January 13, 2025 • 24 mins
Trysta missed last week and boy was it a busy week. She catches up with some truly bizarre stories.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
On this episode of The Heat Check, We're back, baby.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm fully moved into my childhood home in Portland, Oregon.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I apologize for miss last week. I am really sorry. However,
I don't even know how that would have worked. It
was stressed. But now we are back. We are ready
to cook. We talk in this episode.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
About the resurrection of the Gangs, the Sacramento Gangs. We
talk about the latest and the Jimmy Butler Saga Zion
getting suspended after just one game back, even though he
looks really good in a bunch of news from around
the league. Anthey, my man, drop that motherfucking beat should
be real. Welcome back, Welcome back, Welcome back. First and foremost,
(01:06):
you're not following me and subscribing to me on Instagram
for the feet photos.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
I don't know what you're doing. I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Welcome to the first episode back in the Heat Check
on the West Coast.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
I finally moved back home to Portland to help out
my mom.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I will be more consistent from here on out. We
have a lot to cover, and I think number one
to me in the news is the I think it's
a complete turnaround. I'm not ready to call it that exactly,
but it's close of the Sacramento Kinks.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Less than two weeks ago, the team parted with.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Mike Brown, who remember, just two years ago was the
Coach of the Year so and they replaced him with
interim coach Doug Christie. Now, Doug Christie seems to have
reinvigorated these boys. To be fair, I did not have
a lot of hope for the Kings this year after
that move. Not no shade did Doug Christie and the
photo that was surfaced after he got that job with.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Him on a leash with his wife.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
I thought maybe the issue with the Sacramento Kings was
more roster related, and I think maybe it still is.
I wasn't sure any coach would be able to help
team chemistry was in the toilet. Shooting from three was
erratic at best. The team was not able to defend
a park car. Their three point.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Defense was really bad.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So I was wondering, like, how is a coach going
to be able to fix all of these issues? Somehow,
some way, Doug Christie seemingly has, and after losing his
first game as head coach, the Kings have now reeled
off seven straight wins.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
They are now the hottest team in the NBA. Can
you even believe it? So? How have they done it?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Friend of show Will Easy we have to have him
on soon has broke this down on Sports Illustrated. First
of all, they have improved their three point shooting under
Doug Christie, raising it from thirty four to thirty seven percent.
The correlation, though, is that they're now holding their opponents
from to thirty six from deep as well, down from
(03:12):
thirty eight percent. Very subtle shift, but that's important because
it means that they are now shooting higher quality threes
nineteen open threes on average under Doug Christie compared to
thirteen only under Mike Brown, and they're defending the perimeter
much better. Fourteen open opponent threes to sixteen a game
under Mike Brown doesn't seem like a lot, but shit
(03:34):
adds up, especially when you're only losing by a few
points per game. Second, they're playing up to their competition
instead of down to it. During the seven game winning streak,
they've beaten the MAVs without Kyrie and Luca, the Grizzlies
without Jaw, the Warriors stephf did play in that game,
the Heat without Jimmy Butler the Boston Celtics fully loaded
on the road by seventeen points. I know I'm downplaying
(03:57):
who was playing in that game, but these were big
teams to beat regardless of whether they had stars out.
I think under Mike Brown, and this is no shade
to Mike Brown, they would have lost those games even without.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
The stars playing in it.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
And to top it off, this team is now doing
it without Dearon Fox and his twenty seven points per game.
Damar DeRozan and Demonis Bonis are both averaging twenty one
points per game now. More importantly, Keegan Murray is averaging
fifteen a game since coming back from injury, up from
eight to game in the six games before that. In
(04:30):
those three games, he averaged a plus thirteen net rating
as opposed to.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
A negative eight before.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
So I don't know what's going on with Keegan Murray,
but that's pretty incredible. The big news is that Sacramento
is now ninth in the West. They are a game
over five hundred. More importantly, the Kings are just two
games out of the fifth spot in a very loaded West,
and on top of that, the Mavers are just falling
(04:56):
off of a cliff without Luca, who knows how long
they're gonna be without him. Kyrie is injured as well,
so there's open spots for the Kings to make a
move against the odds. Our Kings are Sacramento Kings. Their
season is back on.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Warm me up on that bean baby moving forward.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Another team that I am enjoying watching right now is
the New York Knicks. Despite the fact that this team
is third place in the East twenty six and fourteen
six point fifty winning percentage, which is absolutely bizarre and insane,
there are some doubters still, mostly because they went through
a rough stretch where they lost four or five OKAC,
(05:38):
which is fair Chicago, which like Chicago, is.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Very, very tough.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
There were those teams that BAITCHA or Orlando and OKAC
again losing twice to Thunder.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Though like I don't really blame them for that. It's
not a big deal.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Almost everyone is getting trucked by the OKAC Thunder unless
they're the Cleveland Cavaliers. They lost to Chicago by thirteen,
Orlando by nine, and now everybody is losing faith.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Everybody is thinking, oh, the Knicks are not good. The
