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1:30

Hello and welcome group chat. I

1:33

am Justin Varyer and joining

1:35

me a couple of on-court

1:37

blood enthusiasts like our friend

1:39

Joe Missoula Rob Mahoney big

1:41

whas gentlemen pod two

1:43

of the postseason. How you doing?

1:46

Too bloody not bloody enough. What

1:48

is Joe Missoula's problem? And I

1:50

say that in many different respects.

1:53

I think it's going pretty good.

1:55

Been enjoying ourselves. Tonight was a

1:57

bit of a slog, but we sold

2:00

you're on, you know what I mean?

2:02

Like, you gotta take the bad with

2:04

the good. You can't have the Kauai

2:06

Leonard Miracle Game. This is true. Without

2:08

the Jimmy Butler hip and ass contusion

2:10

game. So it is what it is.

2:13

That's my personal podcasting as well? You

2:15

know, just throw the bad ones out.

2:17

What were our bad ones, do you

2:19

think? Do you wanna go through the

2:21

whole, the whole course of them? If

2:24

you got them top of mind. None

2:26

come to mind, but you know there

2:28

were some down some fallow periods probably

2:30

toward the end of the season I

2:32

would say When we maybe when we

2:34

did 40 minutes on the trailblazers together

2:37

and afterwards we were like man, we

2:39

probably could have gone an hour That

2:41

was tough even in a pod where

2:43

we were clearing out for the bad

2:45

teams. That was way too much trailblazers.

2:48

I apologize to everyone listening to group

2:50

chat. I do not I would do

2:52

it again. I will do it again.

2:54

Any anyone pound any chicken alfred any

2:56

chicken alfredo before this We gotta talk

2:59

about this. Dude, I don't know the

3:01

last time I had chicken alfredo. It's

3:03

like kind of a dish that I'm

3:05

almost morally opposed to for some reason.

3:07

Yeah. What's your moral standing on? Is

3:09

it against the chicken or the alfredo?

3:12

The heavy cream of it all. It's

3:14

like, I don't know, like for some

3:16

reason, like, if you put a lot

3:18

of butter in something, I'm fine with

3:20

it, but like, I watch people on

3:23

YouTube just... dumping cream into something and

3:25

I'm like this just doesn't seem right

3:27

I feel like this shouldn't be a

3:29

tactic that we go to so often

3:31

in the in the culinary game for

3:33

context for anyone who may be far

3:36

afield we learned via the broadcast tonight

3:38

the chicken operators apparently Jaylon Green's pre-game

3:40

meal Which I would say explains a

3:42

lot about some of his performances. He's

3:44

also 22. This is true. Derek Rose

3:47

was eating gummy bears for like three

3:49

straight years. Like these guys can eat

3:51

anything at that age. I feel like

3:53

Alfredo is kind of like the fluffernutter

3:55

of like the pasta realm. It's just

3:57

like an unholy concoction that is similar

4:00

enough to what you're going for. It's

4:02

also the type of thing I wonder

4:04

if people see it as a go-to

4:06

dish like they see it on a

4:08

menu and say oh I need to

4:11

get that past the age of 30

4:13

right like that just doesn't feel like

4:15

something adult human beings are doing anymore

4:17

but hey I might be wrong I

4:19

think it's a natural evolution you know

4:22

you start with a buttered noodle you

4:24

know you start with a buttered noodle

4:26

you make it to a chicken Let

4:28

me introduce you to our friend Carbonara,

4:30

you know, a slightly elevated

4:32

version of a mostly similar

4:34

kind of flavor profile. Well, if you're

4:37

surprised by this five minutes of pasta

4:39

talk, let me, let me, let me.

4:41

preview our second segment of today, which

4:43

is that we're going to talk about

4:45

some possible surprises going forward. So we're

4:47

going to talk about today's rockets and

4:49

Warriors game, but then we're going to

4:51

like look at what types of things

4:53

might surprise us based on the action

4:55

we've seen thus far. That's the best

4:57

way to probably present it. But first

4:59

we had a game, night cap game

5:01

that we thought was going to be

5:03

pretty high intense action like in game

5:05

one. Unfortunately, Jimmy Butler took a

5:07

hard spill there pretty early in

5:09

the game. He was pretty much

5:12

wrapped up from there. The Warriors

5:14

did their best to stay to

5:16

them, some better than the other,

5:18

some being maybe Pat Spencer, the

5:20

others being perhaps Jonathan Camingga. Why,

5:23

is this scene unfortunately just like

5:25

one that the Warriors had a

5:27

pun after Butler went out? Yeah,

5:29

this felt like that classic game

5:31

two where you know the team that

5:33

lost game one is going to come

5:35

out with a haymaker. and try to

5:37

prove like all right we know we

5:39

need this game and we have to

5:41

come out with a certain level of

5:44

assertion and authority and aggression quite frankly

5:46

and the rockets did that and it

5:48

felt like the warriors like okay we've

5:50

been here a million times before we

5:52

know what you guys are about to do

5:54

but we're just gonna stay the course and

5:56

it's gonna be fine like you know the

5:58

the rockets went up 10. and they were

6:00

up nine and it felt like the

6:02

Warriors were just like, we just keep

6:05

this between like, within like seven points

6:07

or so, not let this thing get

6:09

too out of hand and we're gonna

6:11

be fine. And then of course Jimmy

6:13

Butler then there bursts his spleen on

6:15

a freaking play that he ended up

6:17

shooting the free throws and did not

6:19

come back and that was just unfortunate.

6:21

Yeah, and it just just snowball downhill

6:23

from there. Just a really nasty fall.

6:25

And we're still waiting for more news

6:28

on Jimmy Butler. He's going to get

6:30

an MRI. The good news is that

6:32

there are a couple of off days.

