Well, that was fun! The Lakers are gone and there are so many reasons why. What has OKC and Cleveland been up to this week? (01:29) And we finally have a Game 7! This year is the lowest number of declaring upperclassmen in 10 years. (45:21) Will this be the new normal?
[00:00:09] Yes, you are now listening to the sound of Sports Reports As Ordered. We back in the building, the playoffs are on, and Houston force a game seven. We gonna talk about it. The Lakers are at home. I'm happy. We gonna talk about it. Shout out to Julius Randle for doing all the great things. But of course, I'm not alone. I got the one and the world famous, the world renowned.
[00:00:37] Born in Texas, raised in VA, representing New Jersey. I didn't look up a fact today, but what he told me was New Jersey would have outthugged and got rid of Detroit in four. Old school New Jersey Nets. Mr. Logical. ABA style. Don't bring feelings to a fact fight. Don't do it.
[00:01:02] And of course, it's me, your unorthodox statistician coming to you live from the Alamo going left so much and thought I was southpard. Brian Garcia should have done that. But anyway, I am too far. Like, review, subscribe, share, rate, do all the free things. Do all the good things and take you a sip of a liquid death. Yes. So, Mr. Logical. I'm listening.
[00:01:30] I was talking to somebody earlier, one of our hot box brethren and the newest addition. And he was telling me, nah, man. The Lakers were supposed to at least make the Western Conference Finals. And I said, you are. And la, la, la. Great movie. Shout out to Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. But it's a movie. It's a movie.
[00:01:57] And I told him, the only reason that you and a lot of other people thought that the Lakers were going to make a run is because you were looking at names and nothing else. It's the same thing that has plagued the Lakers since LeBron has been there. Now, granted, they did win the title in 2020. So let's remember that before I go any further. But, you know, it was the same thing, right? You could have got somebody young and dynamic. You could have got somebody that a defensive stopper. You need shooters. What did you do? You went and got Russell Westbrook.
[00:02:28] And then proceeded to blame him for everything that went wrong with that team when the team was flawed. Like, you were even talking about, why is Palenka still there? Like, he need to go now. Yeah, Palenka should have been going. Yeah, so then Luka falls into his lap. You know what I mean? And the problem that I saw outside of J.J. Reddick just being a young coach and doing some very questionable things is that, this is the part where I make Mr. Logical kind of upset.
[00:02:57] So, like, I've compared LeBron James to Peyton Manning for years. They know how to play how they know how to play. So, and they're great at what they do, so you don't try to change them too much. They're the machine. They're the system. But when you got a guy like Luka, who's used to being that same thing, it just kind of, the wires get crossed from time to time.
[00:03:19] And while you're doing this and things are going bad, LeBron is a very demonstrative, frustrated person. Great word. I love that word. Luka is the same thing. So, if I'm another Laker, a role player, a Rui, if you will, if I miss this shot, y'all going to blame me? The fans going to say I need to be traded? All this stuff. You going to miss the shot and we just let it slide. You going to walk down the court.
[00:03:46] You going to give up the fast break because you're talking to the ref. And then here we are. These things happen in a vacuum and the Wolves walk out in five. Yeah, I mean, that's dead on. That's literally, it's dead on.
[00:04:02] Like I said, I had picked the Lakers to win in six just because I thought the jump shooting role players would hit enough shots considering that their only requirement, like I said, the four for nine, I just was like, can you go four for nine of your nine opportunities? Because you're going to be open. LeBron is going to draw attention. Luka is going to draw attention.
[00:04:28] Even when LeBron was taking his offensive breaks to go on his defensive spurts, because like people talk about game four. That was one of those games. He was like, listen, I'm getting every loose ball. You see him dive on the ground and roll on Ant's ankle. He was getting the deflections. He was getting the blocks. He went for the defensive play that ultimately was reversed and turned into a foul.
[00:04:54] But he spent that whole second half basically, listen, I'm playing the whole second half. I can't put up 12 shots. I got to use this energy defensively. And he was doing it well. Austin Rees couldn't hit the ocean if he fell for both. Rui wasn't playing well. Gabe Vincent, once again, is a non-factory. He was probably, if you're going to sign anybody from the Miami team that made the finals, they probably should have gone for Struis.
[00:05:21] A bigger shooter that at a minimum, if he's not hitting shots at 6'7", you know, I think Struis is probably about 6'5", 6'7", somewhere in 5'6", 6'5", 6'7 range. At least you can put him out there defensively. Where Gabe Vincent, if he's not hitting shots, he's of no use to you on the defensive end. Because he's not getting anything going through the hoop. He's not a dynamic on-the-ball defender in the pick and roll. So it was like, they had a lot of gaps. And then I knew, like, they didn't have a big.
[00:05:51] I'm like, they don't have a big. But you can combat Rudy Gobert by just bringing Jackson Hayes out of the paint and have him flashing and catching lobs. But when they stopped playing Jackson Hayes, I was like, so none of this makes any sense. So I think, and there was video LeBron, like, dancing with, like, four minutes left.
[00:06:13] Even in bad times, it's like, like, even, like, I remember one time in my military career, I had gotten in trouble for something. And I knew it was going to be, like, it was going to be a decent deal. But I was like, I remember I was sitting in my car at the stoplight. I was listening to, I think I was like, I think I had, like, a Drake track on. And I remember just thinking, like, yeah, this is happening. This isn't going to go my way.
[00:06:42] I'm going to have to regroup. This is my smile through the pain moment. And I think LeBron just was like, yeah, this is, he's like, I think he's probably thinking, like, this is not even, it's not worth playing another game. And you could call it quitting or whatever else you want to call it, but it's like, it's a wrap. We can't get anything going. I can't play my style. I can't sag off. I can't, like, I got to do everything. And it's like, nah, this is not the move.
[00:07:12] Right. And I don't want to do the Wilt Chamberlain thing. So I'm just going to say Moses Malone instead. So you decided not to play Jackson Hayes. And the problem is that JJ Reddick said it before a game publicly. So when you're getting busted, you can't just come back and be like, all right, Jackson, I need you because you didn't already told the public that he's not going to play. So Mr. Lodge. If I thought he was going to give me a better chance to win, I would have gone with it. But I think they just kind of knew collectively that it was a wrap. Right.
[00:07:40] And this is the thing, Mr. Lodge, because you know I like the stats. Rudy Gobert in game five. 27 and 24, right? Coming into that game. Those are team. Those are like front court stats for multiple players. Right. The previous four games of that series, the previous four games of that series, he was averaging three and a half points and six rebounds.
[00:08:06] He had a total of 14 points and 25 rebounds before that game in the previous four games. Once he got to eight points and eight rebounds, I would have put a big in. Who? Jackson Hayes. At that point, you might as well get LeBron on him at that point. You know what I mean? Then on top of that, you know, LeBron, two for nine in the fourth quarter in this series.
[00:08:35] You know, yeah, in the last two games of that series in the fourth quarter. And it goes back to they lost that series the moment that J.J. Redick said, I'm not going to be all agree. I'm not subbing anybody, yeah. That's when it was over. He laid it all on the line in a non-closeout game. And look, right, I was talking about this the other day. You could bring Gabe Vincent in for about three minutes.
[00:09:02] Leave LeBron on the floor, you know, but take Luka out, put Gabe in. Take LeBron out for three minutes, put Finney Smith in. The NBA TV television timeout breaks, reviews, flavor file reviews, all of these things are built in for everyone to get breaks. The rest, the commentators, the researchers, everyone gets an opportunity to get a break.
[00:09:31] You get the people on the floor to do the dunks at a contest. Yes, everybody gets a break in this game. It's built into the fabric of the game. You know when the TV timeout is coming up. So, the possession of two before that, call a timeout or on a foul. You know what? Even bring Luka and LeBron off.
[00:09:57] I'd rather take both of them off for a couple of minutes, get the TV timeout, get that minute, and give them like seven or eight real-life minutes for both of them on the bench. Come up with their game plan, sit, break, think it through, and let these other guys like Austin Reeds run the offense. Rui's out there. Finney Smith, Jackson Hayes, and maybe Gabe Vincent. Yes, it is not the prime lineup.
