Ep. 81: Thank You, Adam Silver - 05/07/25

Sam Oshtry is flying solo on this edition of Picks & Roll, and he wants to thank Adam Silver for the parity of the #NBA that's showing off in this edition of the #NBAPlayoffs. TYRESE. HALIBURTON!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Number one on your car radio preset hand, the new
and improved Diehard Radio Way and w D two seven
three D Philadelphia is Fox Sports Radio The Gambler.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
What's Happened Everybody? It is Sam Ostrich.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
Solo hosting, solo hosting in the Seat by myself today
picks and Roll on Fox Sports The Gambler and iHeartRadio.
Brace is at the Greater Classic Down by Truest, the
Truest Championship taking place this weekend over at the Cricket
Club in Philadelphia.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Amazing Tournament's gonna go on Sean Brace.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
You're gonna hear all content from him today live show
there on Friday. Throughout the weekend, Fox Sports The Gambler
has you covered with the Truest Championship. But today I'm
solo hosting Picks and Roll and we have a lot
to get to with a wild another night of NBA
action and previewing tonight's games. These playoffs have been bananas bananas.

(01:07):
Some of the best playoff action from the first rounds
now early on in the second round that I can
remember in years and firs from the Aaron Gordon Buzzerb
game winners to Tyrese Halburn last night, to the brunts
and butters, buzzers, to competitive games all around where you
didn't used to see this type of competitive atmosphere in every.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Single night in the NBA.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
But now every single NBA matchup is must watch and
you didn't have that for years.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
And there's one guy who deserves more.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
Credit than anybody else for the competitive balance and the
parody that finally exists in the in the NBA, which
is producing these awesome playoff atmospheres and playoff games, and
that's Adam Silver. Adam Silver is the guy who deserves credit.
This was his goal with the Collective Bargaining Agreement with
the Second Apron, where he made it so.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
That teams super teams became extinct.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
There was no way you could acquire guy like Kevin
Durant and it would make sense or work financially. Now
with the Second Apron, you're seeing a team like the Celtics,
who I don't even think the Celtics are necessarily a
super team. I think they're beatable, certainly saw how they're
beatable in Game one. But a team like the Celtics,
even who has a loaded roster, definitely the best roster
in the NBA in the top five or six in

(02:20):
the NBA, no doubt, which is why the favorites come
out of the East and the defending champs. But even
a team like that, a team like the Celtics, can't
sustain that roster moving forward. Like there's already been reports
that guys like Drew Holliday or Chris Steps are going
to be traded because it's just not viable. With the
money those guys are making, they're going to exceed the
second Apron, and there's consequences for paying guys that much

(02:42):
that are going to mess up your long term future.
So this the new collective bargain agreement, the second Apron. Yeah,
it's complicated to make trades. It's difficult to understand when
you really look into the gritty details of it. But
it's also created this new version of parody in the NBA.
And I never really was buying the ratings were declining,

(03:04):
the NBA was dying, all that stuff. But it's interesting
for me because I was always over the mindset that
dynasties create higher ratings. I when you look at the
top ten or the top NBA finals over the last
couple of decades, it was calvs. And it was Warriors.
It was the Warriors dynasty. Drew eyeballs, but it did.
What it took away from was great first round matchup
in second round matchups when the championship and who were

(03:26):
going to be in the finals was already a foregone conclusion.
So now you finally the talent level is so high
in the NBA. It's higher than it's ever been, but
it's more dispersed than it's ever been too, So you
finally have this parody, this parody that exists in the NBA,
which you haven't had in a while. So that's why
these playoffs have been so awesome. And again, Adam Silver
is the guy that made this happen. He wanted parody,

(03:47):
he got parody. And that we just saw the highest
rated first round in twenty years, I believe it was.
So so far, these playoffs have been awesome. So let's
dive into it. We're starting with last night's action. Pacer
Calves another wild, wild game. So Pacers win one twenty
one to nineteen, a game that the Calves really controlled

(04:07):
most of the way. Calves are down three starters, no
Darius Garland, who missed Game one, No DeAndre Hunter and
no Evan Mopley.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
There was concerns that those guys were gonna miss Game two.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
They didn't show up the shoot around, and then a
few minutes before tip it was announced that those guys
are out. So Calves are down three starters. But they
honestly controlled most of the game. Were up for pretty
much wire to wire, you could say, for that game
until the final stretch. First things first, I haven't always
been the biggest Tyre's Haliburton fan. He has been incredible

(04:36):
this postseason. Like, forget what he's done in the clutch,
which we've seen time and time again, how awesome he's
been the clutch, including hitting a game winner last night.
What he's done as a passer in his re defenses,
it's every single year it's gotten better, at better to
get two feet in the lane, have the defense kick
and constant, have the defense crash and constantly make the
right play time and time again.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
He's shooting the ball well. He is.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
The Pacers play with a ton of pace. He is
the creator of that, like he is the reason they
played with a ton of pace. He deserves all the
credit for just his clutch player. I have nothing bad
to say about Tyres Aliburn in this moment because when
that and it really does feel like that survey that
came out that said that Tyres Haliburn, this was a
survey one third of NBA players were pulled, and the

(05:22):
players themselves said Tyris Aliburn was the overrated player.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
And I was going, thank you.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
Finally, finally we're seeing the other people say that and
admit that Tyres Alburn is an overrated players.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
I've been saying it forever.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
And what really pissed me off was the USA snub
with Jalen Brunson, where there's no way you could justify
giving Tyre's Haliburn a spot over Jalen Brunston, who had
been on Team usas before so did Tyres Haliburn. But
Jalen Brunst is the better player still is, but especially
after last season, I didn't understand if Tyre's Aliburn got
that final Team USA spot. That was what really kind
of drove for me. I know, it's politics when it

(05:54):
comes to Team USA. It's it's more politics than really
who's the best twelve best player or who's the twelve
best team guys on a team. But that's what drove
me to be like Tyris Alburn has become incredibly overrated. Yes,
he had his first All Star game All Star appears
last season. He's become incredibly overrated. But what he's done
this postseason has been and really the last four months

(06:16):
of the season where the Pacers been awesome after struggling
for the first two months where Tyris Aliburn didn't look good,
he didn't look healthy. He deserves all the credit in
the world. He's been awesome. But here's what I have
to say about the Pacers. Two things can be true.
The Pacers are really good. They're a really good basketball team.
They play unselfish, fast paced brand of basketball. They share

(06:38):
the ball. They leave the league in passing both in
the regular season and playoffs just in terms of passes
per game.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
They've also so that's true. Pacer are a really good team.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
They've also benefited from absurd luck over the last two
playoff runs.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
And they aren't an elite team.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
What I mean by an elite team is a top
like six to seven eight team in the league.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
And when you go through.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
It, Celtics, Cavs, Healthy Knicks, the four or five top
teams in the West, Pacers aren't an elite elite team.
So this is now consecutive assuming this series is over,
which we'll get into last night's game. But the injuries
do not look good and they're already down to two.
The Calves are already down two going on the road.

