0:01

Welcome back to another episode

0:03

of Open for I'm Rohan knocking a choice

0:05

today. My friend and Sports hillst colleague,

0:09

senior writer and author. I'm

0:11

sorry, I'm sorry. New York Times

0:13

best selling author of the

0:16

book Blood in the Guarden, Chris Harry,

0:18

And Chris, how's it going. I'm good, buddy,

0:20

how are you? I'm good. You

0:22

know, it's a it's like a

0:25

frigid forty nine degrees in

0:27

Los Angeles. Like that's uh

0:30

to me, that's cold now, I

0:33

mean, and now, honestly, that's fair. That's

0:35

cold for where y'all are at. It's still

0:38

early in the day there, so I would hope and

0:40

trust it. Um, y'all, y'all

0:42

have less overcast weather than we do in Chicago,

0:44

so um, maybe we'll get a little bit

0:46

warmer there. I'm looking out my window and

0:50

uh, my girlfriend is going to come into town later

0:52

tonight. And she sent me like a

0:54

depressed face, a depressed emoji

0:57

because she was like, really, the weekend I come out

0:59

there, you guys have this and it essentially

1:02

had like snow flurries in the forecast. Um,

1:04

And I looked at her and I kind of responded back,

1:07

like, you're not allowed to be mad

1:09

at that. Like, first of all, the low this weekend

1:11

is thirty six, which means it theoretically

1:13

can't snow if it doesn't get colder than that,

1:15

that's not freezing. So you know, if

1:17

we have if sleep is the worst thing we have

1:20

this weekend, like it's it

1:22

is getting to be mid December now, you

1:24

know, so it's not. It's not the worst thing in the world.

1:29

You tried to defend sleep. That

1:31

was your I guess that is

1:33

ultimately what I was doing. But I

1:35

mean, like, hey, at this point, we've

1:37

had some snow here in Chicago. It hasn't been we

1:39

haven't had like real, real snow or

1:42

three days later it's still on the ground because of how heavy

1:44

it was. But um, you

1:46

know, I feel like at this point, when you get

1:48

to December, you can't really be surprised

1:50

by anything you see in Chicago. But I will

1:53

just the original point forty nine and Los

1:56

Angeles and any time of day, any time of

1:58

years, is reason to be

2:00

able to complain and very It's shocking.

2:03

It's absolutely shocking. Um,

2:05

Chris, A few things I want to get to on

2:07

today's show, including an email I think I'm gonna

2:09

surprise you with that. I just remember that I can surprise

2:12

you with so please keep your

2:14

emails coming open floor mail at gmail

2:17

dot com. I want to

2:19

start with a piece I

2:21

wrote for Sports Illustrated this week. Rudy

2:24

Gobert returns to Utah

2:26

tonight. Were recording this on a Friday morning, his

2:28

first game back in Utah

2:30

since being traded from the Jazz this

2:33

summer. Um. I wrote

2:35

a little bit about kind of the three big

2:37

offseason trades that happened this summer. We'd

2:40

Gobert going to the Jazz, Mitchell going

2:42

to the Calves, Dijon Timory

2:44

going to the Hawks, and there

2:46

were obviously some other impact from moves in the summer that we

2:48

mentioned briefly in the story, Jeremy Grant

2:50

obviously, Malcolm Brogden on the

2:53

Supercharge Celtics. But I

2:55

wanted to talk about these three trades, Chris, because

2:59

usually when you have teams kind of

3:01

making that trade for an All Star, it's

3:03

kind of throwing the gas on the fire move,

3:07

and so far we've really kind

3:09

of seen it only work out for one

3:11

team so far. Um.

3:14

But let's kind of maybe take these one by one.

3:17

Let's start with the Hawks. A little bit.

3:19

I know we talked about them earlier this

3:22

week just in terms of kind of this Tray

3:24

Young situation. But

3:27

let's start here. What was your initial reaction

3:30

to the Hawks acquiring Dijon Tamara Because I know

3:32

in our group chat there was quite a bit

3:34

of a discussion about it. Yeah,

3:37

and once again you were above the fray

3:41

letting, letting myself

3:44

and Peano Duke get out. So tell

3:46

me, well, what was kind of your initial reaction to that move?

3:49

Um, To be honest with you, if

3:52

I'm remembering exactly what I bought

3:54

correctly, Um,

3:56

it felt like a lot of like

3:59

pretty much an all in move on something

4:01

where you felt like it made

4:03

them better, but it wasn't clear

4:05

if it made them so much better to where it made that much

4:07

sense to go all the way in. Um.

4:11

It was also a weird I

4:13

mean in light of because that that deal happened

4:15

first, I think, before the Gobert deal. So it was

4:17

also one of those things where it was like, man,

4:20

if you had to give up a lot of things

4:22

to get someone, wouldn't you rather do it with him than

4:24

to do it with Gilbert? And like a guard

4:27

oriented league, somebody that obviously

4:30

is a really good defender that can get his own

4:32

shot. Um.

4:34

And you know, so it was interesting from

4:36

that standpoint too. But it just

4:38

felt like a lot for Atlanta to

4:40

give up a

4:43

team that had spent so much,

4:46

uh, two years earlier, right

4:49

before they made their you know, that playoff push and

4:51

made it to the conference finals kind of unexpectedly.

4:54

Um. But it you know, it was a

4:57

big question of like, Okay, you're taking tray off

4:59

the ball. Now you're getting the ball

5:01

to somebody else who's a really good player.

5:04

But it

5:07

just felt like it wasn't gonna solve everything.

5:09

It could make them a lot better, but it wasn't ever

5:11

going to solve everything. And

5:14

the reality now is that, you know, you could

5:16

look at Trey Young and his struggles this year

5:18

and wonder how much of it is because of that.

5:21

I actually don't think it's a function of that, but

5:24

I think, um, I

5:27

just think that it was putting

5:29

a little bit. It was there was too much dip on their

5:31

hip with this trade. Uh. There there

5:34

was a little bit too much that you had to give up for something

5:36

that it wasn't clear, um.

5:38

Just like with the Minnesota trade, it wasn't clear if it

5:40

made you so much better that

5:43

it was worth kind of giving up the farm for. And they

5:45

did essentially give up the farm here. It's it's

5:47

also tough because, on one hand,

5:50

I like when teams make this

5:52

kind of trade like that. The Hawks are

5:54

trying to win, are trying to get better, trying to acquire

5:56

all star talent, recognizing that

5:58

if they need to get a talent like de Jont Murray,

6:01

it's not something you can do easily via free agency.

6:04

The problems you mentioned. It's like you

6:06

acquire a guy who plays the same position as your

6:08

best player and they

6:10

both really need the ball in their hands

6:13

to be effective. And you

6:15

mentioned trey struggles. I do think, you

6:17

know, I can't sit here and say,

6:20

you know, I did a deep film dive on

6:22

this specific thing, but I'm with you from what

6:24

I've seen from the Hawks. It's not like I think Trey

6:27

is shooting numbers are down because he's playing with

6:29

Jon Murray. You know, his shot profile

6:32

is a little bit different this year. The kind of non rim

6:34

two's are up, But that wouldn't

6:36

explain why he's shooting a career worse from three.

