June 20, 2025 • 40 mins
Hold. UP. NBA fans, you absolutely have to hear this! The Indiana Pacers just pulled off the impossible, forcing a decisive Game 7 in the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder! In a stunning Game 6 performance, Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton put on a clinic, denying Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams their shot at an early championship celebration.
This isn't just a recap; this is a deep dive into how the Pacers clawed their way back against all odds. We're breaking down every crucial play, every strategic adjustment, and the sheer willpower that led to this epic Game 7 showdown. Did the Thunder get complacent? How did the Pacers exploit their weaknesses? What does this mean for the legacies of SGA, J-Dub, Siakam, and Haliburton?
Whether you're a die-hard Thunder or Pacers loyalist, or just a hoops head who loves high-stakes basketball analysis, this episode is your definitive breakdown of the game that shocked the NBA world. Get ready for sharp insights, bold predictions for Game 7, and all the championship chatter you can handle. Don't miss it – the NBA Finals just got a whole lot more interesting!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-baseline-nba-podcast--3677698/support.
This isn't just a recap; this is a deep dive into how the Pacers clawed their way back against all odds. We're breaking down every crucial play, every strategic adjustment, and the sheer willpower that led to this epic Game 7 showdown. Did the Thunder get complacent? How did the Pacers exploit their weaknesses? What does this mean for the legacies of SGA, J-Dub, Siakam, and Haliburton?
Whether you're a die-hard Thunder or Pacers loyalist, or just a hoops head who loves high-stakes basketball analysis, this episode is your definitive breakdown of the game that shocked the NBA world. Get ready for sharp insights, bold predictions for Game 7, and all the championship chatter you can handle. Don't miss it – the NBA Finals just got a whole lot more interesting!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-baseline-nba-podcast--3677698/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Taylor Williams sixteen points, throws it away. Haliburton comes out
with a cross court see ya, come fin a slam.
This is the baseline discussing the hot button topics of
the NBA. Welcome everybody or two to the baseline. Calie
(00:25):
Warrenshaw discussing the hot button topics of the NBA. It
is our go live, our live version wrap up of
Game six of the NBA Finals. Back in the fold
as always, And yeah, we just witnessed what we call
is a molly woppin of the Oklahoma City Thunder as
(00:50):
the Indiana Pacers even up the series three to three.
That means that we will have a Game seven. And okay,
see alongside him. You know, I gotta roll with my
right hand man, brother from another mother, mister Warshaw ripping
out of Fort Laudier, Florida was good, mister Shaw. I
appreciate you giving us a little glimpse into the fervor
(01:11):
that took place in Indiana. The Siam posterization gives us
a good Juneteenth field to level of a level of
jubilants I'm sure is emanating out there in Indiana, right.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
But yeah, something like that, right, I think that was
the defining moment. I think of that second half and
the proverboial nail in the coffin early on, you know,
for this game here siakam, you know with that, you know,
mantras thunderous dunk and then even before the half ends,
he hits a fat away jumper, you know, to kind
of push lead up to twenty four. So the Indiana
(01:49):
Pacers dominate this game, not start to finish because they
were down here to start at the beginning of the
first quarter. But you know, once the subs came in, TJ.
McConnell will be topping kind of do their thing. Yet again,
here are a wild or sorry not a wild. A
very very slow start start the third quarter for both teams,
but Indiana ends up just taking this thing kind of
(02:09):
going away. Man, a miraculous, miraculous game, I think from
their lens, especially going into it with a hobbled Tarre's
halliburry and okay, see not getting it done here despite
being on the road. I get it. But man, with
Halliburton down like this, really really surprising that they got
whooped with they did here on the road or otherwise.
But I just would have expected a different outcome. Even
(02:31):
if Okay, so lost, I just think they were gonna
go down like this.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, I'm just gonna keep it one hundred. This was
a pissport performance by the Oklahoma City Thunder. There's just
no getting around it. And I'm not saying this because
I'm trying to, you know, drum up any level of
controversy or Listen, you and I have had many episodes
and we have spoken very highly about the Oklahoma City Thunder. Well,
(02:57):
we also have to recognize that it's because of how
well they've played wire to wire that when you see
performances like this, it just really makes you wonder, you know,
what were they thinking when they got out there onto
the basketball court. Now I could put on my conspiracy
(03:18):
theory hat and say, you know what, they just felt
like they didn't have it and they just I'm gonna say,
packed it in. But it's almost like they had their
mind made up. They're going to try to finish this
out in Okay, see, even if it is a Game seven.
But when I tell you shall, when I see the
(03:38):
level of I don't know, attention to detail, when I
see the level of effort that's being played, I'm not
questioning a team saying that they're dogging it. But I'm
saying is is when they are mentally checked out and
the opposing team sees that and they prey on that,
it's your responsibility to at least instill a level of
(04:03):
doubt that maybe you didn't come with your A effort
and thus if you do play your A game, you
still don't have a chance, even if it's going to
be a Game seven. What I saw from this is
you left the gate wide open because to your point,
tyree'se Haliburton was not one hundred percent, but TJ McConnell,
(04:26):
yet again, in this series, has been a difference maker.
The role players for the Indiana Pacers have been difference makers,
and they have been increasingly becoming X factors as they
get further and further into the series, to the point
where I would not be surprised if Rick Carlip not
(04:47):
in a level of desperation, but in the level of
strategy deploys. You know that Halliburton McConnell's thing that they
were afraid of doing throughout the course of this finals
that he deployed is that full tilt because he recognizes
that McConnell actually sees matchup matchups that favor him because
(05:09):
of the lack of attention to detail by the OKAC
Thunder backcourt defense. And I'm even putting that on Alex
Caruso at times has not been able to contain TJ
McConnell when he's been matched up with him. SGA poor
defensive performance. Galen Williams has his problems. He's too he's
too big for a guy like McConnell who will get
(05:31):
past him. So this is a problem. And I think
if the OKAC Thunder collectively defensively gets their mind right, okay,
but if this it was an indication that this Game
seven looks like what the Indiana Pacers are gonna do
to the Okay see Thunder defense. Okay, see Thunder really
do need to look at what they're gonna have to
(05:53):
do offensively because they've not been consistent offensively, but they
had been consistent defensively for the most part. And we
just aw just literally just that defense is collapse, That
that defense was a no show. There was no level
of aggression. I don't know if they're tired or did again.
Like I said, they could have just been checking out
and not you know, thinking that, hey, you know what,
(06:16):
we'll just let we'll take our chances with the game seven.
And that's just not I don't think.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
I don't think you can take chances with the game seven.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
You no, I but that's what I'm saying, Like I
I it's it's to me, that's a level of arrogance
if you think that you are gonna be like that.
But I think they got I don't.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Know, I need they be And I know, like you
don't want that to happen. You don't want that to
be the case is like, oh, well, you're just gonna whatever.
I mean, we saw that happen like what was it
in the Rockets? Uh? And the Warrior series. We're going
to say is like they took they clearly took a
game off and that was early in the playoffs or
whatever because they just felt ahead they'd be able to
get it done and the end up going seven games. Uh. This,
(06:51):
I don't think that's what happened here. I think what
ended up happening on the Indiana side is that they
really they played for their lives and they started to
force turnal. They set doubles at SGA that we haven't
really seen as much in this series, especially when Sja
tries to do if yes, she turns his back, usually
he's facing somebody's facing them hard and he's still he
(07:12):
may be dancing, but he's straight on with the basket.
He turned his back a little bit almost likely, you know,
if he was trying to pull us or to do that,
you know, like the smithy and kind of go back,
and in the end it would send help anytime that happened.
And then that is that was forcing toroneovers the Pacers
defense of this in this game, specifically in the middle
of the second quarter, as you alluded to, especially when
McConnell and Topping kind of in the game in they
(07:33):
just bring another level of energy. And I don't know
what more we can say about Halliburt and just being
a leader, stepping out into this space, going out there
literally on one leg, and that what that does for
the mantra and the energy of your team. And while
they didn't get off to that great start, I think
him just being out there as the leader showed so
(07:54):
much for them and okay, see was not on their
best game. And I just yes, they're young, because I
think that's what the Broad was saying that Gonnall keep saying, hey,
we're the youngest team, the youngest team or the second
youngest team ever even to make it to the NBA Finals.
That is not not utilizing that as an excuse. I
want to give all the credit to Indiana here and
not like okay see didn't know what to do or
they didn't know how to play, like they got whooked.
(08:16):
You know, Indiana was really playing for their lives, and
we saw something from this Pacers team that by now
we should probably expect and be used to. But I
think you had called it. You said okay see in five,
and I said that was the right call. I still
picked okay in seven and seven just because I was
like this, the Nan team has something that we cannot quantify,
and we saw that not be quantified here tonight in
(08:38):
the effort that they showed here, especially from the middle
of that first quarter all the way out for the
rest of this game.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
So I want to touch on something that Jesus mentioned
about Tyrese Haliburton, and it's what I think we were
talking about a couple of times over or at least
what my expectations are about Tyrese Haliburton, because the narrative
has been Tyree's Halleton has got to be that guy.
