June 12, 2025 • 48 mins
Keith and Dave name the Least Valuable Players of the playoffs, plus discuss candy, intermissions, and the Pacers winning a "normal" game.
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Episode 801 (S11 Ep. 26)
Join the listener slack only at patreon.com/fastbreakbreakfast
Get 20% off a Stathead annual subscription with code FBBF
Try Underdog Fantasy and use code FBBF to get a free pick, plus a deposit match up to $1000: play.underdogfantasy.com/p-fastbreak-breakfast.
Use promo code FASTBREABREAK at SeatGeek for $20 off your first ticket purchase
Check out the merchandise sale at teepublic.com/stores/fastbreak-breakfast
Episode 801 (S11 Ep. 26)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
All right, and welcome too Fast Break Breakfast NBA Podcast.
My name is Keith Parrish, and I'm here once again
with my buddy. Through the miracle of computer phone, I'm
here with Dave de four. Dave, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Man? Fantastic?
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Great, that's good to hear. Yeah, I was thinking, Dave
about this, all right, So like a year ago, I'd say,
a year ago, you were telling me how much you know,
you love the NBA, you love basketball, but you hadn't
gone to maybe that many games. You live a little
bit outside LA and you're like, you know, it seems
like I have to go to these games. But now
(00:48):
you ended up going to a bunch of Clippers games.
You ended up going to two finals games. Dave. I'm
still amazed by this. It's incredible. But also I was
thinking about how you saw two of the best finishes
in the postseason. You were there for the Aaron Gordon
buzzer beater did it counter not dunk tip In'? And
(01:09):
then you saw, of course Game one, the Pacers led
for three tenths of a second. You saw the Halliburton
game winner. Little miraculous. I don't know, is it miraculous anymore?
The impressive comeback from the Pacers in Game one, and
so look at you. You got to experience in person
these like historic events. I'm I'm yeah. I remain constantly
(01:30):
happy for you and jealous.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yeah. I also went to the College Softball World Series.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Final, okay, because I know nothing saw.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
The Texas Longhorns win the national championship.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, one of the hit hiking home from Oklahoma and
you ended up in Omaha.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
So one of the off days, well number one, Oklahoma
City is where USA Softball is based. Oh okay, yeah,
so right outside of right outside of town over near
the Science Museum, they have this huge softball complex. That's
where they do the Softball World Series, the College Softball
World Series. And it was one of the off days,
(02:12):
and I was considering going to the Triple A game,
which is uh, there's a stadium in downtown Oklahoma City
and Bricktown, the Triple A affiliate for the Dodgers is there,
the Comets. I was thinking about going to a game
there because I mean, Keith, do you like baseball?
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Can't say I do?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Okay, do you ever go to a baseball game?
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Baseball games? I've been to a few. I've been to
a handful of professional games. It's a hangout time.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yeah, exactly. And I had all this downtime I enjoy,
especially minor league baseball. Like I grew up with the
Richmond Braves and used to go to those games all
the time. I used to keep scoring, you know, it's
a it's a nice thing I like to do alone,
which you know, added to the list. So I was
thinking about going, and you know, I was asking somebody,
you know, for details on it, and they mentioned that
(03:03):
the College Softball World Series was happening that day as well.
It was the final game. I was like, well, how
often are you in town or something like that. I
had just read about Naya Kennedy, the picture for Texas
Tech who got the huge nil deal, and she was
pitching that day. Now, come to find out, when I
(03:25):
get there, it's the third day in a row. She's pitching.
It's very hot and humid there, and she got rocked
in the first inning. But I was there for it.
You know, I thought, Hey, why not I go to
stuff now again?
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah you do?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah, you know. Blame it on my buddy Jimmy. He
got me to show up up to Vegas for WrestleMania
if I can handle that.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, I mean, I think the number of events you've seen,
I just lets still in WrestleMania.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
I didn't go to Mania. Actually we decided not to.
You just didn't have to work. But I did go
to NXT while I was there. But yeah, he got
me out of the house and okay, I don't know,
made me realize that, uh, you know, it's not so bad.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
So the Softball World Series was in Soa, Oklahoma City, Okay, yeah, yeah,
I was thinking of college baseball in Omaha.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yeah, I assume I was between Texas Tech and Texas fans. Yeah,
and you know, you would think maybe this would be
a raucous environment. It was great. There were kids there,
and like, that's awesome. Texas Tech fans were picking on
the Texas kids.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Fine, speaking of me being happy for you but also jealous.
We talked last episode about the candy at the Oklahoma
City media thing. Oh you sent me the photo, Dave,
and I couldn't believe my friend, I'm talking about maybe
the Holy Trinity of candy. In my book, Mike and
Ikes are my number one Sour Patch kids in the
(04:48):
argument for number two. So there's a bowl of Mike
and Ikes. There's a bowl of Sour Patch Kids. There's
also a bowl of Starbursts. They're up there the all
time greatest candy. And then you have the Albany's Gummy Bears.
Not a mount rushmore candy item for me, but they're tremendous.
And then the only one of the five candies that
you showed, the only one I don't think is that amazing,
(05:10):
is jelly bellies, because who has the time to carefully
select which jelly belly you're gonna eat? You But you
can't be mixing a like a butter popcorn with a
spearmint or like there's too many random flavors. You have
to be careful. The other ones, you're like, oh I
got a got yellow, but I wanted a pink.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
You know, they also had like individual kit cats.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
I don't care about. I mean, I'm candie. I still
I need to know more about who picks who's the
person in charge of selecting these. I'm in awe. I
mean I really was, like I was like I made
so many bad decisions in my life to not be there.
I think if I would have known about it more,
I would have made like I could have been spending
the last several years steering myself towards being there. But
(06:02):
now maybe I'll just try to get to a game
next year.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Dude, you know I'm not typically a candy guy. I
know I went nuts.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
I felt like I felt like you did it for me.
I don't know if that's why, but I felt like
you were You were like, listen, if I don't get anything,
Keith is going to be so upset. A cup of candy,
that's awesome. I mean you said picture of your cup.
I wouldn't call that a cup you you had you
had somebody's leftovers. I would have I would have eaten
(06:31):
so much candy. They would have asked me to leave, Dave.
They would have been like, this guy, can't be this.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
The popcorn was good. I mean it was a good spread. Honestly,
I had a really great time. I mean, all of
Oklahoma City was very welcoming and it was fun.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
I need to know, is maybe maybe you know the answer.
If not, I'm sure Andrew Schlect can let us know.
Is that a year round, season long thing or was
that just okay? That wasn't just a finals only?
Speaker 2 (06:57):
No, that's in Oklahoma City. This is what they do.
And I mean it had been like five thousand dollars
with a candy like it looked like so it's so much.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I was legitimately looking at the picture you took me,
and I was like adding up. I was like, listen,
I have some money. Why can't I just build that
for myself in my kitchen right now? And I was
like eyeballing it. And I was like, that's probably like
one hundred dollars just right there. I mean, you're five
thousand dollars number, it's pretty.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
D I going no. No. I meant like over the
course of two games, two stations. I mean it's like it's.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Then how much can cost Michael?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Right, but just I mean just the candy station, which
also had like chips and other things, like.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
We gotta we got to get to the finals in
a second before we do. I do also want to
mention to you, Dave, speaking of going to things alone,
I took it upon myself as is a male mission,
go to go see mission impossible alone. It was the
last day it was showing you an imax, and in
Nashville we have like a legitimate proper imax. There's a
couple in the region that say their IMAX, but only
(07:59):
one is the true, Like, I don't know. I feel
those other people paid some money to get the branding.
It's not quite the right. So I'm like, all right,
our last movie star, our last you know, Hollywood success
thing like Tom Cruise is going to all this effort
to give me IMAX movies. I owe him money. So
I paid my thirty two dollars to buy one ticket.
(08:20):
I went and saw it. But I will say, Dave,
the movie as a ride, as a theme park attraction,
no regrets, lots of fun. As a script, as something
that made us. I haven't seen it, I know, Like,
but again, I had a blast. Yeah, outside of a
(08:40):
few mistakes I made, I had a blast that they
tripled down beyond triple down they keep I mean, it's
called Mission impossible. Sure, but at some point you have
to quit saying like, ol, we're talking about one million
that they say things all the time like, so we
(09:01):
have a one million chance. This has to happen all
the same time, and no joke, Dave. At one point,
this is not a spoiler. Pretty late in the movie
they said we're talking about a one and a trillion chance.
I was like, come on, just we know it's gonna
just just do the stuff, do the stunts, no the mistakes.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Hey, I didn't like Uh Dead Reckoning part one. I
thought it was kind of any.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Any movie that says, algorithm is already out for me,
and that's been the case for about ten years now.
And I didn't totally understand the bad guy. I'm like,
that guy hooks up to a computer virus? What's god?
I'm very what am I watching?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Doing too much?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
But doing too much? But the movie's really long and
it was me and five senior citizens. There was there
was no joke. There were seven people in this Imax
theater and I was the youngest mid forties.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Did we talk about the ever talk about the thing
that killed me for going to the movies? And I
used to live going to the movies. It was my
favorite thing growing up. My best friend, his dad was
a trucker and he had movie passes, like we would
go to two three movies a week for free rights
as a twelve thirteen year old.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
That's the truckers have those.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
But sure, right, like I mean, he just he had
a friend that worked for some movie chain and he
was on a.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Friend who would unload the back of his truck when
he pulled off your state for an hour.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Anyway, I didn't ask a lot of question. Movies, free movies,
but also I went to it was where I spent
my money. I enjoyed going to the movies. And then
you know, I lived. I lived in Europe for a
while and the movie going experience was so much better. Wow,
an intermission in every movie. Yeah, it was so nice.
And you know, then you end assigned seats and all
(10:52):
these other things. And then I came back to the
States and it was just chaos again, and I was like,
oh no, this is awful.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Well, assigned seats are back. They've been back for a while. Yeah, yeah,
I know, sign seats. I actually saw The Matrix in
Israel back in nineteen ninety nine. But also intermission really nice,
had a nice intermission. What was I doing in Israel? Yeah,
no comment, no comment? All right, No, the movie's real
(11:19):
long mission. Bastle was real long. And so like all
these other old timers, like they're like they might have
left twice. I mean, I'm talking guys in their seventies.