6:34

I think the Warriors and the Rockets

6:36

don't play again until Saturday. So maybe

6:38

there's a little more time for him

6:40

to be on the mend, but it

6:42

did not look good. It was a

6:44

really hard, really painful fall. And frankly,

6:46

it's the kind of thing where even

6:48

if he did come back, you could

6:51

see it affecting his mobility, certainly his

6:53

verticality, like his verticality, like the rebound

6:55

where he fell. he was skying for

6:57

those kinds of rebounds in this series

6:59

so far like that's a different sort

7:01

of Jimmy Butler that allows you to

7:03

play small when he is that athletic

7:05

that's hard to do with the busted-ass

7:07

tailbone like it's really hard to do

7:09

when you're in that kind of pain

7:11

so we'll have to see one can

7:14

he come back two what does he

7:16

even look like and three if he's

7:18

in any kind of compromise for him

7:20

what does that mean for golden states

7:22

offense that's an awful lot of trouble

7:24

maintaining scoring runs without him So they're

7:26

officially calling this a pelvic contusion, which

7:28

makes it the third pelvic contusion for

7:30

the Warriors this season I don't know

7:32

if I've seen a single pelvic contusion

7:34

But now we've had a big three

7:37

of them in Golden State. It looked

7:39

more of like a tailbone hit more

7:41

of like a back butt sort of

7:43

thing But he fell super hard on

7:45

it. I saw some people talk about

7:47

like that was a men under cutting

7:49

him almost as a dirty play, but

7:51

if you look at the the replay

7:53

He clearly gets pushed because in fact

7:55

Dreymon ends up nudging him in part

7:57

because Pigemski couldn't ward off Stephen Adams

7:59

who nudges Dreymon who nudges him into

8:02

a men Thompson. It was a real

8:04

domino's action that just led there and

8:06

so it's super unfortunate because I think

8:08

you are worried if you're the... that's

8:10

something like this might happen to Jimmy.

8:12

It has happened in recent years that

8:14

he'll just get things in dense that

8:16

leave out for a game or more

8:18

than that. For this to be like

8:20

the absolute fluke his situation, it's the

8:22

worst possible scenario. Because you saw what

8:25

happens when he's on and they just

8:27

can't replicate his two-way value. Yeah, well,

8:29

they can't even fill the minutes, frankly.

8:31

Like when you're getting into the Pat

8:33

Spencer, Jonathan, comminga minutes, and granted, and

8:35

granted, Who else does goals they have

8:37

to go to if Jimmy Butler can't

8:39

play? I mean, we saw what this

8:41

team looked like with the Andrew Wiggins

8:43

situation. It wasn't much better, but we

8:45

saw after Jimmy went out. So I'm

8:48

not surprised that they weren't able to

8:50

sort of make this more competitive, especially

8:52

again, the rockets are down 01. They're

8:54

at home. The series they know is

8:56

basically over if they lose the first

8:58

two at home. And so it's like

9:00

as. earlier as we are in the

9:02

playoffs. It's this this is a version

9:04

of a do or die game for

9:06

the rockets and you know not having

9:08

Jimmy and under those circumstances is tough.

9:11

Yeah. So Jim and Green took the

9:13

opportunity and ran the fuck away with

9:15

it. 38 points. I never know what

9:17

to do Rob with a good jail

9:19

and green performance because there's always that

9:21

nagging thing in the back of your

9:23

mind like there's a total of evidence

9:25

that suggests otherwise right but I got

9:27

a given they needed someone with pop

9:29

obviously they had the size advantage that

9:31

bore out in the first two games

9:34

but to have this I mean I

9:36

guess is it replicable is the big

9:38

question here I don't think Imayodoka knows

9:40

what to do with the good Jaylon

9:42

Green game sometimes. Like the rockets existential

9:44

are trying to figure out who Jaylon

9:46

Green is. And to get to see

9:48

him do this in a playoff moment

9:50

in an important one as you outlined

9:52

was, that's huge, right? This is a

9:54

really important data point for Jaylon Green's

9:57

career. The shooting kind of is what

9:59

it is, and he's going to streak

10:01

one way or another. We've seen that

10:03

often. For me, it was more coming

10:05

out of the gate, driving hard, making

10:07

plays, not letting himself get shut down

10:09

by defenders who shouldn't be able to

10:11

stay in front of him, digging in

10:13

defensively, getting out in transition. That's all

10:15

stuff that's within his power to do

10:17

all the time. And frankly, needs to

10:20

be within his power every game of

10:22

this series. Like they don't necessarily need

10:24

him to be... a 38 point per

10:26

game superstar, but they need him to

10:28

be someone who gets utility points, who

10:30

makes important plays using his athleticism. He's

10:32

one of the most athletic players on

10:34

the floor. You should be able to

10:36

get by step one on one. You

10:38

should be able to get by step

10:40

one on one. You should be able

10:43

to get by some of these guys

10:45

on the break if you're kind of

10:47

starting off in a similar place. And

10:49

so seeing him realize that he's allowed

10:51

to make quick decisions with the ball.

10:53

That's a huge step forward. Yeah, and

10:55

Jaylon Rehn is a player that, you

10:57

know, we know he's capable of doing

10:59

this every now and again, but I'd

11:01

be shocked if this changes Golden State's

11:03

approach to how they defend this guy.

11:06

You dare Jaylon Green to take 18

11:08

three points again. That's like... That's a

11:10

beautiful trade-off for any defensive. I gotta

11:12

admit, some of these were like, they

11:14

were already up, 13, 14 points, he's

11:16

white-ass-old, and there's no pressure on it.

11:18

Jimmy's already out, they understand the war

11:20

is a walking wounded. So, look, I'm

11:22

happy he came through for them. I've

11:24

been a Jaylin Green sort of optimist,

11:26

early on in his career, so I'm

11:28

happy to see him do well under

11:31

this context. I don't know that this

11:33

is the start of some new. level

11:35

of jailing green in the playoffs that's

11:37

been unlocked. I think the takeaway for

11:39

me was how different the team looks

11:41

when they have someone like this step

11:43

into the void because in the first

11:45

game it was funny because they had

11:47

the size advantage and they practically like

11:49

tripled them up on the boards. There's

11:51

such an advantage with Adams or Shengoon

11:54

on the court and when both of

11:56

them are there they're just mauling at

11:58

this. point, but they just needed someone

12:00

after they got the rebound to do

12:02

something with the ball to actually score

12:04

it. And unfortunately, a lot of their

12:06

best options are just bonus guys. It's

12:08

like it's Brooks, it's Eason, it's a

12:10

men. These guys that you would hope

12:12

that there would be four other players

12:14

on the court who did all those

12:17

stabilizing and then they can go just

12:19

be chaos agents essentially, that you could,

12:21

they can knock down a three or

12:23

an immense case, he could just do

12:25

whatever the fuck you can you can

12:27

do. I keep thinking back like if

12:29

it's green, it's great, but they need

12:31

that every single game. And I can't

12:33

stop myself from thinking like man, if

12:35

they just had like a KD type

12:37

in that role, how dangerous this team

12:40

could be because like there are certain

12:42

advantages that have come to the four

12:44

in this series. They just need the

12:46

30 points per game guy in order

12:48

to bring them to that next level.

