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See amazon.com/amazon prime for details. Welcome

2:00

to the Best Match Upers morning

2:12

and joining me on this Tuesday

2:15

morning from the ringer.com

2:17

is Kevin O'Connor aka

2:19

Kevin O'Conner, Kevin O'Conner,

2:21

Kevin O'Camera, Kevin O'Cimer,

2:23

Kevin O'Candyland, Kevin O'Blazarian,

2:25

Kevin Sveer Kevinooooooooooooo we

2:30

both win the game how you had fun last night?

2:32

I had fun we did not

2:34

record late last night which was Monday

2:36

night because you were on the west

2:38

coast let's start with that one. you

2:41

went to Clippers Wolves which could

2:43

be an EX Def playoff

2:47

matchup and I think

2:49

probably got more than you

2:52

bargained for with that Wolves performance if

2:54

you were looking to be impressed with

2:56

the team I gotta imagine you

2:58

left Staples Center now

3:00

crypto center pretty impressed with

3:03

what you saw from Minnesota. Incredibly

3:06

impressed from Minnesota I

3:08

mean if you're looking for a game that gives

3:10

you a reason to believe in the

3:13

table Wolves as a legitimate finals contender

3:15

I think you would want to watch

3:17

that Minnesota Clippers game last night that

3:20

third quarter tremendous

3:22

defensive performance by them to help build

3:24

that lead obviously offensively they were very

3:27

good as well creating buckets Anthony Edwards

3:30

Rudy Gobert at the basket on rolls to the

3:32

rim they did a great job offensively but in

3:34

the middle of that third quarter I know

3:37

it's gonna it's gonna sound very

3:39

expected coming from me Chris but as

3:42

soon as Russell Westbrook came in the game they

3:45

had Rudy Gobert helping off him staying in the

3:47

paint and then when Gobert was out they had

3:49

Kat doing it to end the third quarter

3:51

and I thought it really just screwed up that

3:54

Clippers offense they weren't getting any paint

3:56

penetration at all their

3:59

individual defenders were doing a tremendous

4:01

job throughout the entire period, even

4:03

before Russ got put in the

4:05

game. Anthony Edwards, McDaniels both against

4:07

Kawhi Leonard forcing multiple turnovers, creating

4:09

hard shots for him, not letting

4:11

them get to the rim.

4:14

I thought overall that defensive performance by

4:16

Minnesota and they've always been a great

4:18

third quarter team this season, really was

4:20

a good example of what they

4:22

could become post-season time relying on

4:24

their defense as their foundation. And

4:27

then being good enough offensively with

4:29

Anthony Edwards when he's on, Mike Conley

4:32

creating some good shots, hitting threes off

4:34

of screens. They showed some versatility on

4:36

offense in addition to having their dominant

4:39

defense in that third quarter. Is it

4:41

possible that Minnesota is

4:43

just a uniquely bad

4:46

matchup for the Clippers? We always see

4:48

this when it comes to post-season time.

4:50

That there are some teams that it's

4:53

just it's match-ups and

4:56

they've got big wing

4:58

defenders, they've got somebody that

5:00

can guard the basket and

5:03

they've also you're

5:06

not at a massive disadvantage

5:09

in terms of the point guard. You don't have

5:11

some explosive point guard that is going to put

5:13

Mike Conley on his

5:17

make him a detriment to you or

5:21

whoever they put out at

5:23

their guard positions. Because

5:25

of their size, because they're able to

5:27

match the physicality and because of the

5:30

length that they have on

5:32

the wings, that they just happen

5:34

to be uniquely equipped

5:36

to deal with what makes

5:38

the Clippers great. And

5:41

so that is a team that if I'm the

5:43

Clippers, I kind of want to steer clear of

5:45

because there's not a lot of teams that

5:48

are uniquely equipped to deal with

5:50

that. But they just happen to

5:52

be or am I

5:54

overreacting it is just one game? I

5:56

mean it is just one game, but I

5:59

do. think you're right on

6:01

when it comes to like projecting that match

6:03

up on paper because Minnesota has great

6:06

wing defenders. I mean, they

6:08

have the best one arguably.

6:10

And sigh, you know, most

6:12

people like Kawhi and Paul

6:14

make teams look small. And

6:19

they got, you know, a bunch of bigs. They're

6:21

rolling out there with Go Baron towns at the

6:23

same time or Nas Reed coming off the bench.

6:25

So I think with Minnesota, they are a difficult

6:28

matchup for the Clippers. I

6:31

mean, it is just one game, but ultimately I

6:33

came away highly impressed by the Timberwolves last night.

6:35

And I mean, the Clippers in their own right

6:38

are still, you know, a great

6:40

team. One of the teams that you can

6:42

look at and say they as is our

6:44

finals contender. But that third

6:46

quarter I thought was, you know, pretty special for

6:49

Minnesota last night. If you're looking for a reason to

6:51

believe in them as a finals contender. Yeah,

6:53

in terms of believing them as a finals contender, I

6:55

think it's gotten to the point in the season where

6:58

most of the rhetoric that you

7:00

hear feels

7:02

like people think that

7:05

the Nuggets and the Clippers are

7:07

on a collision course, that

7:09

these are the teams that when you

7:11

hear most people saying who they think

7:13

can come out of the West, the

7:15

Clippers have won a lot of people over in the

7:17

past month and a half. And

7:21

obviously, Denver is

7:24

always going to be a pick to be

7:26

there at the very end, as long as

7:28

they have Jokic and they are the

7:30

reigning champions. That being said, do you

7:34

react in a way from watching that going,

7:36

you know what? Minnesota

7:38

should be in that mix too. Like

7:41

we are, people, they have

7:44

been fantastic all season long. No,

7:46

I don't think so, Chris. No,

7:48

I think I don't think Minnesota

7:51

belongs in that class yet. I

7:54

mean, you look at the Clippers side of

7:56

things, they have Kawhi Leonard, who's won

7:59

championships. and who is playing and

8:01

you know, I had him we'll talk about the

8:03

bond temps MVP poll later I had him in

8:05

my top five for MVP. I didn't see

8:08

where he finished. I haven't looked yet I want to

8:10

be surprised when you say it on the pod later

8:13

But um, I think with

8:15

they have James Harden who's been to

8:17

game sevens in the Western Conference Finals

8:19

against juggernaut warriors teams they

8:22

have Paul George who is an all NBA

8:24

talent and they have Perhaps

8:27

the best coach in all of basketball

8:29

and thai lu with a great rotation

8:31

as well, Minnesota They

8:33

are they have a lot of guys who've

8:36

been in the postseason, you know largely go

8:38

baron conley But Edwards despite, you know having

8:40

some success in the postseason. He's still young

8:43

He still has a lot to prove

8:45

the Clippers have elite ISO scores and

8:47

Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, Minnesota has

8:50

ants It's

8:52

been like after that they don't they don't have the

8:54

depth of guys who can be used to Just

8:57

crush mismatches on their side when it

8:59

comes to those endgame situations So I

9:01

think Minnesota has a lot to prove

9:03

if they're gonna do it They're gonna

9:05

do it behind having a historic playoff

9:07

defense They're gonna have to do it

9:09

like the Pistons did 20 years

9:12

ago where they had an

9:14

amazing defense Anchored

9:16

by Ben Wallace and Tayshaun Prince and Chauncey

9:18

Billups at the point of attack and all

9:20

those great Pistons teams in And

9:23

their offense needs to be clutch good enough

9:26

That that's where Billups really made his

9:28

name, right? Big shot Billups.

