February 8, 2024 • 12 mins
Get ready to ride the high tide of sports enthusiasm as we unpack the Denver Nuggets' hot streak, including a standout victory that will send the Milwaukee Bucks reeling. Feel the energy as we chuckle over Nikola Jokić's 'night off,' which, let's face it, he deserves after dishing out triple-doubles like they're going out of style. But it's not all laughs—Joel Embiid's injury has us swapping our jest for genuine concern, crossing our fingers for a rapid recovery to keep the NBA's electric rivalry alive. Plus, you won't want to miss the inside scoop on Peyton Watson from our insightful chat on DNVR, brimming with the kind of details that'll make you feel like an insider.
Then I'll match Football stars to their NBA counterparts. Shift your cleats towards the fantasy realm where Christian McCaffrey's football finesse meets Jokić's fantasy basketball wizardry for a masterclass in sports excellence. And because we love a good game of predictions, hear my take on the Super Bowl face-off that's got everyone biting their nails—will San Francisco snatch victory, or will Kansas City reign supreme? Place your bets, and let's see if McCaffrey can dazzle his way to the MVP title. It's a week of connections and celebrations in the sports world, so lace up for a full-court press of entertainment in this latest episode.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
All right, everybody, welcome back to Phantom from
afar.
We are going to have a morepositive episode this week.
If you listened to our lastepisode, it was a bit of a rant
about what is wrong with somesuperstars attitudes and maybe
what the NBA is doing about it,but not today.
Today will be more positive.
(00:26):
So we're going to talk aboutthe weekend review for the
nuggets.
They went three and four, orthree and one since we last
recorded with four games, onlylosing one.
And Yokic didn't play in thatgame.
Nice little rest for him.
So does it even count?
No, but they had a nice winagainst Milwaukee.
(00:48):
That was Doc Rivers first gameafter taking over in the
midseason and then two gamesagainst Portland who is not good
at basketball?
So of course we won those, andreally nothing crazy to mention
with any of those games.
I kind of love the fact thatthey gave Yokic the night off in
Oklahoma City, which I know is.
(01:10):
It makes me a giant hypocrite,because last week I went on and
on about how players miss gamesall the time, but this was
Yokic's second game missed ofthe entire season, so I think we
can give him a break, but itwas a little one game road trip,
and so they just told the bigfella he could stay home and he
got a little bit of extra rest.
(01:31):
Now, like I said, there wasreally nothing exciting or out
of the ordinary for the nuggetsthis year or this week, so just
wanted to talk about the Embiidinjury, which was the big news
of the week and obviously wemade fun of them quite a bit,
not only last week but in almostevery episode of this podcast.
(01:52):
And as much as I joke around, Inever want to see players get
hurt, especially the superstarplayers.
Like I mentioned a few weeksago, I really wanted everyone to
make it healthy to the playoffsbecause I thought the playoffs
had a chance to be just anall-timer this year.
So there's still a chance thatEmbiid can make it back for the
(02:13):
playoffs.
Who knows kind of what shape heor his knee will be in.
But I just wanted to put it outthere that, as much as we joke
about Embiid, it is fun to havea worthy rival for Yokecitch and
hopefully he gets better.
Speaking of Yokecitch, ourfavorite Yokeism of the week was
(02:33):
against Portland when Joker putup this ridiculous line of 27
points, 22 rebounds and 12assists and if you watch that
game.
The reason why that's sospecial?
Because Yokecitch will havecrazy games like that pretty
often, but he was kind of goingat half speed and, like I
(02:54):
mentioned, portland's not goodat basketball but still it is
really hard to put up thosenumbers in an NBA game.
And Joker did it withoutbreaking a sweat and so it's
just a fun reminder how good heis and how easily the game comes
to him.
Like we've mentioned before, heis always trying to make the
right play and oftentimes thatcomes with just making a pass to
(03:17):
his teammates.
But the way Portland wasguarding him, the way they were
missing a ton of shots, he wasjust racking up the points and
rebounds and, oh yeah, justthrew in 12 assists to go along
with it.
So it was a fun game to watch.
It was not, I wouldn't say, hisbest game, just because he just
wasn't even trying.
He's that amazing.
(03:39):
What are we looking forward tothis week?
The NBA trade deadline iscoming up on Thursday, which
this episode will be released onThursday.