He's got to be hitting no shots, this, that, and
the third. No, Tyrese Haliburton doesn't have to be that
(09:06):
kind of guy. I don't even think Tyre's Haliburton ever
had to be that person. But the fact that he
has that a part of his game, and I've said
this time and time again, is a great asset because
it takes the pressure off of those role players who
when given that opportunity in time to shine, they may
not be able to handle it, with the exception of
(09:27):
TJ McConnell, but in a situation like this, right in
a game like this, it's very easy for the Rick
Carlisles of the world, for an Indiana Pacers team that
has gotten this far to say, you know, I know
you're hobbled, Tyrese, but take us to the Promised Land.
(09:48):
And he didn't fall for that, he didn't bite on that.
He wasn't out there to be a bait either, but
he was out there to help facilitate and get guys
where they needed to be to maximize great shot opportunities
that the Indiana Pacers made good on in a critical
win or go home or lose, you know, lose all
(10:09):
situation with the Pacers, right, And if you're the Oklahoma
City thunder, while your whole intent defensively was to, you know,
go after the wounded animal, the miscalculation was not respecting
the fact that Tyrese Haliburton is a floor general. He
is a floor He's a legitimate for I will. I
(10:31):
wanted to make the argument Shaw, and I know it's
gonna sound crazy, but I want people to really understand
where I'm coming from. Tyrese Halliburton, to me, exhibits more
floor general general qualities than sg A in the sense
that he can distribute the basketball. He can also make
(10:56):
critical shots down the stretch. And while it's great that
SGA can score thirty two points per game, you clearly
saw the difference in the demeanor and the mentality in
the tone of the expectations of what is asked of
your team. If on a pivot, SGA didn't need to
have to take so many shots, he could have been
a great distributor or could put easily put the ball
(11:18):
in the hands of other guys who go out there
and make plays. But instead OKAC is watching their MVP
player go out there make bad decisions with the basketball,
turning the basketball over, bad shots, selection things of that nature.
At some point, you, as SGA, you have to stop
yourself and you have to say, am I helping the team?
Am I hurting the team? Now? This is just one
(11:39):
particular game. And again I'm not trying to play up
the controversy that SGA is not deserving of being the
MVP and he's not the greatest player, or whatever the
case would be. But what I'm saying is, in the
situation like this, when you don't have one aspect of
your game that is working for you, that is part
of it in totality what makes the OKC Thunder the
(11:59):
great team that they are and where they are. You
have to figure out a way to pivot and somehow
in the last forty eight hours, when everything has been
about the calf strain and whether or not Tyrese Haliburton
was going to be able to come out there and
be on the basketball court, this wasn't a Willis Reed moment.
But you saw leadership qualities and a guy who made
the great sacrifice play. He didn't fall for the trap
(12:22):
of having to go out there and jack up shots
and make bad decisions and feel like he's got to
put it all his shoulders. He actually relied on his
teammates and his teammates and his role players, everybody straight
through helped make him a great player, make it easy
for him to help this Indiana Pacers team do what
they did to Oklahoma City Thunder. And this, to me,
shaw is what makes the Indiana Pacers dangerous going into
(12:44):
Game seven because now it opens up these things that
we didn't think were I want to say, tangible, but
were amenable given the circumstances because Okac had been in
front of most of those things. They had a counter
for some of these things you cannot counter When you
even don't know whether or not they're gonna need Haliburton,
(13:06):
you never know Haliburt might actually step up and have
one of those performances that he had back in Game
one because of what just took it.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
I think it's really interesting how quiet it gets, right
because he had fourteen points and five assists in twenty
three minutes, right, and obviously he wasn't really needed, didn't
play any minutes in the fourth quarter, so all the
noise around Halliburt and what he needs to do and
how he needs to do it is kind of muted
now as a result of this win. But I think
to your point, it's because everybody was already uplifted just
(13:33):
by the virtue of him being on the court, and
then Obi Toppin had an Obi Toppin type game and
McConnell does McConnell like things as well too. They didn't
get a whole lot up for Mathren, you know, and
some other guys. It got a couple of three from
Venture for tonight as well, but outside of that, it
was just the way Topping and McConnell play that uplifted
this bench nim hard with some timely shots as well. Siakam,
I think has been solid throughout the course of the series.
(13:55):
That not a great scoring night wasn't needed obviously, as
they kind of lowed the doors off them in the
second half, and those are the things that were kind
of like all in Indiana's favor, like it just it
was their night. And as you alluded to with SGA,
he gets all of the credit. He's not necessarily an
Aligned superstar in many ways and nearly not in the
leagues align at Harry's Halliburton is and maybe Haliburt doesn't
(14:16):
have the same cachet, right, but and she did have
a turnoverside. And again that's where again you have to
credit carl out in the defensive scheme, they said. The
broadcast even indicated Nemhart is not picking him up ninety
four feet now, Hey, we're picking him up a little
bit above the break, trying to save them Harzlake, so
that he can't contribute on the offensive side. There were
subtle differences in tonight's game and tonight's attack for the
(14:37):
Indiana Pacers. Yes, with their season on the line, but
they tried some things there that seem to frustrate. Okay, see,
and I don't think we can go another minute without
talking about how batchit Holmgrant has looked at various parts
of this series. Miles Turner, I wouldn't say, is having
an amazing series statistically himself, but the floor game and
the head games he seems to be playing, which at
(14:59):
Holmgren that is that has been masterful. I get by
Miles Turner when they're on the floor and and old
bit just looks lost, turns to block a shot on
multiple occasions, frustrated. It's trying to do too much off
the bounce. I have to create a Myles Turner. While
he shot one of nine and had three points to
night and two blocks, he is in Homeward's head. And
(15:20):
that's something Chat if they are going to win game
seven he has to figure out because you can't say, oh,
the other one's gonna give you another forty again, like, yes,
that was great, but you think you can't rely on that.
Chit has to figure out a way to get involved
in this series.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Well, so Sarl, let's go ahead and pivot to that.
To that point, right, the Oklahoma City Thunder were eight
for thirty from three. Okay, and at some particular point,
I'm just I don't know. Well, now we can't because
it's a game seven, so there's there's no wiggle room here.
(15:53):
But at some point, if if I'm daggonall, I gotta
be looking at my team and I gotta be like,
why are we jacking up threes. I'm not saying that
you shouldn't shoot the three. If it's available and it's
within the flow of what your offense is supposed to
be doing. I got no problem with it. You know what,
I mean, but nothing about the Oklahoma City Thunder offensive
(16:19):
scheme shows a level of aggressiveness of attacking a team that, yes,
while they have stepped up defensively in this finals, it
still doesn't mass the fact that you're getting foul calls,
you're getting opportunities to get to the free throw line,
but yet you bail out the other team by jacking
(16:42):
up threes that you're not even making. The threes that
have been hit in the last two games have been
by Wiggins. You're what is it, your third deep bench player, right,
It's not coming from Jamen Williams. It's not coming from
a ton of guys with this level of consistency. So
I don't understanding.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Hell, I have to stop you only from the lines
because I think you can't always look at just the
bottom line number right, And with okay, see in totality,
did they shoot thirty threes, Well, how many those threes
came after the game was out of hand. So they
shot ten threes in the fourth quarter when the game
was done. So at the end of the day, they
shot twenty threes in the first three quarters, one of
eleven in the first half. Not great, right, They're not
a great three point shooting team. They must ride off momentum,
(17:26):
but I don't think that was a huge factor in
their overall offensive a tank. I think it was more
of the turtovers than they'll shooting.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
I understand what you're saying, Shaw, but let me slightly
now push back to you on this point. I am
focusing on the timing of or the execution of the shots.
If what you're telling me is is the Pacers are
forcing the Oklahoma City Thunder to shoot threes. Forget the number.
I'm just saying you're forcing them to shoot threes rather
than attacking the basket. Okay, then that's one thing, but
(17:57):
that's not what's happening. That's not what's happening. The Oklahoma
City Thunder are choosing to shoot the three ball they
pass passing around. I don't see the level of aggressiveness
in attacking the Indiana Pacers, putting them on their heels
with a consistent amount of effort. It almost feels like
if the Pacers find a rhythm offensively and start pushing
the Thunder to where it's in their head, they seem like, Okay,
(18:20):
I have to start taking shots, and let me say this,
let me not use just the word three. Let's say
they're shooting the basketball rather than attacking with the basketball.
