Tough Cover Show Hour 2: NBA Playoffs and NBA Draft - 04/19/25

Mark Henry Jr. and Sean Barnard talk all things #NBAPlayoffs and #NFLDraft in Hour 2 of the Tough Cover Show!

Episode Transcript

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

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome back to the tough Cover radio show right here
on Talk Sports Gambler.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
We got a lot to talk about.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
We just covered the wide world of sports entertainment WrestleMania
over the first hour be Nick co Coon and Roy Burton.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
Now let's talk about the real stuff. Let's talk about sports.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Hey, hey, I'm allowed to say Chumbernard. Hey, You're not
allowed to come down on wrestling. I'm allowed to make
fun of wrestling.

Speaker 4 (00:46):
But Mark Henery Junior, if I'm going to take this
strong stance of golf not being a sport, you better
believe that.

Speaker 5 (00:51):
Ww Hey, hey, my list.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Here, time out.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Let's be let's be honest about what sport takes more
athletic ability.

Speaker 5 (00:59):
What do you oh?

Speaker 4 (01:00):
Wrestling? I would agree with that. Yeah, wrestling compared to
golf for sure?

Speaker 3 (01:03):
For sure. Yeah, go watch Ray Phoenix. Last, No, I
would agree with that. I agree with that.

Speaker 4 (01:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
No, I'm just joking.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
I'm more than willing I call fake sports all the time.
The Last fan Big Podcast to listen to we sell.
They sell shirts called fake sports enthusiasts that I am
a fake sports enthusiast, but the hazards are real, as
they would.

Speaker 3 (01:23):
Say, and then don't try to sit home commercials.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
But let's get back to the real stuff. Let's get
NFL draft talk. Let's do a full NBA playoff previewer.
We're gonna go to the NBA first. We got our
guy Sean Bernard over here in the Summer League shirt
over there, and let's talk about I think what's going
to be an incredible Western Conference playoffs?

Speaker 3 (01:44):
Oh yeah, I.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Think this year in the Western Conference is going to
be absolutely absolutely awesome.

Speaker 3 (01:49):
For the playoff race first round, all the way through.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
I think I have I grated it out the whole path,
and how many seven game series there are.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
There's a bunch in here for me at So let's
start with the West.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Actually, you know what, let's start with the East because
the West is more interesting.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
Let's push it off. The West will get to the
more interesting one.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
We're just gonna go through the full bracket East and
then we'll go over to the West. We start out
with Calves and the Miami Heat. Obviously Heat made win
the playing game last night. I didn't see a second
of it because I was at the Phills game. Little
play and talk. How about the playing game last night, Sean,
I heard it was great.

Speaker 4 (02:24):
Yeah, that was definitely the best game as far as
like actual enjoyability from a watching standpoint with that Heat game.
But Heat held control for just about the bulk of that.
The Hawks put up a late fight. Trey Young did
some Trey Young things. When you let him hang around,
he'll hit a couple threes to keep you in it.
And that's ultimately what went down. Went to overtime, and
Davion Mitchell became the story getting red hot there. Tyler
Herro played excellent last night. I do think Hero has

(02:46):
had a bit of an underrated season, and I think
he's been really good in the overall standpoint, and a
guy that like, we'll see what he can really grow into.
But to give him a little bit of love there.
So ultimately, the Heat did win. I still have my
dubt about my doubt's about this Heat team. I don't
think either one of these this Hawks or Heat team
could make any sort of playoff noise. But shout out
to Miami they did. Aren't it heat culture lives on
and ultimately the plane is concluded.

Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yeah, I don't think do they win a game here
against Cleveland.

Speaker 5 (03:11):
I don't think so. I think it's a cavswe Yeah, I.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Agree, And I feel like the Calves feel like they
have a lot to prove coming in going to the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
Obviously they had an incredible regular season.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
We'll talk about how much we each individually buy it
when we get probably to the next couple of rounds
here with the with the Calves.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
But I think that they're gonna wipe the wipe the
heat off the off the floor.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
I think if it was the Magic, they could have
got to win in there. If it was Cleveland Orlando,
I would have given Orlando a win.

Speaker 3 (03:38):
But the other playing teams in the East were really
weak this year in my opinion.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
Let's move over to the four or five then, because
I think that's probably the best series here in the
Eastern Conferences. The Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks Pacers home
court advantage and the Bucks. Damian Lillard will be back
here apparently in this series. Is he playing Game one
or no, but he's coming back in the series.

Speaker 4 (04:02):
It looks like it looks like they're targeting game too
has comeback. He's not going to be active today. From
what I saw, at least from the most recent JOMS report,
there really strange situation. I have a hard time kind
of digesting what to do. Like a blood cloud is
obviously not a sprained ankle or a soor knee or
something like that. It's very like whatever the doctors say,
you got to kind of roll with there. It's obviously
a big deal from a PA or from a Bucks perspective,

(04:23):
that you do have Dame Lollard. I was liking the
way this Milwaukee team was looking the second half of
the season, but Dame Loward is a huge part of
that team, so it will be interesting to see how
much he's there. I think with or without Dame, I
still lean towards this Indiana Pacers team that I do
think that defensively they've been miles better than I thought
was possible this season. Tyrese Halbert and planklet himself down
the second half of the season. But we're not going
to see Dame Lollard today. And I do think the

(04:44):
Pacers set the tone getting the win the Pacers.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
I don't think people realize that the Pacers won fifty
games this year.

Speaker 5 (04:51):
Yeah, they're good.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
They had a good year.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yeah, this is a legitimately good team. I feel like,
especially down the stretch, I think they've been better. I
know Haliburton especially has really really taken off down the stretch.
But this is a team that started at ten and
fifteen and won fifty games. So you look at just
the last since the first twenty five games, you take

(05:14):
them out, they're forty and seventeen in their last fifty
seven games. Like, in my opinion, this is the third
best team clearly in the Eastern Conference. If and I
know we're gonna get to the Knicks. You hate the Knicks,
and I'm not as believing in the Pistons as you,
but I kind of I'm with you on the Knicks

(05:34):
and your points on them. If this was Knicks Pacers, yeah,
I'd be picking Pacers in five maybe, Like, I think
that'd be a terrible matchup for the next as we
saw last year.

Speaker 3 (05:43):
Even I know they had injuries, but.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
I think the Pacers just they have so much more
depth than the Knicks too to rely on. I don't
think there's that big of a gap between Brunson and Haliburton,
when Halliburton is this version that we've seen. The weird
thing about Haliburton is he's so much more inconsistent. His
peak might be better than Bronston.

Speaker 4 (06:03):
Honestly, he's frustrating to me for that exact reason, like
because you're right, Like, when he's at his best, he's unbelievable. Man.
He can be like an all NBA quality guy, but
then there's nights where he just simply does not have
it and almost looks disinterested out there.

Speaker 5 (06:16):
It's really strange.

Speaker 4 (06:17):
Like that's kind of my concern with this Pacers team,
and like the long haul is because of that very reason.
I don't know if you can look at him as
like the best player on your team if you actually
want to be a championship contender. With that said, like,
there will be nights where he's still gonna be that guy.
So it's a tough situation, but interesting, like how it's
been the reverse of last year, how he faded down
the stretch. Last year started awesome. This year he started slow,

(06:38):
has been terrific down the home stretch of the season.
So we'll see what version of him carries in the playoffs.

Speaker 2 (06:43):
I picked Pacers in seven, almost just out of respect
to Gianness and because Lillard is going to be back, Like,
I think the Pacers win. A more confident that the
Pacers win the series than that it goes seven games,
if that makes sense. If you told me, are you
is it more likely the Pacers win in five or
or that the Bucks win the series? I'll say Pacers
in five or six? But where are you at in

(07:05):
terms of how long this series goes?

Speaker 5 (07:07):
I probably Pacers in six. I could see it going
seven games.

Speaker 4 (07:10):
To be honest, I think Giannis has had a very
underrated season as well, that it feels like it's flown
under the radar just how good he's been, by far,
the best playmaking season of his career, a guy who
has changed up his shot diet, taken out three pointers,
really focused on what he does well. And I mean
the Bucks have followed that lead there, So I'll go
Pacers in six, could certainly see it going seven if
Jannis gets that look in his eye goes on a tear,

(07:32):
which he is certainly capable of doing.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah, I mean the Pacers seven guys in double figures here,
Pascal is their leading scorer at.

Speaker 3 (07:39):
Twenty point two.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
Like maybe Pascal is the kind of second dish guy
you need when you have a Haliburton who kind of
get you twenty and Matherin obviously has taken a step
this year, averaging sixteen a game.