So by the time you listen tothis, hopefully a lot of the
exciting moves have been made.
I don't think it's going to bea very exciting trade deadline
for the nuggets.
They really don't have anyassets or really the need to
make any moves.
They may make a small move,kind of on the fringes of the
(04:02):
roster, but I would not expectanything big.
But it'll be fun.
I'm excited to see if anyonedoes change teams and kind of go
from one of the lesser teams toa playoff team and that could
kind of help shape not only therest of the season but how the
playoffs go.
The trade deadline is alwaysfun and hopefully we'll get some
(04:22):
fun stuff to talk about nexttime.
My recommendation for this weekis DNVR just had Peyton Watson
in their studio and did anawesome interview with him.
Peyton's been killing it lately.
He's really kind of our young,up and coming potential
superstar really.
He's been playing so well andthe interview was really cool.
(04:43):
He was very open and honestabout stuff and I just kind of
like his attitude.
He's very confident.
He's very well trained with themedia in some of his answers,
but he just seems like he's agood guy and he just loves
basketball.
So I'd love that.
He's not happy with the successthat he's had so far and he
(05:06):
wants to keep it going andhopefully that will lead to him
being a superstar.
So that's my recommendationthis week.
If you guys haven't checked itout, check out the DNVR guys
interviewing Peyton Watson.
It's either a podcast or onYouTube, you can watch it either
way.
And now it's time foreverybody's favorite section.
Oh, there's other teams, wherenot only am I gonna be talking
(05:30):
about other teams, but I'm gonnabe talking about other leagues.
It is Super Bowl week and Ithought I'd kind of mix and
match it here and pick out someof the players that I think are
gonna have a huge role in theSuper Bowl and maybe find their
NBA counterpart and explain alittle bit why.
So let's give this a shot.
(05:51):
First guy up is Brock Purdy,the quarterback for the 49ers,
and I put his NBA counterpart asJalen Brunson.
The reason for this is theywere both late round picks.
Brock Purdy, famously, was thevery last player picked in his
draft and Jalen Brunson in theNBA.
A second round pick is a lateround pick.
(06:12):
So they have that in common.
And then they're both leadinghow should I say once proud
franchises, and maybe they havea chance to win a championship
for those franchises this year.
Obviously, purdy and the SuperBowl is a very good chance, and
Jalen Brunson's got the Knickslooking really nice right now.
So I think Brock Purdy andJalen Brunson kind of match up
(06:35):
well.
Next one, andy Reed.
Now you're probably thinking,oh man, is he gonna match him up
with another great coach andtalk about X's and O's?
No, no, I'm not.
His match in NBA is BobanMarianovic.
The reason I chose them isbecause they're both funny and
(06:57):
commercials.
I know you come here for thehard hitting analysis and you
get it, but Andy Reed was reallymy and my kid's favorite
commercial star this year forthe football season.
He had some pretty funnycommercials with Patrick Mahomes
and especially the one where hetalks about wanting those
(07:18):
chicken nuggies.
That made us laugh every time.
And then Boban, his commercialcame out last year and still
makes me laugh when he'spicturing himself as a NBA
play-by-play guy and just sayshe bounces it, he bounces it, he
bounces it.
Funny every time.
So Andy Reed and Boban arematches.
(07:42):
Next one, fred Werner.
Some people watching the SuperBowl may not even know who Fred
Werner is.
He's actually a 49erslinebacker and he is
ridiculously good.
I would say he's probably thebest linebacker in the game
right now.
And of course he's a linebacker.
So if you're not a quarterbackin the NFL, it's hard to become
(08:02):
a star.
So the reason I matched him upwith Rudy Gobert is kind of
along those same lines.
They are absolutely amazing atwhat they do, but they'll never
be superstars.
Werner great in coverage, greatlinebacker against the run,
just kind of an all-around greatplayer.
Same with Rudy he plays amazing, amazing defense and it's
(08:27):
necessary to win, but it's notthe stuff that makes you a
superstar.
So Fred Werner Rudy Gobertmatches Next up Travis Kelsey.
Travis Kelsey tight end for theKansas City Chiefs.
I've matched him up withCharles Barkley.
Now, the reason I did this isbecause both Kelsey and Barkley
(08:52):
are looked at as two of thegreatest to ever play their
sport.
Travis Kelsey is gonna go downas the best, or at least one of
the best, tight ends in thewhole history of football.
