0:01

The twenty twenty three to twenty four NBA

0:04

regular season is down to its final

0:06

six days, and we've got updates

0:09

on year end award ballots, a

0:11

comprehensive look at the Eastern Conference

0:14

for a change rather than the West, and

0:16

more North American solar eclipse

0:19

talk than this show ever planned

0:21

or imagined. All that's next. You're

0:24

on a brand new episode, a brand

0:26

new edition of This League Uncut.

0:28

Welcome to This League Uncut

0:32

in the rule of twenty four hour NBA News. This's

0:34

you love, Chris

0:37

Haines. It's go time, work's

0:39

time, It's so time. This

0:45

League Uncut is underway and on fire.

0:50

This should be a good one.

0:54

Hey everyone, welcome

0:56

in to the latest edition of

1:00

This League Uncut. Mark Stein

1:02

here with Chris Haynes. It is late

1:05

on Monday night as we record

1:07

this. There were no NBA games

1:09

tonight as the

1:12

professionals let the collegians

1:15

have the stage. Of course, Yukon

1:18

won the National Championship. Of course,

1:20

Chris Haynes and I combined to watch

1:23

so little of it that any attempt at

1:25

analysis from us would be an affront

1:29

to the game of round ball. So we are just going

1:31

to talk about the stuff that

1:33

we know about, and that of course is

1:36

the NBA. But I have

1:38

to say, guys, and producer Ryan is here as

1:40

well. I mean, this was quite a day

1:42

in Dallas. Here in the path

1:45

of totality, we

1:47

had a full on solar

1:49

eclipse. Obviously it was a

1:52

big deal all across the country, but I don't

1:54

know, I guess in California, where you guys

1:56

are, I

1:58

mean, you tell me how big a deal it was in your

2:00

lives, because, like I said, for you know, we had I

2:02

had the glasses, my kids at school,

2:06

with all kinds of high tech photo

2:08

equipment taking pictures

2:11

of this thing. And I'm you know, I didn't. I

2:14

wasn't expecting to, but I really did get

2:16

swept up in the moment here seeing

2:19

a full blown eclipse.

2:21

I mean, I think there were people who were definitely

2:23

intrigued with it and

2:26

set up their day and planned around

2:29

to plant around their schedule to make sure

2:31

they could make it. I wasn't one

2:33

of them. I was actually in the air, flying

2:36

to LA.

2:36

You're in the air.

2:38

I was in the air, and no, I

2:40

didn't look out the window to see

2:42

if I can see the clip. I didn't care,

2:44

you know, no, really, I

2:46

have no you know, listen, no ill will towards

2:49

you people who do. I just didn't

2:51

didn't care, so missed

2:54

it.

2:55

And Ryan was probably on the Herd. Of course,

2:58

producer Ryan is part of the

3:01

army that produces and runs Colin

3:03

Cowherd's daily show. I'm

3:05

guessing you guys couldn't just hit

3:07

the pause button on live TV so everybody could

3:10

go outside and check this thing out.

3:12

I had had to do it live. No, we

3:14

were preoccupied, Although I will say I'm

3:16

a little surprised, Chris. Were you a window

3:19

seat and you just very much

3:22

avoided looking out the window

3:24

or were you at least an aisle guy.

3:26

No, I'm an aisle guy. I like to stretch my leg.

3:28

Yeah, yeah, a little bit, all right, So.

3:30

I get that maybe you didn't have a clear view.

3:32

Of it, Ryan, Ryan, that had

3:34

absolutely nothing to do with it. If

3:36

I was sitting in a window

3:38

seat, my shades would have been down

3:41

and I would have been sleep just like I was

3:43

on this On this flight, I usually

3:45

sleep. I knock out like I

3:48

And I love that about myself because it, you know, it

3:50

makes the makes the flight go

3:52

by quicker. But uh, yeah, I just

3:54

had no desire to. I'm sorry, don't

3:57

judge me, just had no desire.

3:58

No, we're not judging you at all. No, I'm just I just

4:00

have to say, like I said, even from my perspective,

4:03

I was not expecting to

4:05

get swept up in the moment. But you

4:07

know, here in Dallas again being in the quote

4:10

path of totality. It last happened

4:12

in the Greater DFW area

4:15

in eighteen seventy eight, and

4:18

it is not projected to happen again like

4:20

it did today with four

4:22

minutes of darkness just intruding

4:25

upon the afternoon at one

4:27

forty pm. It's

4:30

not supposed to happen here again until

4:32

twenty three seventeen. So

4:34

I don't think this league uncut will

4:36

still be in existence in

4:39

twenty three seventeen.

4:41

Hold on, man, you don't think we'll

4:43

have a show good enough

4:46

that it will stand the test of time. And

4:48

that's somebody else like our family, as

4:50

somebody our kids will take

4:52

over the program, on our grandkids

4:54

and their grand kids. You don't think it has survived

4:56

of survivings in staying power.

4:59

Maybe do you think AI is so advanced

5:01

that it could replicate your stories about

5:04

the rec League and everything

5:06

else that happens in your life. Is that possible?

5:10

Hey, listen, I've been looking at some you

5:13

know, I spent quite too much

5:15

time on social media, and I've

5:17

seen what AI can do already.

5:19

It's tricking some folks is writing stories

5:22

for people. AIS

5:25

was having their own conversation. So I wouldn't

5:27

be surprised what we could see, you know, at

5:29

that juncture.

5:30

But yeah, twenty three seventeen, Yeah,

5:33

I'm gonna be I will be able to tell the story

5:36

just like Chris Haynes about

5:38

storming out of the car at Popeye's.