Speaker 3 (07:53):
Yeah, I guess he hasn't taken much. I guess he
averaged seventeen a game. It's a rookie. I didn't realize that.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
But Matherin I think has gotten maybe more reliable night tonight,
a little more efficient here and looking at it, that
surprises me now that I'm looking at that. I didn't
realize that Matherin has basically been the same guy his
entire year in the league. I feel like I've been
looking at his stats all year and thinking he took
a step. Not really, So that's a bad bad point
by me, bad job by May. But I like Matheren

(08:20):
point stand. I think Matherin averaging sixteen a game, shooting
four three is a game pretty efficient. He can compete
on defense. I think he's their third best player. And
then after that, like you still have I love Miles Turner.
I'm a Miles Turner guy. Nie Smith to average in
twelve game Obi Toppin. Obi Toppin's a guy when they

(08:41):
give him like thirty two minutes when someone's out, he
averaged like fifteen and nine, Like he can step up
into bigger roles.

Speaker 3 (08:48):
You love Ben Sheppard. Yeah, I think TJ. McConnell's a
great backup point guard. Isaiah Jackson can step in as
a backup.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
One point six blocks per game in sixteen point eight
minutes per game.

Speaker 3 (09:01):
Like he might be hurt.

Speaker 5 (09:02):
Actually, I think he's I think he's heard, I think
to Al.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's my bad, jarifs Walker does not
get enough playing time to justify the pick that they
made on him. I was actually kind of making fun
of Trill the other day on the playback stream that
I hopped on with them for the playing game, because
he loves uh CMP in the draft it's Murray Calamary Broyles.

Speaker 5 (09:24):
Correct. Yeah, and I hate him, by the way, I don't.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah yeah, And by the way, he's Jeris Walker, but
like less.

Speaker 4 (09:32):
Interesting Walker, like showed way more to me, Like at
the end of the day, like I don't know, I'll
get we'll get more into that from an NBA draft perspective,
because I've heard like a lot of people whose opinions
I respect be all in on this guy.

Speaker 5 (09:43):
I don't see the vision there.

Speaker 4 (09:44):
But to bring it back to Jaris Walker, I've been
underwhelmed because I was a Jarifs Walker guy coming out
of college. I still believe in it, still would like
to believe in him. I'm not selling all my stock yet,
but it is a little concerning at this point that
he has not carved out a niche in this team.

Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yeah it is.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
I mean maybe he's so similar to Toppin kind of
too like that. It's it's weird that they have both
of them on the team. But yeah, I like the
Pacers here, and we'll talk about how much in the
next round Nicks Pistons, and I want some bet between
you and Sam Austrie here. He thinks the Knicks are
going to wipe the floor with the Pistons. You think

(10:19):
the Pistons are gonna win the series?

Speaker 4 (10:21):
Shout up my guy, Matt Cheriko too, who's a Knix creator.
Next guy, he's trying to challenge me to do the
waffle House challenge for I'm not willing to do that
for a team that's a plus three ten underdog. To
stake me staying twenty four hours in a waffle house.
If this was six Ers next, you can sign me
up or something like that. I'm trying to think of
something that's a little bit more fair in that regard.
Certainly we'll be speaking with my bet slips and do

(10:42):
believe that they would win the series, but an actual.

Speaker 5 (10:44):
Like head to head have not come up with anything.

Speaker 4 (10:46):
I like one of the ideas that I was trying
to think we can do something like New York Detroit
something style like that, but nothing has come to mind
just yet. Even if they lose today, I'm still in
on it, by the way, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
No, I'm not betting that game individually. By the way,
I forgot to get I like the UH. I like
the over in UH Bucks Pacers today over to twenty
four and a half overrun DraftKings actually looks like that
just went up to two twenty five and a half.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
I still like it at two twenty five and a half.

Speaker 2 (11:12):
I actually haven't bet it yet, so it will I'll
be getting a bad number there. But you look at
each time these teams have played this year. It has
been a track meet, and the Pacers play that style.
The Bucks get up and down as well, obviously, But
over two thirty seven uh, two twenty nine and two
thirty two and two forty six in their four games here.

(11:33):
In terms of the totals, I mean have two twenty
five and a half. I get defensive titans up in
the in the playoffs, but I don't think it tightens
up that much, So give me the over there. I
don't have anything in today's next Pistons game. I'm going
Nicks and six. I'm not passionate about it. I'm kind
of in between you guys. I think the Pistons give them,
you know, problems at times, but I think the Knicks
probably wins some close games just based on being here before.

Speaker 4 (11:56):
Yeah, I like the plus seven and a half in
favor of the Pistons today. My favorite bet on this
game is the under of eleven and a half rebounds
for Karl Anthony Towns. Twelve rebounds is a lot, first off,
I know he averaged twelve point eight per game, but
I think the Knicks are going to really be caught
in this predicament of play cat the four versus Playcat
the five and Sam Austrey, who's very much a Knicks
guy for this series that do believe the Knicks wipe

(12:17):
the floor with him. Our pushback and kind of fight
here is like for starters, I think like the root
of the issues from New York. And this is not
even just unique to this specific matchup. This is when
Karl Anthony Towns is going to be on the floor.
When you have a creator like Caid Cunningham, they're going
to have Karl Anthony town circled and trying to get
that switch, trying to attack him in the pick and
roll that Caid can either take him to the basket

(12:37):
as Cat underwhelms as a rem protector, or just blow
by him on the perimeter because he can't move his
feet as well. The counter to that and the way
that you defend that is really having Josh Hart be
the guy that switches and kind of avoiding that. But
if you're doing that, that means that you're playing Cat
at the five. If that is the case, I think
Detroit is really going to have their way on the
glass in this game. That's really where I see this
series coming down to. Is it's gonna be the Jalen

(12:58):
Durrance crashing, the Isaiah Stewarts crash, these guys running in
creating additional chances. It's the Karl Anthony Towns problem man Like,
as talented as he is, I really have a hard
time seeing how he creates this advantageous matchup from a
defensive standpoint. So that's my favorite bet of this is
under eleven and a half rebounds for Karl Anthony Towns
today and do like the plus seven and a half.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
I think we see that problem pop up, but it's
round two. I don't think we see it against the Pistons.
But and then I don't want to even spend too
much time here. Celtics Magic, Celtics in five. I gave
the Magic the respect to that Magic have played them
well over the last couple of years, but I mean
not much there.

Speaker 4 (13:35):
Yeah, I'm far closer to Celtics in four than Celtics
and six, I'll say that, And like the Magic overall, Like,
I can't overstate how bad they're shooting issues are there.
Not only are the worst three point shooting team in
the league, they're the worst three point shooting team of
any team in the NBA since twenty fifteen.

Speaker 5 (13:51):
That's how bad they are.

Speaker 4 (13:52):
And what's incredibly frustrating about that is the money that
they handed Contavious called well Pope sixty six million dollars
of this offseason to fix that problem. They don't have
a single player on roster shooting over forty percent from three.
Caleb Houston shoots exactly forty percent from three on a
pretty limited example size, and everyone else is below that there.
So when you're going against the best three point shooting
team in the league, or at least highest volume, when

(14:14):
look at this Boss's Celtics team, I think there's going
to be a pretty significant gap in that one that's
too difficult to overcome.

Speaker 5 (14:19):
Yeah, the Celtics are gonna have any issues here.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
And then we move on to the second round here,
and this is an interesting series Calves Pacers.

Speaker 3 (14:28):
I think it's going all seven. I really do.

Speaker 2 (14:31):
There's part of me that wants to pick the Pacers
there really does. But I do think donmvan Mitchell is
the best player in that series and will step up
enough in Game seven situation to win them. But I
think the Pacers at take two or three at home,
maybe steal one on the road if they take two
at home. But I think this is going to go deep,
and the Pacers have the depth I think to kind

(14:52):
of give the Cavs problems. So Calves and seven, But
I'm closer to Pacers than seven than Calves and six.

Speaker 5 (14:58):
Yeah, I'm Calves in six in this one.

Speaker 4 (15:01):
I do think like Evan Mobley for starters, is like
the ideal guy to guard Pascal Siakam that I love
that matchup there, which is gonna be something they're gonna
have to fight with. I just do think Donovan Mitchell
is good, like a playoff riser type guy that is
hungry for this and I kind of like that there's
this chip on the shoulder for this Cavs team. They've
won so many regular season games and have been the
best team in the Eastern Conference from start to finish.

(15:21):
But you hear the way that people talk about them,
and so do they, So I think there's gonna be
a pretty like I guess, like, you know, an edge
to them that we might not have seen with this
Cavs team. The Pacers are good, they'll give them a battle,
but I do think it's Caps and six.