(07:20):
It's just it would be have to be an all
time collapsem Pacers for them to lose this.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
So assuming we're gonna talk.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
Now, like the Pacers have advanced to the conference to
the conference finals, So assuming they've advanced to the conference finals,
at this point, up to zero in the Calves, they're
in rarefied air to make consecutive conference finals appearance. And
I don't think they're gonna make the NBA finals, whether
it's Nick Celtics, probably Celtics, I don't think that the
Pacers are gonna make the conference finals or excuse me,

(07:45):
the NBA Finals. But it's rare to make back to
back conference finals appearances. Like when you look at those
streaks that happened, it was those Heat team over the
last couple of decades, those Heat teams with Lebron, those
Calves teams with Lebron, those Warriors teams.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
Other than that, those dynasties that we really had.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
Lebron in of himself was a dynasty, and of course
the Warriors dynasty pre.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
KD and then and then with KD.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
Those teams are really the only groups over the last
two decades that have made consecutive conference finals appearances, and
of course they went on to make consecutive finals appearances
and consecutive titles.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
Some of those teams won, but it's rarefied air.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
So you when you look at these teams that have
made consecutive conference finals appearance usually are an elite team.
The Pacers are by no means an elite basketball team.
Very good basketball team, really good. They've benefited from absurd,
absurd luck over the last two seasons. And let's last
two playoff runs and let's go through it started last

(08:43):
year against the Bucks. Giannis doesn't play the entire series.
That's that's one of the best players in the NBA
washed of a series.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
Of course, Pacers.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
Fans next series they played the second round against the Knicks.
Knicks are up to oh og Anobi goes out series
completely shifts.

Speaker 2 (08:59):
You could make an argue, I mean, he was the
second best.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
Player behind Jaylen Brunston on that next team. Last year,
series completely shifts. Patrie ended up winning in seven. Oji
tries to come back for a Game seven. I believe
it was his hamstring. He could barely move out there.
Then J Josh Harpers also hurt that series, but he
toughened it out and played Jalen Brunson Hurts hurts his
hands in Game seven. He leaves that game early, so

(09:20):
benefited from absurd luck. And then the Celtics come around
the Celtics. But they had really some competitive games against
the Celtics, but obviously Celtics handle that in five. Now
we go to this season, well, they play the Bucks
first round. They probably would have beat that Bucks team anyway,
fully healthy. But Dane doesn't play Game one, recovering from
blood clots, hadn't played in a month, comes back, doesn't
look like himself because he's probably come back a little

(09:42):
early from blood clots compared to how those injuries usually progress.
And then Dane tore his achilles. I thought the Pacers
were probably the better team, and they were favored in
that series anyway, but again, no Dame for most of
that series is a big deal. Like that that is
benefiting from absurd injury luck. And now they play the Calves,
who are without Daris Garland game one, and I'll explain

(10:04):
to you, we'll get to in a second how much
that has impacted the Cavs. And then Game two, they're
down three starters to Calves, and the Cavs still should
have won that game without for an epic collapse where
they couldn't get rebounds on free throws. The Cavs still
should have won that game down three starters. So when
you look at these last two playoff runs, every single
series the opponent the Pacers, of the opposing team, the Pacers

(10:28):
opponent has been down one of their top two or
at worst top three players for significant portions of the series.
That is absurd injury. Look, I don't want to hear Oh,
he's hating on the Pacers. He doesn't like Tyrese Haliburton.
This isn't hating on the Pacers. It's pointing out that
two things are true at the same time, that the
Pacers are a really good team.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
But teams who make consecutive conference finals are usually elite.
The Pacers are not elite.

Speaker 1 (10:55):
They have benefited from absurd absurd injury luck.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
All right, let's break down last night's game. So all
time collapse from the Calves.

Speaker 1 (11:03):
And again they haven't just benefited from injury luck the Pacers.
They've benefited from two collapses over the last three games
that they played. Of course, they were up seven or
they were down seven with like thirty six seconds left
in that close out game against the Bucks and they
blow that one, and of course that was with the
John Halliburn comes out, is in Giannis's face and too bad.
John Halliburn isn't catching this series live at least, but

(11:27):
because of that incident. But now the Calves are up
seven last night with a minute and six to go,
and it really what it came get down to is
free throw rebounding, free throw rebounding. The Calves couldn't get
rebounds off freethrows. Calves are up seven with forty eight
seconds left, Pascal Siakis to the line, he misses the
free throw.

Speaker 2 (11:44):
Aaron N.

Speaker 1 (11:44):
Smith, to his credit, phenomenal play, comes running in from
he wasn't even on the free throw line. He comes
running in from the three point line beyond the play
right by d Mitch Jonovan. Mitchell completely unchecks him and
to Andrew Nempart, he's not gonna get the credit for
this play.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
It's all goes to aaron NEI Smith, but.