6:39

Um, it doesn't explain why

6:41

John Collins somehow his

6:44

shot has disappeared and he's become you

6:46

know, absolutely creative from three. Um,

6:48

I think the Bogdanovitch injury has hurt them

6:50

because they need another shooter and he's finally

6:52

recently back in the lineup. Now. Of course Dejan Trey

6:54

Murray himself is heard. I

6:57

thought this was interesting because when

7:00

this is NBA dot COM's line up

7:02

data, it's interesting because

7:05

you know, I know a lot of people me to use like

7:08

play by play stats dot com

7:10

and they have a different net rating. But this is

7:12

NBA dot COM's line up data. They

7:14

say Trey and Degen have a four point seven

7:16

net rating and five sixty three minutes together,

7:19

which is pretty good. Again, you

7:21

know that relative to

7:23

like star duos, it's not great. You want

7:26

your two best players to in fact have a higher one, but that's not

7:28

sure. But I think

7:30

what's crazy is when one of them

7:32

is off the floor and one of them is running the offense,

7:35

they're craters. Um,

7:38

They're they're playing really poorly in

7:41

those scenarios. So that's

7:44

that was surprising to me because another reason why you make

7:46

a move like this is, you know, you want to stagger

7:48

your stars. You hope that they can carry lineups

7:50

that in fact has worked out really

7:52

well in Cleveland, which we'll get to in a minute. Um,

7:55

can can we talk about that for a second, because

7:57

of course I know we'll get to that and and

7:59

so not to know dive too much into

8:01

it now. But I think the difference with them,

8:04

meaning that the Hawks and with Cleveland

8:07

is it. Cleveland I think has

8:10

the potential to almost become better when

8:12

you take one of their stars off the floor,

8:15

at least their guards, because they kind

8:17

of have they share kind

8:19

of the same strengths in the same deficiencies

8:21

to some extent. Um. So

8:24

if you have two guys out there that defensively

8:27

might kind of make you really weak in the back court,

8:29

taking one of them off the court might help you,

8:32

especially with the guys you've got behind them.

8:34

Um, in Atlanta, when Trey is

8:36

out there by himself, particularly without Bogdanovich,

8:39

you know, just recently haven't gotten him back.

8:42

Um, it's already a struggle to have

8:44

to like Jon say, Murray is maybe someone

8:46

that can help him defensively, you pull him off

8:48

the court, that hurts him and Tray has gotta make up for

8:51

it even more. But although there.

8:53

There again, you've got Trey shooting more

8:55

poorly than he really ever has, So there's

8:58

just really no no one

9:00

to the rescue in that situation, whereas with

9:02

the Calves you do have that, and I think to some

9:05

extent to um

9:07

the Timberwolves are kind of in a weird spot from that scenario

9:09

as well. Um, So, I actually

9:11

think that is kind of the commonality. But you

9:13

know, for the Calves why they have thrived

9:16

in some ways that I think they're set

9:18

up better to have success when one of those

9:20

two guards is off the court. Let

9:22

me wrap up the Hawks by saying

9:24

this last year first round exit.

9:29

If I had to put you on the spot right now, like, are

9:31

you confident they can make it further than they

9:33

made it last year? No? No,

9:35

I'm not. I mean I I just uh,

9:38

look, Trey will shoot better at some point. I'm

9:40

not worried about that. Uh,

9:42

Colins, like Collins almost has to. It

9:45

makes no sense. He's missing the

9:48

looks that he's gotten his entire career. Yeah,

9:50

so, I mean he'll be better at some point if they keep

9:52

him. I mean, that's a different conversation.

9:56

Uh, you would hope that Bogdanovitch will be helping

9:58

now that he's back. Uh, you

10:00

know Hunter, It's

10:03

gotten weird with Hunter. It's like at some point you just kind

10:05

of um, whether it'll be healthy

10:07

or not, whether he'll be solid or not. I'll never

10:09

leave DeAndre hunter Island. I'll go down

10:11

with the with the natural disaster,

10:14

gonna be one of the violent players on the Satanic

10:17

I mean, but I tend to want to

10:19

be that way to um. But I think

10:22

my bigger thing is just like at this point, I don't

10:24

necessarily expect all of them to put it together at once, not

10:26

to even mention Murray. Um,

10:30

they have enough talent to get it done. They

10:32

certainly could get it done. Um,

10:34

I just don't know that I'm more confident that they

10:36

will get it done than I am, you know,

10:38

pessimistic about that. I don't know

10:40

that it's a great fit between Trey

10:42

and Umgona, and I think too

10:44

to that point, I don't think if they're so

10:47

good that like I would pencil them in for the second

10:49

round is all I'm saying. And and obviously

10:51

the start of this season, unless you feel

10:53

like this is all of this has been

10:55

a really bad regression and that they're going to progress

10:58

to something. I don't see reason

11:00

to think that they're gonna for sure be in the second

11:02

und what would you say to that your question?

11:05

I have a hard time believing it now. Once

11:07

again, the standings

11:09

are still completely in flux here, sure,

11:12

um, which I want to talk about in a minute, actually

11:14

when we get to the Wolves. But let's

11:18

say Atlanta right now, they're currently fifth in the

11:20

East, but there's a huge bunch up basically from

11:22

four to ten in the East.

11:24

I mean four to ten is separated by two

11:26

games. You know, we talked about

11:28

the heat struggles. They're in tenth right now.

11:30

There are two games out of the four seed behind Brooklyn.

11:33

Um. You know, all these teams are kind of one run away.

11:36

But I think Brooklyn has looked

11:38

better generally the last season.

11:41

Yeah, um. And I think Simmons

11:43

before he got hurt, were starting to play better as well. You

11:46

know, I think Indiana will fall off. I think

11:48

Toronto's dealt with a lot of injuries this year.

11:51

Do I I might like Toronto more than

11:53

Atlanta. Frankly, so, I

11:56

don't see it. And I don't know if that's me

11:58

being self serving, because I wasn't just a I

12:00

wasn't a huge fan of the fit of this trade. I didn't like

12:02

them dumping Herder and I'm

12:05

just not getting good vibes from

12:07

Trey Young. Yeah,

12:10

I have a hard time believing them getting out of the first

12:12

round. And speaking of a team, I have a hard

12:14

time believing getting out of the first round. The Minnesota

12:16

Timberwolves. Um,

12:19

the Wolves. The Wolves are currently

12:23

thank you, thank you, my man.

12:26

It's the Timberwolves are currently eleventh

12:28

in the West. But it's a little misleading.

12:31

They are eleventh, but literally

12:34

only four games out of first three

12:36

and a half games out of second, two and a half four.

12:39

It's weird. This is the current

12:41

top four. No, no, no, this

12:44

is the current top six in

12:46

the NBA's Western Conference,

12:49

in order one to six. The

12:52

Pelicans, Sons, Grizzlies,

12:54

Nuggets, Kings, Jazz, Kings,

12:58

everything else. Well, no, I guess after all

13:00

the trades of Jazz made the Jazz make no sense

13:02

either, But that that's the King's

13:04

being in the top six and any Memphis even

13:06

after the second day of the season is noteworthy.