Speaker 2 (15:34):
I think there's nobody believes in us with the Pacers too, though.
Sure Pacer made it to the Eastern Conference final last
year and they won fifty games. They're forty and seventeen
in the last fifty seven. I think they feel like
they're they're just as good as this Cavs team, and
they've been here before, so I I really I think
when the time comes and if the Pacers looked good
beating the Bucks in the first round, fair I'm gonna

(15:56):
be I'm gonna end up like picking the Pacers and
getting in on it, probably taking like a plus four
hundred or whatever it'll be. But I do think the
Pacers could could beat the Cavs. I do believe that
Celtics Knicks. I'm tempted to say Celtics in four. I
gave Celtics in five, but you have Celtics Pistons. Where
are you going there?

Speaker 4 (16:14):
Yeah, Celtics pistons. I'll still go Celtics in five. That
I do think like my Pistons belief, like I think,
as everyone can read, this point is pretty directed on
the matchup with this next team and the skepticism with
this Knicks roster. Overall, the Celtics are the defending champions,
will have the clear Cup best probably two.

Speaker 5 (16:31):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (16:32):
I don't think Caid's better than Jalen Brown yet or
throw in that mix. Probably so probably the best two
players on the floor. At the bottom line is I
don't see ways where the Pistons can create these same
advantages against the Celtics.

Speaker 2 (16:41):
Acting time out, you asked me you thought Caid was
the better player than Jalen Brunson.

Speaker 3 (16:47):
Yep, you think Jalen Brown's better than Jalen Brunson. I do. Wow,
that surprises me.

Speaker 4 (16:53):
I mean, for starters, incredible defense. Defense matters to me,
That's something that is important.

Speaker 5 (16:58):
I do think.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
I mean just I don't think Brunston is like a
terrible defender, though he's not a good one. Fine, I
think he's a fine guard defender, Like I don't think
there's a there's so many worse guards.

Speaker 3 (17:08):
Sure good players that are much worse defenders.

Speaker 5 (17:12):
Is Jalen Brown.

Speaker 4 (17:12):
I'm seeing if he did he make an All NBA
defensive team yet he certainly could.

Speaker 2 (17:17):
You might you might have Jalen Brown took a step
back this year, though he did.

Speaker 4 (17:21):
I I my spin zonder that I think that's more
of Jason Tatum taking a step forward. I would argue that,
like I think Tatum deserves some flowers for like being
clear cut, Like I think the last couple see really
their entire careers. It's been a little bit of this
battle of like Jylen Brown, Jason Tatum, who's the lead guy,
this kind of conversation, even all that last year's run.
This year, it was crystal clear every single night that

(17:41):
Jason Tatum is the guy to me and everything functions
around him. So I think it was a little bit
more of that than anything with Jylen Brown.

Speaker 2 (17:47):
I think Brunston's like a fringe Top ten guy and
Brown's like a fringe top like twenty guy.

Speaker 3 (17:53):
It just is what I would.

Speaker 2 (17:54):
Say, So I I'm definitely and I would say CAD's
better than Brown.

Speaker 4 (17:58):
At this point, I can hear out the Caid and
Brown argument a little bit there My Jalen Bronson point,
which I'm gonna continue sticking to. I don't think he
can be the best player on the championship team and
from an NBA standpoint, and he's very I.

Speaker 3 (18:09):
Don't think any of the three come.

Speaker 5 (18:11):
Okay, yeah, Kate, I'm keeping the door open on Caid still.

Speaker 2 (18:15):
I yeah, maybe if it was like not like a
like a Lebron Luca situation where there's someone like right
at Caid's level, if kid becomes like a top ten guy.
I don't think Kid's ever going to be a top
I guess here's how we should just do it. How
many guys in the in the league right now? Can
you see being the best player on the title team.
This is a this is a detour, but I mean

(18:36):
just sure obviously, ye, Luca, for sure. I think you
still probably have to say Lebron, Yes, point. I would Tatum, Tatum,
Jannis Joannis. Absolutely. I wouldn't go Halliburton.

Speaker 4 (18:51):
I is that it, Donovan, Mitchell, what do you think?

Speaker 3 (18:56):
No?

Speaker 5 (18:57):
No, not for me.

Speaker 2 (18:58):
You know, I'm not in on the cas this year
in terms of that that level. I think he's right.
He might be the eighth best player, the nicest player
or whatever. We have six names right now. I don't
think Brunson. I don't think Halliburton. I don't think Cade.

Speaker 5 (19:12):
Do you think.

Speaker 2 (19:15):
No, Definitely not Wemby definitely. Yeah, that's like a that's
like a future wild thing. Steph obviously, Steph, Yeah, definitely Steph.

Speaker 5 (19:28):
And I would say yes, would you?

Speaker 3 (19:31):
I'm willing to hear it out.

Speaker 2 (19:36):
He's right on the line, though, It's like, I think
that's fifty to fifty to me.

Speaker 5 (19:43):
I would Mitchell Mitchell, I would I definitely mean yes
for aunt who else?

Speaker 3 (19:48):
Why?

Speaker 4 (19:49):
Oh yeah, why for sure Kai? Yeah, and he looks
like Kawhi I gotta say.

Speaker 3 (19:54):
Man definitely does.

Speaker 5 (19:56):
Yeah. Yeah. So it is a short list.

Speaker 4 (19:58):
And by the way, with this conversation, context obviously matters
that the team behind them is very relevant. Yeah, yeah, No,
I firmly believe that is no.

Speaker 3 (20:10):
KD.

Speaker 5 (20:11):
I don't think so at this point.

Speaker 3 (20:13):
I think it might be done.

Speaker 4 (20:15):
But with that being said, though, you throw them on
this Houston Rockets team, I do think that there's something there.

Speaker 3 (20:19):
You don't what something there like Kati going there.

Speaker 5 (20:23):
Yeah, and I think that's a contender.

Speaker 3 (20:27):
I don't think they can win the title.

Speaker 4 (20:31):
Here's my pitch is like, he's not going to be
like the legwork guy of that Rocket team that they
kind of have that with all their pieces that they
have in place, what they're missing is a guy that
just can hit those last shot, can get a bucket
when you need it, which is what Kevin Durant has
been better at arguably anyone ever when you look at
his career here. So I think adding that at this
stage would be an awesome move. That is how I

(20:51):
see things ultimately getting resolved this summer. There's a whole
lot of CBA loops that they are hoops they got
to jump through to make it happen. But the fact
that Houston has Phoenix picks and the fact that Kevin
Rant clearly seems like the breakup is coming, how do
see that happening?

Speaker 3 (21:04):
I don't. If you're Houston and you have such like this,
this young core, do you want to marry into like
a situation where he could so easily regress or like
not be not himself anymore so quickly.

Speaker 5 (21:19):
But they got his shid young guys. Dude, they have
too many young No.

Speaker 2 (21:22):
I agree, I totally agree. But do you have to
almost wait for that to be like when Devin Booker
is available, or when Yannis it has become available, or
like a Haliburton like I don't know who the name
is that could shake free below thirty but doesn't off.

Speaker 3 (21:43):
No, it doesn't. Right.

Speaker 4 (21:46):
That's where I get to like the beggars can't be
choosers here, Like if there's a Kevin Durant available and
you kind of need to get a top end guy
with the pieces you have, you got to run with
that chance rather than waiting for a guy that may
never pop up, so the window of opportunity is not large.

Speaker 5 (22:00):
In the NBA, I think the Rockets have to jump
on that one.

Speaker 3 (22:03):
So there's a lot of Minnesota talk with them.

Speaker 2 (22:05):
But the argument back, I know Bill Simmons is saying
like they have nothing to give kind of and they don't.

Speaker 3 (22:11):
Have picks either, I guess, So I.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
Mean that makes like, that makes that fit makes sense
to me. Like, honestly, if it was just Anton KD
and you got rid of every other valuable piece and
you figure it out replacement wise, I.

Speaker 3 (22:23):
Kind of get it. That's like a situation where it's.

Speaker 2 (22:25):
Like I don't know if Aunt or KD can be
the best player on the title team, but if they
were both on the same team, maybe, like maybe if
the team around it was right. But I I don't
know how he gets there. Every other team I'm seeing
thrown out as a Kevin Durant spot, Like I don't
it kind of doesn't work in my head. Like the
Houston thing, Like the thing that they have is so

(22:46):
many wings, Like I think they need the lead guard
like they need Devin Booker.

Speaker 4 (22:51):
Yeah, I mean, I obviously, if all things equal, like
I would prefer Devin Booker in this context, but I
you can't really be the chooser, I know.

Speaker 2 (23:00):
I think I think the problem with them comes down
to guard play, because I think Shangon's good enough.

Speaker 3 (23:03):
I think the Wings are good enough. You have Easan,
you have Thompson, you have wit More, Jalen Greens, your
question right, Jalen Green and Fred.

Speaker 2 (23:10):
Yeah, I'm not an FVV guy when it comes down
to him being like my lead of the offense, kind
of creating for others, shooting thirty eight percent, and.

