The guys get us started with Get It Off My Chest, before breaking down the latest in the NBA Playoffs.
[00:00:00] Bob Whitney, yes, you are now listening to the sounds of Sports Reports As Ordered.
[00:00:14] We don't do the cease and desist around here, but I'm going to watch my mouth because I have it on good authority that Shadour is listening real closely.
[00:00:28] But tonight, it's all about the NBA playoffs. We got Knicks and Pacers about to start the fourth quarter.
[00:00:36] We got the defending champs in the 0-1 hole. Is it time to panic?
[00:00:42] And of course, we got Get It Off My Chest.
[00:00:46] So it is I, your unorthodox statistician son, going left so much to sport out of South Park.
[00:00:57] And of course, it wouldn't be Sports Reports As Ordered if I didn't have the even-killed.
[00:01:07] Born in Texas, raised in VA, representing New Jersey, dedicated veteran, Bob won't bring killers back. Mr. Lodge.
[00:01:26] Yer.
[00:01:29] All right, we're back.
[00:01:32] And of course, like I said before, we're going to start this thing off like we always do with Get It Off My Chest right about now.
[00:01:43] Perfect.
[00:01:45] Yeah. So as I was sitting here, you know, Mr. Lodge was about to contradict everything that I'm about to say because he's like, yo, why are you talking about football?
[00:01:53] But as we head down the path of this 12-team playoff, I was having a conversation yesterday and I was thinking to myself, why are we still pretending?
[00:02:07] You know, we wouldn't let UCF in the playoff.
[00:02:11] We threw Cincinnati a bone.
[00:02:15] Why are we playing these games?
[00:02:18] You know, we know that South Florida is not going to win the national title.
[00:02:23] We know Tulane is not going to win the national title.
[00:02:26] Colorado State, so on, so forth.
[00:02:28] We didn't even give Boise a shot when they deserved it.
[00:02:32] So I say that to say, why are they even still at this level?
[00:02:38] Like, I know there's been talk lately about a G5 playoff.
[00:02:41] Separate from the P4, which is weird to say, playoff.
[00:02:45] Yeah.
[00:02:46] And the crazy part about this is that like a lot of these decisions on who's in the power five or power four and all of this was made back in the 1900s.
[00:02:57] Like we still had segregation.
[00:03:00] This was pre-World War One when a lot of these decisions was made of who was in these countries.
[00:03:06] And people are like, well, why don't Boise just join the Pac-12?
[00:03:09] Because the Pac-12 has to agree to that.
[00:03:13] You know, and they're not, they weren't going to agree to that.
[00:03:17] So yes, we've seen Houston, BYU, Cincinnati and UCF join the Big 12 now.
[00:03:23] They're part of the party.
[00:03:25] But is there anybody else out there that has the cachet of who's in the power five or power four?
[00:03:33] Is there anybody out there that has the cachet and the success to join this party?
[00:03:40] If not, stop acting like they got a chance to win the national title.
[00:03:45] You got your four power conferences.
[00:03:47] You got Notre Dame.
[00:03:49] Dash your FBS.
[00:03:51] Stop playing these games and wasting our time.
[00:03:56] Now play the games.
[00:03:59] Play them.
[00:04:00] You never know what can happen.
[00:04:01] I know a lot of teams.
[00:04:02] I mean, we saw last year Texas versus Rice.
[00:04:05] I think it was like week one and this do attrition.
[00:04:08] Texas overwhelmed Rice.
[00:04:10] But in the first half, they didn't look that good.
[00:04:12] And if the weather, like literally the sun was leaning on the Rice bench while Texas had shade.
[00:04:19] So in the second half, they just kind of overwhelmed them.
[00:04:22] You never know.
[00:04:23] In December, January, give Tulane a shot against Ole Miss if they happen to be in the 5-12 matchup.
[00:04:32] You know, I'd rather see.
[00:04:34] I know we talk about this with college basketball like the Cinderella is cool the first couple of rounds,
[00:04:40] but people don't want to see Cinderella go all the way to the ball,
[00:04:43] get the prints and get the carriage and everything else.
[00:04:46] But in the cartoons, she got the whole kid in the bootle.
[00:04:49] So I figured college football, you got to give a shot because other than that,
[00:04:54] we're going to get 12 teams.
[00:04:57] We're going to get three SECs.
[00:05:00] It's going to be standard.
[00:05:01] It's going to be three SEC teams, three Big Ten teams.
[00:05:05] So it's going to be the same thing.
[00:05:07] It's like, yo, give UCF a shot.
[00:05:09] Give USF a shot, especially if their record is worth it.
[00:05:12] You know, like we talked about the year Cincinnati got in.
[00:05:15] Me and you had a conversation about where Houston was ranked versus I think like Mississippi State that was about to play Alabama.
[00:05:22] Houston had one loss and they were ranked 23rd.
[00:05:27] Cincinnati was around five or six and they were undefeated.
[00:05:30] It's like they set it up that way.
[00:05:32] So when your eighth ranked SEC school plays a number three SEC school,
[00:05:40] you can keep that number three school high even if they lose.
[00:05:43] You could bring them down to six, move the other team maybe to five, something like that,
[00:05:48] because they maneuvering because there's only four spots now the 12 slots.
[00:05:51] I think you'd be a little bit more honest and I think you're more likely to get the maximum.
[00:05:55] We're already going to get these interconference matchups already.
[00:05:58] USC moving to Big 12.
[00:06:00] So we're going to get, you know, we're going to get Ohio State, Michigan versus USC.
[00:06:04] You're going to get some good college football games.
[00:06:06] So at the end of the year, I think that I think is going to be better than the completely fraudulent process we've had in place since 2000.
[00:06:16] Between the beasts between the BCS, that mathematical and all everything else they had going on or the regular vote they had in the 90s.
[00:06:24] At least 12 teams. Yeah, maybe four or five of them are going to be lamps of the slaughter.
[00:06:29] But give them a shot.
[00:06:31] They got they put their cleats on just like everybody else they put their pads on.
[00:06:35] And if they finish in the top 12, give them a shot.
[00:06:39] All right.
[00:06:41] Yeah.
[00:06:42] You know, like we go you know we have a little football talk.
[00:06:45] I'm already over the 2025 mock draft conversation I've already seen popping up on my feeds.
[00:06:57] We don't even know all the numbers that the 2024 draft picks are going to wear.
[00:07:04] We don't even know how many I'm going to make the team.
[00:07:07] We don't know how many of them are going to get cut in training camp, and we're already projecting quarterbacks are going to be practice squad quarterbacks next year if they get drafted NFL they won't get drafted at all.
[00:07:19] It's like stop with the mock drafts for games that have been played because Joe Burrow was projected to be a fifth round pick before he went out through 60 touchdowns for LSU and they won a national championship.
[00:07:30] He went number one overall.
[00:07:32] Jane Daniels project to be like a third or fourth round pick.
[00:07:35] He was projected to be number one pick overall.
[00:07:36] Caleb Williams projected to be number one pick for a couple years.
[00:07:39] Drake may was projected to be the number one pick a couple years back. So it is a crazy science but let it play out stop projecting past the football season I hadn't even started yet.
[00:07:51] It's like I get it, everyone searching for content will talk about stuff that happened. Review last season preview team that people don't talk about a lot like you know what, if you want if you have a college, if you have a football
[00:08:04] NFL or college, talk about the team last year talk about what they did in the transfer portal. What you think they're going to do. Stop coming up with these arbitrary mock drafts that don't mean shit, because we literally just watch all these people put mock drafts out and had a completely different person going
[00:08:20] number eight overall, with all this information coming out in a completely different position and person when I'm eight overall.
