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Tap the banner or visit this episode's page

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to learn more. Welcome

2:01

to the mismatch. I'm Chris Vernon and

2:03

joining me. He does every Monday night

2:06

from the ringer.com is Kevin O'Connor aka

2:08

Kevin Obama. Kevin O'Concer. Kevin O'Climber. Kevin

2:10

O'Camer. Kevin O'Candyland. Kevin Obozarian. Kevin O'Sphere.

2:13

Kevin.

2:16

How are

2:19

you doing tonight, man? What's up? I'm

2:21

great. I am recording late

2:23

in downtown Memphis as I went to

2:25

the Grizzlies Kings. We are not going

2:27

to get in depth on that one.

2:29

But I will say that I did

2:31

have a... The bonus

2:33

really, really beat up on your team,

2:35

didn't it? Yeah, it was

2:38

a... At one point, the

2:41

Memphis Grizzlies had 18 rebounds and

2:44

DeMonte Savonas had 17 rebounds. That's

2:47

true. Half time. At halftime,

2:49

he had 17 rebounds. And the

2:52

opposing team had 18 rebounds. It's

2:54

crazy. Anyway, the reason

2:56

I'm bringing this up is because unbelievable

2:58

mismatch moment tonight at

3:01

the game. Of all things.

3:04

Was there a King fan there? Was there a

3:06

King fan that called me out? Oh my goodness.

3:09

There was not a King fan that called you out. Oh.

3:11

There was a King fan of which both

3:13

of us are a huge

3:16

fan of. And he happened

3:18

to be in town. Brought his mom

3:20

in town. And they were at the

3:22

game tonight. Came and found me. The

3:26

absolutely unbelievable

3:29

Dissect Podcast. And

3:32

the Ringer Network and Spotify.

3:34

Cole Kushner was in town

3:37

for the game. That's

3:40

awesome. We have communicated many times

3:42

over the years. He's been a

3:44

longtime mismatch listener. I've been a

3:46

long time Dissect listener. Since

3:49

the story that he was with the Ringer. And it

3:51

was with Spotify. Yeah, I had no idea. I had

3:54

no idea he even knew who we were. Oh, yeah.

4:00

head series that he did for the album

4:02

in rainbows is tremendous. Yeah.

4:04

Well, the way me and all my buddies

4:06

originally found him was the, uh, my

4:09

beautiful dark twisted fantasy, the one that

4:11

he did about the Kanye album. And,

4:14

uh, anyways, I never met, I had

4:16

never met, uh, Cole Koosha in person.

4:19

And so in what was, uh, you

4:22

know, Chris has had like eight guys that are

4:24

all hustle players, but that was a big bright

4:27

spot. And I was super glad that I got

4:29

to meet him, uh, in

4:31

town for the game. Now, there was a

4:33

bunch of stuff. Yeah,

4:36

it was super cool. Bunch of stuff

4:38

that went on around the NBA tonight.

4:40

So let's just go to that first.

4:42

A possible NBA finals preview with

4:44

the Nuggets and the Bucks. That was,

4:46

those were my finals picks were the Nuggets

4:48

and the Bucks. It's great to see

4:50

everybody play in in that one in

4:53

Denver. Nice for you honest to play, uh,

4:56

considering Joel and B did not

4:59

over the weekend, and we'll get to that a little bit

5:01

later. Uh, but this

5:03

game went down to the end fourth

5:05

quarter. And it's like, I think Doc's just got

5:07

to figure out how to do. There's a couple

5:10

of things, you know, you

5:12

see, and we saw the Nuggets

5:14

do this a couple of weeks ago when

5:16

they put it gets to Celtics. Like we

5:18

pay attention to these super high leverage games

5:21

when they play. And it's same

5:23

old, same old, you know what it's called. You

5:26

know, what's coming at you. It's yoke at your

5:28

Murray and now you're dealing with it and they're going

5:30

to play off of that. There's

5:32

going to be guys slipping to the basket. There's going

5:34

to be Murray pulling up for shots. There's going to

5:36

be yoke. And that's what

5:39

I feel like the Bucks, they've

5:41

got some figuring out to do because

5:43

it's not nearly as defined

5:45

as simple. Now that is, of course,

5:48

because they have not been through a

5:50

million wars together. They haven't been through

5:52

play series together. And so that stuff

5:54

develops over years and

5:57

years of doing it, but they

5:59

do have to figure out kind of what

6:01

they're going to. And the other thing is

6:04

they've got to find a

6:06

defensive guard that they could put

6:08

alongside Dane, in my opinion. Because

6:12

the hiding bees, the league thing, you

6:14

know, that's fine. But I could just see

6:16

that. I could see that becoming a

6:18

glaring weak spot. You know, they've got one

6:21

spot to fill. The other four is going to be fine.

6:23

But they got one spot to fill. And

6:26

you could see even down the stretch,

6:28

some of the defensive communication stuff still

6:30

real clunky. And

6:32

you know, there's no question Doc will improve that team.

6:35

He's been very good at getting teams

6:37

to play defense over his

6:39

tenure. The majority of his

6:41

tenure, whether he's at the

6:43

Clippers or the Celtics or whoever it may

6:45

be, Sixers, he had top 10 defenses. I

6:48

don't know if he'll be able to make this one into a top 10,

6:51

but it'll certainly improve from what they are.

6:54

But you saw when it's like, okay, now

6:56

it's you run a play, we run a

6:58

play. It's a little bit smoother on

7:00

the Denver side. That's

7:04

kind of what I'm thinking. Yeah,

7:06

I mean, I think like the Beasley thing

7:08

that is the same as it ever was

7:10

with them. Like they need to upgrade Malik

7:12

Beasley. Yes, he's been a lights out shooter

7:15

for them this season, but you can't survive

7:17

defensively with Malik Beasley and Damian Lillard as

7:19

your backcourt. You need to find an upgrade

7:21

there, whether that comes internally with one of

7:23

the younger guys like Andre

7:25

Jackson or Jay Crowder manages to drink

7:27

from the fountain of youth and returned

7:29

a closer to prime levels. But ultimately

7:32

it probably comes from a trade, which

7:34

is why as unrealistic as

7:36

it is, you've got, you know,

7:38

Chris Haynes reporting that the Bucks

7:40

have interest in Dejante Murray, because

7:42

in theory, Murray could tap back

7:44

into his, you know, more prime

7:46

version of himself in a winning

7:48

situation and offer that type of

7:50

defense and shot creation next

7:52

to Damian Lillard in the backcourt. But

7:55

I do think, you know, for the

7:57

first game of the Doc Rivers era.

8:00

Yeah. And Milwaukee, it's like just game one.

8:02

I thought he, you know, he changed some

8:04

of the rotations. Dame came

8:06

out early in the first quarter, got a

8:08

breather instead of playing the entire first quarter.

8:11

Some differences there. I mean,

8:14

like it's tough to read into just

8:16

one game of defensive game plans, a

8:18

handful of possessions, but it did seem

8:20

like they were being a little bit,

8:22

they're sagging off some of the weaker

8:24

nuggets shooters more like past bucks teams

8:26

did more so than some of the

8:28

Adrian Griffin bucks teams did earlier this

8:30

season where they're aggressive up on three

8:32

point line against everybody. So just game

8:34

one, some minor differences. And it's in

8:36

Denver. I mean, right. It's in Denver.

8:40

And I don't think whatever docs able to do

8:42

with that team, this is going to be post

8:44

all star stuff. We're going to find out what

8:46

it really looked like. It's going to take time

8:49

for anything to be implemented and really

8:51

take hold. Um, It's

8:53

impossible. Really? Like there's all, there's so little

8:55

practice time. Well, what do you, what can

8:57

you really do with that minor stuff? That's

9:00

right. Try to install what you can

9:02

install. A couple of other things that

9:04

took place tonight. Unbelievable. Mavs magic game

9:07

that came down to the very end.

