April 6, 2024 • 43 mins
The Mavericks are the hottest team in the NBA at 13-2 in their last 15 games. TV and radio analyst Brian Dameris joins Marc Stein in studio to talk about all the reasons behind Dallas' second-half surge, what playoff matchups are the most likely and, of course, Luka Dončić's MVP campaign. Also: Dallas native and Texas Legends president of basketball operations Spud Webb joins the show to preview NC State vs. Purdue in the men's Final Four.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Welcome to the Seinline with Mark Stein, presented by Benini Trading Cards and Collectibles.
On ninety seven to one, TheFreak, the official home to all
Dallas Nevericks games, hosted by legendaryNBA reporter and publisher of his substack,
the Steinline. Here's Mark Stein.Hey, everyone, welcome in a very
(00:29):
special edition of the Saturday Steinline.This is quite a rare occurrence, not
as rare as the Great American Eclipsethat looms Monday that everyone is excited about
it. Not that rare, butstill pretty rare. We don't often have
an in studio guest to join me, but today we do. And MAVs
(00:53):
fans know him well. You seehim on the pre and postgame show on
BALI Sports West, You see andhear him on the Take That Witch You
pod with Mark Followell that is weekly, and most importantly, you hear him
right here on ninety seven to one. The Freak often the road analyst away
(01:19):
game companion of Chuck Cooperstein, theradio voice of the MAVs Brian Demris in
studio, took a detour from theMAVs bandwagon amid this thirteen and two surge,
and he is he's gonna be withme all afternoon. We've got a
guest spot as well from the legendarySpudweb. But Brian de maris welcome in
Steinlein legendary reporter. Did you writethat yourself? There's a finn line between
(01:44):
legend and has been honor to bein the steinline. Finally, after all
this time, you'll let me bein studio. I prefer co host to
guest tonight. Fine, you areyou are? You are officially co host.
You forgot D magazine writer as well. Just go to Mark Cuban's Twitter
account. It's pinned right to thetop my latest article. We'll get into
that topic. We're gonna say that. We're gonna save that for segment three.
(02:07):
We got it, I mean thisteam, I mean I want to
get your take. You watch themas close as anyone. But you know,
I liked the trades, but Icertainly didn't see a thirteen and two
surge with the league's best defense.And now the possibility, I mean,
number four, the four seed inthe West is realistically it's mathematically possible,
(02:28):
not realistically possible, but number fouris still in play. They're probably gonna
end up five. I mean thisteam is it is on a remarkable surge.
Is any want a hand ringing overthe pick swap for Gafford? I
talked to I was in New Yorkthe night of the trade, and there
was a major ESPN reporter I won'tmention his name, but a former core
(02:50):
horter of yours that was like,this is so stupid. How do you
trade a pick swap for a backupcenter? Don't they know in twenty eight
if things go south that they're gonnaneed that pick in that fear based thinking.
I was just like, I wastelling them, like, that's just
not the way you think about this. But so many people, especially at
a national level, were just wringingtheir hands, And it struck me when
(03:13):
I was watching the game last night, the starting lineup were all players that
were not on this roster fourteen monthsago, Kyrie Irving in the trade deadline,
Jones the fifteenth player signed on aminimum deal because you couldn't get Matisse
tible Exem brought from Serbia at partisanwith I think just a bit over minimum
(03:34):
sign in his deal, and thenyour two trade deadline acquisitions. So why
is this team so different from theteam that collapsed last year, and why
was this team able to win agame that Luca didn't play, which,
oh, by the way, duringthis thirteen and two, they're thirteen and
one when Luca plays. It's becauseof these new pieces and the pieces they
were up around. You don't puntseasons when you have a superstar. And
(03:57):
they were able to go get aplayer like Gafford who fits the vertical game
like Lively that they want to play, and Lucas said, I've been looking
for this kind of guy for threeyears and they went and got a guy
in Washington who they think, youknow what, He's got the talent and
the skills. If I can puthim in my scheme and fit in with
my thing and get open looks fromthe corner and oh, by the way,
(04:20):
he's starting to hit him like hedid last night, then he's going
to excel. And I'm going tobuy low on that. And they're both
twenty five. That's smart team buildingand kids has built the right schemes on
both ends of the floor with thosepieces. Yeah, look, I think
the risk factor is still there.I mean, nobody's thinking about it right
(04:40):
now because things are going so well. There is still a risk factor here.
Because the trade costs, you can'tget around it. It was high
in all these cases. But forwhere this team was as bad as things
that they're as poorly as things movedin year one after Jalen Brunson was lost,
(05:00):
and look, the MAVs have toput their hands up. You know,
they put themselves in that situation.But again I did not expect.
I knew Gafford was gonna help.I knew PJ. Washington would help.
They have. I mean, theyfit in amazingly well based on the evidence
of these last fifteen games. Andnow that national chatter that you talk about
(05:21):
is completely flipped. Now all thesesame doubters, Nashally the Mavericks. Every
morning, all the talk is thisis the team nobody wants to see.
This is the biggest threat in theWest to Denver, and it very well
might be. And look what they'vedone on the defensive end. You know
better than anybody Jason Kidd wants,yes, that to be a focal point.
(05:44):
And the reason it wasn't earlier isbecause he was playing with the roster
he head. I wrote an articlelast year saying we should just lean in
to being the James Harden Rockets,who just shot threes and spread it out,
because that's the personnel you had atthat time. Now he's got the
personnel to the defense. Here arethe defensive numbers since the trade deadline.
There's seventh in defensive rating during thisfifteen games stretch of when they're thirteen to
(06:08):
two, which is right after thatIndiana game. Number one in defensive efficiency.
Why because they have rim protection whenLively's in there. They have rim
protection for forty eight minutes if theywant to play that way. In blocks
during this stretch. Fifth, opponent'spointing the paint. Fourth. Remember the
Toronto game earlier in the season whenSiakam had thirty one of his thirty two
(06:30):
points in the paint and his otherone was a free thirst two Sacramento games,
did miss a shot inside against front. There's a layup line. And
now it's not just block shots,but it's adjusting shots. That's those two
Sacramento games. They were packing thatpaint. Fox couldn't get where you wanted
to go. Sabonus couldn't get whereyou wanted to go. There the rim
protection is there, and then that'sturning defense into fast break opportunities. They're
(06:51):
pushing the pace they're added, they'veadded that element. They already know what
they have in the half court whenwhen Luca can do what he wants to
do. So, you know,you go back to that Indiana team meeting.
I was doing postgame on TV,and as you know, because you've
done that with me as well,you get Jason Kidd minutes into it,
(07:14):
he'll come on and we'll air himand then we'll get a player interview.
We had nothing. We had noplan interview, We had no coach interview.
Never in my five years doing TV, we ever had that on our
forty minute postgame show. Because theyhad that meeting and it wasn't players only
meeting. Kid was in there.Kid spoke, Kyrie spoke, Markkeith Morris
spoke. And you can go oneof two ways when that happens. The
teams can crater after something like that. But they responded and they've gone on
(07:36):
the streak because Kid has the relationshipswith his key players and they believe in
him, and they believe in theirleadership and what Kyrie's brought. Kyrie's not
just a fourth quarter score. He'sbringing leadership on and off. You know
what impressed me most about last nightwas after PJ. Washington made that bucket
there with three seconds left or whateverit ended up being, you could see
(08:01):
Kyrie going one stop, one stop, don't celebrate, We need to get
one stop. That's the leadership hehas brought. And Tim Hardaway told me
on this very station and an interviewafter one of the games during the road
trip that when he was struggling,he got the confidence from Kyrie who came
up to him when he got tointo free throw and said, I believe
in you keep shooting, brother,and he said that helped me get through
(08:22):
it. Well. The part thatstood out to me on that play was
that was probably the best pass we'veever seen Tim Tim Hardaway Junior make,
and Can had great ato calls,and that was obviously brilliantly drawn up and
brilliantly executed. Yeah, I mean, everybody knew they were gonna blitz Kyrie.
They were not going to let KyrieIrving beat them and force the ball
(08:43):
out of Kyrie's hands. Gets toTim Hardaway Junior. Everyone in the building
thought he was going to take thatpull up and he finds PJ. Washington.
PJ. Washington gets the game winninglayup. That was taken away from
him in Cleveland when Max Struse hitthe sixty foot or MAV's analyst Brian to
Maris are in studio guest again,I can't and we've I mean, Chuck's
(09:03):
done in studio with me once,I think, but we're not. We
don't get many in studio guests onthe Saturday steinline. This is this is
big, And I'm glad you citedsome of those things about Jason Kidd because
one of the things that bothers me. In year one, when this team
had a top ten defense with largelythe same players who were on Rick Carlile's
(09:26):
last Mavericks team, the roster didn'tchange that much. Jason Kidd and Shaun
Sweeney got this team to the topten in defense fifty two wins. I
didn't hear much coaching praise that season, and things are going so well now
and I'm still not hearing very much. And this team only needs a three
and two finish now for the secondfifty win season in three years. And
(09:52):
most of all, and you know, I was at the front of the
line doubting whether Luca and Kyrie wouldfunction well as a duo. I had
my doubts. After the three yearcontract extension that the Mavericks gave Kyrie worth
one hundred and twenty million, theirpartnership has flourished. People now talk about
them as one of the most dangerousduos in the league. And again there's
(10:15):
a coaching element there too. Youknow, Jason Kidd has made that thing
work when a lot of people saidit would never work. So the MAVs
right now have a lot of goodstuff going. Yeah, and I think
people discount, like I mentioned earlier, the relationships you have with your key
players. You know, Luca listensto Jake Kid, Kyrie listens to Jake
Kid, listens to Nico, andyou know he has the pulse. He
(10:37):
told me during the road trips hedidn't put too much pressure on this team
in those Sacramento games. As hugeas those games were, this is a
loose team. I had a playertell me during the trip, this is
the loosest team I've ever been on. You know, you see him jack
and off these these crazy shots inthe in the pregame warm ups, but
even shoot arounds, you know,they're just that doesn't mean they don't work
hard. You know. It's likewith Dirk's fluff. He was no cell
(11:01):
phones in the locker room. Youget there early, you stay late,
you do your work. But itdoesn't have to be this tense atmosphere.