[00:08:27] So you're not going to be having this conversation the week of, you're not going to get it right 11 months early. So just cut it out. Stop trying to pry nasty Kate, stop trying to be no Saddam is just talk about what you know the season just ended a few months ago, new rules going forward,
[00:08:42] good, great context based conversation off of stuff that we already know. Stop trying to wing it. Because you sound dumb. You just sound dumb saying like oh, I got this tackle out of Iowa is going to be a top 10 pick no one cares.
[00:08:58] Literally no one cares. No one cares right now about the 2025 top defensive end that's going to come out of, you know, Oregon State or whatever school you don't come from.
[00:09:08] Nobody cares.
[00:09:12] Yeah, he does it for content he doesn't create buzz, which is even that, and I love the even that's obnoxious is like you got to get through the season and not overwhelmed.
[00:09:23] I was trying to watch my mouth tonight here you go.
[00:09:27] You just gotta get through the season I look overwhelmed.
[00:09:31] Because last season based on information I have at certain points of the season the team look overwhelmed.
[00:09:37] They were overmatched and he talked about that so that's a great conversation to say hey, we're going to be better next year because we did this in a trans reporter that's a great conversation I don't want to hear the conversation
[00:09:48] that you have to top 10 top five top four draft picks from any coach on your team before you even play a spring game.
[00:10:00] Sound like coach cow.
[00:10:03] You know, but anyway, moving on.
[00:10:06] Moving on to what's going on right now the NBA playoffs.
[00:10:10] So yo, I gotta make a statement real quick because you know for a lot of years. People used to always tell me the NBA is better when the Knicks are good.
[00:10:22] The NBA needs the Knicks to be good. And I used to always say, get out of here. No we don't like is basketball I'm here to watch whoever and it's true.
[00:10:34] But I can't lie, watching that series against Philly it was just different. The crowd was just different the energy was different. The organs was going off.
[00:10:43] It was like you know like the Undertaker was about to come through. It was like epic moments after epic moment so like I have to fall back on that one and props to New York City.
[00:10:55] You know for standing up there representing. But with that being said they're down by six right now to the Pacers.
[00:11:02] So Mr. Logical, looking back at the first round. Did you see anything from the Knicks that scares you about this series against Indiana.
[00:11:14] See, like my argument for the Knicks is probably the same thing people been saying about tips for years.
[00:11:21] You, he plays like six or seven guys.
[00:11:25] I think that's six or seven. Two of them probably played a whole game. So it's not as if you're rapating them out.
[00:11:33] I know, I know like I get but I didn't think he was gonna go to seven, seven guys and run him and stuff as he did and I get that you know you go what you know, but it might behoove him to try to go to eight or nine players work the ball through somebody else
[00:11:51] shoot it get somebody else out there so Jalen Brunson is not banging. Luckily he's has a small point guard on him now.
[00:11:59] The young, young white point guard so he has him, but if he has to like bang with true holiday next round if they make it out of this round or what's the board, Derek White, or even get switched on by Tatum and he has to like dribble dribble dribble through all that contact.
[00:12:18] You're gonna wear him out. I think this, this round you might be safe but Indiana does play fast they play young. They, they're playing like, like they're playing like they're playing with house money so I think they got a shot.
[00:12:31] Yeah, I think, for me, the thought is Nixon five.
[00:12:36] I thought that the Pacers will come out and win tonight.
[00:12:40] Just because of the adjustment that the Knicks had to make plan a team like Philly that's slow and grinding, and the Pacers like you mentioned just being young and pushing the ball up the court.
[00:12:51] It's like playing okay see in some ways, you know not as good, obviously, but it's like playing a team like that and then when you are playing your guys these minutes. A lot of them are young, but at the same time coming off of the physical series that Philly was.
[00:13:09] Your legs, your legs got to catch up. So that's why I thought Indiana had a chance to still game one tonight. But after tonight, I think the Knicks are going to adjust and it's just going to be a gentleman sweep get the Pacers out of here.
[00:13:23] I would like to see the Pacers actually win this series. Just from the story standpoint.
[00:13:30] So just to have something unexpected but I just can't see it long term, you know over the course of winning four times. Yeah, I think they're playing pretty solid tonight, I just think that Jalen Brunson has that.
[00:13:45] Special run.
[00:13:47] Like Anthony Edwards or yolkage last year, or like Jamal Murray back in the bubble, just sometimes guys just get on a run. And it's just like they're going to make play at the play like Maxie and the game where they were down six in the garden.
[00:14:01] And they get you seven points or they would get gets you seven points and 15 seconds. I mean, so it's like, I think he has I think he has a run like that in them in this game. If they can get them back to the bench or like maybe a minute or two, or maybe use their
[00:14:17] timeouts wide into where he's not exhausted. Because I think Indiana just caught a timeout because Josh Hart came through on a dunk. The lane is open for Indiana like they're jumping and running the guys off the three point line pretty aggressively.
[00:14:30] So these guys are sneaking through and getting getting dunk so I mean you get a couple couple easy baskets over the next couple minutes right now we got 925 left. And it's hard to judge Indiana right because they just went six with Milwaukee with no Yanis, you know
[00:14:46] you know, Dame missed two games, you know, or whatever it was. So it's kind of hard, you know, you're like my inclination initially was if y'all are struggling with Milwaukee like this, how can I expect you to challenge the Knicks? But styles make fights, you know, so
[00:15:03] is going to keep his guys out there and play that short rotation that you're talking about. And that's the same thing that we're going to run into when we get to Denver in a second, you know, you're just like that real quick. Good good pressure defense by New York. They got a three out of it. Halliburton one looking at the rim he had an opportunity pass it up. And now they're only up one pressure on
[00:15:29] And don't forget as well. Jalen Brunson is the playoff leading score at 33 and a half points. So what are your thoughts on Orlando? You know, they made it to game seven. I think I think there. It's just sitting fine. Just run it back next year. Don't think you should go for a clay Thompson or any of these moves or whatever move you think you can get
[00:15:51] Like a lot of the podcasters and media has been talking about Paul George. I don't think they need Paul George. I do think that they need a stabilizer. They need to find like a Mike Conley type, you know, just to settle them down.
[00:16:07] And I think every team needs a guy like that. And I don't know if there are that many available. So since they're not that many available, I would just stick with my guys and well, I've been I've been beaten the horn for CJ McCollum. You know, that's who I would like to see them go after
[00:16:24] He might not. I don't know. I think he is but I don't have any proof to say that he is. That's what I'm saying. Like I don't see. I don't see him making leadership.
[00:16:36] I know that he's respected around the league, but I don't know how to. I think he's like in a NBA, P. A. Rep. I know he has that. But as far as like his impact on the floor, I got to still recall any moment
[00:16:49] In New Orleans where they were just kind of down and needed like that guy to make that play. And he was involved in it. It's not a knock on him. I just like I don't think it. I don't know if you bring him in. Like, do you bring him off the bench? And what's his impact? You mean, I see I think sometimes you can we can kind of get too creative.
[00:17:12] I'm just keeping it simple. Like you look at OKC. Yeah, they got Gordon Haywood. But Gordon Haywood gets a few minutes here and there. Nothing crazy.
[00:17:21] But so how many games are you giving Cleveland against Boston?