Speaker 1 (12:01):
Andrew never Nemhard also came in sprinting from the three
point line to put pressure on the Cavs rebounders and
also created that opportunity, you could say, for Aaron Smith
to get that insane put back jam where he just
was on Donavi Mitchell's head, puts that ball on Dona
Mitchell's side. David Mitchell is twirling on the floor after
because of the poster that Aaron aaron Ne Smith put

(12:24):
on Donovan Mitchell. So he just comes running in from
the three point line slams it on on Donovan Mitchell's head.
An incredible play, just a winning play from a winning
player like aaron Ne Smith Andrew Nemhard. Those two guys
are winning players. Tyres Haliburn gets the credit for the
box score stuff and the clutch performances, but aaron Ne
Smith and Andrew Nembard are winning, winning basketball players, another big

(12:46):
reason why the Pacers have had success over the last
three months. So he slams it on d Mitch bodies him.
He's twirling on the floor after that play completely. It
was last ten of minutes ago, but completely changed the
momentum of the rest of the game because now free
throw shooting, rebounding wars or woes for the Calves come
up again again. Halliburton the piston. The Pacers are down

(13:09):
by two with eleven seconds left, and that the Calves
all they have to do is secure a rebuse, secure
a rebound on a free throw, free throw rebounding.

Speaker 2 (13:19):
They can't do it.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
Miles Turner tips it out out to Halliburton, who's they're
down to the Pacers. Halliburton does this clutch magic step back.
We know the rest. The Pacers pull out a one
nineteen win, take a two zero lead, two wins on
the road. Now they're heading back to Indiana to home

(13:41):
with a two zero series lead. So the question is
can the Calves come back? Can the Calves come back?
So here's where the optimism is for the Calves. The
Calves are shooting unbelievably poor from three in these first
two games, twenty three from three in the first game,
twenty eight percent from three in game two last night.

(14:03):
This is one of the second best three point shooting
team in the league. During the regular season, they shot
thirty eight percent from three. But part of that is
because of who they're missing, Like Donovan Mitchell has had
to do all the creation himself. Him and Darius Garland
came to really compliment each other really well as secondary
and primary or excuse me, Donald Mitchell.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
Is the primary creator.

Speaker 1 (14:24):
Darius Garland is a secondary creator. He creates shots for
other guys. So when they're saying, oh, yeah, what I'm
saying that they're not shooting the ball well from three
is because they're not getting as good looks because their
secondary creator, Darius Garland, who's brilliant at getting in the
lane and creating shots for other guys. He's been out
and who know, we don't know if he's gonna come back.
It's a toe injury. You would think, oh it's a

(14:45):
toe injury, it's probably minor, probably pretty major, especially defensively.

Speaker 2 (14:49):
He's already not a great defender.

Speaker 1 (14:50):
They're gonna attack him relentlessly defensively, So the cabs might
think it's not even worth it, where if he's not
gonna be that much of a negative defensively as offense.

Speaker 2 (14:59):
Might not even worth it.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
I think it's worth it because they need second their creation.
They need guys to generate shots for others other than
Donovan Mitchell because he's had to.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
Do it all right now.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
But part of the why they're also missing the part
of the reason why they're shooting so poorly from three,
is because three of their best three point shooters, or
at least two of them, were out yesterday.

Speaker 2 (15:20):
So that's obviously Darius Garland. Not only is he a.

Speaker 1 (15:23):
Great creator for others, he's a forty percent three point shooter.
When you're missing a forty percent three point shooter in
Darius Garland, and then you're also without DeAndre Hunter last night,
who was a forty two percent three point shooter, it's
gonna be rough to make threes at a normal clip,
and that's a big reason why they shot twenty eight
percent from three last night. Also, mobiley Evan Mobley, who

(15:44):
you could make a claim was their second best player.

Speaker 2 (15:46):
He's going to be on an All NBA team, he
was that good.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
He's shooting thirty seven percent from three on over three
attempts per game. He's not that was kind of one
of the downsides of his game, and you didn't see
a shot developed this series, became more comfortable.

Speaker 2 (15:59):
Not a great three point shooter, but thirty.

Speaker 1 (16:01):
Thirty percent on over three attemts per games, not like
he's taking one point five attempts a game. So he
became a better three point shooter. He also creates looks
for other guys, like Evan Mobley out of the short role.
Is what creates looks for the guys. He's that they've
done such a good job of the Donovan Mitchell Evan
Mobley pick and roll feeding Evan Mobley in the short
role four on three advantageous situations. He's creating looks and

(16:24):
three point shots for the guys because the defense has.

Speaker 2 (16:26):
To collapse without him or Darius Garland.

Speaker 1 (16:29):
You're missing good three point shooters and you're missing three point.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
Creation because those guys create shots for others.

Speaker 1 (16:35):
So it makes sense why those teams or why the
Caves are shooting poorly from three those first two games.
So the question back to my original question, I pose,
can the Calves come back? I don't know, because the
answer is I don't know because I don't know those
guys' health status. Like if Donovan Mitchell, excuse me, if
Darius Garland and Evan Mobley come back, and DeAndre Hunter

(16:58):
come back, and those three guys even at eighty percent health,
the Calves are the better team, and the Cavs can
come back in the series, even when they're facing a
two of deficit and they lost those two games at home.
If those guys can come back eighty percent healthy, the
Calves can still win this series. Do I think they're
gonna come back all of them or even one of them?

Speaker 2 (17:17):
Probably not at this point.

Speaker 1 (17:19):
So it looks like the Pacers, once again or a
really good basketball team, have benefited from absurd luck and
are probably moving back to their second Street Conference Finals appearance.
All right, moving on to the other game last night
and the other storyline that just some news just broke
regarding Steph Curry. Some news that broke regarding Steph Curry

(17:41):
was that he is going to be out at least
a week a hamstring sprain. I believe Shaan's tweeted, so
he's gonna be out at least a week. Not great
news for the Warriors, who, even though they escaped last
night and take a one zero series lead, they're gonna
be without Steph Curry for at least Game two, probably

(18:02):
beyond that. So the story last night was the Wolves
couldn't score the basketball, let me pull up the final
score year ninety nine to eighty eight a playoff game,
any game where neither team scored one hundred points is
pretty rare, so ninety nine to eighty eight. The Warriors
beat the Wolves, and the Wolves just couldn't score. They
shot zero fifteen from three in the first half. Draymond

(18:24):
for the Warriors hit four threes. He's a thirty two
percent three point shooter. He somehow when Steph went out
turned into Steph Curry. He's only done that three other
times this season when he's made at least four threes.

Speaker 2 (18:35):
So, yes, the problem.

Speaker 1 (18:37):
The Wolves have a problem scoring the basketball. This isn't
the Lakers defense. Like the Lakers defense had leaky perimeter
defenders with Austin Reeves obviously Luka Doncicz, and they had
bad rim protection.