Speaker 3 (23:20):
I get they've won fifty two games. The one thing
I'll say is because my buddy.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
Pat Moran, who you know, very passionate about the Rockets,
thinks they're going to win this series against the Warriors,
thinks they are being undervalued, thinks they go to the
Western Conference finals. He has a Lakers future, and he's
still telling me that he thinks the Rockets might be
the Lakers. I think that they don't have a top

(23:46):
twenty five player.

Speaker 4 (23:48):
Yeah, I mean, so Shangun or Greens your case there,
and I like, yeah, Shane Doun, I like a whole
lot more for.

Speaker 3 (23:55):
Sure, Sanmen.

Speaker 5 (23:57):
Honestly, yeah, I'm in the long haul. It is amen.
I do.

Speaker 4 (24:00):
I do firmly believe that, like we zoom forward this
conversation a couple of years. I'man's the best player like
out of what they currently have, but the shooting I'm in, Yeah, can.

Speaker 2 (24:09):
He be like the lead guy or can he be
like a top fifteen player who's unbelievable, but he's like
the second guy to like Devin Booker, I keep coming.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
I think Devin Booker is the perfect fit in Houston.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
I don't know if Phoenix is ever going to pull
a trigger on that or if they be Booker as
kind of like the long term guy they're still building
around before they blow it all up.

Speaker 3 (24:28):
But I think Booker at Houston is like the perfect
perfect fit.

Speaker 2 (24:33):
But uh, and my argument back is kind of like
the Warriors more four less games than Houston. Like I
get that they're the two seed, and like that's like
they're the two seed and they have the seventh best
odds in the Western Conference, and people might look at
that and say, oh, it's so dispectful seventh best team
had four less wins. It's not like we're talking about
this huge gap between the two seed and the seventh

(24:54):
seed because it doesn't exist. So I think we zoomed
past the A series or two there to get to
the Western Conference.

Speaker 3 (25:02):
But we'll get back to that Eastern Conference. Let's shift back.

Speaker 2 (25:06):
I think that was a good tangent, just best players
that can the team, guys that can be best players
on the title team. So Celtic, we both had Celtics
Calves here in the Eastern Conference finals, Celtics in.

Speaker 5 (25:17):
Five, Celtics and six.

Speaker 4 (25:20):
I do give the Calves a puncher's chance, more so
than I think a lot of people do. But yeah,
I would be pretty shocked if it is not Celtics
in the finals again this year.

Speaker 2 (25:28):
I saw Mike Kyoto over on Twitter picked the Calves
the series. I know Trill and Trill is like gives
the Calves a really strong chance.

Speaker 3 (25:37):
I don't. I don't see it.

Speaker 4 (25:38):
I did a stream last night with Adam Ronson from
Philly Voice Six's Adams shout out to him. He said
he would be more shocked if it is Oklahoma City
not coming out of the West than Boston not coming out.

Speaker 5 (25:48):
Of the East.

Speaker 3 (25:49):
I totally disagree.

Speaker 2 (25:51):
I totally totally disagree. I think the West is so
much better than the East and the Celtics are going
only gonna have one hard series, whereas I think the
thunder are going to have definitely two.

Speaker 3 (26:03):
So that's just yeah, that's simple to me.

Speaker 2 (26:06):
But the Western Conference, let's shift gears to the good
Conference Thunder over Grizzlies and four.

Speaker 3 (26:10):
Do the Grizzlies get a game?

Speaker 5 (26:11):
Four? No, I don't think they get a game neither.

Speaker 3 (26:14):
Do I at all. And then the main event.

Speaker 2 (26:17):
I think of the first round Clippers and the Nuggets.

Speaker 3 (26:21):
This open the.

Speaker 2 (26:21):
Clippers were like MINEUS two hundred and the Clippers were
plus one sixty. It's now the Clippers are favored, I
believe on the series price, I wish I would have
bet the Clippers at that plus one sixty.

Speaker 3 (26:34):
But as you know, I've been pushing.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
This Clippers thing pretty strong, and I've been high on
this team and high on their upside with Kawhi. Everybody
knows how I feel about James Harden, who has never
missed the playoffs, for all those who want to continue
to call him a loser, but this is a Clippers
scene that are twenty six and eleven with Kawhi Leonard,

(26:56):
they're fifteen and two in their last seventeen games. With
Kawhi in the lineup, they are every bit of a
title contender. I wanted to bet them to win the title.
I actually wish they would have lost that game against
Golden State so they could be the seventh seed and
play Golden State. I would have bet them, maybe even
instead of my Lakers future that I put in at

(27:16):
seventeen to one.

Speaker 3 (27:17):
But it kind of I.

Speaker 2 (27:19):
Think the Clippers got a little bit of a nightmare
draw here. You have to go four games in Denver potentially,
and then you have to go play Okay, see, I'm
picking the Clippers to win this series against Denver.

Speaker 3 (27:29):
I'm picking the Clippers in six.

Speaker 2 (27:32):
But I'm a little worried at how much the world
loves the Clippers and how much this is me betting
on James Harden and Kawhi Leonard in the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (27:40):
But and.

Speaker 3 (27:43):
Benon, oh well he's not a big bad one. He's
fifteen minutes.

Speaker 2 (27:47):
But if that, I won't he won't look at the rim.

Speaker 3 (27:50):
Scot you're talking about exactly exactly.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
I mean, it's actually not a bad person that I
don't hate it, I guess, but uh yeah, I you
just have to imagine the shots go in. You have
to tell him you have to take these shots as
we have to just imagine they go in.

Speaker 4 (28:05):
I'll take jumpers, Yeah, but give me the Clippers and six.

Speaker 2 (28:10):
I really wish this show shook out differently for the Clippers.
I wish they could have gotten a Minnesota, maybe a
Golden State maybe.

Speaker 3 (28:19):
I mean, I think we saw they matched up well
with Golden State, and I think they match up well
with a lot of these teams.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
But I think the fact that they'd have to go
at Denver at OKC and then potentially at the Los
Angeles Lakers, where their home games will also be road games,
and in the conference finals, that they even got there,
I think it's a little bit of a nightmare kind
of path for the Clippers.

Speaker 4 (28:38):
Yeah, it's definitely not ideal. I hear you with that there.
I still like this Clippers team to absolutely win the series.
I like their other guys a lot more than I
like Denver's other guys. That yes, Christian Brown's great, obviously,
Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Junior, though he's got Aaron Gordon, who,
by the way, looks like he got beat up or
something happened.

Speaker 5 (28:53):
I don't know if you saw that.

Speaker 4 (28:54):
Video of him, why he did his press conferences media
vel but he's got like a black eye, swollen face,
and nobody asked him about it, like what happened here?
But nonetheless, who knows we ever get that story the Clippers. Overall,
Kawhi absolutely looks like Kawhi man, Like beyond just the production,
his movement out there is different than I've seen from
him in years at this point, like, I didn't think

(29:15):
that guy was still in there. And if he can
last a playoff run, we've seen it. He can straight
up carry teams to finals. Say what you want about
James Harden, but that man kept this team afloat all.
Sit No, and you're a hardened guy, I don't mean
that director.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
Do you think?

Speaker 2 (29:28):
No? I know?

Speaker 3 (29:28):
Did you think this guy was still in there? Have
you seen his stats the last couple of weeks?

Speaker 5 (29:32):
Unbelievable.

Speaker 4 (29:33):
I didn't think you'd be this good, And I think
I'm more a little bit positive hardened than probably the
general Philly pulse of it. But like, yeah, I didn't
think he could be this either, So I do tip
my hat and I also been running with this take.
When you hear your thoughts on I think a Vika
Zubach is gonna be the toughest matchup that Jokic has
had from a playoff perspective. The only role counter to
that is Minnesota, who had the Cat and Gobert. But

(29:55):
Zubo's been incredible this season.

Speaker 2 (29:58):
Yeah, Minnesota's right there. It's whoever you want to say.
And I wanted to get Harden's stats here in April.

Speaker 3 (30:05):
And he's been unbelievable. By the way.

Speaker 2 (30:08):
My favorite bet of the day here Clippers plus two
and a half in this game. I love them in
Game one and James Harden over thirty six and a
half points, rebounds, and assists Game one, Harden, you give
Harden like a week off. We've seen it time and
time again, whether it be the first or the second round.
We have the legendary Game one against Boston without Joelle

(30:30):
out there, and Harden put them on his back and
won them a game on the road.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
There.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
I think we see the same Harden and Kawhi both
rested up. And also the problem with playing Denver on
the road is generally like the altitude gets to you.
I don't think that's going to happen in the first
game of the series.

Speaker 4 (30:49):
Yeah, No, I'm an agreement there. I do think we
get a strong, hardened performance today. I like that number two.
That's not bad. And the thing about Harden that's obviously
awesome with those is there will be games where he
just you know, ends up with fifteen sixteen assists and
there will be games where he gets red hot from
three and can put up a thirty spot. I do
think that there is at least one game in the
series that James Harden like basically wins on his own.