9:30

That's where he that's where he did it

9:33

was in the postseason So I think Edwards

9:35

Conley They're gonna have to have guys kind

9:37

of you know Just be clutch and then

9:39

game situations and show that they don't need

9:41

to have that star ISO score behind Edwards

9:43

That they can be good enough offensively and

9:45

dominant defensively to go all the way, but

9:47

the Clippers have so much more Proven

9:49

on their side of things compared to Minnesota. I think a

9:51

lot of Wolf's fans would even agree with that Well,

9:54

and the other thing is as you've mentioned a

9:56

couple different times in your game that you went

9:58

to last night their work done

10:00

in the third quarter. So the

10:02

fourth quarter became inconsequential

10:06

and that's where they have really

10:08

struggled this year. Minnesota

10:10

has had a rough go

10:13

in fourth quarters and

10:15

we know when it gets playoff time to

10:17

your point about how it's like Edwards and

10:19

then all right who else is gonna get

10:21

it done for me. We

10:24

know how playoff games go that

10:26

the margins are so thin that these

10:28

teams end up knowing each other so

10:30

well and that once you get to

10:32

games four, five, six those

10:35

games are gonna come down to the last couple minutes of

10:37

the game. And so who can

10:39

be Mr. Big Shot for Minnesota

10:42

like Chauncey Billups became

10:44

for Detroit and their finals

10:46

run. So who can be that for Minnesota?

10:48

It might just be Ant. Ant might just

10:50

reach a need of a higher level come

10:52

postseason time. That's possible. Like this could be

10:55

a this could be the year of

10:57

Anthony Edwards. That's what it could turn into where

10:59

he becomes that guy. But you know I guess

11:02

we'll see who elevates their play in the

11:04

postseason from Minnesota offensively because they're gonna need

11:06

to have that because their defense is gonna

11:08

be great. I have no doubts about their

11:10

defense at all. People people last night I

11:12

tweeted out how Gobert is the defensive player

11:14

of your favorite right now. It's been I

11:16

said it's amazing to see him reaching an

11:18

even higher level defensively now these surrounded by

11:20

great perimeter defenders compared to Utah and you

11:22

know some people always respond well he's gonna

11:24

get played off the floor in the

11:27

postseason. I just I just don't think

11:29

I don't think that's fair at

11:31

all. I think you're just not watching the

11:34

wolves right now if you feel like it's

11:36

so different with this team. They they have

11:38

more support. If Gobert does get pulled out

11:40

to the perimeter they can still have cat

11:42

inside. They can still have McDaniels as a

11:45

help defender inside. They still have size. If

11:47

offensively he is being helped off

11:49

of or not respected I think he's a

11:51

better finisher at the basket now than he

11:53

was in his Utah days. He had a

11:55

finish against the Clippers on Monday where like

11:58

he had he received the ball around the

12:00

free throw line dribbled a couple times to get

12:02

into it for the paint for a finish. He

12:04

can put the ball on the floor once if

12:06

he needs to. Before if he dribbled once it

12:08

was like going nowhere. He's gotten

12:10

better at some of those finishes to

12:12

punish smaller guys, whereas in past years

12:15

he wasn't capable. So I think Colbert

12:17

has improved in the ways that, and

12:19

the roster has improved around him in the ways that I

12:22

don't think he can get played off

12:24

or neutralized in quite the same ways

12:26

that he did with the Jazz. So

12:28

I don't even worry about that with

12:30

Minnesota at all. It's more, it's purely

12:32

about do they have enough firepower on

12:35

offense with spot up shooting, reliable spot

12:37

up shooting? Do they have enough ISO

12:39

scoring? It's not even

12:41

anything to do with Colbert, Kat,

12:44

it's just about really I think, or Edwards for

12:46

that matter, it's about everybody else. Alright,

12:49

so I'll half agree. He will get

12:51

played off the floor, but I

12:53

agree they are infinitely better equipped to deal

12:55

with it than they have been

12:57

and their Utah teams. That's why they've got

12:59

a hundred million dollars soaked up in centers.

13:05

Seriously, fine, go

13:07

five wide, play small against

13:09

us, force us to not have

13:11

him on the court because he's

13:13

not going to kill you offensively, but we've

13:16

got to get him away from the basket.

13:18

That's fine, but now I

13:20

have Nasrid, now I have Carl

13:22

Anthony-Townes that can man those positions

13:24

and I've got real size on

13:27

the wings. So I'm

13:29

still big all across. That

13:31

was always the problem with Utah. They

13:34

are so small and they got

13:36

like 50 year old Derrick

13:38

Favors or whoever the hell they would bring in. If

13:43

somebody is trying to play him off

13:45

the court, it was tough. They

13:48

are equipped to deal with if

13:50

you want to play that way, okay,

13:53

we've got the good stuff. They can't even

13:55

go Kyle Anderson because Kyle Anderson is one of

13:57

those massively switchable deflates.

13:59

vendors that can give you

14:02

minutes on different guys. The

14:05

game I went to last night was about

14:07

one thousandth as

14:09

entertaining as the one that you went

14:12

to. Yeah, tell me about it. I

14:14

saw, I mean, it's

14:18

a season that began with

14:20

a John Merritt, Desert Bay,

14:23

Marcus Smart, Jared Jackson

14:25

Jr. and Steven Adams, and the only

14:27

one that remains is Jared Jackson Jr.

14:29

and you literally have no idea who's

14:31

playing any given night. We're

14:34

on the pregame show last night and I

14:36

turned to the host, Rob

14:38

Fisher, and we ran some B-roll

14:40

of going through the layup line. I said, who

14:43

the hell was that? Because

14:45

they showed this guy making the layup from the

14:47

side and he was like, that's Lamar

14:49

Stevens. And I was like, oh, he's

14:51

got Lamar Stevens. Okay. It's like, who he

14:53

played for, T. Lamar Stevens, he

14:55

was playing. By the way, Lamar Stevens is good.

14:57

But if I get a watch. You guys should

14:59

do, I'm sure they wouldn't allow it, but you

15:02

guys could do a who he played for segment

15:04

for the Grizzlies. You could show faces of players

15:07

that have played for the

15:09

Grizzlies currently. Yeah. Tucson,

15:12

Ola Wamba or whatever. I'd be

15:14

like, it's crazy. It's every game.

15:16

So anyways, it is of no account

15:19

to watch the Pelicans play against

15:21

a group of guys that might be different every

15:23

single night. That being said, if

15:27

anybody out there, because

15:29

I know nobody's paying attention to this, but it's what I

15:32

was at. So I'm going to talk about it. If

15:34

anybody out there is tired of

15:37

the amount of explosive offense

15:41

that goes on in the NBA, is

15:43

the scoring too great in the NBA?

15:46

I would encourage all of you. It

15:49

would be an absolute delight for you to pull up

15:51

your league pass and fast forward and

15:53

watch the fourth quarter and watch

15:55

the Grizzlies beat the Pelicans in the fourth quarter 14 to

15:57

10. It

16:03

was one

16:06

of the hardest things I've ever seen in my life.