5:42

Twenty three seventeen. So that's why everybody

5:45

was all up in arms about this eclipse.

5:47

Oh yeah, man, last week in Dallas we had

5:50

like I saw reprint of how

5:52

the papers covered it in eighteen seventy

5:54

eight. I mean, like I said, I just I've never

5:56

been you know, I've

5:59

never really gotten wrapped

6:01

up in previous eclipse

6:04

viewings. But this time, because it was such a

6:06

big story here for days and days and

6:08

days and so much, so

6:12

much, I guess pessimism that the weather was

6:15

going to mess it up, and then the weather really didn't mess

6:17

it up.

6:19

I have a question, then, when was the last eclipse

6:21

before this.

6:22

One, well,

6:26

I know there was a significant one

6:28

in twenty seventeen. But like I said, I am

6:31

not the authority on these things, So I mean to

6:33

quote anything I say on the matter is

6:35

probably probably a

6:37

mistake. I can only speak to it.

6:40

You can only speak to what.

6:42

I can only speak to it. Like I said, from

6:45

this opportunity that Dallas

6:47

had to have a total

6:49

eclipse, which, like I said, in this area,

6:52

you know, I know the because it's been

6:54

talked about so much here that people were saying,

6:56

yes, we have not been we have not had

6:58

this opportunity since eighteen seventy

7:00

eight, and so in.

7:02

Dallas, got you Okay, I'm about to say, because

7:05

this is this is a really uh

7:08

an erotic trend here.

7:11

So the last one was about seventy.

7:12

One kind of trend?

7:20

Can can

7:23

I fish my point? Start? About?

7:25

Allowed to fish my point?

7:26

I guess yeah, I mean, sure, finish.

7:29

The last one was seven years ago,

7:32

and now you said the next one won't happen until

7:35

twenty three seventeen.

7:36

Like what Like I said, like I said,

7:39

I I don't even know. Don't listen

7:41

to me. I don't know what I'm talking about. I know,

7:43

my knowledge is very very

7:45

very surface.

7:46

I mean, if I don't know about I don't know about

7:49

erotic trends.

7:52

I'm sticking with that erotic I

7:55

did.

7:55

I did listen to Uh they did

7:57

a daily episode on it today. So

7:59

they do happen every

8:02

several years or so, right, because there's

8:04

a guy who's an expert and he goes

8:06

to like every single full

8:11

eclipse based off of where they

8:13

are on planet Earth. So he's

8:15

been to like once on Antarctica, Australia,

8:18

India, Canada. So

8:20

to Stein's point, specifically,

8:22

the one that passes directly

8:25

over Dallas will only happen

8:27

every few hundred years, but

8:30

if you're willing to go to a different part of the

8:32

world, they do happen more or less

8:34

like a munch a decade.

8:35

Is kind of I think the cadence

8:38

of it gotcha.

8:40

Right, So yeah, I think I think the story

8:42

that Ryan is. You know, there's been talk about

8:44

this Texas gentleman who is one hundred and

8:46

five years old and this

8:49

was his thirteenth total

8:51

solar eclipse. So they

8:54

do happen, and it just, yeah, like that thing.

8:56

I think that was the other reason why it became such a

8:58

big deal here is that you know, there were stories

9:00

of people coming here from New

9:02

Zealand and all over the world to

9:05

see this thing where you know, Dallas

9:07

again was in the that's you

9:09

know that that much. I have learned that they do call

9:12

it the path of totality. But you

9:14

know what we've probably can.

9:17

We learned. We learned something new every day, and

9:19

I've learned like if I you know, it's

9:21

bigger in Dallas, because had I known

9:24

that I'm only going to see this once in

9:26

my lifetime, I probably would have planned

9:29

my schedule around it.

9:30

So that's what I'm saying.

9:31

If mygift to you Dallas

9:33

folks out there, but.

9:34

If Sacramento ever, if Sacramento

9:37

ever ends up in the path of totality,

9:39

you it will it will, you will

9:41

hear tons about it, and I am sure you

9:43

will get yourself a special set

9:45

of glasses like I did.

9:47

To Okay, now, let's

9:49

define eratic, not even

9:52

or regular in pattern or

9:54

movement, unpredictable.

9:57

So what Whatyes, I do

9:59

know what the word erratic means, but that's

10:02

not what it sounded like you said.

10:04

That's that was my that

10:08

was my concern slash confusion.

10:12

I'm pretty sure Producer

10:14

Ryan and our listeners and I

10:17

know the meaning of erratic E

10:19

R R A T I C. Unfortunately,

10:23

that's not what it sounded like you said.

10:27

Sorry, I've been watching too much of social

10:29

media clips. By my pause.

10:32

Should we talk about should we try? Should we try

10:35

to salvage this show and move

10:37

on to basketball? Let's go, because

10:40

there was even though this was a day that belonged

10:42

to the collegians, there was a little

10:44

bit of news earlier in the day. I

10:49

checked with the league office because I heard a rumble

10:51

over the weekend. I've said

10:53

at least once or twice publicly

10:55

being asked by readers by listeners

10:58

to kind of go over the award

11:00

ballot process and award

11:03

ballots. I'm sure we've talked about it here on this

11:06

League uncut. When do

11:08

ballots go out? When are awards

11:10

due? And the voting

11:14

for year end awards. For as long as

11:16

I can remember, ballots were always due

11:19

the day after the season, and ballots

11:23

typically would go out, you know, today with

11:25

like a week to go, and then again,

11:27

you know, in this year, I even

11:29

wrote about it because tax

11:32

Day is April fifteenth, and that's the

11:34

day after the regular

11:36

season, so it was like, oh, wow, April fifteenth

11:38

this year is going to be tax Day and the

11:40

day that year end award ballots are due.