12:50

Not even the 30 points a game

12:52

guy, just like the solid 24 but

12:54

reliable and one-on-one situations guy. Like the

12:56

one who as you say is preventing

12:58

Fred Van Vlee from shooting 19 times

13:00

in game one and in some ways

13:03

would prevent Jaylon Green from having to

13:05

do this in a game two situation

13:07

right like that you could lean on

13:09

and even sure more veteran hand but

13:11

this is this is a good outcome

13:13

for Jaylon Green. I think it does

13:15

put them in that delicate place though

13:17

where this isn't who he's going to

13:19

be all the time. Fred you would

13:21

expect is going to have to hit

13:23

shots at some point in this series

13:26

if the rockets are going to advance

13:28

because those other guys are not. Like

13:30

not only are they not going to

13:32

hit them, they're not even going to

13:34

take them. And so who is going

13:36

to be hitting from the perimeter? Who's

13:38

going to be hitting from the perimeter?

13:40

Who's going to be creating out of

13:42

those second chance opportunities that are not

13:44

going to be hitting from the perimeter?

13:46

Who's going to be creating out of

13:49

those second chance opportunities? Basically every time

13:51

out with this version of the roster.

13:53

I think you have to give Shangoon

13:55

a lot of credit, especially in that

13:57

game one. He has an advantage, but

13:59

he's pressing on it in ways that

14:01

you would hope he would. Like he's

14:03

got the opportunity and he's taken the

14:05

most of it. The little baby hook

14:07

was definitely falling in the first game

14:09

and like he's just doing enough at

14:12

that position in order to get by.

14:14

We got a tweet from. our friend

14:16

Harzop Sani who suggests that Shangoon is

14:18

basically the Boris Diyau of Nikola Yolkich's

14:20

now. Yeah. Do you guys care to

14:22

unpack that one? Do you agree? I

14:24

like this better than like the poor

14:26

man's yokech or like the, you know,

14:28

store brand Yolkich. Adding the Boris Diyau

14:30

element I think is very important. There

14:32

is a certain like mysterious unknowable element

14:35

to what Alper and Shangoon is going

14:37

to do on a possession to possession

14:39

to possession basis. the whirling Dervish aspect

14:41

of his game, that is a little

14:43

less calculated and a little more Boris

14:45

Diyau just slinging passes out there. So

14:47

I see the vision of this one,

14:49

to be honest with you. Yeah, I

14:51

think what it meant for me is

14:53

that on the scale of being as

14:55

good as Nikola Yolkic is and completely

14:57

not, and we throw NBA players on

15:00

different parts of that scale, wherever prime

15:02

Boris Diyau. Lands on that scale is

15:04

where No, I think I think it's

15:06

more nuanced than that I think it's

15:08

within the Nicola Yokech player type the

15:10

big playmaking center He's a porous Diau

15:12

level. Yeah, he's not a Bors Diau

15:14

level. He's a Bors Diau Esk version

15:16

of that player. You know, he has

15:18

the essence of a Bors Diau. I

15:20

think more of the opposite. If Michaela

15:23

Yocha played like Bors Diao. I think

15:25

that Shin-Goon is probably more of a

15:27

physical, like burly version of Bors Diao.

15:29

That's what I would say. Yeah, that's

15:31

a great call. Sure. Even though tonight

15:33

I believe he had like a set

15:35

shot without jumping from like... Yeah, where

15:37

he did not jump. Yeah, I don't

15:39

know. He was expecting someone to guard

15:41

him. No one ever did. There's like,

15:43

I guess I'm just gonna take eight

15:46

seconds to fire up this little set

15:48

shot. I'm gonna measure, I'm gonna aim,

15:50

I'm gonna let go. Knocked right in.

15:52

On the flip side of this. I

15:54

think we could probably write off the

15:56

Jonathan Caminga curveball aspect of the series

15:58

at this point. He kept telling me

16:00

he has more to give than he's

16:02

been allowed to. That's what was happening

16:04

in my text for two days. When

16:06

Pat Spencer got on the court, I

16:09

believe they checked in it at the

16:11

same time. It almost seemed like Spencer

16:13

had been thinking the entire game, like

16:15

throughout every play he was imagining where

16:17

he would be on the court and

16:19

like what he would do in that

16:21

scenario. He was just a total mess.