[00:10:24] But nobody's bench is full of superstars. And for some reason, over the last few years, the Lakers have seemed to miss the boat on developing depth and developing confidence with that. That was like, you don't get confidence playing with LeBron. You get knowledge. And if he gives you the ball back and you knock down the shot.
[00:10:50] But I need to be able to show what I can do with these guys on the bench. Since LeBron's gotten there, I don't think the Lakers have even tried to bring in a guy that could run the second unit. I know they tried to win Westbrook, but Westbrook is inherently a starter. Right. They don't have, like, I know Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams and, you know, guys like that are like the quintessential six-man.
[00:11:18] But there were guys out there available in conversation and free agency where you could have put them in with the second unit and made it work. And they never did it to the point where every coach has been hired and fired. They don't have any tape that they can go to of a type of lineup that you can use when LeBron's on the bench. It just doesn't exist. Not a successful one anyway. And that's the other problem playing with a guy like LeBron.
[00:11:46] And I don't mean this as a knock to LeBron. I just mean it as that's what happens. You know, young players don't generally get a lot of play because when you have LeBron James on your team, it's championship or bust most years, if not every year. So I can't afford to let Max Christie develop. I can't afford to let Dalton Connect develop because that's taken away from what we need to do in the ultimate goal.
[00:12:12] So Max Christie, you know, wasn't getting playing time in L.A., went to Dallas. He was out here scoring 17 points, hitting four threes in a game. And it's like, guess what the Lakers need? More shooting! You know, like you had it in your pocketbook. Dalton Connect could literally get – I don't care if the defense knows it. I wonder if they're going to train him because of what happened. Like, is he just not mentally there? I don't think it's a mental thing. I think he has a stubborn coach. And I think he has a stubborn coach and a demanding leader on his team.
[00:12:42] A dickhead coach too. And then – and JJ's always been like a – I mean, he's just – that part of Virginia breeds those kind of guys. Like those arrogance. Plus he went to Duke too. And he went to Duke. So he's from like the Charlottesville area. Probably came up with a little bit of money. Oh, he's from – Jews Will Not Replace Us? Yeah, but those dudes weren't from Charlottesville. They went to Charlottesville because it was like they know guys like JJ Reddick are from Charlottesville. They didn't go to Richmond.
[00:13:11] They didn't go to Newport News with those fucking tiki torches because it's easier to get there. It is easier to get to Richmond, Newport News, Williamsburg, Hampton. It's easier to get there from anywhere in the East Coast because 95 runs right through there. They went to the middle of the goddamn mountains where it's like a bunch of dudes that wouldn't really fight back. And that's why they did that. So, yeah. So he's from that block. Right. Yeah, so I think, yeah, LeBron didn't do himself any favor by not hitting any shots.
[00:13:42] I thought he would be better at scoring. And people say, oh, all the spinners of the defense. I think they just missed shots. They needed a break. They were tired.
[00:14:03] Don't talk to us. I don't know what his defensive rating is. I don't know if he has any blocks or any dunks in his career. He don't have no steals. Not a steal.
[00:14:33] He might have 77 assists total in his 15 years, but he played that many years doing what he specialized in. It's like you had an iteration of him sitting on a bench and didn't use it because you want him to do something else. I don't listen. Just be tall. You're six, seven. Just be in the passing lane. Close out on the shooter as near as you. And then when you get the ball, don't dribble it. Get the screen. Shoot the three. Dalton, I give you nine threes. Can you give me the Hauser?
[00:15:03] Can you give me the Pritchard numbers? Can you go four for nine from three? Can I get 12 points and a couple of rebounds out of you in a game? That's all I need. And as you would say, and it probably don't sound right when I say it, let's keep it a B. You know what I'm saying? Man, like you're relying on a 40-year-old to give Herculean efforts as your prospect to win championships. You know what I mean? Because Luka was doing his thing from an offensive standpoint,
[00:15:30] not efficiently, but he had a 38-point game. He had a 37-point game. And, you know, but the problem is that he had to make a lot of dribbles and a lot of step-back threes to make those numbers look that way. And he can't, like, he's in that same boat as LeBron and Peyton Manning that I brought up earlier. He plays the way that he plays. You know, but he can't play that way with LeBron because, like, LeBron is effective at cutting to the basket.
[00:15:59] He doesn't do it enough for me, but he's effective at it. Luka doesn't even try it. Unless the play actually calls for it. But I think, and they talked about that when the trade was made, can Luka play with LeBron? Like, I think LeBron could because, like I said, I'm pretty sure LeBron is all good with taking – if I could take a break offensively and these guys play four-on-four, because you're not going to leave them open. You're still going to put a good defender on them.
[00:16:29] Either – if it's not a great defender, it's going to be a big defender. It's going to be Julius Randle. It's going to be – you're going to put somebody over there. If it's not a – if it's not one of the Thompson twins, it's Cade Cunningham or Dylan Brooks. You're going to put a big body on LeBron anytime him and Luka are on the floor. Speaking of which, if the Thompson twins ever learn how to shoot, the NBA in trouble. Yeah, they better work on it.
[00:17:00] But, yeah, so that's the piece. So it was – I wouldn't say – I don't know if they came up short. I think they just – I think they just lost. I think anyone who had Western Conference – like, Western Conference aspirations for the L.A. Lakers this year, they are just – they're, like you said, they're in La La Land. Because it just – they didn't have enough – who is Minnesota's second-round opponent? It's going to be OKC?
[00:17:29] No, it's going to be the winner of this series. Winner of Golden State and Houston? Yeah. Yeah. That Houston series is going to be, like, ridiculous if that happens. Like, the defense in that series is going to be off the chain. You might have 81-79. Maybe Ben Wallace might show up to the game. Yeah, you know what I mean? He might block something. You know what I mean? Why are the Detroit Pistons here watching this game? Like, oh, this kind of game you're going to watch.
[00:17:56] I don't know if Golden State has the guns to keep up with Minnesota, which is weird to say because they got the ultimate gun, right? But, you know, with that hand, the way that it is right now, and Dylan Brooks and our men keep swiping it at every chance they get, there ain't enough rest for whenever this series ends for Steph to get it right. But, Mr. Logical, in other L.A. news, we got us a game seven tomorrow night.
[00:18:23] The series that I said was going seven, that I picked the Clippers to win. So let me do the stat thing real quick. James Harden, last night he was awesome. He has 26 career playoff games where he has more turnovers than field goals. I don't even know how that's possible for a player of his level.
[00:18:51] Yes, he has more turnovers than he has made shots in 26 playoff games within his career. That's crazy because I didn't think you got to make the playoffs a lot for that stat. I mean, he's made a couple of Western Conference Finals runs and, you know, like, you know. But on top of that, Denver needed 43 points from Jamal Murray a couple of nights ago. You know, they needed a buzzer beater that they couldn't replicate again
[00:19:21] if you gave him a thousand chances to do it. You know, the problem is with Denver is the Laker problem, you know, to some degree. They only play six or seven dudes. So you got Jokic out there for whole second halves. Yeah, but there's six or seven dudes fit. They do. They do. What up, Mike? There's six or seven guys that they have fit in all five spots in the starting lineup.
[00:19:51] Check out that one Mike podcast, y'all, Mondays and Thursdays. Yeah, but they fit. Yeah, it would be wise to play eight to nine guys if you could. But at least Aaron Gordon plays effectively from where he is. Michael Porter Jr. plays effectively. And then Jamal Murray, you said they needed 43 points. They got 43 points from Jamal Murray. That's the difference. It's like some teams need to get. That's funny.
[00:20:20] They need their role players to step up. Denver actually has shown. And I think they're they're I want to say I want to call them role players. There are other guys besides Jokic because Jokic averages. 10 plus assists. So those guys are still hitting shots. You know, so if he's not on. But Jamal Murray, you know, play out Jamal. It goes all the way back to the 18 points in the regular season. 24 in the playoffs for his career.