11:42

But no, the league is actually implementing

11:45

a new system this season for

11:47

the first time in years and

11:49

years, and the reason is the sixty

11:51

five game rule, and it really does make sense

11:54

when you kind of get the explanation, but basically,

11:57

in five different award caps

12:01

that's where the sixty five game rule applies.

12:04

Only for five different awards

12:07

MVP, All NBA

12:11

Most Improved, Defensive

12:13

Player of the Year, and the All Defensive

12:15

Team. So for example,

12:18

the Rookie of the Year Award, the All

12:20

Rookie Team, the sixty five game rule

12:22

does not apply in those categories. But

12:25

for the five categories that the sixty

12:27

five game rule does apply, we're

12:30

not going to know the full, exact,

12:33

precise list of eligible

12:37

winners until the

12:39

season is completely finished.

12:42

So basically, the league office confirmed

12:45

today that ballots

12:49

won't be able to go out to voters

12:51

until after the regular season, and it sounds

12:54

like the voting process is going to be conducted

12:57

and completed between April

12:59

sixteenth and nineteenth, when

13:02

the play in tournament is going on. And

13:04

that means Chris Haynes, in addition

13:06

to working the sideline for a

13:08

play in game or two for TNT, you

13:10

are gonna have to do your ballots then, because,

13:12

as we have previously discussed here on

13:15

this league uncut, you are again an official

13:17

voter. I am not an official voter.

13:20

But that's the newsy

13:22

slight change to the award situation

13:25

that ballots will

13:27

go out and be completed between

13:30

April sixteenth and nineteenth, now the

13:32

week. This will all take place

13:34

during the week after the season, as

13:37

opposed to in the past where it

13:40

had to be wrapped up immediately the day after.

13:42

It really is not that big a deal. I don't think

13:44

it's going to change things dramatically.

13:47

What it does is, though people who like

13:49

to vote early, you can't. You can't

13:51

even get started until the league

13:54

sends out the ballot, which again is not

13:56

going to happen till next week. So you got a little

13:59

You've got a little X for time to get ready

14:01

with your various awards

14:03

elections.

14:04

Yeah, that's true. I mean they give you three

14:07

days from what you reporter, You got three days

14:09

from when they give

14:11

you your ballot. You got three days to submit

14:13

it. That's different. But

14:16

yeah, I mean you don't need your ballot to

14:19

to you know, have you know to already

14:22

have your picks in mind or

14:24

have them written down. So yeah, that's

14:26

not going to change anything.

14:28

Have you begun that process to any serious

14:30

degree?

14:30

No? I have not.

14:31

No, I have not, right,

14:36

and I'm not going to press you. But I'm sure if we said, hey,

14:39

you need to tell us your MVP right now, you

14:41

could at least give us two three names that you're looking

14:43

at.

14:43

Yeah, I mean Joker, Shaye.

14:49

Those the top two.

14:51

Man, you are still you don't even have Luca in your

14:53

top two yet. Man, top two over

14:56

say and Joker you

14:58

are tough. Hey,

15:01

it's your ballot. It is your ballot again.

15:03

And again I have it dissected,

15:06

the numbers and crunched everything. So

15:08

you know that can change once I do

15:10

a deep dive. But as of right now, just

15:13

looking at things from a glass, Yeah,

15:16

those are my top two Shayan Joker

15:18

right now.

15:19

So Harrison Fagan, he's the

15:21

NBA manager at ESP Nation, works

15:24

with all kinds of NBA

15:27

team sites under that

15:30

ESP Nation umbrella. And I know he

15:32

is a he's a very loyal

15:34

listener to this podcast and

15:36

he tweets. He tweeted after the last episode.

15:39

This pod is great because every episode

15:42

is basically like dot dot dot Stein,

15:45

who is your MVP? Haines?

15:48

I got mad. My wife picked Popeyes for dinner,

15:51

so I got out of the car and walked three and a half

15:53

miles home. That's the way

15:55

he summed up this league, uncut.

15:58

That sounds like a natural.

16:01

That's a natural progressive

16:04

on a conversation. That's how

16:06

totally normal to me.

16:08

All right, today I'm gonna rant about

16:10

something, and we'll see what kind of reaction I go.

16:12

Oh, hold on, hold on, stop, hold on, hold

16:15

on, hold on, ladies and gentlemen,

16:17

hold on, ladieship, before he goes

16:19

here, before he goes there. I want y'all

16:21

to understand and appreciate how

16:25

big of a pull this is to

16:27

get this out of Stein. Stein

16:29

doesn't tell you much about I've

16:31

just I've just found out about his family

16:33

about a year ago, and I've been knowing a guy for ten

16:36

years now.

16:36

So this is how this is. I didn't

16:38

want to get your hopes up too much. This is not a personal

16:41

rant. This is this is NBA

16:43

related.

16:43

You fooled us all even producer Ryan was

16:46

ready go ahead.