16:09

Fourteen to ten. I

16:11

mean we had it, I see the score is 96 to 87. Pelican

16:15

to win. Dude. So that's

16:17

like a score from the pre-Warriors days

16:19

in the mid-20s. We

16:22

got those every night. 96-87. That's

16:24

normal. I mean. Look,

16:27

here's what I'll say about seeing the Pelican's

16:29

a person again. And look, I

16:31

know Pelican's fans always get mad at me

16:34

anytime I give an opinion about them. I'll

16:36

say this. They would have been dead

16:38

without Herb Jones and Larry

16:41

Nance. Those are the kind of

16:43

guys you have to have in a game

16:45

like that. There's still guys that care no

16:47

matter who they are playing against. The

16:50

rest of the guys were like totally going through

16:52

the motions. The Zion body

16:54

language still just drives me crazy. It's

16:56

just moping all the time. And

17:01

I, watching that

17:03

fourth quarter play out, like

17:05

it got to the point where they like

17:07

needed to score. They needed to get buckets.

17:10

And the Ingram Iso is always there, which

17:12

he hit the two biggest shots of the game. They

17:15

still, like I would go out and

17:17

look for a veteran point

17:20

guard. I mean, Lowry actually would have been

17:23

nice for them. Just somebody to settle it

17:25

down and organize it. I swear to God

17:27

in the fourth quarter and like down the

17:29

stretch, it's just, it

17:33

just, the ball never pops around and

17:36

it's whoever's got the ball. And

17:38

it's like Zion driving into three

17:40

guys or McCollum trying to do

17:42

a step back or it's Ingram

17:44

getting to his elbow, fade away

17:46

jumper. But it's just, they

17:48

just need, they got so much firepower. They just

17:51

need somebody to organize it. I

17:54

feel like, and I am shocked that

17:56

they did not go that route

17:58

or acquire somebody. And

18:01

that's all I'd say. Like again, these

18:03

games come down to fourth quarters. We know

18:05

that whoever they play in the playoffs,

18:08

and they are

18:10

such a high ceiling, low floor team.

18:13

Defensively, they're just not good enough. When

18:17

they've got their best, their best

18:19

offensive players aren't good enough defensively.

18:22

And their best defensive players,

18:25

I actually think can get it

18:27

done on

18:30

the offensive end enough. And

18:32

it's just going to be about Willie Green mixing

18:34

and matching that. Because

18:39

I mean, this Rhett Grizzly team

18:41

last night, Kevin, I

18:43

mean, they shot literally six

18:46

wide open threes down the

18:48

stretch. Side of the

18:50

backboard, Briggs. It's like the offense generates it

18:52

because you're putting them on skates. And I'm

18:54

just thinking about that through the prism of

18:56

this is what good teams are going to

18:58

be able to do. Is

19:00

they're going to be able to generate these open

19:02

shots. And you just, you're giving

19:04

up too much, too many of those.

19:07

You're giving up too many corner threes, wide open

19:09

looks. You just happen to be playing a team

19:11

that can't make them. But

19:15

really, you know, like I said, the

19:17

high ceiling, low floor. And

19:21

I just don't know about the connectivity

19:24

of them. And I

19:26

also don't know about getting

19:28

it in order. It's very, very

19:30

Phoenix-esque in the

19:32

sense that that's another team without a point guard.

19:34

And you saw this with Minnesota and they've had

19:37

their own problems even with Connelly in the lineup.

19:39

But certainly when Connelly was out of the lineup,

19:42

it became kind of a mess. Just somebody

19:44

to bring the ball down and organize those

19:46

scorers and get them

19:48

the ball in a good position. So

19:52

anyway, those are my thoughts. It

19:55

was a ridiculous game, honestly. I

19:57

mean, come on. 96 to 80. 47

20:01

14 to 10 in the fourth quarter. That's ridiculous So

20:06

I'm jealous you I would have rather

20:08

been at clips wolves And

20:10

I would have much rather been at bucks

20:13

nuggets. So that was my

20:15

finals pick and That

20:18

felt like a yahness statement when

20:21

I got back and was flipping through everything that took place

20:23

last night Boy, oh

20:25

boy He um, but

20:27

he cares and tries to put up numbers every

20:30

single game and he's always like 3015

20:33

and 5 seems like no matter

20:35

But it feels like there

20:38

are certain games as we get especially

20:40

now Headed towards the all-star

20:42

break where a lot of teams can start to

20:44

mail it in With

20:46

their their eye is already on vacation in

20:48

a couple of days. There's certain

20:51

games that clearly Teams

20:54

still take very seriously and it felt like

20:56

the Bucks took very seriously that nuggets

20:58

game And certainly the most impressed we've

21:00

been with the Bucks in a long

21:02

time. I think Yeah,

21:05

honestly, I mean it feels like a statement game

21:07

for him, you know and going against yokich the

21:09

14 of 19 from the floor 36

21:13

points 18 rebounds 5 assists 3 steals

21:15

2 blocks Plus

21:20

18 in the game. He was purely

21:22

dominant But

21:24

I think more than anything else The

21:27

Bucks went against the Nuggets was a

21:30

statement game for Doc Rivers their

21:33

defensive Changes that have

21:35

occurred ever since Adrian Griffin were

21:37

was fired on January 23rd Were

21:41

were really put on display. I felt against

21:43

the Nuggets. They have been a below 500

21:46

team since that happened So

21:49

on paper on the surface, it looks like

21:51

well, they got rid of their coach and

21:53

now they're worse But like

21:55

I said to you at the time of the firing. It

21:58

won't surprise me if they end up having a record

22:01

without Adrian Griffin, but they actually look like

22:03

the better team where you feel like they have

22:05

a chance of going deep in the postseason and

22:07

actually winning it all. And I think that's exactly

22:10

what's been happening. And they finally get

22:12

the biggest win they've had last night

22:14

against the Nuggets because of their defense.

22:17

Giannis, we look at the scoring numbers,

22:20

but the 18 rebounds are in part

22:22

because they're keeping him closer to the

22:24

basket. He's grabbing defensive rebounds,

22:26

sparking transition offense. He's there at

22:29

the paint, roaming off ball, helping

22:31

off of non shooters, causing havoc

22:33

near the rim. They're for rebounds,

22:35

they're for rim protection, they're to

22:37

help out Brooke Lopez, who was

22:39

awesome individually against Jokic. He did

22:42

a great job deterring him, making

22:44

things harder on him, waving his

22:46

arms around, constantly active throughout the

22:48

game. And when Jokic

22:50

was involved in two-man actions, the

22:53

Bucks seem to be doing a way better

22:55

job fighting over screens. Like they have AJ

22:57

Green playing in their rotation right now. He

23:00

did a great job defensively. It's clear

23:02

why Doc Rivers is giving him minutes.

23:05

They're just fighting over screens instead of

23:07

dying on screens, which I'd

23:09

imagine is more of a tactical thing that

23:11

the coaching staff is informing their players to

23:13

do. They're not just dying right on the

23:16

screen. So I think the Bucks, they're

23:19

doing some little subtle

23:21

things defensively that I think

23:23

look more like some of those Bud defenses

23:26

of old, and it shows up in

23:28

the numbers ever since Griffin was fired.