He broke the record for mostcatches in the postseason and
when you break a record held byJerry Rice, then you're doing
(09:13):
something right.
So Kelsey, amazing player,amazing career.
Barkley kind of the same thingOne of the best power forwards
ever, mvp, all time great.
But the reason I matched themup is because right now they're
both probably more famous forsomething other than their
playing careers.
Barkley one of the all-timebest studio guys breaking down
(09:37):
the game.
He's just funny.
The whole crew there on TNT isjust a perfect show.
It's really fun, no matter whatgame they're breaking down.
You gotta love watching the TNTguys.
And then Kelsey obviously hisdating life is the most popular
thing right now.
So Barkley, kelsey matched Nextone Patrick Mahomes.
(10:03):
He is really right now.
I don't think there's anyargument.
He's the best quarterback inthe game.
He's already won a Super BowlActually, I'm sorry, I think
he's won two Super Bowls buthe's off to pretty much the best
start of a career that youcould have.
And with his talent and beingso young, I think it's possible
(10:27):
that he'll be right up therewith Tom Brady and the other
greatest quarterbacks of alltime.
So, with that being said, whocould I match him up with for an
NBA comp?
Well, christian Brown, ofcourse.
Christian Brown was a rookielast year on the Denver Nuggets
and they won the championship.
So if Christian Brown plays 15years, he's on pace to win 15
(10:53):
championships.
He could go down as thegreatest player ever.
Something to think about.
And last, our last match isChristian McCaffrey, the running
back for the 49ers, and hismatch was Yokic.
You know I couldn't go through.
I actually wanted to find a wayto match all these people to
(11:15):
Yokic and you know I could havedone it.
But Christian McCaffrey andYokic, why are they counterparts
?
Well, this year I think theywere the number one options for
fantasy.
Yokic, by far and away numberone.
If you get him in fantasyyou're going to win.
It's kind of unfair how well hedoes in fantasy.
(11:37):
And then Christian McCaffrey,pretty much for his whole career
, has just been a cheat codebecause he gets so many rushing
and receiving yards and then itseems like he scores at least
one touchdown every week, notonly with the fantasy connection
, but also Christian McCaffreygrew up in Denver and Yokic
plays in Denver.
So I don't know.
I think they match prettyperfectly.
(11:57):
Which brings me to my SuperBowl prediction for this year
San Francisco versus Kansas City.
I'm going to go with SanFrancisco, let's say San
Francisco 30, kansas City 28 inwhat will hopefully be a great
game, but I just think ChristianMcCaffrey is going to pull it
(12:18):
out and win MVP.
All right, y'all hope.
You had a great week and wewill catch you next time for
some reaction to the tradedeadline and hopefully some fun
nuggets reviews.
Thanks so much.
All right, everybody, welcome back to Phantom from
afar.
We are going to have a morepositive episode this week.
If you listened to our lastepisode, it was a bit of a rant
about what is wrong with somesuperstars attitudes and maybe
what the NBA is doing about it,but not today.
Today will be more positive.
(00:26):
So we're going to talk aboutthe weekend review for the
nuggets.
They went three and four, orthree and one since we last
recorded with four games, onlylosing one.
And Yokic didn't play in thatgame.
Nice little rest for him.
So does it even count?
No, but they had a nice winagainst Milwaukee.
(00:48):
That was Doc Rivers first gameafter taking over in the
midseason and then two gamesagainst Portland who is not good
at basketball?
So of course we won those, andreally nothing crazy to mention
with any of those games.
I kind of love the fact thatthey gave Yokic the night off in
Oklahoma City, which I know is.
(01:10):
It makes me a giant hypocrite,because last week I went on and
on about how players miss gamesall the time, but this was
Yokic's second game missed ofthe entire season, so I think we
can give him a break, but itwas a little one game road trip,
and so they just told the bigfella he could stay home and he
got a little bit of extra rest.
(01:31):
Now, like I said, there wasreally nothing exciting or out
of the ordinary for the nuggetsthis year or this week, so just
wanted to talk about the Embiidinjury, which was the big news
of the week and obviously wemade fun of them quite a bit,
not only last week but in almostevery episode of this podcast.
(01:52):
And as much as I joke around, Inever want to see players get
hurt, especially the superstarplayers.