They left twice, and I'm like, I don't need to
do that. I could make it. I basically I couldn't
make it. I was in so much physical discomfort. By
the end, I was like because I kept being like,
(11:40):
surely the movie's almost over, but I knew the one
thing I know about the movie is like there's like
a playing chase, and I'm like, all right, I just
the playing chase is the thing we're waiting for. And
then and then I'm finally like, all right, I got
a I don't feel well, I got it, like I
gotta go. But then I'm like but then they're like
hop on the planes. I'm like, all right, there's only
like ten minutes left. But seriously, it was like it
(12:00):
was excruciating and I'm like I wish I left so
many times. Also, it was a ten am show, so
like the food thing where I'm like, this is this
is the three R movie. I'm gonna get hungry. And
but the last time I'd been to these Imax movies,
they basically had one one one trailer and it started
like it started like it's a ten am movie. The
last time I've been is like the movie started like
(12:20):
ten oh two. It was like it was like a
media so like I walk in and there's like a
kids group there, like a summer camp. The concession line
is so long, and I'm like, I don't what am
I gonna do here? I don't want to miss the movie.
That's why I'm here. I want to see the movie.
So I'd snuck in one tiny like like a protein
bar type breakfast bar thing. But still, I like, I
(12:41):
go in the movie. They start shutting this commercials and
I'm like, all right, listen, the next time a commercial starts,
I'm gonna I'm gonna bust out of here. But I
kept I did. I did this twice, Dave. Both times
there was like a new kids group. I'm talking twenty
kids in line, you know, with like two teenagers leading
them standing in line, and I'm like this, So so
it ends up being I time. It ended up being
twenty four minutes of commercials before this thing, and I'm
(13:02):
already thinking like, all right, I'm going to get pretty hungry.
But little did I know I should have gone to
the bathroom again, like maybe he sneaking another bathroom trip. Anyways, Yeah,
I was, you know that at the end.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
The commercials and previews before the movie thing. That's the
other thing that really just got me is, well, it's.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Like you pay thirty two dollars to go see a movie. Anyways,
we got to get to basketball. I we'll say. After
the movie, me and all the old men met again
in the bathroom and we just had a great time.
Just everybody was yelling about the movie. They were like, what, wow.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I want to see it in the theater. But I'm
running out of time, Like I just haven't had time
to go. But it's the movie that I was hoping
was gonna be kind of like WrestleMania, Right, is this
the movie that's going to get me back to the movie.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
It was an event. It's an event. Oh I should
have eaten I show. I don't know I should. I
actually was thinking about Friend of the Show. Rob Mahoney
once told me about the how he gets hot dogs
in the movies a lot. I guess he goes to
see a lot of movies, and I was like a
hot dog in a movie. But I used to literally
during the movie. I started thinking about Rob Mahoney. I
also think about how Tom Cruise's character has been on
(14:06):
the run for like seven straight months. I'm talking physically
running for seven straight months, and he still has time
to shave like every twelve hours.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
There's just not how many times has he been disavowed? Now?
Speaker 1 (14:17):
No, oh, he's been disavowed for years. But I'm like,
I'm talking no stubble. I thought about so many things
with this movie. I was like, this guy never eats.
Like anyways, speaking of eating, Dave, no time for breakfast.
Let's jump right past it. After our breakfast, we have
our breakfast in bad apologies. This is our chance to
make right what we got wrong on a previous episode.
It's freaking the first time we talked about the basketball.
(14:39):
Let's talk about the basketball, but our apology, Dave. Last week,
when discussing the Knicks coaching search, we made a joke
about Jason Kidd and we assumed he was a CAA client.
Otherwise the Nicks won him. It's not, according to Google
or the broken and withered husk of Google that barely works.
(15:03):
It seems like he is a client of Jeff Schwartz,
so he's not a CIA guy. But anyways, they the Knicks,
they're they're not gonna be able to hire him, I
guess unless are they gonna now try to offer picks
or something like all these teams.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Have calling about everybody.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
They've called about every like we had Chris Finch, all
kinds of people they're calling about. They're asking their requesting
to speak to these guys under contract, and the teams
are telling them no. They asked, they requested permission to
talk to Quinn Snyder and they were firmly rejected. I mean,
(15:42):
Dave Matt could have set up a great scenario in
my opinion, what's that? Oh, just man?
Speaker 2 (15:48):
The Hawks. Hawks could maybe trade away Quinn Snyder and
then they could go and hire Tom Thibodeaux. Now we're
talking and they I mean, I'm telling you right now,
you you give Tom Thibodeau that that's probably a top
six seed in the in the East out of the
play in.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I mean, we gotta shoot higher.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
The I.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Will say the NIXT getting rejected in this approach to
Quinn Snyder. That's why I don't talk to super attractive people.
I don't want to risk it. I don't want to
risk the rejection, Like, hey, can we talk to that guy,
the guy with the eyes and the hair? Is he
can I talk to him? Like Nope? Firmly rejected. Yeah,
I don't know what what are the next suplus to
(16:31):
do now, just keep looking, David.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Probably it'll be Mike Brown, probably.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Whichever one of those Calves assistants that the Sons didn't hire.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
I would just say this if you were a coach
who was collecting a paycheck at home. Yeah, to not coach.
I don't understand taking any of these jobs.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
I mean, that's the dream, Tibbs is he he needs
the action is the juice, I don't. I don't think
he can reach.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
On Tims on TV. Oh yeah, I think he'd be
pretty good.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
You're probably right, he'd be great. Anyways, those were our apologies, Dave.
Let's take a quick break and then actually talk about
the NBA Finals. Yeah, all right, Dave. Game three, I
guess if you're a thunder fan, it wasn't amazing. It
(17:29):
was exhilarating. I feel like it was an exciting game.
It was a well played game, and of course the Pacers,
despite being home underdogs, dominated that fourth quarter. What did
you see in their comeback and eventual victory.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Well, that second quarter run that they went on with
the bench, Pascal and the bench, which has been good
for them all playoff long. You know, Obi Topping didn't
even hit a three, but just like the way that
he runs the floor opens up stuff for everybody else.
Matherin was excellent. TJ McConnell, who coming into the series,
I was like, oh man, how's he gonna deal with
(18:06):
how big and long Oklahoma City is.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
You might should have apologized to him.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
I think you might need to apologize. You made a.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Sneer at him at the end of the last week show.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Ye, honestly I owe the guy in apology because he
has consistently put two feet in the paint when he
touches the ball in half court. And so they've gotten
so much good stuff out of TJ McConnell, and that
doesn't even mention what he's doing, like, you know, stealing
the inbounds passes and getting points there I mean getting
to the free throw line. Even. Yeah, he's been he's
(18:38):
been really good.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
The TJ McConnell performance last night felt scripted. It felt
it felt cafe like. It felt like because it's Indiana,
because they were talking about him so much, right, They
like had a they had a they had like a
package set up talking about him, and they're like, here's
his dad cheering him on, and then it's like, le
(19:00):
let's return to the game. Oh, he just scored. And
then they did it before it happened. That's what it
was before it happen. But still I'm saying, I'm saying
they threw it to his dad. This is I think
he had zero steals at this point. They threw it
to his dad. Back to the action, he just tole
the inbounds pass and you're like, come on. And then
it was like, I mean, there's still a hint of that.
(19:26):
There's there's the white fans with with their pccono shirts
going nuts. But still his impact, his outsized impact on
that game. He was huge. He was this like I
don't even want to say nat it's insulting, but like
he was the thing where the thunder like this guy
this passed. And then at the end he's missing that
short shot in the fourth quarter and then nim Hard
(19:47):
makes the jumper and then he steals the ball from Caruso.
Crusoe throws it right to him for the layup, and
you're like, how's this.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Guy doing it?
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Anyways, he was amazing in that game.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
And man, him twelve, I mean, just he was on fire.
I love how how confident he looked attacking the basket.
I mean, you know, he's an athlete that that kind
of matches up with Okac's wings quite a bit. You know,
he's got size. And my favorite thing about Matherick is
(20:18):
when he gets fouled, he always tells the guy that
that was a foul, you know, when you didn't see
him almost every time.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
I mean, obviously he made a bunch of shots and
that's great. Yeah, I think I think beyond telling his
opponent that was a foul.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
One thing he did a great job at in this
game was after getting fouled, and a lot of times
they weren't called, which, hey, no complaint. That was beautiful. Sure,
he kept playing. He was he seems specifically built for
They're letting more things go tonight, and he was specifically
built for it. He's like, I'm gonna slam into this guy,
(20:55):
no whistle, I don't care, I'm gonna score.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
I want to go through.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
I'm gonna go through the defender.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
And that one layup, he actually got hacked on this
one layup like scoop layup. He got hacked across the
army and he did not stop and could play, and
he got up. He ran back on defense and made
a play actually, you know again, like Indiana's good and
they've got some guys, and when when their bench can't
contribute like that, it takes the pressure off because you know, look,
(21:22):
I thought Pascal was really good in the game. Obviously
Haliburton had a had a much better game than he
than he had.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
And he had an awesome game.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, much better than he had in game too. But
you know, the pressure being taken off by that that
second unit, it's huge for them and has been huge
for them all playoff long again, if Obie Toppin had
hit shots, the game's not even close.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Well, I mean Obi Toppin took over that might have
been if we if we did a steaken eggs best
thing it was like the one minute of topping like that,
Like there was like four possessions where Obi top back
took over the put back dunk. Some of that goes
to maybe I think one of the biggest keys to
this game. I rewind the fourth coreter this morning with
my seven year old and like it screamed even louder
(22:05):
to me on rewatch. I think my biggest takeaway from
this game, and it is probably because of the contributions
from the bench. Okay, see so tired, look tired, shade
absolutely worn out. There's plays. I was telling my daughter,
who's who's a gifted pretty gifted seven year old athlete? Uh?
I was like, I was like, it's not. I was
(22:27):
like most of sports, it's not who's the most talented
or the best best being, depending on how you define it.
