of the season,
which I think is a fair take to have. And
I do think like the Milwaukee has some issues defensively
that's gonna be a problem with them, So that would
probably be my favorite bet from player prop perspective, Pascal
Siakam over twenty and a half points.

Speaker 1 (40:59):
All Right, One quick thought in the Warriors and Rockets,
the Warriors held it down in Game one.

Speaker 3 (41:04):
That game too is tomorrow night.

Speaker 1 (41:05):
Warriors are two and a half point Dogs two a
four and a half as your total in that one.
Your takeaway from game one in that game.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
I think if you're Houston, like you have to be
worried after Game one, that was a game script that
went according to their game plan. That they were able
to impose them self defensively, keep it a low scoring battle,
and Golden State still found a way to win it.
That the Warriors are far more equipped to win games
and defensive minded approach than the Rockets are to win
in a shootout. Here, Jalen Green wasn't good enough. We

(41:32):
know sort of the same issues. I think this is
a huge night for Jalen Green. I think if he
does not improve how he started the series, he's probably
not in the Houston Rockets uniform next year. And like
they're gonna have to make some pretty tough decisions about
that core moving forward. But I entered this series thinking
this is gonna be a battle back and forth. I
kind of think the Warriors could escape pretty clean through

(41:52):
this series.

Speaker 1 (41:53):
Yeah, Warriors held it down in that second quarter and
that was where it all turned in that game, and
then Houston held the eighty five points, see like, I
just you know, good luck holding the Golden State Warriors
to a rock fight, right like, you know, I know
it's happened before, understood, but in a playoff matchup Steve
Kerr of course, Steph and we know who else is

(42:15):
there right now?

Speaker 3 (42:16):
Good luck with that mentality, all.

Speaker 1 (42:18):
Right, and then finally we get you out of here
on this one, Nico Harrison, You know, I got to
take some advice every once in a while from Shaq
and Charles Barkley.

Speaker 3 (42:25):
First of all, be careful what she'd after your turn forty.

Speaker 1 (42:27):
Second of all, Nico, not every microphone is a good microphone.
Enough is enough, Like, no one wants to hear from you.

Speaker 3 (42:35):
You lost.

Speaker 1 (42:36):
There's nothing you can do, nothing you could say. And
then he gets out there and says, like I knew
how important Luca was to this franchise. I didn't know
how important. I just I really didn't know how important
he was. And it's like I'm paraphrasing here.

Speaker 3 (42:49):
It's dude, what what?

Speaker 5 (42:52):
Like? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (42:52):
I mean more, it just makes you wonder, like what
exactly is going on in this dude's head?

Speaker 5 (42:57):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (42:57):
No, you're right, like it's it's gotten work and worse,
which is the starting place is already brutal when you're
talking about trading Luka Doncic like a twenty five year
old five time All NBA, a guy who's on the
pathway to having one more accomplished NBA careers of any
player in history, and you said, yeah, I don't want
to be a part of that. Now, like we're starting
to see more and more leak out where I think
like the biggest root of all this went wrong is

(43:19):
for starters, he didn't handle himself well after the trade deadline,
that he did not do the business standard of how
a general manager handles himself. And the defense that he'll
put out there is that he did have a press
conference immediately after, but it was on the road because
the team was in Cleveland, so it's not like the
local media had access to him to ask these questions.

Speaker 5 (43:35):
So not what I would consider quite fair game there.

Speaker 2 (43:38):
And then he didn't have a press conference after he
made the Quentin Grimes trade for Caleb Martin. There, which
is one that you know, just business standard is when
a general manager makes that caliber of a decision after
the trade deadline, there is media availability, so there was
not then, and then there's been sort of this lingering
unhappiness about this from just about all the Dallas Mavericks
and obviously so because Luka Danci has been trade and

(44:00):
we were seeing the reaction there. So then he holds
this like closed doors meeting last week where there's no
cameras will allowed, no recording devices allowed, which is another
thing that I've just never even heard of in like
a sports media since I don't think that's ever even
be done before.

Speaker 5 (44:14):
And it was very strategically like avoiding some media.

Speaker 2 (44:17):
Faces here that it was handpicked who was invited, It
was not held at the Mavericks facility, it was at
a conference center like down the street there. Again intentional
happening during Mavericks practice, so like being trying to control
the narrative as much as he can. And then it
was his normal press conference the end of season one yesterday.
Pretty much everything he said has made me feel worse.

(44:38):
Everything that I'm reading, and there's an awesome Tim McMann
article that came out last night sort of how this
really dates back to eighteen months ago where this started deteriorating,
where they sort of rid Luca's guys from the franchise
and a lot going from behind the scenes. And Luca
himself had said that, like he jokingly said her a
press conference last year, everyone that I liked they end
up getting rid of, and like that says a lot.

(44:59):
So I think the pieces are starting to fully put
together from the puzzle. But it all comes back to
Nico Harrison really trying to directly take control of this
Mavericks organization in a way that I think all fans
should be frustrated with, not just Dallas in particular. So
he's got to stop talking. I hope we don't hear
fro him from several months for his own good at
this point. But nothing he can say it can make
it seem better or change the decision you just traded

(45:21):
Luka doncis to get an older, aging star with more
availability concerns, shorten your window and turn over some draft
picks in the process.