Like I mentioned a few weeksago, I really wanted everyone to
make it healthy to the playoffsbecause I thought the playoffs
had a chance to be just anall-timer this year.
So there's still a chance thatEmbiid can make it back for the
(02:13):
playoffs.
Who knows kind of what shape heor his knee will be in.
But I just wanted to put it outthere that, as much as we joke
about Embiid, it is fun to havea worthy rival for Yokecitch and
hopefully he gets better.
Speaking of Yokecitch, ourfavorite Yokeism of the week was
(02:33):
against Portland when Joker putup this ridiculous line of 27
points, 22 rebounds and 12assists and if you watch that
game.
The reason why that's sospecial?
Because Yokecitch will havecrazy games like that pretty
often, but he was kind of goingat half speed and, like I
(02:54):
mentioned, portland's not goodat basketball but still it is
really hard to put up thosenumbers in an NBA game.
And Joker did it withoutbreaking a sweat and so it's
just a fun reminder how good heis and how easily the game comes
to him.
Like we've mentioned before, heis always trying to make the
right play and oftentimes thatcomes with just making a pass to
(03:17):
his teammates.
But the way Portland wasguarding him, the way they were
missing a ton of shots, he wasjust racking up the points and
rebounds and, oh yeah, justthrew in 12 assists to go along
with it.
So it was a fun game to watch.
It was not, I wouldn't say, hisbest game, just because he just
wasn't even trying.
He's that amazing.
(03:39):
What are we looking forward tothis week?
The NBA trade deadline iscoming up on Thursday, which
this episode will be released onThursday.
So by the time you listen tothis, hopefully a lot of the
exciting moves have been made.
I don't think it's going to bea very exciting trade deadline
for the nuggets.
They really don't have anyassets or really the need to
make any moves.
They may make a small move,kind of on the fringes of the
(04:02):
roster, but I would not expectanything big.
But it'll be fun.
I'm excited to see if anyonedoes change teams and kind of go
from one of the lesser teams toa playoff team and that could
kind of help shape not only therest of the season but how the
playoffs go.
The trade deadline is alwaysfun and hopefully we'll get some
(04:22):
fun stuff to talk about nexttime.
My recommendation for this weekis DNVR just had Peyton Watson
in their studio and did anawesome interview with him.
Peyton's been killing it lately.
He's really kind of our young,up and coming potential
superstar really.
He's been playing so well andthe interview was really cool.
(04:43):
He was very open and honestabout stuff and I just kind of
like his attitude.
He's very confident.
He's very well trained with themedia in some of his answers,
but he just seems like he's agood guy and he just loves
basketball.
So I'd love that.
He's not happy with the successthat he's had so far and he
(05:06):
wants to keep it going andhopefully that will lead to him
being a superstar.
So that's my recommendationthis week.
If you guys haven't checked itout, check out the DNVR guys
interviewing Peyton Watson.
It's either a podcast or onYouTube, you can watch it either
way.
And now it's time foreverybody's favorite section.
Oh, there's other teams, wherenot only am I gonna be talking
(05:30):
about other teams, but I'm gonnabe talking about other leagues.
It is Super Bowl week and Ithought I'd kind of mix and
match it here and pick out someof the players that I think are
gonna have a huge role in theSuper Bowl and maybe find their
NBA counterpart and explain alittle bit why.
So let's give this a shot.
(05:51):
First guy up is Brock Purdy,the quarterback for the 49ers,
and I put his NBA counterpart asJalen Brunson.
The reason for this is theywere both late round picks.
Brock Purdy, famously, was thevery last player picked in his
draft and Jalen Brunson in theNBA.
A second round pick is a lateround pick.
(06:12):
So they have that in common.
And then they're both leadinghow should I say once proud
franchises, and maybe they havea chance to win a championship
for those franchises this year.
Obviously, purdy and the SuperBowl is a very good chance, and
Jalen Brunson's got the Knickslooking really nice right now.
So I think Brock Purdy andJalen Brunson kind of match up
(06:35):
well.
Next one, andy Reed.
Now you're probably thinking,oh man, is he gonna match him up
with another great coach andtalk about X's and O's?
No, no, I'm not.
His match in NBA is BobanMarianovic.
The reason I chose them isbecause they're both funny and
(06:57):
commercials.
I know you come here for thehard hitting analysis and you
get it, but Andy Reed was reallymy and my kid's favorite
commercial star this year forthe football season.