It's who's in the best shape. It's whoever is whoever's
the least tired. At the end, they win. That's all
it boils down to. I remember playing sports being like
I'm better this guy, he's just in better shape and
I'm only getting whipped because I'm tired. And that was
(22:49):
the end where it was like shake a guy.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah you ever guys show up to the pickup game
and he's not a player, not like very good, but
he is like the runner, yeah, the worst yes, yeah,
making me look bad.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Yeah, so like the underwear right. Yeah, and this is
the first time spinning. Maybe not the first time, but
we hear so much in it. As a Grizzlies podcaster
and fan, I hear it all the time, like oh yeah,
lower minutes, first stars because so our guys can play
harder when they're out there and I always roll my
eyes where I'm like, it doesn't look like we're playing harder.
(23:23):
But then you saw this, and this was an example
where it felt like, I mean, maybe it was just
Shaye and he's so important. Where Shae did he have
too many shrimp cocktails at Saint Elmo's. But like Shaye
at the end of the game was beat and they
were Maybe you just credit the Pacers. They had a
game plan. We're picking him up ninety four feet the
whole time, we're denying him the ball. Owned Phillips on
(23:46):
his substack was tracking how little Shay brought the ball up.
And Shae is not an off ball guy. He is
best player in the NBA with the ball in his hands. Maybe,
but he's not an off ball guy. And the Pacers
were successful in getting the ball out of his head.
But then by the end of the game, Shay wasn't
fighting to get the ball because I think he was beat.
He was worn out.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
You know, there's been a lot of talk about the
way that the Pacers have guarded say it's almost to
a certain extent, as if they're encouraging him to drive
for the first three quarters. Oh all right, I don't
I don't want to play the ropodope game because something
I think that they're honestly trying to defend. But when
you because especially when you look at the way Aaron
(24:27):
Neismith goes through screens. Man, this guy is putting on
a clinic. Yeah, but there is a certain amount of hey,
how many shots do you have in your in your tank?
Because down the street they trust themselves to be consistent
offensively so that they don't necessarily need that avalanche. Uh,
you know, they can go down twenty because they know
they can make it up incrementally. I think they trust
(24:50):
in that and that's where that bench comes in and
just makes all the difference. Because the way that the
Pacers play, Oklahoma City is playing in rotation so often
right like they're they're they're pre switching, They're they're peel switching.
I mean they're it's a high leverage defensive operation by
the Oklahoma City Thunder and it's it's hard to keep
(25:13):
it up. I mean, we talk about this all the time.
In the long regular season, been a long playoffs Keith.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, and I'm looking at the like the minutes for
the Pacers players, i mean Nie Smith fouled out affected
by foul trouble. But like Halliburton played thirty six, nim
Hard played thirty three, Siakam thirty two, I mean that
them getting I mean the fifteen minutes of Ticher m'connell
being amazing like they I mean, I don't know if
(25:42):
survived is I don't mean an insulting, but like eighteen
minutes from Ben Shephard, like just that relay of allowing
players to rest and be fresher down the stretcher really
showed the Pacers defense again Begs, it's impressive. I mean
Obie Topping shutting down guys on the perimeters sometimes beyond,
just like the energy plays he makes and changing into
(26:04):
the court and getting officsive rebounds like Opie Topa is
defending well Matherin was getting in there. Also, going back
to Mathern, this reminds me I'm gonna say something totally
detestable to the average listener. One of the reasons I
feel like this was such a fun game to watch.
Referees did an amazing job. Referees did an amazing job.
(26:27):
There was a notable misted foul on Halliburton in the
final minute. Okay, despite that, I'm saying, at least in
the second half, the amount of contact the officials were
allowing was perfect. There was almost I can't remember, there
probably were some. There were no like soft bailout free throws.
(26:48):
They were letting defenders absorb contact when the offense initiated.
They were letting Mathern do it to people. They were
letting I mean, they were letting Shade do it like
you know. They usually were not calling fouls. They were
allowed to be fit to slide his feet, take the
contact in the torso and it was beautiful. It was basketball.
It was one. I don't know what the odds are
(27:08):
did we get that again? But that was for me.
That was one reason why I thought the game was
so much fun. Also, I'm falling in love with every
Pacers player. I didn't feel that way two weeks ago. Now, No,
I'm just like I love Ne Smith, I love Obi Toppin. Like,
there's so there's so much fun. Theologist to the Thunder.
(27:28):
The Thunder is still favorite. Still, there's still minus two
thirty to win this series. By the way, uh, this
is from Sports Illustrated. I don't know if we can
trust it anymore, but Sports Illustrated says that the Thunder
are zero to eight against the spread on the road
in the playoffs. It's interesting. Note there there's six point favorites.
(27:50):
Last I saw or game four.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Now this is the greatest, by the way.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Yeah, I mean this was a I don't know it.
It was something. Maybe it was just the home crowd
getting so into it and just like how loud it
seemed everywhere and everyone you told me, yeah, the Thunder
games were unbelievably loud, but like it just something about
the atmosphere seeing Reggie Miller there run our test metal
world piece, just like that stuff's fun too. But like
(28:18):
the Pacers being able to pull it out in front
of their fans, I mean, they did their own. It
wasn't necessarily like uh an avalanche like the Thunder normally do.
But they just got the momentum and they just kept
pouring on. Also, I guess we can wrap up this game.
They won a normal game.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Actually, that's the thing about the Pacers that were Yeah,
we're all thrown off by is like, oh, that was
a normal basketball game.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
They get up by two points. You're like, this is
the biggest lead they've had in the series.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
That's good.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
That's a good point. They won a normal game a
lot of it because, like I said, look like the
Thunder got tired, Pacers wear them down. But also the
turnover thing, the turnover battle, a lot of turnovers for
the Thunder. That's the big that everyone highlighted coming into
the series. The Thunder have dominated the entire season because
of absolutely owning the turnover battle. They lost the turnover
(29:09):
battle and uh, Pacers go up to one. Dave. Let's
take another break, and actually I'm gonna something totally different.
We're gonna name you and me together. We're gonna come
up with our worst performers of the playoffs so far.
You know I love a negative performance. This year's excuse me,
(29:30):
this week's awards ceremony gonna be kind of short. Only
had a few games, not not really any good nominees
for the International stackhous of Pankins Award. So it's gonna
go big picture. We're gonna pick worst team all playoffs
right after this break. All right, Dave, I'm gonna let's
(29:52):
knock out the awards segment. It's gonna be not great.
I mean, we had to do it, we can't skip it.
But there's no great nominees of the past few games
for the International Stackhouse of Pancakes Award. We have a
Pascal Siakam. In game two he was three four eleven
fifteen points, seven boards, four assists, two blocks, two turners,
(30:15):
four personal fouls. Also in game two, Obi Toppin was
one for eight three points, five rebounds, to assist, one steal,
one turnover, one personal foul, and then Miles Turner in
game three only three for eleven, nine points, two boards,
one assist, five blocks. Though it's amaz, I mean, I
feel dumb including him, but what are you gonna do?
(30:35):
There are no other nominees basically, so it's basically Pascal
Siakam three for eleven, fifteen points, seven boards or Obi
Toppin one for eight. I guess it's gotta be Obi,
but don't even normally give one away. But anyways, congratulations
Obi Toppin on your one for eight.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Though.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Yeah, but now, Dave, I want to name worst team
all playoffs and the way I'm doing it. You can
have your own standard, but you gotta weigh in expectations.
You got a way in for me, I got a
way and play a role like I think. I think
Caleb Houston didn't do much when I'm gonna do the stats,
(31:17):
didn't make any shots. But like it's Caleb Houston. I'm
not not a big problem. So I'm gonna roll through
some names. If I if I miss anybody, you throw
them out there. I feel like, here are my nominees.
This is a list. These are the players who notably,
I mean, I feel bad to say stunk it up,
but based on what you hoped for, these guys did
(31:37):
not deliver when you needed it. I'm gonna start with
I think maybe one of the candidates for least valuable
player of the entire playoffs. This hurts my soul. Desmond Bane,
Desmond Bane. Of course, the Chris has got swept desim
Bane shot thirty two from the field. He average stay
(32:00):
wopping three point eight turnovers per game is plus minus.
He was minus sixty six in those four games. So
fifteen points per game for dozen Vane Mike Conley. All right,
they made the conference finals, but Mike Conley he averaged
six points per game. He was nine for thirty six
on two pointers in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Half the floater's gone.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
The floater's gone. Yeah, So uh, Mike Conley nine for
thirty six on two pointers. Six points per game. I'm
gonna whisper this one. I don't know if it's untoured.
Damian Lillard, I know we got hurt. Yeah, but before
suffering the catastrophic injury, he was six for twenty seven
from the field. Damian Lander shot six for twenty seven
(32:46):
in the playoffs. That is staggering.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
I mean he was also coming back from you're right there.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Of course there's there's injury context. Yeah, he was not well.
Speaking of not being well, Christaps Porzingis had a mysterious
thing he could not shake.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Yes, and there is serious.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah, and shot fifteen percent on threes in his eleven
playoff appearances. Uh Contavious called a pope. Not much as
asked offensively, Also, not much was delivered. Five points per
game in the first round loss, shot a horrible percentage.
A couple others. Michael Porter Junior just non existent. Nine
(33:28):
points per game.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Another injury guy maybe, but probably the shoulder.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
The shoulder obviously, yes, said if I was playing like that,
I would put all the wraps on my shoulder. I'd
probably use a neck brace too. Nine points per game
while playing over thirty one minutes a game. While getting
set up from the warm, glowing era of Nikola Jokic.
Nine points per game blows my mind as a score
(33:56):
Tyler Hero, Andrew Wiggins, other Heat players. I mean, there
needs to be a whole award for what the Heat
did in their two home games.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Awful, just awful.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
Uh Oh, Kyle Kuzma, whoops, Kyle Kuzma, what is his famatic?
Speaker 2 (34:14):
If they had kept Chris Middleton.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
It's a financial decision. Uh yeah, what is his five
points per game? And we look at that?
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Right?