They're bailing out on fadeaways, they're bailing out on mid
range jump shots that are not particularly where they want
things to be, or they're just standing there watching SGA
(18:40):
try to take those shots. And I just say that
that's not how we've seen the Oklahoma City Thunder effectively
and efficiently score the basketball. That's not their way of
scoring the basketball. And so maybe this is something that
you have to be concerned about when dealing with the
team that's applying the kind of pressure that the Indiana
Pacers are applying. Because this is going all the way
(19:02):
back to Game one show. I said this, if the
game becomes a low scoring affair when it comes to
the Pacers and the Thunder, I feel that the Thunder
have the better advantage because they're better efficiently scoring the
basketball than the Pacers. However, if the Thunder are conceding
additional shots, if they're conceding opportunities for the Pacers to
(19:24):
keep going at them, keep going at them. Now, you're
forcing the Oklahoma City Thunder to actually make a lot
of those misses, right, and every time that they continue
to miss and don't stop the team on the other end,
it becomes anywhere between a four five point swing that
now pushes things further behind for them, and then you
(19:45):
see them having to exhaust so much effort in them
coming back into games, staying in games, and all that
other kind of stuff. And to me, that's not where
you want to be if you're an Oklahoma City Thunder.
But I'm just highlighting the fact that the three point
shot to me, seems to always be their bailout mechanism
rather than something that is executed within strategy and consistency.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Well, I mean, you can't jump back and forth. I
mean because like I said, if you're worried about the
quality of shots after getting I can I can maybe
go with you that on there. I think Jalen Williams
J Dubb didn't attack in the same way that we
saw obviously in the previous game and getting downhill and
getting into the teeth of the defense as you say
all the time, that wasn't there. But again, the three
point shots specifically was not the issue. They were only
(20:26):
one of eleven going into the half and they were
still down twenty points, So it's not like they shot
twenty five threes in the first half. It was eleven shots.
They didn't make any, and that's just I mean, that's
just how that goes sometimes. And then they end up
going five to ten in the fourth quarter when the
game is out of hand. So to me, like it's
it's it's not necessarily a moot point, but I think
in terms of the quality of shots and who's being
aggressive and who's getting the shots is something that does
(20:48):
need to take into account, which brings me back to
the Jets standpoint as well too, Cruso not really being
able to be effective offensively in the end, It is
not worried about him from the perimeter. Cruso's had some
pretty robust scoring games in this series, twenty points and
hitting some threes here and there. That just wasn't the
case tonight. I I we've said in this series, right,
we thought okay SE's defense was the better of the
(21:09):
two defenses. Indiana's defense is showing to be not maybe
just as formidable, pretty damn formidable in its own sales though.
But I did say I thought Indiana's bench scoring was
better than okay Sees bench scoring. Okay Sees bench scoring
often comes off of the turnovers that the entirety of
that defense ultimately creates. So now if you have Topen
(21:30):
and McConnell and Mathern in certain points of the series
playing decent to high level defense and still giving that
offensive output as we see Indiana's having that be able
to oscillate, you know, throughout the couch to Storty. Some
guys are on one night. Mccaus been pretty consistent topping
a couple of nights, math Aron another night. That to
me is something that Okay see is having a hard
time match because they are top heavy when it comes
(21:51):
to the scorers, especially if Caruso is not going to
have an explosive scoring game off the bench while still
giving you positive defense. Harnstein not really a fat offensively
in this series at to the stage. So right now,
if if Wiggins or Wallace are not getting hot, that's
where okay c' is really going to struggle with their
with their scoring and scoring in general.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
So so let me ask you this question, then, Shaw,
if you're the if you're Okay C right, what do
you what do you do right?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Like?
Speaker 1 (22:21):
What what exactly is it that you do to open
things up for check Holmgren, who to me seems like
the only time he is effective is if he's he's
he's shooting the three, not you know, is he gonna
give you anything for rebounding? Is he going to give
you anything for uh, you know, second chance opportunities? Isaiah Hartenstein,
(22:46):
same same thing, right, Like, what what are we saying
needs to happen in order for them to be a
factor in a game seven, so to speak?
Speaker 2 (22:57):
I think offensively, So what out looking at like second
spectrum and all those you know, great data analysis serving sites.
I think there's the aspect of actually playing some pick
and roll and maybe even some inverted pick and roll
with both Chad, J Dubb and Sga some combination of
those three guys on a regular basis, what we often
see is a lot of swing swing, and then J
(23:18):
Dubb or SGA is kind of going one on one.
SJA may look for a pick and roll and then
just try to break his guy down. But they's not
a lot of pick and pop or pick and and
and kind of like throw it to the role man,
you know, okay sees offense. I think you see some
of that with Hartenstein, but maybe some of the dribble handoffs.
When Check gets into trouble and he drives and he
gets bottled up, then he's looking to kind of make
a pass. He did do that in the first half
(23:39):
where he tried to drive turn or shut him down.
Then he kind of did a bailout to Cruso. Crusoe
drive drove, but Turner got back and blocked the shot.
But they just need more movement in the totality of
their offense, and I think in some ways that's where
even your Kesa Wallace is and guys like that can
get some get some catches off secondary action. But if
they do become too stagnant or two balld dominant with
(24:00):
either one of their two great All Stars and SGA
and Jalen Williams, that's where things can get kind of
bogged down, especially if the defense, like the Indiana's defense,
is going to be as active as they are and
they're like kind of sitting and waiting on some of
those actions. They're almost baiting them in the same way
that okay okay see has been baiting you know, other
teams into this playoffs. I think Carlisle's done a great
and masterful job and trying to kind of force in
(24:22):
some ways of what you're saying earlier to get to
to reduce the quality of okay See shots or reduce
them to more one on one action where they feel like,
all right, maybe we can actually live with this because
our depth offensively is better than their depth offensively as
long as Indiana's not turning the ball over. But that's
the second part here. Turnovers have been such a big
part of his NBA Finals that we knew that was
(24:44):
going to be the case, but it just continues to
come up. It just continues to you know, Rear's ugly
head and okay See had just had a really really
hard time handling the balls. Like as I said, as
she with eight turnovers tonight, very uncharacteristic. And you cannot
win on the road with a turnovers from the MVP.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Yeah, so you know, again, I'm just gonna look at
what I just saw from this particular game. It just
didn't look like they were prepared, right Like, even when
they were pivoting to try to move the ball a
little bit more, Hartenstein dropped dropped the sure five pass
(25:22):
cut into the basket because he wasn't ready for the pass.
Because I think he was just basically expecting SGA to
take up a shot, right. J Dubb made a pass
I believe to check homebring he couldn't handle the pass right,
because I think they were basically waiting, you know, for
Jadeub to go and do a little pick and pop
situation or whatever, the ISO pop situation right, And I
(25:45):
think you know a lot of the points that you
made solid points. I think what I'm getting at is
is that these guys, right, they need to be better
or about how they want to attack the Indiana Pacers,
(26:07):
because it seems like if the intent is you want
to sit and wait and watch, and if that's what
you want to do, then be all in about doing that.
If you are, you know, if you've got an SGA
and you got a JDub, that means though that the
rest of them have to assimulate and go in and
attack and do the necessary things that I think we
(26:29):
have seen them do throughout the course of this series.
It's not as if anything is completely changed in the
sense that if OKAC is going to be like this,
and Carlisle has countered that OKC has figured out a
way to counter it back, or at least make them
pay for that, but in this particular game, it didn't
look like they were prepared for anything at all, right,
(26:53):
not even prepared to have a contingency to whatever it
was that was taking place in their struggles offensively.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Can I can I go back to an earlier point
you said, though, because as you're saying that, it brings
me to maybe one thing when we talk about, Okay,
Cee's overall mindset, maybe subconsciously, maybe we're not there. We're
not in the locker room. We can't say this. We
don't we're not psychologists, but there could be the aspect
right of, hey, how he's down. We should be able
to get these boys tonight, right, and and maybe they
(27:21):
tilt their eye off off the ball a little bit,
just figured it like, Okay, there's no way this team
is going to be able to beat us in the
way that we are with their star player having a
calf strain, Like there's just like there's no way that
that should be the case. And they were in for
obviously a route a waking and surprise. But the other
part of this too is Okay, see, offensively, they do
(27:42):
need to feel figure out a way to be better
when their defense is not turning their not turning into
offense for them. If they're not turning you know, those
live ball turnovers, those pick sixes, as we say, all right,
how are you getting your buckets efficiently within the offensive
and the half court set. That's something that I think,
okay see has not necessarily mastered in this specific series
(28:06):
because they are so again ball dominant and you know
in JWN SGA, but they've been getting contributions kind of throughout.
I mean, no, Wiggins has has has had moments in
this series. We know Caruso's had moments in this series.
And both of those guys didn't really do much tonight
unfortunately for them in Game six. So that's where I
thing Dagnault then needs to readjust and say, all right, well,
if we're not going to be able to force turnovers
(28:27):
like and again you can't predict that, like it could
be your night. All of a sudden, Dan starts throwing
the ball around and then you're you're just in better
spots and you're getting those pick sixers that we're talking about,
But you need to figure out ways like all right,
how are we going to get efficient offense and be
able to truly match what they're doing to us on
the other side of the basketball with Indiana's kind of
(28:48):
like pace where seven or eight guys really are capable scores.
And I think there was a one point in the
telecast same thing they said, oh, like seven guys already
have seven points tonight for for Indiana when it's really
that type of, you know, death by depth type of situation.