[00:20:49] So, like, I think I think this series, like I said, I picked Denver in six. Russ needs to either just learn to slow down so he can create contact and maybe get the end one. Because I think sometimes he's still too damn fast. You know, every time you want to beat you to the rim is like, no, just get to get to a good spot to where you can. Calmly go up this layup, get these points.
[00:21:19] Every time Russell Westbrook lines up for a jumper. I go, what are you doing? When he goes to the basket, I say, from now on, that's how you drive. But then he blows layups at the end of games. He blows the layup. I swear, him and LeBron blow more layups than any star I've ever seen. You know, those two, like, blow all kinds of layups. I mean, granted, LeBron probably gets fouled a lot. But they blow a lot of layups. But Jokic last night, two for nine in the second half.
[00:21:50] You know who was guarding him last night in the second half? The guy that used to be a Laker. Yep, the guy that used to be. Look, no, it wasn't Zubac. It was Batum that was guarding him most of the second half. And the problem is, it goes back to what I always say. He's tired. You know what I'm saying? Like, look, I know that Jokic is not an old man. He's not LeBron's age. But we forget they've played 82 games before we got here.
[00:22:19] You know what I mean? And a lot of those times, we see the numbers all the time. Look at Denver when he's on the floor. Look at Denver when he's off the floor. You know, so this is the problem. Let's just say Denver wins tomorrow night. Let's just say that happens. I'm taking OKC in game one by 25. Because that's going to be a tired team going into a boring-ass state like Oklahoma. Yeah, well, at least they'll get some sleep.
[00:22:45] Yeah, like OKC is going to bust that ass in game one if it's... But I think OKC is going to beat everybody over the head anyway because we talked about... We talked about the lack of fit with the Lakers. We talked about a better fit with Denver. But Jokic's on the bench. It causes them problems. Anybody matching up with OKC is going to be like...
[00:23:10] Everybody that comes on the floor knows exactly what their role is. And their role benefits them. I don't think there's a guy on OKC that checks and... That goes to the scoring table and he's playing a role that doesn't benefit him. Because sometimes we talk about, oh, this is your role. You know, we talked about it with LeBron and Kevin Love and Chris Bosh. It's like, yeah, this is your role. But it's like, if Chris Bosh could have gotten his 24 and 16
[00:23:39] and if Kevin Love could have played the way where he got his 24 and 15 the way he was getting in Minnesota, it's a different story. I think LeBron probably could have chilled more because I think LeBron can get 27 points if he says, hey, man, for the next four minutes, the next five possessions, I'm taking everything to the cup. I'm thinking he's getting eight points because he's going to get fouled once or twice in those possessions. Might get an open three, a dunk, whatever the case.
[00:24:07] So I think LeBron can get his eight points per quarter if they just say, you know what? For these next four possessions, I'm going to do this. And then you let these other guys play their role. Shea does that. So because Shea is there one-on-one, I can dribble the air out of the ball if I want to get my points, whereas everybody else understands, cool, I'm going to get in position defensive rebound or I'm going to be here for this pick and roll. And I'm good with that.
[00:24:36] Like, I'm good with doing that. Chet's going to get his open looks. Hardenstein's going to be able to get his shots off, rebound, kick out, hard screens. It seems like everybody's doing what they want to do. Michael Porter Jr. is a shooter. But every once in a while, it's like, hey, man, can you get us some rebounds? And it's like abnormal. He can physically do it. But that's not the role you expect them. And I think OKC, all their guys are just in roles that work for them.
[00:25:04] And that's going to be the ultimate difference. Yeah. So even with all the names that are going to come through there and people think OKC is boring, it's like, yeah, they got eight or nine dudes that know exactly what they're doing for 48 minutes. You know, they always make the comments about, like, I don't think he loves football or I don't think he loves basketball. That's how I feel about James Harden sometimes. Like, you know, last night, you know, he took 20 shots. You know, saying, Cason Wallace, UK, baby. You know, saying Isaiah Joe went to Arkansas.
[00:25:32] You know, but no. So Harden last night took 20 shots, 20 shot attempts. The previous five games, this is how it went. In game one, he took 22 shots. Then he went 17, 14, 11, and nine. It doesn't make sense. Yeah. It doesn't make sense. Unless they're overthinking the game plan,
[00:26:02] which is something that I think teams do when they need to mask issues that they have. Shea is not going to have a game where he only takes 11 shots. But he barely has a game where he takes 11 free throws. And if done, OKC won by 30. Yeah. That means he sat the whole second half because at halftime, the score was 84 to 39 at halftime. So crazy. 75 to 39 at halftime, he didn't take a lot of shots.
[00:26:31] So we got 86 to 84 rockets at the end of the third. So we're 12 minutes away from another game seven. But look, Mr. Logical, I believe in God. I don't think people would ever say that I'm religious. But I feel the need to pray. The Knicks are about to get sprayed all over the Atlantic Ocean. The Knicks are the Buffalo Bills.
[00:27:00] No, they don't even know if they're that. Buffalo at least made it to the Super Bowl a couple of times. Not as far as how far they progress, but how good they look as, like, if you just look at the Knicks. They play very well together. They play hard. The fan base is dynamic. New York is crazy when the Knicks are good.
[00:27:26] And it's like, no matter what, you can't beat the Knicks team to get to. Because at this point, this Knicks team making the Eastern Conference Finals would be the equivalent of the Buffalo Bills making the Super Bowl. Okay. It's like getting over that next hump. Your fans love you. The media loves you. We love your star player. We love your coach. McDermott doesn't really get a lot of heat.
[00:27:54] But he's not a cat. People want to get rid of Brian Dable. People are like, they can see why he would get fired. People are like, we get it. But McDermott, me and you go back and forth every year. It's like, listen, what are you going to get if you try to replace a guy that's, yeah, they come up short, but are you going to go get some guy who's never done it before and that guy's going to get that team over to Humbley? Just unlikely. People love Tibbs. I mean, the Knicks fans are nuts when the Knicks are winning.
[00:28:22] They were talking about the Knicks when I went to the Yankee game a few weeks ago. Like, New York is a blaze when the Knicks are good. It's just that Boston does what they do so well. And they've never, over the last, since Tatum's gotten there. So you got the Boston three party. They had a little trail off, but they made the trade. They got everybody out to Brooklyn. They used all those pieces.
[00:28:51] I don't think Boston really had, like, a down year, whereas, like, they looked, like, completely discombobulated for multiple years. And then they got Jason Tatum because all these deals that they in the age made. And they were immediately, you know, back in the, back in, you know, leading the Eastern Conference. So what they're doing now is just, it's just like an old boxer in the gym. And the young guy wants to come in. And he's like, listen, man, I'm telling you,
[00:29:21] all I'm going to do is jab you and throw right hooks. I'm letting you know that's what you're getting. I'm going to give you a double jab and a right hook. Oh, so you were watching Raleigh earlier. Just, I'm letting you know, as soon as this bell rings, this is what I'm going to do. And then the young guy's like, yeah, I see you. And he gets that boom, boom, hook, boom, boom, hook. And he just moves, boom, boom, hook. And it's like, I'm working my ass off here. I'm running hard. I'm playing hard. I'm doing the thing I can. It was like, Boston, listen, I'm,
[00:29:49] we're so accustomed to do what we're doing here. There's nothing you can do to stop it. Yeah. I'm going to just go ahead and say it. I'm taking Boston in five. You know what I mean? It might as well be four because the Knicks haven't even beat them this year. But, you know, like, you know, they always talk about football. You know, it's a 60 minute sport. You know, it's a 60 minute game. Detroit lost this series in about five or six minutes out of the whole series.