Speaker 2 (18:50):
So the Wolves could score easily and their.

Speaker 1 (18:51):
Half good offense wasn't even great against the Lakers, but
they had easier matchups to pick them the Warriors.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
That's not the case.

Speaker 1 (18:58):
The Warriors have way better perimeter defense, and they when
you don't have a center in like a big center
in the game and you play small with Draymond playing
the five, you protect the rim by committee. So the
Warriors actually have great rim protection even though they don't
have a traditional big center back there.

Speaker 2 (19:15):
Who you'd think as a rim protector.

Speaker 1 (19:17):
Draymond Green, for his height and his size, is an
excellent rim protector. But when you also protect the rim
by committee and you're collapsing into the paint making it
really difficult for Anthony Edwards and Julius Randall to get
clean looks at the rim, that's rim protection by committee.
And that's what the Warriors did an awesome job of
last night, where they made it really difficult for the

(19:37):
Wolves to get downhill and then score at the rim.
And this Wolves have court offense just look bad, and
it would be a concern moving forward for me absolutely
if the Warriors had Steph Curry.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
Without Steph Curry, I.

Speaker 1 (19:49):
Don't think there's gonna be a single game where the
Warriors score one hundred points. And look, the Wolves have
their offensive woes, for sure, they can figure it out
enough to score just enough to beat a team that
can will barely crack one hundred points. Like everyone's like,
jim Jimmy Butler is gonna have to carry the load.
First off, Jimmy Butler hasn't looked completely healthy since that
pelvic bone injury that he suffered in that first series

(20:12):
against the Rockets. And second off, Jimmy Butler, when he
is great, he's not just creating shots for himself, but
he's creating for others. You need great shooting around Jimmy Butler.
When you think about that Heat run where the heat
made that miraculous run to the finals a couple years ago,
Jimmy Butler, he was phenomenal his point totals. He was
creating shots for other guys because they had great shooters

(20:34):
on the floor. Max shrew Skabe, Vincent was hot from
three that series, that entire playofform Caleb Martin. Those were
shooters surrounding Jimmy Butler. So that was a perfect team
for Jimmy Butler. First Off, I don't think Jimmy Butler's
a player. He was a couple of years ago. I
think he's declined physically and athletically. Secondly, the Warriors don't
have that shooting like the gravity of Steph Curry makes
the Wolves defense so much excuse, makes the Warriors so

(20:58):
much easier to guard for.

Speaker 2 (20:59):
That his defense, that's the gravity of Steph Curry.

Speaker 1 (21:02):
Everyone just loves to use the term the gravity of Curry,
and it's become a cliche around the NBA, but it's
really true. Like when you think about just him as
a screener, how much attention he commands when he crosses
half court, him off the ball, what the Rockets were
doing just doubling him off the ball? He is, He's
the greatest shooter of all time, so he does demand
that much defensive attention and you kind of have to

(21:25):
bring your attention away from some other players when he's
off the floor. The Warriors are cooked, I mean, Moses Moody,
Brandon Pozimski, Like, unless Draymond Green becomes gets Steph Curry's
powers and starts becoming like a forty five percent shooter
who can shoot off the dribb all of a sudden,
which I don't see happening. It's hard to imagine that
the Warriors are gonna score enough to escape this series

(21:48):
without Kurt. And maybe Kurr comes back in Game six
or Game seven, if he's gonna be out at least
the week, obviously, who knows how his hamstring will progress,
But I think.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
That'll be too late.

Speaker 1 (21:57):
I think I think if he comes back game six
or game seven, that'll be too late. The Warriors just
do not have enough to score. And I think that
you see it with a price adjustment on these series
lines where the Wolves started out as a favorite the Warriors.

Speaker 2 (22:12):
One game one.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
Typically if a team wins game one, that when it's
a pretty close series line, that will adjust.

Speaker 2 (22:17):
Because the Wolves' ro only like minus one fifty five
coming into the series, that'll.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
Adjust if the Warriors win game one, which they did,
especially on the road. But Curry's injury is telling you
everything you can know with this line where the Wolves
didn't just their line didn't go down, it didn't shorten
or excuse me, didn't lengthen actually shortened. Where the Wolves
are now minus two hundred to win the series, and
that tells you what you need to know about the
Warriors without Steph curR, where they just don't have enough creation,

(22:43):
don't have enough shooting, they don't have enough scoring. So
it doesn't really even matter what the Warriors do defensively,
which they've done a great job defensively, which is what
I'm saying. They've done a great job defensively, and ren
protection by committee. It doesn't matter what the Warriors do defensively,
if they can't score enough. And like I said, without Curry,
I can't see the Warriors scoring more than one hundred
in any game this series without Curry. So this seems

(23:04):
to be like the Wolves are moving on again. All right,
Let's hit on the two games tonight and the two
other series, one out West, one out East, and the
biggest game, and really the game that's got the most
attention is Celtics Knicks, which is a fascinating, fascinating series
based off the Game one.

Speaker 2 (23:26):
Celtics obviously were massive favorites coming to the.

Speaker 1 (23:28):
Series, still big favorites to win, and I don't think
people's minds have changed that much. But the conversation from
Celtics Knicks Game one has devolved into what an open
three is or not, like what to classify as an
open three, what classifies as a good three. Let me
just say this about the Celtics offense and the three

(23:48):
point volume in that first game. My problem is not
with a three point volume. The Celtics are going to
shoot a ton of threes. That's been their identity for
two seasons now. And they can have the identity because
they almost always implore five shooters on the floor, and
when and when they when Not only do they five
shooters on the floor, they also have five guys who

(24:10):
can create off the dribble, who can create advantages get
in the lane. Not always five guys, but at least
three or four like that personnel creates their offense where
they can shoot a ton of threes. My problem isn't
with the three point volume. It's how they're generating threes.
It's how they're generating their threes. And they generate threes
by running a ton of pick and roll, usually getting

(24:32):
two on the ball and creatingus advantageous situations where it's
four on three and you get the defense in rotation,
or they run a ton of pick and roll. You
get the switch, and that's what the next you're doing.
You get the switch. And they have so many different
guys who can beat you off the dribble, whether it's
whether it's Jalen Brown or Tatum obviously the go twos,
but even Derek White, Drew Holldy, even a Peyton Pritchard,

(24:52):
and you can get in the lane by beating your
defender one on one off the dribble, force the defense
collapse put collapse, put them in rotation, and then the
when the defensive flying rotation closing out. That's how you
create good three point opportunities. That's how you generate good threes.
So I don't care that they shot sixty threes and

(25:12):
that they missed forty five, both records the most missed threes,
the most three point attempts in NBA history.

