Did Indiana blow the series in Game 1? Does Dallas have control of the series? Plus Get It Off My Chest, professional football has come to amateur sports. And a salute to the WNBA
[00:00:05] It's Thursday. Weekend is almost here, but for now, you've got to deal with Sports Reports As Ordered.
[00:00:16] We're going to start it off like this.
[00:00:22] Yes, you are now listening to the sound of Sports Reports As Ordered.
[00:00:29] And you know, a cross from me is the even kill.
[00:00:35] Texas born, raised in VA. Remember that R. Kelly Jordan? She was raised in Illinois, right outside of Chicago.
[00:00:46] Chicago!
[00:00:48] Raised in VA, representing New Jerus, even though I had to let them know that UFC is in Newark next weekend.
[00:00:59] Don't bring feelings to a fat fight.
[00:01:02] Don't do it.
[00:01:03] He is Mr. Lodge.
[00:01:07] And I am your unorthodox statistician.
[00:01:10] Going left so much that you thought I was South Park, representing down here in the Alamo by way of Baltimore.
[00:01:18] You thought I was going to say Slaughtermore Murderland, didn't you?
[00:01:21] From Baltimore!
[00:01:25] I am too fat.
[00:01:28] We're going to get this started with Get It Off My Chest, but of course we got more NBA playoffs for you.
[00:01:33] And we got a conversation about is the league happy about who is in the conference finals right now?
[00:01:42] So we're going to get this started right now with Get It Off My Chest.
[00:01:46] So Mr. Lodgeical, I saw some news come down the wire today.
[00:01:54] And it took me back to my sister days.
[00:01:58] But oh, happy day!
[00:02:02] Finally, after all these years, college athletes are about to get paid.
[00:02:10] And I know what you're thinking out there.
[00:02:13] They already get NIL.
[00:02:16] They're already spoiled.
[00:02:18] They're already getting the riches.
[00:02:20] They're already coming up in the world.
[00:02:22] But now the thing that I've been asking for is about to happen.
[00:02:27] They're going to be getting paid directly by the schools.
[00:02:31] So we got to figure out the particulars.
[00:02:35] But as happy as I am, you got to have your balance right?
[00:02:41] You got to have your good.
[00:02:43] You got to have your evil.
[00:02:45] So I got my happiness.
[00:02:47] I got my happiness.
[00:02:49] But now I'm about to be sad because what does that mean for Boise State?
[00:02:55] You know, what does that mean for Tulane?
[00:02:59] What does that mean for Memphis?
[00:03:03] These schools that are in the G5 as we know it today,
[00:03:08] they can't keep up with the AFC and NFC.
[00:03:12] We're on our way.
[00:03:14] Me and Mr. Lodjic will have been talking about this since we've had a show.
[00:03:18] We're going to be up here with these 64 teams or whatever,
[00:03:23] including Notre Dame.
[00:03:25] And it's going to be that one level of football.
[00:03:29] The G5 is going to go over here.
[00:03:31] Maybe they'll have their own playoff that only I will watch.
[00:03:36] Just like I'd be sitting up here watching Maxxon on Tuesdays
[00:03:40] and Wednesdays during the college football season.
[00:03:43] But I am happy that these athletes are going to get paid.
[00:03:47] And to top it off, there are some former athletes that are going to get paid.
[00:03:53] Even VCU, you know, said that have been selling jerseys,
[00:03:58] you know, have been a part of success for the NCAA
[00:04:02] because nobody comes to watch these A.D.s.
[00:04:05] We come to watch the athletes.
[00:04:08] So it's about time that we're on the path to do the right thing.
[00:04:12] And even though we can't wrong the rights of the past,
[00:04:15] all we could do is be better going forward.
[00:04:18] I dig it.
[00:04:23] Like I said, I'm raising a high school athlete now.
[00:04:29] About to finish up his freshman year of high school.
[00:04:32] So by the time he graduates 2027 and he's off to college,
[00:04:37] you know, essentially you want to be able to set yourself up going forward.
[00:04:43] It seems like a lot of transfer portal, a lot of the movement.
[00:04:46] You got to follow the money.
[00:04:48] We talked about it all the time.
[00:04:51] So now it's just legally deep.
[00:04:53] I don't think it's going to really change the landscape that much
[00:04:57] because Duke was already getting the best players,
[00:05:00] even if they weren't paying them directly legally or illegally,
[00:05:03] as the case may be.
[00:05:05] We've probably all seen the clip or the memes of Xavier Worthy
[00:05:09] going into the Kansas State Chiefs locker room and looking around
[00:05:13] and seeing that it wasn't better than the Texas locker room.
[00:05:17] We've seen the tours of Oregon's locker room with PS5s
[00:05:21] and Xboxes everywhere and 70 inch TVs.
[00:05:25] So even though they weren't given the players money directly,
[00:05:29] if you're a player that really wants to swag it out
[00:05:32] and get a bunch of different uniform combinations
[00:05:34] and Oregon comes calling,
[00:05:36] so you can go to Oregon or Washington State.
[00:05:38] Well, Oregon's going to give you all these different color combinations,
[00:05:41] all these different helmets.
[00:05:42] You're going to be on TV because of the way your uniform looks.
[00:05:45] That's essentially they were paying for the players then.
[00:05:49] So some schools, as far as direct payment,
[00:05:52] they might have to reach into that endowment
[00:05:55] or break into some of their nonprofit tax write-offs
[00:06:00] and things of that nature.
[00:06:02] But the top schools are going to get the top players no matter what.
[00:06:06] It's just now you got to be on the lookout
[00:06:09] to see who's ready to transfer
[00:06:12] and pick them up after they've been developed by Alabama.
[00:06:15] So you have Tulane and you got a guy LSU
[00:06:18] that's not getting a lot of run,
[00:06:20] maybe you try to pull him away.
[00:06:22] Like, yo, you're the third running back,
[00:06:24] they bring another five-star guy in here.
[00:06:26] You come to Tulane, you're starting.
[00:06:29] You might have to just be better at being a little bit of a vulture
[00:06:32] as far as your recruiting process.
[00:06:34] But the money was always a disadvantage.
[00:06:37] Now it's just public.
[00:06:39] Facts.
[00:06:41] Sorry, y'all, my allergies are kicking my butt.
[00:06:44] That's why I keep turning the camera off
[00:06:46] so y'all can see me sneezing and blowing my nose.
[00:06:48] But, you know, I'm here.
[00:06:50] Yeah, so when I get off my chest,
[00:06:53] it's a little bit more positive.
[00:06:54] I want to give a shout out.
[00:06:56] You can see I'm wearing my Minnesota Lynx hat
[00:06:58] and Chicago sky.
[00:07:01] I got a little Candace Parker action here.
[00:07:03] I want to shout out WNBA.
[00:07:05] I think what you guys are doing for the women in the league,
[00:07:09] even though they seem to be kind of going at Caitlin Clark,
[00:07:13] but I think they do that with every rookie in every league.
[00:07:16] So I don't think a defensive end is going to back off
[00:07:19] of Kayla Williams because they want the Bears to shine.
[00:07:22] So I think they're going to blitz him just as much
[00:07:24] as they're blitzing Caitlin Clark in the WNBA.
[00:07:28] She has to be more composed, obviously,
[00:07:30] but like I said, overall, I like what they're doing,
[00:07:32] the expansion with the team in Toronto.
[00:07:34] Like I said, I have four kids, grandkids,
[00:07:38] but only one girl you can see over my shoulder here
[00:07:41] dressed like Scooby-Doo, Fyla Ween.
[00:07:43] She plays sports, basketball.
[00:07:45] She played baseball.
[00:07:47] So I figure she's probably going to keep going.
[00:07:51] My middle son is like, listen,
[00:07:53] I can't get one nerd because I've got three sons,
[00:07:56] two of them play sports.
[00:07:58] My daughter is into sports.
[00:08:00] She's like, listen, I just want one nerd.
[00:08:02] I'm like, you probably won't get one.
[00:08:04] Maybe a nephew would be one.
[00:08:06] So I'm really liking what they're doing as far
[00:08:08] as highlighting women's sports.
[00:08:10] And I keep throwing this idea around with me and Mike talk.
[00:08:14] If the WNBA just had a stipend
[00:08:21] and each NBA team kicked $3.3 million to the WNBA,
[00:08:27] like directly from their account.
[00:08:31] However they divide their money up either from the owner,
[00:08:34] from the player payroll, from whatever.
[00:08:37] Each team since 3.3 million, that's a hundred million dollars.
[00:08:41] You can just dump it to the WNBA every year.
[00:08:44] They're probably going to make $3 million off of this game alone
[00:08:48] between tickets, food, concessions, TV rights.
[00:08:52] You kick that to the WNBA and it gives them a hundred million
[00:08:55] dollars extra for the team that they have
[00:08:57] and you help build it up.
[00:08:59] Basketball is a sport.
[00:09:00] That's the brand you're trying to sell.
[00:09:02] So maybe they can get back to the table
[00:09:05] and some collective bargaining.
[00:09:06] I don't want the women to try to like leave
[00:09:08] and go to different leagues and just work with the NBA.
[00:09:13] They already have the money.
[00:09:15] Make that happen.
[00:09:16] But shout out to the WNBA for putting that effort in
[00:09:21] and highlighting these women.
[00:09:23] Shout out to Andrea Reese.
[00:09:24] She's out here killing it.
[00:09:26] They blew the Liberty out last night.
[00:09:30] Actually like 13 points, a few blocks, a couple of steals.
[00:09:34] So shout out to these young rookies that are doing their thing.
[00:09:38] Kate Martin out in Vegas playing with the two-time Defended Champ
[00:09:43] finals MVP and they're all giving her credit, all giving her shine.
[00:09:46] They're really excited when she gets in the game.
[00:09:48] So like big about it.
[00:09:50] Kaitlyn's old teammate.
[00:09:51] Kaitlyn's old teammate.
[00:09:52] So shout out to Kaitlyn Clark.
[00:09:54] Just kind of mask your frustration a little bit.
[00:09:58] Get into your groove, get into your bag.
[00:10:01] Listen, the way you dribble shoot,
[00:10:03] there's not a lot of women on planet Earth that play that way.
[00:10:06] Just take your time.
[00:10:08] If you got to shoot from 28 feet, just practice more.
[00:10:11] And you know, I can't let you say all that without shouting out Cameron Brink.
[00:10:16] Oh yeah, Cameron Brink another one.
[00:10:18] I think it's smart what they're doing.
[00:10:21] They're getting them on podcasts.
[00:10:23] Yeah, they're getting them out on podcasts.
[00:10:26] They're getting them on like Paul George had Cameron Brink on.
[00:10:30] She has a big NBA relationship because she's Steph Curry's god sister or something like that.
[00:10:35] They got the Skims deal.
[00:10:38] Got the Skims deal.
[00:10:39] So they're getting that's the same deal that the NBA players have.
[00:10:44] That's what I'm talking about.
[00:10:47] So, you know, the WNBA is announcing themselves.