23:30

They are fifth in defensive rating in

23:32

the NBA. So ever since January 23rd,

23:34

they're under 500, but they're fifth

23:36

in defensive rating. And that

23:39

was what needs to be fixed. And

23:42

I think the last couple of weeks for

23:44

the Bucks, they look more like a team,

23:46

even though they're five and six ever

23:49

since Griffin was fired with plenty for a couple

23:51

of games and then Doc, there have been three

23:53

and five with him, even though their record is

23:55

worse. To me, they look more

23:57

like a team that you could do. by

24:00

the end of the year when we have a larger sample

24:02

size say, oh, they're the favorite in

24:04

the East. I think that they could steal

24:06

that from the Celtics right now, who they

24:08

have their own issues as well, their own

24:10

concerns. But the bucks to me, that

24:13

win against the Nuggets is more indicative

24:15

of like the changes that are happening

24:17

defensively, even more so than what Giannis

24:19

did offensively, which was in part because

24:21

of those changes with that transition offense

24:24

that was smart. And for

24:26

all the dot critics, that is something he has

24:28

always been able to do. He's created

24:30

great defense. He has routinely

24:32

had top 10 defenses in the NBA

24:34

and get guys to buy in and

24:37

get guys to really play on that

24:39

end. And you're right, that's

24:41

been their problem this year.

24:45

And this has

24:47

been a trick because your point

24:51

of attack defender is Damian Lillard instead

24:54

of Drew Holliday. So

24:56

it is a different deal, right? It's not

24:58

what Mike Boudinhalser coached.

25:00

You know, things change. And

25:03

so you've got to try to figure out,

25:05

okay, how do we deal with what

25:07

we have on this roster? And what

25:09

do I have on this roster that can help me

25:11

get it done on that end of the floor? And

25:14

I think

25:16

very impressive. They took that game clearly very

25:19

seriously. It mattered to them and it mattered

25:21

greatly to Giannis. And if we're

25:23

talking about like MVP

25:26

versus MVP level player,

25:29

that's a monster Giannis performance

25:31

in a game where everybody's

25:33

looking like, Oh, what did

25:35

the two guys do? Yeah, for

25:38

sure. Yeah. I mean, I think people,

25:40

Giannis is going to have probably a

25:42

lot more of these games. I mean,

25:44

Giannis could very well play himself into

25:47

that top two MVP candidate. Again,

25:50

I don't know where he finished in the straw poll.

25:52

I want to be surprised. I had Giannis,

25:55

I believe third on my ballot, if

25:57

I remember correctly. I

26:00

mean, I couldn't sprinkle. I

26:03

said I had colossus. To be honest, third.

26:06

But... By the time I get to it,

26:08

I'm going to know your whole order. That's

26:10

okay. But I don't know. I

26:12

mean, I think that book's game, I mean,

26:14

Patrick Breverly, tremendous as well. Definitely.

26:17

I mean, they have some dogs. Jay Crowder

26:19

getting him back as well. They have those

26:21

energizers that I think helped the roster

26:23

from that standpoint as well. But I don't

26:26

know. Like, more than anything else. I mean,

26:28

I thought Brook Lopez was tremendous in

26:30

that game. Like, Brook Lopez start

26:33

to finish just his activity on Jokic,

26:35

making things hard on him. Like, you

26:37

can never stop Jokic. He still finishes

26:39

with 29 points, 13 of 25 from

26:41

the field. He's

26:44

still dominant. But you're not letting him

26:46

go 20 of 25, 22 of 25. I

26:51

think there were ways that Brook Lopez

26:53

limited him in the Bucks did collectively.

26:55

Because in that first half, like first

26:57

quarter, I thought the Bucks did a good job. They

26:59

had a game plan. Like, that's one of the things they talked about. We

27:01

don't have a plan. They

27:03

played with their typical drop coverage with

27:06

Brook Lopez against Jokic. And then

27:08

as soon as DeAndre Jordan came in the game, they

27:10

started being aggressive. They were

27:12

doubling, trapping, blitzing on every two-man

27:14

action. And then when Jokic came

27:16

back for the second time, it

27:18

felt like they were still going back to

27:21

their standard. But occasionally, Giannis was helping aggressively

27:23

off ball more. Like,

27:25

I would imagine that was the

27:27

plan. We played conservative to start.

27:30

Jokic out, we're aggressive. And

27:33

then when Jokic comes back, we blend. Like, they

27:35

were still playing more conservative, but Giannis began helping

27:37

more often off ball. It was just, I don't

27:39

know, they just looked like a prepared team that

27:41

knew what they were doing and knew what the

27:43

plan was going in. And

27:45

they just had to execute. And

27:47

that's what was missing with Adrian Griffin was a

27:50

lack of communication, lack of having a plan. And

27:53

with Doc Rivers, like you said, Chris, that's one

27:55

thing we know he can do. He can communicate with

27:57

his players. He's one of the better coaches in the

27:59

league at doing that. doing that. The question what Doc

28:01

is going to be adjustments come postseason

28:03

time. Can you make the tweaks necessary?

28:06

That's how he's blown some of those three one leaves

28:08

in past years just being too slow to make adjustments.

28:10

But I mean, he also, I mean,

28:12

when you have Damien Lowhead and Jana stuff, sometimes those

28:15

guys just drag you to victory no matter what the

28:17

coach or staff is doing, which is what we saw

28:19

the whole first half of the year with Griffin, like

28:21

they those guys, the game game

28:23

winner against the Kings from the logo,

28:25

Jana, some of the dominant fourth quarter

28:28

performances where there's Alpona could not stop

28:30

them many, many times. So

28:32

like, I think like, what was it?

28:34

At one point we were like, they

28:36

played like 25 clutch games or something.

28:38

Every game go to the end. Right?

28:41

Yeah. I mean, ultimately, though, I've been I've been

28:43

very impressed with the bucks ever since they made

28:45

the change. And I think, you know, I wrote

28:48

this on the site last week when I did

28:50

my post trade deadline power rankings, I was like,

28:53

they're in a transitional phase

28:55

right now. Like I'm not even looking at the

28:57

record as much. It's more like the process of

29:00

how things are happening. Like I'm ignoring

29:02

the record right now. But

29:04

like that, they're installing stuff every practice,

29:06

they're doing different schemes is I think

29:08

you get to give them time right

29:10

now. And those wins will start piling

29:12

up and the nuggets could be the

29:14

first of many to close the year.