Speaker 2 (25:19):
I don't care about that. I care about how they're
generating the threes.

Speaker 1 (25:24):
And let me just say this, so I'm pro analytics.
I'm pro analytics. I guess someone who covers and follows
the sport like it is in teams use analytics, and
teams rely on analytics. So, as someone who covers and
follows the sport, it's important to understand analytics.

Speaker 2 (25:42):
So I am pro pro analytics.

Speaker 1 (25:44):
Over the last couple of years, I've really dove deep
into analytics, how they're used, why teams use them, when
they use them, all that stuff. Throw these analytics that
are telling me the Celtics got good shots out the door.
Tim Legler made this point, and it is so true.
Do not tell me that twenty five of those three
point attempts from the Celtics sixty that they attempted were

(26:07):
unguarded catch and shoot shots that were open. Those they
were I've watched. I watched the Celtics game live. I
rewatched the fourth quarter. I rewatched every single three point
attempt from that game, and then from that fourth quarter.

Speaker 2 (26:22):
I'm talking about those that fourth quarter.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
I don't care what classifies as an open shot according
to second second spectrum. I watched those three pointers, and
I'll tell you the three pointers that I calculated in
the second half. They shot fifteen three pointers in the
fourth quarter. Celtics only made two in that fourth quarter.

Speaker 2 (26:41):
Three maybe four.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
Of those you could argue were open shots or semi
open shots.

Speaker 2 (26:49):
The others were contested.

Speaker 1 (26:51):
These were bad shots that the that the Wolves or
excuse me, that the Celtics were taking.

Speaker 2 (26:57):
They were bad shots.

Speaker 1 (26:58):
And you know why, It's because they were weren't generating
threes like they normally do through driving kick And that's
how the Celtics get good looks is getting in the lane,
driving and kicking, getting the defensive rotation, moving the bowl.

Speaker 2 (27:12):
That's how they get good shots. So I don't care
about the volume.

Speaker 1 (27:15):
Go out and choot sixty three pointers tonight, But you
have to attack the rim. You have to attack the
rim in order to get good three point opportunities. It
all starts with your down hill drive, your downhill penetration.

Speaker 2 (27:29):
That's how you get.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
Three good three point excuse me, that's how you get
good three point looks.

Speaker 2 (27:34):
And the Celtics weren't doing that. Weren't doing that.

Speaker 1 (27:36):
Thirty nine of the forty seven shots in the second
half in overtime were threes in the late in that
fourth quarter, really in crunch time, they barely even stepped
in front of a three point line. And it all
starts with Jason Tatum, who I thought had one of
his worst games I've seen as in the playoffs in
a long time. This is a guy who probably is

(27:57):
coming off of his best regular season since he came
into the league. He's played a ton of playoff games.
I believe the number is one hundred and twenty three
playoff games, which is unprecedented for a player his age
and a guy who hasn't been in the league.

Speaker 2 (28:08):
I mean, now he's been in league like seven eight years,
but not a guy who's been in league all that long.
One hundred and twenty three playoff games is a ton.

Speaker 1 (28:15):
That was one of the worst I've seen in play
since he took that superstar step over the last three
to four seasons. And it's because of how much he's settled. Like,
let's talk about the next defensive game plan for a second.
So the Knicks during the regular season never switched. They
were really reluctant on switching, especially with ball screens that

(28:35):
involved Corinthone Towns or Mitchell Robinson and they're big. They
put coar Anthony Towns in drop all the time, especially
when they played the Celtics in those regular season matchups.

Speaker 2 (28:44):
That was an adjustment Thibbs.

Speaker 1 (28:45):
Made coming to this playoff series. Karnthine Towns was switching
all ball screens. The Knicks were switching all ball screens
that involved pretty much everybody except Jylen Brunson and Jalen
Brunson was usually hedging and then recovering and coming back,
and there was a few times Brunton got caught and switched.
But everyone else, we're switching the ball screens. The Celtics
should want that. The Knicks don't have a sustainable defense

(29:08):
to switch ball screens. They have two liability defensive liabilities
on the floor in Jalen Brunson and Karnthony Towns like
the Celtics, Everyone and their mother watching that game knew
what the Celtics plan was. We were going to put
Jalen Brunton in action. We were going to put Karnthon
Town's in action. Whatever it takes, a regular ball scene,
a dribble drive, or excuse me, a double drag where

(29:30):
both those guys defenders are setting the screen, it doesn't matter.
We're going to put Jalen Brunton and Karonthone Towns in action.
And when you get those guys in action, you're going
to generate mismatches. And the Celtics did that, and they
did that well. The problem was didn't take advantage of
those mismatches. Especially Jason Tatum. He settled time and time again,

(29:52):
where it's Brunton on him, when there's Mitchell Robinson on him,
when there.

Speaker 2 (29:54):
His cat on him, he settled for step back. Awful shots.
Awful shots.

Speaker 1 (30:00):
It's not just that Jason Tatum can get to the
rim and go buy those guys, but when he beats
the first layer of defense, you're gonna see the defense collapse,
You're gonna see help. That's when you swing to your shooters,
you get the defense in rotation, which I keep saying
and I can't hammer enough. That's what the Celtics are
at their best shooting threes when they have the defense rotation.
You do that through beating your guy through mismatches, driving

(30:23):
and kicking. Then the defense gets in rotation. He keep
swinging the ball, you keep driving and kicking, and then
you generate open, clean three point looks.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
Down the stretch of that game. The Celtics just didn't
do that.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
So when you look ahead to Game two to night,
Game two to night, the Celtics are a ten and
a half point favorite. Yes, the Celtics aren't going to
shoot twenty five percent from three again, But I don't
care about the three point percentage.

Speaker 2 (30:44):
I don't care about the three point value. I care
how are they.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
Generating these looks when they get these mismatches, because I
expect Carlton Town to be switching ball screens again when
they get these mismatches.