[00:30:17] You know, they, they, there were at least three games that Detroit was up in the fourth quarter late and the Knicks just came storming back to include the closeout game. They came back, got a seven point lead and just fell apart. And, and, and, you know, and look, cover your ears, Mike, because, you know, look, I know
[00:30:37] that when Cleveland let BJ bigger staff go, I was like, why? Like, why? Like, why? Like, you know, he's taking a team that shouldn't be nowhere near where they are and have them looking like a threat. So then as I was watching that game last night, there was about half the fourth quarter where I was just scanning the floor.
[00:31:06] And I said, where the hell is Malik Beasley? He wasn't on the floor. Like, you know, and I'm looking at this, this is, he hit the second most three pointers in the league this year. He was six for 13 in that game from three. And he sat out probably eight or nine minutes of that fourth quarter last night. Then I was looking around, right? And I was like, game plan versus what you actually do. I said, I said, where's my guy at?
[00:31:35] Where's my guy? Cause I actually like a star better than I'm in. I was like, where's my guy bro in this series, a star Thompson. Now mind you, a star Thompson is the guy that is probably best equipped to guard Jalen Brunson. Minus that last second shot last night. You know what I'm saying? Because Jalen got that one off and he didn't need to push off like 23 did. I think he got him in his gut a little bit, but, but anyway, but the point being,
[00:32:04] a star was playing 23 minutes a game in this series. He's the best Jalen Brunson defender. You've got whenever Jalen Brunson's on the floor, he needs to be on the floor. Yeah. Face guard. He needs to be on the floor. And you know, the other thing, Mike, that, you know, that we haven't really talked about, they didn't have Jaden Ivy either. So if you're Detroit, there's no reason to feel down right now. There's no reason to, I mean, it sucks, right?
[00:32:30] Like, you know, that you let the series slip through your hands, but you know that you're here now, you know, because the Knicks before the season had game one would have set the tone of they could have held on in game one. I think, like I said, I know the Knicks fans are nuts, but that would have been like, yo, you serious? We came up short and didn't make the Eastern conference finals last year. And that would come out and now the resurgent Detroit Pistons come into Madison Square Garden
[00:33:00] and take his game one. And they were dominating that game. Yeah. Up until that 21-0 run where it was like, they just stopped protecting the rim. Josh Hart had like four layups uncontested at the rim on back cuts. And the Rockets are up by eight. So, yeah, like I said, the Knicks? No. Yeah, I'm just Detroit. No, I think Detroit's fine.
[00:33:26] I think Detroit is more likely to get, I think they're probably, maybe they talk to the Lakers and get Dalton Connect and just get another shooter. And you also got to remember, too, outside of Jaden Ivey not being there, we got to remember Beef Stew didn't play after game one. You know, so one of their best rebounders was gone, too. And, you know, and the crazy thing about it, let me talk about old pussy for a second. I mean, kitty cat. Let me talk about kitty cat for a second.
[00:33:57] This man was getting clamped up by Toby Harris. You know, so who I know that he's probably, what, three or four inches taller than, and he's probably about 20 to 30 pounds heavier than. Nah, they're probably closer in weight. I don't know, man. 6'9 to 7'0. That is like a big fat kid. 6'1 to 6'5, I can see, like, someone struggling. Like the 6'1 guy guarding the 6'5 guy, yeah.
[00:34:27] But at 6'8, 6'9, and you're guarding the 7'0 guy, the 7'0 guy's not that nimble. Cat's not nimble. And he's a good shooter, the streaky shooter. But he's not that hard to defend. He's not like, we saw that with the DeMarcus Cousins pitcher when he was standing there like this, and he was, like, banging it to him. He's never really been a big that played like a big down low. He plays like a two-guard that's down low.
[00:34:57] But the Knicks got too much perimeter shooting for him to not play down there. That's the problem. But then get him, get the ball on the block and just shoot your turnaround. Just shoot your pull-up. Well, he can't do that now because now he got 7'3 coming to his face. Pause. You know what I'm saying? 7'3 is coming at him now. I don't think I'm going to watch. You might not even need Porzingis. You might put Horford on him, to be honest with you. I think Horford's going to drain him. He's going to eliminate him. He's going to wipe him out.
[00:35:27] Remember that? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Wipe out. Well, that's the cat is looking at him. But I think Boston, they'll sacrifice and put a big out there that doesn't score. Luke Cornett or somebody like that? Cornett catches the lobs. I'm talking about even going deeper than that. They'll put a guy at them. Like, yeah, just go out there and frustrate them for a couple of minutes while Porzingis and Horford get a breather. We're up 12. We're up 13 because, you know, Boston's going to do their thing.
[00:35:56] And we know Tibbs is going to run those guys to death. And the ball moves so much in Boston that the Tibbs way of defense, he's going to have – someone's going to have to tap him on the leg while he's on the sideline and be like, hey, man, this guy's going to be ineffective offensively because he's chasing Pritchard. Somebody needs to be over there to tell him – You got to make sure you figure out who's going to be our offensive sub.
[00:36:21] Like, who's going to be the guy that we put in when we need eight points in the next couple of minutes? They just need somebody to phone in and be like, hey, Tibbs, Josh Hart looked like he about to faint, bro. Yeah, because that ball is going to move. Because Boston's second unit, if we just – because the starting unit, you know, Tatum's going to take his shots. Jalen Brown's going to get to the free throw line and take his shots. Horford's going to take his corner threes. White's going to get some open looks. White's going to get some open looks, and Drew Holiday is going to facilitate a lot of that.
[00:36:51] So the ball is going to move, but it's not going to move with the same ferocity as it is when Pritchard, Hauser, Horford, Porzingis, and Derek White's in the game. It's going to look like two different games. Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum go to the bench. They're going to be just as effective moving that ball around. So New York is going to have to be able to counter. I was like, listen, do I take Josh Hart or Mikkel Bridges off the floor when Tatum comes off? Tillman. Yeah, as I'm saying, just put Tillman in.
[00:37:20] Just get a body. Just get a body in there. Hey, I'm watching this. I'm looking for shooters out there. I'm watching this. If Draymond Green could get to 10 points, the Rockets in trouble. Yeah, so like you said, pray for the Knicks. But I felt like it was going to be Boston OKC. For most of the season, I felt like it was going to be Boston OKC in the finals anyway. So a lot of this is just a formality for television purposes. Here's a quick question for you.
[00:37:51] What the hell OKC and Cleveland have been doing all week? I hope they've been practicing like they had multiple games. Because I brought this up before, having when Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators beat Ohio State in the National Championship game. He said that every week they practiced like they had a game on Saturday.
[00:38:15] Because this is back when it was like 50 days between the end of the season and the National Championship game. Which is mind-blowing that it played out that way back then. And we were just cool with it. We were just cool with knowing who the National Championship matchup was going to be Thanksgiving. And we were cool with it being after New Year's Day. Like, for some reason, we were like, all right, we'll wait on this. So I hope they've been practicing.
[00:38:46] I think Cleveland has a tougher task. Cleveland going down. And like I said, you picked them to go down. I think Cleveland has a tougher task with Indiana than Boston has with the Knicks. The NBA is loving it because it's Boston versus the Knicks. You got the two of the biggest basketball markets going at it. Especially considering you got...
[00:39:11] If you lose Steph, you have... You have to... You're going to have to highlight SGA, Tatum, Brown, Ant. No one on the... The Clippers are all old heads. Mm-hmm. Donovan Mitchell is going to... You're going to have to call Adidas. Like, yo, I need to put out a Donovan Mitchell commercial. I don't care what it is.
[00:39:41] You can cut clips from the games that we currently had in the playoffs. You need to get something in rotation to where Ant's Adidas guy. Who else is Adidas guy? Like I said, Donovan Mitchell's Adidas guy. Tatum's a Jordan guy. I think Jalen Brown has, like, a Chinese company shoe deal. A lot of these other guys have their own independent, like, an Ant or something like that. You're going to need to start putting these commercials out.
[00:40:09] That way, people don't just forget about basketball. Because there's going to be about another week of whose fault is it with LeBron in L.A. Yes, sir. What up, sir? Cups? What's going on, Cups? And you're going to run out of material. You're going to run out of stuff to say about whose fault is it is in L.A. So you can't keep – you can't have this conversation with – today's Friday. We're talking about the Lakers today. Our next show is Tuesday.