[00:10:50] You know, I saw some number where the Fever had outdrew the Pacers.
[00:10:55] And for those keeping track at home,
[00:10:57] that is the Pacers in a playoff game being out drawn by the Fever.
[00:11:03] You know, they're moving Fever games to NBA arenas.
[00:11:06] So, you know, we're reaching the high 17,000 seats.
[00:11:09] They went from 3500 to 4000 seat arenas to 17,000.
[00:11:16] Reaching heights that I didn't think that, you know, we'd see so soon at least.
[00:11:21] Like I thought that would happen in the future,
[00:11:23] but definitely not as quick as it's taken off.
[00:11:26] So I'm happy about it.
[00:11:28] I'm here for it.
[00:11:29] But with that being said, we talking about playoffs around here.
[00:11:34] Playoffs.
[00:11:35] Playoffs.
[00:11:37] Yeah, so the Pacers came into tonight.
[00:11:41] Boy, we would have had a whole different conversation
[00:11:43] if they didn't make that dumbass inbound pass in game one.
[00:11:47] You know, that would have been a hell of a win to go into Boston.
[00:11:51] Boston normally blows these game twos,
[00:11:54] but what are your thoughts on this series so far, Mr. Logical?
[00:11:58] Well, Tyrese Halliburton is out for the rest of this game.
[00:12:04] So we'll see how he recovers
[00:12:06] because I think they're playing every other day.
[00:12:08] So that puts him...
[00:12:09] So today's Thursday.
[00:12:10] They got him playing Saturday night, Saturday afternoon.
[00:12:13] Oh, the hamstring again.
[00:12:15] The hamstring.
[00:12:16] He missed two games, the hamstrings.
[00:12:18] You believe in these outcups?
[00:12:20] The injury in January is because he slipped.
[00:12:23] I don't think it's quite the same.
[00:12:25] No, I know.
[00:12:26] You know how it is.
[00:12:27] Like I said, I never pulled a hamstring.
[00:12:29] I just noticed that.
[00:12:31] I remember Julio Jones would pull them all the time
[00:12:33] and they'd have him warming up and he couldn't go
[00:12:35] like every single week.
[00:12:37] So I like this series.
[00:12:39] Like I said, I think Boston, like we were talking about in our pre-meeting,
[00:12:42] I think Boston is markedly better than Indiana.
[00:12:46] Indiana can play hard.
[00:12:48] They can play smart.
[00:12:49] But just I think if Boston just walked onto the floor,
[00:12:53] like they can't beat us if we just simply execute.
[00:12:57] Nothing crazy.
[00:12:58] Like I said, Jalen Brown and Tatum attacked the rim,
[00:13:02] get to the paint, shoot from there,
[00:13:04] let guys like Hauser and Pritchett, Horford, White,
[00:13:08] let them pop the threes, Drew Holliday, you run the floor.
[00:13:11] He plays great defense.
[00:13:13] So they would have been playing with House Money
[00:13:17] if they would have defended Jalen Brown better.
[00:13:20] And I'm going to give Siakam credit for not trying to contest
[00:13:22] because we've seen this year referees have been calling
[00:13:29] questionable calls at the end of games no matter what the circumstance.
[00:13:33] We saw it in the Final Four with Connecticut with the legal screen.
[00:13:37] Something you probably see 75 times in a game.
[00:13:41] Cat last night?
[00:13:43] Cat with the put back dunk last night they called that.
[00:13:47] We saw it in the New York series with the same thing,
[00:13:50] legal screen on Miles Turner, which I thought was good.
[00:13:53] So I think he did a good job not contesting.
[00:13:57] And realistically, if Jalen Brown doesn't kick both feet out,
[00:14:02] he might have gotten a foul call anyway because Siakam in his attempt
[00:14:06] to not contest kind of slid through his leg anyway.
[00:14:10] But so like I said, rest have been calling stuff like that.
[00:14:14] So it was smart.
[00:14:15] And it's a corner three contested.
[00:14:17] You got to guide your feet.
[00:14:19] You just got to you got to live and die with that.
[00:14:21] But they definitely can't dribble the ball out of bounds twice.
[00:14:24] They can't Siakam.
[00:14:26] I think Siakam might have been able to let that ball go
[00:14:30] and the rest might have called it out on Jalen Brown
[00:14:35] because you can't tell they're both the same skin tone.
[00:14:38] They're moving super fast at an angle away from the referee.
[00:14:41] I think when he hit the ball the second time,
[00:14:43] it was clear that he knocked it out of bounds.
[00:14:46] But before that, I don't know who knocked it out of bounds.
[00:14:49] Did Miles Turner get hurt tonight?
[00:14:52] I didn't see an update or anything like that.
[00:14:56] So only reason I ask, you know,
[00:14:58] because you know obviously I had a reason to ask
[00:15:01] because you looked at the stats and you only had like six shots probably.
[00:15:04] Well, in game one, he had 18 points in the first half.
[00:15:10] And then he had three shot attempts the rest of the game
[00:15:15] to include overtime.
[00:15:18] You know, tonight he only had seven shots
[00:15:21] and I'm trying to figure out with no Christophe's Porzingis on the floor.
[00:15:26] Why aren't we getting a heavier dose of Miles Turner?
[00:15:30] Because when I look at this...
[00:15:32] Everyone's living and dying by the three.
[00:15:34] Yeah, because the other night like Indiana was feasting
[00:15:38] anytime somebody got near Al Horford.
[00:15:41] If Horford was near you, take the shot.
[00:15:44] You know, and I just don't understand why.
[00:15:47] So like tonight it was the Jalen Brown show,
[00:15:50] but if Boston was a slightly worse team,
[00:15:53] that Jalen Brown shot would have been his Ray Allen moment.
[00:15:57] You know, and I was trying to figure out earlier
[00:16:01] what would have been more likely?
[00:16:05] Jalen Brown hitting that particular shot
[00:16:08] or getting fouled and nailing all three free throws?
[00:16:12] I think the shot.
[00:16:17] The shot, because you don't have to think...
[00:16:20] You just got to let it go.
[00:16:22] I can't play around with this.
[00:16:24] I'm in the corner.
[00:16:26] I can't pass out of it because I don't know how much...
[00:16:28] Because when you're in the corner,
[00:16:30] you know it's eight seconds when the ball is inbounded.
[00:16:32] I don't know if you're counting in your head,
[00:16:35] one, Mississippi, two Mississippi,
[00:16:37] you're like, I got to get a shot off.
[00:16:40] At the free throw line, you're sitting there,
[00:16:44] maybe the fans are quiet, maybe they're cheering,
[00:16:48] but you know, you see the clock then.
[00:16:50] You know, like if I don't knock down
[00:16:52] all three of these free throws,
[00:16:54] we only have this amount of time left.
[00:16:56] We got to get the rebound.
[00:16:57] So I think that not even thinking about it
[00:16:59] and just putting a shot up,
[00:17:01] that was most likely.
[00:17:04] I know people always say you should foul up three
[00:17:06] and all this other stuff.
[00:17:08] Just play defense because what happened?
[00:17:11] We've got Twitter talking about that.
[00:17:13] Because Boston, oh, LeBron.
[00:17:15] Yeah.
[00:17:17] I saw it too, but I know it's a lot like,
[00:17:19] oh, the person got to make a free throw
[00:17:21] and maybe they break the next one.
[00:17:24] You don't want...
[00:17:25] I don't like giving teams opportunity to score
[00:17:28] because they did it in overtime.
[00:17:30] Boston foul up six
[00:17:32] and they got one free throw
[00:17:36] and then the missed free throw,
[00:17:38] but the foul was on Jason Tatum,
[00:17:40] sent Oby Topham to the line.
[00:17:42] He hit two free throws.
[00:17:44] Now you're a bad inbound pass away from
[00:17:48] the game potentially getting tied up
[00:17:50] instead of just playing because being down six...
[00:17:53] Especially when you saw what happened with Indiana
[00:17:55] and the inbound pass.
[00:17:57] We could see what happened with the Knicks
[00:17:59] and the 76ers in that series.
[00:18:04] And when Tyrese Maxey hit the four point play
[00:18:07] and then came down and hit the low goal three
[00:18:09] to tie the game,
[00:18:10] they ended that series in the garden.
[00:18:12] So I'm a more proponent of just playing good defense
[00:18:15] unless you are like being up three,
[00:18:18] I can see it maybe,
[00:18:20] but you have that situation where same thing.
[00:18:24] You get the made free throw.
[00:18:26] You get the BS.
[00:18:27] Because like I said,
[00:18:28] Siakam was on the other side of the paint
[00:18:30] bear hugging Jaylen Brown
[00:18:32] at the same time Oby Topham had Jason Tatum's arm hooked.
[00:18:37] So like when he hooked it,
[00:18:38] he couldn't get it from behind.
[00:18:39] He wouldn't even hold in top.
[00:18:40] His arm was there.
[00:18:42] So it's like, who calls that?
[00:18:45] Like I said, the refs had just been kind of
[00:18:48] making their imprint on games a little bit too much.
[00:18:52] Like some things you just kind of gotta let play out.
[00:18:55] Like you can't micromanage the game
[00:18:59] to the point where you're part of the conversation.
[00:19:02] Because we can always talk about like,
[00:19:03] listen, the ref didn't call you to game,
[00:19:06] but say make a couple of more bad calls like that.
[00:19:09] Whereas like, oh, miss free throw, lane violation,
[00:19:12] just little shit like that.
[00:19:14] That gives Indiana another opportunity,
[00:19:16] another opportunity.
[00:19:17] Now we're in double overtime.
[00:19:18] Especially when they got that opportunity,
[00:19:20] especially in that game when they shot 54%.
[00:19:24] You know, so that's the thing is that I was saying earlier
[00:19:27] in our pre-meeting,
[00:19:29] they remind me a lot.
[00:19:30] They don't have the players,
[00:19:31] but they remind me a lot of the Spurs, the good Spurs,
[00:19:36] not the Wimbayama Spurs, the good Spurs.
[00:19:39] You know, the way they move the ball,
[00:19:41] it's always there.
[00:19:42] Like it's always moving.
[00:19:43] Everybody else is always moving.
[00:19:45] So they're hard to defend because Boston is obviously
[00:19:48] a great defensive team.
[00:19:49] But that's because most teams are trying to run around them,
[00:19:53] run into them,
[00:19:55] and they just have good defenders everywhere.
[00:19:57] But Indiana is constantly moving.
[00:19:59] They're constantly screening, you know,
[00:20:01] and it's easy to get lost out of place,
[00:20:03] especially against a team like Boston who falls asleep at times.
[00:20:07] Now obviously with Halliburton being hurt,
[00:20:11] you know, if the series wasn't over before,
[00:20:13] it's probably over now.
[00:20:15] You know, so, you know, there's no coming back from that.
[00:20:19] But, you know, I just don't understand though where this new
[00:20:25] NBA, because they talk about analytics and they talk about
[00:20:28] exploiting matchups.
[00:20:29] And I get it, right?
[00:20:31] You want dunks and you want three-pointers.