Speaker 2 (30:56):
Are they going to attack force og.

Speaker 1 (30:58):
Anobi and Josh Short at mckil bridges to help help
on those guys and attack and attack those mismatches to
create better looks. That's the adjustments. It's attacking switches and
using those switches to your advantage to attack the rim
and put the Knicks in rotation. That's how you generate
threes and also get into your offense earlier. Like when

(31:21):
you know that Jalen Brunton and Karnthy Towns, all you're
doing is putting them in action. Why are you waiting
till fourteen twelve second stuff on the shot clock to do? Like,
get in those actions earlier, and so because even if
those break down, you're gonna have more time on the
shot clock. You're not gonna take a shot with little
time on the shot clock left. So that's the big
adjustment for me. It's just simply just this Knicks defense

(31:45):
isn't It's not sustainable for them to switch all the time.
All they're gonna do is put Corinthy Towns, who got
in foul trouble last game too early, which is part
of the reasons and the reasons you want to attack
him and putting Jalen Brunton in action.

Speaker 2 (31:56):
Because oh Gnomi was phenomenal as a defender.

Speaker 1 (31:59):
He held as the primary defender, held the Celtics starters
to one for fifteen shooting in game one.

Speaker 2 (32:04):
That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (32:05):
Mckel Bridges made defensive player after defensive played down the stretch.

Speaker 2 (32:09):
He was great.

Speaker 1 (32:10):
The problem was and Josh Hart was phenomenal too, Like
those guys are just rotating and flying all over the place.
But what good defense is you have to be on
a string one through five, Like you just have to
have five guys who couldn't defend. If you have two
guys that can be picked on, which teams and the
Celtics are better at taking advantage of mismasters than anyone
throughout the season. The nixt half two guys that can

(32:32):
be picked on, So they have those mismatched opportunities. The
problem is they just didn't take advantage of them. They
didn't take advantage of those switches. They were settling too much.
Jason Tatum was settling late in that game, late in
the fourth quarter, late in overtime.

Speaker 2 (32:45):
There was a play with twelve.

Speaker 1 (32:46):
It was in the end of regulation. Jason Tatum gets
a switch on to Mitchell Robinson. You have an open lane,
you have Mitchell Robinson. That's the matchup you want. There's
a reason you had Mitchell Robinson's man come screen because
you wanted to switch on the missile Mitchell Robinson not
so you could take a BS step back jumper, so
you could get to the lane and force the defense

(33:06):
collapse and kick, or if no one collapses, no one
helps you get to the lane. The Celtics have to
do a better job. And that's really the only adjustment.
I mean, of course they'll make other adjustments and the
next will adjust too, but it's it's they're gonna shoot
better from three when they attack these mismatches and don't
settle like your offense can't just be settling for step
back threes. That's not sustainable. So who do I think

(33:28):
is gonna win to night? I think the Celtics are
gonna win tonight, but I think it's still gonna be
a competitive game the next Really, we're competitive through that
first quarter and a half until they went to foul
trouble and then in that second late in that second
quarter and into the beginning part of the third quarter
is when the Celtics.

Speaker 2 (33:46):
Blew up that twenty point leane.

Speaker 1 (33:47):
And then of course Celtics awful shot shot selection is
will allowed the Knicks to come back. So I think
that the Celtics, I think the Knicks are actually gonna
keep this game close. The Knicks need better production from
their bench. Something I'm watching I would consider taking Jalen
Brunson's unders particularly is under points. He was nine for

(34:12):
twenty three in Game one and the Pistons did a
good job of him with their physicality. But physicality doesn't
bother Brunson that much because he's a really physical player too,
Like Brunson's a really physical player. What bothers Brunson is
a lot of length and just length and height and athleticism.

(34:32):
And the Celtics defense has that, like whether it's Tatum
guarding him, whether it's Brown, whether it's Drew Holliday who
we know what he is as a defender, or a
guy like Derek White, Like, the Celtics have the length
to bother Jalen Brunson, and he saw that when he
was nine for twenty three in that first game. Of course,
Jalen Brunson is just heroic in the fourth quarter and

(34:53):
even though he wasn't great in that overtime period and
he missed that Bunny, which I know he would have
been kicking himself if the ended up losing that game
in overtime, because that's a shot he makes, like ninety
times out of one hundred. That little bunny on the
back door cut that kar Anthony Town sent him to
end regulation that Jylen Brunson just missed.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
But other than some.

Speaker 1 (35:11):
Great moments late in that fourth quarter, I didn't think
Brunton had a good game. He didn't shoot the ball well.
The Celtics' length bothered him a lot. So I think
you're gonna see that continue. So ten has a lot
of points, so.

Speaker 2 (35:23):
I would lean the Knicks just because of that.

Speaker 1 (35:26):
But I think this is a game the Celtics control
throughout and I'd be shocked, shocked if the Knicks come
out on top. All right, last game here we're gonna
touch on is the game tonight. Game one was Monday
night and that's between the Thunder and the Nuggets, another
ten and a half points spread. Let me tell you,
Monday Night was the first night in playoff history where

(35:47):
two teams won as nine plus point underdogs.

Speaker 2 (35:52):
That was impressive. So are we gonna see more?

Speaker 1 (35:55):
And actually, now that I'm thinking about it, the the
Warriors also won last outright as underdogs too, So out
underdogs in the second round are five for five outright,
five for five underdogs have won outright, of course they've
all covered because they've been underdogs. That's pretty impressive. And
a lot of those dogs were massive too, some nine

(36:17):
and a half ten and a half points spreads. Is
that can continue tonight? Not entirely convinced. I definitely don't
think outright, I think the Dogs could cover. But here
we have Nuggets plus ten and a half against the Thunder.
And just to go back to Game one real quick.
Two things that plagued the Thunder and it was the
same two things that plagued the Thunder last year throughout

(36:38):
the playoff run and even during the regular season, but
it really became a problem in the playoff run where
they lost the MAVs in the second round. And that's
number one rebounding and number two secondary score. Last year,
the Thunder were the fourth worst defensive rebounded team in
the entire NBA.