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prime for details breaking

30:07

news uh in the middle of our podcast while

30:09

we were recording it before i get to

30:11

the news really what happened the sons have signed

30:13

fatty is young okay how

30:21

dare you i thought that

30:23

was breaking can you

30:25

believe i uh that's just news

30:28

you want to know how old i feel i feel

30:32

so i covered daddy as young in high

30:34

school oh yeah that mitchell

30:36

high school in memphis tennessee guy's

30:38

been in the league for like 50 years played

30:40

for like 10 teams by

30:42

the way one of my favorite

30:46

nba players like the reason he's stuck around

30:48

so long and he should be a great

30:50

mentor to young players in the league is

30:53

he is a great teammate and a great guy

30:57

and just real quick on a side

30:59

note about five

31:02

six years ago they

31:04

have a thing as they do in many different cities

31:07

you'll you'll you'll like this um

31:10

it's called race for the cure and

31:12

it's the 5k that they run

31:14

in different cities to raise money for

31:17

breast cancer awareness and

31:20

about five six years ago i hosted it

31:22

uh and it was in downtown memphis

31:25

and so the

31:28

morning of the 5k it's

31:31

like pouring outside there's still

31:33

thousands of people that show up for

31:36

it there's all kinds of breast

31:38

cancer survivors there's people that have different

31:40

reasons maybe i lost my mother maybe

31:42

i lost my grandmother maybe i have

31:44

somebody in my life that's going through

31:47

it and so no matter what the

31:49

rain or shine they showed up to

31:51

do this 5k so i'm standing

31:53

up on the stage and

31:56

doing like the announcements like hey

31:59

you know here's where the refresh what stand

32:01

is, here's where this is, here's the survivor's

32:03

tent, all this kind of stuff. And

32:06

it's probably 8 a.m. on

32:09

a Saturday morning. It's dark,

32:11

it's cold, it's rainy, and

32:14

all of a sudden Daddy

32:16

is young, walks

32:19

up unannounced in the

32:21

middle. I'm getting chills. He walks

32:23

up unannounced, he walks up on the stage and

32:26

I said, Daddy is. Daddy is young. He had

32:28

come in town the night before, I believe he

32:30

was playing for either Brooklyn or the Pacers at

32:33

the time, and they had

32:35

flown in the night before and

32:37

he walks up on the stage and I hand him

32:39

the microphone and

32:41

he proceeds to

32:43

speak to everyone out there in the audience.

32:45

I mean there's thousands of people out in front of him ready

32:48

to do the race and he proceeds to

32:50

speak and he said, I knew

32:53

this was destiny this

32:55

morning and I had to get over here. He

32:58

had lost his mother to breast cancer the

33:00

year before and he said, and

33:02

it just so happens my team is playing

33:04

on the road the one time we're in

33:06

Memphis all year. This happens

33:09

to be going on and

33:12

he starts giving his speech about breast cancer

33:14

awareness and please encourage all the females in

33:16

your life to get checked and all this

33:18

stuff and I'm like, I

33:20

can't believe this. I mean it is 8 a.m. of

33:22

a it's a game day and

33:25

he was not like scheduled to be there nothing.

33:28

Just walked up, walked up on the stage

33:30

and gave this speech out to everybody that

33:32

was there and I was like, I've

33:35

been a part of some pretty like where

33:40

the hair on your arm stands

33:42

up moments in my life but

33:44

it's pretty high up there and

33:48

he is he is a absolutely

33:52

great guy, great example. I see him out

33:54

like during the summer. I see him out

33:56

at the soccer fields with his kids you

33:58

know rooting them on just just like a

34:00

regular old dad. And so, look,

34:02

I know it's not a big deal that the Suns brought him

34:05

in, but I think that he

34:07

is, he's a great example of what

34:09

it is to be a crew professional.

34:12

And I'm happy that he's, you

34:15

know, gonna be part of another team. And

34:17

I'm glad that he's still in the

34:19

NBA because I think that there are

34:21

guys like that that have an

34:23

impact outside of basketball that maybe you wouldn't

34:25

know about. Unless I like, you know, just

34:27

told you that that happened. That wasn't like

34:30

some kind of big news out

34:32

there. But I think it tells you what kind of

34:34

guy he is. I think that also tells you why

34:36

teams still want him in their locker room after

34:39

a decade plus. It's

34:41

a good story, really. Yeah, I mean, I didn't know

34:43

that about him. I don't think I've ever heard that

34:45

from you in all the years we've been doing the

34:47

podcast. Yeah, crazy story. You know, sometimes it's the, you

34:50

know, like you said, he wasn't

34:52

scheduled to be there or anything like that. No. It's

34:55

the- And it was raining. Yeah,

34:57

he didn't have to go. Sometimes it's the things that you do

35:00

that you don't have to do that

35:02

make that type of lasting impact. And

35:05

probably I'm sure, like if he heard

35:07

that story, he probably

35:09

looks back at that moment fondly and

35:11

probably in every single way feels thankful

35:14

that he ended up getting up early

35:17

on a rainy day to go do that. Sure,

35:20

that probably, you know, made him feel full, made

35:22

him feel joy to do something like that. My

35:26

timeline was full

35:29

of people going crazy over

35:31

the Jaylen Brunson foul call last night. I

35:34

didn't know yours was too. I didn't see

35:36

it live, but I was scrolling through. I'm

35:38

like, oh my God, people are losing it.

35:41

Holy mother. I'd

35:43

say in terms of like

35:46

calls, then it's like

35:49

the only thing I can remember

35:51

that overtook the timeline like this

35:53

was the last

35:55

time was I think like the Draymond-Nerkich

35:58

thing. Like it was. That big

36:00

a deal. It's a way where

36:02

it gets aggregated and viral in

36:04

a way where it's like every

36:06

single site that you follow and

36:09

every single person is commenting

36:11

on, oh my God, the

36:15

nicks were robbed. And

36:17

I've seen it from a couple of different angles. I

36:20

don't know if it's going to hold up in the two-minute

36:23

report or not. They

36:26

may do the minor contact thing,

36:28

but that is so

36:31

bogus. Well, Edra Loy, the

36:34

referee after the game, he said, after

36:36

seeing it during postgame, the offensive player

36:38

was able to return to a normal

36:40

playing position on the floor of the

36:42

contact, which occurred after the release of

36:44

the ball, therefore is incidental and marginal

36:46

to the shot attempt and should not

36:48

have been called. So that's what Loy

36:51

said right after the game. Yeah.

36:53

Sorry we cost him the game. Yeah. When

36:56

they do the review though, it's going to be

36:58

funny if it disagrees with Ed Molloy. They're going to

37:01

say, oh no, the rest are right. Yep. Dude.

37:07

I don't think it was a foul for what it's worth.

37:09

Of course it wasn't. We get to the end. And

37:11

if we get to the end of the season and the nicks

37:14

miss their seeding by one game, you

37:17

better believe it's going to come back. That

37:21

one's not going away because

37:24

it's like a regular old,

37:26

regular season, one of 82 games, but

37:29

it's so egregious and

37:32

it costs, it literally costs them a

37:34

game that that one

37:36

will get brought up. Let's just

37:38

hope that they're either too back or too clear

37:40

of whatever they need to happen when

37:43

it comes at the end of the season, that

37:47

the one game difference would

37:49

not have made a huge

37:51

difference in their

37:54

standing. Whether it met,

37:56

you know, because I mean, shoot, you never know. This stuff could

37:58

come down to whether or not. you get to host

38:01

the first round or not in

38:03

a 4-5 matchup. We could say, ah, it's just one game, but

38:09

we know. We get to the end of the season and

38:12

you catch the wrong tiebreaker. It's like, bro,

38:17

if they wouldn't have robbed us in Houston, it'll

38:19

come back up. So let's just hope that

38:22

it doesn't end up costing the

38:24

Knicks in some kind of more

38:26

significant way than just having a random

38:29

middle of the season loss to the Rockets. But

38:31

that sucked. Also, who

38:33

wants a game to end that way? What

38:36

a dick for calling that. Seriously. You got

38:38

to get mauled. I know that it's like,

38:40

the rules are the rules and you got

38:42

to call anything, whether it's the first minute

38:45

of the game or the fourth or the

38:47

last minute of the game, you got to

38:49

call it by the way. There's always those

38:51

frigging nerds on Twitter, but that's

38:54

not the way it goes. It's

38:56

got to be bad for it to end

38:58

a game. Got to.