13:09

But like ahead, Memphis is third and

13:11

they haven't had a minute of being

13:13

JAW and j j J playing together. This

13:15

season. Yeah, Um,

13:18

it makes no sense. Golden States ten, they're still

13:20

hovering it five even though they've been better

13:22

recently. They now lost too in a row. They rest

13:24

guys still. The Clippers

13:27

just lost again. They sat Kauai on the second

13:29

night of the back to back Portland's back

13:31

up. The MAVs are back. Like a week

13:33

ago, it was like a MAVs and then they went

13:35

three in a row. Um,

13:38

it's just uh, it

13:41

makes no sense. But the Wolves are twelve

13:43

and twelve. Carl Town's is hurt right

13:45

now. He's um scheduled

13:47

to miss some time. But I wanted

13:49

to um

13:52

pull up a stat here about the

13:55

Wolves in the

13:57

minutes that go bear, Anthony

14:00

Edwards and Carl

14:03

Towns have played together four

14:05

minutes zero point

14:08

eight net rating. They've been really good

14:10

defensively with the Towns, Edwards and

14:12

Gobert on the floor, but it's terrible

14:14

offensively. That to me is

14:17

m is a huge sign

14:19

of concern because I mentioned,

14:22

like your best players something. If

14:24

your team is not playing well, maybe your bench

14:26

is terrible. Um

14:29

that your best players should have a good net rating

14:31

together like that holds like even the bad teams

14:33

that they remember the last year the Magic we're

14:35

bad, but like they're starting five.

14:38

Yeah, like, um,

14:41

you know they already. We've aldreated Anthony

14:44

Edwards saying I'd play better

14:46

when the lineups are smaller. We had Austin Rivers

14:48

being like, if we're playing two bigs, they need to dominate.

14:50

We had Draymond Green just kind of straight up

14:52

laughing at Rudy gobert Um

14:54

the other night. They're

15:00

fifteenth in defense. I mean, they're good when

15:02

gobarts on the floor, so

15:05

it's hard to put the blame on him. But when

15:07

you think about how good those Jazz teams were

15:09

defensively, it's weird that the Chambers

15:12

aren't ultimately higher in the efficiency

15:14

rankings. I don't

15:17

want to say disaster because this has been a weird season

15:19

and it's still so early, and yeah,

15:22

it's not looking good. Many

15:25

like there's a part of me that wants to play

15:28

Devil's advocate only slightly here

15:30

and in the case of Minnesota, and I think

15:32

even the one we're talking about before in Atlanta,

15:35

maybe this is a good reset for these

15:37

teams in the sense that, okay,

15:39

um if obviously

15:42

Trey was kind of more used to being the guy

15:44

and not having to give up the ball as much. And you

15:47

know, he's obviously not a guy that plays much

15:49

off the ball really at all. Um.

15:51

For years, there have been the comparisons, you know, the

15:54

false comparisons between he and Steph,

15:56

and it's like, okay, step moves off the ball better

15:58

than anybody ever, and you know,

16:00

forces more movement defensively than anybody

16:03

ever. And then you have Trey, who,

16:06

granted, like Dame, can pull up from

16:08

forty, but is not gonna really

16:11

skewer you. Um,

16:13

you know, by running around and

16:15

relocating and all that stuff. So maybe

16:18

Trey in some ways can really get back

16:20

on track because is not there.

16:23

Again, I told you about the concerns defensively.

16:26

UM. Likewise, here

16:28

with the Timberwolves, maybe there's something to be said for

16:30

the fact that maybe they can just dominate defensively.

16:33

Now. Um, the defense

16:35

has not really been their problem. They have not been

16:37

nearly as good as people thought

16:40

they could be. With Gilbert. You know, I don't

16:42

think it's just to just add water sort of

16:44

thing with Gilbert that you just plug him in and

16:46

you have a top ten defense. People said that for years,

16:49

UM, he was generally not playing

16:51

with other bigs. When throughout that run,

16:54

especially the last few years, they were just kind of plugging

16:56

in a lot of three point shooters UM and

16:58

wings with him in Utah, so him having

17:00

to play alongside another big Um.

17:03

They were okay defensively

17:06

and obviously good enough to bet um,

17:08

you know, overall, even with that kind of awkward

17:11

fits sometimes, but they you know, they they

17:13

had lapses defensively. We're talent. It's

17:15

unclear which guy is supposed to go out and get UM

17:18

a shooter at the top of the key. How

17:20

long does it take to close out UM?

17:22

Which priority is kind of Gobert handling.

17:24

Defensively, They've been okay, they've been

17:27

good, but not great defensively

17:29

in those minutes, So maybe this gives them a chance

17:31

to be great now defensively. The

17:34

flip side, obviously is that you're losing a guy that

17:36

can go off for thirty on any given night, Um

17:39

and so. But still, maybe it simplifies certain

17:41

tasks for for Gobert now to

17:44

not have Towns out there. Maybe it

17:46

gives Edwards a little bit more of a traditional

17:48

sort of lineup and not having to play with two bigs

17:50

because he likes playing with smaller groups. He's

17:52

been good with their bench pretty much all year long.

17:55

That's kind of been there saving grace here. So

17:57

there is a part of me that's wondering, does

17:59

this allow for a little bit of a reset, a chance

18:02

to get back on track with these teams that changed

18:04

really drastically, I would say, more drastically

18:06

than just about anybody, aside

18:09

from maybe Cleveland with the with

18:11

the acquisition of really one guy, um,

18:14

whether it be dejon Ty Murray or

18:16

in this case, Rudy Gobert. So I

18:18

I think that there's some hope. But

18:21

even if they do kind of thrive in

18:23

those moments without key players,

18:26

like you said, at some point you've got to be really good

18:29

with your top guys together. So it

18:31

might be a you know, a chance to kind of

18:33

have a feel good week and a half two weeks, three

18:35

weeks in the case of the Timber was maybe four weeks

18:38

um. But they're gonna have to be consistent

18:40

at some point with their star guys all playing together.

18:43

You would think, Yeah, in some ways, I'd be more

18:45

worried if they played really well without Towns,

18:47

because now you're left with the how

18:49

do we reintegrate him in line

18:52

up? Now we found success. I

18:54

just keep thinking about I mean, we saw a little bit in the Warriors

18:56

game, but like I think about the team that

18:58

was in the finals last year, that him, that's been the best

19:00

in the league so far this year, the Celtics.

19:03

Like, if the Celtics are playing White,

19:06

Smart, Tatum, Brown

19:08

and Horford, who is Carl Town's

19:10

guarding? Yeah, I mean,

19:12

I guess you could put him on Horford, but Horford is gonna run

19:15

him through a ton of screens, a ton of

19:17

off ball actions. Um,

19:19

you know you're gonna talents is gonna have to be making

19:21

reads on help and things like that. But then does

19:23

that mean Gobert is guarding Jalon

19:26

Brown Jason Tatum, Like I

19:28

know, not every team is the Celtics. Obviously

19:30

there are a special case, particularly this year. But that's

19:34

just a problem they kind of run in time

19:36

and time again. Is teams

19:39

feel confident playing like you said,

19:41

wings instead of bigs at the fore

19:43

position now, and Gobert

19:46

is just not going to punish

19:48

them inside, Like he's not gonna be able to take

19:50

advantage of that mismatch um,

19:54

especially when Towns is also on the floor.