Speaker 2 (36:54):
So what do you do.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
You go and address that in the offseason, and that's
exactly what they did. They got Isaiah Hartenstein, who is
a great re bounder and a physical presence down low
as a center, and it actually worked. Like when you
look at the second half of the season post All
Star Break, the Thunder were a top ten team in
opponent offensive rebounding riad, meaning they were they did not
let teams dominate them on the offensive glass and the

(37:17):
Thunder so that they worked like Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Hoomegren
combination as a big front court line was working throughout
the season in the second half when those guys started
playing together because each suffered injuries where they weren't really
on the court together that much through the first half
of the season. The problem was in Game one, they
didn't show up, particularly Chet home Grin.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
As a rebounder. The man had six rebounds.

Speaker 1 (37:40):
And we're going to talk about how Chet really struggle
and needs to step up, but he had six rebounds
in Game one.

Speaker 2 (37:47):
That's not acceptable.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
Isaiah Heartenstein did not do a good enough job on
Yo Kich, but also just as a rebounder.

Speaker 2 (37:53):
Yokich went off for forty two points.

Speaker 1 (37:55):
The Nuggets as a team out rebound of the Thunder
by twenty rebounds.

Speaker 2 (38:01):
The Thunder, excuse me.

Speaker 1 (38:02):
The Nuggets grabbed twenty one offensive rebounds and Jokic himself
had twenty two offensive rebounds. And Jokic is a phenomenal rebounder,
and it's kind of of course he has the size
and the strength. We know that, but it's surprising. But
he's not the most athletic guy. But he's a great
offensive rebounder too. And Dennis Rodman, who is one of
the best offensive rebounds in NBA history. Dennis Rodman used

(38:23):
to always talk about, Yeah, he's athletic, and that's why
he gets a lot of rebounds, but he's studied the
art of rebounding. He would talk about reboundings and art,
especially offensive reboundings in art, and it's studying about guys
shot tendencies where their missus go off. Of course, missus
generally go off to the opposite side of the rim
or the opposite side of the shooter as is, but

(38:44):
he would study that stuff. So offense rebounding is a
lot of it's a lot of cerebral too. Jokic is
one of the smarter players in the NBA, if not
the smartest player in the NBA. He uses his in
basketball like you too, bound the basketball at an effective rate,
especially offensively, Like when he's not the most athletic guy,

(39:07):
because he's just not the most athletic guy, but he's
a brilliant offensive rebounder. And he had twenty two boards.
So that's the biggest adjustment. Is it has to be
a gang rebounding effort. Yes, but chet Holmgerm and Isaiahrten's
team needs to be better on the boards. They just
need to be You can't let the Nuggets get that
many offensive rebounds and second chance opportunities.

Speaker 2 (39:25):
So that's the biggest thing.

Speaker 1 (39:26):
And the other thing is I want to see them
throw more help at Jokic, like you got to make
these other guys beat you. Michael Porter Junior is hurt.
You can see it on his shoulder with what he's wearing.
He's not been playing particularly well. Russell Westbrook, discret has
been awesome. He's finally post Okac, found the team that
he's accepted his role in just fitting in and he's
obviously making threes at a higher rate than you'd expect

(39:48):
from a Russell Westbrook. But I've been really impressed with
Russell Westbrook this postseason.

Speaker 2 (39:53):
But again, he's a hit or miss guy.

Speaker 1 (39:55):
Like you could have a nineteen point performance from Russell
Westbrook like you did the other night, or you could
have a four point performance where he's won for seven
from three. So he's a hit or miss guy. Jamal
Murray at this point is a hit or miss guy.
You have to make the the other Nuggets other than
Jokic beat you, and that's sending more help at at
Jokic like they were guarding him. I expected them to

(40:17):
really implement what the Wolves did against the Nuggets last year,
where the Wolves had Karnthine Town's guard Jokic and Rudy
Gobay kind of acted as a floater but was almost
always as in his vicinity.

Speaker 2 (40:29):
The Thunder didn't really do that.

Speaker 1 (40:31):
There was moments where they did it, but they weren't
doing a ton in that Game one. What they were
really doing was just having more single coverage, and I
thought they were were keeping Yokic in single coverage against
Isaiah Heartenstein or against the Chet.

Speaker 2 (40:44):
That's not the answer. Yokic just overpowered those guys physically.

Speaker 1 (40:48):
You have to send a ton of help because you
have a big front line with Chet and with Isaiah Heartenstein,
but you have to send a ton of help at
Jokic and make the Nuggets others beat you. The other
problem for the Thunder, other than rebound in Game one,
was their secondary scoring. Like we know what, Shay wasn't
incredibly efficient I didn't think he has his best game,

(41:09):
but we know you're gonna get a thirty plus from
Shaye on a nightly basis. You know what he's gonna do,
get into the free throw line, operating in the mid range, creating,
creating for others.

Speaker 2 (41:18):
All that which is why Shay is on his way
to the MVP.

Speaker 1 (41:22):
Excuse me, what you don't know that you're gonna get
from the Thunder is who else is gonna step up
for for the Thunder And that starts with Jalen Williams.
And that goes back to last year's Planoffrunt when Jalen
Williams really struggled. All I've said the Thunder winning the
championship before the season, and I've maintained that throughout the
entire season. When people have asked me, how are the

(41:42):
Thunder not gonna win the championship? I said, They're not
gonna get enough secondary scoring from their cot star, from
Shay's Coast stars. And that starts with Jalen Williams. See
was bad against the MAVs in the second round last year,
shot forty from three. Excuse me, forty two percent from
the field. Just inefficient, and that inefficient and she showed
up in Game one. He's five for twenty from the field,

(42:03):
only sixteen points. That's not good enough from your second
best player, from your secondary score.

Speaker 2 (42:08):
And yeah, the thunder are really deep.

Speaker 1 (42:10):
You got guys like Lou Dort who can make six
threes and any given night, Isaiah Joe who can make
six seven threes on any given night, Aaron Wiggins at
some point this series is gonna have a twenty plus
point performance off the bench for them.

Speaker 2 (42:23):
Alex Cruso was phenomenal.