(31:10):
There's probably at least one that he's pretty harmful for
the Clippers that he has to either take a direct
backseat or the shots just aren't falling. That's the roller
coast that you get with him. But I like the concept.
I like the outlook for game one, so don't hate
that whatsoever.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
That Yeah, those are probably two of my favorite bets
of the day there, and I like more. I'll say this,
I like the Clippers too in the series. I have
the Clippers in six. I'm more confident they win today. Okay,
then I am that they win the series. To be honest,
I really do believe in the Game one, hard and stuff.
I think we've seen just the rest for him as
like it's a magic elixer, So give me the Clippers,

(31:46):
and then we get to a series that I think
you're going to be surprised on.

Speaker 3 (31:49):
My take on. Okay, I'm scared.

Speaker 2 (31:53):
I'm scared forky Lakers. I'm scared for Lebron. I think
it's such a young kind of athletic team with Anton
McDaniels and not the whole team, but the Wings are
able to throw an.

Speaker 3 (32:07):
Interesting look at Lebron and Luca.

Speaker 2 (32:10):
Compared to the rest of these teams, they might defensively
be the best positioned team to kind of handle this
Lakers barrage. I think the most important player in this
series not to be Kendrick Perkins is Austin Reeves. Is
Austin Reeves going to be this guy that we've seen
down the stretch here with Lebron and Luca where he's
the perfect third guy, and I've been on this. I

(32:33):
think he's the perfect third guy with these guys.

Speaker 3 (32:36):
Offensively.

Speaker 2 (32:36):
Now, there's some concerns about him defensively, and some of
the best teams, I think he can hold his own,
but they have shown like he does get hunted a
little bit when they play elite guards and and maybe
will try to do that. I think the Lakers win
this series, but I think he goes seven games.

Speaker 1 (32:54):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
I think this is going to be a knock him out,
drag down fight, and I think Minnesota is going to
steal game two.

Speaker 3 (33:01):
That's my official prediction. I'm betting Lakers minus four.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
Along the same lines, you give Lebron and Luca kind
of a week off to rest up. Maybe Luca's at
Lebron University in terms of his health hopefully, And I
think we see kind of a fully rested Lakers come
out and blow.

Speaker 3 (33:18):
Them out tonight.

Speaker 2 (33:20):
But then in Game two, well only a one day
in between. I think we see Minnesota win that game too,
and we were like, whoa this is? This is interesting.
I think it goes all seven games. Give me the
Lakers and seven. I wish I kind of wish the
Lakers got a different matchup.

Speaker 4 (33:34):
Yeah, I'm surprised to hear you as concerned as you
are with this series here. I'm still sticking with Lakers
and six. I do think it's gonna be a series,
and I agree with your reeves point. I wrote quite
a bit on DraftKings Sportsbook or DK Network about the
Reeves over two and a half threes tonight, which is
one of my favorite props.

Speaker 5 (33:49):
On the day.

Speaker 4 (33:50):
It is that like kind of magic mix that it
is going to be McDaniels on one of Luca or
Lebron and Anthony Edwards has probably taken the other. That
I think Reeves is the guy that's gonna be the beneficiary,
and that works for both sides of things there, and
it will be interesting when you talk about like hunting Reeves.
I'm curious how Lukadancic ties into here, because you can
only really hunt one guy if you're going out that.
I partially think the Lukadancic defensive concerns they're overblown in

(34:12):
the first place, so there are stretches where he's at
minimum competent defensively. But part of the appeal if I
think team's doing that, is it's just wearing on him, man,
if he's got to carry that much of an offensive
load and then you're going at him defensively and that
just kind of tally's on and you know, spirals in
that regard. I think that's sort of the appeal. So
it wouldn't shock me if like the Timberwolves approach is
more attacking Luca than Reeves, even though like I still

(34:33):
probably would make the argument Luca is a better defender
than Reeves straight up, but I'm curious how they go
about that.

Speaker 2 (34:39):
By the way, I just wanted to because sometimes Basketball
Reference takes forever to populate the twenty one game stretches
or whatever you want to do. James Harden in March
and April, the last twenty two games the Clippers are
eighteen and four. He's averaging twenty six, ten and six
on a steal and a half a game on forty
seven percent from the field, thirty nine nine percent from

(35:00):
three and eight and a half free throw is a game.

Speaker 3 (35:04):
At eighty six percent from the free throw line.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
This is a James Marden we even we haven't seen
since pre sixers, honestly.

Speaker 4 (35:10):
And his efficiency splits by the way pop the second
half of the season. Then he really struggled early on.
He was shooting below forty percent from the field for
a large part of the season. When Kawhi came in
his own and sort of the roster fell in as
designed there his efficiency came right back. And I mean,
this was an excellent season for Harden. He's like a
no doubt all NBA guy in my mind.

Speaker 2 (35:28):
If he doesn't, I might riot, Yeah, I might. I
might ry at the streets if James Harden doesn't get
his respect. And then on the other side, I just
wanted to bring this back again with Kawhi. Kawhi his
last nineteen games the Clippers are sixteen and three. In
those games, he is averaging twenty six seven and three
and a half on two steals per game, almost a

(35:48):
block per game as well, And he's averaged and he's
shooting fifty three percent from the field, forty three percent
from three, and eighty three percent from from the free
throw line.

Speaker 3 (35:57):
That's Kawhi Leonard.

Speaker 2 (35:59):
Yeah, Like that's the guy who terrorized us in Philadelphia
when he was on the Toronto Raptors. So you have
those two guys playing that way, scarous, scary, scary stuff.

Speaker 3 (36:10):
All it took was getting rid of Paul George.

Speaker 4 (36:12):
Apparently, addition by subtraction, as Norman pal said, brutal Warriors
over Rockets in six.

Speaker 3 (36:20):
What are your thoughts.

Speaker 5 (36:21):
I'm going Warriors over Rockets in seven.

Speaker 4 (36:24):
I've given the Rockets a chance in this series, and
the biggest thing from matchup perspective that's going to be
intriguing is when they go to the double big, when
you go Steven Adams and Shangoon, which they've had some
pretty significant success with. I think the Warriors are going
to struggle with that lineup that I don't think Kevon
Looney is like a legitimate option there. Ge Santo's getting
an opportunity, and obviously Draymond is still going to be
Draymond here definitely taking the over for ejections and technical

(36:45):
fouls in the series as well.

Speaker 5 (36:47):
I do think that this is going to be.

Speaker 4 (36:49):
One of those bad blood, bad blood knock them out,
drag him out series, So it's gonna be fun basketball.
I think ultimately, like the pedigree that you have with
Steph Curry Jimmy Butler does make a difference, and the
familiarity kind of chemistry that those guys have built in
such a short period of time is really impressive. It
does feel like they just kind of know where they are,
that Butler has plugged right in there. So I think
ultimately the Warriors, their late game execution, they're kind of

(37:11):
know who they are as a team is what gets
them through the series. But I do think that they're
gonna be rough with Steph Curry. There's gonna be some
games where Steph struggles. It's gonna be a battle.

Speaker 3 (37:19):
Guard play guard, play guard, play guard, play guard player.

Speaker 2 (37:23):
Yeah, it's not March Madness, but I do think in
the NBA playoffs we see it as well. When it
comes down to it, you got Fred Van Vliet and
Jalen Green against Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler. And I
know Jimmy Butler is not technically a guard, but he
plays like a guard on offense.

Speaker 3 (37:38):
And that's the fact that he doesn't shoot threes, but.

Speaker 2 (37:41):
In terms of the way he handles the ball and
drives and kicks and and gets to the free throw line.
I mean, you look at the guy's free throw rate
since he's been in Golden State, which is mine.

Speaker 5 (37:50):
For them, by the way, it's a big deal for them.

Speaker 3 (37:52):
They never really had it. Yeah, and you can bind
the Golden State whistle.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
That they get sometimes with the Jimmy Butler, with that
Jimmy Butler gets sometimes.

Speaker 3 (38:02):
I mean, that is that special stuff.

Speaker 2 (38:05):
And I think he's gonna I have a feeling Sean
the NBA might want Golden State LA.

Speaker 3 (38:11):
In the second round.

Speaker 4 (38:12):
Yeah, I think that's a fair assessment there. That's certainly
gonna be what the league's rooting for.

Speaker 3 (38:16):
They might want to see Steph Curry play Lebron and
Luca instead of Alprin shun Dylan Brooks.

Speaker 5 (38:22):
Still Brooks doesn't fire up May Yeah.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
Cam Whitmore.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
I I love a lot of these Rockets guys, but
I do think when it comes down to it, they're
the deeper team. They might be the better coach team,
but the Warriors have the two best players in this series.