16:47

If you wanted a personal rant, you should have seen

16:49

me about ten minutes before we

16:52

started, because I wanted to throw every

16:54

piece of equipment I own into

16:56

the into the garbage because

16:58

nothing was working, so that

17:00

that actually would have been a good You guys would

17:02

have been quite amused had you seen that. It

17:05

was not pretty okay. If

17:07

Missus Stein ever comes on here, like Missus Haynes

17:10

did last week, she'll probably tell you

17:12

how dismayed and disgusted

17:14

she was by my behavior because it was a

17:16

John McEnroe esque

17:19

throwing tantrum, my

17:21

horrendous equipment. But that is not what

17:23

I came here to rant today. I came here to rant

17:27

about the Eastern Conference. Your

17:38

Eastern Conference, Chris Haynes. Seriously,

17:42

I've been debating. I did this in print as

17:44

well. Do I need to bring back my

17:46

Leastern Conference tag that I

17:49

used for years and years and years in the power

17:51

rankings? This is ridiculous,

17:53

ridiculous, and your Milwaukee

17:56

Bucks are a big part of this.

17:58

I mean, do you realize on

18:00

Tuesday morning, when this pod

18:02

drops and when the season

18:05

resumes, the Celtics

18:07

of Boston will enter the

18:10

Final six days of

18:12

the regular season with

18:14

a fifteen game lead

18:18

over the number two seeded Bucks

18:20

of Milwaukee. Fifteen

18:23

games. That

18:26

is outrageous. That

18:28

is unbelievable. And I'm

18:30

gonna put this to you both. Producer Ryan

18:32

can also participate trivia

18:35

time. When

18:37

was the last time we

18:40

saw a conference race

18:42

that was this out of hand, this lopsided?

18:45

And listen, do not be ashamed if neither

18:47

one of you can get this answer. Because I

18:50

didn't know either. I had to turn

18:52

to Justin Kubatko,

18:54

a good friend of mine who keeps he does

18:56

incredible NBA research. I needed

18:59

his help to look up. I give you,

19:01

guys, pretty much a zero percent chance of

19:03

getting it unless you read my piece

19:05

tonight, and I'm guessing neither one of you did.

19:07

So tell me, do you have any clue when

19:10

the last time we

19:13

saw such a gap between one and two

19:15

in any conference in NBA

19:18

history, any season.

19:21

I have I do not have a clue.

19:24

None whatsoever. That is totally understandable,

19:26

because you guys know, I fancy

19:29

myself to be a pretty decent

19:31

NBA historian, and I had no idea.

19:33

No, guests, you have to go all the

19:36

way back to the nineteen seventy

19:38

five seventy six season when

19:40

there were only eighteen teams

19:43

in the NBA as opposed to thirty in

19:45

nineteen seventy five seventy

19:47

six Golden

19:50

State defending the first

19:52

championship in franchise history.

19:55

Those Warriors, led by Rick Berry fifty

19:58

nine and twenty three. In

20:01

nineteen seventy five seventy six, Seattle

20:04

sixteen games back at

20:06

number two in the West at forty three

20:09

and thirty nine, and Phoenix ended

20:11

up going to the finals that year and

20:14

losing to Boston. Of course, that series

20:16

feature the game with Garherd

20:18

forcing overtime with

20:21

one of the most memorable shots

20:23

in NBA history. Celtics, though,

20:26

did win that series over Phoenix

20:28

in seventy six. So I mean, the

20:30

point is Boston has been so good

20:32

this season and the dominant team of the regular

20:35

season that the Celtics presence

20:37

that does give me some pause in

20:40

throwing out Leastern Conference rampantly

20:45

on this podcast. And obviously injuries

20:47

have been a factor up and down

20:49

the East, with more teams

20:52

than not in the East top ten.

20:55

There is an injury situation with note,

20:57

but still none Chris,

21:00

Please, I've ranted long enough. Please tell

21:02

me what's going on with the Milwaukee Bucks. I

21:04

mean they are, I mean to be fifteen games

21:07

behind Boston. And what we witnessed

21:09

last week from the Bucks consecutive

21:12

losses in Washington

21:14

then at home to Memphis at Toronto,

21:17

those teams are combined sixty

21:20

seven and one sixty

21:22

eight. What in the world is going on with

21:24

the Milwaukee Bucks.

21:26

Before I touch on the Bucks,

21:29

Stein, Stein and

21:31

Ryan producer, Ryan, I

21:34

want to stay on the Eastern Conference

21:36

because you you're calling it the Leastern Conference,

21:39

and you're pointing out the travesty that

21:42

is at the top of the Eastern Conference

21:44

standings in which the Celtics hold

21:46

a fifteen game lead over

21:48

the number two Bucks, which is

21:51

a valid point to bring

21:53

out. But I would like

21:55

to take your attention downward.

21:58

Let's go down, Let's

22:00

go Let's get to the eighth seed,

22:03

nine seed, tim seed. This

22:05

is where it's a travesty in my opinion,

22:07

Ryan, Ryan, and Stein, you're

22:09

talking about the play in situation. This

22:12

is the problem I have with the play in under

22:15

this circumstance and when this scenario happens,

22:17

and I think you know where I'm going with the stun You

22:21

have the Miami who

22:23

excuse me, you have the Miami Heat,

22:25

who sit at number eight right now. They

22:28

will be in the play in situation

22:31

most likely. But behind

22:33

them or below them, I should

22:35

say, are the Chicago

22:38

Bulls. And they

22:40

are six games above

22:43

the Chicago Bulls. So

22:45

what you're telling me is this a

22:48

team that is six games above

22:50

the next team. You're telling

22:52

me all it takes is for that

22:55

team below to win

22:57

two games, just

22:59

two games in the play is scenario

23:02

to make it to the playoffs. I

23:05

think that is totally unfair. I

23:08

love the play and I think has been great, But

23:11

I think if you're a

23:13

seventh seed or sixth seed or

23:16

whatever I mean seventh seed or a seed and

23:19

you have I think there needs to

23:21

be a number like if you're six

23:23

games are more above

23:26

the next team, you

23:28

should get an automatic birth to

23:31

the playoffs because it doesn't

23:33

make sense that.