We can stay loose. And sonow as we look what's ahead, I
guess there's questions on the standings andkind of where you want to you know,
do you want to position yourself ina certain way. Do you just
try to win as many games aspossible. Do you try to get some
(11:22):
rest down the stretch? Because thisteam now is the magic number is three
for the sixth seed. They winthree more games, three and two down
the stretch, they get the sixthseed. They can avoid the plan and
they get the division, which ishelpful for tiebreaker situations. Four is the
(11:43):
fifth seed. Okay, Now,if they want to get to the fourth
seed, they don't control their owndestiny. They got to get some losses
from the Clippers. There, where'syour mindset? Do you think that MAVs
fans should be jockeying for opponents oris the top three so jumble that you
know what, just just go thereand we'll take the Clippers. Well,
then, summingly says that the mapsare gonna end up fifth. The third
(12:07):
act of Luca versus the Clippers.I think that is the most likely scenario
if it was possible to manipulate things, I think you would want to be
sixth on the presumption that if Denveris going to win the West, and
that's saying we don't know Denver Minnesota, Okac, we don't know how that
shakes out. If you assume Denverwins. I mean they're separated by Minnesota.
(12:31):
Denver tied, okay, one gameback. Yes, I don't think
you can manipulate play in the cityin the last game of the year,
which could have implications for them.If you knew Denver was going to be
one, I think you would definitelywant to be six because you want to
you want to avoid the Nuggets foras long as you just said, I
don't think we're gonna know. Ithink And there has been so much fluck.
(12:54):
That's been one of the most amazingthings to me about this late part
of the season. There's much fluctuation. I didn't I thought six was the
MAVs ceiling, and again five isthe most likely ceiling. Four they would
need help because the Clippers hold thetiebreaker and the clip Clippers have won a
few games here lately, but fouris still mathematically possible. I didn't see
the MAVs being able to jump thathigh, but you look at the West
(13:16):
and the Lakers could still move up. The Kings look like they're on the
way down. The Suns have respondedto They lost to San Antonio, which
was the only easy game left ontheir schedule, and they've been great since
four and one with wins over qualityteams. So this thing is changing night
tonight tonight. I think the MAVswill try to find some rest opportunities.
(13:39):
Let's not forget Kyrie Irving has playedtwenty eight consecutive games, his longest run,
I mean in eight years. Yeah, eight years. So it's like
we're not you know, this isn'ta Cal Ripken or Ac Green situation just
yet, but it's a lot.It is a long run, and I
think the MAVs, given their druthers, they would like to find a little
bit of rest for Kyrie if that'spossible in the next week. As far
(14:01):
as Luca, nothing official yet onhis status for Sunday. The sense I
got yesterday was there was optimism andhope that he will be able to play
in the matinee tomorrow against Houston.The kid told me years ago when he
was a player that when you playa two thirty game, that's like a
(14:22):
back to back on your body.So this team is essentially playing a back
to back to back. So it'sit's really hard. The legs are going
to be really heavy. You sawthe legs heavy Thursday night coming out.
Luca obviously couldn't play yesterday. Butyou know, when we look at what's
ahead, listen the Clippers and wedon't know what Kauwai's injury. He's day
(14:43):
to day, he's still Kawhi,he's still playoff Kawhi. That's still a
really difficult matchup. And if theyend up five and Denver ends up one,
that might be the on paper worstdraw. But as you mentioned,
the Mavericks are now becoming the sheetteam nobody wants to see. Yeah,
(15:05):
I mean, there's no great scenario, but it would be a much easier
question to answer if we knew whereDenver was gonna land, and we just
so, do you think that thisidea, maybe they've got five kind of
locked in and four is a stretchthat we could see some systematic getting rest.
(15:26):
I think rest trump's the small chancethat you could get to four because
again I mean the on the flipside, though, it's interesting Luca from
everything I've always been told, youknow, we're always comparing him to Dirk,
and really they're you know, they'resuch different players positionally and game style,
but one thing they definitely do havein common. I don't think Luca
(15:46):
loves rest rather play, and Dirkhated rest. I still do you do
too. The sixty seven win yearwhen they lost to Golden State, Avery
gave him some rest and he didn'twant it, and I think he felt
like that contributed to him getting offto a slow start in that first round
loss to Golden State. So Ithink Luca is the same. I don't
think Luca wants to rest, butsometimes this, you know, like you
(16:10):
just said, the schedule forces iton you, and you know he's been
carrying a massive load for this teamall season long, back to back.
I think skipping that middle game wasthe right call, and certainly now we
can say so because they actually wonthat game. All right. Look,
I knew this was going to flyby, and that first segment felt like
it lasted three minutes and we've alreadyzoomed through it, so we will have
(16:32):
a lot more MAVs talk and wewill get into the MVP discussion in the
third segment. But the Final Four, the Men's Final Four starts tonight.
NC State plays Purdue in the firstgame, and I don't know too many
prominent NC State alumni, but spudWeb is a local legend. He is
(16:56):
a wolf Pack alumnus, and theone and only spud Web is gonna join
us next with a full preview ofNC State Purdue. Stay tuned for that
after the break here on ninety sevenwon the freak The Saturday Steinline Dribbles on
now Yes, presented as always bymy dear friends at Pannini. Great anticipation
(17:19):
tonight for the start of the Men'sFinal Four, especially after the direct role
that Dallas played in sending NC Stateto Phoenix as hosts of the South Regions
Sweet sixteen and Elite eight. Iowa'sCaitlin Clark, of course, on the
(17:41):
women's side, Caitlyn Clark remains theforemost star still playing in the college game.
Huge win last night for Iowa,but look, there's a matchup of
great intrigue tonight when NC States DJburn Off likened to Zach Randolph, he
(18:03):
duels against Purdue's seven foot four ZachEdie. And to preview this matchup of
giants, we needed to consult witha giant of our own. And yes,
I would say on the Saturday Steinlinescorecard, when you win an NBA
Slam dunk contest at the listed heightof just five foot six, that makes
(18:29):
you a giant, A figurative giantfor sure. So let's do it,
Producer Maddie, Let's go now tomy conversation with the most decorated NC State
alumnus that I know personally. Hedoubles as president of basketball operations for the
local Texas Legends in the G League. Here. He is the one and
(18:52):
only Anthony Spudweb, our next guest. I absolutely had to have him on,
a Dallas basketball legend and a formerNC State star. We just saw
the wolf Pack here in Dallas,in his hometown, playing Duke in the
Elite eight and then beating Duke.It sounds crazy to say all these things.
(19:18):
NC State beating Duke in Dallas toclinch a spot in the Final four,
and to me, there is noone better to discuss this with than
the one and only Spudweb mister Webb. It is great. I wish our
audience could see we're recording this overzoom, this huge NC State banner over
your right shoulder, I see overyour left shoulder. Is that is that
(19:40):
your King's jersey that I see yourSacramento Kings jersey. Yeah, I got
my king jersey. I got mystate jersey back there, so I got
them all back there. So howwas this to see the wolf Pack in
Dallas doing this first time to theFinal four since, of course the national
championship team in nineteen eighty three.Yeah, man, that was well thanks
(20:03):
for having Staman, but it wasIt was awesome because you know inn C
State only, I think we allthey only came here maybe once, since
I, uh, you know,haven't attended school there. I probably only
got all week wearing state's n CState stuff around a lot of my friends.
When I come in the cigar bar, like you went to n C
State, I'm like, yeah,well what packer? And then you know,
(20:26):
to go to the game and seeall the friends, the former players.
I still talked to Derrick Wittenberg aboutonce a week because he's associated with
the school and always keep us formingalumni of players informing on what's going on.
So your NC State career, ifmy math is right, you started
school right after the national championship.Does that mean you were born one year
(20:51):
too late? Were you okay withthat? I mean, how was that
experience to start there in the eightythree eighty four season right after of course,
everybody can picture Jim Valvano running underthe court and seeing the wolf Pack
win that incredible title game upset.Yeah, that was that was pretty awesome
because I don't think I was borntoo late. I went to junior college
(21:14):
and we won a national Junior collegechampionship, and that's probably while I got
recognized. But they wanted like,I don't know what was March, late
March or the first April game againstHouston, and I came in August of
eighty three, so I got tosee all the excitement about winning. I
got to, you know, seewhat the acc was all about. Being
from Texas, when we treat footballlike that like they treat basketball. So
(21:38):
it was very excited to play forJim Volvano. Go to a school like
ath Carolina State, which played nationalTV and the best teams in the country.