[00:40:40] The television media, they have shows every day throughout the playoffs. They can't talk about the Lakers from now until Tuesday. Because I don't think we're going to have a lot of talk about the Lakers. I was listening to Kevin O'Connor yesterday of Yahoo. I was listening to his podcast yesterday. And he had the one and only Nick Wright on there. They talked about the Lakers for about 49 minutes. And he said – Kevin O'Connor – he said, I'm sorry to everybody else out there.
[00:41:09] We'll talk about everybody else tomorrow because the Lakers lost. And this is a big story. And I was like, bro, you could have talked about the Lakers for 30 minutes and got 10 minutes in on – something. You know what I mean? It's ridiculous. But anyway, enough of the Lakers. So if Houston wins tonight, how much – and this is just a random question. If Houston wins tonight, how much of 3-1 do you think goes through Steph's head?
[00:41:39] Historically, I'm not sure of the math. That's a big story. I'm not sure of the math. But I don't recall a lot of closeout Steph Curry moments. I know a lot of series where he took over. I know games this way. I know the Olympics. I like the way he closed out the Olympics. I think that was dynamic. I haven't seen that performance in an NBA.
[00:42:08] MCL strain, man. LeBron was like, listen, I heard – He ran into White Dante, man. White Dante could be a running back. Yo, LeBron's like, listen, man, I'm going to Mexico. I'm going on vacation. I'm going to South of France. Yeah. The knee will be fine on the private jet. Yeah, so, you know, I just think that Curry – hasn't gone crazy in the game seven. As Mike's saying, he will go crazy.
[00:42:37] He went crazy the last game seven. The last – when they played Sacramento, I think he put up 51. Okay. But like I said – That was when Draymond stomped on – Damones? Was that the game? That was the series. It was that series. Yeah, it was that series. Yeah. Okay. So, but like I said, it doesn't happen enough to where I expect that to be the case. Because we talked about game seven, the 3-1 with Cleveland back in the day.
[00:43:06] They only scored 80, 89 points that game. That might be what they scored in game seven against Houston too. Because Houston's going to lock them up. I mean, Steph might get 30, but ain't nobody else unless Jimmy shows up. So, that's what I mean. And it's at home. Grant is first round. Oh, Rockets up nine right now. It has to loom. It has to loom in your mind considering that they pulled everybody in the third quarter of game five. Yeah. What do you think about that before we move on?
[00:43:37] Because, I mean, they're an older team, you know, as far as Steph and Jimmy's been hurt. Draymond's a little – like, do you just be like, we got them, guys. We're going back home. Or, you know, or – because I don't like it. I don't like it. Like, I'd say at least play the third quarter. And then if we're still down this much at the start of the fourth, okay, we'll pull the plug. Yeah. But, nah. But I think if you leave them in there, then the grind and trying to get back –
[00:44:04] So, Mike said he had 37 in game seven. 36 in game seven against OKC. Like I said, I don't doubt that he can perform because I think he's a dynamic player. It's just that we rarely think about Steph and elimination games going hand in hand. We hear Kobe. You have, obviously, LeBron stats, Jordan.
[00:44:32] So, I would be worried if I go back for game seven considering it's on the road. And, you know, you've got a team that was down 3-1 that forces a game seven. And they're at home. And they're young. They don't have a memory of blowing a 3-1. They're tired. The Warriors are tired. You know what I mean? Like, these young boys have been running up and down the court on them. You know? And we talked about this.
[00:44:58] Like, I know you picked the Rocks in five because you thought the same type of thing. I picked Golden State – I mean, I'm sorry, Houston is seven. But, like, the thing about it for me was Houston should have won this series already. They missed 14 free throws in game three. Shingun missed the game-winning shot in another game. You know? So, like – Yeah, he was very timid in one game when they were, like, leaving him open at the free throw line. It's like, that's your shot. Yeah.
[00:45:26] So, and I think a coach like Imei, you know – and you know what I'm about to say, and I hate that I always say this, but it's just the fucking truth. You know what I'm saying? It's just going to depend on the refs. You know, are they going to let them play? Are they going to call everything? Like, so far, the refs in this series, I've been impressed that they've been letting them play, which favors the Rockets because the Rockets are able to claw, grab – Ironically, the refs have fucked up the end of games in this overall playoffs. Yeah.
[00:45:54] I think they've been butchering the end of games with reversals and stuff like that. Yeah, Jalen Green just played his way out of Houston. Reed Shepard starting next year unless he gets traded for Giannis. Man, Reed Shepard ain't playing. They keep talking that he's the most impressive offensive player. Cool. Hey, he had a 49-40 G League game? I'm tired of y'all. I'm tired of y'all taking all these pot shots at my Wildcats.
[00:46:24] You know what I'm saying? But anyway – Yeah, so, yeah, I think that – I think pulling everybody game five, I will say it comes back to haunt them if they lose the series. Well, the difference is Van Vliet has just – he's waking up. Like, the first three games of this series, he was nowhere to be found. I mean, he found that three-point shot these last couple of games. So, Jalen Green, you know, ain't doing – And that's what we're talking about.
[00:46:53] It's difficult to beat a team four times in seven days because people find out, like, oh. Like I say in lacrosse when I'm watching my son play. Like, I watch the other team and, like, some of the moms, like, look at me. Like, who's going to be the kid that you call out today? And I'll look and say, like, you can see who's not – Who can't win their defensive matchup over the course of, you know, all these games? Because at a minimum, you're playing at least four games.
[00:47:23] Right. So, you get a lot of information when Dylan Brooks is matched up against Jimmy Butler or if Kaminga – if he really can guard Jalen Green, you find out in the first couple of games. And you can exploit that. And you can find out early, like, okay, this guy, we can leave him open. Or this guy, we can rattle him with this.
[00:47:51] Or we can, you know – See, Van Vliet just hit a three right when I said that. Yeah, so we can blitz his pick and roll because when this guy has the ball in his hand, he, you know, three times out of ten makes the bad decision or bad pass. So, you get all these tendencies in a couple of games and that's why, like, you know, these series kind of can change over. You know, Steph be sad. He'd be trying to pull up and he'd see Dylan Brooks. He'd be like, not you again, dog. You? You know what I'm saying?
[00:48:20] So – but hey, you know, we were talking the other day. This year, so far, you know, or I guess yesterday was the deadline. So, there was 105 upperclassmen college basketball players that have declared for the NBA draft. That is the lowest number since 2015. So, I was going to ask Mr. Logical, with NIL, the portal, all that good stuff, is this the new normal? Yes.
[00:48:49] And that number's declining. It's the new normal. And if I had – if I was able to advise a young basketball player in college who is a freshman and maybe you were highly recruited and you got a decent NIL deal. Brant it, these guys getting seven, eight million dollar NIL deals. More than likely, they're going to go to the NBA as lottery picks and get decent deals.
[00:49:17] Maybe even they have – because, like, Cooper Flag already has a New Balance deal. You know, so he already has a shoe deal. That's some white boy shit right there. Him, Kawhi Cameron Brink, Tyrese Maxey. Steph is – no, Steph is – Steph is Under Armour. Yeah, Steph is Under Armour. Shout out to Maryland, you know what I'm saying, Under Armour headquarters.
[00:49:41] So, I think the college basketball landscape is going to stay this way because – like, I'm looking at it now. So, average – estimated average NIL deal for top 25 college basketball players. The elite players, top five to ten, it's like half a million and two million dollars. Right? Okay. Those are like your star players at your Bluebird schools like Duke, Kentucky, schools like that. But, your mid-tier guys, anywhere from 200 to three quarters of a million dollars.
[00:50:11] Okay. So, that's your – the Clayton that went down to Florida. He got a million. He got a couple million, right? I'm sure he did. He – and you, you're the college sports guy. How do you think he transitions as an NBA prospect? Oh, I think he's going to be Jamal Murray 2.0. Okay. Did you think that before he won the national championship this year? I thought that about midway through the season this year. This season.