19:58

Yeah, It's it's crazy because

20:00

I mean you think what they won the plan last year there in this

20:03

heated uh first

20:05

round series with the Grizzlies, I

20:07

kind of feel like they've taken a step back, man, Like,

20:09

I mean, I know right now they're outside. I

20:13

would agree with that. It's hard not to. I mean,

20:15

where what would you point to now

20:18

you've got an offense that doesn't work, when you've got

20:20

your star guys in and a defense that's

20:22

okay. Um, that was

20:24

way, you know, if this was all they were going to

20:27

be. Let's say they make it in. Let's say they make it in

20:29

as a six where they avoid the plan. If

20:32

this is all they were ultimately going to be, isn't

20:35

that where they finished? They had their plan

20:37

last year? And then obviously, you know Pat Beev jumped

20:40

on the scores table. I mean, if you move

20:42

up a spot or two, that's not good

20:44

enough. If you move up three spots but

20:47

have like no realistic chance to when

20:49

your series or get to the second round,

20:52

that's not good enough. Um. For

20:54

for everything you gave up here we can

20:56

talk about the picks, and obviously that was really painful

20:58

I'm sure for me so with but

21:00

the but they gave up a lot of talent too, And

21:03

we're obviously the flip side of this is

21:05

that we're looking at we're

21:07

looking at the team that they traded

21:09

with, who we thought was going to be a bottom to bottom

21:12

three team and the you know, the

21:14

Victor w W Nyama sweepstakes,

21:16

and they're you know, they're in playoff position right

21:18

now because they traded so much better

21:20

in talent to get Gobert. So um,

21:23

you know, I I do think, like I said,

21:25

it's it's a good opportunity for a slight reset

21:27

here. Um. If you look at Gobert's

21:30

offensive numbers basically since Towns

21:32

was out, um, he's the guy

21:34

shooting basically getting

21:37

closer to um,

21:39

you know, and in the last game twelve

21:41

shots. He's getting closer to nine

21:43

ten shots a game now in some situations

21:46

now without him. Really nice game against

21:48

the Pacers the other night, right on

21:50

Wednesday night. That was a fun game. He comes up

21:52

with a big block at the end of the game.

21:55

I believe he had a big scoring night as well. Um

21:58

he dropped, let me just check. But

22:04

he's but you know, I

22:06

think about some of the struggles with Towns

22:08

offensively, and I've watched I remember watching

22:10

that ridiculous, ridiculous game where

22:12

I want to say Miami had seven

22:15

guys in Minnesota

22:17

in Towns, I'm sorry, not Towns. Gobert

22:19

didn't take any shots at all, which

22:21

I understand the idea that like okay and

22:23

an offensive has the Angelo Russell, Anthony

22:26

Edwards, Carl Towns. No, I

22:28

don't expect Gobert to be taking ten, twelve,

22:30

fifteen shots a game. I also

22:33

don't expect him to be, you know,

22:35

playing a game and taking no shots in

22:37

more than thirty minutes of playing time. It was kind

22:39

of ridiculous, and it's just kind of I know he

22:41

has a role. I know he's a great screener, I know all the

22:43

stuff he does. I know how good a defender he is. But

22:46

you can't have guys playing thirty minutes and

22:48

not shooting. Um, it just

22:50

can't be the case. In a playoff

22:53

series. Teams will find a way

22:55

enough of a way to ignore him to where

22:57

it's like, again, you can't give up that. Then

23:00

he picks for someone and veteran talent

23:02

to have someone that's not going to take any shots.

23:05

It's too much offensive responsibly for everybody

23:07

else. If he's not going to shoot so maybe

23:10

this gives him a chance to get into a rhythm offensively

23:12

in a way that we haven't seen, um, to provide

23:15

more of a threat. But but like you said, even

23:18

if he does that, and even if they thrive

23:20

here with Towns out, what does that mean?

23:23

Um? So, I mean there's a part of

23:25

me that has been thinking and you know it won't

23:27

happen this year. But like, um,

23:30

even if they're not losing, if

23:32

they're only winning only so much

23:35

and they really don't look that good and their stars

23:37

don't play together well, which I think is the

23:39

biggest concern here, Um,

23:42

how soon do you start thinking about getting off this deal?

23:45

Which that's a that's maybe

23:47

a like a little bit of

23:49

a Chris Unplugged take. But

23:53

like if if if you're a total total

23:55

total failure and then have to

23:57

get off of Colbert, like what are we talking about?

24:00

Out? Like then teams start to kind

24:02

of pounce and aren't going to give you anything

24:04

for him. So I mean, I don't know, like

24:06

I said, you probably wouldn't get that

24:08

much for him now right now anyway, But it

24:11

just kind of feels like what are we doing? It just feels

24:13

like the wheels are just kind of turning in

24:16

place. Two things, two things.

24:18

The first thing I thought of when you said Chris unplugged,

24:21

was you like, and

24:23

you know, like there's anytime someone here's a photo

24:25

of Kurt Cobain and it's like he's sitting on the thing with

24:28

the guitar and he's got the long hair. I just

24:30

imagined you with the Kurt Cobain hair, and

24:34

oh boy, yeah, yeah

24:36

number two, number two

24:38

if you're ready for like row babies, second

24:40

nuclear take of the week. Um,

24:43

at what point did you look at moving

24:45

carl towns and building around Anthony Edwards?

24:49

Um? I just well,

24:51

if if kat is gonna sit there and and and

24:53

criticize his diet, that

24:56

may be very soon. But

24:59

yeah, if for him, could

25:01

you imagine like it's like if

25:04

in our if like I

25:06

as your coworker criticize your diet,

25:10

how funny that would be. Um, I

25:12

know it's not the same. I know it's not the same. Amplify

25:16

it along with the idea that we you know, would

25:19

be making thirty forty million a year or could

25:21

be very soon, like Anthony Edwards. It just

25:23

like, look it

25:26

it's not the end of the world. And these guys

25:28

are young enough to kind of just you know, if you have a winning streak,

25:30

you can essentially forget about what town

25:32

said. But still,

25:35

uh, it's just like we

25:37

as most of us have been saying, the vibes don't

25:40

seem great and um, and

25:42

you could make the argument that while I don't think

25:44

Towns wants them to lose with him out um,

25:47

that the vibes can actually get slightly

25:49

worse in some ways if they because

25:51

it allows us. I also remember the first

25:53

game that Towns missed was the first

25:55

game of the season in which the Timberwolves gave

25:57

up less than a hundred points. You were than a hundred

26:00

it, so it's kind of like, Okay, there's a

26:02

potential coincidence there. Um,

26:04

stuff happens where stuff happens, fine, but

26:08

still it's just kind of a just

26:10

kind of a weird vibe there. And I

26:13

don't think it's too soon to be a little

26:16

bit concerned. I also don't think it's

26:18

too soon to have the question

26:20

of like, how how

26:22

not good does this have to be for them to look to

26:24

move somebody? And and I would imagine

26:27

that there would be another move that would happen before

26:29

this, Like we've talked about for a while,

26:31

the idea of like D'Angel Russell. Um,

26:34

you know, it's gotten a little bit better since a really, really,

26:36

really frigid start to the season, but

26:38

also just doesn't really seem like the greatest

26:40

fit there. Um. They had Thias

26:42

Jones, and it's like, it's it's incredible to see

26:45

how good he's been, the best, you

26:47

know, the best backup in the league. And I

26:49

think that's part of the reason why Memphis

26:51

has been so good when John doesn't play, and Tis

26:53

probably makes more sense on that team than someone like D'Angel

26:55

Russell. Absolutely, and just

26:58

for a lot of reasons. But I'll

27:00

just put a ball on it by saying this. It's not

27:02

like I think that they need to move talents it will make them

27:04

better, or that I think Anthony Edwards

27:06

is a flight risk. He's obviously going to sign his rookie

27:08

extension. No one's going to give that up. But if

27:12

I were in their front office, I would be doing everything

27:14

in my power to make sure I'm keeping

27:17

Anthony Edwards happy. Um.

27:19

And it's kind of crazy to think that Tim Connolly comes

27:21

from Denver where they beat up on Utah

27:24

in that playoff series and Tradeford Golbert.