Speaker 1 (42:25):
I mean, you wasted an amazing Alex Crusoe game in
Game one on both ends of the floor, so we
know what those guys are Defensively. The problem for me
is you need Jalen Williams step up, and you need
chet Holmgrim to step up. Those are your second and
third best players. Those are the guys that your secondary creators.
Because Lou Dort, he's not a creator like you create
shots for loud Dort.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
He's not a table seting.

Speaker 1 (42:47):
You set the table for Lou Dort for and Isaiah
Joe for guys like that. Jayalen Williams has to give
some relief to Shay and he has to be better
It's as simple as that. And chet Holmgrim has to
be better, not just as a rebounder, but as a score.
Six rebounds unacceptable when your team gets out rebounded by twenty.

Speaker 2 (43:06):
He has to be better than the glass.

Speaker 1 (43:08):
He also has to be just more clutch, like where
are your Cajonis, chet home Gren, you went to the
free throw line and everyone's talking about the Aaron Gordon
buzzer beater or the game winning shot. It was a
phenomenal shot.

Speaker 2 (43:20):
By Aaron Gordon.

Speaker 1 (43:21):
The only reason Aaron Gordon had an opportunity to win
the game on that three pointer is because chet home
Green went to the line the play before and miss.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
Two free throws, not one.

Speaker 1 (43:31):
He missed two free throws of the line, a seventy
five free throw shoot of the season. Missed two free
throws of the line. That's pressure. That's the pressure getting
to him in a big moment, in a big spot.
Even though the thunder were at home, it wasn't like
it was a road atmosphere. Chet Homegren has to be
better as a rebounder. You have to make clutch plays
like making your free throws, and he has to be

(43:51):
better as a score, like you're gonna need his You're
gonna need him to make threes. He didn't make a
three in Game one. You're gonna need chet Homegren for
the for the Thunder to it vance. So yeah, like
it was everyone's like, Aaron Gordon shot phenomenal. We love
that moment. But let's not forget why they got that moment.
It was because chet Holmgren missed two free throws with

(44:12):
just a few seconds left. And not only it's not
only that you missed two free throws, it's that what
off of a miss you have to play. It's more
you're playing defensive transition or you're playing tradition defense. And
that's why Russell Westbrook was able to get in the
lane off of jumble defense. It was a chaotic defensive
possession for the Thunder because it was off a miss
a missed free throw. So Russ Westbrook takes advantage of

(44:32):
jumble defense, gets in lane, kicks it out to a
relatively open Aaron Gordon, who knocks down the game winner.
If you make even the second free throw and you
take a two point lead in that game, you can
set up your defense off of the make easier and
you don't have that jumble defense opportunity where Russ Westbrook
takes advantage of it and gets an open shot. So
that loss, it wasn't just on chet Holmgrim but him

(44:55):
his rebounding impact which was non existent and those.

Speaker 2 (44:58):
Miss free throws. Shane needs help.

Speaker 1 (45:00):
Like Shae is the MVP, I didn't I wouldn't vote
for him if I had to vote, when my vote
would have gone to Jokic not And I'm not using
the playoff results because of that. I'm saying about his
regular season impact on that team. Regardless though Shay is
going to an MVP, he's the MVP of the league.
He needs help. He needs help from Jalen Williams. You
can't shoot five for twenty check holmgom. You need to

(45:22):
grab six boards like you are a big reason why
the Nuggets were out rebounded to the Thunder by twenty.
You can't miss those free throws. Shane needs help. So
those are the two things I'm looking for at night.
It's what's where's the secondary scoring coming from with the
Thunder and or how does the rebounding battle match up?
And are they throwing more help at Yokish where he
doesn't go for twenty forty two and twenty two performance.

Speaker 2 (45:44):
I'd like to lean.

Speaker 1 (45:45):
Thunder minus ten and a half based off those adjustments.
I don't think the Nuggets are gonna win this series,
partly because of fatigue. Still, I think the Thunder are
the better team, are gonna figure it out again. A
young team, they're going through the playoff scarers. But you
can go through your playoff scars and still come out
in the other end as you figure it out in
a competitive series. So I think that Game one will
be a learning experience for them. The Nuggets are also exhausted.

(46:06):
They didn't look at in Game one. They that game
after Game one on Monday night. That was their eighth
game in sixteen days. Their next five games, if the
series goes that far, will be off of one day
of rest. There's only one day of rest in between
every single game this series until a potential Game seven,
which with they would have two days of rest before

(46:30):
That is not a lot of rest. They just played
a hard for seven game series over the Clippers one
day in between every single game. They're going to, for
lack of a better term, crash out. That's not how
the kids use it these days, but they're going to
crash out and just become exhausted and fatigued, and it's

(46:52):
going to catch up with a nugget at some point.
And I could see it being tonight, and I could
see the Thunder kind of just rolling. And I still
think there'll be a competitive series, but you're gonna see
exhaustion kick in. So I would lay a ten and
a half with the Thunder. Yeah, that's all we got
for you. That's all we got for you. On Fox Sports,
the Game of the iHeart Radio went forty six minutes,
forty six minutes of straight hoop talk, straight hoop knowledge,

(47:15):
breaking down last night's game, previewing tonight's games. Because these
playoffs have been incredible. Thank you Adam Silver for this
parody for this is incredible playoffs. Every game is musty
TV used to be, Oh you can, maybe you don't
have to watch this game. This will be a twenty
point blowout. These have been the best playoffs. And all
these people who chirt me that college basketball or some
of these other sports are better because the postseason is better.

Speaker 2 (47:36):
Not anymore.

Speaker 1 (47:37):
There's not a better postseason than the NBA right now,
because these matchups have been phenomenal.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
You don't know who's gonna win on night tonight basis
on a.

Speaker 1 (47:44):
Series basis to an MBA championship is not a four
going conclusion anymore.

Speaker 2 (47:49):
So this has been awesome.

Speaker 1 (47:50):
These these entire playoffs have been awesome, and we're gonna
continue breaking down right here in Fox Sports, The Gambler
on Picks and Roll with iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (47:59):
We're probably not gonna go solo too much anymore.

Speaker 1 (48:01):
I'll be right alongside my guy Sean Brace throughout the week.
On Mondays, I'll be right alongside my guy, Sean Bernard.
So we're not gonna be solo too much anymore. But
we gave you forty seven minutes of straight hoop talk.
Hope you enjoyed it, and we'll talk to you soon