16:23

Maybe he just didn't assume he was

16:25

going to play because he hasn't of

16:27

late, but I don't know why. I

16:29

just, I don't see it. If you

16:32

stay ready, you ain't got to get

16:34

ready. Like, come on, brothers. Like, this

16:36

is your moment to prove Steve Kerr

16:38

wrong and say that this guy doesn't

16:40

understand the abilities that I have and

16:42

what I could do for this team

16:44

in terms of helping them win. Like,

16:46

this is your moment and what do

16:48

you do? Shit he was you could

16:50

see he was like trying to do

16:52

the right things i'm gonna roll hard

16:55

to the rim i'm gonna try to

16:57

make plays for other people it was

16:59

sloppy it wasn't in concert with the

17:01

rest of the offense it it it

17:03

play out exactly how you would expect

17:05

a guy who has not been playing

17:07

NBA basketball suddenly thrown into a highly

17:09

physical series to play out i never

17:11

really got this angle this idea that

17:13

jonathan comminga because of his athleticism was

17:15

gonna play in this series and was

17:18

gonna be a factor as a counter

17:20

to the rocketur to the rocket to

17:22

the I don't know if you've met

17:24

Tara Eason and the guys that were

17:26

on the other side of this, they

17:28

are just as physical, just as athletic,

17:30

and have their head screwed on at

17:32

least in a slightly different way. It's

17:34

a more conducive to team basketball. Guys,

17:36

why are we pretending that Steve Kerr

17:38

is somehow just like, he just can't

17:41

bring himself to play this guy over

17:43

Pajemsky and Moody and Buddy Hughes? Like,

17:45

Steve Kerr just, it's just killing him,

17:47

like, bro, he would love the... play

17:49

you over these cats. You're just not

17:51

good enough. That's it. The problem is

17:53

it seems like all the typical John

17:55

and comminga issues plus it seems like

17:57

its confidence is shot now and now

17:59

I don't really know how to reconcile

18:01

that because they were in some pretty

18:03

high-stakes games toward the end of the

18:06

season like you really couldn't sacrifice those

18:08

comminga minutes in order to in order

18:10

to sacrifice those comminga minutes in order

18:12

to in game 80 to make a

18:14

go of it in the playing games

18:16

all that other stuff but not playing

18:18

him even a couple minutes man just

18:20

seems like there's no way coming back

18:22

for this. You got to bring him

18:24

back in some capacity or you just

18:26

got to cut the qualifying off for

18:29

his ass. You get the qualifying off

18:31

a fan. We'll get there when we

18:33

get there, but I think this coming

18:35

stuff does highlight the Butler discrepancy again,

18:37

where it's not just Jimmy scoring or

18:39

Jimmy's passing, but like the savvy that

18:41

you're getting from Jimmy Butler versus what

18:43

you're getting from these various Golden State

18:45

role players. It's just not comparable by

18:47

any stretch of the imagination. You really

18:49

miss that in a game like this

18:52

poor. So anything beyond the Jimmy, obviously

18:54

we're going to learn more about his

18:56

injury going forward for this one? Is

18:58

there any rocket that Drey Mon Green

19:00

does not have a discrete and separate

19:02

beef with? I love it. I love

19:04

it. I mean, it honestly might be

19:06

so much. He's straight up just going

19:08

down the lineup. Like it's incredible. This

19:10

is a war, this is a battle.

19:12

Game Three. Breed Shepherd beef. I can't

19:15

wait. He's going to pick him up

19:17

off the bench and suplex and suplex

19:19

him. Your mustache isn't as good as

19:21

Pat Spencer's. I think Dreymont almost pulled

19:23

the LeBron fake on the floor like

19:25

peeking behind his eyes moment at one

19:27

point because that flopper, he did get

19:29

hit in the face. The jail ingrained

19:31

elbow, kind of like forearm to the

19:33

face situation. Yeah, but there was like

19:35

a five second like TV delay on

19:38

that one. Yeah. They're always situated the

19:40

contact for sure. Yeah. So I guess

19:42

that's what we're looking forward to. Going

19:44

forward, Ralph. I mean, well, I'm looking

19:46

forward to his... whether Jimmy Butler can

19:48

play. And if he's not, what is

19:50

plan B for Golden State's offense? Because

19:52

this is a, this is a real,

19:54

this is a worst case defense to

19:56

have to grind out games against. You

19:58

don't want to be in a position

20:01

where you're lacking firepower against the rockets.

20:03

If you've got it, it plays out

20:05

like game one. You're in control. You

20:07

have a lot more to dictate. Yeah,

20:09

you got to deal with the physicality.

20:11

And the rebounds, but you can get

20:13

through, you can get through, you can

20:15

get by, if you have Steffen, if

20:17

you have Steff and Jimmy, if you

20:19

have Steff and Jimmy, if you have

20:21

Steff and Jimmy, and Jimmy, and Jimmy,

20:24

and Jimmy, and Jimmy, and Jimmy, Now

20:26

you're in the mud with these guys,

20:28

and you simply do not want to

20:30

be there. You absolutely do not. So

20:32

here's the thing. Good offense beats good

20:34

defense. You know what we never say?

20:36

Medioca offense beats good defense, because it

20:38

doesn't. You're not going to beat a

20:40

good defense with the players that are

20:42

around Steph Curry, Sands Jimmy Butler. All

20:45

right, let's take a look at some

20:47

of these other series now because I

20:49

believe every single series has gone past

20:52

game two So everyone's flipping to the

20:54

road locations now at this point. It's

20:56

a good time to like take a

20:58

snapshot of everything that's going on throughout

21:00

the league Here's here's the gimmick we're

21:03

going with how surprised would you be

21:05

on a scale from one to five

21:07

if and then I will give you

21:09

the scenario one not that surprise at

21:11

all five shocked Like, if I heard

21:14

that Rob had canceled a TV podcast

21:16

in order to do a group chat,

21:18

I would just be, I would be

21:20

stunned. You know? That's the level of

21:22

five we're going with right now. That's

21:25

the most unfathomable thing you can imagine?

21:27

These days, yes. Nuno was funny. Didn't

21:29

Joanna Robinson move to LA? No, no,

21:31

she's still here in the bay. Is

21:33

she moving to LA? I don't know.

21:36

Oh, I thought she moved out and

21:38

I was like, is that what Rob

21:40

moved out yet? So he could be

21:42

closer to his TV partner? Okay, relax.

21:44

Also have not, have not moved out

21:47

there for the record, still in my

21:49

Bay Area closet. We're living. Was, you

21:51

want to move to Portland? We can

21:53

get something going on here. Much love

21:55

to the Pacific Northwest. No shot. We

21:58

could split the lawn mowing duties. I'm

22:00

having a good time. Yeah, how are

22:02

you doing with the mower? How's the

22:04

yard work going? Oh, you don't want

22:06

to start this conversation. We'll go longer

22:09

than the trailblazer's conversation about the planes

22:11

and tomatoes though. So what's up? Okay.

22:13

All right. First one up on the

22:15

board. This game, or the series played

22:17

out early on, but unfortunately the heats.

22:20

Valiant effort was for not. They go

22:22

down O2 to the Cavaliers to the

22:24

Cavaliers. But. full court fits alum Davian

22:26

Mitchell showed out yet again 18.6 assists

22:28

and a rebound in the losing effort.

22:31

So my question was to you is

22:33

how surprised would you be if Davian

22:35

Mitchell becomes one of the hardest working

22:37

best conditioned most professional unselfish toughest meanest

22:39

nastiest players in the NBA? Not surprised

22:42

at all. It's kind of always been

22:44

his MO. to be a dog, quote

22:46

unquote, to be the kind of guy

22:48

that's gonna chase dudes around screens and

22:50

guard 94 feet, a less annoying pat-bev,

22:53

if you will. Right? And the question

22:55

was, will this guy ever make threes

22:57

consistently, will he ever, you know, will

22:59

his handle get up to snuff? And

23:01

I don't know, man, these last three

23:04

weeks of Miami, he's looked like a

23:06

bona fide. point guards straight up yeah

23:08

the defense hasn't gone anywhere he's he's

23:10

still like top-notch in that regard in

23:12

terms of effort and positioning and all

23:15

of that stuff but now he's making

23:17

threes it's crazy and he's taking them

23:19

with confidence the form looks good the

23:21

rotation the the art it's like it's

23:23

a real shot it's not like sometimes

23:26

you know certain guys have weird jumpers

23:28

and they got this shot put kind

23:30

of thing going on and you're like

23:32

that can't go in with any consistency

23:34

Davion Mitchell shot can't look beautiful right

23:37

now. And so I'm, man, I tipped

23:39

my hat to him at what he's

23:41

doing. I think it started earlier too.