27:26

Let's move to the Calves real quick,

27:28

Chris Um.

27:31

As we mentioned earlier, I mean

27:33

Donovan Mitchell has been borderline m VP candidate,

27:36

like he'll probably pick up a couple of votes, uh

27:38

twenty nine points a game. His efficiency

27:42

has been incredible, off the charts.

27:45

Um I think he's I

27:48

think I let me see if I can find it in the

27:50

article. But he is so

27:52

close to a fifty season, which

27:54

someone on the the

27:57

volume that he's shooting at is that's

28:00

absurd. Six percent

28:02

from the field, forty two point four percent from

28:05

three from the free throw

28:07

line. Um uh.

28:09

He's been incredible. Everything they could have asked

28:11

for. They've been decent

28:14

um with in Mitchell

28:17

and Garland Minutes, in Garland

28:19

Mobley, Jared Allen, Mitchell

28:21

minutes. They only have a one point two net rating.

28:23

I do think part of that is they're really struggling to

28:25

find the right fifth person that

28:28

those four with Dean Wade have been fantastic,

28:31

for example, But I don't think Dean Wade

28:33

is necessarily like the long term solution. So

28:36

what I really like about the Calves is Mitchell

28:39

has been playing well. They can survive

28:42

minutes when Garland or Mitchell Is off the floor,

28:44

which they could not do last year. That that's made

28:46

a huge difference for them.

28:48

And beyond that, I think

28:50

that they have the ability to make a trade

28:52

to go find that fifth person. I think

28:54

like they just they're one three

28:57

and D guy away from unlocking

28:59

that starting yeah. Yeah,

29:01

And and honestly, I mean, even granted

29:04

the playoffs are different than regular season, there are

29:06

times where I look at them now and I'm like, I

29:09

don't even know if they're that person away

29:11

anymore. Certainly, you know, to to win

29:13

around I think they could do that. And

29:16

and that's not something that you could take for granted

29:18

when you haven't made the playoffs, and as long as this franchise

29:21

has gone without making them without lebron

29:23

Um. But you know, there

29:25

there's a part of me, there's a slight part of me that wonders

29:28

could they get by in a playoff series

29:31

or even two maybe without

29:33

going to get like the quote unquote

29:35

three and D guy. If they use mobli

29:38

as as that guy, you know, he's obviously versatile

29:40

enough to do it. Um. You know, we've

29:43

all heard the comparisons, and we've all written about

29:45

the comparisons with you know bicker

29:47

Staff has made to Kevin Garnett and the

29:49

schemes that they used. It kind of um

29:51

draw from some of the stuff that bicker Staff

29:54

U saw when when Garnett was there in Minnesota.

29:57

Uh, Kevin Garnett could have guarded small

29:59

forwards and his Evan Mobley

30:01

can certainly do that and still make life hell for

30:04

for guys that would project to be you

30:06

know, wings and certainly be the best

30:08

defender out there to do it with

30:10

who they have. UM. So I

30:12

do think that I am kind of more convinced

30:14

of that. I mean, it's it's hard not to watch

30:16

the guys sometimes and just be in awe. The

30:18

eight block game that he had against Detroit, UM

30:21

with no fouls, uh is

30:24

like remarkable. I know it's Detroit.

30:26

I know Detroit is not good, but eight

30:29

blocks with no fouls uh, the way he moves

30:31

his feet um. And to get

30:33

back to what I was saying before about

30:36

why I think Cleveland has been able to make it work

30:38

and not Atlanta, not Minnesota.

30:40

But the staggering, UM.

30:43

Staggering can hurt you sometimes like it offensively.

30:46

Staggering generally is a is

30:48

a boost for you if you've got a couple of star

30:51

players out there together, particularly if

30:53

they play the same position or something close to that.

30:55

Um. But think about the way

30:58

Cleveland is able to stagger. They're able

31:00

to stagger their guards

31:02

if they want to do not defend all

31:04

that well, they can stagger their biggs. They

31:07

can play both bigs together with

31:09

one of their small So it's a it's

31:11

just kind of a wrecking ball of a team

31:14

that, like you said, has that one

31:16

hole. Quite frankly,

31:18

even with that, you know, Carris LeVert

31:21

is maybe right,

31:23

He's not my favorite archetype there necessarily,

31:25

Like I think he had a forty one point game and then had

31:27

like, you know, four the

31:29

next night in the Celtics

31:32

a couple of times. Man, that was funny,

31:34

right, and which is why I think that I

31:36

think they beat the Celtics both times, but I remember correctly,

31:38

So I mean there's that aspect of it. So like

31:40

you could do worse there. I

31:42

think you would prefer to have someone that could be

31:45

more of a defensive stopper. But they're

31:47

the best defense in the league statistically, so there's

31:49

that They've been fine. When Dean Wade

31:52

plugs that hole is now out now I

31:54

think, and you know, Lamar Stevens

31:56

has been fine um as a

31:58

four for them, um, so

32:01

they have They're gonna get Ricky Rubio

32:03

back relatively soon, so

32:05

they're gonna have even more, um,

32:07

you know, order to be able to play

32:10

two point guards at a time, no matter who's

32:12

out there too, to lead guards

32:14

at a time, or two you know, four generals at

32:16

a time if they really want to. It's

32:18

a really really good team. And

32:21

I don't think they're going anywhere, you know,

32:23

whether it's the three that they finished in or

32:25

the four. Who knows, maybe the Bucks

32:27

have an injury and and Cleveland becomes

32:29

a two seed, um, but they're

32:31

gonna be around, and I really don't worry

32:33

quite as much. Maybe again, maybe in a playoff

32:36

series, but I think that having

32:38

Mobli out there and kind of

32:41

a Swiss army knife of a guy out there, and

32:43

all the the luxuries they have

32:45

from a staggering standpoint, um,

32:48

both big and small, that it's

32:51

just a team that you know, if Mitchell I imagine

32:53

he's gonna come back down to earth a little bit, his

32:56

numbers are for him, or just two

32:58

from three on the

33:01

volumes, it's gonna come down

33:03

something because honestly, that was one of my questions

33:05

for Cleveland was like, do they have quite enough

33:07

shooting to be an elite,

33:10

elite offense and if he's gonna shoot

33:12

anywhere near the answer

33:14

is a very like clear

33:17

yes. Um. If he was closer

33:19

to like his kind of career, thirty five,

33:21

maybe a touch over thirty six. Um,

33:25

you know, I think they could be okay. But if he's gonna

33:27

shoot anywhere near forty, they have the

33:29

potential to be an elite team. And that's

33:31

kind of what we've seen so far. Um,

33:34

it's incredible, how you know, basically

33:37

making one more shot for every twenty

33:40

or so you take, which is essentially where

33:42

he is field goal percentage wise. Um.

33:44

How big a difference that makes for somebody like

33:46

him. But it's a big difference.

33:48

And uh, you know, especially

33:51

when you put him in a defense that has

33:53

not only taken you know, has not

33:55

only not taken a step back from what he had

33:57

in Utah, but again the top

33:59

of the league so far defensively. You

34:02

you take that and you put Mitchell into that group

34:04

with another all star level point

34:06

guard who's young, and like,

34:08

I'm not quite sure what to think

34:10

of them for the rest of the season as

34:12

far as like, are they a clear cut contender?

34:15

Do they have a good chance of winning a championship?