[00:20:34] But if you have a matchup like Miles Turner in there or
[00:20:38] Obie Toppin and you can get Al Horford switched on him,
[00:20:41] knock, knock, that's a mismatch.
[00:20:44] So it doesn't have to get you a three-point shot for it
[00:20:48] to be a mismatch.
[00:20:49] You know, and Rick Carlisle,
[00:20:51] you know, I thought that he would be good enough to get
[00:20:55] Indiana a game.
[00:20:56] He is a championship winning coach.
[00:20:58] And when you look at the Mavericks team that he won with,
[00:21:02] it's easy to focus on dirt,
[00:21:04] but they had a lot of age on that team.
[00:21:06] So, so he's shown that he can do it in different ways and
[00:21:10] different players.
[00:21:11] So, you know, I was hopeful that that's what would happen,
[00:21:16] but you know, I don't know.
[00:21:18] Like right now Boston's in control.
[00:21:20] And I think that's the only thing that's going to happen.
[00:21:23] Boston's in control and I think they just punched their
[00:21:26] ticket to the finals.
[00:21:27] So, I mean, that's that.
[00:21:29] I mean, like I said,
[00:21:31] we saw a couple of series in previous rounds team go down
[00:21:35] 2-0 turned around.
[00:21:37] So I'm not going to say it's over just because I think
[00:21:40] it'd be a little premature.
[00:21:41] Without Halliburton,
[00:21:43] I mean without Halliburton,
[00:21:46] they're definitely limited because see I can play 31
[00:21:49] minutes at 28 points.
[00:21:51] They're still losing by 16 because they're still losing by 16.
[00:21:54] So I think that's the only thing that's going to happen.
[00:21:57] And I think they're still losing by 16.
[00:21:59] So I think that the only thing that's going to happen is
[00:22:02] pretty much unguardable and they still lose by 16
[00:22:05] because no one else, you know,
[00:22:07] quote Kenny again, pull them through the hole injuries are
[00:22:12] a big, big problem,
[00:22:14] but it's also kind of helping a lot of these East Eastern
[00:22:18] conference teams get to where they're getting to.
[00:22:20] It's four or five more offensive rebounds just with that
[00:22:25] one guy being able to floor because Hardenstein was out
[00:22:29] there, but it's like so much you could do,
[00:22:31] especially in Tim's format,
[00:22:33] the way he plays players where you're the big guy and
[00:22:36] he was fighting for all these offensive rebounds.
[00:22:38] Well, he had some kind of Achilles injury going on.
[00:22:42] Yeah.
[00:22:43] So, you know,
[00:22:44] if Adanobi tried to give it a go and couldn't,
[00:22:46] so, you know,
[00:22:47] I have added no,
[00:22:48] we could have played it might've been a different game.
[00:22:50] So, you know,
[00:22:51] the injuries are definitely helping Eastern conference teams.
[00:22:56] So if Boston does punch their ticket through a nice sweep
[00:23:00] and we're expecting as we talk about Dallas and Minnesota,
[00:23:03] that's we're predicting that goes six either way at least.
[00:23:09] So if Boston sweeps,
[00:23:12] then you're in a situation where, I mean,
[00:23:21] are they tested?
[00:23:23] Do they go into the finals kind of lack of days ago?
[00:23:26] Does this Tatum,
[00:23:29] does Tatum need to have a 40 point game in this series
[00:23:33] to carry that confidence over?
[00:23:35] Cause Jalen Brown seems to be playing at that MVP level that
[00:23:38] I predicted.
[00:23:39] Yeah. Jalen Brown had 40 tonight.
[00:23:41] Yeah.
[00:23:43] So it was like, and yeah, Tatum came through with the 23,
[00:23:46] but he was nine for 20.
[00:23:48] But he just got it,
[00:23:49] but he played smart in the second half.
[00:23:51] And this is why I refuse to put Jason Tatum in those conversations.
[00:23:57] It's not about having a bad game.
[00:23:59] It's not about having an off night.
[00:24:01] It's just that put it together.
[00:24:05] Like put it together.
[00:24:06] The rest of the team forms like Voltron and you're getting all the
[00:24:10] credit.
[00:24:11] You know, so we,
[00:24:12] so we hold you to that standard of this is what we want to see
[00:24:16] you do.
[00:24:17] And until you do that, I just can't mention you with people like
[00:24:21] Giannis, you know, people like Steph.
[00:24:24] I just can't do it.
[00:24:26] Yeah.
[00:24:28] He needs.
[00:24:30] He needs that.
[00:24:32] Try and think.
[00:24:33] I mean,
[00:24:34] he needs that moment to where like Siakam,
[00:24:38] Siakam was giving them the business tonight.
[00:24:42] Right.
[00:24:43] Not him, but like giving boss to the business.
[00:24:45] Right.
[00:24:46] And then Jalen Brown was like, cool.
[00:24:48] I'll see your 28 and I'll raise you 40.
[00:24:51] Right.
[00:24:52] And I need to take them to have a game like that.
[00:24:54] I need you to be able to come out.
[00:24:56] Another guy's having a big game.
[00:24:58] And you are just as composed on your end offensively to where it's
[00:25:03] like, cool.
[00:25:05] I think that's where you need from him.
[00:25:07] Like what Jalen Brunson was given, you know,
[00:25:09] New York in the previous year.
[00:25:11] Right.
[00:25:12] And I don't want to completely just stun all over Jason Tatum.
[00:25:15] I mean, he did have the 50 burger.
[00:25:17] You know, it gets Philly and game seven last year.
[00:25:19] So, you know, I gotta be cognizant of that.
[00:25:21] Yeah.
[00:25:22] But I need them to get 30.
[00:25:23] The 40 when James Harden gets 40.
[00:25:25] Yeah.
[00:25:26] James, when James Harden is going off,
[00:25:28] I need you to go to the huddle.
[00:25:29] Like, look, Mike, let me get this rock.
[00:25:31] I'm not going to have this guy coming to my building and drop
[00:25:33] him 40.
[00:25:34] You think.
[00:25:35] Or let me DM up.
[00:25:36] Yeah.
[00:25:37] You think Kobe.
[00:25:38] Paul Pierce pop 40 points.
[00:25:39] Right.
[00:25:40] In LA.
[00:25:41] Now.
[00:25:42] Even like I said,
[00:25:43] we talk about the six or 24 game with Kobe in game seven.
[00:25:45] He still grabbed 15 rebounds.
[00:25:46] He got the game with an assist.
[00:25:48] You know, obviously he plays his game.
[00:25:50] He's got the game.
[00:25:51] He's got the game.
[00:25:52] He's got the game.
[00:25:53] He's got the game.
[00:25:54] He's got the game.
[00:25:55] He's got the game.
[00:25:56] He's got the game.
[00:25:57] And then there's this, you know,
[00:25:58] obviously he plays his defense and his intensity and his
[00:26:01] leadership.
[00:26:02] But Kobe's a different breed.
[00:26:04] Like I say,
[00:26:05] even bring up Paul Pierce,
[00:26:06] Paul Pierce,
[00:26:07] he's not letting you just come into his building and
[00:26:10] dominate.
[00:26:11] You might end up doing that,
[00:26:12] but he's not going to just,
[00:26:13] he's not going to slide.
[00:26:14] Right.
[00:26:15] He's not gonna go eight for 17.
[00:26:18] Why you going for 40?
[00:26:20] Like he's going to try to,
[00:26:21] he's going to try to get the same 40.
[00:26:22] You got.
[00:26:23] He might not always succeed,
[00:26:24] but you know he's gonna be in attack mode.
[00:26:27] It looks like he's in attack mode.
[00:26:28] Sometimes hate him just doesn't know
[00:26:29] that he's in attack mode.
[00:26:30] Maybe because it comes so easy to him.
[00:26:32] Yeah, that's what I was gonna say.
[00:26:33] Yeah, just like it just comes so easy to him
[00:26:35] that everything looks effortless.
[00:26:38] So-
[00:26:39] There's no matchup.
[00:26:40] Like there's no one that can guard him
[00:26:42] other than like I said, Jalen Brown.
[00:26:46] Like that's probably the only dude in the league
[00:26:48] that can maybe you put Giannis on them,
[00:26:50] but I don't know if Giannis can handle the,
[00:26:55] you know, the ball handling skills,
[00:26:57] pause of Jason Tatum.
[00:26:59] So like I said, I think he does have such an advantage
[00:27:01] that he should be kind of regarded with KDs
[00:27:07] and these other like these players
[00:27:08] that are just kind of these offensive unicorns
[00:27:10] as well as defensive prowess,
[00:27:12] but we just don't see it.
[00:27:13] Maybe we'll get maybe like game three,
[00:27:15] maybe he comes out and he puts up, you know,
[00:27:18] an efficient 35 to where every time Indiana makes a run,
[00:27:23] he makes the big layup and one or the three
[00:27:26] or the steal or like the block.
[00:27:28] He makes the play that kind of shifts
[00:27:30] they either slows their momentum
[00:27:32] or generates Boston's momentum.
[00:27:35] But that's what we kind of need
[00:27:36] because we know Jalen Brown is gonna do it.
[00:27:37] He hit the three in game one to tie the game.
[00:27:41] And then he even said it in the post game interview,
[00:27:43] you know, Jason woke up.
[00:27:45] He says, he's like Jason finally woke up in overtime.
[00:27:48] So he sees like the de facto energy guy
[00:27:50] that he drops 40 in game two.
[00:27:53] If Tatum can follow, if they can do that,
[00:27:56] then it's a wrap.
[00:27:57] Yeah, so you know, tomorrow night up in the Tarjay,
[00:28:03] you know, I got an adjustment
[00:28:05] for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
[00:28:08] Keep Anthony Edwards away from Kyrie Irving.
[00:28:12] Now, I know what you're thinking.
[00:28:15] You know, Kyrie came out 24 in the first half last night,
[00:28:20] but Anthony Edwards harassed him
[00:28:21] into a one for nine second half,
[00:28:24] 0 for six from the three point line.
[00:28:28] But he didn't have the legs on offense
[00:28:30] after chasing that little dude around.
[00:28:32] So the last thing you need
[00:28:35] is to have to try to rely on Kitty Kat
[00:28:39] to win you a game.
[00:28:41] You know, Carl Anthony Towns good for spot moments.
[00:28:45] He's good for, well, I was gonna say he's good
[00:28:47] for a put back,
[00:28:48] but then you get called for basket interference.
[00:28:51] So, you know, I think that last night
[00:28:54] was the perfect example of why
[00:28:56] some people believe in the Mavs, you know,
[00:28:59] like when Kyrie can't do it,
[00:29:01] Lucas gonna finish you off.
[00:29:03] That's the end of your chapter.
[00:29:05] But I was wondering Mr. Logical,
[00:29:07] something I was thinking about earlier,
[00:29:09] and I don't wanna play the excuse game,
[00:29:12] you know, cause you know, I don't like excuses.
[00:29:14] There's a thin line between a reason and an excuse.
[00:29:17] Correct.