23:43

Like he was a pretty solid point

23:45

guard for the Raptors this season, like

23:48

just like good utility option. and filling

23:50

in. And then, but the shooting was

23:52

still kind of come and go, and

23:54

then he gets to Miami and he's

23:56

hidden everything. And so you've got like

23:59

improvisational point guard play, which they desperately

24:01

need. Good lord is this offense, like

24:03

Tyler Hero Centric in a really bad

24:05

way. Not because he's doing anything poorly,

24:07

just they're so reliant on him to

24:10

create everything that Davey on Mitchell comes

24:12

in, it's a breath of fresh hair.

24:14

One more guy who can actually dribble,

24:16

one more guy who can actually create

24:18

something. He's been so important to the

24:21

point that like. I know I'm sure

24:23

Spoe had his reasons for Davy on

24:25

Mitchell not starting. I don't know what

24:27

those reasons are because not only is

24:29

Davy on Mitchell clearly the defender that

24:32

you talked about was like just a

24:34

bulldog and absolute menace on ball digging

24:36

down every every aspect of defensive play.

24:38

He's just a bulldog and absolute menace

24:40

on ball digging down every every aspect

24:43

of defensive play. He's just a better

24:45

offensive player than Alec Berks at this

24:47

for that to happen. I have a

24:49

question for both of you guys, and

24:51

this is related to the pre-show. If

24:54

somebody told you- So he talked about

24:56

in the pre-show. If somebody told you

24:58

before this game that there was a

25:00

heat player who made an Olympic team,

25:02

few all-star games, consensus media darling, like

25:05

you can't find a national media guy

25:07

that has a single negative thing to

25:09

say about him. And then there was

25:11

another Miami player who any time there

25:13

was a suggestion that he was any

25:16

good media people scoffed and laughed and

25:18

mocked. Who do you think those two

25:20

players would be like in those two

25:22

buckets that I just presented to you

25:24

guys? Is the Olympian Pelle Larson? Hello

25:27

Larson, be respectful. Yo, bitch. Yo, bitch.

25:29

Yeah, there's yo bitch and yo bitch.

25:31

They're both Nicoleo. Yo, bitch. No, man,

25:33

man, I'm out of bio. He's stinking

25:35

up the joint. In a season. about

25:38

stinking up the joint because I think

25:40

his defense especially especially like half-court against

25:42

Evan Mobley has been pretty important and

25:44

pretty good but he's not the the

25:46

elevating superstar they need he's not Bruce

25:49

Bowen man like I'm not getting paid

25:51

to be a one-sided as player like

25:53

this guy is looked at as an

25:55

all-around big time component to everything these

25:57

guys are trying to do and I

26:00

know we used to love oh bam

26:02

catches it at you know the elbow

26:04

extended and he's facilitating and dribble handoff

26:06

and he's such a nice passer and

26:08

all that still does that he's got

26:11

to score y'all like this man needs

26:13

to score he's got to make a

26:15

shot he needs to become a threat

26:17

like it can't be Tyler hero going

26:19

freaking freaking cold mode in here I

26:22

am I am open-minded to the various

26:24

realities that Bam could find for himself

26:26

to be a really good NBA player

26:28

to be an even better star than

26:30

he already is. But I think you're

26:32

honestly, right? You know, just watching how

26:35

limited Miami's offense looks, when the Cavs

26:37

just deny Tyler's hero of the ball,

26:39

right? Just like, don't let him get

26:41

the ball for this possession. And everything

26:43

goes nowhere. That is unacceptable when you

26:46

have Bam out of bio on the

26:48

floor. Like he has to be able

26:50

to reroute something to get you a

26:52

credible shot. And there's just too many

26:54

possessions where he and the other he

26:57

just are not capable of that. Bam's

26:59

never been a scorer. You know, I

27:01

know he's flirted around the 20 points

27:03

per game mark, but it's often been

27:05

playing off of other guys. He does

27:08

so many things that are ancillary to

27:10

an offense that bring them to another

27:12

level, the playmaking, the playmaking, the ball

27:14

movement, all this other bonus stuff. But

27:16

the fact that he had to step

27:19

out and shoot threes was in order

27:21

to declog the lane because that's probably

27:23

his best usage. And so I just

27:25

don't know if he has it in

27:27

him. He is still of all-star caliber

27:30

given all of the things that he

27:32

does on both ends. Oh yeah. But

27:34

I think he needs to be your

27:36

number three offensively. And this point, they're

27:38

just hoping to feature him. That's probably

27:41

why someone like Davian Mitchell is taking

27:43

the opportunity and running with it because

27:45

it is there for someone. Yeah, it

27:47

just it has to be more than

27:49

Tyler Hero who I thought has had

27:52

a pretty exceptional start to the series

27:54

overall in terms of the offense He's

27:56

actually able to generate. It's just too

27:58

much and it's more than you would

28:00

ever want him to have to do

28:03

to the point where Yeah, like some

28:05

of the other members of the heat

28:07

are scoring some Davy on Mitchell is

28:09

scoring you got 17 out of Hayward

28:11

Highsmith which by Heywood Highsmith standards is

28:14

like going for 50 like that's about

28:16

as good as you're gonna get as

28:18

you're gonna get from good as you're

28:20

gonna get from. pretty distinctly short. I

28:22

would say the heat made this competitive,

28:25

they fought, they really closed the gap,

28:27

and then they just ran hard into

28:29

kind of the ceiling of what they

28:31

can produce offensively. And you flash to

28:33

the other side, the calves had their

28:36

moments where they kind of slog through,

28:38

they weren't playing their best for stretches

28:40

of this game. Here comes Donovan Mitchell

28:42

down the stretch, hitting every big shot,

28:44

every big floater, creating every big play,

28:47

and then you know you can trust

28:49

both the defense in the overall engine

28:51

of their offense to get enough supplementary

28:53

play. Before

32:12

Bucknakeet underwear, going out naked

32:15

was a negative. Grocery shopping

32:17

in the mood? A big

32:19

no no. Sunday service in

32:22

the buff? A disservice. And

32:24

make it in the garage?

32:27

Just odd. Turn naked into

32:29

a net positive with Bucknakeet

32:32

underwear and feel like

32:34

wearing nothing at all.

32:37

Anywhere. Get Bucknakeet at

32:39

your Duluth trading store.