[00:50:41] But, like, before he got his NIL money. Yeah. Before he was at Iona. So, he wasn't going to be – he – from Iona declaring for the draft, you're probably just basically locking yourself into the second round. But, you go to Florida. You get a couple mil. And then, now, you can either graduate and maybe transfer again or come back for another two million. The kid – like, the kid from BYU got eight.
[00:51:05] But, if he plays out the way that that $8 million NIL deal plays out, he'll still be a top three pick. Whereas, give me a guy like the guy Sears that went to Alabama. Yeah, Mark Sears. I'm not – yeah, I'm not sure if he is an NBA first round guy. But, North Carolina will pay him two million to come play there for next year. You see what I'm saying?
[00:51:30] My answer was, like, I think a lot of these guys will be able to say, I'm a second round talent once I'm evaluated by NBA scouts. Because I'm only 6'2 and a half. I'm only 6'3 or I don't have a leaping ability. But, I'm a college $2.3 million guy for one year. So, I think more guys are starting to take that back. And, like I said, if I was advising a young guy, I'm like, yo, if you think you're going to be a second round pick,
[00:52:00] but you don't mind transferring, then I would just keep going to school, graduate, and get your money. Because it's still basketball. And the money is better. So, like – See, and that's the thing, right? Because the thing that makes me happy about NIL in this conversation, because I know there's still a lot of people out there that don't like it. But the reason that I love it – Just bear with me for a second.
[00:52:29] So, I'm sure you remember Kobe, Dwight Howard, T-Matt, Kevin Garnett. I'm sure you remember those names. Maybe you even remember Darius Baisley. Maybe you remember Jonathan Bender. Not a lot of people remember Corleone Young. Not a lot of people remember James Lang or Usman Cis. Because those guys did the same thing that Kobe and those guys that I mentioned before did. And now they're nowhere to be found.
[00:52:58] And they didn't have the NIL to fall back on or, like, anything like that. So, they were good enough, according to the people in the know, to just go straight to the NBA. And it didn't work out. So, now you provide that buffer because I don't like the fact that they took the one and done away. Because, you know, America, right? You got the right to do X, Y, Z. So, if a guy wants to go from high school to the NBA, let him. That's his life.
[00:53:28] That's his decision. Yeah. But now you can bring that back because now Al Harrington is another one. You have that buffer now of you have a reason for a kid to go to college now. You know what I mean? And you can lessen some of those type of stories. Let me tell you about another guy. You know I love Kentucky. Let me tell you about Daniel Orton. Let me tell you about Daniel Orton. Do you know who Daniel Orton is? I cannot recall.
[00:53:58] Daniel Orton was DeMarcus' cousin back up at Kentucky. You know, he was a freshman just like DeMarcus Cousins. He finished that year 3.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and was drafted in the first round of the NBA draft. That was the night that I lost respect for Calipari because five UK players went in the first round and he said this is the greatest night in Kentucky history. And I said, bitch, go win a title.
[00:54:29] You just lost with this same team. You know what I'm saying? So there's that. But what about Shabazz Muhammad? You know what I'm saying? He could have stayed in college another year if there was some NIL. You know? And I go back to the days of people like Felipe Lopez, you know, that had New York City on lock. You know, went to St. John's and was supposed to take off. Went to the NBA. Sebastian Telfair. Yeah. I think he would have gotten.
[00:54:56] I think his, like I said, right now, if he, his body goes back to he's 18 and he's available this summer to go to the NBA draft or college at what? Six foot one, six two. We're stretching it. I think he easily gets called by Cal who just lost Storjokovic's kid. Like, listen, we'll give you two and a half million to come here. And you can put up all the shots you want.
[00:55:25] You can average 25 points. We're going to pay you. You don't live here. You know, so, or you can be, go to the NBA, play. Ooh, that's a name. Play 82 games versus best case scenario in the college. You're playing 40. If you make it all the way to the final four, you're about 40 games. Yeah.
[00:55:51] So I could play, I can play 20 something home games because I'm the top school. I'm Kentucky. Kentucky's not playing that many real games. They play a lot of games where the small school comes to them. You're a big man on campus. You're getting paid a lot of money. And based off the draft, it's not a lot of guys that are drafted around six foot that get a lot of burn.
[00:56:21] Like Dillingham got drafted. I think they listed him at five, 11 or six foot. But he will be replaced by a guy that's six, five, that can give you a little bit more defensively in the NBA. Right. Because it's not a lot of five, 11 guys that have the green light. Trey Young is probably Trey Young, Dane, Steph, Kyrie. They're probably the smaller guards that have green lights. It's not a lot of Jalen Brunson. There's not a lot of guards that get that green light.
[00:56:49] So you got to work your way into that position. But meanwhile, you're on a team and he's he has all the green lights. But it's like, OK, cool. I can go to North Carolina State. And play there. So I think a lot of I think if you're a second round guy, but you have enough personality where you can, you know, get you one point two million to go to another college, do that.
[00:57:11] Finish some school, do your homework, get your degree, be a graduate student, start working on your master's and leave college. Yeah. About six million dollars in life earnings. And you can sit in your room. Three years old. And you can sit in your room and watch Golden State losing by 17 to the Rockets because Steve Kerr wouldn't play you anyway. And that's another thing. The NBA head coaches are all.
[00:57:37] The NBA head coaches are all older guys and they're looking at like, I need experience on the floor. It's like you don't get experience from the bench. Right. Like I work in a flying squadron. When we get new pilots in, they don't sit in the back while the experienced pilots fly and just ask questions. They sit in the right seat and the pilot, the experienced pilot sits in the left seat and they say, hey, you got the stick. What you doing?
[00:58:06] I would get why you, I'm a, I get why you would want to maybe sit a quarterback, right? You know, game speed, like just watch for a second and process what's happening. But in basketball, that's not it. It's just put the ball in the hoop. Don't let him put the ball in the hoop.
[00:58:24] You know, quarterback, your backup quarterback can stand 10 yards behind a line of scrimmage and watch the play and have the offensive coordinator, a passing game coordinator standing next to him in practice explaining why. This is why two would do that route in this coverage. So in this coverage, this is because it's very like he was wide open, but you didn't see the spy. You didn't see this guy. So this pass got deflected because in this fire zone, this guy comes on the blitz.
[00:58:53] This guy drops here. So all that information can be processed without him making a single mistake on a basketball court. I got to put because athleticism in a basketball court is it is your advantage. Yes. Having understanding of the game and everything else. But like Coach Carter said, what I teach you to do run. Yeah. What do you think I want you to do? Yeah. Run. Run. You can do that and win. Yeah.
[00:59:20] I think that next year, Steve Kerr's last year. I know he signed that two year, $35 million extension, which was like the highest for a coach in NBA history. So I think. I could see him rethinking some things. I know he had the health issues, you know, dating back to the last few years. I could see him rethinking like, you know what? So I said, they lose this series. Well, I think I would like to see Steve Kerr with another team.
[00:59:47] Like, I think like it's just time to like, because I mean, look, Steph is what? 36 now. Something along those lines. So, I mean, at most what you got three years maybe, you know, of Steph, but probably maybe one more of Steph as we know him. So, like, just walk out the door together. You know what I'm saying? Not saying that Steph needs to retire or anything, but just close that chapter together. Like I said, people are posting on social media. Last day.
[01:00:18] Like all the guys that are leaving. You know, all the NBA legends that are leaving. If I'm a college basketball player, I'm going to let them all go. Because like you and I joined the military in 2000. Right? Yeah. I got an enlistment bonus, an initial enlistment bonus. So when I got to my shop, people had never heard of me. Like, you got what? You didn't even do anything. Well, the military was at war. You know, the United States was at war in the early 90s. They ramped it all the way up.