[00:29:18] But is there something to Minnesota playing
[00:29:23] in that game seven and Denver
[00:29:28] and maybe being a little light legged last night?
[00:29:33] I don't think so.
[00:29:34] These guys are all in their 20s.
[00:29:35] You remember like 20 years ago,
[00:29:38] you go out, drink all night, party,
[00:29:42] go home, get to your dorm room,
[00:29:43] sleep for 90 minutes, get up, get dressed,
[00:29:45] work all day and then get off work,
[00:29:48] take a little power nap.
[00:29:50] As true as that is, I wasn't playing a dude
[00:29:53] with wide receiver speed either.
[00:29:55] Yeah, but if you have your own wide receiver speed,
[00:29:59] I don't think, like I said,
[00:30:00] I think if they practiced hard in between,
[00:30:04] which I doubt, then maybe,
[00:30:08] I just think you got 60,
[00:30:10] like I think I just pulled it up.
[00:30:11] I think you got 63 points between Luca and Kyrie.
[00:30:15] You get 63 points from two guys in each half.
[00:30:19] Cause I think Kyrie was the first half guy
[00:30:22] and then Luca turned on the second half.
[00:30:24] I think they had 15 in the fourth quarter.
[00:30:26] I believe, I'm not sure if it was Kevin Harlan
[00:30:29] and Reggie Miller calling this or maybe Doris Burke.
[00:30:31] I can't remember who was calling it,
[00:30:33] but they were put in Gafford and Lively.
[00:30:39] They've mentioned that those two guys came into the game
[00:30:45] and they just hustled till exhaustion
[00:30:48] and then got subbed out.
[00:30:49] Like it was like, that was the plan.
[00:30:50] Like, yo, just go out there,
[00:30:52] just hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle,
[00:30:54] go for every, go for everything
[00:30:56] and then come to the bench, re-energize.
[00:30:59] I'm gonna send the other guy in.
[00:31:00] He's gonna do the same thing.
[00:31:02] And they were doing it without falling.
[00:31:03] So you were able to keep a big body in.
[00:31:06] Everyone knows their role.
[00:31:08] Guys don't play out of position.
[00:31:10] They don't try to do too much.
[00:31:11] Like Derek Jones doesn't get the ball
[00:31:14] and try to go Luca.
[00:31:16] Oh, that's awesome.
[00:31:18] Oh man.
[00:31:19] Oh, the bounce pass?
[00:31:20] No, the inbound late in the game
[00:31:23] where PJ threw it to Derek Jones.
[00:31:27] And I was like, oh man,
[00:31:29] like don't give this game away like Indiana did.
[00:31:34] Oh yeah.
[00:31:35] I got things these guys just kind of know
[00:31:37] what they're doing.
[00:31:38] And if you look at Minnesota,
[00:31:42] they didn't shoot great from three.
[00:31:44] What we got?
[00:31:47] Well, they shot better than Dallas did.
[00:31:51] Yeah, Jada McDaniel shot six for nine from three.
[00:31:54] That's not what they did.
[00:31:55] 11 for 18 from the free throw line.
[00:31:58] Like the little things you have to do.
[00:32:00] They have 40 total rebounds.
[00:32:03] That will do it.
[00:32:04] A lot of assists.
[00:32:05] Not a lot of like they had eight steals.
[00:32:09] Points in the game.
[00:32:10] Yeah, he made lost and went two for eight from three.
[00:32:12] And that was one of my keys to the series is
[00:32:15] I don't think he's gonna shoot 47%
[00:32:17] like he did against OKC.
[00:32:19] Yeah, and they only caught 32 fouls in the game.
[00:32:22] Some of them I still don't think were fouls,
[00:32:23] but they only caught 32 fouls,
[00:32:24] 17 on Minnesota, 15 on Dallas.
[00:32:27] And the second one was a cat.
[00:32:29] The cat, like I said, the cat call was...
[00:32:34] I didn't like it in the moment
[00:32:39] because he was the only one that was gonna get that rebound.
[00:32:45] You know what I mean?
[00:32:46] It was like, that was his ball.
[00:32:48] It just so happened not to spin back.
[00:32:51] So he crashed the boards to get a miss shot
[00:32:55] that just didn't spin out from the rep.
[00:32:58] It just happened to bounce straight up.
[00:32:59] I know you want him to just jump up
[00:33:02] I'm not gonna touch it.
[00:33:02] I can't touch it.
[00:33:03] It's like, and it bounced so high
[00:33:07] you don't think it's coming straight back down
[00:33:09] because he crashed from the three point line.
[00:33:12] It was like, very, like I said
[00:33:13] very similar to the put back he had against Denver
[00:33:15] but the put back he had against Denver
[00:33:16] he caught like this and then dumped it from the side.
[00:33:20] So he just saw an opportunity to crash the board.
[00:33:23] Maybe that's something Dallas,
[00:33:24] maybe that's something they could take advantage
[00:33:26] of the game too.
[00:33:27] And he still got game two at home.
[00:33:30] That's the other thing.
[00:33:32] If they were in this battle, like I said
[00:33:33] they knocked down 18 out of 49 threes
[00:33:35] maybe shoot less than 49 threes.
[00:33:37] Maybe let's try to keep it under 40.
[00:33:39] Well that's why I asked the question
[00:33:40] that's why I asked the question
[00:33:41] that's why I asked the question
[00:33:42] that's why I asked the question
[00:33:43] that's why I asked the question
[00:33:43] about the fatigue, you know
[00:33:45] to shoot that many threes
[00:33:46] that's 16 more than they shot on average all season.
[00:33:52] Maybe because like Dallas isn't really known
[00:33:55] for perimeter defense.
[00:33:57] So they were getting a lot of open looks.
[00:34:00] They just didn't fall.
[00:34:02] But they were getting a lot of open looks
[00:34:04] in game seven against Denver.
[00:34:05] And then they just turned it on.
[00:34:06] So I'm definitely not gonna write them off.
[00:34:09] I still got them winning the series.
[00:34:14] Because what you get from Luca and Kyrie
[00:34:19] I don't know if you get 63 from them again
[00:34:22] but if you get,
[00:34:25] if you can get one of these bigs in foul trouble
[00:34:29] you know, you get Gaffer and foul trouble
[00:34:32] or you get one of the bigs off of the floor
[00:34:36] then the whole game's different
[00:34:37] because Minnesota is running out three seven footers
[00:34:41] essentially between Nasri, Kat and Gobert.
[00:34:44] If you can get one of their big men
[00:34:46] and foul trouble then the whole game's different.
[00:34:48] Sima Hardaway Jr. is not gonna give you anything.
[00:34:50] He played 10 minutes, got you zero points
[00:34:53] and he's a spot up shooter.
[00:34:55] Interpreter Rose.
[00:34:58] And he's coming off the bench after a guy named Hardy.
[00:35:01] They were killing Dallas with picking roles
[00:35:04] between Gobert and Kat.
[00:35:09] So, you know, but they went away from that.
[00:35:11] You know, they went into that three point mode
[00:35:13] that we were talking about.
[00:35:14] So more of that in game two until they can stop it.
[00:35:17] Yeah, like LeBron said, he was like
[00:35:20] I don't understand if we call a play
[00:35:23] and it works two times in a row,
[00:35:25] call it the third time.
[00:35:26] It's like you don't need a different play.
[00:35:27] Like all I want is points.
[00:35:29] So if this pick and roll
[00:35:31] and Gobert rolling to the hoop,
[00:35:33] getting dunks with Kat and Gobert
[00:35:35] and keep running until they change it.
[00:35:37] Cause it's not like, like I said,
[00:35:38] Dallas isn't a great defensive team
[00:35:40] and your, their two best players,
[00:35:42] people talk about, people talk about Luca and Kyrie
[00:35:45] and they give them credit by saying, you know,
[00:35:47] he's actually putting effort on defensive end.
[00:35:49] Like that's how they reference their defensive prowess
[00:35:53] between those two guys.
[00:35:54] Like he's actually put in an effort this series.
[00:35:57] That's because there's shots going in.
[00:35:59] If that shot's not going in,
[00:36:01] they're not as at defensively.
[00:36:04] And that's how, you know, go back to OKC
[00:36:06] that first game when they lost like a 112 to 89.
[00:36:09] Luca wasn't scoring.
[00:36:11] So your defensive energy is not there.
[00:36:13] You know, some, some guys
[00:36:15] like when I played basketball for fun,
[00:36:17] my defense would turn to offense.
[00:36:20] I get a steal, I get a defensive rebound, I'd run out.
[00:36:23] But I didn't come out, you know, first possession
[00:36:27] trying to shoot a three.
[00:36:28] Cause like that's not just, that's not how I played.
[00:36:30] Right.
[00:36:31] And Luca's like, Luca doesn't use defense
[00:36:34] to turn the offense.
[00:36:34] His offense is on and then he's motivated
[00:36:38] and then he plays better defense.
[00:36:40] So, so Wolves in game two?
[00:36:43] Yeah, I got Wolves in game two.
[00:36:44] I think they'll play better.
[00:36:46] I imagine if they're looking at this way,
[00:36:47] I'm looking at it, they're probably shooting.
[00:36:49] I would shoot less threes.
[00:36:50] I attack the paint.
[00:36:52] I get one of their bigs and foul trouble.
[00:36:55] I work that cat, go bear, pick and roll.
[00:36:58] Cause go bear gets fouled a lot.
[00:37:00] Like I looked up a stack
[00:37:01] cause I was having a conversation with a guy
[00:37:02] in my office, shout out Wyeth Starr, what up?
[00:37:06] I had a conversation with him.
[00:37:07] He's talking about who shot the most free throws.
[00:37:09] And obviously everyone says LeBron
[00:37:10] shot the most free throws.
[00:37:11] Really he was the 21st on the list.
[00:37:13] But go bear was higher than that.
[00:37:14] Go bear shot more free throws.
[00:37:16] Joel and B played 39 games.
[00:37:17] He shot more free throws.
[00:37:18] I think he was like 13th in free throw attempts
[00:37:20] and he only played 39 games.
[00:37:21] Showed like 450 free throws.
[00:37:23] But that's because he comes down to eat.
[00:37:25] When you come down the lane,
[00:37:27] most teams aren't built to defend wing players
[00:37:33] from the three point line to the rim.
[00:37:39] If you look at a guy like this-
[00:37:39] Are you calling us sweep or something Mike?
[00:37:41] You calling us sweep or something?
[00:37:43] McDaniels, yeah, McDaniels gave you-
[00:37:46] Yeah he went six for nine last night.
[00:37:48] Yeah 24 points but go bear only got 12
[00:37:51] and cat only got 16.
[00:37:52] So even if McDaniels only gives you 12,
[00:37:56] cat still gonna give you over 20 next game.
[00:37:59] Yeah I don't know what cat finished as
[00:38:02] but I know he was six for 17 at one point.
[00:38:04] So-
[00:38:05] So only guy that scored in the 20s
[00:38:08] for Minnesota was McDaniels and they lost by three.
[00:38:11] Anthony Edwards had 19.