9:09

Powerbake hero had an unbelievable missed

9:11

free throw at the end that gave them a

9:13

chance. The Franz Wagner missed one at the buzzer.

9:15

Uh, but the Mavs came down from 16 and

9:18

won that game. But the reason I'm mentioning this is

9:20

not to get in depth on that game. Cause neither

9:22

of us saw it in its entirety. It's

9:24

that I did see the magic since we last

9:26

spoke in person. And

9:29

you know, I love this team, this magic team.

9:32

I walked out of that arena. The Joe

9:34

Ingalls missed the three at the buzzer and

9:36

Memphis won the game, but I walked

9:38

out of the arena. I think it two things. First

9:41

one was there's no doubt

9:43

in my mind that bank hero is going to

9:46

be one of the five to 10 best players in the league.

9:48

And he's going to be one of

9:50

those. Wow. Yes. Yes. I

9:53

he's Kevin. He is absolutely

9:57

awesome already for his eight.

10:00

I didn't see some vintage

10:02

bank arrow performance either, but

10:04

just watching him out there, I'm like,

10:06

brother, when he gets

10:09

it all figured out, this

10:11

is a problem because

10:13

the size, the skill

10:16

and the tenacity to go along with

10:18

it. He's got all the

10:20

goods to be one of the absolute

10:22

best players in the entire NBA. That's

10:25

what I thought when I saw him. Very rarely

10:27

have I walked out of an arena and thought,

10:29

whoa, now. Obviously it

10:31

happened with Wendy after I saw

10:34

him. I'm like, jeez, imagine what this guy is going

10:36

to look like at 25. But

10:38

that's the feeling I had when I walked out.

10:40

I'm like, what is this guy going to look

10:42

like when it's the age that most guys are

10:44

winning, 25, 26, 27, when he gets to 27,

10:46

28? Oh,

10:51

there's no question in my mind. If

10:54

he stays uninjured by the time he's

10:56

27, 28, bank arrow is going to be one of the

10:59

best five to 10 players in the league for sure. Everything

11:02

you just described, Chris, is why I put

11:04

bank arrow number one in his draft class.

11:07

Tough year to barry Smith. A lot of people

11:09

had him Chet Holmgren. A lot of people had

11:12

him, but with bank arrow, it's exactly what you

11:14

said. Six foot 10 with

11:17

like guard like quickness and

11:19

fluidity and side to side

11:21

lateral ability just to move

11:23

and change positions of the

11:25

ball in his hands, the

11:27

passing field. He doesn't even

11:29

have currently with the state of this

11:31

magic roster that, you know,

11:34

that two man guy, like now

11:36

Barnes has quickly in Toronto Murray

11:38

and Yochich in Denver, Dame

11:41

and Yannas and Milwaukee. What happens

11:43

when Paulo Bank arrow with six

11:45

foot 10 gets paired with a

11:48

six four, six foot five sharp shooting

11:50

guard who can handle the ball and

11:52

run two man handoffs and like they

11:55

just need glory. They

11:58

just need a couple of. guards because he

12:00

does what he does without them

12:03

being, you don't have to honor them shooting.

12:05

They're the worst three point shooting team in the

12:07

world. They can't hit

12:09

anything. They shoot like 30% from

12:12

three. It's crazy. Like

12:14

you get them some spacing and

12:17

you get them some guys that could just, you

12:19

know, you don't, it doesn't even have

12:21

to be guys like, you know,

12:23

I texted you over the weekend. I'm like, even

12:25

a guy like a Malcolm Brogdon, just a stand

12:27

still. Hey, I can throw it to you and

12:30

you could knock down an open three for me,

12:32

right? You can kind of organize me because they

12:34

could run so much of the offense through Franz

12:36

and Ben Caro. But look,

12:38

they've been really, really struggling. They

12:41

need to get them some guys that can

12:43

stretch that floor out. But, and

12:46

I know, you know, everybody always wants to win

12:48

right now and I hope they can get it

12:50

back together and be able to be

12:52

a playoff team. We have lamented the

12:55

fact that we want more new teams,

12:57

fun teams to be involved and, and, and got

12:59

young guys to be able to take their lumps.

13:02

But all I will say is it's

13:04

going to be like, this is

13:06

a long-term thing. And I think you do

13:08

have to just enjoy the fact, like, hopefully you could have

13:11

a good record this year. Hopefully you can get to the

13:13

playoffs. But man, if I'm

13:15

an Orlando fan, I am just absolutely

13:17

over the moon about this guy because

13:19

he is special, special, special, special. Yeah,

13:22

for sure. And I mean, I think with them, it's

13:24

a type of thing where Ben Caro,

13:27

he's doing this despite the fact that

13:29

he's not a knockdown or even

13:31

a plus shooter yet. He's an

13:33

average, a below average shooter. Franz

13:35

Wagner, even though Franz Wagner

13:37

is still a guy hitting well over

13:40

80% of his free throws, he's

13:42

at 85% again this year, he's still a 30%

13:44

shooter from three. Once

13:46

Wagner becomes, you would hope at some point, a 38,

13:48

39% three point shooter as he extends

13:51

his range and it matches the free

13:53

throw production. And hopefully at some point,

13:55

Ben Caro is better from the perimeter.

13:59

I mean, like, we talked. about the need for

14:01

a guard, right? And parent like, but you

14:03

do have Jaylen Suggs, you do have Anthony

14:05

Black. This is kind of a by committee

14:07

situation. It's almost not even a ball

14:10

handling guard you need. It's more just a

14:12

shooting guard that you need to manifest because

14:14

you do have some of those smaller handlers

14:16

to pair with them. It's just you need

14:18

that that knockdown shooting presence. And maybe it'll

14:20

end up being Jet Howard who, you know,

14:22

has had some good moments in the G

14:24

League this year. Maybe it'll end up being

14:26

him. But that's gonna take a while. Space

14:28

though, if you give them some space, Katie

14:31

bar the door, because he has got that.

14:33

Yeah. Just get to the basket to

14:36

him. Boy, special,

14:38

special players. I do want to mention that because

14:40

I didn't get to see him since we last

14:42

spoken. Look, I watched him in a loss and

14:44

walked out of the arena like Jesus, this

14:46

guy is gonna be something else.

14:49

It wasn't even one of his

14:51

better it wasn't even one of

14:53

his better games of the season. Not even close. No, not

14:56

even close. He had five

14:58

to get 35. Yes. But

15:00

that speaks to it. Like this month, he's averaging like 25

15:02

points, six to six

15:04

rebounds, it's big time numbers, you

15:07

know, just raw, raw box score stuff. He's

15:09

his efficiency is up and down, but like

15:12

his efficiency should improve as the

15:14

roster around him fits his

15:17

needs to optimize his production as a player. Also,

15:19

it's hard to beat Luca when he's scoring in

15:21

the forties, at least it's not the seventies though.

15:24

Understood. A couple other things we

15:26

got to mention. Anthony Edwards hilarious

15:28

after the game against

15:31

the Thunder say, I'll take the fine. And

15:33

then he said, if you see

15:35

the video going around where he's slapping high fives

15:38

with go bare and he says, cheating ass, cheating

15:42

ass, that was a

15:44

good moment, but that's

15:47

a good win for the T

15:49

wolves against the Thunder. I saw

15:51

somebody post the stat that

15:53

the Thunder had this crazy ass

15:55

records like 30 and one or

15:57

something when they're leading, go and get to the fourth

15:59

quarter. But now

16:01

they're 30 and two and both losses are

16:04

to the wolves. And so

16:06

it's just something to keep in mind because you never

16:09

would know the way this stuff is all going to play

16:11

out. We may very well see those teams match up when

16:13

it comes playoff time. But I do think the

16:16

wolves are a bit of a problem. They obviously they need

16:18

to get Connelly back and the lot's got to rest on

16:21

how they need to make sure he's got a healthy

16:23

hamstring. It can make it through the long

16:25

term playoff run that they

16:28

hope they have. But

16:31

it's size on

16:33

size on size. And that's the thing. Some

16:35

of these teams that are either really physical

16:37

or have a lot of size are kind

16:39

of a thunder problem. And

16:43

that's where when we get into

16:45

the playoffs, it's like you might

16:47

be able to overcome it some.