Every year you find out really howgood you are. Spudweb, president
of basketball operations for the Texas Legendsin the G League. Of course you
saw him in the NBA for manyyears. There is Dallas's own, a
(22:00):
Dallas legend and a Texas legend joiningus here on ninety seven to one.
The freak when you watch this NCState team? Can they do it again?
Can they actually win this thing?After getting to the final four?
They got to Cinderella going like eightythree team that wonted, so tough task,
you know to a big guy Nickcoming today would have produced. So
(22:22):
I guess Burns have to use thatbig body to keep him at the lane.
With the momentum they got going asthe team can't sleep on them just
because they was the eleventh seed.So what was it like just sitting in
the aac and Arena You've been ina zillion times, but you're watching your
alma mater play and there are otherNC State fans there. I mean I
was driving around the next day afterthey won in the Sweet sixteen, and
(22:47):
I you know, saw fans walkingaround downtown in NC State year, which
is not something you see in Dallasevery day. Just what was that experience
like for you? No, youdon't get to see that. When I
see somebody with the YEC State youknow jersey or n C State hoodie on,
I run right over and they're likewhat once every like Sab made you.
(23:07):
But it was awesome because every daythat they would hear I would go
down there because you know, youwant to see that. You get that
feeling, you know, being apart of something special with NC State was
in Dallas, the win the twogames and the b marquette with Shaka,
that was, you know, ourstand and then be duped. When I
was at in C State, itwasn't a big rival, but once you
know, Johnny Dawkins and coach Kategot there and turned to a different deal.
(23:33):
Right, And look, it isgreat to have you on here because
I'm sure I've told you this before, but you were my brother's favorite NBA
player after what you did in thatunforgettable dunk contest right here in Dallas in
nineteen eighty six. My brother orand I can still see him wearing ponies
because spud Web war ponies. We'rejust a couple of years away from that
(23:55):
fortieth anniversary, which man are weare both getting up there now. There's
a lot of discussion every year aboutthe state of the Dunk Contest, Should
it continue, can modern dunkers comeup with dunks that we haven't seen yet?
When you watch the Dunk Contest,now, what are your reactions?
Well, I rather watch this.I watched the highlights, you know,
(24:17):
and they look more exciting to mewhen you know you watch the highlights.
But everybody, yeah, well youbetter watch the whole thing. It's really
really disappointing that, you know,the guys that are really good dunkers in
the NBA don't participate. Are thebig names, But the best guy that
could ever dunk to me was DominiqueWilkins. You know, he beat Michael
(24:40):
Jordan the year before. I mean, Mike came back and won it.
Dominique wins it. I mean,these are the top guys in the league,
and they're the top dunkers in theleague, and it's just so disappointing
to see those top guys that knowthey have the dunks. You see them
in the game, you see them, yeah, and they're not in the
Dunk Contest. It's just you know, you been an NBA player being a
(25:02):
competitor. You know, you justwish some of them guys, would,
you know, like, I'm aboutto show up somebody. I'm going to
make those guys get in when Ifinished, you know, winning. Yeah,
you're absolutely right. I mean,Lebron James twenty one years in the
league, he's never done it.Anthony Edwards, will we ever see him
do it? And yeah, inthe eighties, everybody did it. I
(25:23):
mean it was just all the greatsin the game did that. And of
course, you know, you MacMcClung is won the last two as a
G leaguer who you know well,because I'm sure you see him a lot
in your role with the Legends.But I remember, you know, we
had him on in December. Iwent to the G League Showcase and I
interviewed him, and he won itlast year. And then as of December,
(25:45):
he wasn't even really sure that hewanted to accept the invitation to come
back because he doesn't want to justbe cast as a dunker. He's struggling
to try to get himself into theleague. But yeah, I mean,
you're You're totally right. It's it'scomplicated and disappointing. And probably the only
thing that can really say it isif the big names come back. That's
the only thing clunk. He's beencaring the last two years. It's unbelievad
(26:08):
when he's you know, not League. He should be the way he plays
up there at the G League.I don't understand why he's not, but
it's Yeah, it's disappointing to seethat he don't get to go against the
best. And I'm pretty sure hea little in this competitive edge. He
wants to know if he really canwin against the best. So like Green
and Houston, you know, likeyou say, and all those guys,
(26:29):
man, you know you, Idon't know what they worried about. They
lose and get scored on every game. I don't know what's wrong with participating
and maybe getting beaten in the dunkhunts. I mean, the all the
guys you beat survived. They didn'tlike losing, but they all survived.
Yeah. Spudweb Dallas Legend all theway from the two one four to the
(26:53):
NBA with a stop at NC State, joining us here on the Saturday Steinnline
on ninety seven on the Freak,presented of course by Panini Trading Cards and
collectibles, which makes even more senseto have you on because I know you
work with Panini as well. Lastthing before I let you go, I'd
love to hear just some of yourimpressions of today's NBA not the dunk contest,
(27:14):
just the actual action on the court. Do you like today's game?
Are there things you don't like abouttoday's game? Just when you are watching
the NBA? How do you takeit in? Yeah, yeah, that's
good Panini. They've always been apart of the last couple of years of
you know, going to signing andsending cards and things like that. Keep
(27:37):
they keep me valuable out there.Yeah, you were they brought they brought
you All Star weekend, didn't theyYou were You were in Indie, weren't
you. Yes, I was inIndie, and uh, they brought me
out to do some stuff. Butuh, they say the NBA game I
watch every night. I watch allteams every night, you know, not
on just because you know the presidenttakes the legends and you know you wanted
(28:00):
to see for yourself. And I'man old school guy. You know,
the young guys that get mad whenyou say they start off with the old
school, but you know it's justit's just tough to see every game ninety
threties down a fast break, shoota three, but analytics say, you
know, shoot more threes. It'sbetter than a percentage of the two.
(28:21):
But we'll see, man. Ilike the way, you know, when
Golden State was winning it. Eitherthough they shoot three, they do pass
the ball to each other. Butit's it's tough to watch every game when
guys just coming down jacking threes.I had a feeling that would be your
reaction. But you are you are. What else do you expect? That's
what you know. Good basketball isall seen. And if I was wrong,
(28:47):
everywhere I go, you know,airport or wherever, every guy would
come up to you and say,I hate the way they play. Now.
The guy's talented, but I hatethe way that players I feel the
same way. Well, I alsohad a feeling that was going to be
your position, because I know youhang out a lot with one of my
all time favorites, Ron Harper,and I know he's old school and even
(29:07):
tougher on the modern game than you, So I'm sure when you guys are
together. He has no shortage ofopinions about the state of today's game.
Oh no, he'd go right in. He go right in, and he
just I'd say, Rod, holdhold up, and he just he just
hates it. And I understand becauseyou know he won with the triangle all
(29:30):
those five championships and then you seeguys just come down jack and ball and
playing one on one and dribbling aroundtill they get a shot. That's probably
hard for him to watch. Allright, sir, Good luck today,
huge one for NC State playing Purduein the Final four to see if they
can continue to Cinderella ride. Noone better to break it down with than
(29:55):
Dallas, his own Spudweb, whoplayed at NC State before making his way
to the NBA. Great to bewith you, always a pleasure, and
again, good luck tonight. Thanksdone. I hope we can pull it
out tonight and tell your brother Isaid, Hi, I will for sure.
You just made his day. Therehe goes, the great spud Web
stick around. One more segment tocome of the Saturday Steinline next here on
(30:18):
ninety seven to one the Freak.Thanks for sticking with us here on the
Saturday Steinline. Thank you to spudWeb for the visit. You're guy Steiny,
my guy Steiny. We've got thatvoice you hear. I know it's
probably throwing you off, because I'veI think this really is the first.
I mean, Chuck Cooperstein and Skinweighthave joined me for shows in the past,
(30:41):
but in studio on a Saturday,it's usually just producer Maddie and I.
But today Brian Demeris of Bally Sportssouth West fame from the Take That
with You pod with Mark Followell.He forced me, I guess I had
to sign a contract that says Iwould mention his for D magazine. I
gotta throw that in there. Ofcourse, you hear him frequently right here
(31:04):
on ninety seven to one the Freakas the radio analyst on the road beside
our very own Chuck Cooperstein quick shoutout to Aaron B and Garland who hit
us on the text line, whichI haven't even had time to shout out
yet. I didn't even have timeto promote the text line or talk about
the talkbacks that were always urging youto leave us via the iHeart app.
(31:26):
Aaron B is saying he's mad atme because on November eleventh, he said
he texted into the show on Novembereleventh and said that the MAVs were the
most dangerous dark horse title contender inthe West, and I swatted that away.
And I think in November I wasright to swat it away. This
team is completely different than it wasin November. Aaron, b and Garland
(31:49):
come on. They have a completelynew look, new identity with defense and
we're gonna get to that here momentarily. But first I actually want to bring
in producer Maddie Brian as well theeclipse Monday's eclipse. Maddie, how are
you rearranging your whole life for theGreat North American Solar eclips I was until
(32:12):
they asked me to fill in fourbit and skin Oh no, But I
was thinking that I would just bringmy camera and while they were talking in
the middle of their segments, Ican just run outside really quick, put
the sunglasses over my lens and justtake a quick photo. Producer Maddie a
very serious photographer when she is notdealing with My hour of nonsense and Saturday
windows here? Can you just lookout the windows? Well? Are I
(32:35):
mean? And didn't you say followwell? Like this is so follow well?