[00:17:27] I'm gonna give him one game because Boston is going to go nine from 40 from three and Cleveland is going to have one of those games. But they go like 17 for 35 and Boston gives you one like that. The Miami game when Miami had 23 threes. Yeah, I think I think Cleveland is going to get one of those games.
[00:17:49] I'm giving Cleveland nothing.
[00:17:55] Boston is going to give you one.
[00:17:56] Now, I know I know Porzingis is out.
[00:17:58] They gave Atlanta two.
[00:17:59] I know that was last year. I know Porzingis is out. You know, he has the Yannis injury so he may miss the whole series.
[00:18:07] You would think in theory that that should open up Evan Mobley, but Cleveland doesn't give him the ball. You know, on the other side of the ball, Horford's going to pull him out of the paint. So he's going to be ineffective that way.
[00:18:21] So I think that if Boston wants it, I think they can name their score.
[00:18:26] Yeah, they could. Like I said, just is going to be one game that Boston just goes like I said nine for 39, nine for 40 from three. Probably maybe at home because you're just kind of they know like they have Cleveland beat. I think Boston has every team in the NBA position for position. I think they got them all covered.
[00:18:49] I think that Orlando would have been the better matchup.
[00:18:53] Just from the standpoint of the wings, you know, having Paulo and Wagner, whereas like when you look at Cleveland, their wings are small, you know, Caris LaVert, Isaac Okoro.
[00:19:09] They don't they don't have the wingspan slash. They can't affect the game the way that Boston's wings can on defense.
[00:19:16] Yeah, but Boston Boston has eight guys that have green lights to shoot open looks.
[00:19:21] Open three. This is true. Two of them. All they do is that and that's Prichard and how's it but they're both pump fake get into the lane move the ball around because so many guys on the floor at one time.
[00:19:34] They have green lights. Yeah, you know, bigger, bigger staff is coaching for his job.
[00:19:41] Donovan Mitchell, you know, people around the playoffs. You still coaching for your job. That's it's a tough gig man. It's a gig.
[00:19:48] Yeah, yeah. And you know, I mean, it's a Donovan. I mean, even the game that Donovan Mitchell scored 50 against Orlando 53 to be exact.
[00:19:58] He scored all 18 of their points in the fourth quarter and they were still outscored by 12.
[00:20:04] You know what I mean? And that's where like going back to the to our preview.
[00:20:08] That's where I say Cleveland and Orlando or mirror images of each other because neither one of them have anything that resembles an offensive system.
[00:20:17] You know, but Cleveland had Donovan Mitchell and that was the difference in the series. So you go against Boston.
[00:20:23] I just feel Boston has too many long arms that are awaiting Donovan Mitchell's arrival into the paint for him to be effective.
[00:20:31] So very, very might have you'll have and they'll have Drew Holliday, White, Howser, Pritchard, Horford on the floor and all five of them can still shoot get they all have green lights.
[00:20:46] So you can get Tatum and Brown off the floor for a break and still have to play tough three point line defense.
[00:20:53] And like I said, they'll still take it to the cup because they'll move it around after that initial pass.
[00:20:58] I think they just play. They just play. They just play like a style that works and they have they have the players that match their style.
[00:21:06] Right. And you know, so so look, I'm gonna just put it like this clippers going clip.
[00:21:16] You know what I mean? Like relying on Paul George is tough. Relying on James Harden is pointless. Relying on Kawhi is impossible.
[00:21:26] So, you know, like a lot of people were picking the Clippers out there and I just don't know why.
[00:21:32] You know, as I look back at that series, do you have questions about Dallas going forward since they allowed the Kawhi'ilis Clippers to get two off of them?
[00:21:47] Well, I think you get your NBA players are gonna get one or two.
[00:21:53] Luca was hobbled for a couple of games that he came to life.
[00:21:59] I think I'm worried about them against OKC just because OKC can just run.
[00:22:07] They can just run and they all play well. They play well together.
[00:22:11] They're really unified. They're really in tune with like their local fan base or local media.
[00:22:17] Like at the end of the series, they all left the national broadcast interview to do the local guys.
[00:22:25] So it's like I think they just have a little chemistry.
[00:22:30] I'm taking Dallas and six.
[00:22:33] I think that.
[00:22:35] Luca and Kyrie can slow it down enough.
[00:22:40] You know, pound the ball, if you will.
[00:22:43] The question is going to be can Lou Dort force Luca into bad offense?
[00:22:48] So Luca still hasn't really had.
[00:22:52] I guess a game in the playoffs this year on par with his regular season.
[00:22:57] So that's always in the back of your mind.
[00:23:00] But can Lou Dort hold Luca to 30 points, but make him go 11 for 30 to get it?
[00:23:09] You know, make them go eight for 25 to get it because SGA can match Luca point for point if necessary.
[00:23:17] Jalen Brunson with the three or is there a following play?
[00:23:21] And then, you know, with Kyrie on the other hand, you know, J.Dub Jalen Williams has had a great season.
[00:23:29] He can probably score close to Kyrie.
[00:23:32] So Kyrie gets you 27.
[00:23:34] He might be able to get you 22 or 23, but I don't know if he can do it consistently enough the way that Kyrie can.
[00:23:42] So that's where it comes down to the others.
[00:23:46] You know, is Holmgren going to be able to hold up against Gafferty and Lively?
[00:23:51] Who's going to help him?
[00:23:53] I've been on here all year talking about OKC struggle with rebounding.
[00:23:58] I don't see how that gets fixed in this series.
[00:24:02] Dallas will miss shots because they will take shots.
[00:24:06] But if you can't grab the rebound, if you're OKC, it's all for naught.
[00:24:10] Like, for example, Josh Hart has 13 rebounds right now as we speak.
[00:24:15] Is there anybody on OKC that can play outside of themselves, outside of Chet and grab rebounds?
[00:24:24] So SGA, obviously I'm going to give him respect.
[00:24:27] He's in the MVP conversation.
[00:24:29] Some people think that he should be the MVP.
[00:24:33] So I got to give them at least one.
[00:24:36] They have a good enough home court advantage to where they can get two.
[00:24:40] I could even see OKC going up 2-0 in this series.
[00:24:44] You know, but then Dallas went in four straight.
[00:24:47] But the pick is Dallas in six.
[00:24:50] You know, I think that Dagonold is a better coach than Jason Kidd.
[00:24:57] I just think that Dallas has an embarrassment of riches because you got PJ Washington now.
[00:25:03] You know, Derek Jones is probably going to defend SGA a lot during this series.
[00:25:08] And like I said, Dornan Lucas should be the matchup of this series.
[00:25:13] You know, the last meeting I can't even do anything with because Kyrie and Lucas sat.
[00:25:18] It was the last game of the season and OKC played everybody so they could secure the number one seed.
[00:25:24] So I don't even have that to go off of.
[00:25:27] But right now in my gut, I'm feeling Dallas in six.
[00:25:34] You got Dallas being OKC in six?
[00:25:36] Yeah.
[00:25:37] Let me check my notes here. Hold on.
[00:25:39] And you know, I mean, it's just you know, playoff usually comes down to who has the best players.
[00:25:48] And you know, like not only do you have Luca, but you got Kyrie as well.
[00:25:55] But they got an SGA and like not anybody as good as Kyrie after that.
[00:26:01] Yeah, but I think their collective, I think the collective works against Dallas because
[00:26:08] if Kyrie or Luca are just not on, say the knee gets tight, he's a little hobble or you take a bad fall.
[00:26:17] Nothing crazy, but just something that that slows you down a little bit.