That's where you know, Indiana does have the advantage offensively,
but with their defense turning up the way that it
(29:08):
has been, that's really what took them over their edge
here tonight. Twenty one turnovers for ok See to ten
for Indiana again eight by s Jay alone And I
think that's your ball game.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, CALLI weren't y'all basedline NBA podcast. I
just got a couple more points in regards to be
it's something that you just mentioned. It just made me
kind of think about this. You know, this series, Shaw
has shown us different facets or different phase faces of
(29:40):
each of these teams. Specifically, one team obviously has figured
out a way to somewhat change its face when necessary
in order for it to continue to thrive and stay
in the series. Right. The other team has had the
(30:00):
luxury of always falling back to what you're saying. Because
they've been so great defensively and because they have a
propensity to get teams to turn the ball over. This
was one of those games in which even though they
got some turnovers, it didn't hurt the Indiana Pacers. The
Indiana Pacers, however, turned okay See over and it hurt
(30:23):
Okay See. More importantly, it was the timing of the turnovers.
Even when Oka See was trying to make something of
a run, a semblance of a run, Indiana got them
to turn the ball over and it basically jacked the
lead back up again. You know that third quarter a
(30:44):
buzzer beater by Shepherd to boost it to a thirty
point lead. I mean, like all of that was just
just like a writing on the wall. But the one
thing that I think that really stood out to me,
especially from watching this game, and something that I'm going
to be paying attention to, and how Dagonau makes adjustments
because he's gonna have to. And it concerns me when
(31:06):
I look at Okac they don't have legit back. You know,
guys that play with their back to the basket. It
feels like every single one of them has to play
straight up, face up basketball, regardless of on an ISO
or if it's pick and roll play, pick and pop play,
(31:27):
whatever it is. It never feels like the Indiana Pacers
has ever been put in a position or a situation
where OKAC is backing down their players into the paint
or below right, it's got to be like a face
up situation. And where I want to see OKAC make
their adjustment is to your point what we were talking
(31:48):
about earlier, moving and cutting towards the basket. When Caruso
is moving towards the basket and getting those you know,
he chips and cuts down and gives space where if
SGAs is coming down that lane, coming down that side
and on the opposite end, here comes Caruso, there's an
opportunity for Sga to to make a legit pass, or
(32:10):
there's an opportunity for Jadab to make a legit pass.
Dork Cruso, Holme, Grins, whoever is going to be out
there with those guys. They have got to move north south,
the east west. Thing can only play so long because
at some point the Indiana Pacers will adjust. And it's
(32:30):
going back to what I was saying, before with the
propensity to shoot the three, not in volume, but out
of necessity because they feel like that's all that's necessary,
and maybe out of confidence they think that they can
make it, or long range mid long mid range jumpers.
That to me doesn't suit the Oklahoma City Thunder well
(32:52):
if they're not especially if they're not rebounding the basketball.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Yeah, well, I think SGA does post up, so to
speak for from time to time, but I think it's whatever,
what is that secondary action that that is being run
on the weak side or to give SGA pass lanes.
But you're right in terms of home Grim and Hartenstein,
they're not post up guys. The other Janleen Williams when
he's in maybe he could post up a little bit,
but he's also very much a perimitter type dude. So
(33:17):
I don't know, especially with Indiana's bodies with Siakom and Turner, like,
if that's even a viable option for them, I think
one way or the other. Again, it's going to have
to come from the guards with the wings. But I
think just the aspect of trying to manufacture easy points
is something that okay see did not have obviously tonight
and hasn't really had, I think in the course throughout
the course of the series unlesser getting out on that
(33:38):
fast break. So but still nevertheless, you know, it would
kind of be the antithesis of what we're saying, forty
points in the paint for okac to night to thirty,
so you know, one way or another, okay, see, still
getting in and getting into the lane and getting getting
points in the paint, but maybe not in the same
form or fashion that that that you're alluding to in
(33:59):
terms of again like straight post ups or whatever it is,
off cuts and secondary action. Maybe some fast breaks here
and there as well too. But the Pacers won that
battle tonight twenty two to eleven. So again a great,
great performance from the Indiana Pacers, forcing a game seven
in Oklahoma City two days off for Tyre's Haliburton, you know,
to get that leg right and maybe be a contributor.
(34:21):
We know that ok scrowdo is going to be rocking, rocking, rocking.
So I'm very intrigued by this and you know, maybe
I'll get to ultimately be right. Okay see and seven
but the fact that we have a seven game series
here for these two mid market teams is something that
the NBA and NBA fans should be proud of. Yes,
this one was a blowout and maybe a little bit
of a snoozer, but we are now getting a Game seven,
(34:42):
and as you litert earlier in the show, we just
hope it's going to be a good one here with
everything on the line and everybody, everybody on all these
teams banged up to some degree, but just continuously a
gutty performance here by Halliburton and the rest is Indiana
Pacers Ball Club.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
What are you hoping for? Just two quick points, the
two things that you're hoping for for this game seven?
Speaker 2 (35:03):
I mean, I think it just said it, man. I
just I want to see good basketball, right, I'd love
to see mistake free basketball that keeps it keeps the
game tight, and really just can the players on the
floor decide it that That to me is more than
anything else. I don't need no referees getting involved. I
don't want to you know, a crap ton of like
you know, sloppy turnovers, whatever, like just just ball, just
who That's what I want to see and see how
(35:25):
who actually comes out of it. Do the Pacers crove
literally everybody the entire world wrong and get this done
with their backs against the wall again on the road,
hobbled star like all the narratives are in this favor
right now and again, can okay see this very very
young basketball team capture their first championship that a lot
of things, A lot of people think will be the
first of many if they actually get it done. But
(35:47):
the Spacers team, man, they are, they are. They are
tough as hell. Brother, like, I have so much respect
I can no longer doubt you know, Hallibert and and
hand his crew and again shout out again to Carla
man win or lose. What coaching performance he has done
this masterful playoffs?
Speaker 1 (36:04):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah. I want this to be a close
uh you know, uh Game seven, you know. But I
also want it with both teams playing at the peak
of their abilities. When I say peak, I'm just talking
about what's got them to the dance, what's brought them here.
I want to see the Indiana Pacers push the Oklahoma
City Thunder defense to the limit, and I want to
(36:26):
see the Oklahoma City Thunder push the Indiana Pacers offense,
you know, to the limit. I don't think it's going
to be a clean game because I think both teams
are going to turn the ball over. I think both
teams are going to play neurrous basketball. But but with
that being said, shaw, I want to see, you know,
the guys who you know made us fall in love
with these that this NBA Finals all step up and
(36:50):
do something, have a moment. Like there's so many opportunities
for each and every single one of these guys on
the basketball court that has participated in the NBA Finals
to have a moment in Game seven. So the TJ.
McConnell's as they Heartenstein's, even the chet holme Grens as
bad as he played, this is an opportunity for him
to have a moment, a block, you know, a three, whatever,
(37:12):
but he can have a moment in this There will
be opportunities there, and it's just a question of whether
or not they're going to make sure that they keep
their heads, you know, on tilt and be able to
execute when it matters the most.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Yeah, I mean, both teams have pressure. It's NBA Championship, right,
everything is on the line here. But OKAYC with the
home court advantage obviously having gone up in this series
and had any chance to close out tonight and not
doing it, all the pressure really is on them, and
so I think Indiana's not playing with house money, but
they can play me a whole little bit more. Labooserum like,
all right, man, no one expects this to be here.
(37:47):
We'll do let's get it done.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
This is what we were afraid of. This is what
I say afraid of. But this is what I was
afraid of for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the sense that,
you know, this was a game that I really think
it would have been better suited that you go out
there and you just you compete and you play the
kind of basketball that gives you. It gives you an opportunity,
(38:10):
it gives you a chance, puts the pressure on the
Indiana Pacers to have to execute in the fourth quarter,
execute plays down the stretch. They didn't, you know, the
Oklahoma City Thunder didn't do that. They did not give
themselves a chance. And if nothing else, by losing the
way that they lost, it gave more confidence for the
Indiana Pacers to basically walk into this game seven knowing
(38:33):
that the pressure is all on OKAC no matter how
much people want to cut it and slice it. And yeah,
it will even say that Oklahoma City's Thunder is still
the better team. Whatever, the fact of the matter is,
you've got to close out. And we've seen this before
where when you had your opportunities to to to shut
a team down, you don't do it. As they were
will say Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. This is not
(38:56):
a situation that you want to take lightly. No matter
how you smart and intelligent a basketball team can be.
You know, you don't handle your business. You leave the
door open. And a team like the Indiana Pacers, who
have the offensive fire power to put a team like
the Oklahoma City Thunder on its heels when you had
an opportunity to shut them down, could very well do
(39:17):
you in in a Game seven situation on your home court.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
We'll see brother Game seven on Sunday. It looks like
we'll have to do this live situation yet again. See
who will actually capture the NBA Championship. And there's still
so much going on around the NBA. Trades happened that
we haven't even discussed yet.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
So he and a team sale that it has the tilted.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
And you know, Guy Jabai was rocking with us a
little bit earlier on on the stream too. You shout
out to the Lakers Man the ten billion dollar sale.