Speaker 3 (38:37):
And it's not close. It really isn't close.

Speaker 2 (38:41):
And I've been a Jimmy hater for a long time.
What a perfect situation for Jimmy to fall into him? Man?

Speaker 3 (38:49):
What an what an a hole for being traded to
the Wark situation. It's so annoying.

Speaker 2 (38:55):
He's just gonna terrorize me until the day he retires.
But him, he's the perfect Yeah. I think he's the
perfect sidekick for stuff.

Speaker 4 (39:03):
Yeah, and beyond just like what he brings specifically, it's
just felt like this entire roster has like settled in
in a way. And by the way, any thoughts on
Kaminga getting completely cut out.

Speaker 3 (39:14):
Playing I get it.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
You're you've been on this though, that you were concerned
about Jimmy, Kuminga and Draymond on the floor together.

Speaker 3 (39:22):
In terms of the shooting, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (39:24):
I in my opinion, you got Stefan another shooter out there.
I think you should be able to make it work
at least for stretches, and then you put Kuminga in
there when either one of them are out, like they
have to find a way to make it work. And
I'm starting to think Kuminga is the type of guy
that I would want to buy in on if I
was another team, because I do think in the right
context he might he might just.

Speaker 3 (39:44):
Not be a good fit with whatever with Kurt honestly.

Speaker 4 (39:47):
And like that Golden State system is more particular than
just about like any other team here, like that this
isn't the off ball motion the places you gotta be Like,
there's so much going on in a way that I
just don't think plays to kaminga skulls at at all.
With that all said there, I do think it is
pretty idiotic to outright bench him, and particularly the dude's
an upcoming restricted free agent, Like if you want to

(40:08):
talk about like getting value, and this has been a
guy who's been in trade rumor has been in trade
reporters that they've shut down. If you didn't think that
he could literally be in the rotation, which is what
Steve curR is expressing with his decisions here, Why is
he still on the roster? Man, Like you should have
traded him and gotten something for him, or even included
him in the Jimmy package to get him, or whatever
the case may be. I don't think they've gone about

(40:28):
this the right way, and really this dates back a
couple of years their management of him, but I think
they've done a really bad job with bringing him along.
I get he's not a Steve Kerr guy, but I
think they've kind of mishandled the asset here and you're
gonna lose out in the long haul because of that.

Speaker 3 (40:40):
His efficiency's dropped off this year a lot less.

Speaker 2 (40:42):
He's taking more threes and he's not good at it,
and he's shooting let he's shooting a worse percentage from three.

Speaker 3 (40:47):
But the one thing I'll say is, like this guy
who's everaging twenty.

Speaker 2 (40:50):
Two per game for thirty six, Like if this guy
he's only he only played twenty four minutes per game
this year and the average fifteen. Like, yeah, I think Kumingas.
I don't know who the team that I think the
Sixers makes some sense, but I think there's a lot
of teams out there that really could slot him in
and he would make a.

Speaker 3 (41:10):
Ton of sense.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
The Sixers don't make say sense financially unfortunately, but I
think there's a ton of teams out there that just
fit wise he would look a lot better on.

Speaker 4 (41:18):
But probably twenty nine I think is probably the list
there twenty nine other teams I think fit wise is
probably better.

Speaker 3 (41:25):
You iver be right there.

Speaker 2 (41:26):
And here's where it gets interesting, because I have three
more series left in the West here, two second round
in a Western Conference finals. I have all three going
seven games. I already gave you Lakers over Ts and seven.
I gave you Pacers over Bucks and seven. So I've
got five seven games series here in this playoffs. And
the first one here is Okay, see the Okay, see

(41:48):
in the Clippers. I'm gonna give the nod to OKC.
I think the Clippers are a tough matchup for anybody,
and they've shown that they can hang with ok I
think they've beaten them two or three times this year.
But I think, okay, see, you probably feel better about
this than if it was like the Lakers as four
of the five, but definitely not a fun matchup for

(42:09):
Okaysey to deal with out of the five hole, but
giving the thunder and seven too much to handle.

Speaker 5 (42:14):
Yeah, I agree there.

Speaker 4 (42:15):
And it's interesting like when we talk about like guys
getting buried, like I think, like the ninth man on
OKC is like a sixth man on most team, and
I think that's gonna pay. Yeah, yeah, I think honestly, yeah,
that's probably right. And even like the Isaiah Joes of
the world, the caseon Wallace is like all these guys
can play man, and I do think that's gonna people forget,
like how much of a grind the NBA playoffs are,
Like this is two months, We're buckling up four games

(42:37):
every other night, and I think that is gonna play
a factor. So I like Oklahoma City. I don't. I
do think that they ultimately win. I think they are
pretty much a lock for going to the conference finals
and maybe even the finals. The other side the conference finals.
I'm not gonna go farther than that, But yeah, I
don't think Oklahoma City has any trouble here.

Speaker 2 (42:52):
And then in the other series we have Lakers and Warriors.
I'm gonna go Lakers in seven. I'm closer to Lakers
in six than i am Warriors. In the Warriors to
win the series. I actually think this is a better
match up for the Lakers yea than the Timberwolves. I
think this will actually be an easier series than the

(43:14):
first round would have been for the Lakers.

Speaker 4 (43:16):
And the Lakers should be jumping for joy that they
did not get the Denver Nuggets anywhere near their path here,
because that was the biggest thing that I was worried about.
If you get a series against Jokich with you know,
their internal issues and big man issues, that was my
biggest concern for the Lakers overall.

Speaker 5 (43:29):
They did avoid that. Yeah, and you.

Speaker 3 (43:31):
Could argue Zubach as well.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
Thing I'd say about that, and I feel like I'd
beat a dead drum on this. And by the way,
Lakers and Clippers never played in the playoff series, wow,
and not one time in their history.

Speaker 3 (43:42):
A lot of that is to do with the Clippers, but.

Speaker 2 (43:45):
The Lakers and Clippers, I think it'd be a nightmare
for the Clippers to play the Lakers in a series
because I think it's seven road games.

Speaker 3 (43:52):
I don't think you play a home game in that series.

Speaker 2 (43:54):
But I think matchup wise, I actually think they match
up really well with the Lakers in terms of having
Zubach to beat them up inside Kauhi and to match
up with either Lebron or Luca, and you have some
other defensive pieces there as well.

Speaker 3 (44:09):
I think it's basketball wise.

Speaker 2 (44:11):
I think the Lakers are lucky they avoided the Clippers
and kind of other things.

Speaker 3 (44:15):
Watch the Clippers are lucky they avoided the Lakers.

Speaker 5 (44:18):
Yeah, I think that is fair there. That would be interesting.

Speaker 4 (44:21):
And by the way you've expressed you believe Jackson Hayes
can be good enough from a Lakers perspective, right.

Speaker 2 (44:26):
Twenty twenty five minutes, just twenty to twenty five minutes,
you run small ball the rest of the game.

Speaker 3 (44:30):
I think he'll be fine.

Speaker 2 (44:31):
I think he's enough of a lob threat on offense
that he can at least run pick and pop or
pick and pop you can at least run pick and
roll with Luca into a little less degree Lebron, and
then you I think he can hang defensively use those fouls.

Speaker 4 (44:47):
You know, you know what also crossed my mind while
I was watching the Mavericks get blown out last night.
Is one of the biggest losers? Is this entire Luca
Danci trade that much? Trade exactly? That trade right there
might have cost Derek Lively, like one hundred million dollars man.

Speaker 3 (45:00):
Yeah, you're at it's a great call. That is a
great call.

Speaker 2 (45:04):
And one more thing on the Jackson Hayes front, and
I really wish it was the Mark Williams front.

Speaker 5 (45:10):
Yeah, but on the.

Speaker 3 (45:11):
Jackson Hayes front.

Speaker 2 (45:12):
You look at the potential first two rounds here, anything
that besides I guess if Shngoon and Houston win, that
could be annoying in round two. But if you deal
with Rudy Gobert in round one, is he going to
tear you apart inside?

Speaker 3 (45:25):
And then round two you have the Quinton post.

Speaker 5 (45:28):
I do like Quinn post. But yeah, I hear it.

Speaker 3 (45:30):
I like it too.

Speaker 2 (45:31):
But I mean, like, I don't think that you're terrified
to play Jackson Hayes twenty to twenty five minutes.

Speaker 3 (45:36):
I think he's gonna get played off the floor in
those series.

Speaker 2 (45:39):
Like it's not like there's a cat I guess to
hunt him as a big like or something like that,
or a Zubo or Yokic. Sure like Chet or whatever
you want to say, that comes later, and then that
comes here Thunder Lakers.

Speaker 3 (45:55):
I'm I might be playing it up, but there was a.