16:52

But overcoming it to win four out

16:54

of seven games is

16:56

an interesting one. So I know you have been

16:58

a proponent of the thunder finding,

17:00

maybe some more size to go along with Chet

17:03

down there. It'll be very fascinating to see over the

17:05

next two weeks if they

17:07

go for it and kind of where they view themselves

17:10

in their timeline. Yeah,

17:13

I mean, I think with Oklahoma City, it's a

17:15

type of thing, Chris. They're

17:17

young and we're seeing some of the ups

17:19

and downs with them over the

17:21

course of the season. And Minnesota has

17:23

a lot more experience on their side of

17:25

things like the defense tonight from Minnesota is

17:28

extraordinary. Like Oklahoma

17:30

City came out of the gates fast in that

17:32

game. I was watching the start of the

17:34

game. They had like, I think 20 points over

17:37

the first five, six minutes, maybe in the first

17:39

four minutes, something like that. And they finished with

17:41

one on one. So Minnesota allows

17:43

81 points over the

17:46

final 40-ish minutes of the game. Like

17:48

they're just clamping down. There

17:50

was a possession with 30 seconds left

17:52

in the game where Jaden McDaniel feels

17:54

like he's defending three guys at

17:56

once. He's like shading towards SGA. closing

18:00

out on authority, he's helping on the corner

18:02

all at one time. And like you said,

18:04

with Minnesota size, it just feels like they're

18:06

everywhere all at once. And

18:09

like, we know their defense is dominant. I

18:12

thought their offense was very good down the

18:14

stretch, despite not having Mike Colley, they were

18:16

calling plays, getting good looks, creating quality shots.

18:19

And I mean, like doing that against Oklahoma

18:21

city, even though very young, um,

18:24

like I think on their home court, that's

18:26

a very impressive win for the Timberwolves. And

18:28

I think that's a sign of a development

18:30

with what we saw from them, where they're

18:32

often found the structure of that game. And

18:34

hopefully it's sustained because obviously they've,

18:36

you know, fell into some real ruts

18:39

and fourth quarters, especially late in games of their offense

18:41

over the course of the season. But the truth is,

18:43

is both Minnesota and

18:46

Oklahoma city, they're in

18:48

different trajectories and different timelines and places

18:50

with where they are right now. But

18:53

both of them and their own ways

18:55

could use some slight upgrades. We talked

18:57

about Minnesota needing a better backup point

19:00

guard than Conley. And with Oklahoma city,

19:02

it's not just backup. It's not just

19:04

backup. It's insurance. Like

19:07

you need insurance for the hamstring thing

19:09

now. And it's like, yeah, you got,

19:11

yeah, that's a lot. That's a

19:13

lot of hope to riding on a guy that's

19:15

in, you know, 15 plus

19:17

years in the league. It's tough. Yeah.

19:20

He's just so old, man. And he said, it's like

19:22

such a long injury history. Oh,

19:25

it's one of my favorite guys in the

19:27

world. But yeah, you gotta have insurance for

19:29

that. Yeah. You've got it, man. Now,

19:33

I think for Minnesota, you don't have a lot

19:36

of assets to do it, but I

19:38

mean, how many times that we said tire stones

19:40

with the guy to try to go out and get, you know,

19:43

he is the one Bandels

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21:08

right. Let me ask you about a couple of different teams.

21:11

This is really testing me, especially

21:13

after our last episode where

21:15

I watched the heat and I'm like, you know what? I'm

21:17

not falling for this crap. We know

21:19

it doesn't even matter to

21:21

them what seed they get, whatever. Like

21:23

they stunk again. They can't win now.

21:25

And I'm like, okay, at what point

21:28

am I going to actually be like,

21:30

you know, is this okay? And I

21:32

don't know how the hell they got

21:34

rid of Kyle Lowry and got a

21:36

war shooter, but they're or say you

21:38

can't get shit. Oh, tonight, tonight,

21:40

tonight, tonight, you're for, oh, you're

21:42

for tonight. Oh, congrats to him.

21:45

All right. I mean, it's been a,

21:47

it's been a mess though. It's been

21:49

a mess. What are they sick? Is that six in a

21:51

row? Well, prior to this game

21:53

with the heat, he was one of five,

21:55

one of four, oh, of two from three.

21:57

So this was his first

21:59

good. shooting performers with, with Miami, his first

22:02

good overall game with Miami. But I

22:04

do think, and they got black, you

22:06

know, and yeah, they got destroyed

22:08

by, you know, by Phoenix granted like Miami makes

22:10

it a late, you know, they make, they lose

22:12

by 13 because when everybody

22:14

reserves, they close, it doesn't

22:16

matter. But they got smoked.

22:19

I think Miami right now, one

22:21

of two things need to happen. The

22:23

hero, rosier back court, he either needs to

22:25

be split up with one of them going

22:27

to the bench, being like a super six

22:29

man or another

22:32

move needs to be made, possibly moving

22:35

Tyler hero, being like a good young trade

22:37

chip, possibly to some teams around the league,

22:39

but we just saw months ago when they

22:41

were trying to go get Deanie and Miller,

22:44

not a lot of teams wanted hero, but I do

22:46

think heroes made some progress over the course of the

22:48

season where perhaps at this time of

22:50

the year, more teams could have some interest

22:52

to find a player who fits better. Teams

22:54

are stupid. The teams are stupid if they

22:56

don't want him, because here's the thing. The

22:59

guy can shoot the ball. He

23:01

can shoot the ball at all these teams.

23:03

When he get down to the playoffs, they

23:05

all want shooting. They all

23:07

need spacing for their

23:10

stars so that they can work in

23:12

space. And so hero

23:15

to me is an extremely

23:17

valuable asset. Hell, you

23:19

know how good he'd be on that team we

23:22

just talked about a couple of minutes ago, he'd

23:24

be great for Orland. No magic. Oh, he'd be

23:26

great for them. Great

23:28

for them to have like a

23:30

guy that you just need. Oh,

23:32

there's so many teams you watch where it's like, man,

23:34

they just need some guys to space out the floor.

23:37

Cause they've got some special individual talent

23:39

that could beat guys one on one.

23:42

It's just, you can dedicate two to them. You

23:44

can make them see two guys all the time.

23:46

Heroes are those, those kinds of guys

23:49

are the types that, you

23:51

know, they are honored. You have to stay

23:53

out there and guard them. And

23:55

that is a, I don't give

23:57

a damn what a guy's individual stats are. That

24:01

is the gravity of

24:03

it. And so, you know, I would

24:07

think he is a great asset for

24:09

a team that... He

24:11

could really move the needle for somebody if it's

24:13

not the perfect fit what they

24:15

have. Because everybody

24:18

needs spacing. And when it comes playoff time,

24:20

everybody needs guys that can make shots. How

24:23

much with Miami, like Jimmy Butler after the

24:25

game, he just said like, we're not guarding

24:27

anybody. And that's the reason why we're

24:29

losing games, right? Like he just says, we're not guarding anybody.

24:31

That's true. Like you look at the amount of points they've

24:33

given up over this seven game

24:35

losing streak in order, 121 to

24:37

the Raptors, 109 to the Hawks, 105 to the Magic,

24:39

105 to the Grizzlies. That's

24:43

not bad with some of those, but then 143 to

24:45

the Celtics, 125 to the Knicks, 118 to

24:50

the Suns. And

24:52

then how much of this do you think

24:54

is this relates to again, Rozier, Hero, Duncan

24:58

Robinson? Like there's a lot of perimeter

25:01

guys on that team who aren't stoppers.