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Is that right? Am I seeing this five point eight
points per game basically out of the rotation by the
time the series ended? Ah? Maybe Draymond Green.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
I mean, I'll tell you right now. He made Julius
Randall look like one of the seven or eight best
players in the Nbay. And you're Draymond Green.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
You got one job, Draymond Green with a smooth one
to one assistant turnover ratio. All right, So I think,
I said, is anybody else I'm missing? I mean, I
think those are the worst. I mean, uh, looking at
the stats, like Tim Hardaby Junior. All right, so I
(35:02):
guess we narrowed dow Let's say, Desmond Bane Damian Lullard,
Mike Conley, Persingis, Draymond k CP MPJ, Michael Porter Junior,
Kyle Kuzma. I don't know what to do with though Tyler,
Hero and Wiggins. Their stats aren't good. Maybe we coun
Is the coach. Spolstra is the best coach at the NBA.
(35:24):
Was he the least valuable?
Speaker 2 (35:27):
I mean, I don't know, man, he look at that roster.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Also hindsight, Dave, the Cabs humiliated the Heat, yeah, and
then got smoked by the Pacers. So like it that
Heat looks at the time you were like, oh wow,
well we played, we played title favorite. You know what
do you gonna do? We got beat by the team
(35:52):
that's uh, that's cruising towards the NBA finals and then whoops,
by the way Darius Garland apparently being made available. I
mean the Caves, of course, injury context, they were bank
they were banked up against the Pacers. But now Garland's available.
That can I think episode you.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Lose, you lose the same way two years in a row,
even with a different coach. I think you got to
think about the roster.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
All right, let's naar this, let's narrow this down. To
a first team Dave, who who do you have any
first team locks?
Speaker 2 (36:22):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Mike Conley, So I initially thought maybe Conley. I would say,
here are three people I feel comfortable being worse than Conley.
Desmond Bine. Yeah, four turnovers per game and also not
hitting your threes? I mean credit, okay, see, but still
that's why you had one job, Desmond Bain, Michael Porter Junior.
(36:48):
You have one job. Nine points per game in thirty minutes.
Come on. And then I have Kuzma. I think Kuzma,
Michael Porter Junior, and Baine. That's Conley, okay, and Porzingis.
All right, so we got Conley. I feel bad Conley
(37:08):
made the conference finals.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Sure, think about think about where they could have been
if he had been good.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
That's true on two pointers, the Pacers are incredible? Are
are we just excusing Lillard? I think six for twenty seven?
Speaker 2 (37:32):
He came back from not all right? All right, okay, okay,
Vane thrombosis. I think on mine, we're not excusing Porzingis
or MPJ though.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
No, I think Michael Porter Jr. I think so porzingis
Is are five, Porter Juniors are four. We'll put Baine
at the two. I might I might make Draymond my
six man. I guess he might be off. Oh Kuzma,
Porter my front court. Yeah, and persingis Bane all right?
(38:08):
And Conley. You know, I think you have to win
me over on con I have too much warm feelings
towards Conley, all the man, all the manned. All Mike
Conley ever does is end up in the playoffs, end
up on a team with a great record, And like
you know, I play, I don't don't. I don't want
(38:31):
to punish him as much. All right, I would put
I would put Hero over him. Let me double check
Tyler Hero's stats. This is very important. I mean Hero
for from the field he had those two huge games.
Hero did have the worst plus minus I think of
(38:51):
anybody worse than Bay Yeah, oh yeah does uh yeah,
Tyler Hero got out scored by what is that eighty
seven points in four games.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Who.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
That'll do it for me. I'm moving Conlee off Tyler.
So all right, So so worst team all play or
least valuable all playoffs, however you want to say it,
We're going Tyler Hero, Desmond Bane, Michael Porter, Junior, Kyle Kuzma,
Chrisos persingis I feel good about what we've done here.
Honorable mention Caleb Houston, No, honorable. I think Spoe might
(39:28):
need to be the coach. I mean you can't do islo.
He was an interim.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
Not fair that it's not fair. That's not fair.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
Yeah, congratulations. Uh pat Riley GM, Prisoner of Basketball Operations,
least valuable the postseason, David, let's wrap up. They try,
perhaps try, They tried. Man. Yeah, that Terry Rose, You're
a contract. It'sing to turn into something else. A lot
of these things that we're look at the off season,
(39:59):
of course gonna be trades, and of course that we
have the finals to look forward to over the next
week maybe more. I just realized this thing might not
end until until I'm in Los Angeles, Like.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Uh, I'm gonna if.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
It's Game seven that's on the twenty second, I'm not
I'm not even watch I'm gonna be on the be
in Disneyland, man having a blast not tuning in. I
don't think anyways, the Durant price seems like it's pretty
low and that I think that's super interesting.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Like also like, but it's only five teams going BA to.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
The Garland thing I don't understand how players like Garlander
is available, Like if this is just I understand how
you say you're losing the same way twice. And I
think Garland maybe does have legit injury concerns, possibly been
banged up in the postseason a couple of times. But
like Garland's really good and he's young, and it's like,
(40:55):
if this is it seems to be largely financially motivated. Sure,
like that's messed up. Oh, I agree, Yeah, I want
to know.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Look at what Minnesota did, right, Like, I mean, Minnesota
did this last.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
Year essentially, but they made the conversation you got to.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
Be ahead, you got you gotta get out ahead. And
I would say that for the for Cleveland, they have
two reasons. They've got the financial and then they've got
the maybe this is all we can be with this group.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
Yeah, which is what a sixty win team which is
great and bounces away.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
And haven't made the conference finals. Actually he didn't look
close compared to the Pacers.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
He didn't look close. It's that part's true. Actually, let's
do let's do let's finish the show on one single
listener question, all out of order. It's fine, this is
the corossaut question, Ah.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
Any questions?
Speaker 1 (41:50):
Yes, are you going to finish that cross?
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Knock yourself out?
Speaker 1 (42:00):
There's that. David Smith wants to know does this finals
matchup and just you talking about Cleveland made me think
about it. David Smith wants to know does this finals
matchup lend more credence to the idea of eliminating the
conferences for the playoffs?
Speaker 2 (42:27):
Not really, so I feel like that's like the Pacers
are a fifty win team.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
They are a fifty win team, but not more just.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
Fifty, just fifty. But they were they were they were
better than a fifty win team. Once we say that healthy,
we say that now right right, No, no, no, but they
were thirty four and fourteen down the stretch. Once they
got healthy, they were better than a fifty win pace.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
It's so funny. This has broken my brain, I know,
because I generally usually don't believe, like March is not
real basketball, right, just like the Bucks won all their
games down the stretch, You're like, yeah, but they stink,
and it's like, I don't know, just wanting to win
is usually good enough because of March basketball when everyone's
tanking so like, but now that the Pacers have made
(43:13):
the finals. When they made the conference finals, we go
back and look, we say, oh, how do we not
see this coming? They have the whatever best net rating
over the past forty games. You can do that stuff,
I know as a professional, I can do that about
any player, any team. Who do you want to compliment?
I'll give you some numbers. And it's like, so, I
don't know, before the series started, as a scorned Grizzlies fan,
(43:39):
I would have said, no, we need to we got
to get rid of the conferences. A fifty win playoff
team or like the I don't know, they have like
the eighth best record in the league. I got a ninth,
tenth somewhere around, you know, like that something like that.
I'm like, they won two more games than the Grizzlies
and they're in the NBA Finals. Yes, they I mean
also they are because of their lower seed. They're gonna
(44:00):
end up having one of the hardest paths to ever
making the finals because of the teams they because of
beating the Cavaliers. So like, I'm of two minds, where
Like beforehand, I'm like, this is it's too hard in
the West, the Pacers being evidence of this, But then
also like like you're saying and how it appears to
us the Pacers, maybe you've just leveled up and they're
(44:23):
they're legitimately awesome and right now. Ever, after having watched
Game three and the romanticism of the Pacers and this
small market team having this experience, I'm like, no, this
is good. Why will we not want this?
Speaker 2 (44:35):
That's great thing?
Speaker 1 (44:36):
So I don't. Yeah, I mean, obviously, if you're if
you're a mid tier if you're a fan of like
a mid tier NBA team in the West, You're like,
oh my goodness, I wish I was in the East.
If I'm a free agent, if I'm if I'm a
good NBA player, I would be looking to try to
get in the East. You know, like, why why don't
I want to? Why do I want to battle in
(44:56):
the West. It's too hard? Sorry, So I don't know
how the All Star games are going to work.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
That's so silly.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
I want to go to the East to be an
All Star. Now I have to I have to be
born overseas.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
I wonder if you can do like you know, like
Shane Larkin is. You know, he's got a Turkish citizenship.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
I'm going to mangle this. But I did see was
it the Greek professional league where one of the coaches
was like, our Greek team is real, They're a Greek team,
And he listed off all these people who are not
Greek who were counted as because you can get the
citizenship and thus account as a Greek player for the
league rules.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
Most of those teams or most of those leagues have
a two foreign player limit or two American player limit
or something like that.
Speaker 1 (45:45):
And so he was listening off all these people. He's like,
they're not real Greek. Yeah, anyways, on that note.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
It's all Greek to me.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
On that note, what are you thinking for the rest
of the finals? It's always the rubber fail. Do you
think it's going It's going back to the thunder? You know.
Speaker 2 (46:04):
I like being a prisoner of the moment.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
It's fun's fun.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
And the pacers, I mean, I've just seen so much
of them the last six months and it does feel
like they are like they're evolving, like they're learning on
the fly, They're getting better on the fly. Rick Carlile
is coaching his butt off, man. I mean, it's just
pushing every button.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
It's fun. But the Thunder responded, every single time they've
been knocked down, they got back up.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
They haven't lost back to back games in the postseason.
They only lost back to back games twice this season. Yeah,
they're statistically the Thunder are a historically great team. Trying
to figure out if have the Pacers and Rick Carlile's
solve some things? Do they have more do they have
(46:53):
more options to answer the questions the Thunder are asking
and more adjustments they can do? And Game three, I think,
as you described it, a normal win for the Pacers
felt stronger where you're like, oh, okay, what if pressing
shade the whole time? What if that's an option? What
if Jalen Williams can't handle it just as the second guy.
(47:14):
And then if you're getting not much else from the
rest of your roster, if you know, if home grin
isn't as dominant, and then I don't know, if the
Thunder are shortening their rotation, and then the Pacers just
keep coming at you in waves. It's gonna be interesting. Also,
the games get closer together slightly, then they spread back
(47:35):
out of it, so who knows, maybe Sha can get
his rest. But anyways, uh, thanks everybody for listening. If
you'll support this program, you do that at patreon dot com,
slash fast break breakfast. You guys are the best, and
remember breakfast is the most important thing. Underson's wound by
(48:01):
the English UNI
All right, and welcome too Fast Break Breakfast NBA Podcast.