Speaker 2 (45:58):
Guy last year who beat the Oklahoma City Thunder and
now he plays with Lebron James. Yeah, so give me Luca,
not Lebron, to get this done in the Western Conference
Finals because for the first time in Lebron james career,
he's the second best player on his own team.

Speaker 5 (46:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (46:15):
I think it's Thunder and seven. I do think we
get an all time game seven there. The Thunder got better, man,
they got so much better from last year and every area,
all these guys progressing, shake Gilges, Alexander taking a step.

Speaker 5 (46:27):
You're pushing back to that.

Speaker 3 (46:29):
No, No, the.

Speaker 2 (46:29):
Thunder definitely better. Okay, are the Lakers better than the
MAVs were?

Speaker 4 (46:34):
The reason I'm not like there is you gotta give
me an like if I would feel differently with Mark Williams.
Mark Williams, I'm still bummed about that trade, man, Like,
I do think that's gonna be a factor in this series,
particularly when they roll out like the Chet and Hartenstein
lineups which have been really effective, by the way, so
I think the Thunder just have way too many options
they can roll with and the Lakers limitation still stands.
So I do think it's okay see in seven, but

(46:56):
that's gonna be an awesome series.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
Awesome that I cannot wait if we were to be
lucky enough to see that.

Speaker 3 (47:02):
And by the way, I'm here's a take. I'm more
sure the Lakers. No, you know what, it's not.

Speaker 2 (47:07):
I don't believe in the take. I'm not gonna say
the take. I don't believe in the take. I was
gonna say that I'm more sure the Lakers get to
the conference finals than the Thunder. That the Thunder have
the easy first round series and the Lakers are gonna
have two hard ones.

Speaker 3 (47:19):
So bad take, bad job.

Speaker 2 (47:21):
I think the Thunder's second round series would be harder
than the lakers second round series against Houston or Golden State.
As Yeah, so I guess I think the Thunder of
a higher chance of losing in the second round. But
like I said, Minnesota won that series in round one,
I wouldn't be surprised. So bad take by me, bad job.
So that brings me to Celtics Lakers brings you to
Celtics Thunder.

Speaker 3 (47:41):
I'll let you go first.

Speaker 4 (47:42):
It's thunder and six for me. I do think Boston
like it's really hard to repeat. They're very good. The
three point reliance I still feel like at some point
is going to bite them. And I do think it
happens in the playoffs when they had this amount of
perimeter defenders, the Ludors, the Case and Wilace is all
these guys you can rotate and throw. I don't think
it's gonna be some Celtics will still have success to
get theirs. I just think they're too deep. All the

(48:04):
concerns about them being too green, or they haven't done
it yet. Nobody's done it until you do it. We've
said this about the Nuggets, We've said this about the Bucks.
It takes the team to do it for the first time.
I think this year is that thunders.

Speaker 2 (48:14):
Time, Celtics over Lakers and five. Unfortunately, and here's where
I'm going. The Lakers go seven against the Timberwolves. Yeah,
the Lakers go seven against the Warriors.

Speaker 3 (48:28):
Although I think that I might be going too long there.
That might be a six game series.

Speaker 2 (48:31):
But I gave it seven, because the Lakers would be
home court for seven, So Lakers and seven, and then
you get the Western Conference Finals, and I think Lakers
thunder would take every ounce of Lebron's remaining juice and
Luca's fat body to you know, I tried to fit
in a joke there shout out NKO, but I think

(48:54):
that they're going to wear themselves out while as I
have the Celtics playing five game series, five games series,
five game series, and then you get the Celtics go
up to right away and there you are, good night,
good luck.

Speaker 5 (49:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (49:08):
And I, by the way, for the Luca out of
shape comments, I had the thought sitting there watching the
Mavericks lose last night, Luka Doncic could be three hundred
and fifty pounds and have four scrubs around him, and
I don't think he loses to that Grizzlies team in
a one on one elimination game like ever. And it
is strange to me, Like how I'm not strange, but
like Nico Harrison has become a main character of this

(49:29):
NBA season that he the camera cuts to him like
twenty times last night. It was so funny Anthony Davis
limping off injured camera immediately the Nico Harrison in the
crowd there, and part of me is like they're overdoing this,
Like this is insane. They're showing him this month or
this much. But then I just kind of sit there
and be like that man really traded Luka Dancic at
twenty five years old.

Speaker 5 (49:48):
Man, it really is unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (49:51):
The craziest thing is he made the worst basketball trade
I've ever seen. He traded a young star guard, which
we all know are so hard to find.

Speaker 3 (50:00):
And he also traded Luka Doncic.

Speaker 5 (50:03):
Yeah, shout out dot Quentin Grins.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
And by the way, his answer to Tim McMann about
the Quentin Grimes trade might have been even worse.

Speaker 4 (50:13):
All of it is, man, every single answer is bad.
The medical staff, like the every single answer is brutal.
From Nico Harrison, Like, I seriously think this this second
half of the season is like a blueprint for everything
that you can do wrong as an organization. They dug
their whole deeper and deeper the closed door meeting, every
single answer leaks out and by the way, there's about

(50:33):
to be a bombshell report coming from Tim McMahon on
Monday about Derk Nvinski and his whole stance on the organization.

Speaker 5 (50:38):
Yeah, which I can't wait to read that.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
And my dad commented Spiri Lebron And by the way,
Adam Silver did go on Pat McAfee this week and
and Paarrot he said, well, the ratings actually took off
at Christmas and then took off again at the trade
deadline because we had a really big trade that went
down in the league.

Speaker 3 (50:56):
And I was like, oh, Adam taking his scene, maybe
don't say that on air.

Speaker 2 (51:01):
People are gonna start thinking some things, because honestly, I
usually get mad at the conspiracy.

Speaker 3 (51:07):
This is a conspiracy. I don't I'm not saying it was.

Speaker 2 (51:10):
A conspiracy that Lucos traded to the Lakers, but if
I was one of those people, it's not hard to
get there mentally, and it's I have to at least admit, like,
I see why you feel that way.

Speaker 4 (51:21):
Yeah, I'm not one of those guys either, but I like,
you don't have to squint harder or think about like
there is no logic to back up why this decision
was made. And defense wins championships, they say, as they
give up forty nine points in sixteen minutes last night,
like it just none of it makes sense whatsoever.

Speaker 5 (51:37):
I still can't believe it happens. I think we will.

Speaker 4 (51:39):
I will live my entire lifetime, and I think that
will be the worst trade I've ever seen. I don't
see anything ever passing that.

Speaker 3 (51:45):
I totally agree.

Speaker 5 (51:46):
And one more quick shout.

Speaker 4 (51:47):
Out, I do feel a ton of sympathy and bad
for Anthony Davis man, Like it is not his fault
he's thrown.

Speaker 3 (51:52):
In that ton of title.

Speaker 4 (51:54):
Yeah, but like like you're walking into an organization where
they hate everyone, and like, like I watched him last night, who,
by the way, give him credit for even returning to
the floor and playing like a lot of guys would
be sitting out at this point.

Speaker 5 (52:06):
He like played on. There's no way he was remotely healthy.

Speaker 4 (52:09):
He's still gave him forty last night and then stood
up face the music, talked about like I get how
everyone loves Luca. I understand why the fan base is upset.
I'm grateful I get to play basketball. I gained some
respect for Anthony Davis this year.

Speaker 3 (52:20):
That's fair.

Speaker 2 (52:21):
That's fair, all right, real quick, last ten minutes here,
I'm gonna run down I just took I'm not gonna
go too deep. I didn't want to just read my
rankings or do a mock draft. I'm just gonna give
general takes. I went down the top of the first round.
I went down my big board.

Speaker 3 (52:33):
Just here's some Some are about teams, some are about players.
Some are about where guys are gonna go whatever.

Speaker 2 (52:38):
Raise your hand, Sean, if there's anything I say that
you disagree with or you want to chime in on here.
Some you're not gonna summer. Some some nerdy Sico stuff,
but some are interesting. Take one, Tennessee will regret drafting
cam Ward. I don't think that the situation is set
up for success for any quarterback. I don't think they're
in a situation where you have to go take the
quarterback because the team is terrible. There is like so

(53:01):
little to build on roster wise. There you're plugging in
the quarterback and it's like, oh, we'll figure out the
rest later.

Speaker 3 (53:06):
That's not how it works.

Speaker 2 (53:07):
You want to you want to be competitive on that
rookie scale contract. There's no way Tennessee's competitive in the
next two years. To me, maybe three years from now.
If cam Ward's awesome and they nail all these other
things around him. I think they're so far from competitiveness.

Speaker 5 (53:22):
I'm not.

Speaker 3 (53:23):
I think it's a bad decision.

Speaker 5 (53:25):
I think that's fair. I have no issue with that one.