Is my podcast? Partner? Markfollowed them as awesome play by play
voice. He is all in Imean, he has been talking about this
for months and months, and heis going through a major depression right now
because the weather forecaststiny, partial cloudinessearly with scattered showers and thunderstorms in the
(32:58):
afternoon, a chance of rain ofsix percent. I just don't know if
Dallas proper is going to get agood view. It will get dark,
obviously, but the actual viewing ofI guess the crowning or whatever you want
to call that, does look veryminimal. And so those here and those
(33:22):
like Mark Followell. So we actuallyrearranged our podcast taping schedule to go earlier
that morning, Monday morning, sohe could make sure because he's worried about
I guess there's traffic that is beinggoing to be massive traffic issues. But
I'm gonna ask a trivia question forboth you, Brian DeMars and producer Maddie.
The last time that Dallas was inthe path of totality as they call
(33:44):
it, for the solar eclipse,do you know what year that was?
I think that was like like twothy sixteen, No, No, the
path of totality, totality eighteen eightyseven, eighteen seventy eight, eighteen eight.
That's why and you know when thenext one is scheduled for like twenty
(34:04):
three hundred, ye, twenty threeseventeen. So if there is bad weather,
Mark Followell will not be the onlyone who is who is sad and
depressed because this does not happen.Like I said in studio, guests are
rare, but this is like legendarilyrare. Yeah, he Unfortunately the mans
are flying out to play a gamein Charlotte the next day. Otherwise he
probably would have left town and goneto I think Arkansas is kind of the
(34:29):
nearest area that looks to be clear. Well, look, this coming week
is going to be a huge one. Yes, are you even going to
venture outside of your bunker at Stein? Even? Have you know missus Stein?
First of all, Erenstein is theofficial photo editor for my sub Stack
was at the game shooting the gamelast night. Photography is a major part
(34:51):
of his life. So in thesteinhousehold, the eclipse is big. We've
got the glasses, we're ready toyou know, we're ready, definitely looking
forward to this thing. But nextweek is a huge week for this show,
no matter what, even if theeclipse is dampened by weather conditions.
I just want to remind everybody.Next Saturday show will be a live remote
(35:14):
who only the second in show history. We will be at our J.
Duke Sports Cards in McKinney. Weare going to be in the throws in
the heart of the collectible's world.Allow an hour of the Saturday Steinline live
from McKinny, and there are goingto be some great giveaways associated with this.
(35:36):
Stay tuned to my Twitter this comingweek. There will be detailed announcements.
I want to make sure I getit right, so follow my Twitter
because there will be a big Paninicard giveaway. With any technological luck,
there will be a card break onthe air, my first ever live card
break, so it's going to beI would love for anyone who listens to
(36:00):
this show and anyone who loves thesports card world, come out to McKinney
hang out with us. I'm gonnastay after the show to talk MAVs playoff
situations and prognostications with anyone who wantsto hang out and talk hoops. Come
hang out with us at r JDuke's Sports and some are going to ruin
(36:21):
those cards if you do that.No, no, man, I am,
I believe me. I love mycollectibles. I am psyched. Let's
we need to spend our remaining timein this show that has gone by way
too quickly. Let's talk MVP,one of your favorite subjects. I know
you you make anyone you know.Read your recent piece in d magazine where
you you know so, uh,what's the word I'm looking eloquently? No,
(36:45):
I was not looking for. Iwas not looking for eloquently. So
for so doggedly and passionately, asyou know, campaign for Luca to win
the MVP of I don't write theheadlines. I did not write that headline
the air type case. But yes, so I'm having this conversation with you
because you used to be an MVPvoter before we went to the times where
they don't allow that, and thenyou have decided, even in your career,
(37:07):
where everybody should be subscribing to theMark Markstein dot substack newsletter, get
there now and do that. Butthis is a narrative award. Sometimes they
like shining you toys. You know. I hate the argument of best player
on best team. I think that'sa lazy argument. I think that winning
(37:30):
record would look when Russell Westbrook wonit, they were a sixth seed.
They were forty seven forty eight winssomething like that Nikola Jokis's first one forty
nine wins. Sixth seed. Thisteam now looks to be the fifth seed
that could even become the fourth seed. Fifty wins is very much in sight.
(37:50):
I think the winning record argument isout the window for Luca. You
look at the injuries this team suffered. What he did carrying him through December
and January. He has two Playerof the Month awards. Jason Tatum has
two. Those are the only twopeople with on some awards. I think
we can agree Tatum is not inthe top tier of discussion. You've written
(38:12):
about that player of the week awards. Luca has four, Embiid has three,
Jalen Brunson has three, and Biidis not eligible. Brunson doesn't seem
to be in that top tier discussion. No one else in the top tier
discussion has more than two Player ofthe Week awards. He has four.
No one, only one other playerever has four straight thirty point ten assists
(38:34):
months in a row. He hasthat no one has ever gotten thirty three,
eight and eight in the NBA.He is now looking to go thirty
four, nine and nine he's doinghistoric things. He's making the difficult look
easy, and I think that heyou know Tim Bontemps, who does the
straw pole, which is very ifyou look back at it, really is
closely resemble where the thing ends up. Especially his final poll which just came
(38:59):
out. Luca has one first placevote. It's I don't understand it.
I need you, as a formernational voter, to give me the national
You know your colleagues, what istheir thinking? Here's my candidate answer.
I was very surprised. I don'tknow that I can explain it. I
thought it would be closer. Ithink Jokic is still the favorite, but
(39:19):
I don't know why the disparity isso wide. The only knock, the
only flaw or potential issue in Luca'sMVP case that you could point to was
the team's success component, even thoughin a lot of ways that wasn't fair
because what is I think five offive key Mavericks not named Luka Doncic have
(39:43):
each missed more than twenty games thisseason, so they've faced a ton of
injuries. But now the team's successcomponent is really gone. Provided that the
MAVs get that three and two finish, you said it in the first segment.
A three and two finish guarantees theMAVs finish in the top six.
Guarantees they avoid the plan, butit also guarantees a fifty win season.
In my experience, voters don't talkabout seeding fifth seed, six seed,
(40:07):
seventh seed. The reason fifty winswas always a thing for voters. Historically
speaking, you had to go backto the early eighties. Moses Malone in
Houston was the last MVP from anon fifty win team before Westbrook won it
in twenty seventeen. But using theWestbrook example or using the Jokic example,
(40:31):
they don't really work because every yearis a year or two itself, and
the competition those guys faced is differentthan what Luca faces now, Tatum Giannis,
those are not the issues for LukaDonciets. But he's got to beat
out Jokic, and he's got tobeat out Sga, and those are two
guys who also have very strong cases. That's Luca's issue. But I'm with
(40:52):
you for all the reasons you saidLuca should, I mean he this should
be a much closer race it is, and I don't know why his numbers
are tangibly better than SGA's across theboard. SGA's at like five rebound,
six assists thirty one points. That'snot even close. But the number okay,
but the number that gets left outon SGA. They were a tenth
(41:13):
seed last year and they're in themix for number one seed, and he's
the leader. If Luke, ifyou just swapped positions, if you just
put Luca on Oklahoma City, theywouldn't be as good that but you don't.
That's I never I've never done that, like take this guy off,
swap like I don't want. I'mjust saying we could make a fifteen we
could make We could list Luca's caseand it can go ten, fifteen to
(41:35):
twenty points deep. We can dothe same for SGA and Jokic. They
both have absolutely and again it isnothing to go from where the thunder was
to contending for the top seed inthe West. That's what spark, that's
what jumps off the page in hiscase as much as anything. Yeah,
and I'm gonna be clear, I'mnot one of these that has to drag
(41:55):
down other players to promote your player. I'm making Luke case if SGA or
Jokich wins, they're very deserving ofit. Having said that, I don't
as you mentioned, you know,you lived in this world for a long
time. You still live in thisworld. These national writers who may not
watch teams as closely as we dohere in Dallas, to have one first
(42:19):
place vote now at this point shockingbecause, like I said, I was
shocked that the straw pole was stillso heavily in Yokic just favor. I
thought that I thought it would bemuch closer. I thought, you know,
to me, Luca has jumped asecond for sure. I thought it
would be much closer. And Ido think if the MAVs get to fifty
wins like Luca, it should bevery It should be close. Vote Jokic
(42:44):
if you want to. The thingis, there is no they there.
We don't know it. It's notlike one hundred voters get on a conference
call in Hashet. So tell me, tell me about part of it.
So you win, is your ballotsent to you? And when is it?
As far as I know, andunfortunately, we're like we're almost up
against here, but ballots of noteven gone out yet as I understand it,
ballots will go out this week maybeas early as Monday. So that's
(43:05):
a good news because voting hasn't hadthere's no early voting. Voting has not
started, and voting ends on Aprilfifteenth. April fifteenth is tax Day,
the day after the season end,day after the season ends, and man,
guys, we have to end itthere. That does it for a
rapid fire, way too fast editionof the Saturday Steinline. Brian Demas thank
(43:28):
a bazillion for coming and being ourin studio guest, and remember everyone,
next week's show is going to beepic, live in McKinney at RJ Dukes
Sports Cards. It's going to befantastic. Mass play host of the Rockets
tomorrow afternoon here on the Freak,and next up it's VSENT Sports Map Radio
Welcome to the Seinline with Mark Stein, presented by Benini Trading Cards and Collectibles.