23:34

I think some people would back you up on that

23:36

that you know, should there be a

23:39

games behind limit

23:42

or minimum requirement? Should teams

23:45

nine to ten do they have

23:47

to be within three games of number

23:50

eight or four games of number eight? But

23:52

I hear what you're saying, the Bulls will

23:54

enter Tuesday's play six

23:56

games behind number eight Miami. The

23:59

Hawks will enter Tuesday's play seven

24:02

games behind number eight Miami,

24:04

and if playing matters

24:06

go in a haywire

24:09

fashion, a team like

24:11

Philly or Miami could be knocked out

24:14

by a team that's well under five hundred.

24:16

However, I don't know that

24:18

it was appropriate for you to distract

24:20

from my initial rant when I

24:23

suspect that your real complaint

24:25

here is you want

24:27

to be in Miami and that's really all

24:29

you care about selfishly, which you've admitted

24:31

on this podcast numerous times, and you're

24:34

just upset that

24:37

because of the play in the Heat could

24:39

get knocked out early and you might not

24:41

get any games in Miami this playoffs,

24:44

and that's really all your concern is here.

24:46

You brought that up, not me, but

24:48

what I'm saying, let's stick to the broader

24:51

point. The broader point is, yes, I think

24:53

that is a complete travesty when

24:56

a team can win two

24:58

games, just two games, because

25:00

basically now you're telling me that five

25:04

or six games of the regular season really didn't

25:06

matter because the Hawks

25:08

or Chicago could

25:10

just get a heat.

25:12

Are really six or seven games better

25:14

than the Bulls and or Hawks. I

25:16

mean, shouldn't they win a one off game.

25:18

It doesn't match Stine. We understand the

25:20

injuries take you know, players can be

25:23

hurt, you know what I mean, Like the

25:25

Atlanta's finding a stride right now, like

25:27

they're gonna get Trey Young back pretty

25:30

soon. They're a different team now. So

25:32

no, you can't just look at it like because

25:35

anybody, anybody can be That's why I

25:37

have a story. Anybody can beat anybody.

25:40

And this brings me to my story, Stine.

25:42

I'll tell at the end of our

25:44

pod. Anybody can beat

25:46

anybody at any given time.

25:49

So if you're gonna say Star, well they

25:52

just they're better. They should be able

25:54

to beat them in a two game scenario.

25:56

No, these are professional players. It

25:58

doesn't matter. And you just taking away

26:00

all the importance of having

26:03

a six game lead. You might

26:05

as well just eradicate those

26:07

five or six wins that the Miami

26:10

had. That's all.

26:13

Well, Look, you were there last season when

26:17

after Atlanta stunned Miami in

26:19

the first playing game, you had Heat Chicago.

26:22

You were there for the start

26:24

of the Heat's fairy tale run from

26:26

playing tournament almost

26:30

play in tournament failure all the way

26:32

to a trip to the NBA

26:34

Finals. But you know what, again, let's I

26:37

think we still need to rewind, go back

26:39

where this ranting all started. What

26:41

in the world is going on with the Milwaukee Bucks?

26:44

Please enlighten us. I

26:46

know that's a team you know well cover

26:48

closely. You're constantly dialed in there. What

26:51

happened last week? Seriously, those losses

26:54

were ridiculous.

26:57

They're losing to horrible teams. The

26:59

team is just not very good right

27:01

now. Period. Can they

27:03

turn it on? Can they

27:05

find something? I don't

27:08

know, possibly, but this team

27:12

is just showing that they're not

27:14

that good, period, And

27:18

it would be hard to pick them in

27:20

any series right now. That's

27:22

just how terrible they've been over

27:24

the past few weeks. After the All Star

27:27

break, it seemed like they turned the corner.

27:29

They were doing good.

27:30

Yeah, I thought I thought they started

27:32

to figure things out.

27:33

Yeah, I mean yeah,

27:37

Stein, I can't, I can't

27:39

put a finger on it.

27:41

But how worried do you think they are? Because

27:44

now I'm

27:46

not even sure they're going to hang on to

27:49

number two again. You know, it looked and

27:51

as I you know, all kind of joking

27:54

aside. Injuries have been a major

27:56

factor in the East all season. There's no question

27:58

Miami has dealt with numerous

28:01

absences. Philly only just got

28:03

Joel Embiid back, Indiana lost

28:06

Benedict Maturin, and Halliburton

28:08

has not been the same player since the

28:10

hollatious groin strain, and Cleveland

28:13

has had multiple, multiple

28:15

significant injuries. The Knicks, you

28:17

know, we're going to get into that your report about Julius

28:19

Randall last week, and now Julius Randall is

28:21

not coming back this season, and they've

28:24

had to play so many games without Randall, without

28:26

og An Andobi. Pretty much everyone

28:28

in the East top ten has had to deal

28:30

with a variety of injury issues.

28:33

Maybe Orlando's have been slightly

28:36

less impactful than many of

28:38

the teams around them, and that's among

28:40

the reasons why the Magic, in

28:43

conjunction with their surprisingly

28:46

great top five defense, why the Magic

28:48

are in the hunt now for number

28:50

two, as no one predicted coming

28:53

into the season. Again, you know, if we want to talk about awards,

28:55

another really tough one is going to be Coach

28:58

of the Year. Trying to set rate Chris

29:01

Finch in Minnesota, Mark dagnaalton O Ca

29:03

se Jamal Mosley in Orlando. Like

29:06

to me, all three of those coaches.