Speaker 5 (45:28):
So I just don't think it's ever gonna be defensible.

Speaker 1 (45:31):
Not much I can add on that one. Totally agree
across the board. Nico. You know, I get it. If
you don't win an NBA Championship, you don't get back
to an NBA Finals, You don't move into playoffs your
seacts hot and maybe he would have been fired next year.
We know how this business is, but to do what
he did and dismantle that franchise, and to the point

(45:52):
that what Dirk is saying, Derk's distance himself from it,
Like you got Dallas Mavericks fans that were pretty much
die hards for your friend. So it's just embarrassed to
even wear your logo right now.

Speaker 3 (46:03):
It's bad. It's bad. So it's sad to me to
not see down the road on this one, clearly.

Speaker 2 (46:09):
Yeah, And it's sad to me too because the Mavericks
an organization that, like I personally have always viewed my
entire life as like an organization that does things right,
Like they stand by their guys. They Mark Cuban has
run it like a fan perspective, which I give him
a ton of credit for. And obviously he's not there anymore,
and that's certainly correlated to a lot of these conversations,
but like they had this decade long track record of

(46:29):
really going about their business the right way, and it's
all off probably forever at this point from one specific
guy and fort Nico Harrison specifically here, like He's very
clearly viewing this is like I'm only here for three
or four more years, and i want to win in
that I'm gonna do whatever possible.

Speaker 5 (46:45):
Like that's not the healthiest outlook.

Speaker 2 (46:47):
Like he was even directly asked in this press conference
like do you think you'll be here after or do
you I think the question was phrased, do you expect
to see the end of Anthony Davis's tenure in in Dallas?
And his reply was, I'm under contract until twenty twenty.
Like that's not great right there. And the thing that like,
regardless of how distance we get from this, it will

(47:08):
always be indefensible to me that if you'd come to
the conclusion we're out on the Luca Dontrich business, we
don't want to hitch our wagon to this guy for
the remainder of his career.

Speaker 5 (47:17):
You gotta get open bidding here.

Speaker 2 (47:19):
You could have gotten the largest trade return in legitimate
NBA history when we're talking about five first round picks
being trade for Michale Bridges and what Rudy Gobert got
on the open market. The fact that you handpicked I
just want Anthony Davis and I'm trading Luca Dontrich to
get him. That's just bad practice no matter how you
cut it. So you did not maximize value. You put
your organizational worse spot, and now they got to live

(47:40):
with the repercussions of that.

Speaker 3 (47:42):
All right, great job across the board.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
And oh, by the way, for those that weren't keeping
track at home, Cooper flag he is going to the
NBA draft.

Speaker 5 (47:50):
I had a full.

Speaker 2 (47:51):
Argument with a duke friend of mine that was certain
he was coming back next year. I can't believe there
were people that actually believed that there was a chance
that he would care for a second season.

Speaker 3 (48:00):
I don't think there was. There wasn't anybody out there.
I believe it. There was one guy. You found, the
one guy. You found, the one guy.

Speaker 2 (48:07):
There shouldn't have been like I and I feel like
this happens every year. By the way, when there's like
a Zion or something like that, it's like, oh, what
if they come back and do that. It's like, the
goal is to get to the NBA and be the
number one overall pick. You accomplished it, like, go, go
reap the benefits.

Speaker 1 (48:20):
Now the nil is different, Like I don't know, Like
if you're telling me he can get twenty five million
and be back at Duke and not have to go
to classes. I don't know, maybe because it's a different
day with that, but like it's it's overall number one pick,
your your legacy, everything you've worked to get to that point.

(48:40):
Like he's so young, Like, yeah, if he was making
more money at Duke and it was handle, it was
you know, a decent sum which were not there, then
maybe maybe that's a conversation ten years down the road.
But if we have college kids making fifty million dollars,
we got issues.

Speaker 3 (48:58):
I think I think we got bigger problems there.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
Yeah, and you also kind of want to start that
timeline where you can start being a fifty million per year.

Speaker 5 (49:05):
Guy, which he will be.

Speaker 2 (49:06):
He will be in kay, So like you got to
get through your rookie contract before you're cashing into that one.
He's gonna get there. So I Cooper flagged right, call,
don't overthink it. You accomplished a goal, very successful freshman season,
that Duke are the certified number one pick.

Speaker 5 (49:20):
And I hope he's coming to Philadelphia.

Speaker 3 (49:22):
Yes, we'll see what happens. T Yeah, May twelfth.

Speaker 1 (49:26):
Yeah, I hear there's a party going on we're back
to those parties. Awesome right, all right, Shaman, Our great
job as always, continue to follow you on all things
socials and uh, nobody does a better job covering the NBA.
Be sure to get all of his content over at
DraftKings Network. That's dknetwork dot com. Fantastic stuff. Keep it

(49:47):
locked right here to the Gambler and once the game
will be live throughout the course of the week, talking
to all things NBA Playoffs to crowd Champion in June.

Speaker 3 (49:54):
Good luck on those players.