34:18

But you have to feel great about

34:20

it. Like all the questions we have about Minnesota, it's

34:22

the opposite, like Cleveland's futures have to

34:24

be off the charts for next year the year after,

34:27

not this year. I think they're in fantastic position

34:30

their third and net rating. Right now, they're

34:32

one of the few teams in the league top ten in both

34:34

offense and defense. I mean, they're just by

34:37

the skin of their teeth number ten UM

34:39

in offense, their number one in defense.

34:41

They've overtaken the Milwaukee Bucks by a healthy

34:44

margin. UM. By

34:47

the way, I think I didn't bring up this team.

34:49

I think we're gonna do a deep dive on them next week. The

34:51

Pelicans have just charged up

34:54

out of nowhere, the first in the West, second and net

34:56

rating. You know that that again,

34:59

this has just been such a weird season. The

35:01

Dallas Mavericks, who a week ago we

35:03

were like, uh, their sixth

35:05

and net rating. Their

35:07

defense is eleventh and their offense

35:09

is seventh. Like there are some teams

35:11

now, I think Boston has the profile. Obviously

35:14

of a championship team. You could argue

35:16

Phoenix does. You could argue

35:18

the Calves do, Memphis certainly,

35:20

Like now we're starting to see the teams that are top ten

35:22

in both offense and defense,

35:25

and it's it's a pretty surprising list, um,

35:28

to be honest, But Cleveland's defense.

35:31

It's funny that you mentioned Mobley because you brought up how

35:33

Kevin Garnett could guard small forwards his day.

35:35

I think they I wish they

35:38

made Mobile a perimeter stopper

35:40

more often than they did. I

35:43

don't think that they've made that his kind of

35:45

role just yet. It's not like Spurs

35:47

Kauai or it was like we're bringing you into guard the other

35:49

team's best guy. And um,

35:52

you know, obviously so much of his value you mentioned

35:54

the eight blocks against Detroit, so much of his values what

35:56

he can do as a help defender off

35:58

the ball, um, you

36:00

know, kind of roaming around, getting into the paint.

36:03

But I do wonder when

36:06

they try to get him some more considerate

36:09

reps, like I remember when they did that playing game

36:11

against Brooklyn last year. It's

36:14

not like it was like, hey, moldle go guard k D. And

36:17

I think that he has the physical tools to be

36:19

that guy. Certainly, Um,

36:21

it just hasn't happened yet, But I

36:23

mean, yeah, man, third and net rating a

36:26

really good defense. I think their

36:28

offense has room to grow, especially if they

36:30

can find another solid shooter. Like

36:34

it's gonna be tough because they're gonna

36:36

I think it's gonna be almost impossible

36:39

for them to escape a second round series with Milwaukee.

36:41

And it's hard to imagine them knocking off Milwaukee

36:43

the first year of this experiment. But hey,

36:45

I mean, we saw them. They lost Middleton last year.

36:48

We've seen you honest sprain his ankle before in the playoffs.

36:50

But they're

36:53

good man. You know, I'm

36:55

gonna try to look it up while we're talking

36:57

about them. I know we're probably about done

36:59

with that conversation. But they were

37:02

also really, really, really good

37:04

last year in terms like this time last

37:07

year, I'm nearly certain what are

37:09

we at now December nine when we're recording

37:11

this, So let's go to December eight. They

37:16

had the best They had the best net rating

37:18

in the East season two,

37:20

so it's really not I think part of

37:22

the reason would have won last

37:24

year Jared Allen not got hurt, right,

37:27

So here I'm looking at it. You know, we're looking at

37:29

basically exactly a year ago. Uh

37:31

last year. So they didn't have the best

37:33

net rating um at that point

37:36

that they were at three point two, and I

37:38

guarantee you that later they were later

37:40

in the season they did have the best

37:42

one. Let me let me try to scale it a

37:44

little bit differently, and we'll look at like

37:47

January two,

37:50

so like almost at the All Star break.

37:53

Um,

37:55

this is how podcasting gets done.

37:58

People. This is it we got, this

38:01

is this is what this is right now from

38:03

Chris Harring. What I left to see this is we're just

38:05

excited about this team. Man, like

38:07

this. Yeah, you know, so I pulled I

38:09

pulled it up. So they had the best net

38:11

rating in the East last year. Uh

38:14

it almost a five and a half net

38:16

rating. Um. The only teams that

38:18

were better than them this time last year, not

38:21

this time last year, at January last

38:23

year were Golden State,

38:25

who was at eight point seven, which would be an omen

38:28

of you know, I think sign of things that come. Utah,

38:30

which was on the cusp of falling apart at

38:33

seven point six, and Phoenix, who obviously

38:35

ran away with the you know, with the standings

38:37

where they were almost ten games better than everyone else. Cleveland

38:40

was right but behind those teams. They were in front

38:42

of Miami, who would later become the one seed.

38:44

They were in front of the Bucks, they were in front of Memphis,

38:47

they were in front of Dallas, all teams that I think

38:49

finished with top ten net rating. So they

38:51

were right there until they started to run

38:53

into injuries. And you know, I think

38:55

Mobili hit a little bit of a rookie wall

38:58

um at one point last season. But they

39:00

I mean, they were right there. And then they

39:02

added Donovan Mitchell. Yes, they lost Lowry

39:05

Market and who obviously deserves to be and

39:08

uh most improved conversations and stuff

39:10

like that, but the core of the team

39:12

is still the same, and you added Donovan Mitchell. Uh,

39:15

it shouldn't be stunning that they're

39:17

good in net rating because they were last year. And

39:20

again, I think of the teams that made

39:22

these huge shifts last year or

39:25

during the off season as far as an acquisition was concerned,

39:28

because they brought in a star, they

39:30

made the most sense in terms of pit in

39:33

terms of which team made the most sense

39:35

for them to truly go for it, to push all their chips

39:37

in Cleveland was that team because

39:39

there was a role that Donovan Mitchell

39:41

could feel right away, and you had the guys

39:43

to kind of make up for his deficiencies right

39:46

away. Um, so it's not stunning,

39:48

you know. I think it's more a question of like how

39:51

soon is too soon. It's hard for teams that have never

39:53

played together. Um, you know, I guess

39:55

earlier Mitchell hasn't played with them to make that jump

39:57

all at once to where their winning playoff series.

40:00

We didn't see it with Memphis, although they did

40:02

win the play and beat Golden State, Like,

40:04

we didn't see them win a playoff series right away.

40:07

Um, it's rare to see teams make

40:09

that jump right away.

40:12

Uh. But you know, if there

40:14

are two or three seed, they should

40:16

be in position to win their playoff series.

40:18

Um, it would be a little bit of a taller test to try

40:21

to win two because of what you were just saying

40:23

about, how you know a second round would just be a blood

40:25

bath with them and whoever else, especially if it's

40:27

a team like Milwaukee that is really experienced.

40:29

But um, they should be around.

40:31

There's really no reason they shouldn't be unless they have a

40:34

couple of really bad injuries or something. Like that

40:37

all says. I was laughed at,

40:39

harangued, ostracized

40:42

by certain former friends of this podcast

40:44

in our group chat. And when I said I think Cleveland

40:46

has a good chance to make the conference finals, and

40:48

here we are, and I'll say is

40:51

if they if they somehow knock

40:53

out Boston in the second round, which

40:55

is not impossible, that Milwaukee somehow gets to the

40:58

one seed, that it will be the

41:01

s I will have to fire me because of the amount of ship I'm

41:03

talking. Um,

41:06

Um, Chris, I want to wrap up. Uh,

41:08

I think well, I think to put up on it. I think

41:10

we're both very high on the Calves. They

41:12

made a home run move with that Mitchell trade.