My name is Keith Parrish, and I'm here once again
with my buddy. Through the miracle of computer phone, I'm
here with Dave de four. Dave, how are you doing?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Man? Fantastic?
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Great, that's good to hear. Yeah, I was thinking, Dave
about this, all right, So like a year ago, I'd say,
a year ago, you were telling me how much you know,
you love the NBA, you love basketball, but you hadn't
gone to maybe that many games. You live a little
bit outside LA and you're like, you know, it seems
like I have to go to these games. But now
(00:48):
you ended up going to a bunch of Clippers games.
You ended up going to two finals games. Dave. I'm
still amazed by this. It's incredible. But also I was
thinking about how you saw two of the best finishes
in the postseason. You were there for the Aaron Gordon
buzzer beater did it counter not dunk tip In'? And
(01:09):
then you saw, of course Game one, the Pacers led
for three tenths of a second. You saw the Halliburton
game winner. Little miraculous. I don't know, is it miraculous anymore?
The impressive comeback from the Pacers in Game one, and
so look at you. You got to experience in person
these like historic events. I'm I'm yeah. I remain constantly
(01:30):
happy for you and jealous.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Yeah. I also went to the College Softball World Series.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Final, okay, because I know nothing saw.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
The Texas Longhorns win the national championship.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yeah, one of the hit hiking home from Oklahoma and
you ended up in Omaha.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
So one of the off days, well number one, Oklahoma
City is where USA Softball is based. Oh okay, yeah,
so right outside of right outside of town over near
the Science Museum, they have this huge softball complex. That's
where they do the Softball World Series, the College Softball
World Series. And it was one of the off days,
(02:12):
and I was considering going to the Triple A game,
which is uh, there's a stadium in downtown Oklahoma City
and Bricktown, the Triple A affiliate for the Dodgers is there,
the Comets. I was thinking about going to a game
there because I mean, Keith, do you like baseball?
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Can't say I do?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Okay, do you ever go to a baseball game?
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Baseball games? I've been to a few. I've been to
a handful of professional games. It's a hangout time.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Yeah, exactly. And I had all this downtime I enjoy,
especially minor league baseball. Like I grew up with the
Richmond Braves and used to go to those games all
the time. I used to keep scoring, you know, it's
a it's a nice thing I like to do alone,
which you know, added to the list. So I was
thinking about going, and you know, I was asking somebody,
you know, for details on it, and they mentioned that
(03:03):
the College Softball World Series was happening that day as well.
It was the final game. I was like, well, how
often are you in town or something like that. I
had just read about Naya Kennedy, the picture for Texas
Tech who got the huge nil deal, and she was
pitching that day. Now, come to find out, when I
(03:25):
get there, it's the third day in a row. She's pitching.
It's very hot and humid there, and she got rocked
in the first inning. But I was there for it.
You know, I thought, Hey, why not I go to
stuff now again?
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah you do?
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah, you know. Blame it on my buddy Jimmy. He
got me to show up up to Vegas for WrestleMania
if I can handle that.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, I mean, I think the number of events you've seen,
I just lets still in WrestleMania.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
I didn't go to Mania. Actually we decided not to.
You just didn't have to work. But I did go
to NXT while I was there. But yeah, he got
me out of the house and okay, I don't know,
made me realize that, uh, you know, it's not so bad.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
So the Softball World Series was in Soa, Oklahoma City, Okay, yeah, yeah,
I was thinking of college baseball in Omaha.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yeah, I assume I was between Texas Tech and Texas fans. Yeah,
and you know, you would think maybe this would be
a raucous environment. It was great. There were kids there,
and like, that's awesome. Texas Tech fans were picking on
the Texas kids.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Fine, speaking of me being happy for you but also jealous.
We talked last episode about the candy at the Oklahoma
City media thing. Oh you sent me the photo, Dave,
and I couldn't believe my friend, I'm talking about maybe
the Holy Trinity of candy. In my book, Mike and
Ikes are my number one Sour Patch kids in the
(04:48):
argument for number two. So there's a bowl of Mike
and Ikes. There's a bowl of Sour Patch Kids. There's
also a bowl of Starbursts. They're up there the all
time greatest candy. And then you have the Albany's Gummy Bears.
Not a mount rushmore candy item for me, but they're tremendous.
And then the only one of the five candies that
you showed, the only one I don't think is that amazing,
(05:10):
is jelly bellies, because who has the time to carefully
select which jelly belly you're gonna eat? You But you
can't be mixing a like a butter popcorn with a
spearmint or like there's too many random flavors. You have
to be careful. The other ones, you're like, oh I
got a got yellow, but I wanted a pink.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
You know, they also had like individual kit cats.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
I don't care about. I mean, I'm candie. I still
I need to know more about who picks who's the
person in charge of selecting these. I'm in awe. I
mean I really was, like I was like I made
so many bad decisions in my life to not be there.
I think if I would have known about it more,
I would have made like I could have been spending
the last several years steering myself towards being there. But
(06:02):
now maybe I'll just try to get to a game
next year.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Dude, you know I'm not typically a candy guy. I
know I went nuts.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
I felt like I felt like you did it for me.
I don't know if that's why, but I felt like
you were You were like, listen, if I don't get anything,
Keith is going to be so upset. A cup of candy,
that's awesome. I mean you said picture of your cup.
I wouldn't call that a cup you you had you
had somebody's leftovers. I would have I would have eaten
(06:31):
so much candy. They would have asked me to leave, Dave.
They would have been like, this guy, can't be this.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
The popcorn was good. I mean it was a good spread. Honestly,
I had a really great time. I mean, all of
Oklahoma City was very welcoming and it was fun.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
I need to know, is maybe maybe you know the answer.
If not, I'm sure Andrew Schlect can let us know.
Is that a year round, season long thing or was
that just okay? That wasn't just a finals only?
Speaker 2 (06:57):
No, that's in Oklahoma City. This is what they do.
And I mean it had been like five thousand dollars
with a candy like it looked like so it's so much.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I was legitimately looking at the picture you took me,
and I was like adding up. I was like, listen,
I have some money. Why can't I just build that
for myself in my kitchen right now? And I was
like eyeballing it. And I was like, that's probably like
one hundred dollars just right there. I mean, you're five
thousand dollars number, it's pretty.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
D I going no. No. I meant like over the
course of two games, two stations. I mean it's like it's.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Then how much can cost Michael?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Right, but just I mean just the candy station, which
also had like chips and other things, like.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
We gotta we got to get to the finals in
a second before we do. I do also want to
mention to you, Dave, speaking of going to things alone,
I took it upon myself as is a male mission,
go to go see mission impossible alone. It was the
last day it was showing you an imax, and in
Nashville we have like a legitimate proper imax. There's a
couple in the region that say their IMAX, but only
(07:59):
one is the true, Like, I don't know. I feel
those other people paid some money to get the branding.
It's not quite the right. So I'm like, all right,
our last movie star, our last you know, Hollywood success
thing like Tom Cruise is going to all this effort
to give me IMAX movies. I owe him money. So
I paid my thirty two dollars to buy one ticket.
(08:20):
I went and saw it. But I will say, Dave,
the movie as a ride, as a theme park attraction,
no regrets, lots of fun. As a script, as something
that made us. I haven't seen it, I know, Like,
but again, I had a blast. Yeah, outside of a
(08:40):
few mistakes I made, I had a blast that they
tripled down beyond triple down they keep I mean, it's
called Mission impossible. Sure, but at some point you have
to quit saying like, ol, we're talking about one million
that they say things all the time like, so we
(09:01):
have a one million chance. This has to happen all
the same time, and no joke, Dave. At one point,
this is not a spoiler. Pretty late in the movie
they said we're talking about a one and a trillion chance.
I was like, come on, just we know it's gonna
just just do the stuff, do the stunts, no the mistakes.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Hey, I didn't like Uh Dead Reckoning part one. I
thought it was kind of any.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Any movie that says, algorithm is already out for me,
and that's been the case for about ten years now.
And I didn't totally understand the bad guy. I'm like,
that guy hooks up to a computer virus? What's god?
I'm very what am I watching?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Doing too much?
Speaker 1 (09:41):
But doing too much? But the movie's really long and
it was me and five senior citizens. There was there
was no joke. There were seven people in this Imax
theater and I was the youngest mid forties.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Did we talk about the ever talk about the thing
that killed me for going to the movies? And I
used to live going to the movies. It was my
favorite thing growing up. My best friend, his dad was
a trucker and he had movie passes, like we would
go to two three movies a week for free rights
as a twelve thirteen year old.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
That's the truckers have those.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
But sure, right, like I mean, he just he had
a friend that worked for some movie chain and he
was on a.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Friend who would unload the back of his truck when
he pulled off your state for an hour.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Anyway, I didn't ask a lot of question. Movies, free movies,
but also I went to it was where I spent
my money. I enjoyed going to the movies. And then
you know, I lived. I lived in Europe for a
while and the movie going experience was so much better. Wow,
an intermission in every movie. Yeah, it was so nice.
And you know, then you end assigned seats and all
(10:52):
these other things. And then I came back to the
States and it was just chaos again, and I was like,
oh no, this is awful.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Well, assigned seats are back. They've been back for a while. Yeah, yeah,
I know, sign seats. I actually saw The Matrix in
Israel back in nineteen ninety nine. But also intermission really nice,
had a nice intermission. What was I doing in Israel? Yeah,
no comment, no comment? All right, No, the movie's real
(11:19):
long mission. Bastle was real long. And so like all
these other old timers, like they're like they might have
left twice. I mean, I'm talking guys in their seventies.