25:03

They don't really have that on their

25:05

team right now. And obviously they're missing

25:08

some guys, Richard and Hakes, they're missing

25:10

some guys, but those guys

25:12

aren't turning you from, you know, having a

25:14

bunch of turnstiles on the perimeter to a

25:16

bunch of stoppers. This

25:18

is where it comes back to does Miami need

25:21

to make one more deal to really

25:23

round this out and to find better balance?

25:25

Like have they gone too far without

25:27

perimeter defense after some of their loss

25:29

of the soft season? It

25:31

seems like it, but then there's another part of

25:34

me that goes, all right, they just don't give

25:36

the crap and they will. Yeah, I know.

25:40

It's hard to know because like

25:42

Miami, I know because we've seen

25:44

this play out before. I know

25:46

they looked pitiful last year. And

25:50

then as soon as it comes time for it to matter,

25:53

they're clamping down on everybody and they're making

25:55

life hell for you. And they've got a

25:57

great coach that game plans against you takes

25:59

away. what you want to do

26:01

and next thing you know Caleb Martin's

26:04

knocking down every corner three days. It's

26:06

like okay. This is stupid. You

26:08

mentioned one of the teams that put up

26:10

a big number against them was the New

26:12

York Knicks. Now that is something we do

26:15

have to believe in. This is crazy because

26:17

they're now without Randall for an extended amount

26:19

of time. Ananobey's got

26:21

the elbow thing but

26:23

they're like what 14 and 2

26:25

now I think since the OG

26:27

deal? I think they're 12

26:30

and 1 with both OG and

26:32

Brunson in the lineup. They

26:34

want to get Charlotte tonight.

26:37

They beat the Nuggets by 38 which we had

26:39

mentioned. Wolves,

26:44

Sixers, Heat. They got

26:47

really good wins and they

26:50

now are going to be without another guy in

26:53

Randall for an extended amount

26:55

of time but they got a six game homestand

26:57

coming up. It's

26:59

going to be very fascinating to see how they navigate

27:02

through the life without

27:04

Randall and if it even matters. I'm

27:07

just a believer. It's seven in a

27:09

row now. They've won seven in a

27:11

row and the Heat have lost seven

27:14

in a row. They

27:16

won seven in a row after this win over Charlotte.

27:18

Now they're about to have a six game homestand. Imagine

27:21

they probably have a pretty good record in that. It's

27:26

something to monitor because you always got

27:28

to pay attention to these teams that

27:30

their record is not indicative of what

27:32

they are now. We

27:34

talk about this all the time with the Clippers. I

27:38

don't care what their total record is. I've

27:40

seen the Clippers and I know they lost

27:42

tonight but they're

27:45

like 27-7 since after

27:48

those first five games have hardened. It's

27:52

a radically different, I guess 27-8 now after they lost tonight. That's

27:57

a radically different team than

27:59

what would you be. beat your normal four or

28:01

five seed in the

28:03

Western Conference. And the Knicks,

28:07

do you think it's going to be a tough go

28:09

without Randall or do you think it's the

28:11

results are just going to keep on coming? I

28:14

mean, I think with them, it's going

28:16

to be, I'm not even sure it's about the

28:18

results in a sense that it's about finding out

28:20

what you have with precious achua and finding out

28:22

like what you have with some of these other

28:24

guys in the rotation, I guess it hurts not

28:26

to have Randall on the nights that he's, he's

28:29

on. That they probably might drop

28:31

some games because of that, but I

28:33

think the overall aggregate benefit could be finding

28:36

out what happens when achua is getting that

28:38

usage, it's two plus games in a row

28:40

now of him getting 30 minutes. I

28:43

think some of these Knicks young

28:45

guys, this a shows that these guys

28:47

are either keepers for you or B could

28:50

dramatically raise their trade value. Cause achua was

28:52

a guy that people around the league have

28:54

liked for a long time. Was

28:56

it just what it was not paid that went

28:59

off, right? It's like, it wasn't even gentle. Yeah.

29:02

Yeah. So I think, yeah. So like all,

29:04

all those, all those touches that Randall

29:06

normally gets now trickle to the Vincenzo,

29:09

it goes to a two

29:11

on transition, our Josh harden

29:13

or even guys like miles

29:15

McBride, who's been getting regular bench

29:18

minutes for them. Uh, and like,

29:20

I mean, I saw tonight, I love deuce

29:22

McBride. I love that guy for a long

29:24

time. But like tonight I wasn't watching the

29:26

game live in the fourth quarter when the

29:28

Knicks were up 30, but I saw like

29:30

it retweeted on my timeline. It was like

29:32

this play where he just like, he's

29:35

like just mirroring Caleb Martin,

29:38

uh, on defense, just bearing every

29:40

single movement, just rips the ball

29:43

out of his hands, starts a

29:45

transition opportunity, and he ends up hitting

29:47

a three on the break. He gets rewarded

29:49

for his defensive effort with a 30 point

29:51

lead. And it was just a cool, like

29:53

typical, typical deuce McBride, just locking down on

29:55

defense, hitting big shots. I just, I just

29:57

love that dude. He's such a fun bench.