[00:38:13] He had 11 and eight with it.
[00:38:16] So-
[00:38:16] Anderson had 11, Dyer had 15.
[00:38:18] But he's one of those people that I'm talking about.
[00:38:21] He was chasing Kyrie around
[00:38:23] and he shot 12 threes by himself.
[00:38:27] I think they just kind of fell in love
[00:38:29] with being open.
[00:38:31] I think they just start, I'm open shoot the three.
[00:38:35] If I'm Finch, if I'm the other coach
[00:38:38] that's kind of interim right now,
[00:38:40] I'm like, yo, like just come downhill
[00:38:43] and just get to the paint.
[00:38:45] Cat you can pop your three but pump fake.
[00:38:49] Get in the lane, get the floaters,
[00:38:51] get us to the free throw line,
[00:38:52] get the crowd in it early
[00:38:55] and then you can kind of pressure Luca with McDaniel.
[00:38:59] That way McDaniels not out there
[00:39:00] trying to shoot a bunch of shots.
[00:39:02] Yeah-
[00:39:03] And we've had the walkers out there shooting
[00:39:04] like yo this blitz will blitz Luca
[00:39:07] if we can get Cat and Ant going early,
[00:39:12] then you can use your role players
[00:39:15] to exhaust themselves to bother Luca.
[00:39:17] Frustrate him, get him yelling at the refs
[00:39:19] and then you know, then you go from there.
[00:39:21] Well yeah even if McDaniels doesn't
[00:39:24] shoot that way again,
[00:39:26] Nikhil Walker Alexander's probably not gonna
[00:39:28] be as bad as he was last time.
[00:39:30] He's not gonna give you two points.
[00:39:32] So like Minnesota played a bad,
[00:39:34] I think they played a bad game.
[00:39:35] They only played nine guys.
[00:39:39] Yeah.
[00:39:41] So-
[00:39:42] But Powell doesn't even take his warm up off though Mike.
[00:39:46] I thought he was cut cause I didn't see him.
[00:39:49] I'm like okay, but he doesn't even like,
[00:39:51] I don't think he came in the game at all.
[00:39:53] Maybe you might have to use him
[00:39:55] but I think he's on the bench.
[00:39:57] He's this third option because
[00:40:00] he doesn't defend the way the other two bigs do.
[00:40:03] This is true.
[00:40:05] So now, you know, as we look at the NBA playoffs
[00:40:08] we've been seeing all the talk about how
[00:40:11] one of these stars is gonna get their first title.
[00:40:13] Jason Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Halliburton.
[00:40:17] You know, Anthony Edwards or Luca, you know?
[00:40:20] So like here we are, you know,
[00:40:23] but is the NBA happy with this?
[00:40:26] Because I know when I go back
[00:40:28] and look at some of these lowly rated finals,
[00:40:34] some of them make sense because they involve like say,
[00:40:37] the Spurs who had the most boring superstar of all time.
[00:40:42] But you know, but sometimes when you look
[00:40:44] at their opponents, one of those finals was against LeBron.
[00:40:47] One of those finals was against Jason Kidd and Vince Carter
[00:40:50] that you would think brings some excitement
[00:40:53] and they were playing, you know, Jersey
[00:40:56] but you know, for all intents and purposes,
[00:40:58] a New York team.
[00:41:00] Yeah.
[00:41:13] Look, we got some technical difficulties.
[00:41:17] Yeah, so we're talking about if the league
[00:41:20] or Adam Silver is good with the parody in the league.
[00:41:25] If we run down the big markets, you know,
[00:41:27] you got your top five, New York, LA, Chicago,
[00:41:30] Philly and Dallas.
[00:41:31] So Dallas is a top market, Boston's at eight.
[00:41:36] So yeah, you got Indiana that's ranked a little lower.
[00:41:38] I think they're around where we got 25.
[00:41:43] And then Minnesota is at 15.
[00:41:45] But you have some of the young stars in the league,
[00:41:48] Tyrese Halliburton, got Tatum and Brown
[00:41:51] that been in the Eastern Conference finals
[00:41:52] for many years.
[00:41:54] Then you have Ant and Kat.
[00:41:57] Ant has a personality a lot like this impact
[00:42:00] that Keon Coleman is having with the Buffalo Bills.
[00:42:02] So I think people are gonna gravitate
[00:42:04] towards these four teens.
[00:42:07] I don't think it's gonna be a Phoenix,
[00:42:09] Milwaukee situation where people didn't really rock with
[00:42:13] that turn, because I don't know if people really
[00:42:16] are kind of galvanized by Chris Paul.
[00:42:18] I don't know if Giannis being a foreign player
[00:42:22] that doesn't really talk a lot,
[00:42:23] even though he is a freak of an athlete,
[00:42:25] he doesn't really have like this marketable,
[00:42:28] hilarious personality with Twitter and things of that
[00:42:32] nature, because people are getting their information
[00:42:34] a lot of different ways.
[00:42:35] Like we're watching the games on iPads,
[00:42:37] we're watching them on phones.
[00:42:38] So you gotta keep people locked in
[00:42:40] because you swipe one screen over,
[00:42:43] now you're on Instagram, now you're on Twitter,
[00:42:46] Facebook, you're on different social media apps,
[00:42:48] you communicate with different people.
[00:42:49] So you gotta be able to keep these guys locked in.
[00:42:51] I think having the personalities that you have,
[00:42:53] I think Kyrie Irving being like the old head superstar,
[00:42:58] and he's a very polarizing character in himself.
[00:43:00] So I think if I'm Adam Silver, I'm enjoying it.
[00:43:04] So I think you have enough,
[00:43:07] you don't have West Coast team,
[00:43:08] so you don't have to worry about the times
[00:43:10] that you're playing your games.
[00:43:12] I think Minnesota is central, Dallas is central,
[00:43:16] Indiana's Eastern Standard Time, obviously so is Boston.
[00:43:19] So you can start your games at 730
[00:43:22] if you needed to, eight o'clock.
[00:43:23] Your games have to start that late
[00:43:25] so people can actually watch the whole game.
[00:43:26] Like I said, this game is over and it's barely 1104
[00:43:31] where we had games that were out in Denver
[00:43:33] that were just getting the halftime at this point.
[00:43:36] So you have that going for you.
[00:43:40] Sorry, I think the market things are overrated
[00:43:43] because we think about the champions.
[00:43:45] Golden State wasn't a highly touted team,
[00:43:48] granted their mark is 10th.
[00:43:50] Cleveland with LeBron,
[00:43:52] then we talked about the Spurs with Tim Duncan.
[00:43:56] Yeah, Miami's a great market
[00:43:58] but they're not always on TV.
[00:44:00] Chicago was third and they haven't really
[00:44:03] had a deep playoff run in a while.
[00:44:07] They definitely hadn't been a championship contender
[00:44:08] since Jordan retired and they're third overall.
[00:44:10] Philly, big market but their big star can't stay healthy
[00:44:16] so they end up missing out.
[00:44:17] So I don't think people would watch the games more
[00:44:19] if Philly was in it.
[00:44:20] I think NBA fans know what a good game looks like.
[00:44:25] Excuse me.
[00:44:26] So like I said, I think it's very telling
[00:44:31] that these teams have made it through.
[00:44:33] They have good coaches.
[00:44:35] I think they're built the right way.
[00:44:36] They didn't stack their superstars.
[00:44:38] They didn't trade away a bunch of assets
[00:44:40] to make their team the way it looked.
[00:44:42] They drafted their guys, they played it out.
[00:44:44] They made one or two moves like in Siakam
[00:44:47] at the trade that line was a big move for Indiana.
[00:44:51] Paid off because he got you 28 points tonight.
[00:44:54] You're in Eastern Conference finals.
[00:44:55] Sometimes you need to make those kinds of moves
[00:44:57] similar to when Toronto made the move
[00:45:00] to get Kawhi to pair him with Siakam.
[00:45:03] They ran the table on this championship.
[00:45:05] Granted some injuries helped out in that regard,
[00:45:08] but sometimes you gotta just keep it simple.
[00:45:11] Draped and tamed him in Brown back to back years,
[00:45:13] keeping them together, putting players around them.
[00:45:15] Once again, not completing your bench
[00:45:17] with all these trades.
[00:45:18] We look at Phoenix.
[00:45:20] If Phoenix doesn't make the KD trade,
[00:45:23] they might have some other guys
[00:45:25] where if you bring in Beal, Beal Booker,
[00:45:29] and then you have these guys
[00:45:30] that you lost in the KD trade,
[00:45:32] you might have been in a better position.
[00:45:35] So the teams that they have now,
[00:45:38] Gobert deal looked like it was a bad deal.
[00:45:40] It was like five players and four picks,
[00:45:43] but turns out he's the last player
[00:45:45] in the top 15 payroll of the league
[00:45:47] that's still in the playoffs.
[00:45:49] So that worked out.
[00:45:51] So I think these teams are built the right way.
[00:45:52] I like the coaches that they have.
[00:45:54] I mean, Mike Mazula seems to be having some problems,
[00:45:58] but I think the expectations for Boston
[00:45:59] are just very high because he took over for a team
[00:46:02] where the coach got fired after he went to the NBA finals.
[00:46:04] So it feels like you have a ready-made team,
[00:46:06] so people feel like you should go back
[00:46:08] to the finals every year
[00:46:09] because your team already was there.
[00:46:11] You didn't lose any pieces.
[00:46:12] You added good quality pieces.
[00:46:13] Haven't drew holidays like a cheat code.
[00:46:15] I don't know how they pulled that off.
[00:46:18] So shout out to Boston for the moves that they made
[00:46:22] without, like I said, without completing their bench.
[00:46:24] They planned a bunch of guys.
[00:46:26] I think we went 10, 11 deep tonight.
[00:46:29] So like I said, in my personal opinion,
[00:46:32] I think the league is in a good position right now.
[00:46:34] You have the personality.
[00:46:36] You got the old iconic franchises.
[00:46:38] You got Reggie Miller talking about life at the Garden
[00:46:41] 20, 25 years ago, talking about how he ran the Garden.
[00:46:44] So I think that got the New York fans involved.
[00:46:48] So maybe they're watching now cheering for Boston,
[00:46:51] or maybe they're watching
[00:46:52] because they want Indiana to win
[00:46:54] because New York teams and Boston are really,
[00:46:57] you know, don't really jive.
[00:47:00] But like I said, I think it is built
[00:47:02] and got Mike back here, technical difficulties happen.
[00:47:04] You have the best sports podcast with two vets.
[00:47:09] You know, everyone's like-
[00:47:10] Somebody get me Spectrum on line one.
[00:47:13] You know what I'm saying?
[00:47:14] We're verizing that.
[00:47:15] AT&T- Yeah, you gotta get that.
[00:47:17] I just want you to know.
[00:47:18] You gotta get that fiber optic, man.
[00:47:19] You gotta get the fiber optic.
[00:47:21] Now you see what happened was
[00:47:22] I was talking about the Spurs and AT&T got upset.
[00:47:27] AT&T, you ain't shit.