They left twice, and I'm like, I don't need to
do that. I could make it. I basically I couldn't
make it. I was in so much physical discomfort. By
the end, I was like because I kept being like,
(11:40):
surely the movie's almost over, but I knew the one
thing I know about the movie is like there's like
a playing chase, and I'm like, all right, I just
the playing chase is the thing we're waiting for. And
then and then I'm finally like, all right, I got
a I don't feel well, I got it, like I
gotta go. But then I'm like but then they're like
hop on the planes. I'm like, all right, there's only
like ten minutes left. But seriously, it was like it
(12:00):
was excruciating and I'm like I wish I left so
many times. Also, it was a ten am show, so
like the food thing where I'm like, this is this
is the three R movie. I'm gonna get hungry. And
but the last time I'd been to these Imax movies,
they basically had one one one trailer and it started
like it started like it's a ten am movie. The
last time I've been is like the movie started like
(12:20):
ten oh two. It was like it was like a
media so like I walk in and there's like a
kids group there, like a summer camp. The concession line
is so long, and I'm like, I don't what am
I gonna do here? I don't want to miss the movie.
That's why I'm here. I want to see the movie.
So I'd snuck in one tiny like like a protein
bar type breakfast bar thing. But still, I like, I
(12:41):
go in the movie. They start shutting this commercials and
I'm like, all right, listen, the next time a commercial starts,
I'm gonna I'm gonna bust out of here. But I
kept I did. I did this twice, Dave. Both times
there was like a new kids group. I'm talking twenty
kids in line, you know, with like two teenagers leading
them standing in line, and I'm like this, So so
it ends up being I time. It ended up being
twenty four minutes of commercials before this thing, and I'm
(13:02):
already thinking like, all right, I'm going to get pretty hungry.
But little did I know I should have gone to
the bathroom again, like maybe he sneaking another bathroom trip. Anyways, Yeah,
I was, you know that at the end.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
The commercials and previews before the movie thing. That's the
other thing that really just got me is, well, it's.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Like you pay thirty two dollars to go see a movie. Anyways,
we got to get to basketball. I we'll say. After
the movie, me and all the old men met again
in the bathroom and we just had a great time.
Just everybody was yelling about the movie. They were like, what, wow.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I want to see it in the theater. But I'm
running out of time, Like I just haven't had time
to go. But it's the movie that I was hoping
was gonna be kind of like WrestleMania, Right, is this
the movie that's going to get me back to the movie.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
It was an event. It's an event. Oh I should
have eaten I show. I don't know I should. I
actually was thinking about Friend of the Show. Rob Mahoney
once told me about the how he gets hot dogs
in the movies a lot. I guess he goes to
see a lot of movies, and I was like a
hot dog in a movie. But I used to literally
during the movie. I started thinking about Rob Mahoney. I
also think about how Tom Cruise's character has been on
(14:06):
the run for like seven straight months. I'm talking physically
running for seven straight months, and he still has time
to shave like every twelve hours.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
There's just not how many times has he been disavowed? Now?
Speaker 1 (14:17):
No, oh, he's been disavowed for years. But I'm like,
I'm talking no stubble. I thought about so many things
with this movie. I was like, this guy never eats.
Like anyways, speaking of eating, Dave, no time for breakfast.
Let's jump right past it. After our breakfast, we have
our breakfast in bad apologies. This is our chance to
make right what we got wrong on a previous episode.
It's freaking the first time we talked about the basketball.
(14:39):
Let's talk about the basketball, but our apology, Dave. Last week,
when discussing the Knicks coaching search, we made a joke
about Jason Kidd and we assumed he was a CAA client.
Otherwise the Nicks won him. It's not, according to Google
or the broken and withered husk of Google that barely works.
(15:03):
It seems like he is a client of Jeff Schwartz,
so he's not a CIA guy. But anyways, they the Knicks,
they're they're not gonna be able to hire him, I
guess unless are they gonna now try to offer picks
or something like all these teams.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Have calling about everybody.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
They've called about every like we had Chris Finch, all
kinds of people they're calling about. They're asking their requesting
to speak to these guys under contract, and the teams
are telling them no. They asked, they requested permission to
talk to Quinn Snyder and they were firmly rejected. I mean,
(15:42):
Dave Matt could have set up a great scenario in
my opinion, what's that? Oh, just man?
Speaker 2 (15:48):
The Hawks. Hawks could maybe trade away Quinn Snyder and
then they could go and hire Tom Thibodeaux. Now we're
talking and they I mean, I'm telling you right now,
you you give Tom Thibodeau that that's probably a top
six seed in the in the East out of the
play in.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I mean, we gotta shoot higher.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
The I.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Will say the NIXT getting rejected in this approach to
Quinn Snyder. That's why I don't talk to super attractive people.
I don't want to risk it. I don't want to
risk the rejection, Like, hey, can we talk to that guy,
the guy with the eyes and the hair? Is he
can I talk to him? Like Nope? Firmly rejected. Yeah,
I don't know what what are the next suplus to
(16:31):
do now, just keep looking, David.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Probably it'll be Mike Brown, probably.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Whichever one of those Calves assistants that the Sons didn't hire.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
I would just say this if you were a coach
who was collecting a paycheck at home. Yeah, to not coach.
I don't understand taking any of these jobs.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
I mean, that's the dream, Tibbs is he he needs
the action is the juice, I don't. I don't think
he can reach.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
On Tims on TV. Oh yeah, I think he'd be
pretty good.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
You're probably right, he'd be great. Anyways, those were our apologies, Dave.
Let's take a quick break and then actually talk about
the NBA Finals. Yeah, all right, Dave. Game three, I
guess if you're a thunder fan, it wasn't amazing. It
(17:29):
was exhilarating. I feel like it was an exciting game.
It was a well played game, and of course the Pacers,
despite being home underdogs, dominated that fourth quarter. What did
you see in their comeback and eventual victory.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Well, that second quarter run that they went on with
the bench, Pascal and the bench, which has been good
for them all playoff long. You know, Obi Topping didn't
even hit a three, but just like the way that
he runs the floor opens up stuff for everybody else.
Matherin was excellent. TJ McConnell, who coming into the series,
I was like, oh man, how's he gonna deal with
(18:06):
how big and long Oklahoma City is.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
You might should have apologized to him.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
I think you might need to apologize. You made a.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Sneer at him at the end of the last week show.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Ye, honestly I owe the guy in apology because he
has consistently put two feet in the paint when he
touches the ball in half court. And so they've gotten
so much good stuff out of TJ McConnell, and that
doesn't even mention what he's doing, like, you know, stealing
the inbounds passes and getting points there I mean getting
to the free throw line. Even. Yeah, he's been he's
(18:38):
been really good.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
The TJ McConnell performance last night felt scripted. It felt
it felt cafe like. It felt like because it's Indiana,
because they were talking about him so much, right, They
like had a they had a they had like a
package set up talking about him, and they're like, here's
his dad cheering him on, and then it's like, le
(19:00):
let's return to the game. Oh, he just scored. And
then they did it before it happened. That's what it
was before it happen. But still I'm saying, I'm saying
they threw it to his dad. This is I think
he had zero steals at this point. They threw it
to his dad. Back to the action, he just tole
the inbounds pass and you're like, come on. And then
it was like, I mean, there's still a hint of that.
(19:26):
There's there's the white fans with with their pccono shirts
going nuts. But still his impact, his outsized impact on
that game. He was huge. He was this like I
don't even want to say nat it's insulting, but like
he was the thing where the thunder like this guy
this passed. And then at the end he's missing that
short shot in the fourth quarter and then nim Hard
(19:47):
makes the jumper and then he steals the ball from Caruso.
Crusoe throws it right to him for the layup, and
you're like, how's this.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Guy doing it?
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Anyways, he was amazing in that game.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
And man, him twelve, I mean, just he was on fire.
I love how how confident he looked attacking the basket.
I mean, you know, he's an athlete that that kind
of matches up with Okac's wings quite a bit. You know,
he's got size. And my favorite thing about Matherick is
(20:18):
when he gets fouled, he always tells the guy that
that was a foul, you know, when you didn't see
him almost every time.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
I mean, obviously he made a bunch of shots and
that's great. Yeah, I think I think beyond telling his
opponent that was a foul.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
One thing he did a great job at in this
game was after getting fouled, and a lot of times
they weren't called, which, hey, no complaint. That was beautiful. Sure,
he kept playing. He was he seems specifically built for
They're letting more things go tonight, and he was specifically
built for it. He's like, I'm gonna slam into this guy,
(20:55):
no whistle, I don't care, I'm gonna score.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
I want to go through.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
I'm gonna go through the defender.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
And that one layup, he actually got hacked on this
one layup like scoop layup. He got hacked across the
army and he did not stop and could play, and
he got up. He ran back on defense and made
a play actually, you know again, like Indiana's good and
they've got some guys, and when when their bench can't
contribute like that, it takes the pressure off because you know, look,
(21:22):
I thought Pascal was really good in the game. Obviously
Haliburton had a had a much better game than he
than he had.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
And he had an awesome game.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, much better than he had in game too. But
you know, the pressure being taken off by that that
second unit, it's huge for them and has been huge
for them all playoff long again, if Obie Toppin had
hit shots, the game's not even close.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Well, I mean Obi Toppin took over that might have
been if we if we did a steaken eggs best
thing it was like the one minute of topping like that,
Like there was like four possessions where Obi top back
took over the put back dunk. Some of that goes
to maybe I think one of the biggest keys to
this game. I rewind the fourth coreter this morning with
my seven year old and like it screamed even louder
(22:05):
to me on rewatch. I think my biggest takeaway from
this game, and it is probably because of the contributions
from the bench. Okay, see so tired, look tired, shade
absolutely worn out. There's plays. I was telling my daughter,
who's who's a gifted pretty gifted seven year old athlete? Uh?
I was like, I was like, it's not. I was
(22:27):
like most of sports, it's not who's the most talented
or the best best being, depending on how you define it.
It's who's in the best shape. It's whoever is whoever's
the least tired. At the end, they win. That's all
it boils down to. I remember playing sports being like
I'm better this guy, he's just in better shape and
I'm only getting whipped because I'm tired. And that was
(22:49):
the end where it was like shake a guy.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah you ever guys show up to the pickup game
and he's not a player, not like very good, but
he is like the runner, yeah, the worst yes, yeah,
making me look bad.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Yeah, so like the underwear right. Yeah, and this is
the first time spinning. Maybe not the first time, but
we hear so much in it. As a Grizzlies podcaster
and fan, I hear it all the time, like oh yeah,
lower minutes, first stars because so our guys can play
harder when they're out there and I always roll my
eyes where I'm like, it doesn't look like we're playing harder.