On ninety seven to one, TheFreak, the official home to all
Dallas Nevericks games, hosted by legendaryNBA reporter and publisher of his substack,
the Steinline. Here's Mark Stein.Hey, everyone, welcome in a very
(00:29):
special edition of the Saturday Steinline.This is quite a rare occurrence, not
as rare as the Great American Eclipsethat looms Monday that everyone is excited about
it. Not that rare, butstill pretty rare. We don't often have
an in studio guest to join me, but today we do. And MAVs
(00:53):
fans know him well. You seehim on the pre and postgame show on
BALI Sports West, You see andhear him on the Take That Witch You
pod with Mark Followell that is weekly, and most importantly, you hear him
right here on ninety seven to one. The Freak often the road analyst away
(01:19):
game companion of Chuck Cooperstein, theradio voice of the MAVs Brian Demris in
studio, took a detour from theMAVs bandwagon amid this thirteen and two surge,
and he is he's gonna be withme all afternoon. We've got a
guest spot as well from the legendarySpudweb. But Brian de maris welcome in
Steinlein legendary reporter. Did you writethat yourself? There's a finn line between
(01:44):
legend and has been honor to bein the steinline. Finally, after all
this time, you'll let me bein studio. I prefer co host to
guest tonight. Fine, you areyou are? You are officially co host.
You forgot D magazine writer as well. Just go to Mark Cuban's Twitter
account. It's pinned right to thetop my latest article. We'll get into
that topic. We're gonna say that. We're gonna save that for segment three.
(02:07):
We got it, I mean thisteam, I mean I want to
get your take. You watch themas close as anyone. But you know,
I liked the trades, but Icertainly didn't see a thirteen and two
surge with the league's best defense.And now the possibility, I mean,
number four, the four seed inthe West is realistically it's mathematically possible,
(02:28):
not realistically possible, but number fouris still in play. They're probably gonna
end up five. I mean thisteam is it is on a remarkable surge.
Is any want a hand ringing overthe pick swap for Gafford? I
talked to I was in New Yorkthe night of the trade, and there
was a major ESPN reporter I won'tmention his name, but a former core
(02:50):
horter of yours that was like,this is so stupid. How do you
trade a pick swap for a backupcenter? Don't they know in twenty eight
if things go south that they're gonnaneed that pick in that fear based thinking.
I was just like, I wastelling them, like, that's just
not the way you think about this. But so many people, especially at
a national level, were just wringingtheir hands, And it struck me when
(03:13):
I was watching the game last night, the starting lineup were all players that
were not on this roster fourteen monthsago, Kyrie Irving in the trade deadline,
Jones the fifteenth player signed on aminimum deal because you couldn't get Matisse
tible Exem brought from Serbia at partisanwith I think just a bit over minimum
(03:34):
sign in his deal, and thenyour two trade deadline acquisitions. So why
is this team so different from theteam that collapsed last year, and why
was this team able to win agame that Luca didn't play, which,
oh, by the way, duringthis thirteen and two, they're thirteen and
one when Luca plays. It's becauseof these new pieces and the pieces they
were up around. You don't puntseasons when you have a superstar. And
(03:57):
they were able to go get aplayer like Gafford who fits the vertical game
like Lively that they want to play, and Lucas said, I've been looking
for this kind of guy for threeyears and they went and got a guy
in Washington who they think, youknow what, He's got the talent and
the skills. If I can puthim in my scheme and fit in with
my thing and get open looks fromthe corner and oh, by the way,
(04:20):
he's starting to hit him like hedid last night, then he's going
to excel. And I'm going tobuy low on that. And they're both
twenty five. That's smart team buildingand kids has built the right schemes on
both ends of the floor with thosepieces. Yeah, look, I think
the risk factor is still there.I mean, nobody's thinking about it right
(04:40):
now because things are going so well. There is still a risk factor here.
Because the trade costs, you can'tget around it. It was high
in all these cases. But forwhere this team was as bad as things
that they're as poorly as things movedin year one after Jalen Brunson was lost,
(05:00):
and look, the MAVs have toput their hands up. You know,
they put themselves in that situation.But again I did not expect.
I knew Gafford was gonna help.I knew PJ. Washington would help.
They have. I mean, theyfit in amazingly well based on the evidence
of these last fifteen games. Andnow that national chatter that you talk about
(05:21):
is completely flipped. Now all thesesame doubters, Nashally the Mavericks. Every
morning, all the talk is thisis the team nobody wants to see.
This is the biggest threat in theWest to Denver, and it very well
might be. And look what they'vedone on the defensive end. You know
better than anybody Jason Kidd wants,yes, that to be a focal point.
(05:44):
And the reason it wasn't earlier isbecause he was playing with the roster
he head. I wrote an articlelast year saying we should just lean in
to being the James Harden Rockets,who just shot threes and spread it out,
because that's the personnel you had atthat time. Now he's got the
personnel to the defense. Here arethe defensive numbers since the trade deadline.
There's seventh in defensive rating during thisfifteen games stretch of when they're thirteen to
(06:08):
two, which is right after thatIndiana game. Number one in defensive efficiency.
Why because they have rim protection whenLively's in there. They have rim
protection for forty eight minutes if theywant to play that way. In blocks
during this stretch. Fifth, opponent'spointing the paint. Fourth. Remember the
Toronto game earlier in the season whenSiakam had thirty one of his thirty two
(06:30):
points in the paint and his otherone was a free thirst two Sacramento games,
did miss a shot inside against front. There's a layup line. And
now it's not just block shots,but it's adjusting shots. That's those two
Sacramento games. They were packing thatpaint. Fox couldn't get where you wanted
to go. Sabonus couldn't get whereyou wanted to go. There the rim
protection is there, and then that'sturning defense into fast break opportunities. They're
(06:51):
pushing the pace they're added, they'veadded that element. They already know what
they have in the half court whenwhen Luca can do what he wants to
do. So, you know,you go back to that Indiana team meeting.
I was doing postgame on TV,and as you know, because you've
done that with me as well,you get Jason Kidd minutes into it,
(07:14):
he'll come on and we'll air himand then we'll get a player interview.
We had nothing. We had noplan interview, We had no coach interview.
Never in my five years doing TV, we ever had that on our
forty minute postgame show. Because theyhad that meeting and it wasn't players only
meeting. Kid was in there.Kid spoke, Kyrie spoke, Markkeith Morris
spoke. And you can go oneof two ways when that happens. The
teams can crater after something like that. But they responded and they've gone on
(07:36):
the streak because Kid has the relationshipswith his key players and they believe in
him, and they believe in theirleadership and what Kyrie's brought. Kyrie's not
just a fourth quarter score. He'sbringing leadership on and off. You know
what impressed me most about last nightwas after PJ. Washington made that bucket
there with three seconds left or whateverit ended up being, you could see
(08:01):
Kyrie going one stop, one stop, don't celebrate, We need to get
one stop. That's the leadership hehas brought. And Tim Hardaway told me
on this very station and an interviewafter one of the games during the road
trip that when he was struggling,he got the confidence from Kyrie who came
up to him when he got tointo free throw and said, I believe
in you keep shooting, brother,and he said that helped me get through
(08:22):
it. Well. The part thatstood out to me on that play was
that was probably the best pass we'veever seen Tim Tim Hardaway Junior make,
and Can had great ato calls,and that was obviously brilliantly drawn up and
brilliantly executed. Yeah, I mean, everybody knew they were gonna blitz Kyrie.
They were not going to let KyrieIrving beat them and force the ball
(08:43):
out of Kyrie's hands. Gets toTim Hardaway Junior. Everyone in the building
thought he was going to take thatpull up and he finds PJ. Washington.
PJ. Washington gets the game winninglayup. That was taken away from
him in Cleveland when Max Struse hitthe sixty foot or MAV's analyst Brian to
Maris are in studio guest again,I can't and we've I mean, Chuck's
(09:03):
done in studio with me once,I think, but we're not. We
don't get many in studio guests onthe Saturday steinline. This is this is
big, And I'm glad you citedsome of those things about Jason Kidd because
one of the things that bothers me. In year one, when this team
had a top ten defense with largelythe same players who were on Rick Carlile's
(09:26):
last Mavericks team, the roster didn'tchange that much. Jason Kidd and Shaun
Sweeney got this team to the topten in defense fifty two wins. I
didn't hear much coaching praise that season, and things are going so well now
and I'm still not hearing very much. And this team only needs a three
and two finish now for the secondfifty win season in three years. And
(09:52):
most of all, and you know, I was at the front of the
line doubting whether Luca and Kyrie wouldfunction well as a duo. I had
my doubts. After the three yearcontract extension that the Mavericks gave Kyrie worth
one hundred and twenty million, theirpartnership has flourished. People now talk about
them as one of the most dangerousduos in the league. And again there's
(10:15):
a coaching element there too. Youknow, Jason Kidd has made that thing
work when a lot of people saidit would never work. So the MAVs
right now have a lot of goodstuff going. Yeah, and I think
people discount, like I mentioned earlier, the relationships you have with your key
players. You know, Luca listensto Jake Kid, Kyrie listens to Jake
Kid, listens to Nico, andyou know he has the pulse. He
(10:37):
told me during the road trips hedidn't put too much pressure on this team
in those Sacramento games. As hugeas those games were, this is a
loose team. I had a playertell me during the trip, this is
the loosest team I've ever been on. You know, you see him jack
and off these these crazy shots inthe in the pregame warm ups, but
even shoot arounds, you know,they're just that doesn't mean they don't work
hard. You know. It's likewith Dirk's fluff. He was no cell
(11:01):
phones in the locker room. Youget there early, you stay late,
you do your work. But itdoesn't have to be this tense atmosphere.