[01:00:48] Then we had the post-Cold War stuff. They're figuring it out. They kind of got that deal squared away. So they're like, yeah, we don't need all these people. So then from like 95, because my dad retired in 95, it was like they were off in early retirement. So a lot of people took it. So then after a few years, it was like, oh, we don't have enough people. So now if I'm a college player, I'm like, all right, cool. Now you don't have enough stars. You don't have KD. How many years he has left? One, two as KD.
[01:01:17] Devin Booker is going to have some years left, but he's not drawing a crowd. He's not like in that sense. Draymond has a couple years left. All your championship teams, OKC might be on their run. And then you might, you still have a little bit of Boston. But for the most part, LeBron's going to be gone at some, within the next couple years. Luka's going to be a couple years older. Now Cooper Flagg is coming into the league. Now you can be that guy that's like, hey, we need some new blood in this.
[01:01:47] And now you just spent three years in college, got better, collected about three and a half to six million dollars. Boom. Now I'm going to top ten pick. And I'm getting some playing time. Because a lot of these guys get grabbed to the top ten and don't get to play. Reed Shepard. And speaking of which, you know, shout out to Anthony Edwards. You know, three of his last four playoff series. He swept Kevin Durant. He won a game seven on Jokic's floor.
[01:02:16] And then he just beat LeBron and Luka on the same team. He was trying to bully LeBron the whole time. You know, like, look. Yeah, so he took the game on the challenge. I would like to see Steph, Kerr, and Draymond just walk out the door. Like, next year, you know, finish out Kerr's contract. Bounce. You know what I'm saying? Just this is the end of the Warriors now. You know what I mean? And then you're going to have to start replacing the coaches because what you need. Because before, like, we talk about this, you know, with football.
[01:02:46] The Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan, they got drafted the same year, and they both started. And they both got success immediately. So after that, it started to be more prevalent for teams to draft a first-round quarterback and start him. I think Matthew Stafford went the next year. I believe Sam Bradford went that same mix. And it was, like, because Flacco and Ryan had success. So now you're going to start getting new NBA coaches, younger coaches, a lot of guys maybe under Mark Dagnos coaching tree.
[01:03:16] Maybe some guys under, what's the boy named Brad Stevens in Boston. Maybe some guys out of that group start getting jobs. 37, 38-year-old coaches start getting jobs. And they're going to be like, you know what? I want to play these young guys. I want to be able to rotate 10 guys in April in the playoffs.
[01:03:40] I want 10 guys that understand that I believe in their confidence, and I'm going to use that to my best of my ability. You're going to get that if you spend three years in college, especially if you're getting paid for it. Even if you're only getting, like, 50 or 60 grand. That's still enough for you to keep developing. And then maybe you play two years. Like I said, you go to Iona, and then all of a sudden you want to come home to Florida. Florida's like, yo, we got a check waiting on if you want to come down here. And then you go down there and win a national championship.
[01:04:10] Yeah. And, yeah, that's what I was going to bring up in closing. You know, Greg Popovich, you know, officially stepping down as head coach. But it sounds like he's going to move up to the front office. That's just so they can keep paying him. Right. They can justify the check he got left. Like Bruce Arians. So far, the early word sounds as if they're just going to keep their interim coach. But I was thinking, like, hey, Budenhoser is a Popovich guy.
[01:04:38] You know, Mike Brown's a Popovich guy. And then there's all – yeah, I'm happy he's healthy too. And then there's all these rumors that the Spurs could get Giannis? That's – that's just too many arms for – it's just too much length in one – Hey, we got to get arms longer than Pippen's – what is it? Get money longer than Pippen's arms. Get money longer than Pippen's arms. Yeah, that's just money longer than Wimby arms. And then guns longer than Giannis' arms. Like, that's just too much.
[01:05:08] You know, I was trying to figure that out. I can see Giannis because I don't know – there's no – I don't think he makes a team a championship contender because we saw that with Milwaukee. Like, you know, he needs help. But what does that trade look like though? The trade is going to be some ridiculous – someone's going to get gutted like a fish in order to make it happen. I'm thinking Castle. I saw one and I think – I don't know if you shared it in the group
[01:05:36] or somebody else did, but I didn't even pay full attention, so I just laughed at it. It was like four teams. Somebody was – I think Thompson, they would have like Jalen Green and Thompson going somewhere. And then Shingun and somebody else going to some other team. And then OKC was moving a couple of players. I'm like, hey, no, when the hell none of that happened. Well, let's individualize it for a second, right? So if you're Houston, right?
[01:06:06] Maybe Jalen Green and one of Jabari Smith. Milwaukee's going to want your kidneys to give you Giannis and the trade. I know. That's what I'm trying to say. And then you still probably got to give up like two draft picks too. And then the Spurs, you probably got to give up Castle. Milwaukee's going to want five players. They're going to want a bigger deal than what Gobert went for. If it's the Spurs, you got to come off Castle. You're not getting a Luka deal.
[01:06:35] One of Vassell or Sohan. You know what I mean? Maybe trade Jones or somebody like that as a filler. And then probably three first-round picks. Yeah. Like I said, even though the Lakers lost their series and Nico Harrison starts, it seems like, oh, he was a prophet. No. He still has to rebuild that team. He was a prophet. And Kyrie's not coming back next season. Nico was right, damn it.
[01:07:07] So that's still, that's still, yeah, we got to, yeah. I mean. And think about it like this. Think about it like this. Allegedly, they called Milwaukee. You know what I mean? But yeah, you're not, but you're not going to get, to get Giannis, if you're calling Milwaukee, they're not going to give you the deal that Dallas took. See what I'm saying?
[01:07:33] They're, if I'm Milwaukee, I'm starting with this Gobert deal. Because I think Gobert was five players. It was like four first-round picks and like five players or something like that. It was nine potential players. So they had to get the money to match. That's why. Yeah. So I think Giannis is making a lot of money. I think he's making the same around, maybe more money than Gobert without doing the research. But I believe that money is the same way. That's why I was saying, like, you probably got to throw Vassell in there because he's probably the highest paid player on the Spurs right now.
[01:08:04] Castle's still on the rookie deal, but you want him just because of the potential. Like, I'm giving you Giannis. You got to give me the rookie of the year. You know? So, I mean, that makes sense. And if you're San Antonio, it was like, why do I want to go this old? I thought about that. Not necessarily LeBron to Dallas, but I thought about LeBron not being a Laker next year. The only tricky part is paper towels there.
[01:08:30] I think LeBron's a Laker or he retired. I don't think he retires. I think he's a Laker. I think he's a Laker because it's like, what is he going to do, go to another team for one year or two years and try to chase a championship at 40? You really think that's like... Do you forget what team is 30 miles from where he grew up? He's not going back to Cleveland. Go finish your career there?
[01:08:59] He's not going to do the Kevin Garnett tour. I think he might. You know what I mean? I think he might. Look, like I said, I admire LeBron's career 100%. I see Vegas yet as an owner. I think that's the next team that LeBron associates himself with. The team that goes to Vegas as an owner. I don't think he leaves L.A. because I think he can make those moves living in L.A. I think he can make that.
[01:09:28] He can get that, raise that capital. He can get L.A. Two hours from anywhere in this country. Understandable, but it's like the brand. Just being in L.A., having everything, just Cali, it just makes more sense. Maybe, but he is the brand. Maybe if he goes to Phoenix because... He is the brand. LeBron can make you care about Montepelio or Vermont. Yeah.
[01:09:53] I just don't see the move because there's... I don't think there's any place he can go in one year and win the championship next year. So, why would you go just to play some other place and then do your retirement tour in a Dallas jersey? Like, that just doesn't make any sense. It looked like Patrick Ewan when he went to the Magic.
[01:10:21] I could definitely see LeBron wanting... Not performance-wise, but I could just see, like... I could see... I would... I think... I think the Laker retirement tour resonates more at the end of the career. Yeah. I think he definitely wants the world to pawn over him. The post-40 ring chase. I think that... I think that would have more of a cachet. I think that would appeal more to him.