Knicks up now.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Carl Anytown's bald Anyway, People forget that the Knicks had
won nine in a row before that little skid, So
Sunday's game against Milwaukee had this added interest. Everyone was like, ooh,
how are they going to perform against Jannie and Dame.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Turns out pretty looking good.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
The Knicks put a straight boot a black air Force
one to the Buck's throat, curb stomping them, curb American history,
exing them to the tune of one.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Forty to one oh six.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Jalen Brunson scored forty four on five to ten from three,
Kat scored thirty on shooting ten for sixteen, campaign scored
eighteen off the bench.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Just a complete performance.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
By a Knicks team and a good reminder that Brunson
can win games.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
All by himself.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Also, Josh Hart has had some awesome games here and
there throughout the season. It feels like they're the whack
a mole team in the East where on any given
night somebody could go off and we're not really sure
who that is. As for the Bucks, they've now I
love it. They've fallen back to earth. They are now
at twenty and seventeen. They've moved Chris.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Middleton to the bench.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
They've brought Torrian Prince into the starting lineup, who contributed
a total of checks notes three points in twenty three
minutes and negative twenty eight net rating, and Chris Middleton,
by the way, was the only Bucks player with a
positive net rating. So the Bucks are kind of in
(07:48):
a little bit of trouble. As for the Knicks, they're
gonna have spills where they dip for a few games
and then they write the ship. I think what's very
interesting is the comment that Josh Hart made on the
Roommates podcast not that long ago, where he said, listen.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
It's only a few minutes.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Per game where maybe you get a bad call or
a great call, or maybe you go through a little
bit of a shooting slump or a hot streak, and
that decides everything these games. When we slump, people think
that we're going to change things or change everything.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
We're not changing anything, uh.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
And we're so glad to have a fan base that
cares about us and rocks with us whether we're losing
or winning, but also presses us to be better. It's
better than a fan base that doesn't care at all,
And I think.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
That's very fair.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
The Knicks are gonna have downturns, They're gonna have upswings.
But what matters is how they play in the playoffs.
And this team with n Kelbridge is playing at a
pretty damn good level, which we've talked about him before.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I think they're dangerous.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
The issue, obviously with the TIBs team is will they
be fresh coming off so many forty minute games? Their
rotations are eight men at most even a thirty point
blowout Rent win, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, and Karl Anthony
Towns all put in thirty five or more minutes. As
(09:09):
someone said about Tibbs all the way back in Chicago,
the only thing holding the Tibbs team back is Tibbs Cat.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Karl Anthony Town's Okay, Cat.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Dismiss this claim of being overworked, but I think it
is something to monitor moving forward. Okay, since we last talked,
the Jimmy Butler saga has gotten even more strange. Not
only has Butler said, Hey, I don't.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Want to be here anymore. I'm out of here. Trade
me right now, get me out of here. I'm not happy.
I've lost my love for the game off the court,
I'm happy. On the court. I'm miserable.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Then, the Heat suspended them for ten games, and they
sent a full memo to the NBPA outlining all the
ways the Butler has just continued to tank the Heat
so far, including lying to the team about being injured
while partying at night.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
It is getting ugly the truth of the matter.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
By the way, Also, Jimmy Butler going to Unrivaled and
hanging out working out with some of the players was awesome.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
That was like a good feel good story. But the
truth of the.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Matter is there's not much interest in taking on Jimmy Butler.
You're gonna need to pay him one hundred million dollars.
He's thirty five years old. Even when he's not lying
about his injuries, he's injured. Even when he's not going out,
he's still got things that he wants to do off
the court. And Jimmy Butler is an awesome playoff performer,
(10:35):
that's what we know he does well, but his regular
season stuff is not great. On top of that, he's
a bit mercurial and sometimes.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Can just decide I don't really want to play for
you anymore. So he's difficult at best.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
The teams that could hypothetically take on his salary, like
the Brooklyn Nets or the San Antonio Spurs don't really
want him. They don't have any interest in adding him
to the roster, and why would they really, And he
has zero interest in playing for them or any non contender.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
He even has.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
No interest in playing for some contenders. He said to
the Milwaukee Bucks, do not trade for me. I don't
want to play for you. I'm not playing for Doc Rivers.
The only team that is interested in Jimmy and the
only team that Jimmy is interested in, are the Phoenix Suns.
He wants Phoenix bad the big roadblock, Bradley Beial. Bradley
(11:28):
Buial has a no trade clause. Bradley Bial is the
only piece that they can conceivably trade for Jimmy Butler
without looking like complete buffoons. He has one hundred and
ten million dollars left on his contract and a no
trade clause that he will not wave wherever he goes next.
So why would the Miami Heat want to do that?
So then the Sons in the Heat need to find
(11:49):
a third team to send them.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
And how difficult is that going to be?