We can stay loose. And sonow as we look what's ahead, I
guess there's questions on the standings andkind of where you want to you know,
do you want to position yourself ina certain way. Do you just
try to win as many games aspossible. Do you try to get some
(11:22):
rest down the stretch? Because thisteam now is the magic number is three
for the sixth seed. They winthree more games, three and two down
the stretch, they get the sixthseed. They can avoid the plan and
they get the division, which ishelpful for tiebreaker situations. Four is the
(11:43):
fifth seed. Okay, Now,if they want to get to the fourth
seed, they don't control their owndestiny. They got to get some losses
from the Clippers. There, where'syour mindset? Do you think that MAVs
fans should be jockeying for opponents oris the top three so jumble that you
know what, just just go thereand we'll take the Clippers. Well,
then, summingly says that the mapsare gonna end up fifth. The third
(12:07):
act of Luca versus the Clippers.I think that is the most likely scenario
if it was possible to manipulate things, I think you would want to be
sixth on the presumption that if Denveris going to win the West, and
that's saying we don't know Denver Minnesota, Okac, we don't know how that
shakes out. If you assume Denverwins. I mean they're separated by Minnesota.
(12:31):
Denver tied, okay, one gameback. Yes, I don't think
you can manipulate play in the cityin the last game of the year,
which could have implications for them.If you knew Denver was going to be
one, I think you would definitelywant to be six because you want to
you want to avoid the Nuggets foras long as you just said, I
don't think we're gonna know. Ithink And there has been so much fluck.
(12:54):
That's been one of the most amazingthings to me about this late part
of the season. There's much fluctuation. I didn't I thought six was the
MAVs ceiling, and again five isthe most likely ceiling. Four they would
need help because the Clippers hold thetiebreaker and the clip Clippers have won a
few games here lately, but fouris still mathematically possible. I didn't see
the MAVs being able to jump thathigh, but you look at the West
(13:16):
and the Lakers could still move up. The Kings look like they're on the
way down. The Suns have respondedto They lost to San Antonio, which
was the only easy game left ontheir schedule, and they've been great since
four and one with wins over qualityteams. So this thing is changing night
tonight tonight. I think the MAVswill try to find some rest opportunities.
(13:39):
Let's not forget Kyrie Irving has playedtwenty eight consecutive games, his longest run,
I mean in eight years. Yeah, eight years. So it's like
we're not you know, this isn'ta Cal Ripken or Ac Green situation just
yet, but it's a lot.It is a long run, and I
think the MAVs, given their druthers, they would like to find a little
bit of rest for Kyrie if that'spossible in the next week. As far
(14:01):
as Luca, nothing official yet onhis status for Sunday. The sense I
got yesterday was there was optimism andhope that he will be able to play
in the matinee tomorrow against Houston.The kid told me years ago when he
was a player that when you playa two thirty game, that's like a
(14:22):
back to back on your body.So this team is essentially playing a back
to back to back. So it'sit's really hard. The legs are going
to be really heavy. You sawthe legs heavy Thursday night coming out.
Luca obviously couldn't play yesterday. Butyou know, when we look at what's
ahead, listen the Clippers and wedon't know what Kauwai's injury. He's day
(14:43):
to day, he's still Kawhi,he's still playoff Kawhi. That's still a
really difficult matchup. And if theyend up five and Denver ends up one,
that might be the on paper worstdraw. But as you mentioned,
the Mavericks are now becoming the sheetteam nobody wants to see. Yeah,
(15:05):
I mean, there's no great scenario, but it would be a much easier
question to answer if we knew whereDenver was gonna land, and we just
so, do you think that thisidea, maybe they've got five kind of
locked in and four is a stretchthat we could see some systematic getting rest.
(15:26):
I think rest trump's the small chancethat you could get to four because
again I mean the on the flipside, though, it's interesting Luca from
everything I've always been told, youknow, we're always comparing him to Dirk,
and really they're you know, they'resuch different players positionally and game style,
but one thing they definitely do havein common. I don't think Luca
(15:46):
loves rest rather play, and Dirkhated rest. I still do you do
too. The sixty seven win yearwhen they lost to Golden State, Avery
gave him some rest and he didn'twant it, and I think he felt
like that contributed to him getting offto a slow start in that first round
loss to Golden State. So Ithink Luca is the same. I don't
think Luca wants to rest, butsometimes this, you know, like you
(16:10):
just said, the schedule forces iton you, and you know he's been
carrying a massive load for this teamall season long, back to back.
I think skipping that middle game wasthe right call, and certainly now we
can say so because they actually wonthat game. All right. Look,
I knew this was going to flyby, and that first segment felt like
it lasted three minutes and we've alreadyzoomed through it, so we will have
(16:32):
a lot more MAVs talk and wewill get into the MVP discussion in the
third segment. But the Final Four, the Men's Final Four starts tonight.
NC State plays Purdue in the firstgame, and I don't know too many
prominent NC State alumni, but spudWeb is a local legend. He is
(16:56):
a wolf Pack alumnus, and theone and only spud Web is gonna join
us next with a full preview ofNC State Purdue. Stay tuned for that
after the break here on ninety sevenwon the freak The Saturday Steinline Dribbles on
now Yes, presented as always bymy dear friends at Pannini. Great anticipation
(17:19):
tonight for the start of the Men'sFinal Four, especially after the direct role
that Dallas played in sending NC Stateto Phoenix as hosts of the South Regions
Sweet sixteen and Elite eight. Iowa'sCaitlin Clark, of course, on the
(17:41):
women's side, Caitlyn Clark remains theforemost star still playing in the college game.
Huge win last night for Iowa,but look, there's a matchup of
great intrigue tonight when NC States DJburn Off likened to Zach Randolph, he
(18:03):
duels against Purdue's seven foot four ZachEdie. And to preview this matchup of
giants, we needed to consult witha giant of our own. And yes,
I would say on the Saturday Steinlinescorecard, when you win an NBA
Slam dunk contest at the listed heightof just five foot six, that makes
(18:29):
you a giant, A figurative giantfor sure. So let's do it,
Producer Maddie, Let's go now tomy conversation with the most decorated NC State
alumnus that I know personally. Hedoubles as president of basketball operations for the
local Texas Legends in the G League. Here. He is the one and
(18:52):
only Anthony Spudweb, our next guest. I absolutely had to have him on,
a Dallas basketball legend and a formerNC State star. We just saw
the wolf Pack here in Dallas,in his hometown, playing Duke in the
Elite eight and then beating Duke.It sounds crazy to say all these things.
(19:18):
NC State beating Duke in Dallas toclinch a spot in the Final four,
and to me, there is noone better to discuss this with than
the one and only Spudweb mister Webb. It is great. I wish our
audience could see we're recording this overzoom, this huge NC State banner over
your right shoulder, I see overyour left shoulder. Is that is that
(19:40):
your King's jersey that I see yourSacramento Kings jersey. Yeah, I got
my king jersey. I got mystate jersey back there, so I got
them all back there. So howwas this to see the wolf Pack in
Dallas doing this first time to theFinal four since, of course the national
championship team in nineteen eighty three.Yeah, man, that was well thanks
(20:03):
for having Staman, but it wasIt was awesome because you know inn C
State only, I think we allthey only came here maybe once, since
I, uh, you know,haven't attended school there. I probably only
got all week wearing state's n CState stuff around a lot of my friends.
When I come in the cigar bar, like you went to n C
State, I'm like, yeah,well what packer? And then you know,
(20:26):
to go to the game and seeall the friends, the former players.
I still talked to Derrick Wittenberg aboutonce a week because he's associated with
the school and always keep us formingalumni of players informing on what's going on.
So your NC State career, ifmy math is right, you started
school right after the national championship.Does that mean you were born one year
(20:51):
too late? Were you okay withthat? I mean, how was that
experience to start there in the eightythree eighty four season right after of course,
everybody can picture Jim Valvano running underthe court and seeing the wolf Pack
win that incredible title game upset.Yeah, that was that was pretty awesome
because I don't think I was borntoo late. I went to junior college
(21:14):
and we won a national Junior collegechampionship, and that's probably while I got
recognized. But they wanted like,I don't know what was March, late
March or the first April game againstHouston, and I came in August of
eighty three, so I got tosee all the excitement about winning. I
got to, you know, seewhat the acc was all about. Being
from Texas, when we treat footballlike that like they treat basketball. So
(21:38):
it was very excited to play forJim Volvano. Go to a school like
ath Carolina State, which played nationalTV and the best teams in the country.