39:01

Got to. One of my favorite things on

39:06

Twitter is how Ben Stiller, all he

39:08

does is tweet about the Knicks. You're

39:12

aware of this? No, I don't love

39:14

Ben Stiller. Yeah, Ben Stiller, he, uh,

39:18

all he does is tweet about the Knicks.

39:20

Last night he, uh, went at NBA official.

39:24

Oh no. 700 retweets. How are

39:27

you going to deal with the

39:29

Houston Knicks awful call? Brunson getting

39:31

followed entire game by Brooks and then a no

39:34

call, then a call to

39:36

end the game, to take it out of

39:38

the player's hands. Brunson is an all star.

39:40

And that was not a foul on this

39:42

game. Wrong call cost over time. 700 retweets,

39:44

4,000 likes. You know what's

39:48

crazy? I actually thought about

39:52

Ben Stiller this morning. How come? Wow,

39:54

that's crazy. And I bring them up.

39:56

You're going to

39:58

laugh at this. Yeah, tell me. I

40:01

was scrolling through Instagram and

40:04

of course my algorithm is

40:07

just a bunch of stuff that makes me laugh and

40:10

somebody posted like a

40:12

split screen of what

40:15

Ludacris was wearing when he came

40:17

out of the Super Bowl and

40:19

what Ben Stiller was wearing in

40:21

Dodgeball. It's like this black and

40:23

purple shoulder pad outfit.

40:26

Oh I was howling. It really

40:28

looked like the exact outfit that

40:31

Ben Stiller was wearing in Dodgeball.

40:34

If you go back and look at what Ludacris

40:37

is wearing during the Super Bowl, it

40:39

was silly but it was funny

40:41

as hell. That's good. What's your favorite Ben

40:43

Stiller movie? I think it's Meet

40:46

the Parents for me. I

40:49

love the character. I love the

40:51

character in Dodgeball. Yeah, Dodgeball is a

40:54

great one. I love

40:56

him being the bad guy in

40:58

that. He

41:00

makes me laugh every scene. Every

41:02

scene. He's funny. He's got the

41:04

stupid mustache and he plays great

41:07

bad Globo Jim. I love the whole

41:09

thing. How about Starsky and Hutch? That

41:11

was really good too. I didn't see

41:14

it. That was really good. It was?

41:16

Do I need to go back and watch it? I

41:18

don't think I've seen it since it was in theaters

41:20

like 20ish years ago but I'm

41:22

just scrolling

41:24

through. Man, he's got a

41:26

lot of great movies. I think Kevin O'Sinema. Yeah,

41:29

Night at the Museum. That

41:31

was good when I was a teenager. Meet

41:33

the Fockers. Really good. Something

41:36

about Mary, obviously. Real

41:39

quickly, I do want to mention in that Knicks

41:41

game, which will forever be marred by the horrible

41:43

call that ended it, Ahmed Thompson

41:46

became the first rookie in over 40

41:49

seasons with 10 or

41:51

more rebounds, five or more assists,

41:53

five or more steals and

41:55

shoot 80% from the field in

41:57

the game. Crazy. How about that? Boy,

42:00

those Thompson brothers could do everything but put it

42:02

in the bucket, huh? Yeah, everything

42:05

but shoot. But

42:07

they do everything else, brother. They

42:09

are long as

42:11

all get out and they are athletic and

42:14

they really rebound. Both of them can

42:16

rebound and get in

42:18

the mix. And so they kind of do all the

42:20

little stuff. That's the kind of stuff that'll, honestly, it

42:23

is the kind of stuff that coaches will play you

42:25

for. They'll go out there and rebound and get steals

42:27

and wreak havoc. They'll

42:31

play you much more often than if you can go

42:33

out there and get me 12 points. It's kind of

42:35

funny how similar they are.

42:38

They truly are twins. They're

42:40

both like Ahman Thompson on the season.

42:43

6 of 38 from 3, 15.8%. Osar

42:46

Thompson on the season. 12 of 82 from 3, 14.6%. Ahman

42:51

is 64.7% from the line. Osar

42:54

is 63.8% from the line. They're

42:57

like basic numbers are similar. Ahman, 7.2 points,

42:59

5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists. Osar,

43:04

8.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists. Their

43:09

numbers up and down the line are

43:11

just so similar.

43:16

It's hilarious. Well, it's nice to

43:18

see Ahman getting an opportunity

43:20

and coming on here because we talked

43:22

about like rookies that are going

43:25

to make a mark like, you know, especially as

43:27

we head into the All-Star break and then

43:29

post All-Star break. Your guy

43:32

Brandon Miller has been unbelievable. I watched

43:34

him play over the weekend,

43:36

came out and had like double digits

43:38

I think in the first quarter against

43:41

Memphis on Saturday. And man,

43:43

he could score from every level. And

43:47

there's no doubt about it,

43:49

Kevin. The one thing that

43:51

you were dead on about

43:53

was preaching patience with Kim

43:56

and it is very

43:58

fascinating that you... trajectory

44:01

that mirrors

44:04

what took place with him at Alabama.

44:06

And you kept saying like, Hey, he

44:09

started slow at Alabama and then he

44:11

figured it out. And then he

44:13

was a MF and it's like, I

44:15

watch him now. I'm like, that is

44:17

not the same guy from the first 20 games.

44:19

If you flipped on a Charlotte game, like

44:22

not only has he been more empowered, but

44:25

this guy, you would not

44:27

know he is a rookie. In

44:30

terms of the way he plays and some

44:32

guys, like, you know, some guys look,

44:35

it could take years before they figure

44:37

things out and what they truly are

44:39

within the NBA, but this feels like

44:41

a very fast progression

44:44

within his rookie year. And he has

44:46

been absolutely dynamite for the last three

44:49

weeks to a month. And one

44:51

of the big things that we're seeing

44:53

from him is something that he only

44:55

had in high school because at Alabama,

44:57

they play like an analytically happy system

45:00

on offense, they shoot threes and

45:02

they go to the basket. They, they are

45:04

lasting the nation at taking mid range jumpers.

45:06

They just don't, Hey, Hey, Hey, real quick.

45:09

They don't even shoot threes. Have you ever

45:11

seen those stories they do on their practice?

45:13

Jim Nate Oates

45:15

has a four point line.

45:17

Oh yeah. That is drawn

45:19

on their court as to

45:22

give them more space. So

45:24

they become attempt to become

45:27

proficient from what they call their

45:29

four point line, which is a couple of feet

45:31

back from the three point line. And it's all

45:33

because of the spacing of it all for the

45:35

tray it up, lay it up offense, a hundred

45:38

percent like that. That's, that's their objective when

45:40

they're playing, right? And Brandon Miller, one

45:43

of the reasons why I really liked him entering

45:45

the college season, I was like, Hey, this guy,

45:47

like he could, he seems underrated. He could be

45:49

early. He could be a top five guy, maybe

45:52

even a number, like number two guy behind Victor.