41:15

He signed for two more years after this one. He

41:17

seems to be happy there too. Like it's

41:20

just it's working on every level, and I'm really

41:22

happy for that franchise. Their

41:24

games are great, the energy and the crowd every

41:27

single night is awesome.

41:29

So it just is worked on every

41:31

level and they're going to be a force, and I

41:33

think they're going to be a force for the next few

41:36

years, right up there with the other great

41:38

teams in the East. Let's get to this email.

41:40

Um, this was a fun one.

41:43

Hello, Open Floor team. My favorite

41:45

basketball spotlight of the season so far is the

41:48

Beam. I google it regularly

41:50

and I'm never disappointed. Um,

41:53

I see who lights up to be even how big the crowd

41:55

is. I'm not even from Sacramento lately.

41:57

My favorite story is how the Beam is listed as a

42:00

place of worship on Google. I love

42:02

reading all the reviews. My

42:05

question is, has there ever been a team initiative

42:08

that has captured the fan imagination

42:10

like this one? Thanks Ellie.

42:12

First of all, Ellie, thank you so much for writing in. We

42:15

love talking about the Beam. Um this,

42:18

I'm totally beam pilled. I'm a Beam

42:20

fanatic. I'm a Beam

42:23

like evangelist.

42:25

Um, every team should have a Beam.

42:28

Uh. It's a good question,

42:31

though, can you think of a team

42:33

initiative that has like been as

42:35

successful or memorable as the Beam?

42:37

Like I can't think of one. Like every team

42:39

does the miss in the NBA, because

42:43

you know, I was gonna come for your Miami

42:46

Hurricanes for a minute with the turnover chain or whatever

42:48

turnover chain was sick, and then

42:51

everyone not only was the turnover chain

42:53

sick, it was then like every

42:55

single team had to have a turnover thing.

42:57

So It's like the would make to

43:00

the turnover chain, but then it's like, we have a turnover

43:02

backpack. We have a turnover bong. It's

43:04

like, you know, it's

43:07

like backpack.

43:10

It was so embarrassing that really

43:13

that's so corny. I'm so all

43:16

the all the hate that was got on the turnover

43:18

chains, like every team tried to have it,

43:20

which is what made it so much more funny.

43:24

So I'm gonna say this. I wrote

43:26

about hell I was

43:28

at I was in Milwaukee, um, two

43:31

days ago to watch the Bucks beat the Kings.

43:33

But you know, I've written a story even in the last

43:35

two weeks that the Bucks have been my favorite team to

43:37

watch this year. I've really enjoy

43:40

watching them. I

43:42

I think I have a soft spot for teams that go

43:44

through um, not the teams

43:47

like in modern you know, in

43:49

real time, but just historically for their

43:51

fan bases that survived through

43:54

uh, you know, our force to kind of live through long

43:56

droughts. Obviously, I wrote the book

43:58

about the nineties Nicks, and I think I even

44:00

said on this podcast that, um, when

44:02

I was looking at second projects

44:04

to do, you know, naturally,

44:06

You're like, Okay, what can I write about that would be in the same

44:09

vein. The Kings have had the most parallel

44:11

history to the next since the two thousands,

44:13

where they've had a record long drought. Now of um

44:16

you know how long has been since they've reached the playoffs.

44:18

So I thought about that. So, like I said, I think

44:20

there's a soft spot that I have for whether it's

44:22

the Kings or their fans or what have you. Um

44:25

that said, I think the beam is amazingly

44:28

Are you about to Oh my god, are you about

44:30

to come out against the beam

44:33

a man again? Chris unplugged.

44:36

I'm not coming out against it. I think I

44:39

was like a little bit underwhelmed when

44:41

I realized that they don't actually shoot the beam

44:43

from the top of the roof. They

44:45

have like some like truck

44:48

or some little vehicle that

44:50

has like a little projected

44:54

like thing that they sit behind

44:56

the arena that shoots it in the sky. Oh you

44:58

know that. I I thought

45:00

it was shot up from the roof. I'm gonna be honest,

45:02

I thought it was being unless I'm

45:05

unless I just saw something somebody.

45:08

Yeah, maybe somebody was using a laser

45:11

point of this really damn strong and just

45:13

shooting it into the sky. But no, I like

45:15

it very much. Was one of those like if you've

45:17

ever seen The Wizard of Oz and it's like pay

45:19

no attention to the man behind the curtain sort

45:22

of thing where you think that it's like actually a

45:24

wizard and it's like not's just this dude

45:27

that has some weird thing that projects his face

45:29

onto a screen. I was a little

45:31

like blown by that. I was like, really

45:34

like I thought it was. I thought it was legit, like

45:36

sending something in the outer space from the top of

45:38

the roof and it's like, no, this is actually

45:40

something that's on the ground that they're shooting up with like a vehicle.

45:42

I was like, damn, Like the

45:45

same way that you would feel like it would be cheapened

45:47

a little bit if someone were using

45:49

a three D laser pointer to like project

45:51

the Batman image into the sky or something like that,

45:54

Like it's not the same, like you gotta do it

45:56

from I was a

45:58

little blown when I saw that, But I

46:01

I used the whole caveat the whole lead up

46:03

to say, the Kings have been so much fun.

46:05

It is a really fun kind of gimmick. And

46:08

I think in particular, while I might kind

46:10

of grown if like the Warriors

46:13

had something like that because like, y'all win enough,

46:15

y'all win too much to do this. The Kings

46:17

have not won too much or one enough even

46:20

to really not enjoy this moment.

46:22

We don't know whether they'll make the playoffs, but

46:24

I feel so much genuine joy

46:27

from that fan base, even since if you remember

46:29

Summer League where their fans

46:31

were bounding out of the stadium the

46:34

arena in Vegas and some about we're gonna

46:36

win forty games maybe, and like that's

46:38

actually kind of what this feels like. Is they

46:40

might only get to wins.

46:43

Um, they might just barely break five

46:45

hundred, but that would be enough here for

46:47

this fan base. It's it's a flawed team.

46:50

Let them enjoy this. That's why I had the huge

46:52

caveat Bass saying, like I was a little disappointed

46:54

when I found out what that was, but it's so much

46:56

fun that like, I'm not gonna I don't

46:58

really care. I just want to see them have fun, enjoy

47:01

themselves. Wow, Okay, it was not expecting a beam

47:03

truth or segment um, the

47:06

truth behind the beam. You

47:08

won't believe what this reporter found out

47:10

about the beam. What

47:13

are those arts or at

47:16

the bottom of a we exactly this

47:18

outbrain. Um wow,

47:21

okay, um,

47:24

I can't think of another team initiative that's

47:26

been as fun as the Beam. It's like way

47:28

cooler than like miss these free throws and you get

47:30

free chicken nuggets or whatever. Um.

47:32

I'm just glad that, like they're embracing it, they're

47:34

having fun with it. We need more of this in sports.