35:24

Big Man dominating role then all right

35:26

man set up our entire freaking team

35:29

and set yourself up to score every

35:31

single time like that just should not

35:33

be the case Especially he wants to

35:35

do that stuff like that I think

35:37

that's what's a little bit perplexing about

35:40

where the magic find themselves is this

35:42

isn't an Anthony Davis like I want

35:44

to play this one specific way and

35:46

I kind of rebel against what my

35:48

ultimate destiny should be. Palobankara wants to

35:51

be a four. Like he wants to

35:53

play opposite guards. He wants to play

35:55

opposite playmakers. And I think we're about

35:57

there. I think it's got to be

35:59

time. thing is I don't think that

36:02

they need an Anthony Davis type. What

36:04

they need is just like someone who

36:06

has a veteran steadiness to them but

36:08

can also hit a god damn three

36:10

pointer. And so the way their contracts

36:13

are stacked up, Bancara I believe is

36:15

due in extension the soft season. Wagner

36:17

obviously got one, Suggs obviously got one.

36:19

If you're paying those three guys and

36:21

those guys are critical to everything that

36:24

they built. You really can't add a

36:26

superstar to this mix as much as

36:28

people want to play trade machine. I

36:30

also don't think it makes sense because

36:32

they have such a established hierarchy, there's

36:34

good depth here, but because they built

36:37

so much depth, they do have the

36:39

pieces in order to make just the

36:41

right guy that they need. Not the

36:43

superstar. Anthony Simons makes a ton of

36:45

fucking sense. We've been talking about it

36:48

for two years. That type of guy,

36:50

like... the Tristan to Silvas, you know,

36:52

the the failed jet Howard projects, the

36:54

Caleb, Houston's, like every type of shooter

36:56

that they've tried to cycle through over

36:59

the past couple years, plus some picks,

37:01

like, it's doable. I just need the

37:03

magic to realize this. you know, because

37:05

the problem has been them organizationally believing

37:07

so much in their feeder system rather

37:10

than wanting to necessarily step outside that.

37:12

And obviously KCP didn't do too well

37:14

this year. The shooting was dreadful again

37:16

tonight. And so I just hope they're

37:18

not reticent to do that because they

37:21

need it. Like the time is now.

37:23

Yeah, I don't, I think it's been

37:25

just so much like wait and see,

37:27

wait and see, wait and see there.

37:29

Yeah, believing in the feeder system and

37:31

also wanting to give even their stars,

37:34

right, like a chance to manifest their

37:36

games to whatever extent they can. And

37:38

then once that happens, once things settle,

37:40

you wait for the right move and

37:42

you make it. I just think you

37:45

could play that game all day and

37:47

you're just gonna be kind of spinning

37:49

your wheels and more or less this

37:51

same place as long as this is

37:53

the case. Like Franz is already really

37:56

good. Palo is, he is clearly like

37:58

leveling up right before our eyes even

38:00

in less than ideal circumstances. You got

38:02

to give him more to work with.

38:04

So I really think this has to

38:07

happen this summer. They have two picks

38:09

in the first round of this upcoming

38:11

draft. I don't know where those guys.

38:13

play they don't even have broom and

38:15

what is it like oscillata or whatever

38:18

it is? Asiola. Asiola. Asiola. Thank you.

38:20

They can be mentored by Tony Black

38:22

and the rest of the young guys.

38:24

That's a pretty good Tony Black game.

38:26

He's played pretty he's been fine the

38:29

first two games. Yeah. All right next

38:31

one on the board here. How surprised

38:33

would you be if Coy Leonard missed

38:35

the shot? That's a five. Dude, like

38:37

ripping the freaking nets. The game, game

38:39

two, where he started something like nine

38:42

of 10, and like, most of these

38:44

shots were contested. He wasn't like by

38:46

himself, completely like guys were guarding him

38:48

and he was just so laser focused

38:50

dialed in it was crazy, dude. To

38:53

the point where that last shot, that

38:55

big shot that he made one on

38:57

one. where Denver kind of thought about

38:59

just trying to force him to pass

39:01

and they half-heartedly came and it was

39:04

just him and Aaron Gordon and as

39:06

soon as he got the shot off

39:08

I was like this is money like

39:10

this is no way this shot is

39:12

going to miss and yeah he basically

39:15

iced Denver with that just an incredible

39:17

performance man yeah we just expect every

39:19

shot to go at this point which

39:21

I didn't know if we were ever

39:23

going to quite get there again but

39:26

31 points a game through these first

39:28

two games, 79% on twos. What the

39:30

fuck? Yeah, that's insane. And anecdotally it

39:32

seems higher. Like even that seems low

39:34

relative to what we have actually watched.

39:37

So I just think this version of

39:39

Kauai is something that's really special to

39:41

watch something that, as I said, I

39:43

just did not think was ever going

39:45

to happen again. And so the fact

39:47

that we get to see it is

39:50

a delight. How is he gonna fit

39:52

exactly what form is he gonna be

39:54

in at the end of the... day

39:56

and we'll see like the question with

39:58

him has always been can you get

40:01

back and then once you do how

40:03

long can you kind of sustain that

40:05

sort of run we've seen him have

40:07

incendiary starts to the playoffs and then

40:09

mysteriously kind of bow out four games

40:12

in I really hope that's not the

40:14

case everything so far has been really

40:16

really remarkable you guys have to remind

40:18

me because it's been so long since

40:20

we've seen quiet and this level of

40:23

just like killing it. Yeah, because he

40:25

obviously can get to his spots and

40:27

he could obviously raise up over most

40:29

players and he can drill it with

40:31

efficiency. Just what he's doing now, though,

40:34

where there's like three guys around him

40:36

and he just has the right timing

40:38

in order to pull up one, but

40:40

also like hold it for an extra

40:42

beat in order to get right above

40:45

the outstretched arms and then drill it

40:47

feels like another layer that he's been

40:49

on from the excellence that he's been

40:51

on for over the past, what, eight

40:53

to ten years. Yeah, it's crazy. Honestly,

40:55

the footwork has been ridiculous for years

40:58

now. What struck me in game two

41:00

is the freaking handle is so tight

41:02

and so freaking. Just, it's a weapon,

41:04

man, like his handle is a straight

41:06

up weapon in a way that I'm

41:09

like, man, this guy is crossing people

41:11

over. with the quickness that like I

41:13

just haven't seen it so long and

41:15

he's generating so much separation on these

41:17

dribble pull-ups it's so crazy freaking nuts

41:20

on I would say it probably hasn't

41:22

looked like this since whatever the year

41:24

was where he had that monster game

41:26

the close-out Dallas 2021 yeah that like

41:28

it hasn't looked like that since and

41:31

um yeah it's pretty freaking insane to

41:33

watch That was definitely the closest comparison

41:35

point for me too. And I would

41:37

say that game, Game 6, in 2021

41:39

against the Mabs, was one of the

41:42

best playoff performances I've ever seen anybody

41:44

play. And so this was like, we're

41:46

kind of approaching that territory, the stakes.