[00:26:21] Then you have the home court advantage for OKC.
[00:26:25] They're young. Like I said, they're maybe a little naive and they don't know they're not supposed to be here, but they have matchup problems.
[00:26:32] They have a guy that can defend.
[00:26:35] I could defend Luca or Kyrie.
[00:26:38] They have Chet who can cause problems at the rim.
[00:26:41] And I don't know if you have a guy you can just lock up with SGA and wrap it up.
[00:26:51] And I think the fact that, like I said, no one's really I don't think people are picking OKC because they're so young.
[00:26:57] It's like, yo, they had to battle through some stuff last year.
[00:27:00] They were almost in the plan.
[00:27:02] And then, you know, we turn it around and share number one seed is like.
[00:27:07] The change in the guard is coming.
[00:27:09] It is. It is. Unfortunately for Luca, and he didn't get to grab as much of the success pie as a lot of these other guys, these other legends that are out of the playoffs like Steph and
[00:27:23] LeBron and AD and Kawhi and Katie and those other guys have a lot more success.
[00:27:29] Luca might be caught in this wave where every other team was like growing their team.
[00:27:36] And then because he plays on Dallas, they were trying to microwave it every couple of years.
[00:27:44] They made a couple of moves that were like because even the Kyrie move, people were looking like we don't know if you needed that.
[00:27:51] You might need another role player, somebody else that can play off Luca, not necessarily a guy that plays just like Luca, just a little shorter.
[00:28:00] Well, I think Dallas is just too big.
[00:28:03] You know, you know, I've been talking about OKC's rebounding all year.
[00:28:07] I just think they're too big.
[00:28:09] You know, Lively Gaffer, PJ Washington is going to be a good defender.
[00:28:15] He's going to get you some corner shots.
[00:28:17] You know, so I just I just like Dallas in this series.
[00:28:20] But the other series in the West, we got drama because Minnesota walked into ball arena and took game one from the champs.
[00:28:35] I got a gentleman's bet with my pops.
[00:28:38] I got Minnesota.
[00:28:40] Now this is going.
[00:28:42] I got Minnesota in six.
[00:28:45] And the reason I, the reason I got him in six is because I know Denver came back against the Lakers and it was quite impressive.
[00:28:54] But the simple fact that the Lakers who arguably aren't that deep of a team as the Knicks take the lead.
[00:29:03] The Lakers had that series lead for 70% of the time.
[00:29:08] Yes, Jamal Murray made two clutch game winning shots, which is dope moments.
[00:29:15] But for so many moments, so much time in that series, they were not performing up to the level.
[00:29:23] Maybe they were playing down to the Lakers or maybe the Lakers just really figured out something and Darvahann really couldn't get the final piece to work out.
[00:29:31] I don't know if that's the case.
[00:29:32] I don't believe that's it wasn't the case.
[00:29:35] All I'm saying is if you looked at those numbers, if you looked at the numbers and say one team led 70% of the, you would think, okay, if we looked at the OKC series.
[00:29:44] Darvahann was out there going 0 for 7 from three?
[00:29:47] I didn't say it was anybody's fault.
[00:29:49] I'm just saying if we looked at any other series with that information, I'm bet you in the OKC series, they probably led 60 or 70% of the time and they swept.
[00:30:02] You can look at the Minnesota series.
[00:30:04] I bet you their numbers as far as like the leading the percentage of time probably on par Lakers had over Denver.
[00:30:11] And then when you have what Minnesota.
[00:30:13] Appreciate you Scott.
[00:30:15] Appreciate it.
[00:30:19] We tried not to be biased.
[00:30:21] I like what you have with Kat being the former number one option.
[00:30:31] I want to say recognizing the Anthony Edwards is the number one option now, but still playing like, oh, I'm part of a team that is dominating now.
[00:30:42] The Rudy Gobert trade everyone laughed at it, but it seems like it's going to work now.
[00:30:47] Like I said, they have the size that's going to win them the West.
[00:30:52] I got them right now in the Western Conference finals and you know, we'll just but I got them.
[00:30:58] I got them beating Denver in six.
[00:31:00] Well, I think that I think that this series is the Western Conference finals.
[00:31:04] I think the winner of this series.
[00:31:06] Yes, the winner of this series goes to the NBA finals.
[00:31:09] That's how I feel.
[00:31:11] With that being said, you know, I picked Denver in seven.
[00:31:19] I'm sticking to it.
[00:31:21] I got a couple of questions though so when I look at Minnesota obviously Anthony Edwards has announced his arrival to the world.
[00:31:28] He's here.
[00:31:29] You know he's not going anywhere.
[00:31:31] But now I got to figure out.
[00:31:34] One.
[00:31:35] How does Minnesota handle prosperity.
[00:31:40] How does Minnesota handle adversity.
[00:31:43] So I expect the Denver Nuggets to make an adjustment, make adjustments tonight.
[00:31:48] I expect them to win tonight.
[00:31:50] Todd a series up at one.
[00:31:52] That does not mean that they're going to take control of this series because like I said it's going seven in my mind.
[00:31:58] But how does Minnesota react to taste in their blood for the first time.
[00:32:05] That's a question that we don't know the answer to.
[00:32:08] Maybe they don't have a fear.
[00:32:10] Carl Anthony Towns picked up a foul the first play of the game the other day like seconds into the game.
[00:32:16] This is what he does.
[00:32:18] You know, we have this like dog you got to be out there your best ability is your availability.
[00:32:23] Yes, so like so Denver, you know, of course, the problem is, they don't have Bruce Brown.
[00:32:30] They don't have Jeff Green walking through those doors.
[00:32:33] You know, but I do like what Peyton Watson brings to the table.
[00:32:37] KCP is not going to be able to slow Anthony Edwards down.
[00:32:40] So they're just going to have to do that by committee.
[00:32:42] I think the key for Denver is going to be Aaron Gordon because Jamal Murray hasn't put a game, put a full game together yet.
[00:32:51] What I do want to do is play against the Lakers.
[00:32:54] A lot of those role players didn't get minutes because they were always coming from behind.
[00:32:58] Right.
[00:32:59] I do. But what I do like about this series right now for Denver is, of course, Jamal Murray's banged up with the calf injury or whatever he had going on after tonight.
[00:33:10] They don't play until Friday.
[00:33:12] So you know, so he gets some time to ice it up, do whatever he needs to do to get ready come out Friday night ready to rock and roll.
[00:33:21] Also, Jokic had a bad game by his standards the other day.
[00:33:25] He had seven turnovers, but he also had 32, nine and eight.
[00:33:29] So Go Bears not going to stop him.
[00:33:31] It's just a matter of slowing him down, which they did.
[00:33:34] He went 11 for 25.
[00:33:36] But I also think that with Jokic's basketball IQ, that's not going to be the norm for the series.
[00:33:44] So now back to your point, though, Denver cannot survive like this.
[00:33:49] You can't put yourself in these holes and then just expect that championship pedigree is going to carry you to the end of the game.
[00:34:00] It doesn't work that way when you get to this level of the playoffs.
[00:34:03] So I don't know if Denver took the Lakers lightly, per se.
[00:34:08] I think Denver knew they could beat the Lakers, but I don't think they took them lightly.
[00:34:12] I think the Lakers actually match up pretty well with Denver.
[00:34:16] It's just that their best players damn near 40 years old.
[00:34:20] So I like I like Denver.
[00:34:24] If they lose tonight, they're definitely in trouble if they lose tonight.
[00:34:29] Going up to the target center after losing two in a row at home.
[00:34:33] But I think they're in trouble because, like I say, we talked about these young teams and the changing of the guard is something that you and I've been talking about for months.
[00:34:45] You don't want to give these guys too much confidence.
[00:34:52] You don't want to give these guys who play the way they play at the speed they play with the the kind of that they play with.
[00:35:00] You don't want to go down 0 2.
[00:35:04] These rest of butchering these these calls.
[00:35:08] Speaking of reps, let me go back to the first round second when you said that it triggered something in my mind.
[00:35:14] It was that who knew Joel and B was so dirty.
[00:35:19] He was doing a lot of unnecessary stuff.
[00:35:22] It's just a lot of unnecessary just behavior.
[00:35:26] But honestly, I think it was a matter of he just was so he was dead tired.
[00:35:32] He was hurting so bad.
[00:35:34] I'll give him I give him so many props for getting it out.
[00:35:38] That's why I kept yelling at the Knicks and like, yo, just take it at him.
[00:35:41] Just take to his chest.
[00:35:42] Like if you took it to his chest six times, you put him in pick and roll six times.
[00:35:46] Maybe he blocks one or two of them.
[00:35:49] But for the most part, he's probably either get beat to the rim or he's going to get a foul.
[00:35:53] So four out of six opportunities, I think you're going to get points opportunity for points like to shot you and get the shot over you and give you know free throws.
[00:36:02] But they just didn't they just kind of went away from it.
[00:36:04] And then the games when they did do it is when they were pretty much wire to wire.
[00:36:08] But then they let Tyrese Maxey go off.
[00:36:11] Joellen Bede is like the perfect example of why I complain about this NBA.
[00:36:17] Like, yeah, he had 50 points.
[00:36:20] Yeah, he's a good three point shooter.
[00:36:23] But there ain't no way his big ass should be going like 11 for 30 and stuff like that.
[00:36:28] You know, I don't care how many jumpers are shooting.
[00:36:30] Get your big as you heard anyway.
[00:36:32] Get your big ass down there.
[00:36:34] He may he was playing with the brace on.
[00:36:36] I think he played a game without the brace.
[00:36:38] He wasn't moving very well with the brace and this bells pause.
[00:36:42] He would his face and his eye was like leaking.
[00:36:45] I mean, dude was going through a lot.
[00:36:47] And I believe I watched something last year or like early this year, Chet Holmgren and Embiid.
[00:36:54] Like, I guess they've been advised to just fall because you're so big.
[00:37:00] Like you end up hurting yourself trying to like keep your balance.
[00:37:04] So like he was falling a lot.
[00:37:06] I'm like, you know, you're falling a little too much.
[00:37:08] But he just was falling.
[00:37:10] But nobody coming off of meniscus surgery, right?
[00:37:13] Yeah, but he was like instead of trying to brace yourself just fall.
[00:37:17] But sometimes he was flopping.
[00:37:19] That's how he fell into Danny Green.
[00:37:22] Yeah, I would.
[00:37:23] But I just like the Sixers.
[00:37:25] They got some soul searching to do.
[00:37:28] But did you see Pat Rowley got a lot to say, don't he?
[00:37:33] Pat Rowley old.
[00:37:35] You don't care.
[00:37:36] Jalen Brunson just dribbled the ball out of bounds.
[00:37:39] So is we seeing the last of Jimmy Butler in Miami?
[00:37:43] Yeah, I think sometimes you just kind of wear.
[00:37:47] You just wear you.
[00:37:48] You just wear out your welcome in certain places.
[00:37:51] Yeah, that went off his foot.
[00:37:53] What's going on here?
[00:37:54] Yeah, it went off his foot.
[00:37:55] Yeah.
[00:37:56] Yeah.
[00:37:57] Jimmy, Jimmy Butler is, you know, like we brought this up.
[00:38:02] Well, I brought this up.
[00:38:03] I don't know.
[00:38:04] I remember you talked about it a little bit as well.
[00:38:07] You know, when you take the regular season, not you know,
[00:38:11] when you don't take it seriously, they take it lightly.
[00:38:14] And injuries happen, right?
[00:38:17] Injuries happen.
[00:38:18] But if Jimmy might have played three or four extra games,
[00:38:23] you might not even have been in that play in game.
[00:38:25] So like they that they I think the heat culture,
[00:38:31] I think the post LeBron, the Miami Heedles,
[00:38:34] I think Pat Riley doesn't want to go back to that.
[00:38:36] I think he doesn't want to be in a situation where you're Rob
[00:38:40] Palinka and you're trying to placate to your best player.
[00:38:45] You want to be like Mark Cuban was dealing with in Dallas
[00:38:48] where it was like, yo, you're wasting his talent.
[00:38:50] You're wasting his talent.
[00:38:51] And now you're reaching for trades.
[00:38:52] You don't want to be in Phoenix situation where there's
[00:38:55] like, oh, what are you going to do?
[00:38:57] Let's trade away all these other guys and fired his coach
[00:38:59] and make all these moves.
[00:39:00] I think he was like, you know what?
[00:39:02] I'm just going to stay consistent.
[00:39:04] The problem was you had a couple of guys on your team,
[00:39:08] Vincent and Schruese.
[00:39:09] You probably should have paid them.
[00:39:11] I mean, if I said it like even if it was a little bit
[00:39:14] above premium, you probably still should have paid them
[00:39:17] just to keep that together because you just kind of
[00:39:19] creating a separate expectation that, oh, we're just
[00:39:22] going to plug in some other guys.
[00:39:24] This Nicole Jokic, you know, jokers.
[00:39:30] So I was like, I think that's another thing.
[00:39:32] But I was like, I mean, when you've been that successful
[00:39:34] for that long as Pat Riley has been is like, I mean,
[00:39:37] how many advisors does he really have and who's going
[00:39:40] to tell him more about basketball than he already
[00:39:43] knows?
[00:39:44] Right.
[00:39:45] So it just might be a situation where you're just
[00:39:47] a little stale as far as your idea of how you're
[00:39:51] going to put this team together because they need a
[00:39:54] superstar.
[00:39:55] Every team needs a star.
[00:39:56] You need you need a guy that can get you buckets
[00:39:59] You need a guy who is on the cusp of being an all
[00:40:03] NBA player like you need.
[00:40:05] Was this a tear down situation?
[00:40:07] You're thinking?
[00:40:09] Yeah, I think it will be.
[00:40:11] I don't it might be a pat Riley step down situation
[00:40:14] where he's like, you know what?
[00:40:16] What else can you do?
[00:40:18] What else can you do with that roster?
[00:40:21] I mean, it's too late to go get KD.
[00:40:24] Nobody wants hero.
[00:40:26] No one wants Tyler Hero.
[00:40:28] You know, Jimmy Butler back to Philly.
[00:40:32] I've heard Jim Jimmy Butler or Paul George to Philly
[00:40:37] is I'm trying to see this play.
[00:40:40] Oh yeah, it went off you.
[00:40:42] It you know, but Philly I think is just done for
[00:40:46] because you just can't rely on him being even when
[00:40:50] he is healthy, you can't rely on them, but you
[00:40:52] can't rely on him to be healthy in the first
[00:40:54] place.
[00:40:55] So, you know, Milwaukee is going to be the wildcard
[00:40:59] here.
[00:41:00] I'm surprised Frank, you know, with all the talk
[00:41:03] Frank Vogel hasn't been fired yet.
[00:41:07] I don't think he should be fired, but I know
[00:41:09] that came out around the same time as the
[00:41:11] Darwin Ham stuff.