45:54

It was because of the mid range

45:57

and in high school, he was a great

45:59

mid range. That was gone

46:01

at Alabama because it wasn't part of their

46:03

system, but it's back in Charlotte. You saw

46:05

it in that Memphis game Everybody

46:08

that's seen Bernie Miller right now is

46:10

seeing it the fluidity pulling up for

46:12

mid-range from difficult awkward angles is

46:14

there And a little young anger

46:16

me Honestly, it is ink

46:19

It does look like Ingram except I

46:21

think like Miller is an even better

46:23

three-point shooter than Ingram Ingram Ingram still

46:25

reluctant from three He loves the mid-range

46:27

almost too much But like

46:29

Miller is like has that fluidity front

46:31

like Ingram from mid-range But also he

46:34

has it from three-point range which gives

46:36

him that three level scoring ability But

46:38

I don't know it's highly impressive the passing

46:41

as well within the flow of that offense

46:44

Miller's defense he had a play recently where

46:46

he was like screaming at his teammates get

46:48

back Like it's cool to see

46:50

some of the intensity from him on a losing

46:52

Charlotte team That's what they're gonna

46:54

have to have He's gonna have to grow into

46:56

becoming one of those guys who's a tone setter

46:58

on top of being a scorer on

47:01

top of being A creator, but

47:03

I'm very impressed with Miller this year and

47:05

I think with him he's looking right like the

47:08

right choice Yeah, there's

47:10

no question. He looks like the right choice as of

47:12

right now Given

47:14

scoot struggles through his

47:16

rookie season Also,

47:18

I just want to mention Grant Williams good

47:20

fit with that team could fit. He's

47:23

had two really good outings to

47:26

start with them and Sometimes

47:29

things work out just changes the scenery can

47:32

work out for both guys and you see

47:34

what great was done and my god How

47:36

about the gaffer debut? The

47:40

debut was incredible and

47:42

in the first two games he's

47:44

played 20.6

47:47

minutes per game and

47:49

his average 17 and a half

47:51

points 13 rebounds and three blocks I'd

47:54

say that's a Let's

47:57

say it's working out in fact his first start

47:59

that He. That. Sixteen point, seventeen

48:02

rebounds, two steals, and five

48:04

blocks. God.

48:08

Should leave it. Daniel Gaffer did. A

48:11

really is crazy like sometimes it

48:13

is about situation instead. And.

48:16

In you plug him into that situation

48:18

or that's why Derek Lively made so

48:20

much sense as a draft picks for

48:22

them. And. Now Daniel Gaffer.

48:24

Same exact thing. So

48:26

were seen him play some of his best about apple. We.

48:28

Talked about are my thoughts: Without about Brand of Miller,

48:31

we better methods of. It's entirely too long to get

48:33

to the. Freakish. When

48:35

beasts triple double with ten blocks.

48:38

That. Like. He. Got a got buried.

48:40

I doubt that their record staying to and I

48:42

know that you know when the yeah I'm as

48:44

a constant. On. Every.

48:47

One that follows the a be A feeds

48:49

and everything he does. He. Not

48:51

becomes known about. But. Jesus man.

48:54

A double double with ten

48:56

block assess as to what's

48:58

ahead of like that's crazy

49:00

stats Crazy ten blocks. Of

49:05

each uttered last night as that was,

49:07

go at odds and you know. People

49:10

were three to get out is is the

49:12

burst. I showed my as of

49:15

up producer a sit by be at the

49:17

years ago but I was like brazil get

49:19

this six twenty seven as a the guy

49:21

to triple double with ten blocks and he's

49:23

like can you imagine. We.

49:26

Get three or four years down the road.

49:29

Like. What the hell is anybody going to

49:31

do with ham? This

49:33

is devoid. For.

49:35

A good triple double with ten blocks like

49:37

that is just like. I'm. Playing.

49:41

And. Playing it is in a dog I belong at

49:43

a different league. Because. these guys

49:45

are too little for peace but but the

49:47

and he decided he to be at a

49:49

giant sullied or bet that's that's what some

49:51

have a blocker like the key had a

49:53

block and the the third quarter i think

49:55

this is probably my favorite of the ten

49:57

blocks of not sure i've been all along

50:00

of them could be the favorite, but he was

50:02

defending in a manual quickly pick and roll and

50:05

quickly is coming down the lane and he's kind

50:07

of around the left elbow and, and when he's

50:09

kind of like swiping his arm at him, making

50:11

sure he doesn't take the little mid-range pull up

50:14

and then quickly makes the pass to the, to

50:16

the center. I think it was

50:18

a Purdle who was on the floor and

50:20

when be like barely even takes

50:22

a step across the lane and

50:24

reaches over with his right arm

50:26

and he just blocks the shot

50:28

easy. Like it looks, it

50:30

looks like he was there the whole

50:33

time because it's unfair because he

50:35

can be in two places at once.

50:37

He's that big. How is he, how

50:40

is he guarding somebody at the free throw line

50:42

and garbage somebody at the rim? Yes.

50:46

Remember that happened with the honest in the finals

50:48

a couple of years ago. You remember that? The

50:50

Andre Aiten block where, where you got, yeah, where he kind

50:53

of spun in the middle of the lane. Like that was,

50:55

that was one of the best playoffs

50:57

finals blocks that I've ever

50:59

seen. Yeah. He like showed

51:01

on a pick and roll Aiten block and

51:04

blocked the pass like after the role was

51:06

hit. That was true.

51:08

That's a great, that's a great callback

51:10

and when he's, and when he's someday

51:12

in those situations it's going to have

51:14

blocks like that in the playoffs when

51:16

the Spurs are that great of a

51:18

team. You can't, you can't be allowed

51:20

to guard both actions of the pick

51:23

and roll. That's illegal. Come

51:25

on. It is,

51:27

it is genuinely nuts watching this

51:29

guy. He is a transformative defender

51:32

already. I know Michael Pina, my ringer coworker

51:34

tweeted last night that he thinks when we

51:36

should be a defensive player of the year

51:39

finalist, I would agree with that. I

51:41

mean, I don't know if he'll finish in my top three

51:43

because the Spurs as a team are not

51:45

a great defense, but

51:47

they're way better when Victor's on the floor. Victor

51:51

changes everything. I think it's

51:54

kind of fair to say right now Victor

51:56

to say Victor Wabanhama is the best

51:59

defensive player. in the league? Is he

52:01

the defensive player of the year? You

52:04

see it a lot of those memes though going around. I

52:06

see it regularly. The

52:09

whole go bare, you know,

52:11

defensive player of the year season, when

52:14

BC that we're just doing counting stats,

52:16

like he's already surpassed some of those

52:19

freakish, freakish, how many

52:21

shots he blocks? He's been on a minute

52:23

restriction part of this season. He's kind of

52:25

out of it now. But I

52:28

mean, dude, it's also like not like

52:30

the thing that makes him so special is

52:33

it's not just the fact he's

52:35

big. It's the the hustle like,

52:37

yeah, the mindset he has this

52:40

like he had like you mentioned,

52:42

you talked about that Giannis block

52:45

against Aiten in the finals, like he had a

52:47

block on Barnes at the rim where he was,

52:49

I think it was Bruce Brown on the

52:51

on the perimeter that he was defending. And

52:53

he was like contesting his shot, the pass

52:55

goes into Barnes at the basket and when

52:58

he just quickly turns

53:00

his feet flips around and

53:02

blocks them from behind and they're up 30 in

53:04

the game. Like you don't need to

53:06

be hustling like that, man. But he's

53:09

still flying around. And it's like that

53:11

all the time with him, dude, it's

53:13

it's mindset awareness. You

53:15

know, just the intelligence, the

53:18

hustle the heart. He I mean, he's

53:20

like he is truly going to be like Victor,

53:22

like Rudy O'Bare might win his fourth defensive player

53:24

of the year this year. If

53:27

you're taking the over under for Victor

53:29

Wemenyama and his career staying healthy, you

53:31

I probably bet on the over for

53:33

when the player of the year he might

53:35

win seven, eight in

53:38

his career. It might get

53:40

to the point voters get bored to voting

53:42

for try to find somebody else. But I

53:44

don't know, man, like it's gonna be the

53:46

error of when but he is he is

53:48

unlike anyone we've ever seen. Last

53:51

two things before we get out of here. Warriors

53:54

back. Are

53:56

you a believer? You think

53:58

you believe in this? Yeah,

54:01

I believe in it. I think

54:03

there's something happening here with the Warriors.