41:48

totally different right like that game six

41:50

of the monumental game to basically seize

41:53

control of the series this one though

41:55

saving you know planting a flag on

41:57

what this series can ultimately be which

41:59

is just going down oh to the

42:01

way that they've played so well against

42:03

Denver would have been demoralized that would

42:06

have been really tough even with you

42:08

know you know that the margin is

42:10

tight you know that these games could

42:12

go either way you still got to

42:14

try to steal one and the fact

42:17

that they were able to clearly a

42:19

really important part of kind of putting

42:21

their overall resume together for what would

42:23

what winning the series would look like.

42:25

I also say one kind of unsung

42:28

hero in the kawaiasants has just been

42:30

Chris Dunn hitting the mainstream just watching

42:32

him reek terror defensively and basically free

42:34

up Kauai to be like the second

42:36

or third defender in a lot of

42:39

these situations just allows him to pop

42:41

more offensively and also seeing the chess

42:43

match of Yokich versus Kristen because in

42:45

addition to dungeons being a terror and

42:47

like athletic marvel like his anticipation especially

42:50

in the steel and the paint and

42:52

in the key bucket down the stretch

42:54

like He's on another level and I

42:56

think we who've been watching the Clipper

42:58

games this entire year are like, oh,

43:01

we know that guy's in there. But

43:03

to see him hit at the same

43:05

time of quiet, this is the balance

43:07

there that's just so formative. Yeah. Well,

43:09

especially when you think about down the

43:11

stretch of that game, Denver was trying

43:14

to get into its stuff. The clippers

43:16

both were, they obviously have really aggressive

43:18

individual defenders. They also were kind of

43:20

playing some hybrid zone stuff now and

43:22

again, just kind of junking up the

43:25

game, just kind of junking up the

43:27

game, Kinda got like it had a

43:29

little too much preamble like you had

43:31

to really set up really get to

43:33

their spots really do all this and

43:36

some of that was because Chris Dunn

43:38

was just interjecting himself into everything Then

43:40

on the other side the plan is

43:42

give the ball the quiet Leonard get

43:44

the fuck out of the way space

43:47

the floor as best you can let

43:49

him go one-on-one create a 19-footer and

43:51

he's just hitting every single one in

43:53

the simplicity of that while look I

43:55

love team basketball as much as anybody

43:58

I love two-man play as much as

44:00

anybody as anybody it's It's not comparable

44:02

when you have one player hitting 79%

44:04

of their twos with offense. that's that

44:06

straightforward. You just you're not going to

44:08

beat that and you really just have

44:11

to hope that at some point the

44:13

shooting is going to peter off. Waz,

44:15

how are you feeling about the rest

44:17

of the series? Because things got a

44:19

little dicey down the stretch for Denver

44:22

Plus. And PJ, Jesus freaking Christ with

44:24

that turnover. That turnover is really bad.

44:26

Way better. Way better. Actually like put

44:28

his hands on people who were driving

44:30

within three feet of the cup. That

44:33

was nice. The offensive rebounds I think

44:35

overall were huge. Yeah, it was nice

44:37

to see him like try to win

44:39

a playoff game that's a huge one.

44:41

That was cool. I think unfortunately though,

44:44

he's got the shoulder injury. Yeah, it

44:46

seems like he's pretty sick, like a

44:48

lot of people right now. I will

44:50

say Jamal Murray for being a guy

44:52

who was sick. I thought he played

44:55

a great defensive game in particular, like

44:57

really was getting after it. But it's

44:59

frustrating, where was this in game one?

45:01

The moisture? Where was that in game

45:03

one, honestly? No comment, sure. I think

45:06

this is just gonna be a dog

45:08

fight whale of a series, man. I

45:10

really do. These teams are really good,

45:12

both of them, and the clippers are

45:14

extremely well coached. I think the only,

45:16

like, the only thing I will say,

45:19

the clippers are being cute with their

45:21

lineups. in a way that I'm just

45:23

like, yo, Tai Lu, it's kind of

45:25

your best guys, bro. It worked, though.

45:27

It did work. They Jedi Mindtrick the

45:30

freaking nuggets and the not understanding what

45:32

a zone defense was for like three

45:34

to four solid minutes. Which I was

45:36

like, what in the hell is going

45:38

on? But like, these guys are coaching

45:41

them up. I think if they just

45:43

keep their best players on the floor

45:45

for most of the time, this shit

45:47

gonna be a problem. I need a

45:49

Ben Simmons was fine t-shirt he was

45:52

because he's been fine give him eight

45:54

to ten minutes totally fine he's adequate

45:56

Ben Simmons is adequate. I don't feel

45:58

great about it but he was in

46:00

this game fine All right, a couple

46:03

more here. How surprised would you be

46:05

if the pistons finish

46:08

ahead of the Knicks

46:10

next regular season?

46:12

Because I'm starting

46:15

to wonder, like, how real?

46:17

is this pistons kind of resurgence. Because I

46:19

went into the postseason expecting them to

46:21

kind of get stomped, even though the

46:23

Knicks were a mess for most of

46:25

the second half of the season. I

46:27

just thought like the magic, the pixie

46:29

dust, the shooting success of the pistons

46:31

would kind of wear over time. But

46:33

I'm like. These are kind of peers,

46:35

especially because Tibbs is gonna run his

46:37

top five into the ground by and

46:39

by the time of the postseason, like

46:41

this is what you're gonna get probably

46:44

every year unless you add like more

46:46

over the off season. And so it's

46:48

kind of a dual question, Rob. It's like,

46:50

how worried are we about the Knicks long

46:52

term, especially with Tibbs at the

46:54

helm? And two, how bullish are you on

46:56

the Pistons plus Jade and Ivy plus another

46:58

year of this next year? I would be.

47:00

quite surprised if the pistons caught the Knicks.