But we'll get to that at at another point time.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
That's probably why he hit on the show right now.
He's probably he's trying to run down to see if
you can collect the check.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Fair enough, Man, I can't wait. Man, Game seven on
a Sunday, y'all, make sure you stay tapped in Man.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
Absolutely so. Once again, Man, we appreciate everybody for hopping
on board. Shout outs to our family, the nineteen Media
group family as always man, you know, showing up, showing
the love a man Tyler, a man Mojo, you know,
as always Man. We appreciate the love and support. We
will be back here, same time, same bat channel for
(40:22):
this Game seven wrap up for the baseline, Cali warren Shaw.
We appreciate you guys, you know we do. Thanks for
popping on board with us for our Game six NBA
Finals wrap up. We'll catch up with you next time.
Taylor Williams sixteen points, throws it away. Haliburton comes out
with a cross court see ya, come fin a slam.
This is the baseline discussing the hot button topics of
the NBA. Welcome everybody or two to the baseline. Calie
(00:25):
Warrenshaw discussing the hot button topics of the NBA. It
is our go live, our live version wrap up of
Game six of the NBA Finals. Back in the fold
as always, And yeah, we just witnessed what we call
is a molly woppin of the Oklahoma City Thunder as
(00:50):
the Indiana Pacers even up the series three to three.
That means that we will have a Game seven. And okay,
see alongside him. You know, I gotta roll with my
right hand man, brother from another mother, mister Warshaw ripping
out of Fort Laudier, Florida was good, mister Shaw. I
appreciate you giving us a little glimpse into the fervor
(01:11):
that took place in Indiana. The Siam posterization gives us
a good Juneteenth field to level of a level of
jubilants I'm sure is emanating out there in Indiana, right.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
But yeah, something like that, right, I think that was
the defining moment. I think of that second half and
the proverboial nail in the coffin early on, you know,
for this game here siakam, you know with that, you know,
mantras thunderous dunk and then even before the half ends,
he hits a fat away jumper, you know, to kind
of push lead up to twenty four. So the Indiana
(01:49):
Pacers dominate this game, not start to finish because they
were down here to start at the beginning of the
first quarter. But you know, once the subs came in, TJ.
McConnell will be topping kind of do their thing. Yet again,
here are a wild or sorry not a wild. A
very very slow start start the third quarter for both teams,
but Indiana ends up just taking this thing kind of
(02:09):
going away. Man, a miraculous, miraculous game, I think from
their lens, especially going into it with a hobbled Tarre's
halliburry and okay, see not getting it done here despite
being on the road. I get it. But man, with
Halliburton down like this, really really surprising that they got
whooped with they did here on the road or otherwise.
But I just would have expected a different outcome. Even
(02:31):
if Okay, so lost, I just think they were gonna
go down like this.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, I'm just gonna keep it one hundred. This was
a pissport performance by the Oklahoma City Thunder. There's just
no getting around it. And I'm not saying this because
I'm trying to, you know, drum up any level of
controversy or Listen, you and I have had many episodes
and we have spoken very highly about the Oklahoma City Thunder. Well,
(02:57):
we also have to recognize that it's because of how
well they've played wire to wire that when you see
performances like this, it just really makes you wonder, you know,
what were they thinking when they got out there onto
the basketball court. Now I could put on my conspiracy
(03:18):
theory hat and say, you know what, they just felt
like they didn't have it and they just I'm gonna say,
packed it in. But it's almost like they had their
mind made up. They're going to try to finish this
out in Okay, see, even if it is a Game seven.
But when I tell you shall, when I see the
(03:38):
level of I don't know, attention to detail, when I
see the level of effort that's being played, I'm not
questioning a team saying that they're dogging it. But I'm
saying is is when they are mentally checked out and
the opposing team sees that and they prey on that,
it's your responsibility to at least instill a level of
(04:03):
doubt that maybe you didn't come with your A effort
and thus if you do play your A game, you
still don't have a chance, even if it's going to
be a Game seven. What I saw from this is
you left the gate wide open because to your point,
tyree'se Haliburton was not one hundred percent, but TJ McConnell,
(04:26):
yet again, in this series, has been a difference maker.
The role players for the Indiana Pacers have been difference makers,
and they have been increasingly becoming X factors as they
get further and further into the series, to the point
where I would not be surprised if Rick Carlip not
(04:47):
in a level of desperation, but in the level of
strategy deploys. You know that Halliburton McConnell's thing that they
were afraid of doing throughout the course of this finals
that he deployed is that full tilt because he recognizes
that McConnell actually sees matchup matchups that favor him because
(05:09):
of the lack of attention to detail by the OKAC
Thunder backcourt defense. And I'm even putting that on Alex
Caruso at times has not been able to contain TJ
McConnell when he's been matched up with him. SGA poor
defensive performance. Galen Williams has his problems. He's too he's
too big for a guy like McConnell who will get
(05:31):
past him. So this is a problem. And I think
if the OKAC Thunder collectively defensively gets their mind right, okay,
but if this it was an indication that this Game
seven looks like what the Indiana Pacers are gonna do
to the Okay see Thunder defense. Okay, see Thunder really
do need to look at what they're gonna have to
(05:53):
do offensively because they've not been consistent offensively, but they
had been consistent defensively for the most part. And we
just aw just literally just that defense is collapse, That
that defense was a no show. There was no level
of aggression. I don't know if they're tired or did again.
Like I said, they could have just been checking out
and not you know, thinking that, hey, you know what,
(06:16):
we'll just let we'll take our chances with the game seven.
And that's just not I don't think.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
I don't think you can take chances with the game seven.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
You no, I but that's what I'm saying, Like I
I it's it's to me, that's a level of arrogance
if you think that you are gonna be like that.
But I think they got I don't.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Know, I need they be And I know, like you
don't want that to happen. You don't want that to
be the case is like, oh, well, you're just gonna whatever.
I mean, we saw that happen like what was it
in the Rockets? Uh? And the Warrior series. We're going
to say is like they took they clearly took a
game off and that was early in the playoffs or
whatever because they just felt ahead they'd be able to
get it done and the end up going seven games. Uh. This,
(06:51):
I don't think that's what happened here. I think what
ended up happening on the Indiana side is that they
really they played for their lives and they started to
force turnal. They set doubles at SGA that we haven't
really seen as much in this series, especially when Sja
tries to do if yes, she turns his back, usually
he's facing somebody's facing them hard and he's still he
(07:12):
may be dancing, but he's straight on with the basket.
He turned his back a little bit almost likely, you know,
if he was trying to pull us or to do that,
you know, like the smithy and kind of go back,
and in the end it would send help anytime that happened.
And then that is that was forcing toroneovers the Pacers
defense of this in this game, specifically in the middle
of the second quarter, as you alluded to, especially when
McConnell and Topping kind of in the game in they
(07:33):
just bring another level of energy. And I don't know
what more we can say about Halliburt and just being
a leader, stepping out into this space, going out there
literally on one leg, and that what that does for
the mantra and the energy of your team. And while
they didn't get off to that great start, I think
him just being out there as the leader showed so
(07:54):
much for them and okay, see was not on their
best game. And I just yes, they're young, because I
think that's what the Broad was saying that Gonnall keep saying, hey,
we're the youngest team, the youngest team or the second
youngest team ever even to make it to the NBA Finals.
That is not not utilizing that as an excuse. I
want to give all the credit to Indiana here and
not like okay see didn't know what to do or
they didn't know how to play, like they got whooked.
(08:16):
You know, Indiana was really playing for their lives, and
we saw something from this Pacers team that by now
we should probably expect and be used to. But I
think you had called it. You said okay see in five,
and I said that was the right call. I still
picked okay in seven and seven just because I was
like this, the Nan team has something that we cannot quantify,
and we saw that not be quantified here tonight in
(08:38):
the effort that they showed here, especially from the middle
of that first quarter all the way out for the
rest of this game.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
So I want to touch on something that Jesus mentioned
about Tyrese Haliburton, and it's what I think we were
talking about a couple of times over or at least
what my expectations are about Tyrese Haliburton, because the narrative
has been Tyree's Halleton has got to be that guy.
He's got to be hitting no shots, this, that, and
the third. No, Tyrese Haliburton doesn't have to be that
(09:06):
kind of guy. I don't even think Tyre's Haliburton ever
had to be that person. But the fact that he
has that a part of his game, and I've said
this time and time again, is a great asset because
it takes the pressure off of those role players who
when given that opportunity in time to shine, they may
not be able to handle it, with the exception of
(09:27):
TJ McConnell, but in a situation like this, right in
a game like this, it's very easy for the Rick
Carlisles of the world, for an Indiana Pacers team that
has gotten this far to say, you know, I know
you're hobbled, Tyrese, but take us to the Promised Land.
(09:48):
And he didn't fall for that, he didn't bite on that.
He wasn't out there to be a bait either, but
he was out there to help facilitate and get guys
where they needed to be to maximize great shot opportunities
that the Indiana Pacers made good on in a critical
win or go home or lose, you know, lose all
(10:09):
situation with the Pacers, right, And if you're the Oklahoma
City thunder, while your whole intent defensively was to, you know,
go after the wounded animal, the miscalculation was not respecting
the fact that Tyrese Haliburton is a floor general. He
is a floor He's a legitimate for I will. I
(10:31):
wanted to make the argument Shaw, and I know it's
gonna sound crazy, but I want people to really understand
where I'm coming from. Tyrese Halliburton, to me, exhibits more
floor general general qualities than sg A in the sense
that he can distribute the basketball. He can also make
(10:56):
critical shots down the stretch. And while it's great that
SGA can score thirty two points per game, you clearly
saw the difference in the demeanor and the mentality in
the tone of the expectations of what is asked of
your team. If on a pivot, SGA didn't need to
have to take so many shots, he could have been
a great distributor or could put easily put the ball
(11:18):
in the hands of other guys who go out there
and make plays. But instead OKAC is watching their MVP
player go out there make bad decisions with the basketball,
turning the basketball over, bad shots, selection things of that nature.
At some point, you, as SGA, you have to stop
yourself and you have to say, am I helping the team?
Am I hurting the team? Now? This is just one
(11:39):
particular game. And again I'm not trying to play up
the controversy that SGA is not deserving of being the
MVP and he's not the greatest player, or whatever the
case would be. But what I'm saying is, in the
situation like this, when you don't have one aspect of
your game that is working for you, that is part
of it in totality what makes the OKC Thunder the
(11:59):
great team that they are and where they are. You
have to figure out a way to pivot and somehow
in the last forty eight hours, when everything has been
about the calf strain and whether or not Tyrese Haliburton
was going to be able to come out there and
be on the basketball court, this wasn't a Willis Reed moment.
But you saw leadership qualities and a guy who made
the great sacrifice play. He didn't fall for the trap
(12:22):
of having to go out there and jack up shots
and make bad decisions and feel like he's got to
put it all his shoulders. He actually relied on his
teammates and his teammates and his role players, everybody straight
through helped make him a great player, make it easy
for him to help this Indiana Pacers team do what
they did to Oklahoma City Thunder. And this, to me,
shaw is what makes the Indiana Pacers dangerous going into
(12:44):
Game seven because now it opens up these things that
we didn't think were I want to say, tangible, but
were amenable given the circumstances because Okac had been in
front of most of those things. They had a counter
for some of these things you cannot counter When you
even don't know whether or not they're gonna need Haliburton,
(13:06):
you never know Haliburt might actually step up and have
one of those performances that he had back in Game
one because of what just took it.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
I think it's really interesting how quiet it gets, right
because he had fourteen points and five assists in twenty
three minutes, right, and obviously he wasn't really needed, didn't
play any minutes in the fourth quarter, so all the
noise around Halliburt and what he needs to do and
how he needs to do it is kind of muted
now as a result of this win. But I think
to your point, it's because everybody was already uplifted just
(13:33):
by the virtue of him being on the court, and
then Obi Toppin had an Obi Toppin type game and
McConnell does McConnell like things as well too. They didn't
get a whole lot up for Mathren, you know, and
some other guys. It got a couple of three from
Venture for tonight as well, but outside of that, it
was just the way Topping and McConnell play that uplifted
this bench nim hard with some timely shots as well. Siakam,
I think has been solid throughout the course of the series.
(13:55):
That not a great scoring night wasn't needed obviously, as
they kind of lowed the doors off them in the
second half, and those are the things that were kind
of like all in Indiana's favor, like it just it
was their night. And as you alluded to with SGA,
he gets all of the credit. He's not necessarily an
Aligned superstar in many ways and nearly not in the
leagues align at Harry's Halliburton is and maybe Haliburt doesn't
(14:16):
have the same cachet, right, but and she did have
a turnoverside. And again that's where again you have to
credit carl out in the defensive scheme, they said. The
broadcast even indicated Nemhart is not picking him up ninety
four feet now, Hey, we're picking him up a little
bit above the break, trying to save them Harzlake, so
that he can't contribute on the offensive side. There were
subtle differences in tonight's game and tonight's attack for the
(14:37):
Indiana Pacers. Yes, with their season on the line, but
they tried some things there that seem to frustrate. Okay, see,
and I don't think we can go another minute without
talking about how batchit Holmgrant has looked at various parts
of this series. Miles Turner, I wouldn't say, is having
an amazing series statistically himself, but the floor game and
the head games he seems to be playing, which at
(14:59):
Holmgren that is that has been masterful. I get by
Miles Turner when they're on the floor and and old
bit just looks lost, turns to block a shot on
multiple occasions, frustrated. It's trying to do too much off
the bounce. I have to create a Myles Turner. While
he shot one of nine and had three points to
night and two blocks, he is in Homeward's head. And
(15:20):
that's something Chat if they are going to win game
seven he has to figure out because you can't say, oh,
the other one's gonna give you another forty again, like, yes,
that was great, but you think you can't rely on that.
Chit has to figure out a way to get involved
in this series.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Well, so Sarl, let's go ahead and pivot to that.
To that point, right, the Oklahoma City Thunder were eight
for thirty from three. Okay, and at some particular point,
I'm just I don't know. Well, now we can't because
it's a game seven, so there's there's no wiggle room here.
(15:53):
But at some point, if if I'm daggonall, I gotta
be looking at my team and I gotta be like,
why are we jacking up threes. I'm not saying that
you shouldn't shoot the three. If it's available and it's
within the flow of what your offense is supposed to
be doing. I got no problem with it. You know what,
I mean, but nothing about the Oklahoma City Thunder offensive
(16:19):
scheme shows a level of aggressiveness of attacking a team that, yes,
while they have stepped up defensively in this finals, it
still doesn't mass the fact that you're getting foul calls,
you're getting opportunities to get to the free throw line,
but yet you bail out the other team by jacking
(16:42):
up threes that you're not even making. The threes that
have been hit in the last two games have been
by Wiggins. You're what is it, your third deep bench player, right,
It's not coming from Jamen Williams. It's not coming from
a ton of guys with this level of consistency. So
I don't understanding.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Hell, I have to stop you only from the lines
because I think you can't always look at just the
bottom line number right, And with okay, see in totality,
did they shoot thirty threes, Well, how many those threes
came after the game was out of hand. So they
shot ten threes in the fourth quarter when the game
was done. So at the end of the day, they
shot twenty threes in the first three quarters, one of
eleven in the first half. Not great, right, They're not
a great three point shooting team. They must ride off momentum,
(17:26):
but I don't think that was a huge factor in
their overall offensive a tank. I think it was more
of the turtovers than they'll shooting.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
I understand what you're saying, Shaw, but let me slightly
now push back to you on this point. I am
focusing on the timing of or the execution of the shots.
If what you're telling me is is the Pacers are
forcing the Oklahoma City Thunder to shoot threes. Forget the number.
I'm just saying you're forcing them to shoot threes rather
than attacking the basket. Okay, then that's one thing, but
(17:57):
that's not what's happening. That's not what's happening. The Oklahoma
City Thunder are choosing to shoot the three ball they
pass passing around. I don't see the level of aggressiveness
in attacking the Indiana Pacers, putting them on their heels
with a consistent amount of effort. It almost feels like
if the Pacers find a rhythm offensively and start pushing
the Thunder to where it's in their head, they seem like, Okay,
(18:20):
I have to start taking shots, and let me say this,
let me not use just the word three. Let's say
they're shooting the basketball rather than attacking with the basketball.
They're bailing out on fadeaways, they're bailing out on mid
range jump shots that are not particularly where they want
things to be, or they're just standing there watching SGA
(18:40):
try to take those shots. And I just say that
that's not how we've seen the Oklahoma City Thunder effectively
and efficiently score the basketball. That's not their way of
scoring the basketball. And so maybe this is something that
you have to be concerned about when dealing with the
team that's applying the kind of pressure that the Indiana
Pacers are applying. Because this is going all the way
(19:02):
back to Game one show. I said this, if the
game becomes a low scoring affair when it comes to
the Pacers and the Thunder, I feel that the Thunder
have the better advantage because they're better efficiently scoring the
basketball than the Pacers. However, if the Thunder are conceding
additional shots, if they're conceding opportunities for the Pacers to
(19:24):
keep going at them, keep going at them. Now, you're
forcing the Oklahoma City Thunder to actually make a lot
of those misses, right, and every time that they continue
to miss and don't stop the team on the other end,
it becomes anywhere between a four five point swing that
now pushes things further behind for them, and then you
(19:45):
see them having to exhaust so much effort in them
coming back into games, staying in games, and all that
other kind of stuff. And to me, that's not where
you want to be if you're an Oklahoma City Thunder.
But I'm just highlighting the fact that the three point
shot to me, seems to always be their bailout mechanism
rather than something that is executed within strategy and consistency.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Well, I mean, you can't jump back and forth. I
mean because like I said, if you're worried about the
quality of shots after getting I can I can maybe
go with you that on there. I think Jalen Williams
J Dubb didn't attack in the same way that we
saw obviously in the previous game and getting downhill and
getting into the teeth of the defense as you say
all the time, that wasn't there. But again, the three
point shots specifically was not the issue. They were only
(20:26):
one of eleven going into the half and they were
still down twenty points, So it's not like they shot
twenty five threes in the first half. It was eleven shots.
They didn't make any, and that's just I mean, that's
just how that goes sometimes. And then they end up
going five to ten in the fourth quarter when the
game is out of hand. So to me, like it's
it's it's not necessarily a moot point, but I think
in terms of the quality of shots and who's being
aggressive and who's getting the shots is something that does
(20:48):
need to take into account, which brings me back to
the Jets standpoint as well too, Cruso not really being
able to be effective offensively in the end, It is
not worried about him from the perimeter. Cruso's had some
pretty robust scoring games in this series, twenty points and
hitting some threes here and there. That just wasn't the
case tonight. I I we've said in this series, right,
we thought okay SE's defense was the better of the
(21:09):
two defenses. Indiana's defense is showing to be not maybe
just as formidable, pretty damn formidable in its own sales though.
But I did say I thought Indiana's bench scoring was
better than okay Sees bench scoring. Okay Sees bench scoring
often comes off of the turnovers that the entirety of
that defense ultimately creates. So now if you have Topen
(21:30):
and McConnell and Mathern in certain points of the series
playing decent to high level defense and still giving that
offensive output as we see Indiana's having that be able
to oscillate, you know, throughout the couch to Storty. Some
guys are on one night. Mccaus been pretty consistent topping
a couple of nights, math Aron another night. That to
me is something that Okay see is having a hard
time match because they are top heavy when it comes
(21:51):
to the scorers, especially if Caruso is not going to
have an explosive scoring game off the bench while still
giving you positive defense. Harnstein not really a fat offensively
in this series at to the stage. So right now,
if if Wiggins or Wallace are not getting hot, that's
where okay c' is really going to struggle with their
with their scoring and scoring in general.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
So so let me ask you this question, then, Shaw,
if you're the if you're Okay C right, what do
you what do you do right?
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Like?
Speaker 1 (22:21):
What what exactly is it that you do to open
things up for check Holmgren, who to me seems like
the only time he is effective is if he's he's
he's shooting the three, not you know, is he gonna
give you anything for rebounding? Is he going to give
you anything for uh, you know, second chance opportunities? Isaiah Hartenstein,
(22:46):
same same thing, right, Like, what what are we saying
needs to happen in order for them to be a
factor in a game seven, so to speak?
Speaker 2 (22:57):
I think offensively, So what out looking at like second
spectrum and all those you know, great data analysis serving sites.
I think there's the aspect of actually playing some pick
and roll and maybe even some inverted pick and roll
with both Chad, J Dubb and Sga some combination of
those three guys on a regular basis, what we often
see is a lot of swing swing, and then J
(23:18):
Dubb or SGA is kind of going one on one.
SJA may look for a pick and roll and then
just try to break his guy down. But they's not
a lot of pick and pop or pick and and
and kind of like throw it to the role man,
you know, okay sees offense. I think you see some
of that with Hartenstein, but maybe some of the dribble handoffs.
When Check gets into trouble and he drives and he
gets bottled up, then he's looking to kind of make
a pass. He did do that in the first half
(23:39):
where he tried to drive turn or shut him down.
Then he kind of did a bailout to Cruso. Crusoe
drive drove, but Turner got back and blocked the shot.
But they just need more movement in the totality of
their offense, and I think in some ways that's where
even your Kesa Wallace is and guys like that can
get some get some catches off secondary action. But if
they do become too stagnant or two balld dominant with
(24:00):
either one of their two great All Stars and SGA
and Jalen Williams, that's where things can get kind of
bogged down, especially if the defense, like the Indiana's defense,
is going to be as active as they are and
they're like kind of sitting and waiting on some of
those actions. They're almost baiting them in the same way
that okay okay see has been baiting you know, other
teams into this playoffs. I think Carlisle's done a great
and masterful job and trying to kind of force in
(24:22):
some ways of what you're saying earlier to get to
to reduce the quality of okay See shots or reduce
them to more one on one action where they feel like,
all right, maybe we can actually live with this because
our depth offensively is better than their depth offensively as
long as Indiana's not turning the ball over. But that's
the second part here. Turnovers have been such a big
part of his NBA Finals that we knew that was
(24:44):
going to be the case, but it just continues to
come up. It just continues to you know, Rear's ugly
head and okay See had just had a really really
hard time handling the balls. Like as I said, as
she with eight turnovers tonight, very uncharacteristic. And you cannot
win on the road with a turnovers from the MVP.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Yeah, so you know, again, I'm just gonna look at
what I just saw from this particular game. It just
didn't look like they were prepared, right Like, even when
they were pivoting to try to move the ball a
little bit more, Hartenstein dropped dropped the sure five pass
(25:22):
cut into the basket because he wasn't ready for the pass.
Because I think he was just basically expecting SGA to
take up a shot, right. J Dubb made a pass
I believe to check homebring he couldn't handle the pass right,
because I think they were basically waiting, you know, for
Jadeub to go and do a little pick and pop
situation or whatever, the ISO pop situation right, And I
(25:45):
think you know a lot of the points that you
made solid points. I think what I'm getting at is
is that these guys, right, they need to be better
or about how they want to attack the Indiana Pacers,
(26:07):
because it seems like if the intent is you want
to sit and wait and watch, and if that's what
you want to do, then be all in about doing that.
If you are, you know, if you've got an SGA
and you got a JDub, that means though that the
rest of them have to assimulate and go in and
attack and do the necessary things that I think we
(26:29):
have seen them do throughout the course of this series.
It's not as if anything is completely changed in the
sense that if OKAC is going to be like this,
and Carlisle has countered that OKC has figured out a
way to counter it back, or at least make them
pay for that, but in this particular game, it didn't
look like they were prepared for anything at all, right,
(26:53):
not even prepared to have a contingency to whatever it
was that was taking place in their struggles offensively.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Can I can I go back to an earlier point
you said, though, because as you're saying that, it brings
me to maybe one thing when we talk about, Okay,
Cee's overall mindset, maybe subconsciously, maybe we're not there. We're
not in the locker room. We can't say this. We
don't we're not psychologists, but there could be the aspect
right of, hey, how he's down. We should be able
to get these boys tonight, right, and and maybe they
(27:21):
tilt their eye off off the ball a little bit,
just figured it like, Okay, there's no way this team
is going to be able to beat us in the
way that we are with their star player having a
calf strain, Like there's just like there's no way that
that should be the case. And they were in for
obviously a route a waking and surprise. But the other
part of this too is Okay, see, offensively, they do
(27:42):
need to feel figure out a way to be better
when their defense is not turning their not turning into
offense for them. If they're not turning you know, those
live ball turnovers, those pick sixes, as we say, all right,
how are you getting your buckets efficiently within the offensive
and the half court set. That's something that I think,
okay see has not necessarily mastered in this specific series
(28:06):
because they are so again ball dominant and you know
in JWN SGA, but they've been getting contributions kind of throughout.
I mean, no, Wiggins has has has had moments in
this series. We know Caruso's had moments in this series.
And both of those guys didn't really do much tonight
unfortunately for them in Game six. So that's where I
thing Dagnault then needs to readjust and say, all right, well,
if we're not going to be able to force turnovers
(28:27):
like and again you can't predict that, like it could
be your night. All of a sudden, Dan starts throwing
the ball around and then you're you're just in better
spots and you're getting those pick sixers that we're talking about,
But you need to figure out ways like all right,
how are we going to get efficient offense and be
able to truly match what they're doing to us on
the other side of the basketball with Indiana's kind of
(28:48):
like pace where seven or eight guys really are capable scores.
And I think there was a one point in the
telecast same thing they said, oh, like seven guys already
have seven points tonight for for Indiana when it's really
that type of, you know, death by depth type of situation.
That's where you know, Indiana does have the advantage offensively,
but with their defense turning up the way that it
(29:08):
has been, that's really what took them over their edge
here tonight. Twenty one turnovers for ok See to ten
for Indiana again eight by s Jay alone And I
think that's your ball game.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, CALLI weren't y'all basedline NBA podcast. I
just got a couple more points in regards to be
it's something that you just mentioned. It just made me
kind of think about this. You know, this series, Shaw
has shown us different facets or different phase faces of
(29:40):
each of these teams. Specifically, one team obviously has figured
out a way to somewhat change its face when necessary
in order for it to continue to thrive and stay
in the series. Right. The other team has had the
(30:00):
luxury of always falling back to what you're saying. Because
they've been so great defensively and because they have a
propensity to get teams to turn the ball over. This
was one of those games in which even though they
got some turnovers, it didn't hurt the Indiana Pacers. The
Indiana Pacers, however, turned okay See over and it hurt
(30:23):
Okay See. More importantly, it was the timing of the turnovers.
Even when Oka See was trying to make something of
a run, a semblance of a run, Indiana got them
to turn the ball over and it basically jacked the
lead back up again. You know that third quarter a
(30:44):
buzzer beater by Shepherd to boost it to a thirty
point lead. I mean, like all of that was just
just like a writing on the wall. But the one
thing that I think that really stood out to me,
especially from watching this game, and something that I'm going
to be paying attention to, and how Dagonau makes adjustments
because he's gonna have to. And it concerns me when
(31:06):
I look at Okac they don't have legit back. You know,
guys that play with their back to the basket. It
feels like every single one of them has to play
straight up, face up basketball, regardless of on an ISO
or if it's pick and roll play, pick and pop play,
(31:27):
whatever it is. It never feels like the Indiana Pacers
has ever been put in a position or a situation
where OKAC is backing down their players into the paint
or below right, it's got to be like a face
up situation. And where I want to see OKAC make
their adjustment is to your point what we were talking
(31:48):
about earlier, moving and cutting towards the basket. When Caruso
is moving towards the basket and getting those you know,
he chips and cuts down and gives space where if
SGAs is coming down that lane, coming down that side
and on the opposite end, here comes Caruso, there's an
opportunity for Sga to to make a legit pass, or
(32:10):
there's an opportunity for Jadab to make a legit pass.
Dork Cruso, Holme, Grins, whoever is going to be out
there with those guys. They have got to move north south,
the east west. Thing can only play so long because
at some point the Indiana Pacers will adjust. And it's
(32:30):
going back to what I was saying, before with the
propensity to shoot the three, not in volume, but out
of necessity because they feel like that's all that's necessary,
and maybe out of confidence they think that they can
make it, or long range mid long mid range jumpers.
That to me doesn't suit the Oklahoma City Thunder well
(32:52):
if they're not especially if they're not rebounding the basketball.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Yeah, well, I think SGA does post up, so to
speak for from time to time, but I think it's whatever,
what is that secondary action that that is being run
on the weak side or to give SGA pass lanes.
But you're right in terms of home Grim and Hartenstein,
they're not post up guys. The other Janleen Williams when
he's in maybe he could post up a little bit,
but he's also very much a perimitter type dude. So
(33:17):
I don't know, especially with Indiana's bodies with Siakom and Turner, like,
if that's even a viable option for them, I think
one way or the other. Again, it's going to have
to come from the guards with the wings. But I
think just the aspect of trying to manufacture easy points
is something that okay see did not have obviously tonight
and hasn't really had, I think in the course throughout
the course of the series unlesser getting out on that
(33:38):
fast break. So but still nevertheless, you know, it would
kind of be the antithesis of what we're saying, forty
points in the paint for okac to night to thirty,
so you know, one way or another, okay, see, still
getting in and getting into the lane and getting getting
points in the paint, but maybe not in the same
form or fashion that that that you're alluding to in
(33:59):
terms of again like straight post ups or whatever it is,
off cuts and secondary action. Maybe some fast breaks here
and there as well too. But the Pacers won that
battle tonight twenty two to eleven. So again a great,
great performance from the Indiana Pacers, forcing a game seven
in Oklahoma City two days off for Tyre's Haliburton, you know,
to get that leg right and maybe be a contributor.
(34:21):
We know that ok scrowdo is going to be rocking, rocking, rocking.
So I'm very intrigued by this and you know, maybe
I'll get to ultimately be right. Okay see and seven
but the fact that we have a seven game series
here for these two mid market teams is something that
the NBA and NBA fans should be proud of. Yes,
this one was a blowout and maybe a little bit
of a snoozer, but we are now getting a Game seven,
(34:42):
and as you litert earlier in the show, we just
hope it's going to be a good one here with
everything on the line and everybody, everybody on all these
teams banged up to some degree, but just continuously a
gutty performance here by Halliburton and the rest is Indiana
Pacers Ball Club.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
What are you hoping for? Just two quick points, the
two things that you're hoping for for this game seven?
Speaker 2 (35:03):
I mean, I think it just said it, man. I
just I want to see good basketball, right, I'd love
to see mistake free basketball that keeps it keeps the
game tight, and really just can the players on the
floor decide it that That to me is more than
anything else. I don't need no referees getting involved. I
don't want to you know, a crap ton of like
you know, sloppy turnovers, whatever, like just just ball, just
who That's what I want to see and see how
(35:25):
who actually comes out of it. Do the Pacers crove
literally everybody the entire world wrong and get this done
with their backs against the wall again on the road,
hobbled star like all the narratives are in this favor
right now and again, can okay see this very very
young basketball team capture their first championship that a lot
of things, A lot of people think will be the
first of many if they actually get it done. But
(35:47):
the Spacers team, man, they are, they are. They are
tough as hell. Brother, like, I have so much respect
I can no longer doubt you know, Hallibert and and
hand his crew and again shout out again to Carla
man win or lose. What coaching performance he has done
this masterful playoffs?
Speaker 1 (36:04):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah. I want this to be a close
uh you know, uh Game seven, you know. But I
also want it with both teams playing at the peak
of their abilities. When I say peak, I'm just talking
about what's got them to the dance, what's brought them here.
I want to see the Indiana Pacers push the Oklahoma
City Thunder defense to the limit, and I want to
(36:26):
see the Oklahoma City Thunder push the Indiana Pacers offense,
you know, to the limit. I don't think it's going
to be a clean game because I think both teams
are going to turn the ball over. I think both
teams are going to play neurrous basketball. But but with
that being said, shaw, I want to see, you know,
the guys who you know made us fall in love
with these that this NBA Finals all step up and
(36:50):
do something, have a moment. Like there's so many opportunities
for each and every single one of these guys on
the basketball court that has participated in the NBA Finals
to have a moment in Game seven. So the TJ.
McConnell's as they Heartenstein's, even the chet holme Grens as
bad as he played, this is an opportunity for him
to have a moment, a block, you know, a three, whatever,
(37:12):
but he can have a moment in this There will
be opportunities there, and it's just a question of whether
or not they're going to make sure that they keep
their heads, you know, on tilt and be able to
execute when it matters the most.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Yeah, I mean, both teams have pressure. It's NBA Championship, right,
everything is on the line here. But OKAYC with the
home court advantage obviously having gone up in this series
and had any chance to close out tonight and not
doing it, all the pressure really is on them, and
so I think Indiana's not playing with house money, but
they can play me a whole little bit more. Labooserum like,
all right, man, no one expects this to be here.
(37:47):
We'll do let's get it done.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
This is what we were afraid of. This is what
I say afraid of. But this is what I was
afraid of for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the sense that,
you know, this was a game that I really think
it would have been better suited that you go out
there and you just you compete and you play the
kind of basketball that gives you. It gives you an opportunity,
(38:10):
it gives you a chance, puts the pressure on the
Indiana Pacers to have to execute in the fourth quarter,
execute plays down the stretch. They didn't, you know, the
Oklahoma City Thunder didn't do that. They did not give
themselves a chance. And if nothing else, by losing the
way that they lost, it gave more confidence for the
Indiana Pacers to basically walk into this game seven knowing
(38:33):
that the pressure is all on OKAC no matter how
much people want to cut it and slice it. And yeah,
it will even say that Oklahoma City's Thunder is still
the better team. Whatever, the fact of the matter is,
you've got to close out. And we've seen this before
where when you had your opportunities to to to shut
a team down, you don't do it. As they were
will say Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. This is not
(38:56):
a situation that you want to take lightly. No matter
how you smart and intelligent a basketball team can be.
You know, you don't handle your business. You leave the
door open. And a team like the Indiana Pacers, who
have the offensive fire power to put a team like
the Oklahoma City Thunder on its heels when you had
an opportunity to shut them down, could very well do
(39:17):
you in in a Game seven situation on your home court.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
We'll see brother Game seven on Sunday. It looks like
we'll have to do this live situation yet again. See
who will actually capture the NBA Championship. And there's still
so much going on around the NBA. Trades happened that
we haven't even discussed yet.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
So he and a team sale that it has the tilted.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
And you know, Guy Jabai was rocking with us a
little bit earlier on on the stream too. You shout
out to the Lakers Man the ten billion dollar sale.
But we'll get to that at at another point time.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
That's probably why he hit on the show right now.
He's probably he's trying to run down to see if
you can collect the check.
Speaker 2 (39:55):
Fair enough, Man, I can't wait. Man, Game seven on
a Sunday, y'all, make sure you stay tapped in Man.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
Absolutely so. Once again, Man, we appreciate everybody for hopping
on board. Shout outs to our family, the nineteen Media
group family as always man, you know, showing up, showing
the love a man Tyler, a man Mojo, you know,
as always Man. We appreciate the love and support. We
will be back here, same time, same bat channel for
(40:22):
this Game seven wrap up for the baseline, Cali warren Shaw.
We appreciate you guys, you know we do. Thanks for
popping on board with us for our Game six NBA
Finals wrap up. We'll catch up with you next time.
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