[00:41:14] That is we are behind.
[00:41:21] Yeah, he's saying wow, like, you know, I'm
[00:41:24] trying to see what's going on here.
[00:41:26] You know, yeah, I just saw it.
[00:41:29] Yeah, there you go.
[00:41:31] But yeah, so, you know, back to Orlando for a
[00:41:34] second, you know, the youth came through, you
[00:41:38] know, same thing, new NBA, right?
[00:41:41] They had a possession yesterday where Cleveland
[00:41:43] came back, took the lead.
[00:41:44] They were down by six and they proceeded to
[00:41:48] get three offensive rebounds on the same
[00:41:51] game.
[00:41:52] They were in the same position.
[00:41:54] Shot all three pointers, missed all of them.
[00:41:57] You know, it's just like, come on, man,
[00:41:59] like, Vagner went one for 15, Suggs went
[00:42:03] two for 13.
[00:42:04] For people doing math at home, that's
[00:42:06] three for 28.
[00:42:08] Just pump fake, get to the hole, get your
[00:42:13] three to old fashioned way.
[00:42:15] It seems like when you watch these games,
[00:42:17] you just have to be very careful when you
[00:42:19] put the bases off guard.
[00:42:21] When you pump fake and drive to the lane
[00:42:24] because somebody rotates over, somebody
[00:42:26] rotates over late, now you got to file
[00:42:28] three points old fashioned way.
[00:42:30] How did you residentate?
[00:42:32] No spoilers.
[00:42:33] But yeah, Apollo Banquero definitely
[00:42:37] announced himself as well.
[00:42:40] They don't have the parks that
[00:42:42] Minnesota has but they have a good
[00:42:45] team.
[00:42:46] You know, we talked about Miami.
[00:42:48] We talked about Philly.
[00:42:50] But Milwaukee is the wild card.
[00:42:52] Where does Milwaukee go from here?
[00:42:54] I don't know if they need to make trades
[00:42:56] but I don't know if Doc Rivers is going
[00:42:59] to be the answer.
[00:43:01] What does Milwaukee do now?
[00:43:03] I don't think that Doc Rivers is the
[00:43:05] answer.
[00:43:06] It's just another retread coach.
[00:43:08] I do believe that Milwaukee, I think
[00:43:14] their window might be closing.
[00:43:17] And it might be time to see if you can
[00:43:19] maximize some trade opportunities, get
[00:43:21] some young talent in there.
[00:43:23] I know Brooklyn tried that but I don't
[00:43:25] know if Brooklyn has the
[00:43:27] infrastructure from the front office
[00:43:29] wise to properly do it.
[00:43:32] There's nothing that takes longer than
[00:43:36] the last 15 seconds of a basketball
[00:43:38] game.
[00:43:39] Like literally, like you could go
[00:43:42] to the gym, warm your car up and put
[00:43:45] something in the microwave.
[00:43:47] All the clothes.
[00:43:50] Yeah.
[00:43:51] You know what I'm saying?
[00:43:53] So Jalen Brunson at the free throw
[00:43:55] line.
[00:43:56] Nick's up with 12.7 left to go.
[00:43:59] As far as the West goes, Phoenix is
[00:44:02] just stuck with what they're stuck
[00:44:04] with.
[00:44:05] New Orleans has some questions to
[00:44:07] answer.
[00:44:08] Is it time to try to see what you
[00:44:10] can do?
[00:44:11] I don't know.
[00:44:13] I don't know if anybody wants Zion at
[00:44:16] this point.
[00:44:17] You obviously want his talent and
[00:44:19] hope that you can maximize his
[00:44:21] talent but he's just not there.
[00:44:25] I don't know what happened with the
[00:44:27] hamstring in that Lakers game but I
[00:44:30] thought if he stays in that game
[00:44:32] they win.
[00:44:33] If they play OKC with Zion, I
[00:44:36] think that's a good series.
[00:44:39] I think that's a six game series.
[00:44:42] Even with the sweep, it wasn't OKC
[00:44:45] dominated.
[00:44:46] It's a lot of NBA teams.
[00:44:48] I heard Matt Ishbaugh, the owner
[00:44:51] of the Phoenix Sun say something
[00:44:54] like if you pull the 29 other GMs,
[00:44:57] 26 of them will take our team.
[00:45:00] Not true.
[00:45:01] I don't know about that player.
[00:45:04] Not with one guy with no tracers.
[00:45:07] Not with one guy with no trade
[00:45:09] clause getting $160 million.
[00:45:11] Maybe Charlotte in Atlanta and
[00:45:14] Washington would take your crap.
[00:45:17] Oh my goodness.
[00:45:19] What is going on here?
[00:45:21] Oh shit.
[00:45:23] It's like a football game.
[00:45:25] I saw the craziest screenings on
[00:45:29] the sideline.
[00:45:31] You can't say the F word,
[00:45:33] remember?
[00:45:35] Looks like they're going to pull
[00:45:37] this out.
[00:45:38] There you go.
[00:45:39] Game one is in the books.
[00:45:41] I thought the Pacers had a chance
[00:45:43] to come steal it.
[00:45:44] They did, but they just couldn't
[00:45:46] pull it out in the end.
[00:45:48] These young teams, you just
[00:45:52] can't trust them.
[00:45:53] We know Jalen Brunson.
[00:45:55] Jalen Brunson is just...
[00:45:57] I hope he got the ice bath
[00:45:59] ready for him.
[00:46:00] It's crazy that...
[00:46:01] Put on the beat!
[00:46:02] You know.
[00:46:03] Yeah.
[00:46:05] I'm excited.
[00:46:07] I'm excited about this, the
[00:46:08] second round of the playoffs.
[00:46:10] I think it's a lot of rising
[00:46:11] stars.
[00:46:13] I'm excited to see what Ant
[00:46:16] Man does tonight.
[00:46:18] Like I said, we saw with
[00:46:19] Jalen Brunson that I'm
[00:46:21] waiting for Tatum.
[00:46:23] I want that Tatum 40 game,
[00:46:25] 40 ball moment.
[00:46:28] And granted maybe he should
[00:46:29] save it for the next round
[00:46:30] when it's Boston versus New
[00:46:32] York.
[00:46:33] The NBA is going to love
[00:46:34] that.
[00:46:35] If we get Boston, New
[00:46:36] York.
[00:46:37] So that means you'd have
[00:46:38] three classic matchups.
[00:46:40] You'd have New York,
[00:46:41] Philly, which is just...
[00:46:42] I mean they just go back
[00:46:44] and forth with everything
[00:46:45] from hip hop to fashion
[00:46:47] to who's the toughest
[00:46:48] city, tougher fans.
[00:46:51] And then you get New
[00:46:52] York, Indiana classic
[00:46:54] throwback Reggie Miller
[00:46:56] and Knicks.
[00:46:58] And then you get the Knicks
[00:47:00] and the Celtics in the
[00:47:01] conference finals.
[00:47:03] And then you...
[00:47:04] I had to find the
[00:47:05] channel, Residente
[00:47:06] spoiling everything.
[00:47:08] I had to switch to the
[00:47:10] alternate channel so I can
[00:47:11] keep up.
[00:47:13] You know, but yeah,
[00:47:15] so you know, but looking
[00:47:16] at the West, you know,
[00:47:17] keeping it in the West.
[00:47:20] What now for the Clippers?
[00:47:22] They just got to blow it
[00:47:23] up.