Every year you find out really howgood you are. Spudweb, president
of basketball operations for the Texas Legendsin the G League. Of course you
saw him in the NBA for manyyears. There is Dallas's own, a
(22:00):
Dallas legend and a Texas legend joiningus here on ninety seven to one.
The freak when you watch this NCState team? Can they do it again?
Can they actually win this thing?After getting to the final four?
They got to Cinderella going like eightythree team that wonted, so tough task,
you know to a big guy Nickcoming today would have produced. So
(22:22):
I guess Burns have to use thatbig body to keep him at the lane.
With the momentum they got going asthe team can't sleep on them just
because they was the eleventh seed.So what was it like just sitting in
the aac and Arena You've been ina zillion times, but you're watching your
alma mater play and there are otherNC State fans there. I mean I
was driving around the next day afterthey won in the Sweet sixteen, and
(22:47):
I you know, saw fans walkingaround downtown in NC State year, which
is not something you see in Dallasevery day. Just what was that experience
like for you? No, youdon't get to see that. When I
see somebody with the YEC State youknow jersey or n C State hoodie on,
I run right over and they're likewhat once every like Sab made you.
(23:07):
But it was awesome because every daythat they would hear I would go
down there because you know, youwant to see that. You get that
feeling, you know, being apart of something special with NC State was
in Dallas, the win the twogames and the b marquette with Shaka,
that was, you know, ourstand and then be duped. When I
was at in C State, itwasn't a big rival, but once you
know, Johnny Dawkins and coach Kategot there and turned to a different deal.
(23:33):
Right, And look, it isgreat to have you on here because
I'm sure I've told you this before, but you were my brother's favorite NBA
player after what you did in thatunforgettable dunk contest right here in Dallas in
nineteen eighty six. My brother orand I can still see him wearing ponies
because spud Web war ponies. We'rejust a couple of years away from that
(23:55):
fortieth anniversary, which man are weare both getting up there now. There's
a lot of discussion every year aboutthe state of the Dunk Contest, Should
it continue, can modern dunkers comeup with dunks that we haven't seen yet?
When you watch the Dunk Contest,now, what are your reactions?
Well, I rather watch this.I watched the highlights, you know,
(24:17):
and they look more exciting to mewhen you know you watch the highlights.
But everybody, yeah, well youbetter watch the whole thing. It's really
really disappointing that, you know,the guys that are really good dunkers in
the NBA don't participate. Are thebig names, But the best guy that
could ever dunk to me was DominiqueWilkins. You know, he beat Michael
(24:40):
Jordan the year before. I mean, Mike came back and won it.
Dominique wins it. I mean,these are the top guys in the league,
and they're the top dunkers in theleague, and it's just so disappointing
to see those top guys that knowthey have the dunks. You see them
in the game, you see them, yeah, and they're not in the
Dunk Contest. It's just you know, you been an NBA player being a
(25:02):
competitor. You know, you justwish some of them guys, would,
you know, like, I'm aboutto show up somebody. I'm going to
make those guys get in when Ifinished, you know, winning. Yeah,
you're absolutely right. I mean,Lebron James twenty one years in the
league, he's never done it.Anthony Edwards, will we ever see him
do it? And yeah, inthe eighties, everybody did it. I
(25:23):
mean it was just all the greatsin the game did that. And of
course, you know, you MacMcClung is won the last two as a
G leaguer who you know well,because I'm sure you see him a lot
in your role with the Legends.But I remember, you know, we
had him on in December. Iwent to the G League Showcase and I
interviewed him, and he won itlast year. And then as of December,
(25:45):
he wasn't even really sure that hewanted to accept the invitation to come
back because he doesn't want to justbe cast as a dunker. He's struggling
to try to get himself into theleague. But yeah, I mean,
you're You're totally right. It's it'scomplicated and disappointing. And probably the only
thing that can really say it isif the big names come back. That's
the only thing clunk. He's beencaring the last two years. It's unbelievad
(26:08):
when he's you know, not League. He should be the way he plays
up there at the G League.I don't understand why he's not, but
it's Yeah, it's disappointing to seethat he don't get to go against the
best. And I'm pretty sure hea little in this competitive edge. He
wants to know if he really canwin against the best. So like Green
and Houston, you know, likeyou say, and all those guys,
(26:29):
man, you know you, Idon't know what they worried about. They
lose and get scored on every game. I don't know what's wrong with participating
and maybe getting beaten in the dunkhunts. I mean, the all the
guys you beat survived. They didn'tlike losing, but they all survived.
Yeah. Spudweb Dallas Legend all theway from the two one four to the
(26:53):
NBA with a stop at NC State, joining us here on the Saturday Steinnline
on ninety seven on the Freak,presented of course by Panini Trading Cards and
collectibles, which makes even more senseto have you on because I know you
work with Panini as well. Lastthing before I let you go, I'd
love to hear just some of yourimpressions of today's NBA not the dunk contest,
(27:14):
just the actual action on the court. Do you like today's game?
Are there things you don't like abouttoday's game? Just when you are watching
the NBA? How do you takeit in? Yeah, yeah, that's
good Panini. They've always been apart of the last couple of years of
you know, going to signing andsending cards and things like that. Keep
(27:37):
they keep me valuable out there.Yeah, you were they brought they brought
you All Star weekend, didn't theyYou were You were in Indie, weren't
you. Yes, I was inIndie, and uh, they brought me
out to do some stuff. Butuh, they say the NBA game I
watch every night. I watch allteams every night, you know, not
on just because you know the presidenttakes the legends and you know you wanted
(28:00):
to see for yourself. And I'man old school guy. You know,
the young guys that get mad whenyou say they start off with the old
school, but you know it's justit's just tough to see every game ninety
threties down a fast break, shoota three, but analytics say, you
know, shoot more threes. It'sbetter than a percentage of the two.
(28:21):
But we'll see, man. Ilike the way, you know, when
Golden State was winning it. Eitherthough they shoot three, they do pass
the ball to each other. Butit's it's tough to watch every game when
guys just coming down jacking threes.I had a feeling that would be your
reaction. But you are you are. What else do you expect? That's
what you know. Good basketball isall seen. And if I was wrong,
(28:47):
everywhere I go, you know,airport or wherever, every guy would
come up to you and say,I hate the way they play. Now.
The guy's talented, but I hatethe way that players I feel the
same way. Well, I alsohad a feeling that was going to be
your position, because I know youhang out a lot with one of my
all time favorites, Ron Harper,and I know he's old school and even
(29:07):
tougher on the modern game than you, So I'm sure when you guys are
together. He has no shortage ofopinions about the state of today's game.
Oh no, he'd go right in. He go right in, and he
just I'd say, Rod, holdhold up, and he just he just
hates it. And I understand becauseyou know he won with the triangle all
(29:30):
those five championships and then you seeguys just come down jack and ball and
playing one on one and dribbling aroundtill they get a shot. That's probably
hard for him to watch. Allright, sir, Good luck today,
huge one for NC State playing Purduein the Final four to see if they
can continue to Cinderella ride. Noone better to break it down with than
(29:55):
Dallas, his own Spudweb, whoplayed at NC State before making his way
to the NBA. Great to bewith you, always a pleasure, and
again, good luck tonight. Thanksdone. I hope we can pull it
out tonight and tell your brother Isaid, Hi, I will for sure.
You just made his day. Therehe goes, the great spud Web
stick around. One more segment tocome of the Saturday Steinline next here on
(30:18):
ninety seven to one the Freak.Thanks for sticking with us here on the
Saturday Steinline. Thank you to spudWeb for the visit. You're guy Steiny,
my guy Steiny. We've got thatvoice you hear. I know it's
probably throwing you off, because I'veI think this really is the first.
I mean, Chuck Cooperstein and Skinweighthave joined me for shows in the past,
(30:41):
but in studio on a Saturday,it's usually just producer Maddie and I.
But today Brian Demeris of Bally Sportssouth West fame from the Take That
with You pod with Mark Followell.He forced me, I guess I had
to sign a contract that says Iwould mention his for D magazine. I
gotta throw that in there. Ofcourse, you hear him frequently right here
(31:04):
on ninety seven to one the Freakas the radio analyst on the road beside
our very own Chuck Cooperstein quick shoutout to Aaron B and Garland who hit
us on the text line, whichI haven't even had time to shout out
yet. I didn't even have timeto promote the text line or talk about
the talkbacks that were always urging youto leave us via the iHeart app.
(31:26):
Aaron B is saying he's mad atme because on November eleventh, he said
he texted into the show on Novembereleventh and said that the MAVs were the
most dangerous dark horse title contender inthe West, and I swatted that away.
And I think in November I wasright to swat it away. This
team is completely different than it wasin November. Aaron, b and Garland
(31:49):
come on. They have a completelynew look, new identity with defense and
we're gonna get to that here momentarily. But first I actually want to bring
in producer Maddie Brian as well theeclipse Monday's eclipse. Maddie, how are
you rearranging your whole life for theGreat North American Solar eclips I was until
(32:12):
they asked me to fill in fourbit and skin Oh no, But I
was thinking that I would just bringmy camera and while they were talking in
the middle of their segments, Ican just run outside really quick, put
the sunglasses over my lens and justtake a quick photo. Producer Maddie a
very serious photographer when she is notdealing with My hour of nonsense and Saturday
windows here? Can you just lookout the windows? Well? Are I
(32:35):
mean? And didn't you say followwell? Like this is so follow well?