Speaker 2 (11:55):
That's not gonna be easy, I really think, And I
said this before Jimmy Butler gonna end this season on
the Heat. He is going to pick up his player
option and do.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
This shit again.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
It's like when a team is so physical all game
long that eventually refs just stopped calling fouls. If Jimmy
Butler is tanking all year long in Miami, They're not
gonna suspend them the whole season. There's just no way
that they would do that. There's no way that the
NBPA would do that. And personally, though, outside of the
(12:28):
semantics around Jimmy Butler and whether he's doing the right
thing or whether he's handling this in the appropriate way,
this is exposed a lot of my Heat brethren, my
Heat fans, my Heat fan brothers and sisters, y'all look
like hypocrites right now. I'm just gonna say my mentions.
(12:49):
When Damian Lillard asked for trade to the Miami Een
and the Miami were in shambles, people were so mad
at me. They were commenting, Trista, the Trailblazers just need
to do right by Dame. Trade him to a contender,
trade him to where he wants to go. Allow that
man who's been loyal to get to his destination, regardless
(13:11):
of what the package pause looks like for Damian Lillard
from the Miami you take that Heimi Hawk as Tyler Hero,
Nikola Jovich and two first round picks in twenty seven
and twenty thirty one or whatever it was, and.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
You fucking eat that and swallow it and like it.
And I was like no.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
And then my comments were, Oh, well, you're just a
poverty franchise and nobody's gonna wanna come there if you
don't do right by Dame blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah. And now look at you, and now you're saying,
we just need to get something back.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Good for Jimmy. We're not gonna send him wherever he
wants to go.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
It's a different tune all together, Heat fans. But one
thing is for sure, this is not gonna have a
happy ending. This will end badly for everyone involved. No
one's gonna get what they want. And I don't think
this ends anytime soon. Zion's back returning, but the honeymoon
(14:10):
lasted just one game.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Zion also looked bomb.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
He looked really good against the Timberwolves. Yeah, he actually
looked like he was pretty fit. Twenty eight minutes he played,
reminded everyone that he is, in fact still a superstar
when healthy, drives I think the third most in the
NBA per game. Most of the discourse was all about
how good it was to see him back, how fit
he looked, and then all of a sudden, the Pelicans
(14:35):
suspended Zion for conduct detrimental to the team after one game.
You can't make this up. You really cannot make it up,
Chris Haynes reported the following. New Orleans Pelicans stars Zion
Williamson has been late for multiple practices this season, on
top of being late for the team's flight to Philadelphia.
(14:59):
These incidents led to a one game suspension.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Bruh, you can't get How do you get fired on
your day off?
Speaker 2 (15:08):
How are you late when you haven't even been here
the whole season? Bro, this is a bad look. Zion
took accountability. He said, this is on me. I shouldn't
have done it, and this is a bad look for
me the franchise. But like Zion, you're kinda you kinda
ain't shit right now.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Really.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Zion ended up missing two games before coming back Sunday night,
losing to the Celtics, where he put up sixteen seven
and three, he had five steals in limited action. The
trade rumors are now even heating up more honestly, because
people are saying, well, while he still looks fit and
he's still healthy, they might as well get rid of
him to somebody who wants him, like a San Antonio
(15:47):
Spurs type. But if the Pelicans continue to play terribly
and Cooper Flag continues to ball out, does he want
to play for the New Orleans Pelicans with Zion on
it and brandon ingram on it.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Hopefully this is just a blip on the radar and
we zee Zion on the floor for the rest of
the year. But knowing Zion strap in folks, it's gonna
be a bumpy, lumpy ride again.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Okay, some news.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
From around the league. I would be remiss not to
mention just the devastating fires that have plagued LA. The
place that I used to live, the Pacific Palisades, was
like a.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Second home to me.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
They used to spend a lot of time there and
to see it disappearing in real time has just been crushing.
And the NBA community, as you imagine, was hit hard
as well. JJ Reddick, head coach of the LA Lakers
lost his rental home, but he also lost all of
his belongings.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
He said, I.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Wasn't prepared for what I saw. It's devastation and total destruction.
I had to go a different way to get to
the house, but I went through most of the Palisades
village and it was just all gone. I don't think
you can prepare yourself for something like that. Our home,
it's gone. Other Lakers personnel tragically lost homes include the
(17:11):
team's legal director, Dan Grisby, Josh Green, the Lakers general counsel,
who lost homes in the Palisades, and Rohan Ollie, the
team cameraman who lost his home in Altadena.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
As for the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard, after just.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Coming back from injury, he is stepping away from the
team to take care of his family who had to
evacuate as well. Doe to the fires. We've got games canceling.
LA Laker games and the Clipper games were canceled through
the fires. Probably gonna resume soon, but the fires are
raging on. More homes in the valley are starting to
go up in flames, Evacuations are more taking place. Attendance
(17:49):
is probably going to be spotty because of so many
displaced people.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
It's tough.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
My heart goes out to everyone that is affected by this.
It's been gratifying to see community outreach and support and
a pouring of just embracing one another, you know, and
getting supplies and shelters opening up for the animals that
(18:14):
needed to be evacuated as well.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
And it's just a lot.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
And to see people help others in distress when government
programs and insurance companies aren't doing what they need to
do in times where it's very dire was heartwarming, honestly.