[00:47:24] I know Bomber wants to
[00:47:25] keep a star.
[00:47:27] They want to open that
[00:47:28] arena.
[00:47:29] You don't want to open
[00:47:30] the arena and go, you know,
[00:47:32] wizard style.
[00:47:33] I mean, listen, the man made
[00:47:35] a few billion dollars
[00:47:36] already.
[00:47:37] I'm pretty sure he can
[00:47:38] figure out how to turn
[00:47:39] it around.
[00:47:40] But I mean, what do
[00:47:41] you have?
[00:47:42] You have a bunch of
[00:47:43] dudes our age.
[00:47:44] Yeah, Paul George is
[00:47:45] probably gone.
[00:47:46] Harden's a free agent.
[00:47:47] That could have gone
[00:47:48] to high school with us.
[00:47:49] Are you trying to
[00:47:50] open up a new arena?
[00:47:51] You know, Kawhi's knee
[00:47:52] is trying to leave him.
[00:47:54] So his knee is a
[00:47:55] free agent at least.
[00:47:56] You know, you got
[00:47:57] Terrence Mann.
[00:47:58] I'm sure Russell
[00:47:59] Westbrook won't be back.
[00:48:01] Yeah, Russ gonna be gone.
[00:48:03] I don't know.
[00:48:04] Maybe you maybe I would
[00:48:07] keep these some size.
[00:48:10] Norman Powell like
[00:48:11] maybe you move Powell.
[00:48:13] I don't know.
[00:48:14] Maybe you go to your
[00:48:15] G League and see if
[00:48:16] they have any talent
[00:48:17] that you can pull up.
[00:48:19] But what you what you
[00:48:20] have on the floor is
[00:48:22] proof that it's not
[00:48:23] enough in the West.
[00:48:25] You got these young
[00:48:26] teams because what
[00:48:27] they have is like a
[00:48:28] reverse what Minnesota
[00:48:29] has. Minnesota has one
[00:48:30] old guy.
[00:48:33] Couple of young guys
[00:48:34] and then they got go bear.
[00:48:36] Looks like not starting.
[00:48:39] They got slow mo out
[00:48:42] there starting Kyle
[00:48:44] Anderson.
[00:48:46] So you know, so I yeah.
[00:48:49] So maybe it just is
[00:48:50] a speed matchup.
[00:48:52] Oh, that's a charge.
[00:48:54] Yokas even looked at
[00:48:55] the ref like he
[00:48:56] thought he got a charge.
[00:48:59] You see?
[00:49:00] You see it.
[00:49:01] You see him.
[00:49:03] Yeah, I love it.
[00:49:04] You know, but yeah,
[00:49:05] they're open in the new arena.
[00:49:07] You know, like I said,
[00:49:08] James Harden is a free agent.
[00:49:09] So but I feel like
[00:49:11] they almost have to
[00:49:12] resign him.
[00:49:14] James Harden always
[00:49:15] seems to be a free agent.
[00:49:18] They every year
[00:49:19] remember he was talking about
[00:49:21] me and he was talking
[00:49:22] about how Darrell Murray
[00:49:23] is a liar and everything.
[00:49:24] So he's always
[00:49:26] opting in or opting out.
[00:49:28] Yeah.
[00:49:29] So what?
[00:49:30] Where do the Lakers go from here?
[00:49:31] Is there anybody out there that
[00:49:33] I know like people are
[00:49:34] talking about Trey Young,
[00:49:36] Donovan Mitchell.
[00:49:37] I'm not even trying to look there,
[00:49:39] but like, you know,
[00:49:40] just as far as improving
[00:49:43] the role players,
[00:49:44] you know,
[00:49:45] like what can they do?
[00:49:47] They butcher their opportunities
[00:49:49] to keep their role players.
[00:49:51] So what they're going to have to do
[00:49:53] is hope that they hit
[00:49:54] somebody in the draft.
[00:49:55] That's a surprise.
[00:49:58] And you're more likely
[00:50:00] up to run it back.
[00:50:01] What if they brought in somebody
[00:50:03] like say,
[00:50:04] like I said,
[00:50:05] I'm not trying to look for a star.
[00:50:07] You know what I mean?
[00:50:08] But what if they brought in
[00:50:09] somebody like a Bobby Portis?
[00:50:11] I don't know what he gives you
[00:50:13] as far as like space.
[00:50:17] The problem with the Lakers is
[00:50:19] that you don't,
[00:50:21] you guys don't have any space
[00:50:22] and you don't have a third guy.
[00:50:24] Well, he can hit shots.
[00:50:26] They brought in Jackson Hayes
[00:50:28] and didn't even play him.
[00:50:30] You know, Christian Wood
[00:50:31] was hurt half the year.
[00:50:32] They brought in a bunch.
[00:50:33] They brought in guys that
[00:50:35] they couldn't put on the floor
[00:50:38] and say, create for me,
[00:50:41] create your own bucket,
[00:50:42] do this, do that.
[00:50:43] They didn't bring anybody in like that.
[00:50:46] And I don't know how many of those guys
[00:50:47] are just out there.
[00:50:49] Some teams have them,
[00:50:50] some teams kept their guys.
[00:50:52] That's a travel,
[00:50:54] but we don't call it an NBA.
[00:50:56] Yeah, Max Christie is a shooter on that team,
[00:51:00] but he doesn't get the minutes.
[00:51:02] So maybe with a new coach, you know,
[00:51:04] who's gonna want to coach?
[00:51:06] Well, this is the conundrum, right?
[00:51:09] This is the conundrum.
[00:51:10] I was looking at some of the candidates.
[00:51:11] They wanted Tyler.
[00:51:12] They're not getting Tyler.
[00:51:14] You know, they wanted Jason Kidd.
[00:51:16] He just signed an extension.
[00:51:18] JJ Reddick's name was on the list.
[00:51:20] Rondo's name was on the list.
[00:51:22] So here we go again,
[00:51:23] hiring these dudes.
[00:51:24] And then when it fails,
[00:51:25] you got your scapegoat in place.
[00:51:27] Like, so I just feel like they're,
[00:51:29] they're just trying to hire the next scapegoat
[00:51:31] more than they are.
[00:51:32] The problem that I felt with the Lakers is that,
[00:51:37] like I felt this for, like I said, multiple years.
[00:51:40] Rob Pelika, if he is,
[00:51:43] whoever has final say on roster moves,
[00:51:47] needs to relinquish that position
[00:51:49] and bring in an expert.
[00:51:52] Cause that's, that's the,
[00:51:53] that's the main piece they have because they have LeBron
[00:51:56] because Magic and Kobe say, yo, come to LA.
[00:52:02] It wasn't because Rob Pelika.
[00:52:04] I think LeBron was going to come to LA anyway.
[00:52:06] That's what I'm saying.
[00:52:07] Like he, that was the, that was the,
[00:52:09] if Kobe would have said something like,
[00:52:11] yo, no, I don't come to my team.
[00:52:12] I don't think he comes.
[00:52:15] Like I don't think LeBron comes
[00:52:16] and tries to prove to call.
[00:52:18] Anthony Towns get another foul.
[00:52:21] I don't know if that one was on him.
[00:52:23] It might've been though.
[00:52:25] Which would be stupid.
[00:52:27] That's what he does.
[00:52:28] I told you that.
[00:52:29] I just said that like, what, 10 minutes ago?
[00:52:31] This is what he does.
[00:52:33] That's why they didn't start Go Bear.
[00:52:35] You know what I'm saying?