29:08

Oh you're not mentioning udokah,

29:12

now huh.

29:14

Now they're out of the play.

29:16

Oh okay, all right.

29:17

But see, Actually, you know, after

29:20

that pod, when you mocked me for that suggestion.

29:23

And I mocked people who

29:25

only give Culture the Year awards to

29:28

teams that you

29:30

didn't expect much of, that's all right.

29:32

But you what you said there was you

29:34

likened what the Rockets were doing to a participation

29:37

trophy, And when I thought about

29:39

that after the pod, I feel

29:42

like that was a little bit much. Because

29:44

the Rockets were nine games under five

29:46

hundred, they lost Shengon,

29:49

their best player, ended

29:51

up reeling off an eleven

29:54

game winning streak to put

29:56

themselves over five hundred from

29:58

being way under five hundred and

30:01

putting some real pressure on Golden State. I

30:03

don't think that's just a participation

30:06

trophy. I think that was a pretty impressive

30:08

run. But hey, they followed up eleven

30:11

do.

30:11

We Award style? You just said it was an impressive

30:13

run? Do we Award runs? Or do

30:15

we.

30:17

Had? Had they sustained it to the

30:20

finish line and finished over five

30:22

hundred, and I think would

30:24

have been in the conversation they lost

30:26

five game and that thing,

30:28

and that's why Udoka's out. They

30:31

lost, They followed up, they followed

30:33

up eleven straight wins with five straight losses.

30:36

They're back under five hundred, they're

30:38

out of the play and they've been officially eliminated.

30:40

So now I'm in agreement with you will

30:44

not be in the Coach of the Year race. But when we

30:46

talked about it, they

30:48

were still in the midst of that run and

30:51

still alive for maybe knocking Golden

30:53

State out of the play in I don't

30:56

think that would have been a participation trophy,

30:58

but they couldn't pull it off in the end.

31:00

Stop it, we gotta stop it. Are we giving? Is

31:02

this a Coach of the Year award or Coach of

31:04

the Month or Coach of the

31:07

post All Star Break Award.

31:09

We did a pod recently. We did a pod

31:11

recently where you put two trophies

31:14

on the desk and

31:16

then told us how another

31:19

season is coming up in like a month.

31:21

So what you get to be MVP again in

31:23

a month? I mean, how many you get to be MVP

31:26

five times a year because they just keep starting

31:28

a new season. Or the Houston

31:30

but now the Houston Rockets who

31:33

went on this amazing run without their best

31:35

player to almost get over

31:37

five hundred. Like, that's not a participation

31:39

trophy.

31:40

Okay, run of the run

31:43

of the period, Run

31:46

of the year. I gave you that run.

31:50

See in twenty twenty four.

31:52

We always making up new awards because we won

31:54

award. Everybody, there you go, run

31:56

of the Year award. I'll give you that. Who

31:58

had the best run?

32:00

It is run of the year?

32:01

Yeah the year.

32:03

Congratulations Houston Rockets.

32:05

Only, by the way, the Houston Rockets will go down

32:07

as only the fifth team in

32:10

league history. There are only

32:12

five and only two

32:14

others in the modern NBA era

32:16

where sixteen teams have gone to the playoffs

32:18

for the last forty years to post

32:21

a double digit win streak and not

32:23

make the playoffs. So typically, if

32:25

teams can win a double digit

32:27

amount of games in a row, they almost always

32:29

go to the playoffs. So all

32:32

I'm saying is, I think, I think what Houston did

32:34

is more impressive than participation

32:36

trophy territory. But again, yet again,

32:39

this is like the seventh time we've diverted

32:41

from the Bucks and everything going

32:43

on in the East.

32:45

I mean, what's

32:48

up with the Bucks? Nobody cares about the Bucks. Nobody

32:50

want to hear about the Bucks.

32:51

You know what nobody cares about the Bucks.

32:53

The Bucks got the Celtics tomorrow

32:56

or when it's tonight, I

32:58

should say, because this is when this podcast

33:01

is going to drop. Let's let's

33:03

talk about him after that game. Let's see what happens.

33:06

Let's talk about it. Let's talk about

33:09

another team in the East that you reported

33:11

on extensively last week, the

33:21

New York Knicks. You

33:23

got everybody talking Thursday

33:26

night, You're in New York to cover Kings

33:29

at Knicks. By

33:31

this point, we know that Julius Randall

33:34

has been ruled out for the rest

33:36

of the season, but TNT's

33:38

Chris Haynes before Thursday's

33:40

game, reports that

33:44

he had spoken to Julius Randall and

33:46

Julius Randall previously a

33:48

guest here on this League Uncut.

33:51

Julius Randall told you that

33:54

he had suffered a setback in

33:57

his rehabitempts to try

33:59

to get back on the floor, and that's what

34:03

led him to decide that he did need

34:05

season ending shoulder surgery.

34:07

So just.

34:09

Let's go back to your day in New

34:11

York and just tell us kind of how that all

34:14

played out.

34:15

Yeah, so I had obviously,

34:17

I had the game for T and T that night. It was

34:19

the Kings and the

34:21

Knicks. And that morning news

34:24

broke that Julius Randall would

34:26

have season in the surgery. So obviously,

34:28

you know, I'm all on the Julius

34:31

Randall situation.

34:35

And so I had to go on to on

34:38

inside the NBA before and

34:40

you know, you know, they wanted some you

34:43

know what, what did I know about Julius Randall.