He had some pretty funnycommercials with Patrick Mahomes
and especially the one where hetalks about wanting those
(07:18):
chicken nuggies.
That made us laugh every time.
And then Boban, his commercialcame out last year and still
makes me laugh when he'spicturing himself as a NBA
play-by-play guy and just sayshe bounces it, he bounces it, he
bounces it.
Funny every time.
So Andy Reed and Boban arematches.
(07:42):
Next one, fred Werner.
Some people watching the SuperBowl may not even know who Fred
Werner is.
He's actually a 49erslinebacker and he is
ridiculously good.
I would say he's probably thebest linebacker in the game
right now.
And of course he's a linebacker.
So if you're not a quarterbackin the NFL, it's hard to become
(08:02):
a star.
So the reason I matched him upwith Rudy Gobert is kind of
along those same lines.
They are absolutely amazing atwhat they do, but they'll never
be superstars.
Werner great in coverage, greatlinebacker against the run,
just kind of an all-around greatplayer.
Same with Rudy he plays amazing, amazing defense and it's
(08:27):
necessary to win, but it's notthe stuff that makes you a
superstar.
So Fred Werner Rudy Gobertmatches Next up Travis Kelsey.
Travis Kelsey tight end for theKansas City Chiefs.
I've matched him up withCharles Barkley.
Now, the reason I did this isbecause both Kelsey and Barkley
(08:52):
are looked at as two of thegreatest to ever play their
sport.
Travis Kelsey is gonna go downas the best, or at least one of
the best, tight ends in thewhole history of football.
He broke the record for mostcatches in the postseason and
when you break a record held byJerry Rice, then you're doing
(09:13):
something right.
So Kelsey, amazing player,amazing career.
Barkley kind of the same thingOne of the best power forwards
ever, mvp, all time great.
But the reason I matched themup is because right now they're
both probably more famous forsomething other than their
playing careers.
Barkley one of the all-timebest studio guys breaking down
(09:37):
the game.
He's just funny.
The whole crew there on TNT isjust a perfect show.
It's really fun, no matter whatgame they're breaking down.
You gotta love watching the TNTguys.
And then Kelsey obviously hisdating life is the most popular
thing right now.
So Barkley, kelsey matched Nextone Patrick Mahomes.
(10:03):
He is really right now.
I don't think there's anyargument.
He's the best quarterback inthe game.
He's already won a Super BowlActually, I'm sorry, I think
he's won two Super Bowls buthe's off to pretty much the best
start of a career that youcould have.
And with his talent and beingso young, I think it's possible
(10:27):
that he'll be right up therewith Tom Brady and the other
greatest quarterbacks of alltime.
So, with that being said, whocould I match him up with for an
NBA comp?
Well, christian Brown, ofcourse.
Christian Brown was a rookielast year on the Denver Nuggets
and they won the championship.
So if Christian Brown plays 15years, he's on pace to win 15
(10:53):
championships.
He could go down as thegreatest player ever.
Something to think about.
And last, our last match isChristian McCaffrey, the running
back for the 49ers, and hismatch was Yokic.
You know I couldn't go through.
I actually wanted to find a wayto match all these people to
(11:15):
Yokic and you know I could havedone it.
But Christian McCaffrey andYokic, why are they counterparts
?
Well, this year I think theywere the number one options for
fantasy.
Yokic, by far and away numberone.
If you get him in fantasyyou're going to win.
It's kind of unfair how well hedoes in fantasy.
(11:37):
And then Christian McCaffrey,pretty much for his whole career
, has just been a cheat codebecause he gets so many rushing
and receiving yards and then itseems like he scores at least
one touchdown every week, notonly with the fantasy connection
, but also Christian McCaffreygrew up in Denver and Yokic
plays in Denver.
So I don't know.
I think they match prettyperfectly.
(11:57):
Which brings me to my SuperBowl prediction for this year
San Francisco versus Kansas City.
I'm going to go with SanFrancisco, let's say San
Francisco 30, kansas City 28 inwhat will hopefully be a great
game, but I just think ChristianMcCaffrey is going to pull it
(12:18):
out and win MVP.
All right, y'all hope.
You had a great week and wewill catch you next time for
some reaction to the tradedeadline and hopefully some fun
nuggets reviews.
Thanks so much.
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