Speaker 2 (53:27):
Will Johnson is a better cornerback prospect than Travis Hunter.
Travis Hunter is people obviously, might be a better profect overall.
I still don't think so, because he's a wide receiver.
But is he playing both at the next level? That's
what we're gonna say. He's demanding that he played for
a lot of people have a problem with. If I'm him,
I want to play both like you want to. That's
what he's known for. He's two way football, O Tawny Like.

(53:50):
If it doesn't work, if he gets hurt, then you know,
maybe you reconsider and you change your attitude.

Speaker 3 (53:57):
I think as of right now you have to let
him play at least some snaps at receiver.

Speaker 2 (54:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (54:03):
I think he's better off making it clear right now
the way he is, than like keeping that a secret,
like he should be expressing that.

Speaker 5 (54:08):
So, yeah, I have no problem with that, And I
figured you'd get there.

Speaker 2 (54:10):
On the Will Johnson take, I have Ashton Gent's second
overall in my big word only behind Will Johnson. But
there is no player definitively better than him in this
class at their position. You could I have Johnson ahead
of them. I have him the same draft grade. Did
you see him dunk yesterday? I did at five eighth.
Not only should Vegas take him at six? And I

(54:30):
think they will. I think that's what's going to happen.
I haven't heard this buzz because they have Travis Etn,
who's rushed for three point seven and three point eight
yards per carry the last two years. Trevor Lawrence, besides
Brian Thomas Junior, has never played with an above average
offensive weapon. In my opinion, I think Travis Etn stinks game.
Thomas good Well I said, until Brian Thomas is a rookie.

(54:53):
Besides Brian Thomas, I don't know who the best skill
position guy's ever played with. It's probably Etn, who's been
so pointing. Maybe Gate Davis, maybe Evan Ingram, give him
Ashton Genty and let's figure out finally what Trevor Lawrence
is and what this offense can be.

Speaker 3 (55:09):
You have a new head coach.

Speaker 2 (55:10):
I get that they're gonna go defense probably, and they
have a lot of holes on defense. I think Ashton
genty' is the right pick at five for Jacksonville. And
I'm not miss their take a running back. I get
the value proposition. I think he's that special. I think
he's Ladanian Tom Wilinson.

Speaker 5 (55:24):
No issues with that, No issues for me there.

Speaker 2 (55:26):
Patriots will take an Oligneman, but they should take Teed McMillan.
They went out and they drafted, They went out and
they signed Stefan Diggs. I think that was their signal
that we feel good at receiver. We're going and drafting
the O Ligneman. Stefon Diggs is old, he's.

Speaker 5 (55:39):
A bad guy, and they're trading for a Brown anyway.

Speaker 3 (55:43):
Oh yeah, there you go.

Speaker 2 (55:44):
They could be training this pick for a j Brown instead,
So there you go. What moronic reports. But uh, I
think they're gonna take Will Campbell. I think it should
be Tech McMillan. The Jets should, and I think will
take Tyler Warren, who will immediately become the best Jets
tight end of my lifetime. I can't remember the last
time the Jets have had any level of a difference

(56:06):
making tight end Dustin Killer way back in the day.
Jets tight ends have not been good my whole life.
Tyler Warren immediately steps in and turns into a Dallas
Gotter kind of level tight end.

Speaker 3 (56:15):
I think he's a little more upside than got Her.

Speaker 2 (56:17):
But also if Goddard was in a different offense that
focused on the tight end more, maybe he'd get more
of those eighty ninety catch seasons instead of the fifty
sixty catch seasons, or if he stayed healthy. A lot
of different conversations we had, but I mean it says
a lot that I have Tyler Warren renks seventh overall,
and I think he's almost a carbon copy of Dallas Godder.
I think it says a lot about how much I
value Dallas got Her.

Speaker 3 (56:36):
Please don't trade him. How he just let him stay,
let him just pay him the money and let him
stay in Philly.

Speaker 2 (56:41):
Doesn't look like that's gonna happen, though, Carolina yet another
team that should draft Ted McMillan.

Speaker 3 (56:46):
If he's there. Sounds like it's gonna be Jaalen Walker
or a pass rusher. I think it should be Tet.

Speaker 2 (56:51):
I get the championships are built through the trenches, but
Dallas desperately needs to add a second weapon there to
add to CD Lamb.

Speaker 3 (56:58):
Whether that's you know, tet and gent you are gone.

Speaker 2 (57:01):
They're going to go off to get Amarian Hampton, but
they have to add a second weapon because Dak is
floundering out there. They have absolutely nothing besides CD and
CD's great. You need something else, anything on those couple there, Sean.

Speaker 5 (57:14):
Yeah, not really there. I'll let you rip through the
last of these. Mark gotcha.

Speaker 2 (57:18):
Dolphins desperately need help at dB. Move up and go
get Will Johnson.

Speaker 3 (57:22):
The Colts need to walk out of this draft with
Tyler Warren or Colston Loveland.

Speaker 2 (57:26):
Colts tight end need might be their biggest need on
the entire board. Falcons were last in sacks last year.
Go get a James Pearce type. He should be going
top five. Seems like he's going to be going later
in the first round. Broncos are Chargers should really take
a huge step and trade up.

Speaker 3 (57:43):
For Amaron Hampton.

Speaker 2 (57:44):
You put that running back into those offenses, I think
it takes them up another level.

Speaker 3 (57:49):
I think both have terrible running back play last year
in Denver and the Chargers.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
So if you gave him a I think Amrion Hampton's
type of guy top ten to fifteen running.

Speaker 3 (57:56):
Back right away as soon as he steps in the league.

Speaker 2 (57:59):
But I do you think what the Chargers do is
they trade up and they get Colston Lovelin, who apparently
Jim Harball loves from his days at Michigan. I think
you'll have to trade up to that ten to thirteen
range to get in front of Indy. The Ravens are
gonna go o line, but as always they should go receiver.
They have never had a difference making receiver. I stand
on business with that. Go draft Trey Harris put him
in purple. I'm not a hip doctor, but there's no

(58:23):
reason Benjamin Morrison shouldn't be a no doubt first rounder
in terms of on the field nine picks in two years.

Speaker 3 (58:28):
There three pick six is special player from Notre Dame.

Speaker 2 (58:33):
I'm biased Dean Walker fell because of his twenty twenty
four tape where he played with a fractured vertebrae.

Speaker 3 (58:39):
He should be.

Speaker 2 (58:40):
Judged on his twenty twenty three tape when he didn't
have a broken back, because we had him as a
first rounder, unless we want to say he has back problems.
I'm not a doctor. Yet again, he's gonna go in
the third round or later. He's a first round talent,
or at least when he put on the board in
twenty twenty three. Even with the broken back, I think
he can be productive. By the way he was pretty
I don't think he's as bad as people made him
seehim in twenty twenty four.

Speaker 3 (58:59):
Not only I already said this.

Speaker 2 (59:01):
Never mind, Wyatt Milem visited the Eagles the other day.
Most have him grated as a third rounder. I have
him great as a first rounder. I get his arms
for short. He allowed zero sacks in three years at
offensive tackle at West Virginia. A pretty high level of
play there.

Speaker 3 (59:14):
Wyatt Milem. I think he's going to be a starter
at the next level.

Speaker 2 (59:18):
My top five bus predictions this year in the NFL draft,
Jalen Walker, He's gonna go in the first round. I
have him as a linebacker. I have him outside of
my first round. I get the vision with Jellen Walker.
Think he's a little bit of a linebacker edge tweener, though,
don't know if he has the size for edge. Don't
know if he has the coverage ability for linebacker. Mike Green,
bad guy Luther Burden. His production really dropped off, dropped

(59:38):
off as a senior. Don't love to see that Mikel
Williams and Shamar Stewart, same kind of thing. They are
combined warriors. I don't think they're good football players. Look
like Tarzan, play like Jane, and then last, but not least,
my realistic dream Eagles at thirty two, James Pierce shouldn't
be realistic. Apparently he's gonna fall that far though. Derek

(01:00:00):
Carman and Walter Nolan go hand in hand. Two defensive
tackles that I think are three down players. You plug
them next to Jailen Carter, who Nelly, and then three
safeties that I would absolutely take a look at at
thirty two, Xavier Watts. A lot of people might look
at that as a reach. The guy is an absolute ballhawk,
thirteen picks in two years there at Notre Dame. Hell
of a centerfielder, Malachi Starks Georgia. Put the G on

(01:00:22):
the helmet, He's going to be an Eagle. Nick a
man Worri just that's just a pure athlete, by best
safety that's ever been tested at the combine, and that's
going to do it for the tough cover radio show
WrestleMania Preview with Nick and Roy that you can go
check that out on my Twitter that NBA Playoff preview
will reair over on Twitter, will retweet it out with

(01:00:43):
Sean Bernard and I and.

Speaker 3 (01:00:44):
Thanks for listening. Tough cover Country, Let's righte