54:05

They've got five straight wins. They

54:07

have been dominant with Draymond on

54:09

the floor. He

54:11

is another transformative

54:13

defender. Andrew

54:16

Wiggins and Jonathan Homingo are playing incredibly

54:18

well together. Stefan Curry looks

54:20

like his MVP self right now.

54:23

The Warriors have figured out their rotation. The

54:27

guys that they want to lean on. Pods are

54:29

still playing really well on that rotation for them as a

54:31

rookie. I'm a believer,

54:33

man. I think Kominga has

54:36

really figured things out. And

54:39

Steve Kerr has found his guys. And

54:41

Draymond, as long as he can avoid

54:43

suspension again. Draymond's been

54:46

great. He's

54:48

been sensational, dude. He's been absolutely

54:50

unbelievable. And Draymond's

54:53

unbelievable. He's helping

54:55

activate Steph. And on

54:57

defense, he is lifting everybody

54:59

up. I think they're for

55:01

real. And they are going to finish the season

55:03

as a team that you want to avoid in

55:06

the playoffs. That's what

55:08

I'm thinking right now of what we're seeing.

55:11

To your point about Kominga, since

55:14

the whole losing faith

55:16

in Steve Kerr. Those numbers

55:18

are amazing. It's 21 points per

55:20

game, 5.6 rebounds per game. 57%

55:23

from the field, 40% from three, 78% from the line. So

55:28

free throws can get a little bit up. But

55:31

to your point about Kominga, figuring it out a little bit.

55:34

And certainly since he made that statement. Now,

55:37

the Phoenix win is an extremely

55:39

good win. The

55:42

schedule, when you go and look, I

55:45

think it's going to be super instructive.

55:47

Let's see them. The

55:52

Phoenix game was great. And obviously the Curry shot

55:54

was just, let Me: Come on.

55:56

Absolute Majestic. They This week,

55:58

Wednesday. The night they

56:00

play against The Clippers. I. Think that's

56:02

gotta be. says. It's good

56:04

Be a great. Mark for.

56:08

Okay and that's a that's a big E S

56:10

P N game on Wednesday night. That of that's

56:12

up. That. Is a great premier

56:14

game. So. They've.

56:16

Won these games. You. Go

56:18

look at the schedule. Obviously the Phoenix

56:21

one is is really good. the other

56:23

ones. You. Know you could poke

56:25

holes in, you know, the opponent's I

56:27

agree. there's no whole poke in in

56:29

the clippers, so. We're. Back to find

56:31

out. You know if if if

56:33

we should really buy into this warrior

56:35

street? On. Wednesday night when we

56:37

see them against the teams that. As

56:40

a home game. And you know the

56:42

energies gonna be huge and the last game kind

56:44

of before the break. A thing other

56:46

players by to begin about a Pacers that? okay

56:48

yeah, they play at the Jazz again. But.

56:52

They'll. Go. Go. Go Hard! Wednesday

56:54

night that will be a they'll be a statement

56:56

type game. Yeah so we'll see if you're right

56:58

though. I mean they I think you know if

57:00

I'm if I'm placing a bet after. kind of

57:02

makes you know some easier opponents. I'd say I'm

57:04

but I'm a believer and I think some of

57:07

the changes have seen them from them or for

57:09

real. but the big tests are coming up. like

57:11

said Clippers on Wednesday on of the break their

57:13

first game as it is against the Lakers and

57:15

then they have a game against the Nuggets on

57:17

the Sunday after the All Star break. So they

57:19

have three games before the end of this month

57:21

rice or for I see they had the next

57:23

on the road. On the Twenty Nine.

57:25

So four games before the end of this

57:27

month it'll be really the real, the best

57:29

barometers from who the warriors really are right

57:32

now said those games. I'm very much looking

57:34

forward to that. When's the game? We have

57:36

the Clippers Loud I'm I'm excited to none

57:38

for our last thing on the bottom straw

57:40

poll operative spaces in it You participated in

57:43

it. Up the up here it is Ah

57:45

my family or your help I first are

57:47

your thoughts. I first gimme your six year.

57:49

And. will tell you when we go find my

57:52

text a bon temps because i can't remember

57:54

what order i with them and off me

57:56

and i got mine off i am i

57:58

target for years of i had I

58:00

had yokich one SGA to Luca three

58:02

Giannis for Kawhi fifth. That was mine

58:04

that I sent on last Friday That's

58:06

what I had last Friday. Okay.

58:09

I literally only have Luca and

58:11

Giannis flipped. Okay So

58:14

I had yokich SGA Giannis

58:17

Luca Kawhi cool. So we're very similar. So what

58:19

was the actual top five? I have it out

58:21

looks like I said I've not looked yokich

58:24

SGA Giannis Luca Kawhi

58:26

my list Wow Good

58:30

job Yeah So

58:33

I uh, and look I

58:36

I did not confer with anybody. Yeah,

58:39

so sometimes these can be You

58:42

know, you're guilty a group think when

58:45

it comes to this I didn't uh

58:49

The next is I mean tatum is like pretty

58:53

far back from uh,

58:56

he's 17 votes back from Kawhi

58:58

so it seems like most

59:01

most everybody had the same thing it

59:03

might have been a matter of You

59:05

know which guys uh What

59:09

order you had them in wow somebody

59:11

gave Brunson a first place vote and somebody

59:13

gave anthony edwards a first place vote Wow

59:17

What? Come on, bro. Come

59:20

on Yokich

59:22

69 first place votes

59:24

SGA 24 first place

59:26

votes So

59:29

right now yokich, I

59:31

mean it's still early it's not before the

59:33

all-star break We're midway through

59:36

Um, but 69 he's in the lead

59:39

Yeah the leader in the second

59:42

straw poll Embiid in

59:44

2022 and yokich last year Has

59:47

been surpassed by the second place finisher

59:49

and official award voting the past two

59:51

seasons. So if that trend continues It

59:55

would be SGA If

59:57

oklahoma city ended up the one seed I could see that Yeah,

1:00:01

me too. You know. Yeah,

1:00:03

I could see that as well. They

1:00:05

like to give the award to somebody else. Yep.

1:00:08

Yep. All right. Kevin,

1:00:10

it is always a pleasure. Thanks

1:00:13

to Isaiah for filling in for

1:00:15

Jesse Lopez today and producing the

1:00:17

show. And

1:00:19

I will talk to you on Thursday. Thank you for all that.

1:00:39

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