(23:23):
But then you saw this, and this was an example
where it felt like, I mean, maybe it was just
Shaye and he's so important. Where Shae did he have
too many shrimp cocktails at Saint Elmo's. But like Shaye
at the end of the game was beat and they
were Maybe you just credit the Pacers. They had a
game plan. We're picking him up ninety four feet the
whole time, we're denying him the ball. Owned Phillips on
(23:46):
his substack was tracking how little Shay brought the ball up.
And Shae is not an off ball guy. He is
best player in the NBA with the ball in his hands. Maybe,
but he's not an off ball guy. And the Pacers
were successful in getting the ball out of his head.
But then by the end of the game, Shay wasn't
fighting to get the ball because I think he was beat.
He was worn out.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
You know, there's been a lot of talk about the
way that the Pacers have guarded say it's almost to
a certain extent, as if they're encouraging him to drive
for the first three quarters. Oh all right, I don't
I don't want to play the ropodope game because something
I think that they're honestly trying to defend. But when
you because especially when you look at the way Aaron
(24:27):
Neismith goes through screens. Man, this guy is putting on
a clinic. Yeah, but there is a certain amount of hey,
how many shots do you have in your in your tank?
Because down the street they trust themselves to be consistent
offensively so that they don't necessarily need that avalanche. Uh,
you know, they can go down twenty because they know
they can make it up incrementally. I think they trust
(24:50):
in that and that's where that bench comes in and
just makes all the difference. Because the way that the
Pacers play, Oklahoma City is playing in rotation so often
right like they're they're they're pre switching, They're they're peel switching.
I mean they're it's a high leverage defensive operation by
the Oklahoma City Thunder and it's it's hard to keep
(25:13):
it up. I mean, we talk about this all the time.
In the long regular season, been a long playoffs Keith.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, and I'm looking at the like the minutes for
the Pacers players, i mean Nie Smith fouled out affected
by foul trouble. But like Halliburton played thirty six, nim
Hard played thirty three, Siakam thirty two, I mean that
them getting I mean the fifteen minutes of Ticher m'connell
being amazing like they I mean, I don't know if
(25:42):
survived is I don't mean an insulting, but like eighteen
minutes from Ben Shephard, like just that relay of allowing
players to rest and be fresher down the stretcher really
showed the Pacers defense again Begs, it's impressive. I mean
Obie Topping shutting down guys on the perimeters sometimes beyond,
just like the energy plays he makes and changing into
(26:04):
the court and getting officsive rebounds like Opie Topa is
defending well Matherin was getting in there. Also, going back
to Mathern, this reminds me I'm gonna say something totally
detestable to the average listener. One of the reasons I
feel like this was such a fun game to watch.
Referees did an amazing job. Referees did an amazing job.
(26:27):
There was a notable misted foul on Halliburton in the
final minute. Okay, despite that, I'm saying, at least in
the second half, the amount of contact the officials were
allowing was perfect. There was almost I can't remember, there
probably were some. There were no like soft bailout free throws.
(26:48):
They were letting defenders absorb contact when the offense initiated.
They were letting Mathern do it to people. They were
letting I mean, they were letting Shade do it like
you know. They usually were not calling fouls. They were
allowed to be fit to slide his feet, take the
contact in the torso and it was beautiful. It was basketball.
It was one. I don't know what the odds are
(27:08):
did we get that again? But that was for me.
That was one reason why I thought the game was
so much fun. Also, I'm falling in love with every
Pacers player. I didn't feel that way two weeks ago. Now, No,
I'm just like I love Ne Smith, I love Obi Toppin. Like,
there's so there's so much fun. Theologist to the Thunder.
(27:28):
The Thunder is still favorite. Still, there's still minus two
thirty to win this series. By the way, uh, this
is from Sports Illustrated. I don't know if we can
trust it anymore, but Sports Illustrated says that the Thunder
are zero to eight against the spread on the road
in the playoffs. It's interesting. Note there there's six point favorites.
(27:50):
Last I saw or game four.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Now this is the greatest, by the way.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Yeah, I mean this was a I don't know it.
It was something. Maybe it was just the home crowd
getting so into it and just like how loud it
seemed everywhere and everyone you told me, yeah, the Thunder
games were unbelievably loud, but like it just something about
the atmosphere seeing Reggie Miller there run our test metal
world piece, just like that stuff's fun too. But like
(28:18):
the Pacers being able to pull it out in front
of their fans, I mean, they did their own. It
wasn't necessarily like uh an avalanche like the Thunder normally do.
But they just got the momentum and they just kept
pouring on. Also, I guess we can wrap up this game.
They won a normal game.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Actually, that's the thing about the Pacers that were Yeah,
we're all thrown off by is like, oh, that was
a normal basketball game.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
They get up by two points. You're like, this is
the biggest lead they've had in the series.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
That's good.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
That's a good point. They won a normal game a
lot of it because, like I said, look like the
Thunder got tired, Pacers wear them down. But also the
turnover thing, the turnover battle, a lot of turnovers for
the Thunder. That's the big that everyone highlighted coming into
the series. The Thunder have dominated the entire season because
of absolutely owning the turnover battle. They lost the turnover
(29:09):
battle and uh, Pacers go up to one. Dave. Let's
take another break, and actually I'm gonna something totally different.
We're gonna name you and me together. We're gonna come
up with our worst performers of the playoffs so far.
You know I love a negative performance. This year's excuse me,
(29:30):
this week's awards ceremony gonna be kind of short. Only
had a few games, not not really any good nominees
for the International stackhous of Pankins Award. So it's gonna
go big picture. We're gonna pick worst team all playoffs
right after this break. All right, Dave, I'm gonna let's
(29:52):
knock out the awards segment. It's gonna be not great.
I mean, we had to do it, we can't skip it.
But there's no great nominees of the past few games
for the International Stackhouse of Pancakes Award. We have a
Pascal Siakam. In game two he was three four eleven
fifteen points, seven boards, four assists, two blocks, two turners,
(30:15):
four personal fouls. Also in game two, Obi Toppin was
one for eight three points, five rebounds, to assist, one steal,
one turnover, one personal foul, and then Miles Turner in
game three only three for eleven, nine points, two boards,
one assist, five blocks. Though it's amaz, I mean, I
feel dumb including him, but what are you gonna do?
(30:35):
There are no other nominees basically, so it's basically Pascal
Siakam three for eleven, fifteen points, seven boards or Obi
Toppin one for eight. I guess it's gotta be Obi,
but don't even normally give one away. But anyways, congratulations
Obi Toppin on your one for eight.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Though.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Yeah, but now, Dave, I want to name worst team
all playoffs and the way I'm doing it. You can
have your own standard, but you gotta weigh in expectations.
You got a way in for me, I got a
way and play a role like I think. I think
Caleb Houston didn't do much when I'm gonna do the stats,
(31:17):
didn't make any shots. But like it's Caleb Houston. I'm
not not a big problem. So I'm gonna roll through
some names. If I if I miss anybody, you throw
them out there. I feel like, here are my nominees.
This is a list. These are the players who notably,
I mean, I feel bad to say stunk it up,
but based on what you hoped for, these guys did
(31:37):
not deliver when you needed it. I'm gonna start with
I think maybe one of the candidates for least valuable
player of the entire playoffs. This hurts my soul. Desmond Bane,
Desmond Bane. Of course, the Chris has got swept desim
Bane shot thirty two from the field. He average stay
(32:00):
wopping three point eight turnovers per game is plus minus.
He was minus sixty six in those four games. So
fifteen points per game for dozen Vane Mike Conley. All right,
they made the conference finals, but Mike Conley he averaged
six points per game. He was nine for thirty six
on two pointers in the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Half the floater's gone.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
The floater's gone. Yeah, So uh, Mike Conley nine for
thirty six on two pointers. Six points per game. I'm
gonna whisper this one. I don't know if it's untoured.
Damian Lillard, I know we got hurt. Yeah, but before
suffering the catastrophic injury, he was six for twenty seven
from the field. Damian Lander shot six for twenty seven
(32:46):
in the playoffs. That is staggering.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
I mean he was also coming back from you're right there.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Of course there's there's injury context. Yeah, he was not well.
Speaking of not being well, Christaps Porzingis had a mysterious
thing he could not shake.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
Yes, and there is serious.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yeah, and shot fifteen percent on threes in his eleven
playoff appearances. Uh Contavious called a pope. Not much as
asked offensively, Also, not much was delivered. Five points per
game in the first round loss, shot a horrible percentage.
A couple others. Michael Porter Junior just non existent. Nine
(33:28):
points per game.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Another injury guy maybe, but probably the shoulder.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
The shoulder obviously, yes, said if I was playing like that,
I would put all the wraps on my shoulder. I'd
probably use a neck brace too. Nine points per game
while playing over thirty one minutes a game. While getting
set up from the warm, glowing era of Nikola Jokic.
Nine points per game blows my mind as a score
(33:56):
Tyler Hero, Andrew Wiggins, other Heat players. I mean, there
needs to be a whole award for what the Heat
did in their two home games.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Awful, just awful.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
Uh Oh, Kyle Kuzma, whoops, Kyle Kuzma, what is his famatic?
Speaker 2 (34:14):
If they had kept Chris Middleton.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
It's a financial decision. Uh yeah, what is his five
points per game? And we look at that?
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Right?
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Is that right? Am I seeing this five point eight
points per game basically out of the rotation by the
time the series ended? Ah? Maybe Draymond Green.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
I mean, I'll tell you right now. He made Julius
Randall look like one of the seven or eight best
players in the Nbay. And you're Draymond Green.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
You got one job, Draymond Green with a smooth one
to one assistant turnover ratio. All right, So I think,
I said, is anybody else I'm missing? I mean, I
think those are the worst. I mean, uh, looking at
the stats, like Tim Hardaby Junior. All right, so I
(35:02):
guess we narrowed dow Let's say, Desmond Bane Damian Lullard,
Mike Conley, Persingis, Draymond k CP MPJ, Michael Porter Junior,
Kyle Kuzma. I don't know what to do with though Tyler,
Hero and Wiggins. Their stats aren't good. Maybe we coun
Is the coach. Spolstra is the best coach at the NBA.