34:45

So I'm like, you know what, let's give

34:47

it a try. Let me call

34:49

Julius himself, let me figure it out.

34:52

And I texted him and he

34:54

said, I'm gonna hit you back in a couple hours.

34:57

You hear that from players a lot sometimes

34:59

in my forget or whatever whatever happens.

35:02

He called me back, and he called

35:04

me probably about an hour before I was to go to

35:07

the arena, and he

35:09

was just ready to talk. And one thing that stood

35:12

out to me is that he really

35:14

wanted it out there publicly, that he

35:17

suffered a setback about

35:20

five weeks about

35:22

five weeks ago during a

35:24

contact session, and

35:28

you know, it was back to square one with a

35:30

shoulder, and he still, he said, he still

35:32

tried to fight and still try to go

35:34

through rehab, but the shoulder

35:37

just wasn't cooperating and wasn't responding

35:40

until recently until

35:42

he realized, you know, that there was nothing

35:44

else he could do. He was not going to be able to

35:46

return this season and surgery

35:49

was the only option. So that

35:51

was never revealed before the

35:54

fact that he had suffered a setback

35:56

during a contact

35:58

session with Pat. So you

36:01

know, he really wanted that. He want he wanted he

36:04

wanted his story told. So I appreciate him

36:07

and trusted in me two

36:10

to reveal that on his behalf. But

36:13

uh, you know, remember when he had

36:15

this, when he first suffered

36:17

the injury, he could have opted

36:20

for surgery then, but he really wanted to stick it

36:22

out and we wanted to try to play and get back

36:25

this season. And so this really doesn't

36:28

hurt him at all for next season

36:30

because I know there's some peoples like, well, he probably should have

36:32

had the surgery then, Well, it wouldn't have changed any change

36:35

anything. He hasn't surgery stilled out for five

36:37

months. He has a surgery. Now it's gonna be out for five

36:39

months, but he'll be ready for the start of training camp.

36:41

So and you know it's brief.

36:44

I'm being brief, but you know that's and

36:46

that's the consensus of what he

36:48

shared with me, and he really wanted wanted

36:51

it known that he really tried everything

36:53

he could to get back on the court, but his shoulder

36:55

just did not cooperate, especially after

36:58

suffering that setback.

36:59

And you can understand why he would want

37:01

to try to leave open every

37:04

chance to come back this season, because again,

37:07

look, Boston has been tremendous. They're

37:10

sixty two and sixteen. You

37:13

know, they have done pretty much everything

37:15

you could possibly ask of a team

37:18

in the regular season. But

37:20

outside of Boston, I

37:22

mean, number two in the East

37:26

is up for grabs still, the

37:28

Knicks. Despite all

37:30

the games that Randall and og Annobi

37:32

have missed, the Knicks enter

37:34

Tuesday's play only a game behind

37:38

the Bucks in a tie with

37:40

Orlando. Orlando does have the edge and

37:42

is technically the number three seed.

37:45

The Knicks are at number four. But there's this, there's

37:47

there's a tremendous opportunity to

37:50

at least go to the conference finals

37:53

this season and presumably

37:55

play the Boston Celtics. It's there

37:57

for the taking. So it makes sense

38:00

why Randall would have wanted

38:02

to come back, because I mean, the

38:05

East does seem so wide

38:07

open underneath Boston.

38:09

But now

38:11

that was that was interesting and

38:13

pretty cool to see how candid he was

38:16

with you and how much he told you about

38:19

that situation.

38:20

Yeah, I said, I appreciate Julius for doing that,

38:22

but yeah, that's how that came about.

38:24

Called me by surprise.

38:28

And then now, you know, having heard having heard

38:30

what you just said about Chicago

38:33

and Atlanta, I'm almost hesitant to segue

38:36

to this other injury topic. But Trey

38:39

Young on Monday, he was officially

38:42

cleared to return to contact

38:45

and practice. I know on your Bleacher

38:47

Report stream on Friday you

38:50

had some Trey Young intel

38:52

on there as well. It sounds like it

38:54

sounds like Trey Young really wants to

38:57

come back before

39:00

the season ends. This Sunday

39:02

night. It sounds like Trey wants

39:04

to get back on the court so he

39:07

can make a contribution in

39:09

the play and round. And

39:11

you know, I think there was a sense that when he sustained

39:14

this ligament injury

39:17

in a finger on his left hand in

39:19

late February, that that might be the

39:21

rest of the season. But Trey Young clearly

39:24

isn't looking at it like that, and it sounds like he

39:27

sounds like we have a decent chance of seeing him

39:29

play this week, which to me, is again

39:32

not super interesting for the standings

39:34

because the Hawks can only finish

39:36

as high as ninth. Atlanta's gonna

39:38

play Chicago in a nine to ten playing

39:41

game. Really, the only mystery is where that game

39:43

is gonna be. But Trey Young

39:45

coming back for the end of the season

39:48

and a play in game or two, and maybe even

39:50

some playoff games, if the Hawks

39:53

can get through the playing round, as

39:55

they've done multiple times in the past,

39:58

all that is pretty intriguing to me. I'm really

40:00

curious to see what it looks like for Trey

40:03

Young to come back and rejoin

40:06

the Hawks here at such a late stage.

40:08

Yeah, he's adamant on returning.

40:13

That was always his focus right

40:15

now, and they're a different team. If

40:17

he comes back and he can get back to the

40:20

form he was before that injury, they're

40:23

a completely different team. And that

40:25

would put the Miami Heat

40:29

in a tough situation if they were

40:32

to see the Atlanta Hawks at some point.