So I hope everybody's staying safe out there in LA
and I wish I could do something more anyway. Moving
(18:40):
on to some other NBA news, turns out that those
big plans that the Sixers had to build a new
stadium at Market Street are dead. Instead, the organization said
they're going to build a new stadium in South Philly,
although the details have not been released. The change of
venue is tied now to a new deal of the
six signed with Comcast Spectacor. What's surprising though, is that
(19:06):
the news is that the Philadelphia City Council just approved
the project, and now the Sixers are being accused of
acting in bad faith by supporters of the original project,
which promised to revitalize a huge swath of the city's downtown.
The plan was not without opponents. It was slated to
basically remove Philadelphia's Chinatown from existence, which is not good,
(19:28):
and create an enormous gridlock in the center of the city.
Councilman Jimmy Harridy, who supported the downtown plan, he is
he is pissed, folks.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Quote.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
I am so livid right now. I don't even know
what to say. I feel as though I was used
as a pawn, no, sir, more like stalking horse. It's
more of what it feels like to me. Since the
Sixers rent out their Curnerina from Comcast Spectacre, it is
almost certain that they may be updating venues and they
(19:59):
will not be changing locations. All right, And finally we
got a DeMarcus Cousins Boogie Cousins Sighting Boogie signed a
deal with Sey Lang Gay bo Don Soup Bar.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Tar whooh, okay.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I don't know if that's correct exactly, but who They're
a team in the Mongolian Professional League. Get your money, Boogie,
get your fucking money. I would do the same thing.
I was unaware that Mongolia, the country north of China
with the population of just three and a half million people,
had a professional league, But in fact they do. They
have a ten team Professional Basketball Association and Selangey stands
(20:39):
in second place at ten and five. They are contending,
trailing the zach Broncos who are off to a hot
fifteen and dudes dart.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
As they say, can't stop the zach Broncos. You can
only hope to contain them, you know. That's what my
mama always says.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Some detailed research shows that there are at least twenty
American players though right now Mongolia, including some for Mirria.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Your names that you might know.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Lance Thomas played a duke, played briefly for the Knicks.
Orlando Johnson man. Orlando Johnson had a lot of promise
from Santa Barbara, who played with the Pacers diamond Stone.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
He got drafted fortieth overall. He played with the Clippers.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Other college stars excuse me, Chamori Pond's out of Saint John's,
Kenny Wooton, junior of my Oregon Ducks, all of them.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Playing in Mongolia.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
I am happy that men are able to make a
living somewhere doing what they love.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Thirty four years old, Boogie Cousins.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
He should probably still be in the league right now,
but at least he's out getting his bread. I would
love to sit down and get some stories about what
it's like in Mongolia to play basketball.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Maybe I will track him down for an interview soon.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
And then we end the around the League segment with
a quick story about Nicola Miritych, the montenegri And center
who played five years in the league. Miritich was reached
out about his experience with Jimmy Butler and who he
said had the greatest work ethic of any player he
ever shared a floor with. But I think what struck
out to me about the interview was his comments on
(22:05):
what it's like to play in the NBA as a Euro.
He said things that stood out about playing in the
NBA were speed, physicality, trash talk.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
I hated the trash talk. I couldn't get used to
that for a long time. During the practice and in
the game, there was just so much trash talk that
I was actually taking it personally.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
So if you ever wonder why.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
The Euros throw down so often in the NBA, they
feel disrespected, They feel some kind of way. Yo, don't
call me out my name. They don't like the O
Mama jokes. Apparently they don't get them all right. And
finally we returned with your trist as wild ask that
of the week which is usually Fridays, but because we
missed the whole week, it is happening on a Monday,
and let me tell you it's about LaMelo Ball. Turns
(22:48):
out everyone's favorite Charlie Hornet is currently taking the most
shots per minute of anyone in.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
The NBA in history.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Since it's the guy everybody always compares everything too Wilt Chamberlain.
His point seven to seven shots per minute is the
fifth most in NBA history so far, trailing Wilt's sixty
one sixty two season where he had point eight one
four shots per minute. Wow, that is world class chucking.
(23:21):
He will have to chuck some more if he wants
the record. On top of that, LaMelo Ball, I think
is the leading guard for All Star voting, which just
shows you at the cold basketball is having a hard
time staying afloat.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
That is all the time that we have for the
Heat Check.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Tune in every week as we break down on what's
happened in the NBA and soon the Women's game also
come back throughout the twenty twenty five season. Check out
the feed for past episodes of many episodes, whatch drop
unexpectedly like my move to Portland, and do not forget
to follow the heat Check all season. That means download,
that means subscribe, That means tell your friends, all of them.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Make it your New Year's resolution.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Tell your friends, Tell ten people about the heat Check,
even the dudes that are subscribing to my Instagram for
four I want to say, Hey, you'll get everything from
feet pictures to NBA t go on the heat Check,
follow us on TikTok and let this heat check it
on trister Creek on Twitter, Ig and threads. I love threads,
Meta's new social media platform.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
I post there every day, most consistent on there and
we will see you next time.