[00:52:37] So they can bring Go Bear in when call,
[00:52:40] if Neverly gets his two early fouls.
[00:52:43] There we go.
[00:52:44] See listen, I'm not an NBA coach,
[00:52:46] but at least I figured that part out.
[00:52:47] But that's, that's the problem.
[00:52:48] That's the problem with a lot of the teams either
[00:52:50] the teams tried to microwave it
[00:52:53] or they didn't want to pay the guys to run it back.
[00:52:58] Dallas had that issue after they beat the Miami Heat.
[00:53:01] They had guys, they probably could have paid.
[00:53:03] They could have ran it back.
[00:53:04] Tyson Chandler.
[00:53:05] Those guys were like, you know what?
[00:53:07] We just want a championship.
[00:53:10] Yesterday's price is not today's price.
[00:53:14] And Mark Cuban was like, all right, bet.
[00:53:16] All I need is one championship.
[00:53:18] As soon as an owner, I'm a championship owner.
[00:53:21] I did what I came out to do.
[00:53:23] My team's value is going to increase.
[00:53:25] I don't have to give you more money
[00:53:27] for me to succeed as an owner.
[00:53:29] I'm not saying he thought that way,
[00:53:31] but that's where you lose your leverage.
[00:53:33] Like I don't need you to be, I still got Dirk
[00:53:38] and I still got his arena.
[00:53:39] I still own this team.
[00:53:40] So if I don't pay you the 22 million a year
[00:53:42] that you want, I'll get another guy in here
[00:53:44] for 8 million.
[00:53:45] That gives me the same thing you get.
[00:53:47] Maybe I lose a couple of points, but I get another guy
[00:53:49] in here for 4 million.
[00:53:50] So I'm spending 12 million to get 20 instead
[00:53:52] of giving you 22 and then work out.
[00:53:55] Yeah.
[00:53:57] So I don't know.
[00:53:59] It's going to be interesting.
[00:54:00] I'm here for all of it.
[00:54:01] So just to recap, let's run through this.
[00:54:04] So I got Boston in a sweep.
[00:54:07] I'm giving them one just because I think
[00:54:09] Boston is going to give him one.
[00:54:11] I got Nixon five.
[00:54:13] That seems legit.
[00:54:18] I got the two that we disagree on.
[00:54:21] I got Dallas in six.
[00:54:24] I'm going to go OKC in seven.
[00:54:28] And then I'm going to go Denver in seven.
[00:54:33] I'm going Minnesota in six.
[00:54:35] You know, and like I said, for all intents
[00:54:37] and purposes, this series is the Western Conference
[00:54:40] finals for me.
[00:54:41] Whoever I feel whoever wins this series
[00:54:43] is going to the NBA finals.
[00:54:47] I think they're going to meet Boston there
[00:54:50] unless something crazy happens because I mean,
[00:54:52] hey, don't count the Knicks out.
[00:54:54] Like you know the way that Jalen Brunson
[00:54:57] is playing all it takes is for Attenobe
[00:55:01] to play his defensive life out
[00:55:04] because he is a great defender.
[00:55:07] Have Jalen Brown have a couple of bad games.
[00:55:12] You would need a lot to beat Boston four times.
[00:55:15] You would you definitely you would need a lot
[00:55:18] because you would still need to play
[00:55:22] your version of an A game as well.
[00:55:24] A couple of different guys.
[00:55:25] So the teams that are left in the playoffs
[00:55:28] right now, East and West, who has the best
[00:55:31] chance to beat Boston?
[00:55:33] Boston.
[00:55:34] Oh word.
[00:55:36] That's what you're going to do.
[00:55:37] That's what you're going to do.
[00:55:39] That's what I feel like.
[00:55:42] I just like I said is because I think
[00:55:45] Boston's going to get
[00:55:47] they're going to have an easy series here.
[00:55:50] Their Eastern Conference final opponent
[00:55:53] is going to be the Knicks of Indiana.
[00:55:55] I don't know how difficult those series are.
[00:56:01] So they're going to get to the NBA Finals
[00:56:04] with four losses.
[00:56:07] Those those games against Miami man
[00:56:09] Tatum and Brown were just sitting around for
[00:56:12] 15 minutes, 15 game minutes.
[00:56:16] Like they didn't play the whole fourth quarter
[00:56:18] in the closeout game.
[00:56:19] They came out somewhere half with the third
[00:56:21] and Tatum and Brown both were on the bench
[00:56:24] the entire fourth quarter of that Miami series.
[00:56:27] I think it could be like that against Cleveland
[00:56:29] where one or two of the games are just
[00:56:32] up by 30 with you know going into the fourth
[00:56:36] and it is just like these guys are just
[00:56:38] sitting resting, not getting banged up.
[00:56:40] Guys are getting playoff experience.
[00:56:42] Guys are getting other minutes
[00:56:44] whereas like I said I don't think
[00:56:47] like Denver's role players got that got that time
[00:56:51] and their starters had to play the whole time.
[00:56:53] I think Boston is going to be well rested
[00:56:56] and it's going to be on them because I think
[00:56:58] their team is built to beat any team
[00:57:01] because you I think just their offense makes
[00:57:05] defense tougher for the other team.
[00:57:07] That's what I was just about to say.
[00:57:08] I think Dallas is the team that could score
[00:57:12] with them.
[00:57:13] But Minnesota you just can't discount Minnesota's
[00:57:17] the trees.
[00:57:18] You can't take that for granted.
[00:57:21] You know if they if they use them the right way.
[00:57:23] Yeah but like I said the eight guys
[00:57:25] have green lights on open looks like
[00:57:27] that's that's who they're going to that's
[00:57:29] what they're going to run at you so.
[00:57:30] And I know hey Denver did beat Boston
[00:57:33] both times they played during the regular season.
[00:57:35] I mean granted that was the regular season.
[00:57:38] Yeah then Detroit beat Boston or Atlanta beat
[00:57:40] him a couple of times.
[00:57:41] Indiana beat him a few times or at least once
[00:57:43] that I can remember off the top of my head.
[00:57:45] So you know like Phoenix beat Minnesota
[00:57:47] three times.
[00:57:48] Hopefully all I can say for Boston Celtics sake
[00:57:51] before we get out of here is that I hope
[00:57:53] that Boston isn't thinking like you.
[00:57:56] It's OK for you to think this.
[00:57:59] Boston can't think this.
[00:58:00] I'm going to do it on the podcast so
[00:58:02] like I can think all kinds of crazy stuff
[00:58:04] and say it all out.
[00:58:05] They got to believe in play and play well.
[00:58:08] Yeah.
[00:58:09] Yeah.
[00:58:10] So you know so like I said I got the
[00:58:12] Nuggets winning tonight you know turning
[00:58:14] it around and going back to Minnesota tied
[00:58:16] up we'll see how that goes you know
[00:58:19] until Thursday.
[00:58:22] You know I am to five he is Mr.
[00:58:25] Logical.
[00:58:26] We are force reports as ordered.
[00:58:29] Thanks for the support like subscribe
[00:58:31] review all the good things that are
[00:58:34] free.
[00:58:35] You know they're still in the game
[00:58:37] free.
[00:58:38] You know they're still free.
[00:58:40] It's free for grandma.
[00:58:41] Tell her to come on through share
[00:58:43] with your grandma.
[00:58:44] Share it with her.
[00:58:46] We will see you.
[00:58:47] We love you America.
[00:58:54] Enjoy the game.
[00:58:58] Peace Minnesota and six.
[00:59:00] Let's go.