47:02

Their second best offensive players, Toby Harris. What

47:04

are we doing right now? Oh, this is

47:07

crazy. Could be Jay Nivey next year. Well,

47:09

I also think we have to be really

47:11

wary if we're forecasting beyond what's happening right

47:13

now, going into next year. You got to

47:15

be wary about the year after the jump,

47:17

because history tells us. these teams come back

47:19

to earth a little bit they level out

47:21

things get a little weird they lose a

47:23

random player who you didn't think was that

47:25

important but turns out to have been quite

47:27

important all long there's all this stuff that

47:29

happens and i think they given their youth

47:31

and giving like getting ivy back in particular

47:34

i expect the pistons to improve modestly

47:36

next season they have quite a bit of

47:38

ground to make up on the Knicks just even based

47:40

on this year standings and that's a year in which

47:42

jail brunts and miss a ton of games maybe a

47:44

ton of games maybe a As far as them being

47:46

peers in this series, I always thought it was going

47:48

to be a, it was going to be a physical

47:50

kind of tough series. I don't know that I would

47:53

call them peers per se. I think the pistons are

47:55

quite good. I think they can make a lot of

47:57

different teams sweat and they make teams work for

47:59

it, but there is. a question who the more talented

48:01

team is out there right now. And it's

48:03

a way more talented. They just felt like

48:06

they're above trying their hardest to beat this

48:08

team. Yeah, like I'm not that good. Like

48:10

they're not that good that they could just

48:12

show up. and sort of sleepwalk their way

48:15

through beating Detroit. Like that's not going to

48:17

happen. These dudes have to literally lock in

48:19

and treat this like it's a do or

48:21

die series, which is what it is. Yeah.

48:24

And I thought towards the end of game

48:26

two, like there was like a switch that

48:28

came on like, oh, we actually have to

48:30

try collectively on defense. Every man rotating and

48:33

being in his spot and like. given some

48:35

level of it was like it was it's

48:37

just ridiculous to watch to be honest and

48:39

I think their offense the way that it's

48:42

ran is completely suboptimal you can do this

48:44

kind of station to station thing in the

48:46

regular season because you have really good talent

48:49

but you are not going to be a

48:51

great offensive postseason team doing what they do

48:53

not leveraging the strengths of all of their

48:55

players on every single possession and you know

48:58

part of me wonders if an that happened

49:00

to the Knicks and get the hell. Get

49:02

Tib's the hell up out of there. Get

49:04

you a freaking Kenny Atkinson. How about that?

49:07

That might be a little mean to Tibbs.

49:09

I think he's done, look, he has his

49:11

limitations, but I don't know, I'm ready to

49:13

run Tibbs out of town just yet. Defense

49:16

is your thing, Tibbs, you should be able

49:18

to guard this Detroit team. Well, I wouldn't

49:20

be surprised if there's gonna be some shakups,

49:22

pretty flat in terms of what they paid

49:25

for them. And so I could see them

49:27

doing things differently. And so if they mix

49:29

with the calculus there, I just see a

49:31

top heavy team that even if you add

49:34

one more bench player, like a credible bench

49:36

option, you get one. You get one. You

49:38

know, it's not like they're gonna just usher

49:41

in a whole second unit that's all of

49:43

a sudden gonna solve the issues that they've

49:45

had this season, which is that they're playing

49:47

their guys too much. They're gonna do a

49:50

point where like they're like they're like they're

49:52

like they're like they're like they're like they're

49:54

like they're like they're like they're like they're

49:56

like they're like they're like they're like they're

49:59

like they're like they're like they're like they're

50:01

like they're like they're like they're like they're

50:03

like they're like they're like they're like they're

50:05

like they're like they're like they're like they're

50:08

like they're like they're like they're like they're

50:10

like they're like they and they get to

50:12

this situation where you're asking Goose and Pride

50:14

basically to save them half the time, that

50:17

would be the case against the Knicks. The

50:19

case for the Pistons, I think, in addition

50:21

to getting Ivy back, I think it's internal

50:24

improvement. Like, Kate Cunningham acquitted himself pretty well

50:26

in the second game, obviously struggled in the

50:28

first, but like... That's a big old boy,

50:30

he's going to keep doing better things. Oh

50:33

yeah. And in addition to that, like a

50:35

sardin play a full season, Ron Holland, let's

50:37

see him get more regular rotation minutes, hopefully

50:39

he doesn't fight half the league at that

50:42

point. But like, there are a lot of

50:44

guys that could take a step forward that

50:46

you wouldn't have to be as relying on

50:48

Millie Beasley basically being Steve Curry again next

50:51

year. And the other thing that I've been

50:53

kind of impressed by is just that like

50:55

the... defense traveled. And so there's like almost

50:57

an identity to this team that's hard to

51:00

replicate. And so like, I think back to

51:02

the Pacers last year, basically finding themselves, tweaking

51:04

it on the fly with Siakam trade, but

51:06

they basically knew who they are and they've

51:09

just leaned in and tweaked things on the

51:11

margins. It feels like the Pistons are kind

51:13

of on that trajectory at this point. But

51:16

the Siakam trade is a huge trade. Like

51:18

that is a monumental change to the structure

51:20

of the team that I think vaulted them

51:22

into a different class that they hadn't made

51:25

it, it would be incremental gains all the

51:27

way up. Here I agree, like there's some

51:29

young players who are ready to take steps

51:31

and to be clear. I really love watching

51:34

the Pissons team play. Like watching K turn

51:36

up the pace in game two was such

51:38

a delight. Like you really get a sense

51:40

of his physicality and how imposing he is

51:43

when he's playing faster. The Dennis Schroeder experience,

51:45

I think it's been awesome in the series

51:47

overall. Even though he's hitting the deck every

51:49

third play, trying to draw a foul. He's

51:52

a perfect garden villain. He's great. Wonderful, wonderful

51:54

garden villain. Jaylyn Duren had a really nice

51:56

bounce back game that I think. bodes well

51:58

for his place in this series, especially with

52:01

beef stew out. He had to be good

52:03

and big and he was. Tobias Harris being

52:05

a big game player has been huge. I

52:08

have really enjoyed watching a Star Thompson play

52:10

defense. I think he's been doing quite well.

52:12

Apparently the refs don't agree with me. Jaylon

52:14

Brunson, you got to chill. Like, you really

52:17

have to chill, not just for all of

52:19

us, but for the soul of the game

52:21

of basketball. It's been a lot. It's a

52:23

little unseemly, the foul baiting right now. Let

52:26

me ask you this question. Whose future would

52:28

you, of these four teams, would you actually

52:30

rank these four teams based on whose future

52:32

you would rather have? So within the one

52:35

to five surprise scale, we're doing a many

52:37

future power rankings? One to four, yeah. Okay.

52:39

Pacers bucks pistons. So basically basically the three

52:41

through six in the east right now. Well

52:44

four is four is bucks. Yes 100% four

52:46

is bucks. Their freaking superstars making googly eyes

52:48

at big market teams dreaming of better Jersey

52:51

sales. