NBA First Half Recap

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
What's going on? Everybody. Welcometo the KBR Sports Podcast, you know,
the best sports podcast of your twentyfour hour day. Thanks for tuning
into today's episode of the Sports podcast. Of course, if you are not
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just hitting the follow or subscribe buttonor whatever platform you're listening to the podcast
on, and of course you canalso tune into the KBR Sports content on

(00:21):
the YouTube channel where I have.The most recent video that went up was
about Stephen A. Smith and someof the things he said recently that have
had me a bit fuddled, tosay the least, in which I feel
like I got to call him outfor just making things up at times.
And if you're interested in making hearingthe case that I make on that,
go ahead and check out the KBRSports YouTube channel and then follow KBR Sports
on social media, whether it's onTwitter, on Instagram at KBR Sports you

(00:45):
can find it there as well asFacebook and TikTok. You can just follow
me at Brendan Abban as well asthose other platforms as well. But y'all
excited to get into this episode ofthe podcast, obviously, he's been a
little bit since I posted a podcastepisode. I'd say I think the last
episode. I don't remember to behonest with a specific date, but it's
been a bit and I think itwas actually right before the holiday break.

(01:07):
Maybe it was the last podcast episodeI did, and then I was sick
when I came back. But Ithink you guys might have enjoyed hearing my
sick voice. Possibly maybe it getsa little, it gets about an octave
or too lower, So maybe itmight have been like some soothing type of
music or music but soothing audio tojust listen to and a ride and a
drive or something like that, youknow, when you kick back riding or

(01:30):
something, or when you're about togo to bed, you just put a
podcast on. Hearing about it myvoice octaves lower might have helped out.
I don't know. Man, Look, sometimes if you can hit that if
you can hit that perfect Isaac Hayeslevel of deepness in your voice, with
that perfect rasp man thing, hitssmooth, smooth, and it's not like

(01:53):
it's not like right at the JamesEarld Jones levels of Mufaso or Darth Vader.
But because those voices are deep butI think Isaac Hayes got the I
mean, obviously he's a musician,so he kind of has it nailed down
to an art. But I thinkthat you know, you hit that right
not right octave. Look, man, you can do some things with your

(02:13):
voice, especially if you want totalk talk about voice acting, which obviously
James Earl Jones has done in hisown field. But besides that point,
a lot of NBA to talk abouton today's podcast. Pretty much an NBA
focused podcast for the most part,even though at the time of recording is
leading up to the Visional Championships inthe AFC and the NFC. But I
might record something separate to talk aboutthat, honestly as as opposed to this,

(02:36):
because technically this podcast was supposed toalready have come out with supposed to
be at the time it was goingto be the NBA season at a quarter
of the season. But now we'realready almost at the All Star break,
and I'm pretty sure this Thursday orthe Thursday you're hearing this, the NBA
starters, the All Star starters willbe revealed, and so I figured,
look, already at the halfway mark, there's no point in trying to do

(02:59):
a quarter or or third of theWaite season. Might as well just just
break it down to half the season. Then at the end of the season
do another episode kind of going overthe same things that we touch on on
today's podcast. But if you mighthave noticed, I used the word we,
so obviously I had to do thisepisode with my guy snack Keel Oatmeal
or as the people call him,Overwatch or nobody calls him Overwatch, but

(03:22):
he plays Overwatch so much. Manmight actually have an addiction brother, how
we live. I have never heardsomebody just pass themselves on their back about
their voice as much as you justdid. Hey man, that was so
unnecessary. Some might say unnecessary.It wasn't unnecessary. Rather, and technically
it wasn't even about my own voice, because it's not my natural voice.

(03:45):
It was it was more so talkingabout my voice if it was Octave's lower
So it's not even about my currentvoice. I was just waiting for you
to hurry the finish, so youdidn't just introduce me. Hey bro,
Look man, sometimes you got priorities, and look, you just weren't the
priority in that moment, just likehow so actually I'm not I'm not going
to respond to that, but thefact that we we talked about doing this

(04:08):
podcast like two months ago, itwas a month and a half and then
uh, it just it just neverjust never materialized. Well, part of
the issue is, okay, soit was mid December we talked about doing
this podcast episode and then yes,it's about a month so mid December we
talked about doing this podcast episode,and then holidays came up, so and

(04:31):
I left during mid December to goon to come home for the holidays.
And when I whenever I try torecord with that like Mike I bring with
me on like when I travel,I was like, this audio quality is
trash and it just bothered me somuch. And then I got six So
then by the time I came home, I already went over that part.

(04:53):
But I just that that affected alarge part because of the fact that I
just hated I don't like having this. I'm not asking like this is even
like the best audio quality, becauseI mean, sure microphones deffly produced really
great audio results, and even withthis mic I could there's ways that could
make the audio so much better.I would say if I had better equipment

(05:14):
in ways aside from microphone and justthe power source and the whole nine.
But I digress. But yeah,I this podcast has been long in the
long in the tooth, to saythe least. But hey, we're doing
it now, so that that sayssomething. Oh you're not wrong. I
mean, you just gave a lotof excuses while you're running from the grind.
But you know this guy, I'mjust saying, Bro, looking looking

(05:39):
a little looking looking a little damienlittle there for a little bit. Yikes,
yikes, yike, Bro, Listen, listen. I was listen,
how are you going to force yourselfto a team and then get the fight
the coach fired halfway through the season? Didn't get the coach fired? Or
did Giannis? From where the reportsand my source is a little bit of

(06:03):
a little bit of b I'm hereto say that, Bro. But I
think the funniest thing NBA sentil Brothis damn account be getting me. I
saw so many there's so many timesthey get you, Bro, so they
had to tweet it. I'm tryingto pull out the account now, but
I had quote tweeted it at onepoint because they definitely got me, and

(06:24):
I was like, no freaking way. But I was dying because I was
like, how do y'all do this? Man Like, they just be on
it with just the funniest stuff totry and just make people think something is
like what it is it And ify'all don't know, pretty much, Milwaukee
Bucks fired the head coach, AdrianGriffith, and a lot of a lot

(06:46):
of news came around talking about whythey might have done it and what the
reason might have been and so onand so what NBA and pretty much.
I mean, if you watched theMilwaukee Bucks, and I don't know,
maybe this might be something that webring up later in the show, but
if you watch the Milwaukee Bucks,they're they definitely don'teel like they're one of
the top teams in the NFL orsorry NBA when you just watch them on

(07:10):
their face, Yeah, they wingames, but it's just because the large
part they're just more talented than theother teams for their good portion of the
season. But then when you seethem play against some of the tougher competition,
you got start to see more ofthe flaws and the cracks. Even
against we competition, they can't guarda turnstile, to be honest, But
this is the tweet from NBA Sentelthat I saw I said he are already
in that's what it says. Wasbullying my brother, saying the Nasis is

(07:34):
committing insurance fraud by being in theNBA. He had to go be honest
on the buckspiring of age Griffin.Bro. When I saw the insurance fraud
thing, I got sent to themoon. I was dying Bro saying he

(08:01):
was bullying my brother by saying hewas committing insurance fraud because he doesn't deserve.
Bro. The amount of the amountof tweets I saw coming out talking
about how it was just because hewas bullying to be honest. I was
like, yo, y'all got stop. People be picking on the Nazis so
much, but it's so funny.I just can't help. But man,
seeing his highlight reels, Yes,Bro, oh man, I mean listen

(08:31):
what Mann. I don't know ifyou got one retweeted to your account or
I don't know how Twitter works,but man, listen, if you uh
that is pure. If you don'tlike that, you don't like NBA basketball,
dog. I think the account isyou can find on Twitter's called brick
Muse. Oh yeah, yeah yeah. But they tweeted out the video compilation

(08:58):
of it and I was just like, dude, this guy for the nastist,
what is going on? Bro?Like sometimes like he's trying to make
a move before his brain can catchup, and it's just like the ball.
Oh man, it's something that there'sone play there where he gets like
penalized for like flopping egregiously, andit's just so funny because it's such a

(09:22):
it looks the flop itself looks uncoordinated. I'm trying to find. I'm trying
to find I shouldn't I shouldn't findnow, just be laughing. But I
guess that, man that if youwant to see pure, unadult rated raw
basketball, go watch that for real. Though truly, I somebody probably uploaded

(09:46):
it to YouTube. It has tobe there somewhere. But guys, we're
gonna endup we're gonna be talking aboutthe first half an NBA season, like
I alluded to, and some ofthe topics we're gonna be breaking down,
starting out with our three top That'strue, I want to start, so
we'll start off with our three topplayers for the first half of the season.

(10:07):
Right. We'll do these different categoriesfor each one, and it will
be three top players, three topteams, so far this in the season,
our three biggest surprises and then thethree biggest disappointments. So starting with
the three top players, I'm actuallycurious who is your number three for the
three top players, And I wouldassume three for both of us would be
like the lowest, Yeah, thethird best player in the NBA right now

(10:37):
in the season. I guess II don't really want to pick them,
but I'm gonna say honest, Okay, well, guys, I'd rather pick
Luca. But I just feel likeGiannis has been kind of crazy this this
like last whole month. He's justbeen out of his mind. It's kind

(10:58):
of overshadowed because of Joel Embiid.Yeah, but I mean just even though
they're they're playing like zero symbolings ofdefense. Uh, he's still the only
he's still I think positive in thelast month on defense. He's still posting.
He's got the almost three trouble doublesin the last week that he's been

(11:20):
playing out of his mind, andthen four in the four in the whole
month. And the closest one thatcame really close, I really came close
to Lucas Shy. I think Shyis up there but in terms of like
who's the actual best, but Idon't know what spoiler if you have just
talk about specifically, I mean,those guys aren't those I think. I

(11:43):
think, really, let's let's justbe one. We know who we won
in two are but I don't know, I don't yet. Listen if you
got if you have a Shy Lucaover over kimbid I listened, and we
I'm on the wrong. You don'tlook, I don't know. I don't

(12:05):
know. It's simple ad Okay,but yeah, I still think that.
I still think the combination of offensedefense, which is always what you could
be honest oftense defense is just justjust barely put them over the top for
me, over Shy and Luca,even though though even though I know is
having a good defensive here, theidea of like interior defense is always gonna

(12:28):
be more important than xterior defense,I mean not more important, but like
bring more value, I should say, than just pure exterior defense which Shy
brings. Uh So, yeah,I live. I live with picking the
honest, even though it's very it'svery close. Okay, all right,

(12:52):
okay, so my number three isasking to wow, yep, I got
jokis at three, and how isthis disrespectful go ahead with the wrong thing.
So, first off, it's forthis season so far this season,

(13:13):
for the first half of this season, this season, Nikolai Jokich has been
the third best player for the firsthalf of this season. I credit Jokic.
He's four, he's fourth and assistsright now, averaging nine point one
assists. He's second in player efficiencyrating behind dwell Embiid, and so like,
he's still playing very well. Obviouslyhe's I mean, he's third on
my list. I think that wherethe Nuggets have are playing right now then

(13:39):
the top of the pack in theWestern Conference. They're third in the West
at thirty one and fourteen. They'reonly behind OKC and Minnesota, who are
both thirty and thirteen. So naturally, naturally the Nuggets have just played two
more games. But I think thatJokic has still shown that he's just he
controls both ends of the ball toparticularly offense so well. And it's still

(14:03):
now and now it's at that pointwhere I think it's obvious that Jokic doesn't
care about the regular season, rightand at this point he's just he's just
doing it. It's like Lebron,Like you get an automatic twenty seven and
seven, twenty seven, seven andseven, it's Yokis is almost like that
now, Like Yokis is just anauto pilot of like twenty four eleven and

(14:26):
nine. That's what he's on autopilot of. And he could average more
points if he wanted to, butit's just that's not the priority for him,
and he doesn't. He's not needingto put out that effort. And
I honestly think the Nuggets are actuallybetter served for that, because when you
watch the Nuggets play, they getso much lyft from their other guys.
But and I think, I meanthat's so that's a key part of the

(14:48):
Nicola Jokic formula. He is akey cog and getting all these other guys
going and getting them playing at thisoptimal level so everybody feels so involved in
it. In the offense, AaronGordon is playing the best I've seen Aaron
Gordon and plays as opposed to anyother destination he's been at prior to this.
Right, he looks like he fitsin perfectly with this team. Obviously,
Jamal Murray's gonna do what Jamal Murraydoes him and Nikola Yokich play off

(15:11):
each other so well, and Ijust think Kic gives those guys the space
to perform in that that range.And I think that if if Jokic is
playing like Jokic's baseline is an MVPcaliber season, right, but he's not
playing, I know he's not gonnawin the MVP. So that's why Kic

(15:31):
is third for me, Like he'snot. He's in, Like he's playing
well enough that he's like in adiscussion, but he's not really you know
what I mean, Like he's no. But what I'm saying is that,
like I know, Yokic isn't gonnawin the MVP. If that makes it,
that's no guarantee. We're just talkingabout the first half of the season.

(15:52):
Based off the first half of theseason. The second half of the
season could be entirely different. Butbased off the first half of the season,
I know for a shot would notbe even for me. He wouldn't
be second personally, and I wouldlike to looking at real time m v
P s I I personally wouldn't havehim second shot. Why are you shot,

(16:18):
I, Genie, I'm not evenlooking my second I gotta hear I
gotta hear why second? You gottago. No, brok is your second,
So you gotta go, go Bro, go, you have to go
who you had second? Go broexplain why k second? Yo get your

(16:41):
second? Go be who? Youhave to explain? Why did you have?
I don't even care about the setanymore. You gotta who do you
have? Second? You gotta explainwhy? If that's the whole point,
this is a question. Second,you have to explain. Listen, it
is shy, I'm paying up thephone. Explain why Jokis is your second?

(17:06):
Yoki is the second best player,is the best player in the NBA.
Joe would be playing bad than himright now. That's the reason why
he's second. Now that you weresecond with Okay, But why didn't Giannas
deserve to be over Yo Kisch?Because Giannice is having a down offensive a
defensive season. Yokic is playing prettygood defense and being better on offense.
There's no reason to be to pickuh yokok and he doesn't have a better

(17:27):
record. There's no reason for meto play a mobile kitch. Janice is
technically ahead of Yo Kitch. Ifwe're talking about records, I mean in
the West, I mean a thirtyand thirteen records. I mean because Giannics
has played they've played two less gamesthan them. What do you say,
Yeah, they played two more games. But I just I mean they're playing
in the West, They're playing aHerder conference. I'm just gonna be likest.

(17:49):
Okay, okay, all right,go ahead. Yeah. My second
is Shy Shy Gildas Alexander no way, yes, yeah. I look personally,
I think Shai has been playing atsuch a level. I didn't.
Everybody has had okac as like thatupcoming team, right, Everybody's seen them

(18:14):
young, talented, everybody's known thatwhat Shi brings to the game. He's
shown what he can do. ButI think that the talent of this team
coming together as well as it hasover the last two to three seasons and
then even this season, for themright now to be sitting at number one
in the Western Conference. At thetime of US recording this, well,
there were forty three games in forthem right now, so there's only what

(18:37):
there's thirty nine games left in theseason, so right now halfway mark the
number one seed. And I thinkfor him outside of the not including the
Boston on the Eastern Conference, butfor the Western Conference. Right now,
Shi or shay Shi Shai is thirdin player efficiency rating. He's just behind
Joki. He's has a thirty pointfive player efficiency rating in terms of scoring

(19:02):
him and I think he is actuallyright now and scoring. He's fourth and
scoring at thirty one point one pointsper game. So for me, he's
the main cog that gets all thatstuff going. I give credit to Chet
Holmgren. I love guys like louDort, and I love the young,
the young talent and good the goodquality of core that they have there.

(19:22):
People. Some people might get madif I would have shouted it out Josh
Giddy, I don't know, butyou so what yeah exactly? So I
left it alone. You know,it's real when I shout at lou Dort
before I say Josh Giddy. ButI feel as though what he's doing with

(19:42):
that, and it's it's not somethingthat is like expected of that team.
The Nuggets have that that that whatdo you. I don't want to do
that chemistry and that that veteran,that veteran advantage of we've been here before.
Okay, see he's like they're figuringit all out now and it's behind
this dude, and I think they'rea bit ahead of schedule, to be

(20:04):
honest with you, because I don'tthink if you break down every piece that
Okay See has, that you're alreadypicking them to be number one in the
Western Conference at this point when you'rebreaking out each individual piece and how good
each guy is individually, and alarge part of that has to do with
Shy Giltges Alexander, and so Ifeel as though he's just been so good
watching him play. He gets towherever he wants to be on the court,

(20:26):
whatever spot he wants to get to. He's able to create a shot
for people whenever he wants. Hismid range is killer, and I feel
as though when I watch him play, I don't even know who I would
compare him to in terms of along, taller point guard that can just
get that has that mid range knockeddown. I know when I talk about
MIDRANGEHO are going to automatically say ChrisPaul. But he doesn't play at Chris
Paul's. It's very different, andI don't know who. If I had

(20:49):
to think about somebody that was,it's almost like it's weird, but it's
almost like because he also gets tothe rim in a way that I can
almost compare the penny hardaway. Buthe doesn't have obviously he's not six nine

(21:10):
or whatever the case might be,but he has He is like he has
a kind of play flow to hisgame where he can get to the line,
he's able to get inside, hecan score mid range and easy.
It's such an easy way. It'slike he creates space so easily. And
so I feel like he's so undistoppablethat for this first half of the season
where he has his team, especiallywith them being unexpected of them to be

(21:30):
this high, I got Yeah,I think I gotta give Shy or Shave
his credit. I'm always gonna mixup saying Shay or Shy a man number
one? You what do you thinkabout Shy being too though? No,

(21:52):
give me your rhetory. I'm I'mwilling to take it. Give I gave
my reasons why you're it's a onegame difference, and outside of scoring,
not even just scoring volume scoring,he doesn't do a single thing better than
you'll each this season. So it'slike and it's not like he's dragged like

(22:15):
you said, It's not like he'sdragging a team or anything like the team
is good. He's a main catalystof it, but the team is good.
So like saying like, okay,he's a game above them, but
work everywhere else. So he's thesecond back player in the behalf of the
season. I just can't, No, you wanted to get gas. Even

(22:37):
with Gianni's I'm still kind of like, now, well, it's more so
about the expectation, because the expectationwas if I told you before the season,
even if we go look at thebetting odds for title favorites or even
number one seed favorites, these guyswouldn't have them there. They wouldn't.
But that also has to play inthe fact that nobody thought Chet was gonna

(22:57):
come out immediately be in the leaddefender and on top of that be what
seventeen and seven on fifty almost fiftyfour percent fifty four percent shooting, Like
nobody really thought he was gonna comeout and do that off rip while averaging
you know, two and a halfblocks. And it's like, so it's
like that team has like a bunchof like just guys who came up together

(23:19):
and are playing really well together.And again it's not saying Shot isn't playing
amazing. It because he is.It's just like taking the team aspect of
how they're doing so well and sayingthat this makes him the second best player
in the league this first half ofthe season. I just I like,
I said, like, he's nothowking, but I second, and I

(23:41):
can't do that. Yeah, Igotta give it to him, because that's
the thing. Even though you're like, for example, Chet well, I
think I think, I mean,people already were already hyping up the chet
Holmrin and Victor Webbin Yama face.It wasn't people good. They're not.
They're not good, though they're they'reamazing the season hoping, yes they are,

(24:02):
But it wasn't this thing where likechet Holmgren being good wasn't it was
like a surprise. No, beingthis good wasn't surprise. And my and
my also my position on it isthat so much of the production of that
team stems from what Shi does.And so I feel as though, obviously,
in the same sense with Jokic isnot gonna is not gonna Obviously he's

(24:25):
not gonna have the rebound, hedoesn't have the assist numbers like Yokis does.
But I don't think those are theonly things that because that's there's a
reason why he's also just behind it. He's the third guy behind yok and
player efficiency rating and EMBIID. Ithink a large part of that is because
of what he does on both endsand how he creates for guys, not
even just with the assist numbers,but he because his his presence on the
court, it creates something for everybodyelse. And I think if you compared

(24:49):
him with Luca, I would belike, yeah, that's a conversation right
there, those who are closer onthe same level Luca. Like if you
had if you had to make ita gap right now, it would be
Joel, Joel and Nicola Jannis likeJoel and Joel and and Jokic gap,
Janni gap, Luca Shy gap wouldbe it for me, Joel Nicola,

(25:17):
you said Lucas Shy No, no, so it would be Joel Jokic.
Yeah. I think those who arethe best two players in the league.
Then you have who I think isa pretty solid like third, and then
I think it is a conversation betweenLuca and Shy because now Shy and Lucas,

(25:37):
now they they create like Luca isthe is like as it sounds,
terough, but he's like he likewhat like he's a guard flash forward version
of jokis right. He's a veryHe's a gonna be a triple double threat.
He's gonna get you, get everybodyinvolved. He's gonna be the main
score, he's gonna get the reboundgoals, he's gonna be all around that

(26:00):
she suffered suffered. Just he's justnot to the level of right. And
so it's looking like that where it'slike, Okay, you have a guy
who does have the counting stats,and then you have a guy who has
the scoring but doesn't have the countingstats, but his impact is felt in
other ways. You know, peoplewould say gravity and other things like that,

(26:21):
and he's also a two way player. Then that that that's where you
have like for me, that's wherethat conversation starr. But see but that
Okay, so this is the thisis almost the same argument, and it's
not it's similar, but stay withme when I'm trying to make this case.
It's almost the same thing when StephCurry didn't have counting stats, right,
and people couldn't people couldn't illustrate whatSteph Curry's value was because he didn't

(26:45):
have the assists, he didn't havethe rebounding numbers that a lot of guys,
namely the main opposition of him winningMVPs at times Lebron James was getting
those stats right because but Steph Currycould be having this amazing impact on the
team. But because he's not thedirect guy making the play, making the
assists or grabbing the rebound, it'simpacting his season numbers. But his gravity

(27:07):
and the impact that he makes whenhe's on the court affects the team,
affects that even the pace of playwith this with the team, his ability
for speaking in Shy's case, Shy'sability to get to the free throw line.
He's one of the best guys likegetting to the free throw line the
side of Joel Embiid and Prime Harden. I mean, he averages nine free
throws a game notes as well,and honest, that's the thing, Like

(27:32):
your Seth Curry comparison would make senseif if Shy was like game breakingly good
at something like Steph was game breakinglygood like step was something you could not
get from any other player in theleague. In the NBA, there's no
player that was putting up stuff likeBeeth, like his counting numbers weren't there,

(27:52):
but he also hit four hundred three. He also was like always most
threes made in the season good,So it was like he didn't have your
traditional counting numbers when he was breakingrecords in other ways. But I'm making
you, I would say Shai isdoing that, but even he's not doing
steph stuff. And I mean,I'm not trying to make this a Shy
stuff exactly. I'm just trying tokind of compare for but Shai is doing

(28:15):
those type of things within like midranging down Like what Shai is doing from
the mid range and at the rimis insane. How well he should I
mean he' shooting He's averaging thirty onepoint one points and shooting above fifty four
percent from the field. He hasa true shooting percentage of sixty four percent.
I mean, he's Jokic. No. But the problem that I Okay,

(28:37):
so this is this is the reasonwhy I'm taking Shy over Jokic.
I'm already I'm this isn't a thingof who's the better player overall. This
is a who's having a better firsthalf of the season to me, And
I think Jokic is in coast mode, which is the reason why I'm like,
okay, his coast mode is asgood as a lot of players like
MVP modes or whatever the case youwant to make, right, And I

(28:57):
think shi if Yo kicch wasn't mesorry, if Joel Embiid wasn't playing out
of his mind, both of uswe both have Joel Embid is number one.
But if Joel Embiid wasn't like goingthis this outwhere crazy, it would
be a much closer race between thesethree players. And that's the reason why
I feel as though it's clear tome these are the three guys if somebody
was to win an MVP. IfJoel Embiid, I mean, Joel is

(29:18):
playing so insane, I don't Idon't really know. He's gone twenty one
straight games that averaging over thirty,so I are scoring over thirty rather not
averaging. But he's scoring over thirty. He's averaging thirty eight points per game
in this stretch in the last twentyone games. But if to say Joelle's
not playing a freaking I don't knowvideo game numbers, the MVP races between

(29:41):
these three guys, right, whateverorder you want to put them. I
don't even think. I'm not puttingGiannis in that. I don't. That's
the thing. It's like, allright, let's get and a lot of
it. And here's the thing,would we say right now? Right now?
And this is so crazy because rightnow have the Bucks underperformed or have
they over reformed? But they feellike they have that's my point. But

(30:10):
in looking at record wise, Idon't think. But we watched the games
though, That's the thing. What'sdoing. They are overperforming by many people's
estimations from what we what we evensaw from that team a year ago.
They are overperforming. And granted,you could say that's them adding Chet,
which I obviously he's a big isa big addition to when you add Chet

(30:30):
Hong Grim, but also the jumpand Shy's game has also accounted for that
as well. But when you lookat the Bucks, I mean, the
Bucks have taken steps back and alot of their staples of what they were
last season. Obviously, you're gonnado that when you switch out a guy
like Drew Holliday for Damian Lillard andso on. But they but when you
watch that team, they're winning juststraight off of their talent, They're not
playing well as a cohesive. That'sthe reason why I felt like this team

(30:52):
had second round and depending on whoare gonna they're gonna play in the first
round, obviously, because they mighthave got another situation where they played Miami
in the first round, they wouldhave got knocked out, right, That's
the reason they fired the coach,because it wasn't They didn't feel like they're
in a position right now. Ifeel like the Thunder, their coach,
could win Coach of the Year.He probably will exactly. That's why I

(31:14):
feel like the difference is between thetwo scenarios. I'm fine if you want
to put Jokicic over over me personally, I just have checked, right,
I have. Sorry, I haveShy above Yo Kisch, But to me,
I just don't. I don't havethey honest thing there for me because
Jannis is playing great. Don't getme wrong, he's playing great. But
I feel as though when you're justfresh off of firing your coach and your
team is underperforming when we watch youall play, I don't know, man,

(31:38):
and you're in the easier conference,I don't know. Looking at MVB
tracker, right, yes, Shyeight point eight, Janni's seven point four
looking at m VP race. WhichMVP tracker are you looking at? Because
the one I'm looking at Joelle's thefavorite then is Yo Kicch And I'm seeing

(31:59):
it from fan Duel. I'm seeingit from sports book Vegas sports Book.
They have embid. They have embiidis plus one thirty y'll Kitch plus two
fifty Shy plus four hundred fan duels. That was DraftKings. Fan Duels has
draweling Bid plus one thirty Nicola yoKisch plus two fifty Shy plus three sixty

(32:20):
bet MGM, NBA, NBA dotCom has that shy three. Basketball Reference
has it that. Uh yeah,I said shy three. But I said
I said shy eight point eight sevenpoint four. No, but that would
mean Gianni's has better odds. Yeah, no, no, no man percentage?
Why you joel as forty five thirtyone? Oh oh okay, okay,

(32:43):
okay, sorry I thought you yeah, okay, I go with you.
No, no, sorry, Soit's like, no, I I
looking when you make jargs like that. Actually I kind of I kind of
see where you're coming from, andI have less of learn and pay problem
with, Like I still put yannism. But I get where you're coming from
with and I'm not like okay,I'm like, okay, I can see
why you put Shy three. Yeah, but like I two, I I

(33:05):
said, man, like, that'sthat's the jump for me. I can't.
I can't put it. It's justI mean, it's still Lebron effect.
Let's just call it that. It'sstill Lebron and the Jordan effect.
I do what you're saying. Yeah, it's it's it's simply that I get
it. And then all right,let's just go like to say, Joelle
that one who cares, you know, I mean we're just talking about how

(33:25):
dominant the dude's been. I meanhe's I mean, what's there talk about.
He's just been. He's been themost dominant big since wild the Changlain.
Like scoring wise, yeah, it'sinsane. Right now. He leading
in the NBA and scoring with thirtysix point one points per game. His
player efficiency rating is at least threepoints ahead of Nicola Jokisch's at second.
But it was his is that thereLike Joki is like thirty two point five,

(33:50):
He's at thirty five point six.Yeah, So that's it's insane that's
insane. I mean, and beatsand bets playing off his mind record.
I don't want to be the guythat brings it down either, but we
always talk about this. This isthe NB thing I'll be want to bring
it down. I do not care. I don't care what he does in
the regular season. I don't.I really genuinely do not cares. In

(34:13):
the regular season, this is amazing. I'm watching it, I'm joining it.
I love watching it. It's notlike I'm amazing or anything like that.
Amazing what he's doing. He gotseventy the other day, you know,
phenomenal cares. It was against phenomenon, right, Yeah, I don't
care about any reputational stuff. Idon't care about any of this until I

(34:34):
see it in the playoffs. Yeah, I don't care. It's just that
Sumple like he can he can winthree m vps off off in a row
if he if he drops off everyevery playoffs is every playoffs he drops off.
He's just okay, cool, he'sa great He's gonna put a regular
regular season numbers, probably won't winthe championship as the number one guy,

(34:57):
and that will be that. It'llbe again, It'll be cool to Washington.
Do all these numbers. It's justlike watching Dame's Harden like a couple
of years ago. Right, youwatch the good season numbers. It doesn't
lead to anything. So do youdo you think the expectations changed though,
because of the fact that Harden left? Mm? I think I think it
changed if he got old Harden.Yeah Harden. Oh no, no,

(35:21):
what you mean from last year?You mean last year? Yes? Yeah,
absolutely so that I mean, ifyou're playing like this yeah, mm
hmm, this isn't all On asecond, what is the what is the
record? Thirteen? Yeah? Right, they're literally outside of Boston, who
I think everybody considers just the bestteam in the league. They're right there.

(35:44):
So you're sitting here telling me you'replaying with the big boys in the
regular season, you're scoring on ahistoric rate, You're about to do the
second MVP, and I'm not supposedto expect I'm not supposed to expect them
like a championship run from n Listen. I'm I'm not a championship ring or
bust guy. I'm not a ringguy. Okay, I just need to

(36:05):
see him play well. In theposting, I don't think I look at
the Sixers and say this team isbetter than most teams in the East of
the moment, most the big thebig games in the East, right,
Yeah, and I definitely wouldn't takethem in a final series, a good
chunk of the Western teams, thetop end Western teams. So I'm not
saying, dude, you have towin the championship or but I'm saying,

(36:30):
just be good in the playoffs.Yeah, give me a run. No,
And I think I concur of alot of that sentiment. And I
think, for example, right,a lot of times when outside of haters,
right, you have the people thathate, they troll and that's how
they make their their billings. Right. But outside of those people, I

(36:51):
think most people when a guy loses, like, I'm not gonna sit here
and hold twenty and fifteen over Lebronfor losing to the Golden State Warriors,
right, because Lebron did all hecould and we all know that. But
it's different when you have a serieslike that versus twenty eleven Miami, Right,
not even right, hold on,I want to I'm gonna run these
off. Okay, So twenty twentytwo, he goes six games against Miami

(37:16):
shoots forty two percent played thirty eightminutes. Right, he's talking about NBA.
Just letting you guys, he's talkingabout beat Sorry, going to be
He played thirty eight minutes, heshoots forty two percent, averages twenty points.
Not I'm rounding god bother the averagetwenty points. In twenty twenty two,
he averaged he everaged thirty point sixthirty points a game, and you

(37:40):
put up twenty I'm around up nineteenpoint eight on forty two percent shooting.
That is insane. In that regularseason, he shot forty nine point nine
percent pretty much fifty percent, Sothat's a seven percent drop off in efficiency.
And then yeah, and then lastyear he puts together the phenomenal scoring

(38:01):
season thirty three points, thirty threepoints a game, shooting fifty the field
fifty four point eight. Yes,you put all right. So we played
three games against uh Brook average elevenpoint seven free toes. I'm just trying
to give full context so people understandthe off here. So he averaged thirty

(38:23):
six minutes and three games, putup twenty points, eleven rebounds, and
forty six percent shooting. Then weget to the Philly the Philly series,
he is on Philly. He putsup thirty eight minutes a game. Oh
sorry, yeah, Boston theory.Sorry, Boston series puts up twenty five

(38:43):
a game, forty two percent shooting, nine rebounds and that all bismal,
disgusting, absolute stinker of a gameseven. Yeah, so I don't listen.
I again, I'm I'm love him, but I'm watching. It's fun
to watch. I hope he keepsit going, but I don't. I

(39:07):
don't care until until I see itin league find in the playoffs. I
just it's cool to watch it.It's all. It's all I'm gonna get
out of it. It's just likeI'm you know, am I gonna set
a guy who's gonna go five witheight team for fifteen points in Game seven
against in the playoffs, in thecloseout game? Yeah? Like that's like,

(39:29):
that's my question. He's gonna bethe second best player in a game
seven, not even the second best, the third best player on his team
in the game seven. The onlyand the only reason why we don't get
more on him is because that Jim'sbad James Harden plays. Yeah, truly,
though the fact like Harden wasn't thereand he didn't look even the worse
you what we would have been frontnew front page news, Joel Wilbi NonStop.

(39:52):
And that is the point. Imean, that's the reason why it's
like you want to give your imean, scoring seventy Like you said,
it's a he's an accomplishment. Right, it's only been what it's only on
six occasions that's happened. So it'snot it's not one of those things you
poo poo at all, but it'sone of it's something that you sit here
and when we're reflecting on the seasonthis far and you're sitting here saying,

(40:14):
Okay, Joelle's looking like he's ontrack to win another MVP back to back.
It's like we've seen the script beforethough, right yeah, and especially
when you have a less talented team, now you're we're expected to be like,
oh well, now he's gonna beable to get it done. It's
not like one of those things likelike you said, it's not a thing
where he has to get it doneper se. Because I think if a
guy is consistently doing him upholding hisend of the bargain, because I mean

(40:38):
that was that was the case withDamian Lillard for years and people. People
weren't saying Dame is it's Dame's fault. People were just saying he needs to
leave right to help. He needshelp, Yeah, he needs help.
Like though Wady gets on Jimmy Faultlerfor for like having for you know,
his regular season performances or anything likethat, because we know he's going to
show up in the pos every time. It's like exactly, so if like

(41:01):
again, I, like you said, we know the script, dog,
We've seen this movie. We arewatching it. We're watching the people.
It's the trilogy. Like I'm saying, show us something different, like that's
all. And again, neither ofus are again andation, neither of us
are like ring or Bust guys.We're not those kind of guys. But

(41:22):
like, just show us in theplayoffs consistently that you're getting it done.
You know. It's that I canwalk away from that and being like,
yo, the side legit like Yokesright now, like you said, it's
coast mode, right, but Iknow when playoff time comes, Yoke is
just the best player in the league. That's why he's the best play leads
to be right now. And that'swhy most people, you know, a

(41:44):
lot of people will still say Yocould just the best player in the league,
despite the fact that Joe looks betterthan him right now because he's just
not playing. Some people don't,you know, they're road, they're wrong,
but that's their opinion. And soit's like I seen, you know,

(42:05):
when Yokies didn't have when his team, when he had Michael Porter junior
injury and Jamal Ratard. He's stillbawled out. Last year he bawled out.
The year before that, he bawledout. I don't have to worry
about Yo the playoffs. Yeah,no, I couldn't. I couldn't agree
more. I we just need tosee the same level of the dominance,
the same degree of ceiling in thepost all of it in the postseason.

(42:28):
That's what we need to see.Oh my gosh, I feel like,
what is Paul saying? You givingme a taste? I want the whole
load? Pause? Wow, Hey, Hey, that's a hard pause,

(42:51):
bro. I'm just Paul Pierce onMB tired of getting a little taste of
him. I want the whole load, Paul, Yo, somebody needs to
more flag that. Man. Hey, you you know the part in Halo
four at the at that one partin the cut and the story the when
Master chiefs on the ship and he'sjust disobeying orders. He's like, arrest

(43:14):
that man, arrest that listen,man, he's wilding. Bro. Hey,
yo, look man, I havesome questions for Paul if it wasn't
for that stripper picture, let metell you. But until he gets a
whole load, he don't shill.All right, man, let's let's let's

(43:36):
let's go to the next category.That's terrible, bro, that's terrible.
Okay, next category would be thethree biggest your three biggest surprises, So
I guess I'll start this category off. So my three biggest surprises. I
will say number three is Golden State. So I feel as though like Golden

(43:58):
State was kind of on like lastyear, they bought him out in the
second round they lost to the Lakers, right, and at that point in
time they admitted it. I mean, Steph said, we cannot bring this
team back as constructed and expect todo any better than what we did this
season. And they didn't bring thesame team back. They made the trade,
got Jordan Pool out of there.Obviously it was affecting chemistry between him
Draymond and whatever. So they gotJordan Pool out of there, made the

(44:21):
trade to go and get Chris Paul, and they pretty much bring back a
lot of the other guys like MosesMoody, Jonathan Kminga, Andrew Wiggins,
Klay Thompson, Kevon Looney. Remindme if I'm missing anybody else, I
think they got Daryl Sarrich as well. They got Darya sarch and so am
I missing anybody else? I said, no? So they bring that back.

(44:45):
Yeah, so they bring That's thecast of talent they bring back.
And as it sits right now,Golden State is twelve in the Western Conference
at eighteen and twenty two. Soas I would pose it right now,
I just for one, I don'tthink they're making the playoffs. I don't
see it. Wow, I don'tsee it. Look look, man.

(45:09):
As much as I love Steph Curry, Steph Curry can do a lot of
magical things on the court, butwhen I look at the Western Conference as
it's currently constructed right now, Okaysees at first, Minnesota's second, Denver's
third, Clippers are fourth, Pelicansare fifth, Sons are six, Sacramento
seventh, Dallas is eighth, theLakers are ninth. Utah's tenth. Houston

(45:30):
is Houston is above them at eleven. Golden State, let's not pick on
Houston. Okay, Golden State's twelve, the same Houston that was Dan near
tanking a year ago. But Memphisis thirteenth, and that's mind you because
John Moran is now out for therest of the season and he was suspended
for the first twenty five games.Portland is fourteenth and San Antonio is the
worst team in the nine. Whatare you saying that's no important that John

(45:54):
Moran THO, No, But Imean for where they are placed right now,
that's a key, big reason asto why they are where they are.
I mean, he got I willknow as well. But Golden State
Draymond being suspended for what and definitelyat the point I don't know how many
games ended up being in total,but yeah, this is my a for
a year. You left that out. No, but Wiggins has been there.

(46:16):
He missed time last season, He'sbeen here this whole season. He
missed time last season. Who me, Yeah, that's the problem. That's
why they're my biggest surprise. Idon't I don't know what happened. Clay
Thompson has gone from being one ofthe splash brothers to being a puddle brother.

(46:37):
I don't know what's going on withthis guy. It's it's confusing to
me because don Clay, we wentfrom Clay being Clay was our argue.
I mean, him and Steph.You always had the conversation who's the better
shooter? Who's the better shoot?Obviously, I mean we came down to
it's obviously Steph, but there werethere were years where we had that conversation

(46:59):
about Clay being as a shooter.Steph. Yeah. Now we're in a
position where last season or let's justread him off for the last four years.
Klay Thompson from three point range twentyeighteen, twenty nineteen. This is
right before he tears his knee.He's shooting forty percent from three. Tears
his knee injurrets his achilles. Thefollowing season he averages thirty eight point five

(47:19):
from deep. They do win thetitle that year, though, so credit
to Klay. The following season,this is last year he shoots forty one
percent from three. Okay, andthat this is incredible. Guys, shooting
over forty percent as a shooter.That's great and technically for any other shooter.
What I'm about to read right nowwould be really good thirty eight percent
from the field or from three,But for Klay Thompson that that's just not

(47:45):
Like a lot of what the Warriorsdo is predicated on them being this dual
headed incredible shooting like that. Threepercentage points is a lot of miss threes
that they know me are able tobank on coming from Klay Thompson. Right,
And then when you're counting out,Andrew Wiggins hasn't been playing as good
as he did last season either,and then Draymond Green gets himself. I

(48:07):
don't know what's going on, Likewhatever Draymond had to get done, I
don't know. But this team hasbeen such a surprise for me because just
to see them just fall off likethis, it's it's weird. Like Andrew
Wiggins went from averaging seventeen points lastseason on forty seven percent shooting to eleven

(48:27):
points this year on forty two percentshooting from the field. And last year
Andrew Wiggins shot almost forty percent fromthree, thirty nine point six percent.
This year demands shooting twenty nine pointsix percent from three. That is horrific,
And that's after back to back.It's not like he had a flash
in the pan season. Andrew Wigginshad literally three straight seasons of shooting above
thirty eight percent from three, andnow we're at twenty nine point six.

(48:50):
I mean, people are just walkingaway from you at that point when you're
shooting at three. Draymond Green isthe second is the best year among those
three, among those two, amongthe three. Sorry, that's insane ramon
people who literally left him wide open. Draymond is not the second best shooter
among their big their big core.And I think, to me, that's

(49:14):
just I just didn't I mean,I didn't see it coming. I truthfully
did not see this coming. Imean, what do you think. Yeah,
they were my they were actually mysecond biggest surprise team, mostly just
because Wiggans is just just regress isnot even the word like degraded if it's

(49:39):
probably closer to what he's done.He's just not even like, not even
the same guy at this point anymore. Yeah, like two years ago,
was like the person you were like, he is the ideal three and D
wing. You know, yeah,he can guard switch on the big he's
he has no problem taking your bestremory player. He wore down uh Tatum

(50:02):
in the finals. And then likelike you said, he just shooting.
Can't do it. No more defense. It is safety, you know,
just basic offensive plays. Can't doit. The only thing I can do
or fade away, you know,turn around fadeaways. It's like, I
just you really just don't know whathappened. Like all the concerns that people

(50:24):
had about wigans originally, which weremotors issues and you know, being gauged,
like all just came out of nowhereand resurfaced at all at once.
Yeah, and like the worst theway. Yeah. And and then like
you said, and to add onto Clay Clay last year, I think

(50:45):
hit the most threes last year inthe sea in the NBA MM, which
which makes this that's what makes thatdrop off even more astounding, is like
this isn't like some thing where youknow, he was like, you know,
hesitantly taking three last year and takingvery cautious threes like boy was launching.

(51:06):
And then there coming to this yearand he like and straight away everybody
was like, yo, he lookedterrible, like athletically, athletically just like
skinting separations in the half court.He just looked he just looked like slow.
Yeah, and and in no surprises, the season goes on, he
doesn't look better. Yeah. Andpart of it was like even even I

(51:30):
tried to do the whole, like, oh, you know this is Clay
goes through a swump through every season. He goes through a slump and then
he pops out of it and he'syou know, his usual self, and
it's just like this this this justmaybe the point where you know this ain't
a swump, this is this isClay now, yeah, I mean this
this play Thompson is if you weren'tasking him to be the second guy,

(51:52):
which the Warriors are essentially kind ofasking him to be, not the like
it's not like the the pro typicalsecond guy, but like a we keep
causing the machine. If you weren'tasking if he was like, uh,
you know, playing the yeah,like a reality I was gonna say Grayson
Allen kind of role where Grayson kindof like the side guy on a continuing

(52:15):
team if you couldn't ask for abetter great player spot and shoot, he
still plays PEPs, not like he'slike and I would say Celtics not not
no, not you, not MiamiRay Allen, but definitely like silly keyps.
But you have the guys you canfocus on first before you can get

(52:36):
to him. Yeah, and buthe's not that on the scene. He's
the second, like the most focusedguy on on on the Warriors offense.
Yeah. And the crazy thing is, oh, yeah, go ahead talk
about Chris Paul because that's also anotherthing that's kind of well. But right

(52:58):
before you go to Chris Paul,sorry, I just want to say,
and this is Clay, this isa Klay Thompson season on a contract year.
Yeah, everybody balls out in thecontract season, and no matter who
the player is, you never trustplayers in contract years because everybody plays amazing
in their contract year and this ishis dip. So just keep that in
mind. Yeah, and it's likea big problem with the offense is that

(53:22):
Chris Paul guyer. Someone look atthis as a good thing. Get Chris
Paul's injuries out the way early.But like them, Chris Paul was leading
one of the best benches in theleague, if not the best bench in
the league. Uh So them losingChris Paul. I think Clay's best numbers

(53:45):
were with Chris Paul when he ranwith that unit. And so you take
him out of that. You takeaway Chris Paul, who obviously one of
the best point guards of all times, and now are saying, hey,
Corey Joseph, don't do what ChrisPaul was. It's rough. It's really

(54:06):
rough. And again I won't goas far as to say that they're they're
not going to make the playoffs.I do think they have a move or
two in them. I want tosee the team when Chris Paul gets back.
I think they if they can justhang around until that happens, I
think there they still can make alate push. But ideally they make like

(54:30):
I saw, I just read areport that they were in talks with who
they were just in talks with.I forgot who they weren't talked with,
but they wanted to keep Andrew Wigginsout of talking. Like why it prese
included Andrew Wiggins. Is the Pacersfor Bruce Brown. No, it wasn't
Bruce Brown, somebody now he's Toronto, but yeah, I was. It

(54:52):
wasn't them, it was somebody else. I can't remember who it was.
It was a wing and they werejust like they want to keep him out
of they want to keep him outof the trade talk. And it's like,
man, let's and if you gotthe thing is, this isn't just
like this year Wiggins thing. Imean, Wiggins had had a They had
a bit of an issue with himlast year because he was gone half the
year with a personal issue and alot of some of the team was you

(55:15):
know, the reports came up thatthey were kind of annoyed because they were
just kind of like they didn't knowwhat the personal issue was and he was
kind of missing, you know,Palf the season and he wasn't even he
wasn't engaged in the season basically.Yeah, and so it's like your year
now reaching into a full year ofthat and by the end of this year,
if he continues, it will bea full year and a half that

(55:36):
you've had this issue with Andrew Wigginsafter you just extended him. Yeah,
you know, they still owe him. I think I think I said to
you, it's like three years,like eighty eighty plus million dollars, and
it's like it's a lot to playfor the guy that's averaging eleven and not
haven given you peak defense, noteven that a guy he's not engaged,

(55:57):
Like that's that's a lot of moneyfor a guy who's not engaged on your
in your team. Yeah, youknow, this was a guy they signed
him, he's still his and wentand still the Twins, Like they they
thought this guy was gonna be likehe's gonna not just be on this championship
team, but like a bridge tothat next level, that next team too.
Yeah, and so it's like,if you're looking at him now,

(56:19):
you're like, Okay, you know, since we signed you, you know,
man, that championship was amazing,but ever since then, you kind
of you kind of just left thehigh and dry. What's going like,
you know what's going on? Yeah, but yeah, I think that was
that was both their team. Souh no, that was my two though,

(56:42):
my three, my three if yousaw Jazz uh and Lord Mark Okay
specifically, I I think you hadtouched on you said the Jazz when you
were talking about teams in the inthe in the in the West and they
were taking last year and it's like, yeah, they were kind of tanking
and it was like, Okay,they're going to do coming into this year
and nothing but just keep just keeppaying that five hundred while having no a

(57:07):
no real superstar and he just kindof like a rag tag team of guys
like like, nobody's sitting here breakingthe door down for Walker Kesseler and you
know, like or a Vassie,Like, no, nobody's knocking the door
down for these guys. And somehowthey're just they just just keep on just

(57:30):
keep on going. Yeah, Andit's like they just hit a three games
skids. So they're right now underthree hundred, I mean under five hundreds.
But I mean they were you know, they were twenty two and nineteen
and they were like and they hadone. They were one of the hottest
teams in the league, and itwas kind of like, uh, hello
with the Jazz. Yeah. AndI think a big part of that is

(57:52):
is Laurie Marketing turned into this guy. And I I still think it's on
the lower end, but I'm startingto think he is a number two on
the championship team. Wow, really, I think number two. Yeah,
I think he could be a numbertwo on the championship team. So not
a boss role, but you're saying, like, no, I think he

(58:15):
could be a legit number two optionon the team, like a Middleton.
Yeah, Because I'm trying to builda framework of a team that's actually won
a championship that you, Like,I'm trying to create an equivalent here.
He's i mean just thinking about likein terms of an offensive weapon. There's
no team that he wouldn't that hedoesn't kind of fit on like he he

(58:37):
doesn't. He works. He's oneof the best off the ball players in
terms of catching, catching off screens, coming off screens, coming off rolls,
everything. He's a top metrics onall those numbers, Like in terms
of no wate like start, like, you can get him. You can
get him the ball in the post, you can get him the ball through
movement. Off ball, you canget him. He can get you can

(58:58):
get him the ball in isolation.He can score all those fastes. And
he's also a guy you don't haveto just constantly dump the ball to.
He that's not a super heavy ISOguy. Right. So it's like so
like for example, like Kyrie isan ideal number two for a lot of
things, right, Yeah, butsometimes you look at Kyrie, you said,

(59:19):
man, you know he has theISO with the ball if you if
you put him together with another balldominant guy like we're looking with Luca.
But sometimes the fit looks weird sometimes, right, Yes, it's like it
works and obviously it works that they'reboth very highly talented, you know,
plus playmakers. But it's like youput him, you put Laurie and next
to Luca, and it's like itkind of like alleviates that that that clash

(59:43):
of hey, I have to isowith the ball as well, you know,
as opposed to like, hey,just get open, you'll get the
ball and you should just score fromanywhere on the court. Basically, it's
the it's the way of he scoresto me that makes him like you can
just fit next to any So whodo you prefer him or Bisons? Okay,

(01:00:07):
probably probably I would prefer I personally, I think I prefers the bonus,
but that like the problem with thebonus is you have to play in
that center. Yeah, man,he's such a he's such a good playmaker
out of that position, though,I think, man, that defense,
that defense hurt defense does not likethe instance of like yo kids where like

(01:00:31):
jokids just see the idea he's bad, but nothing on like nothing points to
him being a bad defender, likesomeone's battle defense, Like there's no there's
no like oh let me just likehe's actually no that he's underrated, No,
no, no, no, likesomeone's battle defense. It's like at

(01:00:57):
least the lawyer, I can hidehim a bit. But like, ah,
but see, like a guy likeFox is not the guy with one
with with Laurier, just simple becausethe Fox is not like a prototypical playmaker
at your point guard spot. Yeah, so it's like I I want somebody
who's who can set up Fox andFox obviously amazing next to the bonus,

(01:01:21):
you know, putting up You're thirty. So it's like it's like he's one
of the few guys like but likeimagine imagine Laurie on the Pacers. Oh
yeah, like you don't have tochange, Like you don't have to change
anything that you were already doing.Yeah. So it's so that and again

(01:01:42):
just just role players like college Sextonballing out like people thought he would when
you know he was in Cleveland.He's just kind of like showing like,
hey, he's still you know,he could still do it. Like I
said, one of the best bigman defenders in the league, one of
the best rim protectors in the league. And it's not exactly it's not like
you know, blocks and highlight playslike Wemby and Chat. But he's just

(01:02:05):
he's just a very solid guy aroundthe rim. And they they're just a
good like they're just a good teamthat they just don't have a superstar.
Yeah. And you know when theywhen they when they mentioned that, oh,
you know, we're gonna we're gonnaask for you know, four picks
for Laurie, and I was like, that's ridiculous. I would he might

(01:02:25):
do that. But then like nowlooking at it, it's like, yeah,
I get it. Yeah, theyhave an asset on their hands for
sure. Yeah, they really do. And it's like if they but yeah,
the thing is, it's like it'snot only they have an asset.
You remember they have like fifty picksbetween you know, Cleveland and Timberwoll's picks.

(01:02:45):
Yeah for sure. Yeah. Soanother in the future, but there
so so far, pleasant surprise,LORII, pleasant surprise. I don't know
if they make the playoffs, soI think they'll just be in that play
and kind there'll be a hunk ofthe plane be right there fighting with Golden
State and my number two yep,oh okay, my number two, because

(01:03:08):
your number two is Golden States.We already kind of already talked about that.
Yeah, but my number two wouldactually be the Lakers. Yeah,
so, I you know, afterlast season, I think the Lakers to
some degree. I mean obviously rightnow as they're playing right now, I
think they overachieved by a mile atleast, it feels like I don't know

(01:03:30):
what's going on. He came intothis season extremely excited to see what the
Lakers are going to do. Yeah. Yeah. I felt as though,
like if people asked me, whodo you like? I felt like if
I wouldn't be a Homer answering afterlast postseason, like being a Lake obviously
being a Laker fan, I leanmore Laker, right, but I can

(01:03:53):
still answer the question objectively, Likeif you ask me who's the best team,
I'm going to say the Nuggets.But if you were to ask me,
who were they play in the WesternConference Finals? Again, coming off
that last season, I would have, truthfully, without any reserve, had
said the Lakers. Right. Granted, the James hard and trade hadn't have
happened at the time and all thatstuff, right, but the Sons were

(01:04:15):
the only real like major upgrade exactly, and I felt as though the Suns
still as many offensive weapons they have, I still feel like the faults with
the Suns are still glaring, right, Yeah, And I felt as though
the Lakers. I would still takethe Lakers in the playoff series against the
Suns. The only team I feltlike the Lakers had to get through was
the Denver Nuggets. And I feltlike the Nuggets coming into the season got
weaker losing Bruce Brown. But obviouslythey're still doing their thing, whereas the

(01:04:39):
Lakers. The Lakers are over heretrying to excuse, trying to make excuses
about role players being out, AndI get it. Look, when you're
not a team that's it's weird,like when you're not a built around a
big three or something like that,it makes sense that like your role players
mean more to your team's success.But then when you look, and this

(01:05:00):
is also the other surprise in thepositive manner, Anthony Davis has literally played
almost every single game for the Lakers. Yes, and Anthony Davis is bawlling
like this is the version of AnthonyDavis everybody wanted. This is the version
that in the playoffs, we allwanted him that when he when he disappeared
on offense and multiple instas in theplayoffs, this is the version that we

(01:05:21):
wanted, And now we got thisversion, and it's not like Lebron James
is all. Lebron is doing lessthan he knows, like you know,
as you would expect as he's gottenolder, he's taking a more a little
bit more of a step back.But it's like it's it's it's still he's
still one of the best players inthe NBA. That's the thing. It's
like he's still a top ten NBAplayer, and yet the Lakers are ninth

(01:05:45):
right now, they're one game belowfive hundred, and you look at that
and it's like, it doesn't translate, because how is Anthony Davis playing as
well as he has as well ashe has been playing it? And he's
literally playing in the way that weall have wanted, whether it's on offense,
defense, the whole nine. It'snot like this disappearing act where he
all of a sudden goes on hehas a forty point game, goes on

(01:06:06):
a stretch of like eleven to twelvewhatever, and then it's like, it's
not that. And you look atthis team and it's it's weird because if
you look at the full season numbersfrom a comparison standpoint, they are almost
identical to where the Lakers were lastyear. But what you need to do
is bubble up like the last twentygames of last season, like post trade

(01:06:28):
deadline Laker basketball, and that teamwas what was literally the best team in
basketball on defense. Yeah, andI have said this all year, and
this makes no sense either because D'AngelRussell has been playing well the last week
or five games, like I'll giveit like five, like last five,
six games. That's five games.He's been absolutely on fire. And yet

(01:06:49):
the Lakers it's not like they're ona five and oh they literally just lost.
Granted Lebron didn't play in the game. Again, Yeah, he didn't
play in that game. But it'snot like the Lakers are like four and
one in that stretch, like they'rejust coming out like they came out of
a home stint. They played elevenstraight games at home and they're coming out
of that like five, five andsix. Yeah, And so it's one

(01:07:11):
of those situations where I felt asthough, going into the trade deadline,
I was like, Okay, thishome stint is gonna show the Lakers whether
or not they're gonna definitely need tomake a move or not, and if
they're gonna be able to trade D'AngelRussell and if they're not gonna have to,
if they come out of this homestandnine and two or eight and three
or you know, something of thatsort, I don't think they would have
needed to make a trade. Butcoming out of it at just under five

(01:07:33):
hundred or at five hundred, that'swhen you're looking at That's why I mean,
that's why they're having to look ata guy like Dejontay Murray and they're
like, yo, we can't.Like. I feel as though this is
the one off season I ressected everydecision the Lakers made. They didn't go
in the off season trying to goand swing for the hills to try and
get a superstar, which is whatthe Lakers always have done with this nucleus

(01:07:54):
of guys. And then they goto the off season swing for a superstar
miss and then they end up makingjust a regular a move that doesn't make
sense, Russell West trade, andthen you know, you waste two years.
You just kind of like, weknow what's wrong, but it's just
like what do you do? Youhave enough to like mediate it, you

(01:08:14):
know, and the answer of theseason like this is and this is,
and we talked about the other daytoo, is like you kind of realize
this is you know, get wrongdownside and Bron's career, you know,
young Lebron, Like, this teamstill probably be at work middle of the
pack, right yeah, if notfor the best teams in the league,

(01:08:38):
and you know, just doesn't havethat doesn't have that gudea up anymore to
carry a team in the regular seasontoo. You know, a top A,
top five records without world players.Anytime you have a guy like Cam
Reddy playing thirty plus minutes a game, you're in a bad spot. It's

(01:08:59):
one of those situations. Man,where do you think Darwnham needs to be
fired? Needs to Probably not?Would it hurt? Probably not? Like
is this an Adrian Griffin situation?I don't think it's. No, I
don't think it's Adian Griff's situation.I just think he's a back coach.

(01:09:27):
But this is crazy because we're comingoff of a Western Conference finals. Again,
there's a difference, though, doyou look at that, well,
like coaching decisions Darvinham was making andwe're like, yeah, he got this
team to the Western Conference. Well, okay, here's the thing though,
because I can't I can't offensively,you know, but defensively that team was
so good defensively, I don't andthat that happened, you Like, defense

(01:09:53):
is a coach thing, Like that'sa coach thing and a player effort thing.
So that's why I can't sit onone end after last season and say
Darbrenham's a bad coach, but alsojust not I clearly see I don't know
what rotation is this man has beenthrowing. He's just throwing rotations at the
dart board at this point, tryingto see. Yeah, it's just like
the rotations and like I don't know, like I don't know it's talking because

(01:10:20):
it's like what's the roster construction?And again I'm it sounds it sounds terough,
but like you're playing Cam Reddish thirtyminutes to get Cam Reddish, And
I want to point out to CamReddish is a journeyman. He's a five
year not even that he is ahigh lottery pick like five years ago.

(01:10:41):
This isn't something like thirteen year vetwho's been around the league and every team
wants so he got traded for likea bag of chips in the second round
pick, Like this isn't some guythat's like you you look at going into
the season saying, he yeah,this guy's gonna overtake, this guy's gonna
be a starter on my team.Yeah yeah. And the fact that getting
that many minutes, despite the factbeing a negative on offense, would be

(01:11:05):
a step up for Cam Raddish,Like, I can't camra again, do
hustles. I respect that to hustleson defense, right, yeah, he
hustles or sorry, he's gonna he'sgoing to give. He's all on defense.
And the problem is in today's NBAthat's just not quite enough anymore.

(01:11:28):
You have to be like competent onoffense to be on the court and watching
him get the ball and just looklike a deer in headlights when he touches
the ball and he just came.This guy's playing thirty minutes a game for
you. And then you turn aroundand you get Jens Jared Vanderbilt back and
it's like Jared Vanderbilt kind of fillsthe exact same role as he does.

(01:11:53):
Sha save just to save you onanybody trying to just gonna try and call
you because it might happen. Technically, Cam Raddish is playing twenty three point
three minutes right now. Yeah,yeah, he is. But about saying
during the during the stretch of theseason, he was playing thirty minutes s
games. Yeah. Now now thathe's now that the team's kind of getting
back and they're kind of like biggerin rotations, he's kind of coming back
down to, you know, thetwenty five minute range. Yeah, but

(01:12:15):
he had to stretch there with Darking. He was just playing him like like
he was like one of their biglike one of their or something like that.
So he's doing he's doing that withtorium prints right now too. But
I guess there's no option. Imean, yeah, plaint five from three.
I mean, that's the problem withhim is he can't play defense.

(01:12:35):
Yeah, it's so it's like,I like, if you're going to go
that route, just put the guykee can shoo on the court I and
let you know what works from there. But this this atrocious offense that that
looks like something from the mid twothousands while everybody else is in twenty twenty
two. He ain't getting it done. I think I think that's kind of

(01:12:58):
the reason why he just said screwit and just started starting D'angela, Russell
and Austin reeves together. Yeah,I mean I much rather just worked at
that out somehow than then watched thatanemic offense just put up ninety points in
the league where people are putting upone to twenty off. Eve, Yeah,

(01:13:19):
truly off. But it's really justit's it's h Yeah, it doesn't
make sense. Let's not. Idon't want to talk about Lakers anymore.
They sing, I don't know itall right, I honestly think our number
one will be the same. Whatis it? What is it for you?
Okay? See? You know?Oddly enough, it wasn't okay see

(01:13:42):
for me, Wow, I'm nottoo surprised by that, because well,
I guess I didn't feel like Ididn't want to put okay see on the
list I have Okay, like Ihavel shy then I have, you know,
I feel like I have okay seehere a good amount of times,
but for a good reasons, No, what good reason I didn't. I
felt like I saw this in Okay. So for me personally, it wasn't

(01:14:03):
like, oh, okay, ButI get why you would have them here.
I mean, if you want togo into it, you can,
but I get why they're here.Not but you don't want to go into
it whether you're one. I'm actuallydidn't see what your number one was.
I think it's either it's I'm goingto guess it's Minnesota. Yeah, mine
was that we'll see. Here's thefunny thing. It's a tie. Oh

(01:14:27):
okay, because mine was a tiebetween Minnesota and the Knicks. I actually
thought about the Knicks too. Yeah, the Knicks, I think since trading
for og Ananobi, they're ten andtwo. Yeah, even before trading for
og. Honestly, the way JulishFranda had kind of like he was kind
of all the bas level playing andand I was just kind of like,

(01:14:53):
wow, this you know this team? I don't. Again, I don't
think the scene is anything I'll dodifferent tender or anything like that. No,
but it's like coming the build,but not even that. Honestly,
I would not be horribly shocked ifthey took if they took a team like
the Bucks, like you know,the Celtics Miami and they gave them a

(01:15:16):
series. But I think I thinkthat's why the Bucks made the firing,
because I feel like the Bucks,the Bucks felt like they were in a
position where a team like the Knicksor the Heat can knock them off,
and now I feel even more confidentin because the reference. Hey come on,

(01:15:39):
man, I'm dum stuffing. I'mnot even joking. Oh my gosh,
oh man. But there's nothing thatmade me hesitate now more than seeing
them higher doc rivers. Yeah,I mean but but yeah, like looking

(01:16:00):
at the next I'm like, Okay, I don't think this team is you
know, gets, I don't thinkdifferent tenders. But hey, but they
I said that, but I meanMiami from last year, but the nixt
Here's the thing about the Knicks though. The Knicks have sneaky Eastern Conference finals
and energy. Yeah, exactly,especially after that trade. Because that trade.

(01:16:21):
Now, dude, they are hellishon defense. They are Like watching
the Knicks, I'm like, yo, what they jumped out and the same
less man. Yeah. Now,then the Knicks definitely, I feel like
they've been a good surprise for me. I've liked how they've seen them looking.

(01:16:42):
But Minnesota. I wanted to sayMinnesota as well, because I feel
as though Minnesota, what you gofrom being what's seed? Last year?
They were eight seventh last year?Yeah, they played they were the seed
because they played Denver in the firstround. Yeah, so you go from
being the eighth seed. Unless Denveris the second seed, I'm pretty sure

(01:17:03):
they're differst Or wasn't Memphis that wasthe first sea who's the second seed?
Oh? No, Memphis a seed? Or sorry Memphis? Yeah? Okay.
So you go from being an ahseed last year, right, and
you show some potential and everybody seeingthat you were able to give even though

(01:17:24):
they only won one game against theNuggets, it was like the most competitive
series I think, when you're notjust looking at it from like games bruin.
Bruce Brown said that was the mostcompetitive series they had last year.
I don't think Bruce Brown is goingto give the Lakers credit to be fair
though, I'm just saying, I'mjust going about what you said because that
man and D'angela Russell do not likeeach other. I'm just going That's why.

(01:17:48):
It's the funniest thing is that theLakers were to go and get Bruce
Brown somehow and they kept D'Angel Russell. I was just like, how's that
going to work? But what professional? Get over it. Anthony Edwards has
left out to obviously being the bestplayer on this team now. I think
he's leaped over car Anthony Towns forthat, I don't think anybody would argue
with you. Yeah, and alot of people. I mean I even
have people that are trying to tellme that Anthony Everards is the next face

(01:18:10):
of the NBA. I'm like,let him win a playoff series first.
Yeah again, I mean not eventhat, it's just like he's how I
put this, if he is hea lot for top ten player right now?
No, yeah, all right,let's let's get there first. Like

(01:18:33):
I was fine with people talking aboutJohn Murran in that regard, but let's
let's slow it down on Anthony Edwardsfor a second. But I mean both
of them, honestly, I mean, like John, I mean they are
the most two more probably exciting playersto like, young players to watch,
and in that terms of the faceof the league. Sure, but like
in terms of like you know,face league, as in like they're the
best player in the league, likeSteph Brown, like how they were face

(01:18:55):
in the league. No, they'renot there, No, not yet.
And I feel like Minnesota, Ijust I think that for them, this
is obviously a vast improvement. Ithink that they're starting to kind of have
more of an identity now as opposedto prior seasons where it just felt like
they were still like they were forthe longest time they were figuring out the
whole Cat and Rudy Gobaert dynamic.And even that it helped that Cat missed

(01:19:21):
with after season last year, Yeah, it did not help at all.
But even now, I feel likenow they have more like it's when in
a situation where you were more sotrying to make sure you kept Cat happy
and you were trying to make surethat the pecking order was understood that it
was Cat down. Now I thinkeverybody kind of knows, like, oh,
Anthony's the dude. Yeah, AndI think that more solidified pecking order

(01:19:45):
kind of does make this team beable to click and operate at a more
at a better clip. But theystill do. Like the other night when
Karl Anthony Towns dropped forty four pointsor something like that in the first half,
Yeah, forty four that second half, watching them, I was like,
this is some of the ugliest basketballI've ever seen. Yeah, it
was so awful, Grant, Grant, mind you, this is the number

(01:20:08):
one team defensively, right, yeah, yeah, but they just looked abysmal
again, And this is against theHornets. It's not even like against one
of the top teams in either conference. This is a Hornet team. The
mellow ball just came back. Literally, that was his That was his return
game, I think, or hehad one played one game. Yeah,
he played the first first. Yeah, he played this first Verst right,

(01:20:29):
so he had played one game theHornets. Mind, you are bottom three
in the Eastern Conference at ten andthirty one. They are bad. Oh
man, But I say that toI say that to say though that that
whole second half of watching that gameagainst the Hornets, I never I mean,
it was disgusting how much the shot, the shot seeking going on for

(01:20:54):
Contony Towns to try and get toseventy points like the way MB did it.
It was just effort list right,Yeah, it was the It was
such an easy seventy points to score. It didn't feel like it didn't feel
distasteful like this felt like the DevinBooker seventy You know what I'm gonna puts

(01:21:14):
back, I don't mind it.You're hot. You're hot Segel No,
but he wasn't. That's the problem. And if you drop forty four in
the second half, you're don't payfor eighty eight points, go for it.
No, but see, but here'smy point, though, the way
he went about getting the way hescored the forty four points was not the
same way he went about trying toget another forty four in the second half.
If you catch my drug. Yeah, I just the report that they

(01:21:39):
were trying to get him pass.But be yeah, I did. Tragic,
tragic, and you lose, andJulie and your coach rip and you
were because I mean the coach saidit. They weren't playing defense, which
had nothing to do with with withwhat they were doing on offense. No,
but the problem was that it wasn'tthey They weren't getting the easy buckets

(01:22:00):
anymore because of their their good defense. They're forcing turnovers on the hornets,
you know, getting stops able toget out in transition. They weren't getting
those easy buckets anymore, forcing amismatch in transition to get kar Anthony Towns
on a smaller guy or something.All those things were evaporating because these guys
are just trying to press the issueso hard on offense that they just didn't
care about the other end of theball. And so both ends of the

(01:22:21):
ball suffered because of how they're playingand I see something like that and I'm
like, eh, that's one ofthose young team things. Man, that's
that's just one of those things thatyoung teams do. It's not young,
But that's my problem. That's theproblem. Like outside of Anthony Anthony Edwards,

(01:22:44):
Yeah, like k to me,they strike me as a great regular
season team. Well, this isUtah right before, I mean, this
is this is the Rudy Gobert formula. Yeah, pretty much. Actually,
you know, it's not that it'sa more talented situation. But like if
they let me see who who wasthe A seed right now? The A

(01:23:08):
se currently in the Western Conference isthe Dallas Mavericks. I wouldn't be shocked
if they lost the Dallas No,I wouldn't be either. And it's like,
and that's kind of like the team. That's why I'm kind of like,
to be fair, they would playSacramento right now. They probably they
probably they beat Sacramento. But likeI s why I didn't want to put

(01:23:30):
them as the biggest apride son becauseit's like that they're kind of a team
that I can dominate the regular seasonand then comes to the postseason and they
just kind of like fall apart.Yeah again, I could be completely wrong
because like we said, they tookthey had Denver. You know, they
gave the biggest, the biggest pushlast year, as as Denver says,

(01:23:54):
and the Anthony was a dog inthe playoffs. I can't even fake.
You know, he didn't win this, but he plays, he plays as
we played about all. But it'slike watching that team, I just don't
feel like it's a I feel Ifeel more secure in the Knicks than I
do in the in the in theTimberwolves. Yeah, I understand that.

(01:24:16):
Okay, let's do our before wego to the top three teams. Let's
do our biggest disappointment. So youwant to kick it off, you can
go ahead and start number three forthe biggest disappointments. You said, who
Jalen Green? Oh okay, goahead. Uh, this is his third
year. He is somehow just ithas has a talent, Like you can

(01:24:44):
see the talent, you see thepotential, and he's just not their basketball
like QY and you kind of arehoping third year come in a little bit
better than last year. And whenyou're when your biggest asset is you're scoring,
right, and you're scoring eighteen pointson thirty nine percent shooting, you're

(01:25:10):
probably not doing too high. Yeah, And it's just like watching him,
he just just doesn't just doesn't processthe game scoring wise, like well,
not even just now you're just scoringwise, just game wise in general,
just like it just doesn't seem likeit's clicking sometimes. And it's tough because

(01:25:35):
it's like the Rockets they have,they have a keeper, they're going to
have a superstar, but this guyAlbert is a superstar. It's gonna be
a superstar right at the end ofthe day, and they need that wing
player to pair with him. AndJavaris Junior ain't looking like him and against

(01:25:56):
he's only a second year. Hecould be better. You know, I'm
not one to a guy to begood, but Jalen Green one in your
third years, you were supposed tobe what he is, and you're kind
of like you're still just kind oflike the team is kind of better when
you're not taking a bigger role.Yeah, And that Rocket team won't take

(01:26:19):
a next step until he takes thatnext step. So he's kind of been
my my third biggest appointment. It'sjust you're more Jordan Poole than you are
Anthy Edwards. You know that's notgood. So that's a hilarious cump.
It's yeah, but it's like he'snot he's not. He's not the the

(01:26:44):
cocky, you know, kind ofwilding on the court that Jordan Poole is,
but the just yeah, man,you like you hate to see when
your best your best assets are scoringand you're not really putting it together.
No, I feel that I can. I can. I understand that one.
So my number three for biggest disappointmentwould actually be h was Golden State.

(01:27:06):
So I don't really any to gointo it, but we all know
why Golden State's my number three.So for the sake of time, we
can go to we can really donumber two. If you want to give
you number two. My number two. Oh boy, this is this is
kind of a weird one. Justthe bottom three teams in the NBA and

(01:27:30):
how bad they all look like.The Pistons, I like, it looked
like one of the worst teams inNBA history. These Spurs, I get
what they're doing, but they wentinto the year without a playmaker. When
they're big, they're their best playerin their franchise. Future friends player is

(01:27:53):
a big who is not a freeHe does not say it for himself that
like he can. But you know, ideally you would get somebody who could,
you know, assist him. Andwe've had to watch some rough,
rough games of him just not gettingthe ball in the position. Yeah.
And the Charlot Hunts is just aprobably franchise, none of the same.

(01:28:15):
I'm not going to even go intothem. It's just bad. It's just
bad. LaMelo just they like justno kind of help. They traded best,
They traded his best teammate off whowas better leaving the off season anyway,
for Kyle Lowry in the first roundpick. I a middle in first
round pick probably at that at best, I'm just I'm wid And that's not

(01:28:41):
even getting the Blazers, let's not. It's not getting at the Chuncey billups
and Stu Henderson looks like it's justlooks got awful. Domination did a solid
what four points last night on twoof seven shooting, talking about I'm still
a max player. Often like lostby one of the biggest point totals in
NBA history when they lost by sixtysomething. I think it was like sixty

(01:29:03):
something points, like a week ortwo ago. It's bad, and it's
like, yeah, there's gonna alwaysbe bad teams in the league. These
guys are abnormally bad though, andthat's that's kind of why it was kind
of like it's kind of weird.It's like, you know, it's like
the Wizard's being bad. Like Ilooked at the beginning of the season and

(01:29:26):
said, the Winds are gonna bebad and it's gonna be comedy and it's
gonna be cinema and it's must watchTV. And it is. But like
the way, it's the way thatthe other teams are bad that make me
go like what, like why likeoh this team, these are just like
it's not even like in like semienjoyable to watch. It's ugly, like

(01:29:47):
nasty. You don't want to likeeven kind of attempt to watch these kind
of games, Like watching a Pistonsgame is torture. Yeah. Yeah,
like well just look the the mistakesthat they make, the little like the
little coaching things that they do.It's just like the like you look at
it and you're like, you guysshould be better like these like you should

(01:30:09):
have been this. Yeah, youguys are better. Yeah, Like again,
like why like how many games theymove morel I think it was like
twenty eight, maybe I want tosay it was twenty eight and it was
a businal it was, And likethe losses, some of the losses are

(01:30:33):
just you just watch, how doyou how like you're you're you're clutching these
losses. Somehow it's just again andagain, like the teams are bad last
year, like the all, likethe whole league like is moving, like

(01:30:59):
office. The rate right now isjust going up. And for somehow these
body three teams are like worse thanlast year's worst teams, and it's like,
so we're getting it, which leadsto blowouts, which leads to we
have like the highest point differential inany season. I think we're top three

(01:31:20):
right now, top two or threeand the highest point differential in the season
and more to be an easy pointto be able to tell too. When
you had point differential, you couldeasily tell, Okay, this team is
that much better than everybody else.But now when everybody has like a double
digit point differential at times or notdouble digit, I'm exaggerating, but like
when it's not this, yeah,it's crazy. There are nights when I'm

(01:31:44):
trying to find which game I wantto watch? And and I see just
nothing but blowouts on my screen,Like, dude, what's going on?
Yeah, And it's like, youguys are are so bad that you like,
we can't, like unless you guysare playing each other, we can't
watch those games because they're blowouts.Yeah. No, that's a fact.
That is a fact. But okay, so I'm gonna give my number two.

(01:32:06):
Yeah, my two is actually theSacramento Kings. I'm not surprising.
Yeah. So Sacramento last season numberone offense, number one an offensive efficiency.
Last year, Okay, mind you, they were in the bottom third
defense defensive officiency. I think theywere like twenty two or twenty second sure
in defensive efficiency. This season,Sacramento is fourteenth in offensive efficiency, eighteenth

(01:32:30):
in defensive efficiency. And that dropoff has this literally took them. They
finished third last season in placement interms of seating in the Western Conference,
and I'm like, you dropped thirteenspots, bro, you know, we
actually did. We just talked aboutthis either yesterday, two days ago.
Where it's like their offensive rating lastyear was record breaking. They dropped a

(01:32:51):
point this season and now the middleof the pack because everybody else is just
shooting up in terms of offensive ratings. Yeah, Like scoring in the NBA
has just ballooned, and for somereason, the Kings just didn't take the
leap. Well they're shooting, sohow uh Kevin Hergan. It's just last

(01:33:13):
year he was a huge catalyst forthem. Yeah and this year yeah,
yeah, yeah Kegans. The differencefor Keigan is he still provides like high
level defense. And I think that'sthat's one of those things that when I
look at drop offs like that,I'm like, Okay, so what changed
like and and like you're like whereyou're pulling up to Kevin Herder and Kevin

(01:33:35):
Hurder might be the big difference,right, because if one of your guys
that creates that level of spacing andis that next, I guess you would
say provider, third maybe third fourthguy on your your pecking order of scoring
and providing in terms of offense.I think that, I mean that definitely
plays a role in how things,you know, delineate between the team.

(01:33:57):
But it's just that that that steepof a drop of this doesn't make any
sense, especially without any like notableinjuries. Yeah, he went from last
year he shot h sixty one pointseven from two shooting incident and this series
at fifty six m he's shooting.He went from shooting seven three to the
game last year at forty uh thefive and a half at thirty six percent.

(01:34:24):
You know, it's like you know, and it's like, all right,
so you're not playing him now either, because you know he's shooting.
Dropped off and that's his main hismain thing. He went from thirty minutes
last year to twenty four this year. And it's like, now you combine
that with like, let's say KeganMurray and it's weird, and then it's
weird to me. Is that normallywhen you you when you have another season

(01:34:45):
under your belt, you normally areable to retain at least because you're not
you might not be number one again, but you'll stay in the ballpark of
the top ten, right You'll beYou'll fall from maybe one to five or
one to eight. You don't justentirely drop into like fourteen, because I
mean at that point you're you're fallingdown to the middle of the pack.
That's a person, that's a It'sso hard to describe how big of a

(01:35:06):
drop drop off that is from seasonto season, especially for a team that
hasn't seen like a huge substantial changesto its free Like they didn't fire the
coach, most of the guys,most of their key guys are back as
well. So yeah, well,and then Ethan Murray, like you said,

(01:35:29):
drop from forty seven percent. It'slike these aren't but those are still
good. But it's like when youwhen you're a record breaking offense last year
and then you have drops like that, it's gonna be You're gonna like I
said, it's not like if theiroffense is falling off a cliff or anything.
It's like a point in some changedifference in in terms of offensive rating.
But it's just everybody else is sogood now that you like that point

(01:35:53):
just just kind of dampers what youwhat you're doing. No, but actually,
you know, I would actually ourbutt I guess I'll have a rebuttal
towards that, because what I'm curiousabout is how many, because I guess
the way you can't calculate just basedon the point. You have to go
based on the amount of possessions they'rehaving, as well as the amount of

(01:36:15):
like you know, the amount ofshots per possession. Yeah, yeah,
yeah, so more there's way moreexactly, so, and that's the that's
the problem with this team if you'retending to this team is technically because if
if the floor, because if allteams offenses have got jumped up, right,
you either assume that teams are scoringare just finding a ways to score.

(01:36:36):
So either teams are just hitting shotsbetter, they're playing faster to get
more shots up, so that thefloor of possessions is being raised, or
the floor of you know, thepace is being raised just to get more
possessions and shots up. Then howis this team now falling to the middle
of the pack. That's and maybeit is similar because we detailed this for
Klay Thompson as well, right,dropping from forty to thirty eight while thirty

(01:37:00):
percent is above league average for KlayThompson, that's a hard that's a hard
drop, Yeah, And so forthese guys maybe, I mean that probably
does go a lot a lot intoit. And then if you're not having
the same level of dominance from darreonFox and de Monti Sabonis, then I
guess maybe some of that can alsoplay a role in it as well.
But that's that's definitely been a disappointmentto me because I thought they were going

(01:37:23):
to come back this year and beI mean, there's seventh and not like
they're a crazy amount of games behind. But I thought they would be in
the next crow because normally the waywe see it is that a team would
go from being like a Minnesota typeand this is where Sacramento was. Sacramento
was like in the eighth spot.They were around the play in area,
trying to volley for playoff spots.Then they jumped to third last year,

(01:37:43):
right, and then normally you goto them from that to being number one
the next season. Yeah, andyeah, exact exactly, but then to
just fall down to seventh, Ijust didn't see that. I didn't see
that coming. Yeah, I seethat coming. Yeah, they're twenty four
and eighteens. All that you're bad. It's just we're just kind of surprised
that the drop off a little bitof going from first to you know,

(01:38:09):
seventh in points per game and thenfourteenth to offense, That we go first
to fourteenth offensive ratings just kind ofkind of surprising. And then, like
you said, it was literally middleof the pack of like net rating.
They're literally right in the middle ofthe pack. They're fourteen to thirty.
Yeah, no for sure. Okay, who's your number one? My number

(01:38:29):
one is actually not a team orplayer. My number one is actually the
referees this year. This year hasbeen atrocious and I mean absolutely disgusting to
watch. And if you let mephrase that, if you're a rough fan,
you're eating good. If you showup for the Zebras, you man,

(01:38:51):
you're getting you're getting prime time everynight. But the found of Blake,
just chippiness those on in games,the fouls, the the the level
that they call the games. Itjust feels weird, like like we see

(01:39:12):
games where guys are getting hacked anddon't get a call, but then we'll
turn around and touch somebody and getand get a foul call, you know,
And it's just it's just there's alwayscalls about reps and I feel like
this year has just been like peopleare are. Maybe it's because they're hyper

(01:39:35):
focusing on on sports betting, butlike every every game is just you walk
away feeling like trash because of howthe reps handle the game. But more
often than not, if you're ina close game situation, you don't walk
away from that game saying oh man, that game ended really well because in

(01:39:57):
the rest, lesson play it's always, oh, there was a call here,
there's a call there, there wasyou know, a phantom call here,
And it just feels like the complainingis getting out of hand. The
amount of tiki tap calls that getget like free throws are getting out of
hands. It just feels like everythingis getting out of hand. That and

(01:40:19):
the ejections, like it's just itfeels ugly. It feels it feels ugly.
It looks terribly like it feels terribleto watch it. Just last night
or was it last night, thePortland Trailblazers are arguing or contesting the game
yea, because they Johncey called uscall time out, they ignored him and

(01:40:39):
then they ejected them. So it'slike you potentially didn't just miss the timeout
call, you doubled down and ejectedthem from the game. Yeah, And
so it's just like every night now, I feel like you're just seeing somebody
fine for talking out about the rest. It's just the refs shouldn't be this

(01:41:02):
talked about, you know, likethey should be they should be a part
of the game, but we shouldn't. They shouldn't be a focus of the
game. No, I agree,I agree the refs. I mean even
the other night when we were talkingabout that karl Antony Towns game, I
mean they missed a call Cat,Yeah, it did, and that those
are tough ones because and it's notlike one of the it's not one of

(01:41:25):
those things where you can miss itlike he got found multiple times on that
possession. It's like, dude,what is the inconsistency here where we can
go from a game watching Joel andb take damn near twenty free throws,
but then we come to these othergames and then k cats over here going
to the lane, Terry Rogiers pullingon his arm, he gets hit on
as he's going up for his lampand going up put laying it up at
the rim, and he can't evenget a call. I'm just like,

(01:41:46):
dude, what is going There's inconsistencythere in the quality of the refereeing.
Yeah, And it's like again,and there's there's guys who fake fout Joel's
masters business. You know, it'sit's a strategy. That's it's a strategy.
It's perfectly fine. It's not it'snot plugging to watch sometimes, but
if they it's a legit strategy,and that's fine, but there's no way

(01:42:10):
you can tell me that you guysare gonna call foul of him getting touched
on the perimeter, send them tothe free throw line, but then turn
around to him, watch the guyget mugged under the rim, but then
not call that foul. You know, it's like it's it's a consistency issue,
and it's like if you're going toset the tone in the beginning of

(01:42:30):
the game and then rock with that, but don't sit here and you know,
foot flop on me about Oh,we're gonna call moving the sperience.
We're not gonna call moving the screens. We're gonna call we're gonna call all
this stuff on the perimeter, you'regonna we're gonna we're gonna call hand checking,
but then turn around and then notcall it in the paint when you

(01:42:50):
know somebody's getting shot in the groundand they don't call anything, And it's
like, give me some consistency.That's all we're asking for, you know.
And it's just it's just been Idon't know, like I said,
it's just been good season. It'sreally taken away from the game this year
really heavily. I feel like,no, I I understand and I agree.
I totally agree with that one.So my number one would actually be

(01:43:16):
the Pistons. I mean, yeah, I think I think the Pistons when
you look at this team, whatwhere how many seasons removed from them picking
Kate Cunningham and and you're looking atthe the way this team is going.
You have Asar Thompson, you haveKate Cunningham here, you have it's I

(01:43:40):
think it's one of those situations whereobviously they got Beojean Bogdanovitch here, and
I think some people like Jalen Duranas well, Oh, a lot of
people. What's the thing. Andit's one of those situations where you thought
that they would they would have Imean, to be the team that ties
for the most consecutive losses that's inthat's insane, that's insane. I don't

(01:44:05):
I don't think many people saw thembeing that bad. Like there's there's a
difference between being, for example,a couple of games under five hundred and
being like you're you're allowed like you'veonly won three games on the season.
There's a difference between being as badas as the Spurs are and being as
bad as the Pistons are exactly,especially when you have years of draft capital

(01:44:28):
and quality people put into this roster. And I just think that evaluating when
I look at this team, man, I I don't know. I don't
even know what the effort is there. I just don't know if this like
it's like a black hole, isthat it's a pit right now? And
I don't think that losing streak byany means does any favors for the perception
of the Pistons that franchise in theleast bit. You might be helping your

(01:44:53):
odds in terms of getting a numberone pick, but that that's just that's
bad. You can't. You justyou can't. By the all time losing
streak, that's just awful, whichis which was twenty eight games straight.
And yeah, and it's like thething is is like you watch Cage right
and Kate, like Kate's taking thejump, like his numbers aren't great,

(01:45:15):
but he also only played twelve gameslast season. He only played he only
played seventy six games coming into thisseason, right, not even full season
essentially in three years in two years. Sorry, And so he comes in
this season and he gets going andnow he's knee injury. But like you
see him improved and you're like,okay, so you're seeing your best player
improved, and again you have likewhat are you guys, what are you

(01:45:40):
doing to put around him? Thathe only has three wins? Yeah,
and it's not like he's Kate boltOut in these In some of these games,
it does. Yeah, this wasn'tlike some forty points on forty attemption
or nothing like dude drop forty youknow, like forty seven, forty and
seven on a good shooting and you'relike you're like, just help him,

(01:46:03):
please, just help him anything,and you can't get it. Yeah,
and it's just h again, threewins on it, Like you know,
I got on other teams for beingbad. The Pistons are. They're just
abysmal. Like when Pistols games areon, I literally tell myself, I'm

(01:46:29):
like, I'm not wasting my time. Yeah, it's like the record I
think of nine wins right for thelot with about at seven or were they
mine? I don't remember which oneit was. But if the Pistons get
I mean, but that's the crazythey're on that trajectory. Bro. No,

(01:46:51):
they got five wins right now,they're probably gonna get it. They're
probably gonna get it. Did theywin tonight? Right now? I'm seeing
the record is for yeah, theybeat the they beat the what's it called?
Okay, I haven't let that anyupdated records or anything. They beat

(01:47:16):
the the the what's called the cornets? Okay? Another trust? Yeah yeah,
and they only got two wins,so they ain't like they're doing that
much better. But yeah, it'sjust like, no, that's I think
that's all they're. They're trash bro. That's it. No winking games.

(01:47:41):
Probably we don't even need to talkabout the Pistons for real that long.
They're just the biggest they're trash broare They're so bad? That way?
Help get get some help. Thealso the uh they're projected to win eight
games? Oh really? Well no, I guess it was to go up
now because they won. But allright, so the worst team in NBA

(01:48:04):
history was the Short Bodcast at nineat seventy to fifty nine. I'd have
to check the win the win percentagebecause they didn't play a full season.
But the worst full season so faris nine and seventy three. Damn again,
there is no guarantee that they'll getto they'll get to win. There's

(01:48:26):
no guarantees, that's what I'm saying, Bros. There's there's no there's no
like like they if they went toin a row. Uh, that's championship
level of material for them. That'sa that's like a sharp incline to the
bar graph, Bro, Like,that's that's what If they win, that'd

(01:48:47):
be put them in like six games, that'd be wins right there. That's
nuts, so bad, that's soawful, Bro, Get these guys out
of here, all right. Areal question before before before we move off
them, will they win more gamesthan Lions? Oh? Man, damn,

(01:49:11):
that's actually a great question. No, I don't think so's win ten.
Yeah. I think the Lions wonten or eleven game. I think
they won eleven games, actually eleven. Oh, if they went eleven,
that's putting it out of reach forme. That's insane. Bro, that's

(01:49:32):
so bad. Did they they wenteleven? That's putting it out of reach.
I can't trust that. Like,we don't even have these dudes winning
like twelve games. Oh no,they won twelve. Yeah, Bro,
the Lions won twelve games. Bro. And the Piston's winning thirteen right now?

(01:49:53):
Oh no, man, who knowsthe second half of the season,
Bro, it might be different.Okay, your money on that one will
happened. Stop it. That's nuts, bro. It's like you can't win
eight games out of forty something gamesleft. If somebody told me put money

(01:50:14):
down right now on the Pistons winningtwelve games, Oh man, I don't
think I take that, no,Bro, I mean they've only won five
so far. I don't care whatthe hours. I don't think I take
that as they've won five with halfthe season. Now, you're giving them
the other half of the season.Yeah, technically half of the season exactly,

(01:50:38):
so they might they might have likea stretch of like Spurs Pistons,
I mean, the Spurs, Wizards. You might as well be the playing
themselves at this point. Brother,they're in the chalk zone. Man,
it's stopped. I'm saying, givethem, give them like a stretch of

(01:50:59):
them those teams, the Blazers,Spurs, the who's the other one?
Said? The Hornet? Who theyjust beat? You know, you never
know they could they could, theycould string together. Bro, you don't
got them win any more than twelvegames. You don't. I don't,
but exactly stop there. I don't. I don't think they're gonna make it

(01:51:25):
there. But at the passage,let's stop with this. Okay, top
three teams because these guys are noteven no. So top three teams for
me, I'll lead it off numberthree. I actually have the Clippers.
Yeah, Clippers. For me,they're currently and I don't think they're placements
amongst like efficiency on office like rightnow they're ranked in eleventh and defensive efficiency

(01:51:48):
and third in offensive efficiency. Butthe thing is the Clippers, they had
a stretch where they initially they wereplaying like okay at the start of the
season, right they're playing like likereally pretty good. Then they traded for
James Harden and lost like six straightgames. Yeah, but since losing those
six straight games, they're like twentysomething in two I believe, or twenty

(01:52:12):
something three because I think they justlost to the Lakers recently. So but
pretty much they've been one of theThey've literally been on a tear, like
they've been so good. Since theyfit, they've gotten to more of the
rhythm and the flow of learning howto play with this James Harden dynamic,
and yeah, I definitely feel likewhen you look at every any given night,
I feel like the Clippers, outsideof the two teams that I probably
I have left on my list thatyou probably have as well, But outside

(01:52:34):
of these next two teams, Ifeel as though the Clippers in most nights,
I'm like, they probably will beatthis team. Yeah yeah, I'm
not really argue Slash. You addto the second team? Doesn't not this
for me? Wait you mean yourthird? No? My second third?

(01:52:55):
The Clippers? Oh okay, okay, cool, okay cool? Yeah?
Oh and quick, just a quickshout out for I just have one more
thing after the Clippers. Kawhi Leonardhas only missed like five games this year.
Yeah been, Kawhi has had aplus in terms of his plus minus.
But he's plus thirteen and a halfright now. That's insane. Absolutely
think absolutely the same player. Heis so good right now. And he's

(01:53:18):
not he's not in the top tenand scoring nothing like that, but he's
playing great on defense. He's playingreally good. He's playing really good on
offense. He's just like and hisefficiency is like Durant levels of efficiency.
Yeah, super good right now?Yeah, so right now, like if
you people are not watching Clipper,like, go, like this guy is.
It's so crazy to me, man, because he's just like he is

(01:53:40):
in that he's just the poor manJordan. I didn't make a video about
this, but he is in thatmode where Kawhi never has cared about the
regular season. Maybe one season youcould say Kawhi cared about the regular season.
I think that's when the Warriors wereseventy three and nine, and I
think that year was when the Spurswon sixty nine games and Kawhi I think

(01:54:05):
he won Defensive Player of the Yearthat year. I'm not I think he
did, or maybe it was theyear before that, but he was second
in MVP voting to Steph Curry thatyear. And outside of that, though,
Kawhi never cares about the regular season, and it's one of those things
that you just see it and I'vealways felt like, damn man, the
Clippers they blew it into bubble.Well, I'm not even going to take

(01:54:28):
any excuses from Lou Williams Paul George. I don't care what you have to
say. You guys choked, No, Bro, they didn't. They kind
of just didn't care. No wherethey knew it was gonna be a fake
ring. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's why you go up
three to one to not care abouta fake ring. Bozos. No way,
I'm not been taking that excuse.But I felt like this team over
the last two bubble was twenty twentyso last three years they've just had terrible

(01:54:55):
injury luck, right, yeah,So every single time I'm I'm like,
man, if this Clippers team getto run of health and they're able to
get man, look, they're dangeroushere. That's my problem right there,
And that should be the problem becausethey just it's it's him, it's Kawhi
and Paul George. But this isthe most healthy they've both been since I

(01:55:16):
mean, I don't know a longtime, in a long time, probably
probably just the bubble what's it called? And that's the thing. It's like
again and it's about peaking, right, and it's like cool, you know
again, Clippers look great, Clipslook amazing. I gotta see them playing
with Joelo be right. You know, I don't care if they're doing the
regular season. I know the teamcompanies don't make the playoffs. Is this

(01:55:41):
team gonna be healthy going to theplayoffs? And what is and what is
going to happen? When they getto the playoffs. Yeah, the only
thing we care about with that teamnow, No, I agree, but
I do think also one thing tonote, the wheels aren't turning as hard
as they used to have to becausenow they have a legitimate playmaker at the
point guard. So that changes alot of like the Clippers don't play You

(01:56:03):
watched take from the Clippers from lastyear to this year, it's a highly
different team, highly different. Eveneven Kawhi like kind of like locking back
in on that light on that likein b all NBA defense level defense kind
of guy. Again, Yeah,exactly. He doesn't have to worry,

(01:56:23):
he doesn't have to worry about playmakingas much, he doesn't have to worry
about initiate the offense as much.You know, he just lets let's Dames
do his job, and he's justkind of like, you know, just
scoring. And that you see inthe efficiency, you see it in the
defensive effort. And that's why theseguys have been begging for a legitimate,
bona fide playmaker for years. It'sthe one thing I always said that I
forget who Jerry West. They gottwo they do have to now, and

(01:56:47):
they got Russ last year. Atthe trade deadline. Yeah, and so,
and even Russ did. Russ playedwell for them, and they were
looking over Russ. But I mean, obviously James Harden was you know,
was in an upgrade, but youstill keep russing. So so for the
bench unit. Yeah, so forthem the Clippers, they haven't. It's
always been one of those things.We're just look at the Clippers that like

(01:57:08):
such a talented team. They're sucha talented team. But when is it,
like, when is the talent andthe health all maintained to make a
run And we'll see if it happens. This is the year. Okay,
now go into number two. Youhave your Nuggets at number two. So
number two I listen. M well, at least not to say they were

(01:57:30):
a championship last year. I mean, like they have the best player in
the league. They they just lookedmuch of the same as last year.
Jamal Murray shows up big games.You know, you needed to know that
Jamal Murray was going to be consistentlygood in the playoffs, and he was

(01:57:50):
consistently good in the playoffs all theway to a ring. And they are
two man games still somehow, somehowgetting still better, which doesn't make any
sense. Aaron Gordon, like yousaid, looks looks amazing, and you
know they we thought losing Bruce Brownwould be kind of a big deal for
them, and it's just they justthey're kind of in that mode right now.

(01:58:12):
Or they can plug in people andthey find people who just fit what
they need them to do. Theyplug them in, they do their job.
And again, when you play witha guy like Yokichu makes who just
makes you look good the game,the game is a lot easier. Yeah,
And again also pointing out defensive numbers. Again, he's above average rint

(01:58:34):
protecting this year. He's been fineon switches. He's not he's not going
to ever be an elite defender oranything like that, but he's he's far
far more than serviceable. I agree. So again, it's not much to
really say about them, because it'slike they're they're they're your previous champions.
They're not number one on the list, but it's still kind of like if

(01:58:59):
you put them in the in anymatchup on picking on, yeah, more
than likely, probably most likely.Yeah, But like I still like the
number one team I think is justso advanced right now in terms of just
I mean, they're just the bestteam in basketball right now in terms of

(01:59:19):
like what you like as of rightnow, best even basketball, you know,
But the neggas a second. Okay, So for me, I have
to have the Nuggets a second rightnow. Nuggets there, I remember.
But the thing is the Nuggets,like you said, they're they're second,
and they're coasting. Yeah, right, Like that's the craziest thing. They're
not. They're not playing beyond.I mean, they're just now the Nuggets

(01:59:42):
are in that stage where it's likewe're not expecting, like you don't need
to get number one seed. Ifyou get to number one seeds, you're
just you're just that much better thaneverybody else, right because it's it's by
choice. Because right now they're seventhin offensive efficiency, fourteenth in defensive efficiency.
Yolkis is playing well, Murray's playingwell, Michael Porter Junior is playing
well, Aaron Orden's playing well.Like their whole entire I mean, that
whole unit they got going on thereis really good. And I think that

(02:00:04):
for the Nuggets from a team standpoint, I mean, we all know when
when it's like go time, they'rethe team that's going to be like and
and they're I mean they've they've shownthey're the team that they can beat anybody
in the league. Just like Isaid with the Clippers, it's a similar
thing with then what do you say, handed Bus their first home loss?

(02:00:24):
Exactly right, there's perfect example.Boston had was undefeated at home this season
and Nuggets coming there and just said, no, we're dead in that and
not even go in there. Holdinto one hundred number one offensive league,
holds into one hundred points, Imean there's points. I mean, I've

(02:00:46):
seen games where I think there wasa game Yo Kichen missed and then I
think it was like Jamal Murray andthe rest of the guys with you know,
no, I think Jamal Murray mighthave been hurt too. And I'm
oh, I texted you about thisgame because it was a game when like
Reggie Jackson DeAndre Jordan were starting andboth went off yup, and I was
like, dude, it's like howthey make these guys look like like prime

(02:01:10):
Reggie and freaking DJ, Like whatis going on here and this team?
I don't know, man, theyjust find ways to win games. They
just know how to win games.And I like the pieces they have that
even like I noted Reggie and Reggiemore so than DeAndre Jordan, but I
do like their pieces. I likeChristian Brown a lot. I like how
Christian Bond fits into somewhat of theBruce Brown role. Contavious Cadwell Pope is

(02:01:34):
a retainer from last year, soI like him as well. And I
think that their team all around isstill solid. I mean, you got
the best player in the league.All around, you have the best players.
So the Nuggets are just always goingto be the team that's on everybody's
radar, and they're the team thatI just think right now. The Nuggets
in terms of where they're placed inthe Western Conference, they're thirty one and

(02:01:55):
fourteen. Literally, if OKC orMinnesota loses a game the next game,
the Nuggets automatically become the first seed. Right. So that's one of those
situations where I'm like, you're doingthat while coasting. So yeah, yeah,
I get you got to give themthat number two, but number one,
Yeah, we both got Boston.Yeah, and I listen, there's

(02:02:19):
really just no way you can't putthem first. They're historically great offense.
They were twenty and oh at homethere. Their team is just loaded.
I mean, just up and downthe roster, Drew Holiday, like your
back port of Drew Holliday, DerekWhite. They need to turn around and

(02:02:43):
have Jylen Brown, Jason Tatum,and it's like it's just so like in
that in that lineup, there's reallynot that much weekend no, no,
no no. And you got multipleall NBA caliber defenders all throughout that line
all caliber NBIA defenders, all guyswho have no problems switching all like Christaff

(02:03:09):
has been just phenomenal protecting the rimthis year. It just like shooting.
All of them can shoots. Theyjust they their weaknesses are just they're just
a complete team. It's like thethe only thing that holds this team back

(02:03:30):
is the the height that Jason catcan hit. Ye if Jay State and
Jaylen Brown to a letter extent,but mostly Jason Tates, like if he
can, if he can get intothese playoffs this year and hit another year,
this team, this team, II there's only this is the only
team. I'm like gung ho confidentabout that will that could beat the the

(02:03:56):
the Nuggets. Yeah, yeah,I feel that too. I think this
is the most versatile team in theNBA. I think that for a lot
of years, this team was mycomp for what the Clippers were trying to
be. Yeah, and I thinknow they've just pushed the threshold to the
young degree. I think the Drewthe Drew Holiday piece adding that was a

(02:04:18):
perfect I mean it just it's indescribableslopping. Swapping Marcus Smart for Drew Holliday
is like there wasn't many There aren'ttoo many players you could have upgraded defense
to lead from Marcus Smart Defensive playerof the Year, and it's like you
somehow trade a guy who, likeI said, defensive player of the Year

(02:04:40):
for a guy who's all NBA firstteam defense material who can also shoot the
ball, which is Marcus Mart youknow, weak of fast, but he's
also he's a point guard. That'salso the biggest thing. He's also Yeah,
he's also an actual point guard.Marcus is more of a combo guard,
leaning towards the two. Marcus isalways been trying to learn how to
play point guard, but he justwasn't a point guard. And Drew so

(02:05:02):
you get a guy who's about toYou have a guy who's the point guard,
a guy he is a better shooter, and the guy who also brings
that that high level of defense,and it's like you trade out Robert Williams
the third for another guy who's greaton defense, who can who has an
actual offense. Like these upgrades youmade to a team that already went to

(02:05:26):
the finals and been to the EasternConference finals multiple times. You somehow upgrade
both of the both of your weakestspots. Yeah, insane, Yeah,
insane team buildings. No, it'sit's it's impeccable. I mean credit to
Brad Stevens. He saw the holes, went and made the changes to fix
them and fill those holes. AndI I think that one of the best

(02:05:50):
things that I love when when whenplayers are trying to be put into superstar
roles and teams are able to identify, Hey, this guy is an superstar,
but he's still incredibly talented. Sowhat if we go and get this
guy and have him just play aspecific role, not superstar pressure and level

(02:06:10):
of responsibility, but let's just say, protect the rim, hit the three
ball, be a great slasher.That's it. I don't need you to
carry a unit of offense when thisother guy or I don't need you to
be the other pillar of offense,you know, along with this other guy
just just be do these main thingsgreat, and we're not the huff exactly

(02:06:31):
exactly. And the Celtics have formulateda team where they got all these players
who in other places were expected toeither be all star superstar level players,
and they've all brought them there andsaid, hey, we needed you to
fill this role. This is theone role like our team needs this.
We need youth at the center positionbecause we can't have Al Horford out there

(02:06:53):
playing thirty minutes. He's beyond hisyears for that. Now. He can
still give us good minutes, butwe need somebody that can come and defend
them, be able to roll andcrash the crash the rim and also be
able to stretch out the court andhit threes. And you perfect guy,
Christaps razingis tell me that you geta guy is also always about fit right.

(02:07:14):
You have to find guys who fityou know, personalities, and Christaps
we even talking about this fitting withLuca when he first started. You know,
it was kind of a back andforth thing and they they realized what
Christaps was and Christaphs also shout outto him, you know, realized he
wasn't that good. He's not thatguy. Yeah, and he has no
problem fitting and he loved he talkedabout he loved the role he's put into

(02:07:38):
now where he is a third youknow, sometimes fourth guy, sometimes second
guy. You know, and hebut it's not always reliant on him to
you know, be that guy.Yeah, it opens to and he's having
one of the best years of hiscareer unsurprisingly. Yeah, And I want

(02:08:01):
to bring I want to cycle backto Tatum. Katum has all of the
tools. I think every you cansee that when you watch him, he
has it all there. When itgets the playoff time, he if he
cleans up his shooting, his shootingto stop selection, this team's gona lead.

(02:08:24):
And I genuinely hope once he getsthe playoffs this year he realized that
or Vesulas and Brad Stevens sit himdown and tell him, you you have
all the talent in the world.You just go out there and utilize it.
Don't make it, don't make thegame harder than it needs to be
for yourself. Yeah. And andbecause in that way, this team will

(02:08:52):
actually containe for a title if ifthey go in next year and do the
same crap you know that they didlast year, Like that, I don't
know, Jason, this is theperfect year for you, man, this
is this is a genuinely great yearfor you to win the championship. I
mean they have they do. Theyhave all the po he's mature, he

(02:09:16):
has all the pieces. It's allright there. Just go like go do
it. Just just make it happen. You can like that's it. Just
make it happen. Don't make thegame hard for yourself. It is weird
because I never would say a guy, like a guy that's twenty five has
a window. But it's like weirdbecause he is in a window right now,

(02:09:39):
like this is the Celtics window.It's like it's like it's it's so
weird to say it this way.But in the same way that they're in
the learning window, similar to likeobron lebron O seven. Right, they
got there a little bit early withand played the Celtics or sorry, and
played the the Warriors, well theCalves, yeah, the Cal's played the
Spurs. But I'm talking about interms of them and the Celtics. Oh,

(02:10:01):
they get there and they play themore experienced Warriors, right, who
kind of been here before. Knowwhat it like, what kind of how
the game flows in the finals andwhat to expect, whereas the Celtics didn't.
But even the Celtics kind of hada premature moment there where they got
to the Eastern Conference finals without Kyrieend up playing Lebron in the Cavs,
right, and so they know whatthat that basketball and tails. So you

(02:10:22):
kind of go through, you keeptaking those losses and eventually you just have
that breakthrough. And the breakthrough iswhere you figure it all out. And
this is this really help? Ohgod, I was gonna say, this
feels like this is supposed to bethe breakthrough year. Everything's lined up,
everybody's been paid, there's no there'slike nothing to be upset about. Everybody

(02:10:46):
has what they need and their ducksin a row. Everybody has motivation.
They lost to Miami last year.They shouldn't have lost. Yep, that's
what I was about to bring up. Yeah, so there's everybody has a
why. Everybody has a motive.There's some thing for every person on this
team. Drew Holliday got traded froma team that he helped win a championship.
Christops hasn't won a championship, hasbeen a lot of times bad mouth

(02:11:07):
because of how his production with boththe Mavericks, the Wizards and so on,
and up until this point, Tatumand Brown have been heard it on
all sides up until this point.And Derek White people people been roasting that
hairline for years, right, yeah, you gonna go with that. But

(02:11:33):
I just feel as though this isthe most motivated and easiest, easiest championship
for all these guys to come togetherand accomplish this one goal. And I
will be astonished. I mean,I just I don't know what it will
take if they lose this time,especially if they lose in the Eastern Conference.
Yeah, I was gonna say,you like to me, this is
a final team. Yeah, youhad to make the finals. There's no

(02:11:56):
reason this team CAM should not bein the finals. Yeah, and if
you lose again, we always comedown like best player in the best series
in the series usually would take thoseteams. Right, So it's like,
if you lose the finals, yeahthat's tough, but I you know again,
I'm gonna take the best player.But no shot, Like there's no

(02:12:20):
team I'm looking at, like eventhe Bucks, even if even if I
don't think that team is good enoughto be better better than you, It's
like when you look at the Nugget, I can I can sit here and
say, yeah, I can seeit. Well, this where I might
push back some because similar to thejump that you said Tatum needs to take,

(02:12:46):
I think we're hitting that phase nowwhere Tatum needs to Like your team
is so good, like like yousaid, the ceiling on Tatum is really
was going to dictate this team.So are we now? I think we're
at the point we do need tosee, Like Tatum, are you able
to be the best player in theleague? Are you able to go toe
to toe with the best player inthe league, Like even if you even

(02:13:07):
if is the best player, rightthe other the other pieces, like it's
not the fact though, Like ifI if I go to a point guard,
Jamal Murray got that, if Igo to shooting guard, you know
what I'm saying, Like the qualityof the teams here, especially in a
final series like that, there's there'spushback, there's given go here. So

(02:13:28):
you're I feel as though, likethat's even even if you lose to the
Nuggets, Like I feel like thisteam you need to win a title.
Yeah yeah, yeah, the wayyou play it, that's one hundred correct.
You're you're hundred correct there and andI mean even the Bucks, like
the Bucks making this firing, they'renot They shouldn't beat the Celtics team.
There's no way, There's no way. And the thing is, Jason has

(02:13:52):
shown like flashes of being like thatguy, like we got fifty one b
in a in a in a massivegetting a poo game. Yeah, you
know, back against the wall,he dropped fifty on them. You know.
So it's like you you have thesemoments where you you just absolutely show
out in the playoffs. Put ittogether for me, yeah, you know

(02:14:13):
you the first stretch of the Miamiseries. You know, you guys fell
for jump sho and it's like,bro, like you can get to the
room whenever you want to. Ja. Yeah. But the reality is Celtics
and the one team really they shouldbe favorite, favorite to win the title,
perfect team, perfect year. Everything'skind of coming together for him.

(02:14:37):
Get it done, truly truly.But you know, the crazy thing is
there. I mean at this point, this is what this is NBA Rivals
Week. There better be a gameon the schedule between the Celtics and the
Heat schedule because the heat, theheat. He are easily these guys.
Rivals I guarantee it'll be just toset the Sisters. They might pay the

(02:15:00):
seventy six Ers in the second round. The way the way that the brackets
looking what the Heat right now,I mean the Heat never stay in the
same position. But they're the sixthseed. Yeah, so the way things
could go, they could end upplaying either the Heat or the Sixers in
the second round. Yeah, whichis in the same matchup. Well right
now, I think the Sixers.Because the Sixers the third seed, they

(02:15:22):
would actually play the Bucks in thesecond round. But yeah, but if
they the Heat after making that TerryRoseier trade, man, that's a whole
another that's a whole nother podcast.I genuinely love that, Like I absolutely
win. Yeah, that's a greattrade. That was a great trade.

(02:15:43):
That was a fantastic, fantastic pullfor the Heat. I can't speak enough
to that. The Celtics just can't. That's the team. I feel like
the Celtics gotta be yo, itdon't matter where they're seated, bro,
it don't matter. We said.I I really feel like that with this
trait that the second the second wasage in the East. Now, yeah,

(02:16:05):
that's that's a big trait for theheat man, And it's just so
funny because they're just so casual aboutthey just know, they like, they
know what's gonna It's the same thingLebron does, right, Lebron says,
I don't care if I have togo on the road. I don't care
if I have to go into otherarenas because it doesn't matter. I'm just
that good. You just give me, give me the playoffs exactly, exactly,

(02:16:26):
Just get me into the postseason.That's what they be. I know
how it works. Oh man,all right, guys, that's gonna wrap
it up. Man, it's agreat conversation. That's our first half recap
of the NBA season. Will bedefinitely doing one a full recap at the
end of the season and just maybeeven see how different these lists might look

(02:16:48):
at the end of the season versuswhere they were now. So we'll revisit
that when the time comes. Butof course, appreciate everybody for tuning into
this episode. I appreciate my mansnack Hill for jumping in and doing this
episode as well. We awards realquickly Wye Midway Awards. So far m

(02:17:11):
VP is Joelle Embiid obviously Defensive Playerof the Year, I probably would say.
I mean, as of right now, I feel like I have to
give it to Rudy Gobert. He'sleading the best defense in the league and
the number one team or the secondseed in the West. Okay, and
they had to start jump from lastyear too. Okay, I think Rookie

(02:17:37):
of the Year, I would giveit to Victor right now. Okay,
you think that the thing can't holdup. I think that depending on how
Chet performs in the second half.I think it's Chet's Honestly, I think
it's Chet's award to lose. Honestly, I don't disorder with you. A
lot of people are given the wholeteam record thing. Yeah, so I'm

(02:17:58):
I don't think it's closer than itprobably should be. Yeah, for real
though, And I think if Chethas a dominant second half of the season,
I think that that the vibe becausereally Victor came in people were already
preordaining him Rookie of the Year.So that's the favorite Victor has going in
his side. And I mean he'splayed really he's played really well throughout the

(02:18:20):
first half of the season, butChet has as well, and the chests
impact has been demonstrable, so ifnow, if you're talking about telling me
that he makes it even more ofan impact than the second half of the
season, I think that's hard,especially if they're the number one seed.
That's hard to say, No,you don't deserve that. Yeah, especially
when the other guy is the verylast team in the West. Yeah,

(02:18:41):
Coach of the Year, I probablyI would say, okay, s he's
coach. Yep. Then I wouldsay GM of the Year. That's tough.
I never I don't really know howthey do GM of the Year or
Executive of the Year. Rather,I don't know who is supposed to be
season for me. Yeah, BradStevens for real though, I don't know.
But as yeah, I mean,I would definitely say his brast team

(02:19:03):
is the team that he built isinsane and then listen a struggle go from
good to from good, from badto good. Min Man is making teams
great to greater like literally, andthen most improved, I probably would say
Tyrese Halliburn. Okay, yeah,I talk about yourself, Joelle. For
the most employed most m v Psix man Austin Well, depends on what,

(02:19:28):
Yeah, I guess first half ofthe season Austres the sixth man shout
Kim Hartley, junior second West DefensivePlayer of the Year would go Bert.
I really would like to give itto check instead, but I know they
wouldn't. Rookie of the Year,Uh, Victor. I honestly think second

(02:19:52):
half victors in the ball out.So I actually think he's gonna like kind
of separate himself, Okay. Uh, most improved alperns lagoons. Uh.
The only reason why I'm not gonnasay Tyree is because he did this last
year and this is now just ana addition. It's just more of the

(02:20:13):
like solidifying that he can do it. Yeah, I get that. Yeah.
So it's like I feel like ifhe he kind of missed like a
stretch there when he could have gottenit Coach of the Year, I wouldn't
be shocked if it's Okay, ifhe's coach. I feel like Minnesota,

(02:20:33):
whoever, whoever finishes the best recordin the West is probably gonna get it.
Yeah, because neither team was reallyexpected to be first and West,
and I don't think they're gonna getup to Joe Zula because Boston was.
You know, it's been great forthe past two years anyway, And am
I the same thing. I thinkI think that was it. Yeah,

(02:20:54):
yeah, that was it. Yeah, okay, all right, cool man.
Well, guys, if you guysenjoyed this episode, of course,
please share it with a friend,recommend it to your family members, whomever
else. If you enjoyed this episode, hopefully it's a good jam to put
on for a long drive. Maybeyou're sitting in the office, maybe you're
sitting out home, sitting in yourdraws. I don't know, but it's
a good listen. And right now, as this moment unedited, we're at

(02:21:16):
two hours and twenty three minutes,so good amount of recording time here,
guys. Hopefully you guys enjoy it. Of course, make sure you follow
and hit the subscribe button on theKBR Sports podcast as well as the YouTube
channel, and check out all thesocial media pages I mentioned at the beginning
of the show as terms of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And also,
guys, make sure you check myout or check out my socials at brendan

(02:21:39):
Abin on the same platforms. Guys, and if you have any writings or
if you also I would appreciate ifyou left a review if you did enjoy
this episode. A five star reviewdoes always help push us more in the
algorithm and get the podcast out tomore people and get it listed for more
iyes to see. So if youdo enjoy it, please make sure you
comment what you enjoyed the most aboutthe episode and other topics you want to
hear talk on the episode. Imight record a solo episode, just something

(02:22:03):
short about the AFC Championship and theNFC Championship and then some of the hate
I see coming towards brock Party's way. Oddly enough, it was like everybody
loved rock Party about a month ago, and now everybody doesn't like him.
I do think he got exposed somewhat. But what we hate, Yeah,
I mean people are coming for thisman heavy, and I was like,
damn, bro Like, so muchcan change in a month. It can.

(02:22:28):
It's nuts to me. He didn'thave a great game against the Packers,
but I'm like, she's like,to this degree, it's nuts.
But yeah, I want to talkabout some of that stuff. But guys,
until next time, I'm out.

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