40:35

Basically, what I'm saying is

40:37

Miami Heat deserved to be in the playoffs.

40:40

They deserve to be in the playoffs, and

40:42

I'll leave it.

40:42

At that translation. As we've

40:44

already established, you are concerned

40:47

about your ability to return to South

40:49

Beach this season. I know I get it, But

40:51

I'm going to take this thing back to Trey Young because,

40:56

like I said, I will be watching the Hawks

40:58

this week with great interest if

41:01

he makes it back onto the floor. Because I

41:03

included this in my Monday

41:05

musing's column on my sub stack one

41:07

league source. The way it was described

41:10

to me, the most

41:12

likely scenario remains that

41:15

before next season, Atlanta

41:18

would more

41:20

likely than not trade one of

41:22

its star guards. The expectation

41:25

remains at this juncture

41:28

that Tray

41:31

Young or de Jonte

41:33

Murray the best

41:36

forecast at this point is

41:38

that one of the two would likely be

41:40

moved before next season.

41:43

I'm not sure you agree, but I think

41:45

there are a lot of people around the league who

41:47

see it that way, and so that's

41:50

why I'm saying I think there's it's

41:52

gonna be really interesting to see them reunited

41:54

on the court and what that looks like. Because they've now

41:56

gone twenty two games where

41:59

this team has been to Jontay Maurice

42:01

centric. The Hawks are twelve and ten

42:03

in those games, which is still a pretty

42:05

middling record, but the defense

42:08

has been much better. So it's good that

42:10

we looked at the other side of the conference.

42:12

Coin here and again shout out one more

42:14

time to the Orlando Magic.

42:17

Top three defensively

42:19

this season. Jamal Mosley

42:21

has gotten such a good response out

42:23

of that young team to see Orlando when

42:27

the NBA resumes play on Tuesday, Orlando

42:30

with the league's number three defense,

42:32

behind only Minnesota and Boston,

42:35

one spot ahead of

42:38

the Miami Heat. And it

42:41

is it is somewhat amusing to me that you

42:43

had all those things to say about

42:46

the East playing and all joking aside. I

42:48

know why you're saying it, and you make it

42:51

is it is a valid point. I'm

42:53

sure Philly and Miami are looking at the standings

42:56

right there with Chris Haynes. They're looking at the stands and

42:58

saying, why are we in a plan with Chicago

43:01

and Atlanta that are so far behind

43:03

us? But this week, Chris

43:06

Haynes, you will be thrust into

43:08

the heart of the West

43:10

play and race. The records in

43:13

the West playin zone are

43:16

much more impressive from seven to ten,

43:18

But man, you are in the heart of the

43:21

play in battle. This week, Tuesday night,

43:23

you're on the TNT sideline for Warriors

43:26

at Lakers. The Lakers are

43:29

still ninth. The Warriors

43:32

Okay, Houston and

43:34

their run of the year is no longer a

43:36

concern for the Warriors, But

43:39

Golden State has won fifteen

43:41

of its last nineteen road

43:43

games. Ridiculous to

43:46

have a fifteen and four stretch on the

43:48

road. Remember, the Warriors only won eleven

43:50

road games all of last season, and

43:53

they haven't moved up. They're stuck in tenth. The

43:55

Lakers were briefly up to number

43:58

eight, but they're back to number nine. Got Warriors

44:00

at Lakers on Tuesday night, and

44:03

then on Thursday night, You've got the teams

44:05

currently in the seventh and eighth spots

44:07

number seven, New Orleans at

44:10

number eight Sacramento. So,

44:12

Chris Haynes, producer, Ryan Chris Haynes,

44:14

this week is going to experience

44:18

and be exposed to nothing but

44:21

absolute NBA desperation here

44:24

in the last three, four, five

44:26

days.

44:27

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I mean it, it

44:29

can be very well be these

44:32

two teams, I mean, these four teams in the same

44:34

pairing Lakers, Warriors, Pelicans,

44:37

Kings. So it can start

44:39

up some type of short term rivalry

44:42

as I should say, I will say, particularly

44:45

from the Kings and Pelicans,

44:47

just to playing so close so

44:49

soon. But no, I'm looking forward to it because

44:51

this has you know, both

44:53

teams should be playing

44:56

their guys that are healthy, and

44:59

we should you should have some good basketball. So

45:01

I'm excited about this play

45:03

in matchup potential preview.

45:06

All Right, I think that's going to do it for what

45:08

can only be described as a

45:10

pretty erratic episode

45:13

of This League Uncut. To underline

45:16

that was erratic, err

45:19

at ic. That's

45:22

gonna do it for

45:25

Mark Stein and Chris Haynes on the latest

45:27

edition of This League Uncut. As

45:30

always, friends, please follow

45:33

us, rate the show, review

45:35

the show. We would love to get

45:37

a five star rating from you if possible.

45:41

With all these games coming up, with two

45:43

sideline appearances for Chris in short

45:45

order Tuesday and Thursday, we

45:47

will still have to figure out exactly

45:50

when we get together for our

45:52

next edition of This League

45:54

Uncut, but I can promise you it will

45:56

happen soon. We're also working on a

45:59

special guest to that we

46:01

hope to secure before the playing

46:03

round starts next Tuesday. So

46:05

lots of stuff going on Thanks

46:08

as always for listening. We'll

46:10

be back together with you again gras

46:17

and that'll do it for us, See you next time.

46:21

This League Uncut is an iHeartRadio production

46:28

Chris Haines and Mark Stein