[00:47:29] How about that?
[00:47:30] Anyway, what I was gonna say was,
[00:47:36] you know, you would think that
[00:47:38] some of these previous matchups
[00:47:39] that I had brought up earlier,
[00:47:41] Indiana versus New Jersey,
[00:47:43] you know, San Antonio versus Cleveland,
[00:47:46] all that kind of stuff,
[00:47:48] you would think that with the young fresh bodies,
[00:47:52] so that's like LeBron James that we're talking about.
[00:47:54] Now granted, we knew that team
[00:47:57] didn't have a chance to win the finals,
[00:47:58] so maybe that played a role in why
[00:48:00] people didn't wanna watch.
[00:48:02] With New Jersey and San Antonio,
[00:48:05] I can only guess because it wasn't New York,
[00:48:08] it wasn't the Knicks,
[00:48:09] because you had Jason Kidd,
[00:48:11] you had Rich Jefferson,
[00:48:13] King Yamar and Vince Carter.
[00:48:15] You had talent, not only talent,
[00:48:17] but high flying talent.
[00:48:19] So-
[00:48:19] Is that enough star power though?
[00:48:21] Because it's talent.
[00:48:22] We look at them as icons.
[00:48:24] NBA fans are elitist.
[00:48:25] NBA fans are elitist,
[00:48:27] because of the way that the league was built.
[00:48:29] We talked about Magic and Bird,
[00:48:33] being the reason that the NBA
[00:48:34] even exploded in the first place.
[00:48:36] Because even though the Lakers and Celtics
[00:48:38] had a historic rivalry,
[00:48:40] it was off of the backs of Magic and Bird.
[00:48:44] We didn't care about Bill Russell and Will
[00:48:47] when we were little kids.
[00:48:50] It was Magic against Bird
[00:48:51] because that was happening in real time.
[00:48:54] So as we grew up,
[00:48:56] it became Jordan versus Ewing,
[00:48:59] Jordan versus Barkley.
[00:49:00] It wasn't Chicago versus Phoenix.
[00:49:02] Jordan versus the Pistons, yeah.
[00:49:04] Right.
[00:49:07] That ushered in the era of the star power.
[00:49:10] So they just started,
[00:49:12] NBA players, I think as TV,
[00:49:16] as TV and access to TV
[00:49:18] and technology has gotten better,
[00:49:20] it's ramped up,
[00:49:22] it ramped up the star power of the players.
[00:49:26] I think the 90s,
[00:49:27] if the NBA,
[00:49:30] if this current NBA had
[00:49:33] TV coverage the way the 90s had it
[00:49:37] to where ESPN, NBC, CBS, Fox,
[00:49:42] all these different channels
[00:49:43] that were playing your sports,
[00:49:45] they were giving you who the star was.
[00:49:48] I think it would,
[00:49:51] people, I think people probably watch more.
[00:49:53] And honestly, like I said,
[00:49:54] we didn't have phones and stuff like that.
[00:49:56] So if the technology was the same as the 90s,
[00:50:00] this would be the kind of series you want.
[00:50:01] You'd have,
[00:50:03] like you had two stars in Boston
[00:50:04] and Jalen and Jason
[00:50:07] and Kat, you know,
[00:50:08] you have some star power.
[00:50:10] I think Antscom is very popular.
[00:50:12] But if you only had the option
[00:50:14] of watching these games on TV,
[00:50:15] you had to be at home.
[00:50:18] It was easy.
[00:50:18] And I think using that in the 80s
[00:50:20] because they started doing different things
[00:50:22] with the schedule.
[00:50:23] They started making these games
[00:50:25] to where Boston and LA shouldn't play
[00:50:27] more than like four games
[00:50:28] against each other in a year.
[00:50:29] I think right now,
[00:50:31] Philly and the Lakers might play,
[00:50:34] the Lakers might go to Philly for one game.
[00:50:36] I think Philly might go to LA for one.
[00:50:38] Yeah, all the East West are two games,
[00:50:41] home and home. Two games.
[00:50:42] I think they were playing like four to eight
[00:50:46] to get like that Lakers and Celtics,
[00:50:48] Bird, Magic, Raptors.
[00:50:49] There were less teams back then.
[00:50:51] You know, there was no Toronto Raptors.
[00:50:53] You know, there was no Grizzlies.
[00:50:55] But even with that,
[00:50:56] you could just play more teams
[00:50:57] in your conference.
[00:50:58] Like instead of playing Boston eight times,
[00:51:00] you could play them six
[00:51:01] and you play the Warriors 10 times versus eight.
[00:51:05] But they were making it to where
[00:51:06] we want to put this on TV.
[00:51:08] We talked about like previous championships
[00:51:10] in like the 70s and 80s,
[00:51:12] even Super Bowl,
[00:51:12] like was there on tape delay?
[00:51:14] Like the NBA finals was on tape delay.
[00:51:16] So I think just the way they just kind of ushered
[00:51:18] in the communication.
[00:51:20] So being able to watch games on it,
[00:51:22] like I said, on your phone,
[00:51:23] you just need the star power
[00:51:25] to keep people focused on their phone.
[00:51:26] That's what I say when you're away.
[00:51:28] So if you can,
[00:51:29] if you have the personalities,
[00:51:30] like I said, Keyon Coleman,
[00:51:32] I think more people are gonna watch
[00:51:34] Buffalo Bill games because of Keyon Coleman.
[00:51:38] I think Taylor Swift going to cheese games
[00:51:43] and just being in all these games
[00:51:44] and the cheese played the jets.
[00:51:46] I think that granted that's worldwide
[00:51:49] international star power,
[00:51:50] but that got people to watch the games.
[00:51:53] Right.
[00:51:54] The professional players need to kind of be
[00:51:58] the star that attracts the fan.
[00:52:02] Now, when we talk about the WNBA highlighting
[00:52:05] Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, Caitlin Clark,
[00:52:09] I'm gonna say Caitlin, pause.
[00:52:13] You know, like highlighting these players,
[00:52:15] highlighting the female,
[00:52:17] the college basketball players,
[00:52:19] a lot of these websites that are highlighting
[00:52:21] these high school players that are going into college,
[00:52:24] you're creating a star.
[00:52:25] Paige Becker was a star.
[00:52:27] Haley Van Lyft was a star
[00:52:29] before she even got to college.
[00:52:31] So I think as long as you are building that factory,
[00:52:35] granted they're not gonna be magic and bird,
[00:52:38] but if you can consistently put stars
[00:52:40] like John Marantz and Memphis,
[00:52:41] that's a small market.
[00:52:42] Right now, Memphis is-
[00:52:44] They're like next to last or last.
[00:52:47] Yeah.
[00:52:48] Like they're underneath.
[00:52:50] They're 50th.
[00:52:53] So they're 50th,
[00:52:54] but John Marantz has a shoe deal
[00:52:55] because he's so electrifying.
[00:52:57] Granted, he did some things
[00:52:59] to kind of mess that up for himself.
[00:53:01] And then the injuries, so it's kind of hurting him.
[00:53:03] What about a team like Denver falling,
[00:53:06] who has the three time MVP now,
[00:53:09] two time MVP at the time,
[00:53:11] and they won the title and the next day it was,
[00:53:15] is a dude gonna retire or not?
[00:53:17] You know what I mean?
[00:53:18] And we still, I still feel a year later,
[00:53:21] even though Denver just got knocked out of the playoffs,
[00:53:24] a year later, I still feel like Denver
[00:53:27] still hasn't gotten their championship attention
[00:53:30] or they didn't get their moment in the sun, if you will.
[00:53:35] But I think Denver's a good sports city.
[00:53:38] Right now, if we look at the top,
[00:53:40] they are 17.
[00:53:42] Right.
[00:53:43] But they're a good sports city.
[00:53:44] They have, you got the Nuggets.
[00:53:46] We talked about,
[00:53:48] their throwback jerseys on your wall.
[00:53:50] It's probably one of the best throwback jerseys
[00:53:53] from the 80s and 90s.
[00:53:54] Right.
[00:53:55] You have that, like, you know, you have,
[00:53:57] I kind of, you have Carmelo there for a while.
[00:53:59] AI was there for a while.
[00:54:01] You have the allure of the mile high.
[00:54:03] So you got the Denver Broncos, John Elway.
[00:54:04] So you just have a great sports conglomerate in Denver.
[00:54:09] So-
[00:54:09] And that's what I'm saying.
[00:54:10] That still wasn't good enough
[00:54:11] to get them attention though.
[00:54:13] I think it is, but I believe people just want,
[00:54:18] sometimes I think people just want a certain player
[00:54:21] to win or a certain team to be in.
[00:54:23] This year, I think they just kind of realized
[00:54:25] that Philly wasn't gonna,
[00:54:27] once MB got hurt, you knew Philly was out.
[00:54:29] Well, yes.
[00:54:30] You like New York and people like,
[00:54:33] they always say he is good when the NBA,
[00:54:34] when the Knicks are good.
[00:54:37] Speaking of which,
[00:54:38] do you really believe that story
[00:54:40] about how the Bulls aren't going to trade
[00:54:43] with the Lakers because they want to protect
[00:54:46] Michael Jordan?
[00:54:47] George.
[00:54:48] Like, LeBron is about to be 40.
[00:54:51] No matter who you trade, who are you trading from the,
[00:54:55] unless you trade them Caruso and DeRozan
[00:54:59] and you took Rui and Austin Reeves in return,
[00:55:03] you're not really making that team much better.
[00:55:05] If you trade Caruso,
[00:55:07] they have the same team they had a few years ago.
[00:55:10] I think that's the problem
[00:55:11] because we always talk about this.
[00:55:13] Like the media literally spends 60% of its day
[00:55:18] trying to shoehorn somebody to the Lakers.
[00:55:22] And the Lakers don't have anything that anybody wants.
[00:55:26] They don't even have draft picks.
[00:55:27] So if you ain't coming off of Anthony Davis,
[00:55:30] nobody's trying to send you those type of players.
[00:55:32] Like not that Caruso is a star or anything,
[00:55:35] but even a DeMar DeRozan type,
[00:55:37] nobody's trying to send you that.
[00:55:38] You're not getting that
[00:55:40] unless you're willing to just deplete your bench
[00:55:43] and bring up your G League players
[00:55:45] and hope that they can figure it out.
[00:55:46] So my first thought was I would seriously doubt
[00:55:50] and hope that somebody isn't stupid enough
[00:55:53] to say something like that,
[00:55:54] even if it is true or not.
[00:55:56] That somebody wouldn't just say,
[00:55:59] we're not gonna trade with the Lakers
[00:56:00] because Michael Jordan has a legacy
[00:56:03] that we have to uphold.
[00:56:04] First of all, you should not be stupid enough
[00:56:06] to say that if it's true.
[00:56:07] Second of all, you know what I mean?
[00:56:10] Like it would be different
[00:56:11] if we were talking about other teams in these situations.
[00:56:15] Like obviously there's only one LeBron James,
[00:56:19] but like can I accuse the Lakers of not making trades
[00:56:23] because somebody's gonna get on LeBron's heels.