On this episode of The Heat Check, We're back, baby.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I'm fully moved into my childhood home in Portland, Oregon.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I apologize for miss last week. I am really sorry. However,
I don't even know how that would have worked. It
was stressed. But now we are back. We are ready
to cook. We talk in this episode.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
About the resurrection of the Gangs, the Sacramento Gangs. We
talk about the latest and the Jimmy Butler Saga Zion
getting suspended after just one game back, even though he
looks really good in a bunch of news from around
the league. Anthey, my man, drop that motherfucking beat should
be real. Welcome back, Welcome back, Welcome back. First and foremost,
(01:06):
you're not following me and subscribing to me on Instagram
for the feet photos.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
I don't know what you're doing. I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Welcome to the first episode back in the Heat Check
on the West Coast.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
I finally moved back home to Portland to help out
my mom.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I will be more consistent from here on out. We
have a lot to cover, and I think number one
to me in the news is the I think it's
a complete turnaround. I'm not ready to call it that exactly,
but it's close of the Sacramento Kinks.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Less than two weeks ago, the team parted with.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Mike Brown, who remember, just two years ago was the
Coach of the Year so and they replaced him with
interim coach Doug Christie. Now, Doug Christie seems to have
reinvigorated these boys. To be fair, I did not have
a lot of hope for the Kings this year after
that move. Not no shade did Doug Christie and the
photo that was surfaced after he got that job with.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Him on a leash with his wife.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
I thought maybe the issue with the Sacramento Kings was
more roster related, and I think maybe it still is.
I wasn't sure any coach would be able to help
team chemistry was in the toilet. Shooting from three was
erratic at best. The team was not able to defend
a park car. Their three point.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Defense was really bad.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
So I was wondering, like, how is a coach going
to be able to fix all of these issues? Somehow,
some way, Doug Christie seemingly has, and after losing his
first game as head coach, the Kings have now reeled
off seven straight wins.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
They are now the hottest team in the NBA. Can
you even believe it? So? How have they done it?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Friend of show Will Easy we have to have him
on soon has broke this down on Sports Illustrated. First
of all, they have improved their three point shooting under
Doug Christie, raising it from thirty four to thirty seven percent.
The correlation, though, is that they're now holding their opponents
from to thirty six from deep as well, down from
(03:12):
thirty eight percent. Very subtle shift, but that's important because
it means that they are now shooting higher quality threes
nineteen open threes on average under Doug Christie compared to
thirteen only under Mike Brown, and they're defending the perimeter
much better. Fourteen open opponent threes to sixteen a game
under Mike Brown doesn't seem like a lot, but shit
(03:34):
adds up, especially when you're only losing by a few
points per game. Second, they're playing up to their competition
instead of down to it. During the seven game winning streak,
they've beaten the MAVs without Kyrie and Luca, the Grizzlies
without Jaw, the Warriors stephf did play in that game,
the Heat without Jimmy Butler the Boston Celtics fully loaded
on the road by seventeen points. I know I'm downplaying
(03:57):
who was playing in that game, but these were big
teams to beat regardless of whether they had stars out.
I think under Mike Brown, and this is no shade
to Mike Brown, they would have lost those games even without.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
The stars playing in it.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
And to top it off, this team is now doing
it without Dearon Fox and his twenty seven points per game.
Damar DeRozan and Demonis Bonis are both averaging twenty one
points per game now. More importantly, Keegan Murray is averaging
fifteen a game since coming back from injury, up from
eight to game in the six games before that. In
(04:30):
those three games, he averaged a plus thirteen net rating
as opposed to.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
A negative eight before.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
So I don't know what's going on with Keegan Murray,
but that's pretty incredible. The big news is that Sacramento
is now ninth in the West. They are a game
over five hundred. More importantly, the Kings are just two
games out of the fifth spot in a very loaded West,
and on top of that, the Mavers are just falling
(04:56):
off of a cliff without Luca, who knows how long
they're gonna be without him. Kyrie is injured as well,
so there's open spots for the Kings to make a
move against the odds. Our Kings are Sacramento Kings. Their
season is back on.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Warm me up on that bean baby moving forward.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Another team that I am enjoying watching right now is
the New York Knicks. Despite the fact that this team
is third place in the East twenty six and fourteen
six point fifty winning percentage, which is absolutely bizarre and insane,
there are some doubters still, mostly because they went through
a rough stretch where they lost four or five OKAC,
(05:38):
which is fair Chicago, which like Chicago, is.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Very, very tough.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
There were those teams that BAITCHA or Orlando and OKAC
again losing twice to Thunder.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Though like I don't really blame them for that. It's
not a big deal.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Almost everyone is getting trucked by the OKAC Thunder unless
they're the Cleveland Cavaliers. They lost to Chicago by thirteen,
Orlando by nine, and now everybody is losing faith.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Everybody is thinking, oh, the Knicks are not good. The
Knicks up now.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Carl Anytown's bald Anyway, People forget that the Knicks had