(35:24):
Was he the least valuable?
Speaker 2 (35:27):
I mean, I don't know, man, he look at that roster.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Also hindsight, Dave, the Cabs humiliated the Heat, yeah, and
then got smoked by the Pacers. So like it that
Heat looks at the time you were like, oh wow,
well we played, we played title favorite. You know what
do you gonna do? We got beat by the team
(35:52):
that's uh, that's cruising towards the NBA finals and then whoops,
by the way Darius Garland apparently being made available. I
mean the Caves, of course, injury context, they were bank
they were banked up against the Pacers. But now Garland's available.
That can I think episode you.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Lose, you lose the same way two years in a row,
even with a different coach. I think you got to
think about the roster.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
All right, let's naar this, let's narrow this down. To
a first team Dave, who who do you have any
first team locks?
Speaker 2 (36:22):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Mike Conley, So I initially thought maybe Conley. I would say,
here are three people I feel comfortable being worse than Conley.
Desmond Bine. Yeah, four turnovers per game and also not
hitting your threes? I mean credit, okay, see, but still
that's why you had one job, Desmond Bain, Michael Porter Junior.
(36:48):
You have one job. Nine points per game in thirty minutes.
Come on. And then I have Kuzma. I think Kuzma,
Michael Porter Junior, and Baine. That's Conley, okay, and Porzingis.
All right, so we got Conley. I feel bad Conley
(37:08):
made the conference finals.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Sure, think about think about where they could have been
if he had been good.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
That's true on two pointers, the Pacers are incredible? Are
are we just excusing Lillard? I think six for twenty seven?
Speaker 2 (37:32):
He came back from not all right? All right, okay, okay,
Vane thrombosis. I think on mine, we're not excusing Porzingis
or MPJ though.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
No, I think Michael Porter Jr. I think so porzingis
Is are five, Porter Juniors are four. We'll put Baine
at the two. I might I might make Draymond my
six man. I guess he might be off. Oh Kuzma,
Porter my front court. Yeah, and persingis Bane all right?
(38:08):
And Conley. You know, I think you have to win
me over on con I have too much warm feelings
towards Conley, all the man, all the manned. All Mike
Conley ever does is end up in the playoffs, end
up on a team with a great record, And like
you know, I play, I don't don't. I don't want
(38:31):
to punish him as much. All right, I would put
I would put Hero over him. Let me double check
Tyler Hero's stats. This is very important. I mean Hero
for from the field he had those two huge games.
Hero did have the worst plus minus I think of
(38:51):
anybody worse than Bay Yeah, oh yeah does uh yeah,
Tyler Hero got out scored by what is that eighty
seven points in four games.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Who.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
That'll do it for me. I'm moving Conlee off Tyler.
So all right, So so worst team all play or
least valuable all playoffs, however you want to say it,
We're going Tyler Hero, Desmond Bane, Michael Porter, Junior, Kyle Kuzma,
Chrisos persingis I feel good about what we've done here.
Honorable mention Caleb Houston, No, honorable. I think Spoe might
(39:28):
need to be the coach. I mean you can't do islo.
He was an interim.
Speaker 2 (39:36):
Not fair that it's not fair. That's not fair.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
Yeah, congratulations. Uh pat Riley GM, Prisoner of Basketball Operations,
least valuable the postseason, David, let's wrap up. They try,
perhaps try, They tried. Man. Yeah, that Terry Rose, You're
a contract. It'sing to turn into something else. A lot
of these things that we're look at the off season,
(39:59):
of course gonna be trades, and of course that we
have the finals to look forward to over the next
week maybe more. I just realized this thing might not
end until until I'm in Los Angeles, Like.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Uh, I'm gonna if.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
It's Game seven that's on the twenty second, I'm not
I'm not even watch I'm gonna be on the be
in Disneyland, man having a blast not tuning in. I
don't think anyways, the Durant price seems like it's pretty
low and that I think that's super interesting.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Like also like, but it's only five teams going BA to.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
The Garland thing I don't understand how players like Garlander
is available, Like if this is just I understand how
you say you're losing the same way twice. And I
think Garland maybe does have legit injury concerns, possibly been
banged up in the postseason a couple of times. But
like Garland's really good and he's young, and it's like,
(40:55):
if this is it seems to be largely financially motivated. Sure,
like that's messed up. Oh, I agree, Yeah, I want
to know.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Look at what Minnesota did, right, Like, I mean, Minnesota
did this last.
Speaker 1 (41:08):
Year essentially, but they made the conversation you got to.
Speaker 2 (41:11):
Be ahead, you got you gotta get out ahead. And
I would say that for the for Cleveland, they have
two reasons. They've got the financial and then they've got
the maybe this is all we can be with this group.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
Yeah, which is what a sixty win team which is
great and bounces away.
Speaker 2 (41:30):
And haven't made the conference finals. Actually he didn't look
close compared to the Pacers.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
He didn't look close. It's that part's true. Actually, let's
do let's do let's finish the show on one single
listener question, all out of order. It's fine, this is
the corossaut question, Ah.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
Any questions?
Speaker 1 (41:50):
Yes, are you going to finish that cross?
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Knock yourself out?
Speaker 1 (42:00):
There's that. David Smith wants to know does this finals
matchup and just you talking about Cleveland made me think
about it. David Smith wants to know does this finals
matchup lend more credence to the idea of eliminating the
conferences for the playoffs?
Speaker 2 (42:27):
Not really, so I feel like that's like the Pacers
are a fifty win team.
Speaker 1 (42:34):
They are a fifty win team, but not more just.
Speaker 2 (42:37):
Fifty, just fifty. But they were they were they were
better than a fifty win team. Once we say that healthy,
we say that now right right, No, no, no, but they
were thirty four and fourteen down the stretch. Once they
got healthy, they were better than a fifty win pace.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
It's so funny. This has broken my brain, I know,
because I generally usually don't believe, like March is not
real basketball, right, just like the Bucks won all their
games down the stretch, You're like, yeah, but they stink,
and it's like, I don't know, just wanting to win
is usually good enough because of March basketball when everyone's
tanking so like, but now that the Pacers have made
(43:13):
the finals. When they made the conference finals, we go
back and look, we say, oh, how do we not
see this coming? They have the whatever best net rating
over the past forty games. You can do that stuff,
I know as a professional, I can do that about
any player, any team. Who do you want to compliment?
I'll give you some numbers. And it's like, so, I
don't know, before the series started, as a scorned Grizzlies fan,
(43:39):
I would have said, no, we need to we got
to get rid of the conferences. A fifty win playoff
team or like the I don't know, they have like
the eighth best record in the league. I got a ninth,
tenth somewhere around, you know, like that something like that.
I'm like, they won two more games than the Grizzlies
and they're in the NBA Finals. Yes, they I mean
also they are because of their lower seed. They're gonna
(44:00):
end up having one of the hardest paths to ever
making the finals because of the teams they because of
beating the Cavaliers. So like, I'm of two minds, where
Like beforehand, I'm like, this is it's too hard in
the West, the Pacers being evidence of this, But then
also like like you're saying and how it appears to
us the Pacers, maybe you've just leveled up and they're
(44:23):
they're legitimately awesome and right now. Ever, after having watched
Game three and the romanticism of the Pacers and this
small market team having this experience, I'm like, no, this
is good. Why will we not want this?
Speaker 2 (44:35):
That's great thing?
Speaker 1 (44:36):
So I don't. Yeah, I mean, obviously, if you're if
you're a mid tier if you're a fan of like
a mid tier NBA team in the West, You're like,
oh my goodness, I wish I was in the East.
If I'm a free agent, if I'm if I'm a
good NBA player, I would be looking to try to
get in the East. You know, like, why why don't
I want to? Why do I want to battle in
(44:56):
the West. It's too hard? Sorry, So I don't know
how the All Star games are going to work.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
That's so silly.
Speaker 1 (45:04):
I want to go to the East to be an
All Star. Now I have to I have to be
born overseas.
Speaker 2 (45:10):
I wonder if you can do like you know, like
Shane Larkin is. You know, he's got a Turkish citizenship.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
I'm going to mangle this. But I did see was
it the Greek professional league where one of the coaches
was like, our Greek team is real, They're a Greek team,
And he listed off all these people who are not
Greek who were counted as because you can get the
citizenship and thus account as a Greek player for the
league rules.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
Most of those teams or most of those leagues have
a two foreign player limit or two American player limit
or something like that.
Speaker 1 (45:45):
And so he was listening off all these people. He's like,
they're not real Greek. Yeah, anyways, on that note.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
It's all Greek to me.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
On that note, what are you thinking for the rest
of the finals? It's always the rubber fail. Do you
think it's going It's going back to the thunder? You know.
Speaker 2 (46:04):
I like being a prisoner of the moment.
Speaker 1 (46:06):
It's fun's fun.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
And the pacers, I mean, I've just seen so much
of them the last six months and it does feel
like they are like they're evolving, like they're learning on
the fly, They're getting better on the fly. Rick Carlile
is coaching his butt off, man. I mean, it's just
pushing every button.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
It's fun. But the Thunder responded, every single time they've
been knocked down, they got back up.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
They haven't lost back to back games in the postseason.
They only lost back to back games twice this season. Yeah,
they're statistically the Thunder are a historically great team. Trying
to figure out if have the Pacers and Rick Carlile's
solve some things? Do they have more do they have
(46:53):
more options to answer the questions the Thunder are asking
and more adjustments they can do? And Game three, I think,
as you described it, a normal win for the Pacers
felt stronger where you're like, oh, okay, what if pressing
shade the whole time? What if that's an option? What
if Jalen Williams can't handle it just as the second guy.
(47:14):
And then if you're getting not much else from the
rest of your roster, if you know, if home grin
isn't as dominant, and then I don't know, if the
Thunder are shortening their rotation, and then the Pacers just
keep coming at you in waves. It's gonna be interesting. Also,
the games get closer together slightly, then they spread back
(47:35):
out of it, so who knows, maybe Sha can get
his rest. But anyways, uh, thanks everybody for listening. If
you'll support this program, you do that at patreon dot com,
slash fast break breakfast. You guys are the best, and
remember breakfast is the most important thing. Underson's wound by
(48:01):
the English UNI
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