[00:56:27] Oh, we can't give this person to Milwaukee
[00:56:29] because we don't wanna enhance Giannis.
[00:56:32] Maybe listen, conspiracy theory.
[00:56:34] Maybe LA didn't want LeBron to get five rings
[00:56:39] cause they feel like they didn't want him
[00:56:41] to infringe on Kobe.
[00:56:42] See what I'm saying?
[00:56:44] That sounds crazy, right?
[00:56:45] But if you look at what Rob Pelinka was doing
[00:56:47] ever since they won that bubble,
[00:56:51] he was like, I can't have this, can't have this guy.
[00:56:55] Cause that team would've won another ring.
[00:56:57] That's kind of my point, Mike.
[00:56:59] Dude, hold on real quick.
[00:57:00] That's kind of my point, Mike.
[00:57:01] Does Denver need to be exciting?
[00:57:03] Like they're the champions.
[00:57:05] You know what I mean?
[00:57:06] Has every Super Bowl champion been exciting?
[00:57:09] You know, has every MLB champion been exciting?
[00:57:12] No, but we talk about them.
[00:57:15] We don't talk about the MLB champion.
[00:57:18] Well, not anymore, but we used to.
[00:57:20] You know, like-
[00:57:21] It used to be the Yankees.
[00:57:22] It was the Yankees, it was Boston.
[00:57:24] The Braves.
[00:57:25] It was the Braves.
[00:57:27] It was, they had iconic players.
[00:57:30] When the Cubs won, that was like-
[00:57:32] That was huge because it was like a hundred year curse.
[00:57:35] But the Cubs are an iconic franchise.
[00:57:38] Right.
[00:57:39] Like I said, they were around for a hundred plus years.
[00:57:41] That's the appeal.
[00:57:43] Like the appeal is like the Tampa Bay Rays.
[00:57:46] I'm not sure if they won a World Series.
[00:57:48] I think they played in one, but they're a new franchise.
[00:57:54] But see, but that's the thing.
[00:57:55] Like, so if the Indiana Pacers, you know,
[00:57:58] for whatever reason,
[00:58:00] if the Indiana Pacers are in the next three
[00:58:02] Eastern Conference Finals,
[00:58:05] like our people turned off,
[00:58:07] like basketball is fought.
[00:58:09] Cause you know, in college football,
[00:58:10] we talked about this where like,
[00:58:12] there might be a conference like the Big Ten, you know?
[00:58:16] And, you know, Ohio State, Penn State, you know,
[00:58:20] or Michigan don't win the conference
[00:58:23] or don't play for the title.
[00:58:25] You know, you got Iowa against Michigan State
[00:58:27] for the conference title.
[00:58:28] Everybody says the Big Ten had a down year.
[00:58:31] It's like, no, like they still got a great team
[00:58:34] or a very good team.
[00:58:35] They just don't have the name that you want.
[00:58:38] Yeah, that's because in that instance,
[00:58:42] the Big Ten winner is like automatically sent
[00:58:47] to the Cosmo playoff.
[00:58:50] So if the, whoever wins, isn't going like,
[00:58:55] like when you have a two loss Penn State team
[00:58:57] and a three loss Michigan State team.
[00:58:59] So at the end you got one team that could be 10 and three
[00:59:02] and the other team could be 11 and two.
[00:59:06] And you have one lost Georgia, one lost Alabama,
[00:59:09] one undefeated FSU and an undefeated Oklahoma.
[00:59:14] Like, you know, like this Big Ten champion
[00:59:17] isn't going to the Cosmo playoff.
[00:59:18] So I think that's just people looking ahead.
[00:59:20] But if Penn State was undefeated
[00:59:23] and they won the Big Ten championship,
[00:59:27] I think people will be excited
[00:59:28] because the Big Ten school is going to the playoff.
[00:59:30] I still think people would say
[00:59:31] a lot of times when it's down Michigan
[00:59:33] or a down Ohio State, I think that would still be.
[00:59:36] But they would still go,
[00:59:37] they would still be able to represent
[00:59:39] in the Cosmo playoff.
[00:59:40] It wouldn't be the end of the path.
[00:59:42] Whereas in the NBA, you could say the East is down
[00:59:47] this year because the injuries
[00:59:49] and Indiana could play their way into the NBA finals.
[00:59:53] Whereas a two loss Penn State
[00:59:56] and the three loss Michigan State team,
[00:59:58] there's no way either one in that championship
[01:00:01] is getting to the Cosmo playoff.
[01:00:03] That's why people say it's a down year
[01:00:04] because the Big Ten winner isn't in the Cosmo playoff.
[01:00:07] Whereas if you win Eastern Conference,
[01:00:09] you're going to NBA finals.
[01:00:10] You can go 41 and 41 in a regular season.
[01:00:14] But if you make your way through the playoffs
[01:00:16] and you win the Eastern Conference
[01:00:18] and you're star player is the Eastern Conference finals
[01:00:21] MVP, the Larry Bird Award,
[01:00:23] then you're going to NBA finals.
[01:00:24] Like there's nothing that holding you back.
[01:00:26] That's why you could say the East has a down year,
[01:00:29] but it's like I made it.
[01:00:31] Don't let Jill and Brown win this Larry Bird Award.
[01:00:34] It looks like it.
[01:00:37] And then of course, before we get out of here,
[01:00:38] I wanted to get your thoughts on Cleveland
[01:00:42] firing BJ Diggerstaff.
[01:00:45] I don't know what you want.
[01:00:47] I don't know what you want.
[01:00:48] I don't know why,
[01:00:52] let me see how many years he had left.
[01:00:53] You know how many years he had left on his deal?
[01:00:55] I don't.
[01:00:56] I know that he took over in 2020.
[01:01:00] They had John B-Line.
[01:01:01] I know you remember him, Mike,
[01:01:04] came from Michigan to the national title game,
[01:01:08] went for started 14 and 40 with the Cavs.
[01:01:11] So he took over as the interim at that point.
[01:01:14] And he hired him.
[01:01:15] Yeah, his first year they only won 22 games,
[01:01:19] but then they went from 22 to 44, 44 to 51.
[01:01:24] And then this year they went down to 48 wins,
[01:01:33] but of course there were a lot of injuries.
[01:01:35] Garland and Mobley missed about 17 games.
[01:01:37] Mitchell missed some games.
[01:01:39] Obviously we saw what happened in the playoffs.
[01:01:42] I just think that either we may get a story
[01:01:49] about how him and Donovan Mitchell don't get along
[01:01:52] or Cleveland just jumped the gun.
[01:01:55] I think it's probably a lot along the same lines
[01:01:58] as like Frank Vogel getting fired,
[01:02:00] even Darwin Ham getting fired.
[01:02:01] I'm not sure if there's people in the room
[01:02:05] that can temper the expectations for the team
[01:02:08] to the decision makers.
[01:02:10] I don't think there's like a rational buffer
[01:02:14] in the room because what were you expecting
[01:02:18] from this Cavaliers team?
[01:02:20] Were you expecting an Eastern Conference finals?
[01:02:23] Because if you were expecting Eastern Conference finals,
[01:02:27] then you should have made moves to ensure
[01:02:32] your team was built to make it that far
[01:02:37] as you were watching Boston tear up
[01:02:39] the Eastern Conference.
[01:02:40] So if you're thinking like,
[01:02:42] hey, we need, because you went out in the second round,
[01:02:45] you won your first round playoff matchup,
[01:02:48] you went on a second round to the number one seed.
[01:02:50] If you didn't do anything
[01:02:52] throughout the course of this season,
[01:02:54] or even last all season to build your team to beat them.
[01:02:59] And then you go into the season
[01:03:01] and the team that's built to win beats you,
[01:03:05] then you fire the coaches like,
[01:03:06] so you wanted me to beat Boston
[01:03:09] with nobody on the roster
[01:03:11] that could defend Tatum or Brown.
[01:03:14] Like not a single person in organization
[01:03:16] can defend these guys,
[01:03:17] but that's what you wanted me to beat them.
[01:03:20] But I don't have anyone
[01:03:21] that can guard their two best players.
[01:03:22] But that's my question, right?
[01:03:24] So like if they would have finished with the two seed,
[01:03:26] because they had to two seed
[01:03:27] at various points this season.
[01:03:34] That was a wrong comment.
[01:03:35] They were for a lot of the season
[01:03:42] and fell apart late.
[01:03:44] So if they would have finished with the two seed,
[01:03:48] beat say, who finished?
[01:03:53] Beat Philly in the first round
[01:03:55] and then beat Indiana in the second round.
[01:03:59] It got to the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston.
[01:04:02] And lose.
[01:04:03] Does he keep his job?
[01:04:05] I mean, if they would have got to two seed
[01:04:08] and they would have lost to Philly
[01:04:10] and looked overwhelmed by a shorthanded Philadelphia team,
[01:04:15] then I'm like, okay, maybe he might not be the guy.
[01:04:19] But if you have-
[01:04:22] He missed two games in that series.
[01:04:25] Yeah.
[01:04:26] And Donald Mitchell missed five and four.
[01:04:28] Four and five, I think it was.
[01:04:28] Four and five and they lost.
[01:04:30] They got a gentleman sweep.
[01:04:31] And then Allen had a bruised rib
[01:04:33] and he couldn't play the whole time.
[01:04:35] It was the thing about people being mad
[01:04:37] that he didn't play.
[01:04:39] And I had made the comment
[01:04:41] that I think we got to the point
[01:04:43] where we learn Allen and Mobley together
[01:04:47] are the big man version of Trey Young
[01:04:49] and DeJontay Mary.
[01:04:51] So somebody got to go.
[01:04:53] This town ain't big enough for the both of them.
[01:04:55] Yeah, but if you look at what Minnesota did
[01:04:57] with Go Berry Cat,
[01:04:58] because we all said that's not going to work.
[01:05:00] But these players don't deserve
[01:05:04] to say the fire goes because-
[01:05:07] Oh.
[01:05:10] Like, I mean, if it's a personality conflict
[01:05:12] in the building, winning solves that.
[01:05:15] So if that was the case, like I said,
[01:05:18] I personally, if you don't have concrete expectations
[01:05:25] that you have set with,
[01:05:29] like your expectations have to match your equipment.
[01:05:32] Like if I'm trying to dig,
[01:05:34] if I'm trying to dig a swimming pool in my backyard
[01:05:36] and all I have is four friends
[01:05:38] and we got five shovels, that's probably not.
[01:05:41] Yeah, you can keep digging this hole
[01:05:42] and we can work our ass off.
[01:05:44] But if I don't have a backhoe to really get this going,
[01:05:46] then, and you come back in two weeks
[01:05:49] is like there's no pool.
[01:05:50] It's like, yo, I got five dudes with shovels.
[01:05:54] You can't expect me to dig you a pool.
[01:05:57] But if you get me the right equipment
[01:06:00] and you get me the right people
[01:06:01] to operate that equipment
[01:06:03] and then you come back in two weeks
[01:06:05] and I don't have anything done,
[01:06:06] then you're like, listen, you have everything you need
[01:06:09] to be further along than this.