30:00

And it's cool to see him finally

30:02

rewarded with all this playing time after

30:04

the quickly trained for O.G. Inanobi It's

30:06

just great because I love that dude

30:08

Well, and they gave him a contract it even even

30:11

one that walked into the restaurant of Vegas with

30:13

his jersey on That

30:15

was the guy Yeah, that was

30:17

just okay. I thought that I thought I remembered the

30:19

name Mm-hmm. Yeah walked

30:21

into Momofuku with his summer league

30:24

jersey on Absolutely

30:26

true. Yeah, you walked into Momofuku I

30:29

know so cool I Got

30:34

a picture somewhere in my phone. It's not great

30:36

quality. It's like darker in that restaurant. But uh,

30:38

yeah, that was awesome That was such a cool

30:41

moment Crazy that

30:44

Nick seemed awesome to watch like aren't they just

30:46

so fun. There's so many likable players So

30:49

look and there's a couple Easter conference teams like

30:51

this that are like You

30:53

know One hand were sitting

30:55

there going Alright Are we gonna believe that

30:57

the heater really this rat team like they've

31:00

been playing for seven straight games or are

31:02

we just not gonna get Fooled by this on the other

31:05

hand, I swear it's every night. I'm

31:07

looking at the results that I'm like, okay

31:10

so Like nobody's beating the

31:13

Clippers and now the Cavs get Mobley

31:15

back and beat the Clippers It's like

31:18

the Cavs I was reading Schumann's

31:21

little recap of the you know, it's

31:23

power rankings thing he had a set

31:25

in there that the Cavs in the

31:27

absence of Mobley

31:30

and Garland that

31:32

their starting lineup with

31:34

swapped out Garland and Mobley for

31:37

Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade

31:41

Has the second best net rating

31:43

of any lineup that's played over

31:46

200 minutes like

31:48

plus 18.6

31:50

I was like what the hell like

31:53

we know Cleveland like Look,

31:56

I know I've always been one of those like

31:58

hey, you gotta have stars and role players and

32:00

it's got to balance out guys have to do

32:02

the dirty work and guys have to be able

32:04

to you know be able to

32:06

play without the basketball and it's not all about

32:08

how many points per game you get like you

32:11

got to balance this stuff out and

32:13

but that is just so extreme in

32:16

what world would you have ever said

32:18

hey you can be able to swap

32:20

out Darius Garland and Evan Mobley two

32:23

of the bright young stars in the

32:25

league for Isaac O'Couro and

32:27

Dean Wade and end up having

32:30

one of the best plus bituses in the

32:32

entire NBA it's

32:34

just crazy and you

32:36

know while the Clippers were 13 and

32:39

2 since Christmas going into

32:41

this game tonight so

32:43

you got to give the Cavs a lot of credit

32:46

and by the way the Clippers just killed

32:48

the Celtics over the weekend now

32:50

they turn around they lose to the Cavs like I'm I

32:53

don't know they got Mobley back tonight obviously

32:55

you're gonna have to get Garland back in

32:58

the mix but I'm starting to become a

33:00

Cavs believer Kev like this is just too

33:02

it's it's happening too often and they're beating

33:04

like you beat the Clippers like who do

33:06

I want you to beat for me to believe yeah

33:09

I mean I think it's pretty much exactly

33:11

as we talked about on last week's episode

33:14

we'll see what happens when Mobley and Garland

33:16

are both back and how that affects the

33:18

production of the team it's possible that they

33:21

just found themselves it

33:24

happened to happen while they were gone

33:26

right and they can still continue on

33:28

this same hot streak once they're both

33:30

back but you know I mean

33:32

we'll see Garland hopefully you can get back soon

33:34

Mobley this is a game I only kind

33:36

of kept an eye on sorry I didn't I can't speak

33:38

on you know the game itself I was watching

33:41

other games but just generally

33:43

I look forward to seeing how

33:45

these guys develop over the course

33:47

of season with Mobley's versatility does

33:49

he help their does he further

33:51

improve their defense without hurting

33:53

the offense with the way they've been

33:55

producing and same with Garland being paired

33:57

with Mitchell with them both being smaller

33:59

guards How much does that affect

34:01

the defense? Did the

34:03

pros outweigh the cons of how they both

34:05

can assist in their respective ways? Garland being such

34:07

a good shooter, Moab being such a good

34:09

defender. How does that balance

34:12

work out? Because the team feels

34:14

very balanced without those guys.

34:17

Ben Simmons came back and the Nets scored 147 because of

34:19

it. And

34:21

then after the game, they asked him about, you know, when

34:23

you, as soon as you came in the game, there was

34:25

a fast break. And he said something like, every time I

34:27

touch the ball, it's a fast break. Let's

34:30

go. Let's go. Let's

34:33

go. Ben Simmons. He

34:36

almost had like a triple double. I thought

34:38

it was a five score. It's

34:41

pretty cool. 18 points. He

34:43

had 10 points, 11 assists,

34:46

eight rebounds, zero turnovers. Pretty

34:49

impressive. Turnup, Ben Simmons! Well,

34:51

I know. The highlights were fun to watch. I look

34:53

forward to seeing more of the game, how he looked

34:55

offensively and all that. You, you talk about weird team

34:58

on the other side of that. They

35:01

are playing really well. No,

35:04

that's it. But that's a team right

35:06

now. And you see this with a lot of teams

35:08

around the league. When you've

35:11

got four or five guys, all

35:14

know when I might get traded.

35:17

It's very tough at this time of year. You

35:19

can see it. You know, Atlanta's

35:21

gone through it. Like these

35:23

guys all are on hope type every morning.

35:26

They're agents talking to them. There's

35:28

like, I mean. Friends, this season of everybody. It's

35:31

coming from everywhere. Yeah, we're

35:33

in frenzy season. You're just not

35:35

going to know. You're going

35:37

to see some weird stuff and you're going to see

35:39

some weird outcomes and you're going

35:41

to see some weird performances and some

35:43

weird lineups and guys sitting out. There's

35:47

just so much to read into it. But

35:49

more importantly, there's all these teams that

35:51

have groups of players

35:54

that, you know, it's just

35:56

odd to have four or five guys. You

35:59

know, you're worried about what's. you're going to do with your house.

36:01

You're worried about if you're going to have to move, you're worried

36:03

about where you're going to go. Like they know I

36:05

was, I was even talking to somebody with the

36:08

Kings tonight and said there, you know, they've gotten

36:10

on this win streak, whatever, but they got three

36:12

or four stressed out guys all

36:14

the time, all the time, cause

36:17

they don't know if it's them or not, right? I'd

36:20

be them. I'd be them. Gonna have a

36:22

new home in two weeks. And

36:24

we're just kind of in that. It really gets to

36:26

them, you know, about two weeks in. And

36:29

then after the trade deadline, everybody

36:32

kind of cools out, right? And

36:34

then you can kind of hit your stride and decide you're going to

36:36

be there. But for these,

36:39

you know, two weeks, it's tough

36:41

because they all, they all read

36:43

all the same crap we do,

36:45

you know, like, Oh,

36:47

I might get traded. Oh, they're looking to upgrade

36:49

me. They're looking to upgrade me.

36:52

Like imagine you're sitting there, you're just a

36:54

guy, you're like raising there. Like damn, man,

36:56

they're looking to upgrade Kevin Herder.

36:58

You're like, geez,

37:02

for Daveon Mitchell or whatever,

37:04

right? Whoever it may be.

37:06

And so, um, I think

37:08

you're probably going to see that with, you can probably

37:10

see some weird ones with a couple of different teams.

37:13

We've got a long time without

37:16

mentioning the fact that

37:18

I said there's no way somebody else is going to

37:20

score 70, right? And

37:23

I believe I said I'd puke if they did. And

37:26

then we couldn't

37:28

even make it to

37:30

the next episode before

37:33

someone scores 70. Oh,

37:36

I guess we did make it to Thursday because MB

37:38

did it on Monday, right? So it did.

37:40

We did make it to last Thursday night, but then

37:42

over the weekend, Luca Dodger Ted 73 and I give

37:44

up. I

37:47

give up. I am,

37:49

I mean, I am of the opinion that somebody could

37:51

get a hundred at this point. Like what the hell?

37:54

Why not? Why not break,

37:56

somebody break Will to record. Go ahead and

37:58

do it. It's so funny how

38:00

much history repeated you're like

38:03

years ago. You don't feel I know.

38:08

We could go back and look, that was,

38:10

look, I remember it was Blake Griffin playing

38:13

for Detroit and it was

38:15

like in October, early November. I

38:17

was like, you don't see a lot of, and then

38:19

it was just a frigging barrage of 50s. So

38:22

now I say, long time, Chris. I

38:25

know. I know. Yeah. Blake

38:28

Griffin's not even in the league anymore. Um,

38:32

and now I say, Oh yeah,

38:34

you don't see a lot of 70s and

38:36

we even went through like the historical point

38:38

of view. Only this many guys have done

38:40

it only this many times in history it's

38:42

happened. And of

38:45

course, Luca within a couple

38:47

of days does it. And so who knows?

38:50

Kind of crazy. He did it

38:52

against Atlanta too. And

38:54

Atlanta, the team that treated him. I

38:57

know, but I know, but the team

38:59

that treated him on draft night, the

39:01

team that is at the crossroads with Murray

39:03

potentially being on the move, Trey, who could

39:06

be traded this summer, I think

39:08

it's just fascinating that happens in

39:11

Atlanta of all places. Luca

39:14

does that. Of all teams.

39:17

South the boozy. Uh,

39:19

I know you're, you've got to be a huge,

39:21

uh, boozy badass fan, the rapper. He was on

39:24

the front row. Don't even know who he is.

39:27

He was, uh, he's on the front row in

39:29

Atlanta and he got

39:31

the Jersey. He

39:33

had asked him preemptively,

39:36

can I have your Jersey after

39:38

the game? I collect the Jersey

39:40

and Luca true to his work.

39:42

Boozy badass has the frigging 73

39:44

point Luca. Don't

39:46

you? Jersey. Yeah.

39:49

Boozy. Wipe me

39:51

down. All right, Chris. Way

39:53

over your head. Do you

39:55

think we see an NBA player score 81 or

39:58

more this season? You

40:02

want me to make it happen? There's no

40:04

way someone will score it! Or,

40:09

no, no, let me rephrase it. Kevin?

40:12

Look, alright, I know I've said you

40:15

don't see a lot of 70s, but

40:17

you never see 80s. Never.