won nine in a row before that little skid, So
Sunday's game against Milwaukee had this added interest. Everyone was like, ooh,
how are they going to perform against Jannie and Dame.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Turns out pretty looking good.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
The Knicks put a straight boot a black air Force
one to the Buck's throat, curb stomping them, curb American history,
exing them to the tune of one.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Forty to one oh six.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Jalen Brunson scored forty four on five to ten from three,
Kat scored thirty on shooting ten for sixteen, campaign scored
eighteen off the bench.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Just a complete performance.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
By a Knicks team and a good reminder that Brunson
can win games.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
All by himself.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Also, Josh Hart has had some awesome games here and
there throughout the season. It feels like they're the whack
a mole team in the East where on any given
night somebody could go off and we're not really sure
who that is. As for the Bucks, they've now I
love it. They've fallen back to earth. They are now
at twenty and seventeen. They've moved Chris.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Middleton to the bench.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
They've brought Torrian Prince into the starting lineup, who contributed
a total of checks notes three points in twenty three
minutes and negative twenty eight net rating, and Chris Middleton,
by the way, was the only Bucks player with a
positive net rating. So the Bucks are kind of in
(07:48):
a little bit of trouble. As for the Knicks, they're
gonna have spills where they dip for a few games
and then they write the ship. I think what's very
interesting is the comment that Josh Hart made on the
Roommates podcast not that long ago, where he said, listen.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
It's only a few minutes.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Per game where maybe you get a bad call or
a great call, or maybe you go through a little
bit of a shooting slump or a hot streak, and
that decides everything these games. When we slump, people think
that we're going to change things or change everything.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
We're not changing anything, uh.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
And we're so glad to have a fan base that
cares about us and rocks with us whether we're losing
or winning, but also presses us to be better. It's
better than a fan base that doesn't care at all,
And I think.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
That's very fair.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
The Knicks are gonna have downturns, They're gonna have upswings.
But what matters is how they play in the playoffs.
And this team with n Kelbridge is playing at a
pretty damn good level, which we've talked about him before.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I think they're dangerous.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
The issue, obviously with the TIBs team is will they
be fresh coming off so many forty minute games? Their
rotations are eight men at most even a thirty point
blowout Rent win, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, and Karl Anthony
Towns all put in thirty five or more minutes. As
(09:09):
someone said about Tibbs all the way back in Chicago,
the only thing holding the Tibbs team back is Tibbs Cat.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Karl Anthony Town's Okay, Cat.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Dismiss this claim of being overworked, but I think it
is something to monitor moving forward. Okay, since we last talked,
the Jimmy Butler saga has gotten even more strange. Not
only has Butler said, Hey, I don't.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Want to be here anymore. I'm out of here. Trade
me right now, get me out of here. I'm not happy.
I've lost my love for the game off the court,
I'm happy. On the court. I'm miserable.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Then, the Heat suspended them for ten games, and they
sent a full memo to the NBPA outlining all the
ways the Butler has just continued to tank the Heat
so far, including lying to the team about being injured
while partying at night.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
It is getting ugly the truth of the matter.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
By the way, Also, Jimmy Butler going to Unrivaled and
hanging out working out with some of the players was awesome.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
That was like a good feel good story. But the
truth of the.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Matter is there's not much interest in taking on Jimmy Butler.
You're gonna need to pay him one hundred million dollars.
He's thirty five years old. Even when he's not lying
about his injuries, he's injured. Even when he's not going out,
he's still got things that he wants to do off
the court. And Jimmy Butler is an awesome playoff performer,
(10:35):
that's what we know he does well, but his regular
season stuff is not great. On top of that, he's
a bit mercurial and sometimes.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Can just decide I don't really want to play for
you anymore. So he's difficult at best.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
The teams that could hypothetically take on his salary, like
the Brooklyn Nets or the San Antonio Spurs don't really
want him. They don't have any interest in adding him
to the roster, and why would they really, And he
has zero interest in playing for them or any non contender.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
He even has.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
No interest in playing for some contenders. He said to
the Milwaukee Bucks, do not trade for me. I don't
want to play for you. I'm not playing for Doc Rivers.
The only team that is interested in Jimmy and the
only team that Jimmy is interested in, are the Phoenix Suns.
He wants Phoenix bad the big roadblock, Bradley Beial. Bradley
(11:28):
Buial has a no trade clause. Bradley Bial is the
only piece that they can conceivably trade for Jimmy Butler
without looking like complete buffoons. He has one hundred and
ten million dollars left on his contract and a no
trade clause that he will not wave wherever he goes next.
So why would the Miami Heat want to do that?
So then the Sons in the Heat need to find
(11:49):
a third team to send them.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
And how difficult is that going to be?