47:38

Um, like just it's a game, like let's

47:40

have some fun, you know what I mean? And I'm glad

47:42

that they're having fun. I also want to

47:44

call you out because you mentioned how you covered this Bucks

47:46

game and you sent the

47:48

most infuriating tweet of all time. And I'm

47:50

glad that you were called out on it in a group

47:52

chat because you were like, You're like,

47:55

like, Mike Brown just told the most incredible

47:57

story and I'm gonna let the Bucks

47:59

and King the writers tweeted out and

48:01

then no one shared it, no

48:03

one. We're like, bro, and

48:06

I'm wondering if you could actually tell that story real

48:08

quick on the pod because it's funny. Yeah,

48:11

So like a second

48:15

explanation first, like laying

48:17

out the context of why I was like, I'm not gonna tweet

48:19

this out when I was on the Knicks beat. It's

48:21

any when it's annoying when national guys

48:23

parachute in and steal all the stuff. I agree,

48:25

Oh my god, yes, and not even just

48:27

national guys. When I was on the Knicks beat and kind of the new

48:30

guy on the block with that beat, I

48:32

worked for a newspaper that didn't like

48:35

that. Our deadlines were a lot earlier and we

48:37

didn't have the same pressure

48:39

to like report news.

48:42

And I'm using news in your quotes that the

48:44

tabloids and so in particular,

48:46

if you were going to write a story, if you're gonna tweet

48:48

something that you didn't you weren't gonna

48:50

gain much from tweeting it, but you just wanted

48:52

to tweet it to like be the first one to tweet it.

48:55

The tabloid guys would get furious with you, like

48:57

would get furious at you because they were

48:59

like, yo, I could have written a whole story about

49:01

that, and it could have held until our

49:03

Sunday edition, which I could get this

49:05

done earlier. Now I've got to come up with a whole different

49:07

story or just come up with

49:09

a BS sort of storyline that doesn't matter.

49:12

I could have had this really fun angle, so

49:14

that I'm I'm I almost have PTSD

49:16

from that will say, I'm all for respecting

49:19

the Beat writers. I know how you mean. We're very fortunate

49:21

in our jobs that we you know,

49:23

teams open up their doors for us, and I

49:25

try to be very cognizant of the fact that you

49:28

don't want to trample over the Beat reporters who

49:30

have a much more difficult job than you and I

49:32

have, particularly when

49:35

you're parachuting in which I haven't.

49:37

You know, I had not been to a Bucks

49:39

game since their title run, since

49:41

the finals, so I

49:44

hadn't been there in a while, and you know,

49:46

it was you don't want to There are

49:48

a whole people that like I haven't met that are

49:50

on that beat now that you don't want to

49:52

just steal their thunder. It was a

49:54

really fun anecdote, so to explain it for you,

49:57

Um, Mike Brown, the King's coach,

49:59

and Mike Budenholes are both coached

50:01

in San Antonio as assistants under

50:03

Gregg Popovitch. Uh. You know, they

50:06

were very low level, uh

50:09

early on where they both were kind of in

50:11

the film room and we're essentially

50:13

film coordinators and video coordinators before

50:16

they became full fledged assistants that's had on the

50:18

bench and everything. And so that is a you

50:20

know, it's kind of a hard knock life when you're in that role,

50:23

um, because you're watching so much

50:25

film, you're taking notes on so many

50:27

things. You're not even having

50:29

direct communication with your

50:32

top boss in that case, Gregg

50:34

Popovitch, You're you're largely

50:36

just kind of you know, filing reports

50:38

for them. Uh, and so

50:41

that was kind of what it was. And um,

50:44

you don't really get to see the light of day because you're

50:46

spending so much time just cramming, watching game

50:48

after game after game, trying to pick up tendencies and whatnot.

50:51

So because of that, when

50:53

they did get to go to games and stuff like that, they

50:55

were spending so much time before after during

50:58

games trying to logged endencies

51:00

that um, they would stay

51:02

late. They didn't get to eat dinner at a normal

51:04

hour. And they were also broke because

51:07

those guys certainly at the time, we're not getting paid very

51:09

well. So they would give them like discount

51:12

cards or free meals at

51:15

you know, local chain restaurants, including one called

51:17

Dick's Last Resort, which is a super

51:20

like apologies if this is

51:22

your favorite place for the podcast listeners. It's

51:24

a pretty trashy sort of place. Uh.

51:27

Like literally, I was looking up Dick's Last Resort,

51:29

I think on Wikipedia just too. I was

51:31

like, you know, something about

51:33

it was really funny, be because I've stepped in one before

51:35

and I think ordered to go and I was like, holy hell,

51:38

this is trashy. Um. And that

51:40

is literally their m O is that. I think they initially

51:44

founded it and it was meant to be like this upscale

51:46

place, but it was so upscale that no one wanted to eat

51:48

there. It was like that awkward in between, like

51:50

it's upscale, but it's not so upscale that you'd

51:53

want to have a really good meal there. So they

51:55

kind of tore it all down, re rebranded

51:57

it, and just made it as trashy as possible and

52:00

um. But the funniest thing about it was that

52:03

Mike Brown would get these discount cards

52:05

uh from the staff. I'm

52:08

sorry, Mike Budenholzer would uh.

52:10

And Mike Brown would like sometimes take longer

52:12

to file his video reports and his film reports,

52:15

and he would be like, hey, Mike, wait for me, Like, don't

52:17

leave because you're my

52:19

literally my meal ticket, so like, don't leave. Before

52:21

I get a chance to come and get something to eat too. So

52:23

they would bond that way because they would sit and talk

52:26

about life, about the game at Dick's Last

52:28

Resort, and the kind of the

52:31

you know, the cherry on top of the story was that Mike Brown's

52:33

like, as a matter of fact, Mike

52:35

met you know, Budd met his first

52:37

wife there. Uh she was waitressing

52:40

at Dick's Last Resort. And I for

52:42

some reason, you know, and

52:44

again, apologies to everybody, is not a shot at

52:46

at Mike Budenholzer's first wife or anything else. Something

52:49

about the fact that he met his first wife

52:51

waitressing there at a place that, like I said, it's

52:53

kind of like to be a little trashy,

52:55

like a little bit you know, it's not the first place you think of

52:58

when you think about places that you know, a Roman. It's just

53:00

buds uh no pun intended. Um,

53:03

but it's some reason that was really funny to

53:05

me. And then Mike Brown felt the need to be like, hey,

53:08

you know, I have a former

53:10

wife too, Like it's not me trying to say that

53:12

that's why the relationship didn't last something like that, Like

53:15

it was so funny, but also just

53:18

you it made me so appreciative

53:20

of like being back in Milwaukee and happening

53:22

to be there that night, because you missed so many

53:25

little stories like that, being in the

53:27

locker rooms, having face to face communication

53:29

with the coaches and the players, and like I said,

53:31

that's the first time been back in Milwaukee. So it's just such a

53:33

fun story. And you

53:36

know, it's just the Kings are a fun team,

53:38

and I think Mike Brown is a fun like He's very

53:40

serious, but he has a fun size. He's

53:43

about his business, but it's keeping things in

53:45

perspective and doing a great job with

53:47

that. Shout

53:50

out to Dick's last resort, Um, I

53:52

guess you will. If I were you, I would not be eating

53:54

there anytime soon. Um, you don't

53:56

know what they're gonna do to your food. Just assuming

53:59

they all listen to this podcast, Hey

54:02

man, don't be mad

54:04

at me, be mad at Wikipedia. That literally says

54:06

that was how why y'all were basically founded

54:08

the way y'all were found out. It's not my

54:11

fault. I'm just telling the job. On

54:14

that note, that will do it for today's

54:16

episode of Open Floor. Thank

54:18

you so much to all of our listeners.

54:21

Uh, please keep your emails coming open floor

54:23

mail at gmail dot com. We

54:26

will be back with you guys next week. Until

54:29

then, please continue to enjoy the NBAC

54:34

Whoa, whoa

54:41

What