[01:06:12] If I don't have that, you don't find,
[01:06:13] like Frank Vogel, he's, you know,
[01:06:16] rumor has it that they wanted a point guard.
[01:06:18] They were like, no.
[01:06:19] So you don't give me what I need
[01:06:22] and then when I don't get past the round
[01:06:24] that I told you we weren't gonna get
[01:06:26] because we don't have this player
[01:06:28] and you fired me is like, what would you expect?
[01:06:30] And I'm, like I said, I'm five dudes with a shovel.
[01:06:33] And you want me to dig you a pool.
[01:06:35] You saw Minnesota dig the Denver
[01:06:37] and they had Jamal Berry.
[01:06:39] Yeah.
[01:06:40] So what do you wanna do without a point guard?
[01:06:42] You gonna fire Mike Malone
[01:06:44] because you lose playoff series.
[01:06:47] If he lost the locker room, then okay.
[01:06:49] Yeah, you gotta go.
[01:06:50] But how do you, if Eric Spostra rumor has it
[01:06:55] in that early wave of the Miami Heedles,
[01:07:00] they wanted him gone.
[01:07:01] And Pat Riley was like, nah.
[01:07:05] It sent everybody back.
[01:07:06] However the message got to him
[01:07:08] and however it got back down, it was like.
[01:07:09] It's old Jimmy Butler to shut up in color too.
[01:07:12] Yeah, so it was like somebody's gotta be in charge.
[01:07:15] And like I'll keep going back to this.
[01:07:18] I don't know if the people who get hired
[01:07:20] for these jobs are qualified
[01:07:22] or they're just good at interviewing.
[01:07:25] Who are you loyal to?
[01:07:26] Are you loyal to the owner
[01:07:27] or are you loyal to a logic that applies to your team?
[01:07:31] Because Pat Riley was like,
[01:07:33] this guy coaching will get you your championship
[01:07:37] that you so desire.
[01:07:38] Shut up and listen to him.
[01:07:41] And we didn't hear anything else
[01:07:42] about wanting to get him fired.
[01:07:44] When LeBron was done dealing
[01:07:45] with the Pat Riley thumb situation, he was like,
[01:07:47] you know what?
[01:07:48] I'm just gonna go back to Cleveland.
[01:07:49] But he played out his four years.
[01:07:51] Pat Riley had that credibility because he,
[01:07:54] when Stan Van Gundy was the coach,
[01:07:57] he was like, yo, this ain't working.
[01:07:59] I'm going downstairs.
[01:08:00] Yeah.
[01:08:01] So it shows you that he thinks outside the box
[01:08:04] and he has a pulse on his teams.
[01:08:07] And obviously Dan Gilbert is just an overreactor
[01:08:11] and has no basis to do a lot of the things that he does.
[01:08:16] And I think, honestly,
[01:08:18] I believe these owners are making so much money
[01:08:23] that they don't care that they have to keep paying
[01:08:26] the guy a couple million dollars
[01:08:29] for him not to be the coach.
[01:08:30] His record in Cleveland was 170 and 159.
[01:08:35] And so here's something crazy.
[01:08:37] I was looking at his coaching profile, right?
[01:08:40] And he's always the backup.
[01:08:45] You know, like the first time he took over,
[01:08:48] he took over when Kevin McHale got fired in Houston.
[01:08:52] Then he took over when Fisdale got fired in Memphis.
[01:08:56] And you know, now he took over when D-line stepped down
[01:09:01] and then D-line ended up going upstairs
[01:09:03] into the front office.
[01:09:04] And you know, his dad is actually still
[01:09:07] in Cleveland's front office
[01:09:08] as the senior basketball advisor.
[01:09:10] So, you know, that was probably some intense conversation
[01:09:15] going on between daddy and-
[01:09:17] So his dad worked for Cleveland still?
[01:09:20] Yeah.
[01:09:21] Yeah, we out.
[01:09:24] So now-
[01:09:25] He's only 45.
[01:09:27] Yeah, and he's already been a head coach three times,
[01:09:30] you know, at least interim, you know.
[01:09:32] So, you know, does he jump to the front of the line of,
[01:09:36] you know, now I'm about to be a hypocrite?
[01:09:38] The Lakers, sir.
[01:09:39] Yeah, see Mike just ran my mind, you know what I mean?
[01:09:44] Yeah, like when you said it to me during the playoff run,
[01:09:50] I was like if he gets fired-
[01:09:52] Yeah, I told you it was happening.
[01:09:54] Yeah, you say he was going to get fired.
[01:09:55] I'm like, I thought it then.
[01:09:57] I was like, well, the Lakers are probably going
[01:09:58] to give him a call because, like I said,
[01:10:02] either they call Frank Vogt and apologize
[01:10:04] and try to mend that bridge,
[01:10:07] or you got to get a guy that's-
[01:10:08] You got to get a guy that has some stripes.
[01:10:10] And I think Bickerstaff does.
[01:10:12] I'm not sure what the relationship
[01:10:14] between him and LeBron or Clutch
[01:10:15] or if there's even a relationship at all,
[01:10:17] but at least it's not a guy
[01:10:19] that was sitting at the end of the bench
[01:10:20] that the Lakers are giving a shot.
[01:10:22] Yeah, maybe they ended up with Jamie Borrego.
[01:10:24] There you go. That's your answer.
[01:10:27] You need some-
[01:10:29] It's not going to be a new coach.
[01:10:30] It's not going to be a first time, guys.
[01:10:32] Not going to be Sam Cassell,
[01:10:33] even though he might be a respected player.
[01:10:36] The Lakers are probably waiting on this.
[01:10:38] And I imagine within the next-
[01:10:41] Before we have our next show,
[01:10:44] he'll be one of the candidates.
[01:10:48] I know JJ Reddick's a hot name.
[01:10:50] Maybe JJ Reddick coaches in Cleveland.
[01:10:52] Yeah, they said JJ Reddick got that pat right with you.
[01:10:56] I mean, basketball is basketball.
[01:10:59] You never know who's going to be a good coach
[01:11:00] until they're out there.
[01:11:03] Like I said, somebody has to be the buffer
[01:11:07] between the owner and the operation.
[01:11:14] Like someone like the GM,
[01:11:16] someone has to be in there like,
[01:11:17] listen, I get it that you're the owner
[01:11:20] and you made your billions doing whatever.
[01:11:23] Right.
[01:11:24] Let me run basketball operations.
[01:11:27] Give me the checkbook.
[01:11:29] I'll make sure, give me the budget.
[01:11:31] Give me the checkbook.
[01:11:32] I'll make sure I filled the team that's successful.
[01:11:35] You're going to get paid regardless
[01:11:36] because you're splitting the revenue amongst 30 teams.
[01:11:39] You're getting your checks.
[01:11:40] You're going to be able to charge whatever
[01:11:42] for these games.
[01:11:43] People are still going to come.
[01:11:44] People can put their goddamn tickets on layaway,
[01:11:48] PayPal, whatever.
[01:11:50] People buying these tickets are coming to the games,
[01:11:52] the Quicken Loans Arena, Crypto.com,
[01:11:55] Ball Arena, Smoothie King.
[01:11:57] All these places are going to sell out no matter what.
[01:11:59] Let the GMs, hire a GM that's going to be,
[01:12:04] that's going to give you some pushback
[01:12:06] and let that person run your team.
[01:12:08] You know what I saw today?
[01:12:10] Last thing, you know what I saw today?
[01:12:13] So I know that a lot of people
[01:12:15] have been talking about Paul George
[01:12:18] potentially going to Philadelphia.
[01:12:22] I saw, I remember that Philadelphia
[01:12:25] might actually be trying to go after Mr. John B himself,
[01:12:29] the one and only Klay Thompson.
[01:12:32] Why?
[01:12:34] For what?
[01:12:35] I don't even know why they're going after Paul George.
[01:12:39] Because it's a name.
[01:12:41] What does Paul George give you?
[01:12:43] That's what it is.
[01:12:44] You got to think 110 games.
[01:12:48] That's how many games you could potentially play.
[01:12:51] You got your 82 game season, four rounds of the playoffs.
[01:12:55] What does Paul George do for your team that gets you?
[01:12:58] If they get Paul George,
[01:12:59] the only thing we're going to do is bet each other
[01:13:02] who's going to miss more games between him and me.
[01:13:06] I'm just like, why?
[01:13:07] Like it's a young man's game.
[01:13:10] I want 22 year olds.
[01:13:12] I want 22 year olds that run and jump high.
[01:13:14] Well, that's what happens.
[01:13:15] I don't need,
[01:13:17] I don't need a bunch of dudes
[01:13:18] that are Carmelo's age out here trying to join my team.
[01:13:22] It's like, dog, these dudes already got podcasts.
[01:13:24] They have a whole life set up outside of basketball already.
[01:13:28] I don't need Draymond on my team.
[01:13:29] I don't need Clay.
[01:13:31] I'm not knocking these guys.
[01:13:32] It's like, at some point we have to look around.
[01:13:34] Look at the league.
[01:13:35] Look who, Kyrie's the oldest player
[01:13:38] left in the playoffs, I believe.
[01:13:40] Maybe Horford might be a little older,
[01:13:41] but as far as superstars, it's Kyrie Irving.
[01:13:45] It's Kyrie Irving.
[01:13:46] He's like the oldest star left in the playoffs.
[01:13:51] And LeBron, Steph, KD, all these dudes were out weeks ago.
[01:13:59] Yeah.
[01:14:00] Paul George is out weeks ago.
[01:14:01] So-
[01:14:02] Kawhi's still stretching.
[01:14:04] And Embiid was out weeks ago.
[01:14:06] So you're gonna add a guy who couldn't get over the hump
[01:14:10] with essentially a stacked team for the last four years.
[01:14:15] You're gonna add them to your team and be like,
[01:14:17] oh, now we're good.
[01:14:19] It doesn't make logic sense.
[01:14:20] Yeah, I was gonna say, as my young airman say,
[01:14:23] make it make sense.
[01:14:24] You know what I'm saying?
[01:14:25] It is what it is.
[01:14:27] But ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your support.
[01:14:30] Thank you for your time.
[01:14:31] Thank you for watching.
[01:14:32] Like, review, subscribe.
[01:14:33] He is the even kill Mr. Logical.
[01:14:36] I am the Southpaw, two five.
[01:14:40] We'll be back on Monday saying keep your eye out
[01:14:44] for some two five dealings.
[01:14:46] Keep your eye out for Cups in the Gang in the Hotbox.
[01:14:49] Keep your eye out for Jamie Bickerstaff's hiring.
[01:14:55] Yeah, keep that eye out.
[01:14:58] You know, like keep your eye out for JJ Reddick.
[01:15:02] You know what I'm saying?
[01:15:03] All the good things.
[01:15:04] Keep your eye out for grandma.
[01:15:05] Make sure she don't fall down steps.
[01:15:08] And we'll be back in a few days.
[01:15:14] Peace.