Speaker 2 (11:55):
That's not gonna be easy, I really think, And I
said this before Jimmy Butler gonna end this season on
the Heat. He is going to pick up his player
option and do.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
This shit again.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
It's like when a team is so physical all game
long that eventually refs just stopped calling fouls. If Jimmy
Butler is tanking all year long in Miami, They're not
gonna suspend them the whole season. There's just no way
that they would do that. There's no way that the
NBPA would do that. And personally, though, outside of the
(12:28):
semantics around Jimmy Butler and whether he's doing the right
thing or whether he's handling this in the appropriate way,
this is exposed a lot of my Heat brethren, my
Heat fans, my Heat fan brothers and sisters, y'all look
like hypocrites right now. I'm just gonna say my mentions.
(12:49):
When Damian Lillard asked for trade to the Miami Een
and the Miami were in shambles, people were so mad
at me. They were commenting, Trista, the Trailblazers just need
to do right by Dame. Trade him to a contender,
trade him to where he wants to go. Allow that
man who's been loyal to get to his destination, regardless
(13:11):
of what the package pause looks like for Damian Lillard
from the Miami you take that Heimi Hawk as Tyler Hero,
Nikola Jovich and two first round picks in twenty seven
and twenty thirty one or whatever it was, and.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
You fucking eat that and swallow it and like it.
And I was like no.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
And then my comments were, Oh, well, you're just a
poverty franchise and nobody's gonna wanna come there if you
don't do right by Dame blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah. And now look at you, and now you're saying,
we just need to get something back.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Good for Jimmy. We're not gonna send him wherever he
wants to go.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
It's a different tune all together, Heat fans. But one
thing is for sure, this is not gonna have a
happy ending. This will end badly for everyone involved. No
one's gonna get what they want. And I don't think
this ends anytime soon. Zion's back returning, but the honeymoon
(14:10):
lasted just one game.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Zion also looked bomb.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
He looked really good against the Timberwolves. Yeah, he actually
looked like he was pretty fit. Twenty eight minutes he played,
reminded everyone that he is, in fact still a superstar
when healthy, drives I think the third most in the
NBA per game. Most of the discourse was all about
how good it was to see him back, how fit
he looked, and then all of a sudden, the Pelicans
(14:35):
suspended Zion for conduct detrimental to the team after one game.
You can't make this up. You really cannot make it up,
Chris Haynes reported the following. New Orleans Pelicans stars Zion
Williamson has been late for multiple practices this season, on
top of being late for the team's flight to Philadelphia.
(14:59):
These incidents led to a one game suspension.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Bruh, you can't get How do you get fired on
your day off?
Speaker 2 (15:08):
How are you late when you haven't even been here
the whole season? Bro, this is a bad look. Zion
took accountability. He said, this is on me. I shouldn't
have done it, and this is a bad look for
me the franchise. But like Zion, you're kinda you kinda
ain't shit right now.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Really.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Zion ended up missing two games before coming back Sunday night,
losing to the Celtics, where he put up sixteen seven
and three, he had five steals in limited action. The
trade rumors are now even heating up more honestly, because
people are saying, well, while he still looks fit and
he's still healthy, they might as well get rid of
him to somebody who wants him, like a San Antonio
(15:47):
Spurs type. But if the Pelicans continue to play terribly
and Cooper Flag continues to ball out, does he want
to play for the New Orleans Pelicans with Zion on
it and brandon ingram on it.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Hopefully this is just a blip on the radar and
we zee Zion on the floor for the rest of
the year. But knowing Zion strap in folks, it's gonna
be a bumpy, lumpy ride again.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Okay, some news.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
From around the league. I would be remiss not to
mention just the devastating fires that have plagued LA. The
place that I used to live, the Pacific Palisades, was
like a.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Second home to me.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
They used to spend a lot of time there and
to see it disappearing in real time has just been crushing.
And the NBA community, as you imagine, was hit hard
as well. JJ Reddick, head coach of the LA Lakers
lost his rental home, but he also lost all of
his belongings.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
He said, I.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Wasn't prepared for what I saw. It's devastation and total destruction.
I had to go a different way to get to
the house, but I went through most of the Palisades
village and it was just all gone. I don't think
you can prepare yourself for something like that. Our home,
it's gone. Other Lakers personnel tragically lost homes include the
(17:11):
team's legal director, Dan Grisby, Josh Green, the Lakers general counsel,
who lost homes in the Palisades, and Rohan Ollie, the
team cameraman who lost his home in Altadena.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
As for the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard, after just.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Coming back from injury, he is stepping away from the
team to take care of his family who had to
evacuate as well. Doe to the fires. We've got games canceling.
LA Laker games and the Clipper games were canceled through
the fires. Probably gonna resume soon, but the fires are
raging on. More homes in the valley are starting to
go up in flames, Evacuations are more taking place. Attendance
(17:49):
is probably going to be spotty because of so many
displaced people.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
It's tough.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
My heart goes out to everyone that is affected by this.
It's been gratifying to see community outreach and support and
a pouring of just embracing one another, you know, and
getting supplies and shelters opening up for the animals that
(18:14):
needed to be evacuated as well.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
And it's just a lot.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
And to see people help others in distress when government
programs and insurance companies aren't doing what they need to
do in times where it's very dire was heartwarming, honestly.