Is my podcast? Partner? Markfollowed them as awesome play by play
voice. He is all in Imean, he has been talking about this
for months and months, and heis going through a major depression right now
because the weather forecaststiny, partial cloudinessearly with scattered showers and thunderstorms in the
(32:58):
afternoon, a chance of rain ofsix percent. I just don't know if
Dallas proper is going to get agood view. It will get dark,
obviously, but the actual viewing ofI guess the crowning or whatever you want
to call that, does look veryminimal. And so those here and those
(33:22):
like Mark Followell. So we actuallyrearranged our podcast taping schedule to go earlier
that morning, Monday morning, sohe could make sure because he's worried about
I guess there's traffic that is beinggoing to be massive traffic issues. But
I'm gonna ask a trivia question forboth you, Brian DeMars and producer Maddie.
The last time that Dallas was inthe path of totality as they call
(33:44):
it, for the solar eclipse,do you know what year that was?
I think that was like like twothy sixteen, No, No, the
path of totality, totality eighteen eightyseven, eighteen seventy eight, eighteen eight.
That's why and you know when thenext one is scheduled for like twenty
(34:04):
three hundred, ye, twenty threeseventeen. So if there is bad weather,
Mark Followell will not be the onlyone who is who is sad and
depressed because this does not happen.Like I said in studio, guests are
rare, but this is like legendarilyrare. Yeah, he Unfortunately the mans
are flying out to play a gamein Charlotte the next day. Otherwise he
probably would have left town and goneto I think Arkansas is kind of the
(34:29):
nearest area that looks to be clear. Well, look, this coming week
is going to be a huge one. Yes, are you even going to
venture outside of your bunker at Stein? Even? Have you know missus Stein?
First of all, Erenstein is theofficial photo editor for my sub Stack
was at the game shooting the gamelast night. Photography is a major part
(34:51):
of his life. So in thesteinhousehold, the eclipse is big. We've
got the glasses, we're ready toyou know, we're ready, definitely looking
forward to this thing. But nextweek is a huge week for this show,
no matter what, even if theeclipse is dampened by weather conditions.
I just want to remind everybody.Next Saturday show will be a live remote
(35:14):
who only the second in show history. We will be at our J.
Duke Sports Cards in McKinney. Weare going to be in the throws in
the heart of the collectible's world.Allow an hour of the Saturday Steinline live
from McKinny, and there are goingto be some great giveaways associated with this.
(35:36):
Stay tuned to my Twitter this comingweek. There will be detailed announcements.
I want to make sure I getit right, so follow my Twitter
because there will be a big Paninicard giveaway. With any technological luck,
there will be a card break onthe air, my first ever live card
break, so it's going to beI would love for anyone who listens to
(36:00):
this show and anyone who loves thesports card world, come out to McKinney
hang out with us. I'm gonnastay after the show to talk MAVs playoff
situations and prognostications with anyone who wantsto hang out and talk hoops. Come
hang out with us at r JDuke's Sports and some are going to ruin
(36:21):
those cards if you do that.No, no, man, I am,
I believe me. I love mycollectibles. I am psyched. Let's
we need to spend our remaining timein this show that has gone by way
too quickly. Let's talk MVP,one of your favorite subjects. I know
you you make anyone you know.Read your recent piece in d magazine where
you you know so, uh,what's the word I'm looking eloquently? No,
(36:45):
I was not looking for. Iwas not looking for eloquently. So
for so doggedly and passionately, asyou know, campaign for Luca to win
the MVP of I don't write theheadlines. I did not write that headline
the air type case. But yes, so I'm having this conversation with you
because you used to be an MVPvoter before we went to the times where
they don't allow that, and thenyou have decided, even in your career,
(37:07):
where everybody should be subscribing to theMark Markstein dot substack newsletter, get
there now and do that. Butthis is a narrative award. Sometimes they
like shining you toys. You know. I hate the argument of best player
on best team. I think that'sa lazy argument. I think that winning
(37:30):
record would look when Russell Westbrook wonit, they were a sixth seed.
They were forty seven forty eight winssomething like that Nikola Jokis's first one forty
nine wins. Sixth seed. Thisteam now looks to be the fifth seed
that could even become the fourth seed. Fifty wins is very much in sight.
(37:50):
I think the winning record argument isout the window for Luca. You
look at the injuries this team suffered. What he did carrying him through December
and January. He has two Playerof the Month awards. Jason Tatum has
two. Those are the only twopeople with on some awards. I think
we can agree Tatum is not inthe top tier of discussion. You've written
(38:12):
about that player of the week awards. Luca has four, Embiid has three,
Jalen Brunson has three, and Biidis not eligible. Brunson doesn't seem
to be in that top tier discussion. No one else in the top tier
discussion has more than two Player ofthe Week awards. He has four.
No one, only one other playerever has four straight thirty point ten assists
(38:34):
months in a row. He hasthat no one has ever gotten thirty three,
eight and eight in the NBA.He is now looking to go thirty
four, nine and nine he's doinghistoric things. He's making the difficult look
easy, and I think that heyou know Tim Bontemps, who does the
straw pole, which is very ifyou look back at it, really is
closely resemble where the thing ends up. Especially his final poll which just came
(38:59):
out. Luca has one first placevote. It's I don't understand it.
I need you, as a formernational voter, to give me the national
You know your colleagues, what istheir thinking? Here's my candidate answer.
I was very surprised. I don'tknow that I can explain it. I
thought it would be closer. Ithink Jokic is still the favorite, but
(39:19):
I don't know why the disparity isso wide. The only knock, the
only flaw or potential issue in Luca'sMVP case that you could point to was
the team's success component, even thoughin a lot of ways that wasn't fair
because what is I think five offive key Mavericks not named Luka Doncic have
(39:43):
each missed more than twenty games thisseason, so they've faced a ton of
injuries. But now the team's successcomponent is really gone. Provided that the
MAVs get that three and two finish, you said it in the first segment.
A three and two finish guarantees theMAVs finish in the top six.
Guarantees they avoid the plan, butit also guarantees a fifty win season.
In my experience, voters don't talkabout seeding fifth seed, six seed,
(40:07):
seventh seed. The reason fifty winswas always a thing for voters. Historically
speaking, you had to go backto the early eighties. Moses Malone in
Houston was the last MVP from anon fifty win team before Westbrook won it
in twenty seventeen. But using theWestbrook example or using the Jokic example,
(40:31):
they don't really work because every yearis a year or two itself, and
the competition those guys faced is differentthan what Luca faces now, Tatum Giannis,
those are not the issues for LukaDonciets. But he's got to beat
out Jokic, and he's got tobeat out Sga, and those are two
guys who also have very strong cases. That's Luca's issue. But I'm with
(40:52):
you for all the reasons you saidLuca should, I mean he this should
be a much closer race it is, and I don't know why his numbers
are tangibly better than SGA's across theboard. SGA's at like five rebound,
six assists thirty one points. That'snot even close. But the number okay,
but the number that gets left outon SGA. They were a tenth
(41:13):
seed last year and they're in themix for number one seed, and he's
the leader. If Luke, ifyou just swapped positions, if you just
put Luca on Oklahoma City, theywouldn't be as good that but you don't.
That's I never I've never done that, like take this guy off,
swap like I don't want. I'mjust saying we could make a fifteen we
could make We could list Luca's caseand it can go ten, fifteen to
(41:35):
twenty points deep. We can dothe same for SGA and Jokic. They
both have absolutely and again it isnothing to go from where the thunder was
to contending for the top seed inthe West. That's what spark, that's
what jumps off the page in hiscase as much as anything. Yeah,
and I'm gonna be clear, I'mnot one of these that has to drag
(41:55):
down other players to promote your player. I'm making Luke case if SGA or
Jokich wins, they're very deserving ofit. Having said that, I don't
as you mentioned, you know,you lived in this world for a long
time. You still live in thisworld. These national writers who may not
watch teams as closely as we dohere in Dallas, to have one first
(42:19):
place vote now at this point shockingbecause, like I said, I was
shocked that the straw pole was stillso heavily in Yokic just favor. I
thought that I thought it would bemuch closer. I thought, you know,
to me, Luca has jumped asecond for sure. I thought it
would be much closer. And Ido think if the MAVs get to fifty
wins like Luca, it should bevery It should be close. Vote Jokic
(42:44):
if you want to. The thingis, there is no they there.
We don't know it. It's notlike one hundred voters get on a conference
call in Hashet. So tell me, tell me about part of it.
So you win, is your ballotsent to you? And when is it?
As far as I know, andunfortunately, we're like we're almost up
against here, but ballots of noteven gone out yet as I understand it,
ballots will go out this week maybeas early as Monday. So that's
(43:05):
a good news because voting hasn't hadthere's no early voting. Voting has not
started, and voting ends on Aprilfifteenth. April fifteenth is tax Day,
the day after the season end,day after the season ends, and man,
guys, we have to end itthere. That does it for a
rapid fire, way too fast editionof the Saturday Steinline. Brian Demas thank
(43:28):
a bazillion for coming and being ourin studio guest, and remember everyone,
next week's show is going to beepic, live in McKinney at RJ Dukes
Sports Cards. It's going to befantastic. Mass play host of the Rockets
tomorrow afternoon here on the Freak,and next up it's VSENT Sports Map Radio
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com