[01:10:46] Like I said, I don't want to speak for him, but just as a person who's kind of watched him, you know, he's carefully manicured and cultivated his career. I don't see him going out, throwing a Hail Mary in the fourth quarter of his career like that. I just don't see it. I know. Patrick with Orlando, there was what? What, Olajuwon with Toronto? Yeah. And I'm not talking about performance. I'm just talking about, like... If you're doing your... Like, imagine if Kobe would have got that Chicago...
[01:11:15] Like, they would have done the Chicago thing late. And now Kobe's in a Bulls jersey retiring. You're like... It doesn't even make any sense. That's why I said that I want Steph to walk out the door, because I don't want to see Steph... I mean... Steph dressing... Playing for the Hornets. Playing for the Clippers. Oh, yeah. Playing for his hometown Hornets. Yeah. Like, when Tony Parker went to the Hornets. Like, it just... It didn't make any sense.
[01:11:45] You know what that was? That was gangsters don't die. They just get chubby and move to Miami. That's what that was. So... D-Way with the Bulls is another good one. Yeah. Yeah. It's just like that retirement. But he went back to Miami to do his retirement. Yeah. But his retirement tour was in Miami. So, him playing on the Bulls was one thing. But him... If he would have left and gone to Chicago... Montana with Kansas City. Jason...
[01:12:13] But he made a couple of playoff runs in Kansas City. I know, but still. But he didn't lean... Like I say, he... Like, right now... It's like... Let me think. Who's in the NFL? Like... It's like Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers making this playoff run with the Jets... You know, the last couple of years. Or, you know, making that attempt... Because they have a good defense. And then him going to the Steelers. Like, what if he says... I'm going to Steelers. This is going to be my last year.
[01:12:42] Now, we got a bunch of pictures of Aaron Rodgers... Shaking hands with people. Waving to the crowd in the Steelers uniform. For his retirement tour. He's also on top of his pizza and not in the pizza. I'm saying, like... It just... It doesn't make any sense. And I think... I think these guys... They have a certain level of ego and confidence and cachet. I'm pretty sure they wanted to go on their own terms. You know what I'm saying? This is logical. I got great news. Let's hear it.
[01:13:12] We got a second game seven, baby! Finished up? We got... Is eight seconds left? Oh, yeah. There it is. It's over now. Yeah. 115-107. The Rockets. Game seven in H-Town? You know what I'm saying? You got game seven tomorrow up in Denver? 52-80? You know what I'm saying? Look, man. I am here for it. I am here for it. You know? I think Pacers and Cavs are going seven. I think...
[01:13:43] Nah. That's the only one. Yeah. I think OKC Sweets... I think they beat Denver in five. They beat the Clippers in six. They beat the Clippers in four. They beat Denver in five. And then I think Minnesota beats Golden State in... Five. Five. And then I think Minnesota beats Houston in... Five.
[01:14:13] No, I think that goes seven. I think that goes seven. I would have to see... I would have to see the matchup. I'd have to see how they defend... How Houston defends the three-point line against Minnesota. I just don't know if Van... I don't think Golden State can defend the three-point line against Minnesota. So I think that's why I'm not going to be five. If Van Vliet can keep up what he's doing right now. And Jalen Green has made it known that outside of that game where he tried to match his girlfriend's age,
[01:14:42] he's not going to show up. Then, you know, Dylan Brooks, like... Oh, that would be interesting. Dylan Brooks and Ant. That'd be fun. Yeah, that'd be kind of fun. That'd be fun. You know, they had some little smoke earlier this year. That'd be kind of cool. You know, like, these Canadians be out of control sometimes. Yeah, you gotta line them up. You know what I'm saying? I'm just saying, man. Like, you know, somebody can bleed in the family, Crotey.
[01:15:13] No, it just is what it is. But, uh... With the 29 piece? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like, I don't know if he can sustain this. I mean, he's done it for the last three or four games now. But, you know, but the way he started this series, I think he's somewhere in the middle, right? He got to come back to the main at some point. Yeah, I mean, I think Draymond with his triple single again. Yeah, how many minutes did my guy play tonight? Let's see. Who was that?
[01:15:43] Jabari, see, 18 minutes. Jabari Smith. But Steven Adams... 19 minutes, 8-1-3. Yeah, I'm going under two. If Houston wins this series and goes against Minnesota, the key might be how much can Steven Adams play? Well, as long as... I think... Because, like you said, Gobert had, what, 14 total points in four games
[01:16:12] and 25 rebounds. Rebounds. I think those two... I don't want to say they cancel each other out, but I think as a coach, I trust Steven Adams against Rudy Gobert. And if I'm a Minnesota coach, I trust Rudy Gobert to be on the floor with Steven Adams. And for both... For them to be... For both coaches to feel like both these guys should be effective. And you don't need to make any major moves. Like, listen, you need sides of rebounding. You need speed, shooting, size, rebounding.
[01:16:41] In the NBA game. Yeah. So taking off your size and your rebounding because the other team is a little faster doesn't make any sense to me. It will, Gobert. You know... 27 and 24 is crazy, though. You know, but I'm here for it because, you know, like, Adams and Shingun together, you know, Gobert can't stick with both of them. You know what I mean? Not that Steven Adams is that big of a scoring threat,
[01:17:10] but just on the boards, I'm meaning. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. So, like, you keep... You keep the big bodies in there. And if you defend the three well... Because I think a lot of teams, when they see the other teams go small ball, it's like... You know, sometimes big beats small. Yeah. So now when they go small ball, just work your bigs on the offensive end. As long as you're not going three for two, you need to be taking a lot of threes.
[01:17:39] You got two bigs down there that can rebound. So eventually, they're going to have to switch it up. Because I remember one time, like, I think it was, like, a youth basketball game my son was playing. And the other team only had four kids. My son just finished playing his game. And then asked the coach, like, hey, can we, you know, let this guy play? Because we only have four kids. The other kid's, like, on punishment. They were in, like, fourth or fifth grade. So they were playing the game.
[01:18:08] And my son was grabbing all the rebounds. So after the first, it was, like, two halves. So they're playing. So, like, halfway through the first half, there was an adult coach coaching some youth teams. And then it was, like, some teenage kids that were volunteering to coach this other team. Right. So the coach came over and was like, hey, is your actual fifth player going to show up? And they were like, his mom just texted me and said he didn't do his homework so he can't come to the game. And I'm doing the scores table. I'm like, he's like, damn, that kid that's not on the team
[01:18:37] is actually getting all the damn rebounds. So he's like, well, we'll just play four on four. That's what I got. He's just like, we'll just play four on four. He's like, the kids still want to play, you know, so we'll just play four. I'm like, it's the same level. It wasn't like my son was playing down. It's just like the next team in the fourth grade, their game was at 830. His game was at 730. Other game was at 830.
[01:19:06] It wasn't like he was playing with, like, third graders. He was playing with other kids in his class, but he just was getting all the rebounds. So the dude was like, hey, is that other kid going to show up? I was like, yeah. He was like, yeah. His mom texted me, man. He didn't do his homework so he can't come tonight. And he was like, okay. He was like, I'll talk to my kids and see what they want to do. And he basically told them that they can play four on four if they want it. They weren't even thinking about it. They were just playing basketball. And they were like, okay, I guess so.
[01:19:36] So then, like, yeah, my son had to come off the floor because the big was getting the rebounds. That's hilarious. It was, I was like, and I looked at the dude. I'm like, are you serious, B? These are nine-year-olds. Nine and 10-year-olds. Yeah, it was nuts. That's hilarious. But, hey, we will be back on Tuesday, you know, saying, getting ready, you know, all these new game ones getting underway and all that kind of stuff. Happy about it. The NBA postseason has been fun, you know,
[01:20:04] like they're actually letting the players play, you know. I like that part. Yeah, all these new school kids, you know, this is what some of the 90s basketball could look like if we did this regularly, you know what I mean? But it is what it is. So he is the world-renowned, the world-famous, the Mr. Do-Not-Bring-Feelings-To-A-Fact-Fight. Don't do it. He is Mr. Logical. Jerseys in the building. Big jersey.
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