So I hope everybody's staying safe out there in LA
and I wish I could do something more anyway. Moving
(18:40):
on to some other NBA news, turns out that those
big plans that the Sixers had to build a new
stadium at Market Street are dead. Instead, the organization said
they're going to build a new stadium in South Philly,
although the details have not been released. The change of
venue is tied now to a new deal of the
six signed with Comcast Spectacor. What's surprising though, is that
(19:06):
the news is that the Philadelphia City Council just approved
the project, and now the Sixers are being accused of
acting in bad faith by supporters of the original project,
which promised to revitalize a huge swath of the city's downtown.
The plan was not without opponents. It was slated to
basically remove Philadelphia's Chinatown from existence, which is not good,
(19:28):
and create an enormous gridlock in the center of the city.
Councilman Jimmy Harridy, who supported the downtown plan, he is
he is pissed, folks.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Quote.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
I am so livid right now. I don't even know
what to say. I feel as though I was used
as a pawn, no, sir, more like stalking horse. It's
more of what it feels like to me. Since the
Sixers rent out their Curnerina from Comcast Spectacre, it is
almost certain that they may be updating venues and they
(19:59):
will not be changing locations. All right, And finally we
got a DeMarcus Cousins Boogie Cousins Sighting Boogie signed a
deal with Sey Lang Gay bo Don Soup Bar.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Tar whooh, okay.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I don't know if that's correct exactly, but who They're
a team in the Mongolian Professional League. Get your money, Boogie,
get your fucking money. I would do the same thing.
I was unaware that Mongolia, the country north of China
with the population of just three and a half million people,
had a professional league, But in fact they do. They
have a ten team Professional Basketball Association and Selangey stands
(20:39):
in second place at ten and five. They are contending,
trailing the zach Broncos who are off to a hot
fifteen and dudes dart.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
As they say, can't stop the zach Broncos. You can
only hope to contain them, you know. That's what my
mama always says.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Some detailed research shows that there are at least twenty
American players though right now Mongolia, including some for Mirria.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Your names that you might know.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Lance Thomas played a duke, played briefly for the Knicks.
Orlando Johnson man. Orlando Johnson had a lot of promise
from Santa Barbara, who played with the Pacers diamond Stone.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
He got drafted fortieth overall. He played with the Clippers.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Other college stars excuse me, Chamori Pond's out of Saint John's,
Kenny Wooton, junior of my Oregon Ducks, all of them.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Playing in Mongolia.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
I am happy that men are able to make a
living somewhere doing what they love.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Thirty four years old, Boogie Cousins.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
He should probably still be in the league right now,
but at least he's out getting his bread. I would
love to sit down and get some stories about what
it's like in Mongolia to play basketball.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Maybe I will track him down for an interview soon.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
And then we end the around the League segment with
a quick story about Nicola Miritych, the montenegri And center
who played five years in the league. Miritich was reached
out about his experience with Jimmy Butler and who he
said had the greatest work ethic of any player he
ever shared a floor with. But I think what struck
out to me about the interview was his comments on
(22:05):
what it's like to play in the NBA as a Euro.
He said things that stood out about playing in the
NBA were speed, physicality, trash talk.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
I hated the trash talk. I couldn't get used to
that for a long time. During the practice and in
the game, there was just so much trash talk that
I was actually taking it personally.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
So if you ever wonder why.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
The Euros throw down so often in the NBA, they
feel disrespected, They feel some kind of way. Yo, don't
call me out my name. They don't like the O
Mama jokes. Apparently they don't get them all right. And
finally we returned with your trist as wild ask that
of the week which is usually Fridays, but because we
missed the whole week, it is happening on a Monday,
and let me tell you it's about LaMelo Ball. Turns
(22:48):
out everyone's favorite Charlie Hornet is currently taking the most
shots per minute of anyone in.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
The NBA in history.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Since it's the guy everybody always compares everything too Wilt Chamberlain.
His point seven to seven shots per minute is the
fifth most in NBA history so far, trailing Wilt's sixty
one sixty two season where he had point eight one
four shots per minute. Wow, that is world class chucking.
(23:21):
He will have to chuck some more if he wants
the record. On top of that, LaMelo Ball, I think
is the leading guard for All Star voting, which just
shows you at the cold basketball is having a hard
time staying afloat.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
That is all the time that we have for the
Heat Check.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Tune in every week as we break down on what's
happened in the NBA and soon the Women's game also
come back throughout the twenty twenty five season. Check out
the feed for past episodes of many episodes, whatch drop
unexpectedly like my move to Portland, and do not forget
to follow the heat Check all season. That means download,
that means subscribe, That means tell your friends, all of them.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Make it your New Year's resolution.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Tell your friends, Tell ten people about the heat Check,
even the dudes that are subscribing to my Instagram for
four I want to say, Hey, you'll get everything from
feet pictures to NBA t go on the heat Check,
follow us on TikTok and let this heat check it
on trister Creek on Twitter, Ig and threads. I love threads,
Meta's new social media platform.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
I post there every day, most consistent on there and
we will see you next time.
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