40:21

Probably be by next episode. These

40:23

idiots. Somebody guard

40:25

somebody. It's embarrassing to give up

40:27

friggin' 73 points. Gimme a

40:30

break. I mean, somebody...forget that...you get

40:32

all these old heads and I get it, and they

40:34

all bitch about like, how do

40:36

no defense just play it anymore, blah blah blah

40:38

blah blah blah. To me,

40:40

it's not even about defense. Of

40:44

course the defense sucks. It's

40:46

like, have some pride, bro.

40:48

Have some pride. You're professional.

40:51

Nobody should be able to score 73 on

40:53

you. Double the hell out of them.

40:56

You know, get chippy with it.

40:59

Like, come on. That's the thing. It's

41:02

not the defense as much as the

41:04

edge. Where's the edge?

41:06

Where's the competition? It's

41:08

like, instead, these guys, you

41:11

know, yeah, they let the guy score 73,

41:13

and then why don't you get his fucking autograph

41:15

after the game? It's crazy to

41:17

me. There's no edge to them. They're

41:19

not competitors. That's

41:21

what it is. To me, much

41:23

more than the NBA's outlaw defense, and nobody

41:26

plays any defense anymore, and you know, I

41:28

know people tired of the old heads saying

41:30

that. To me, it's the

41:32

edge. It's like the competition. Like, hey man, have

41:35

some pride about yourself. Not

41:39

like being proud to be on

41:41

the DVD or whatever. The

41:43

NBA TV replay the next day.

41:47

I know. That was all that was all that was all.

41:50

All right. Yeah,

41:53

I'm the laser desk. I

41:56

just want to be on the laser desk. I

42:00

admit that sounded old and I probably ruined everything by

42:02

saying I don't want to sound old and then I

42:06

I Grew

42:08

up a DVD. He's Kevin. Yeah I

42:14

still have DVDs. I don't

42:16

think I have a DVD player, but I still got DVD.

42:18

Oh Man

42:21

I I

42:25

Mean with defense though. I do

42:27

think we are at a point

42:30

now where The Kirk Goldsberry

42:32

book sprawl ball from four or

42:34

five or six years ago whenever

42:36

it came out It's starting to

42:38

become a real topic of conversation. This is

42:40

something people were beginning to really talk about

42:43

What do you do with rule changes to

42:46

help defense because I agree with you to

42:48

your point? There needs to be more of

42:50

an edge in that game It didn't feel

42:52

like the Hawks were really trying to resist

42:55

at times Especially when Luca was getting rolling

42:57

like they weren't they weren't trying to stop

42:59

him from getting over 70 points By

43:02

changing their defensive scheme. They were just like okay.

43:04

The game is over. We lost. That's what it

43:07

felt like okay, I agree with

43:09

you, but At the

43:11

same time that the NBA isn't a position

43:13

now How much do

43:15

they feel that the lack of

43:17

defense and the high-scoring games where teams

43:19

routinely scoring 130 or 140? Is

43:23

this good for the quality

43:25

of the game? Is this good for the growth

43:28

of the game because in that Goldsberry book sprawl

43:30

ball from years ago Kirk

43:32

argued that it is not aesthetically

43:34

pleasing to have

43:36

drive-and-kick drive-and-kick drive-and-kick

43:39

All like similar types of results in a

43:41

half-court offense teams do it a little bit

43:43

differently They do but it

43:46

is a lot of driving kick in the

43:48

league right now So I just what does

43:50

Adam Silver in the NBA want to think

43:53

about this? I wonder it

43:55

can there are too many teams that play

43:58

alike and their teams that do it and with

44:01

Much more talent than the other teams, right? But

44:03

there are a lot it's a very homogeneous on

44:06

a on a game at game out basis as

44:09

someone that goes to games several times a week that

44:12

being said I Would

44:15

be an absolute hypocrite if I didn't tell you so

44:17

I was at grizzlies

44:21

magic the night of that

44:23

game and As I

44:25

saw he had 50 something or whatever it

44:27

was in the third quarter I pulled

44:29

it up on my phone and I watched the rest

44:31

of it I had it there on on

44:34

the table with me so I can't for me. I can't

44:36

be a hypocrite I yes watching guys

44:38

score 73 is something I will always

44:40

turn on and yes, I love it.

44:43

So I could still

44:45

lament the lack of Competitiveness

44:47

and the fact that we have outlawed

44:51

Goons completely basically like there is nobody

44:53

to go hard foul somebody and say

44:55

like hey, man You mean

44:58

you ain't making a mockery of us. This is pull,

45:00

you know, like but I

45:03

do love watching guys Be that

45:06

individually brilliant. It's yeah

45:08

mega impressive and it's hard to

45:10

do even though Every time

45:12

I say it's hard to do it appears not

45:14

hard to do Yeah,

45:17

I mean It's a it's

45:19

a dilemma for the NBA because the league is

45:22

more talented than it's ever been but I in

45:24

my life time At least like I don't think

45:26

the league ever had so much talent and the

45:28

way the way, you know efficiency

45:30

has driven teams towards Valuing

45:34

layups, you know free

45:36

throws and three pointers And

45:38

it has opened up the floor for

45:40

these brilliant offensive talents to be the

45:42

only players who really utilize the mid-range

45:45

That's a mid-range the mid-range has been

45:47

removed for role players. You don't see

45:49

PJ Brown Taking a 15 footer

45:52

from the baseline that like that's something role

45:54

players did in the past now Bobby

45:56

Porters is spotting up in the corner for

45:59

the Bucks. There's emphasizing trees and

46:01

layups and free throws. And that's

46:03

what's all led to where we

46:05

are now, in addition to the

46:08

lack of the rule changes that

46:10

have prevented defenders from maximizing what

46:13

they were maybe in the 1990s before

46:15

hand checking was taken away. Yeah.

46:17

And it's tough though, it's tough though, like

46:19

how much could rule changes really completely

46:22

curtail what efficiency

46:25

has led the league to becoming? Like

46:28

how much would the league actually have to

46:30

change things? And it's possible it could also

46:32

have negative effects too, like removing the corner

46:35

three, as some people talk about.

46:37

What do you do with defensive three seconds?

46:39

Like there could be negative effects as well.

46:41

So it's a difficult place for the NBA,

46:43

but I would hope personally that they

46:45

in some form use

46:48

the G League for some of these dramatic, dramatic,

46:51

you know, potential rule changes. They haven't, haven't

46:53

paid to use the G League as a

46:55

playground before. I know there's risk there teams

46:57

use that for player development as well. You

46:59

don't want to make it too different, but

47:03

I think they need to experiment just to see what

47:05

it looks like, even if it's for a portion of

47:07

the G league season for two months, these are the

47:09

rules. I

47:12

don't mind. Like I think that because

47:16

of the way the game is played,

47:18

because of the level of talent, offenses

47:20

are better than ever. That's what

47:22

I believe. I also think to

47:24

me, and it's not necessarily about defense as

47:26

much as it is. It always just comes

47:28

back to, as I said, with the competition

47:30

thing. And that's, it's exactly why I was

47:32

mad about the Embiid thing. It's

47:35

like, I just want guys to be competitors, man.

47:38

Like they want to get out there. They

47:40

want to play. They want to

47:42

get, not get embarrassed. They

47:45

want to not be,

47:47

you know, smiling and trading jerseys. Like

47:50

we have come on here and lauded,

47:52

man. I love seeing Chet and Wemby

47:54

go after each other. I

47:56

love seeing the Pacers and the Bucks starting to

47:59

hate each other. other. I

48:01

love seeing the Suns and the Mavs

48:03

getting chippy right when the game

48:06

starts. I

48:08

love all this. And then on

48:10

the flip side, watching guys score 70

48:12

is lamer than shit to

48:17

me. And then watching Embiid sit out on

48:19

an ABC national televised game that

48:22

everybody wants to watch. It's

48:24

like, bro, to me, that's what

48:27

it all comes back to. It's all like being

48:30

a competitor, being a

48:32

competitor. I could

48:34

accept, man, these offenses are hard

48:36

as hell to stop. If you're getting

48:38

paint touches and kickouts and guys can knock down

48:40

shots, like I don't, I'm

48:43

not gonna, I'm not gonna

48:46

lament. I don't think there's no defense because

48:48

I watch the playoffs every year. You watch

48:50

the playoffs every year. When

48:52

it gets to playoff basketball, we

48:54

just watch Minnesota. Okay. OKC tonight,

48:57

Chris, it tightens up that

48:59

game. Yeah, that tightens up. There is defense

49:01

play. I mean, over the 82 game season, yeah, there's

49:05

a lot of baloney that takes place. Well,

49:08

and this ultimately brings it back to

49:10

how the games have to matter

49:12

more. Like, like right now,

49:15

like bulk, bulk has always

49:17

been the benefit for the NBA. Every team

49:19

plays 82 games. At

49:21

what point does bulk become detrimental compared to

49:24

events? That's what the NBA has tried to

49:26

create with the in season tournament. That's what

49:28

they've tried to do with rivals week. I

49:32

mean, like it doesn't necessarily work when

49:34

you still have so much bulk and

49:36

that these games aren't more important. Right.

49:39

So it's like rivals week with Sixers

49:41

nuggets on a Saturday night. If

49:44

that's true, through feces at

49:46

it. Yes. That's what he

49:48

did. And

49:51

if that game actually mattered to

49:54

the Sixers to the standings, if

49:56

there were significant, significant impact

49:58

to the standings, if you lose. that game

50:00

and it matters, he'd be

50:02

playing. He'd be playing through the pain, right? He would

50:04

have been for sure. Just like he would have if

50:07

it were a playoff game, a game one, a game

50:09

two, a game three in all likelihood. So

50:11

what can the league do to make

50:13

these games matter more? And that's

50:15

complicated. You know, there's money involved,

50:18

broadcast rights, the amount of games you can argue in a

50:20

way. I'm not going to do that though. I'm not going

50:22

to do that. You can pay $50, $60 million a year.

50:24

Play bro. Play. I

50:27

didn't have to make that regular season game

50:29

matter more to you. You know why it

50:31

matters? Because I pay you $60 million.

50:34

That's why it matters. Because

50:37

I've got an arena of 20,000 people

50:39

that spent a fortune to go here

50:41

and park and buy $10 beers

50:44

and buy the popcorn. That's why

50:46

it matters. You can't just keep throwing

50:49

BCS at the fans. You can't. Exactly.

50:52

Exactly. I mean, it's, you know, I

50:55

just can't, I just, I cannot. You

50:57

are, you know, you were sounding real

50:59

Adam Silvery. Like how can I

51:01

make this matter more to you? Yeah.

51:04

No, come on, Kev. No, no, because,

51:06

because, because they don't need to

51:09

make it matter more. Because

51:12

Chris, because I'm solution oriented here, I'm being

51:14

realistic. If this is the situation is what

51:16

it is with the players, what

51:18

can you do to make it better? What

51:20

can you do? Stop kissing their

51:22

ass every two seconds. Okay. All right. So, okay.

51:25

So here, here we're going. This is part of

51:27

what I'm trying to get into here. Is it

51:30

about making your salary tied to

51:32

games played? Is it something

51:34

along those lines? They're trying to bad idea.

51:37

They're trying to do that with the 65

51:39

game minimum right now where you're not eligible

51:41

for certain awards is the actual real step.

51:44

Making it. Well, if you're missing these games, you just don't

51:46

get paid. Is that what,

51:48

is that what, is that really what's necessary?

51:51

It shouldn't be what's necessary. It wasn't for

51:53

made men. You know, I

51:56

know. And so I, so that made me. So what

51:58

I'm saying exactly. that he's already

52:01

made his 200 million. What difference does it make if

52:03

you make 60 million or 30 million? It

52:06

doesn't really make a dramatic difference. It doesn't. Your

52:08

quality of life is so insignificant. If

52:11

you're missing those games, you make players

52:13

are willing tonight. Anthony Edwards is like,

52:15

Oh, I'm going to pay the fine.

52:17

He doesn't care. He's making tens of

52:19

millions of dollars because slap on the

52:21

wrist doesn't matter. They

52:23

established a culture where Adam

52:26

Silver, they, they, the NBA

52:28

didn't care. And so

52:30

then the teams didn't care. And so then

52:32

the players didn't care. And now

52:34

they're trying to look the cat was not

52:36

out of the bag. The cat was out

52:38

of the bag and it run 10 miles

52:41

down the road. And now

52:43

they're trying to run, you know, down

52:45

the road, it dragged the cat back. And

52:48

it's going to take, it's going to take

52:50

time and they're just going to keep on having

52:52

to like, at some point, somebody's got to be

52:54

like a hard ass about it. And they're

52:56

trying to find teams or whatever else, but I mean,

52:58

shots to Mike Malone who came out after the game

53:00

was like, this should be an investigation. All

53:02

right. So what, again, I bring it back. I

53:05

bring it back to my question though. Okay. So

53:07

how are you going to reverse that? Like what,

53:09

what exactly needs to be done? Cause

53:11

it's such a, it's such an issue.

53:15

What do you do about it? You

53:17

have to make it so

53:19

that the teams are on

53:21

your side, meaning

53:24

the NBA, the

53:26

teams are on your side. Not

53:29

looking out for themselves and just

53:32

because the team supports

53:35

the player. They

53:37

support the organization supports the player. That's where

53:39

this all got a ride. The

53:41

organization is fine with doing

53:43

it because that's what's been

53:46

established. You have to get

53:48

it back in line to say you're in

53:50

charge here. And so now the team is

53:52

responsible for this because

53:54

you think anybody with the Sixers cares whether the

53:56

guy plays or not. No, don't hold.

54:00

thing is set up for them to all

54:02

bow at the throne of MB and kiss

54:04

his ass and pray he doesn't want to

54:06

ask to get traded somewhere else. Like

54:08

that was that's the downside of

54:11

the player empowerment. I am not

54:13

against player empowerment. It's when this

54:15

all happens and it leads

54:17

to the fact that who has power here

54:19

now? And the

54:22

fact is if you're Adam

54:24

Silver you need to get it back

54:26

to where the teams are on your

54:28

side. He doesn't have the

54:31

teams on his side on this. It's

54:33

fine for him and Joe Dumas to say hey

54:35

you know what we've got a new plan. It's

54:38

play basketball regularly. That

54:42

was basically like what they had to say. Like

54:44

what the f? You

54:47

know every what is it like I

54:49

can't even remember what their acronym was.

54:51

I mean it was outlandish but it

54:53

was basically the new plan of the

54:55

league was to encourage players

54:58

playing. They literally

55:00

have a topic

55:03

about player participation.

55:06

And so to me that's the step right.

55:08

The step is to get those teams to

55:11

understand like hey man we need you

55:13

on our side on this. That

55:16

you need to be making sure these guys play. Because

55:18

teams are all scared of these guys. They're

55:21

scared of the employees. They're scared of the

55:24

employees. It's that Chris

55:26

but it's also the fact that teams

55:28

aren't incentivized to push those players to

55:30

play because there's no difference between being

55:32

the two seed and the four seed

55:34

other than a home court in the

55:36

first round which is a less significant

55:38

difference than it may have been many

55:40

years ago. So like teams the organizations

55:42

this is again as I've been arguing

55:44

about for years why I think the

55:46

standings need to matter more. There should

55:48

be a difference for the fixers and

55:51

being the two seed versus the four

55:53

seed. The heat shouldn't feel like Jimmy

55:55

Butler can take 12 shots a game over the

55:57

course of the season and just get in as

55:59

the seven. season it won't matter. They

56:01

should feel like, oh, there's actually an

56:03

advantage to being the free seed. We

56:06

can choose our first round opponent, whatever

56:08

it is, like something along those lines,

56:11

making the standings matter more. Just little like

56:13

all these little things over the course of

56:15

the year, I would hope, I

56:17

would hope change the culture is my point. Well,

56:20

now that's all you need to know. And this how you know,

56:22

like, that now

56:24

and watch MP, they'll sit out. He'll keep sitting

56:26

out. Now, to make a

56:28

point like, hey, I didn't sit out just Denver. No,

56:31

he'll sit out more too. And

56:34

again, is it because he's hurt

56:36

or because now

56:38

at this point, he can't very well come

56:40

back and play in the game? Because

56:43

then then they're going to get fined a bunch of money. They're

56:45

going to get fined. He comes back and plays.

56:47

They're going to be like, what the hell happened in

56:50

that? But if he out,

56:52

so now it's cost another arena

56:54

of fans that signed

56:56

up and wanted to go watch him play in person, because

56:59

now they have to stick to their guns and

57:01

act like he's hurt. You

57:03

got a, you

57:06

got a job to do with

57:08

that stuff, especially with this whole, and they

57:10

must already have their TV contract done though.

57:12

They must because they gave

57:15

Adam Silver. There's

57:18

no way they don't have that done. If they extend them all

57:20

the way through the end of the decade and good to him.

57:22

I mean, I figured probably some

57:24

kind of Amazon TNT

57:27

ESPN deal. That's what I

57:29

guess. Right. And

57:31

he probably got a fortune for it more than

57:33

what people expect it to be considering

57:35

viewership has been down. You

57:38

know, he's, he's

57:40

a good businessman. There's no way around that. He's

57:43

made money, but it is not been,

57:48

fans have not been the priority and

57:51

they aren't. And that's what you need to

57:53

get back. Truly want to grow

57:56

this thing out and max

57:58

it out. You got

58:00

to start caring about fans more. Yeah. You

58:02

should be able to buy tickets to a

58:04

Saturday ABC Nuggets fixtures game and be assured

58:07

that a guy who's not on the injury

58:09

report is going to play. Tim

58:11

Bontemps literally said going into it. I talked to

58:13

him beating the locker room. He's ready to go.

58:15

Nick Nurse said he's ready to go. It's

58:18

like, Oh, our training staff watched him in

58:20

warmups and get out of here, bro.

58:22

Come on. Now I

58:24

spent the old season laudin this guy talking about his

58:27

historical season, talking about how it's going to be a

58:29

shame if he doesn't get to 65, but he, you

58:32

know, can't win the MVP cause he's

58:34

that unbelievable now I won't, I

58:36

won't shed one single tear cause that

58:38

that's there. There's a burst. There's a

58:40

burst on the 65 game thing. And

58:43

just one thought we, I don't think we touched this when we

58:45

brought it up last week, but let's say the

58:47

65 game rule didn't exist, right?

58:50

And this weren't even a topic of

58:52

conversation and it be finishes with 59

58:56

or 61 games, would he really win

58:58

MVP over somebody who has got 77

59:00

games or 75 games

59:03

that if Yokich has that or a Yannas

59:06

or SGA, you know how many games Yokich

59:08

is man? Oh, like

59:10

three, four, something like that. One, one,

59:12

only one, really one, one, one. I

59:14

thought he had only one. Man,

59:17

that's crazy. One. And

59:21

I don't think he cares about anything. No,

59:25

Yokich, Yokich cares. But he plays.

59:28

I get him. He plays every night. Oh,

59:30

you hadn't seen all them videos where I

59:32

love those videos. I, I guess

59:34

it got on my algorithm where

59:36

the guy's bitching about, he's like, man, I hate

59:38

this dude. And they show him like warming up

59:41

and he's like, basically like just kicking

59:43

a ball at the rim. And then he's like,

59:46

BS hook shot. Like he's just not

59:48

even warming up. He's just screwing around.

59:51

He's like, I hate this guy. This guy doesn't

59:53

even think he doesn't even warm up. He

59:56

just shows up, gives everybody. Anybody

1:00:00

buckets and goes home and then

1:00:02

watches like horse races on its phone. For

1:00:05

what it's worth, Kawhi's only missed four games. So

1:00:09

it's not like we don't have certain players that

1:00:11

are playing a lot. I

1:00:13

mean, I do think it's been better overall

1:00:16

this year. It's just that, that

1:00:18

in bead, you know, situation just

1:00:21

makes it feel so much more massive and I

1:00:23

think the guy that nobody really

1:00:25

talks about either is the amount of

1:00:27

time that Kyrie Irving has missed. Kyrie

1:00:29

is just, he has a sprained thumb

1:00:31

and he's been out for seemingly forever

1:00:34

with a sprained thumb,

1:00:37

um, that guy, that guy misses a hell of a

1:00:39

lot of time. Anytime he's got an injury. Oh,

1:00:43

at least LeBron and Curry played, give

1:00:45

them that. And they put on the

1:00:47

hell of a show that made people forget about how

1:00:49

disappointed they were in the first one, not

1:00:52

materializing. And Curry

1:00:54

showed a little muscles by ripping a

1:00:56

jersey, not easy to rip an NBA

1:00:58

jersey, but he did it.

1:01:00

That game, that game, that

1:01:02

Lakers Warriors game was one of the best games of

1:01:05

the season. Oh yeah. That

1:01:07

was unbelievable. That

1:01:09

game was unbelievable. So many big shots,

1:01:12

LeBron and Steph going at it toe

1:01:15

to toe again, the just unbelievable performance

1:01:17

by both of those guys. And

1:01:19

like you watch that game on Saturday night for the Lakers

1:01:21

side of things. And you're like, Oh, wait a minute. Are

1:01:23

they, are they starting to

1:01:26

figure some stuff out? They finding themselves.

1:01:28

And then they lose tonight on Monday

1:01:31

to the rockets and they just get absolutely

1:01:33

destroyed and you get LeBron. You've

1:01:38

got to go back and see this. Uh, cause

1:01:41

I, somebody said it to

1:01:43

me in the, I think it was in

1:01:45

the first quarter, maybe second quarter, the, the

1:01:47

Vanderbilt ejection. Yeah. So

1:01:50

he flicked Dylan

1:01:53

Brooks in the back of his head. Oh

1:01:55

yeah. Oh, that's all

1:01:57

he got. He did hilarious. Hilarious.

1:02:01

Hilarious. All right. When

1:02:03

is Ham going to start that lineup

1:02:05

from last year, man? When is he

1:02:07

going to do it? He's got his

1:02:10

big three. DeLo and LeBron and AD

1:02:12

been cooking recently. I don't know if they

1:02:14

can tell the Houston. What's

1:02:18

his thing for Torian Prince? What

1:02:21

is this? What does he continue starting

1:02:23

him for instead of Vanderbilt? He

1:02:26

played that five man lineup for 19 minutes

1:02:29

on Saturday night. The LeBron, AD,

1:02:31

DeLo, Reeves, Vanderbilt lineup for

1:02:34

19 minutes on Saturday

1:02:36

after they played a collective nine

1:02:38

minutes over the entire regular season.

1:02:40

When that was the five that

1:02:42

they used the second half last year to

1:02:45

make the playoffs and go all the way

1:02:47

to the West finals after that game on

1:02:49

Saturday, AD was asked

1:02:51

about like, do you think this is

1:02:53

going to be when you're going to start going back to

1:02:55

that lineup and AD's like, gee, like

1:02:57

he's like smirking. He can't like keep the

1:02:59

smile and he's like, that's a coach question.

1:03:02

It's like very revealing. I think,

1:03:04

I think Ham has completely lost

1:03:06

the Lakers locker room. He

1:03:09

has lost the trust of that team and

1:03:11

because they know, because they, because they know

1:03:13

the answers. They know the answers

1:03:15

that can help from within and he's

1:03:18

not doing that regularly. All right. There

1:03:20

you go. It's going to

1:03:23

do it for our show. Thank you to our executive

1:03:25

producer Jesse Lopez as always. Kevin, I'll talk to you

1:03:28

on Thursday. Looking forward to it. It

1:03:43

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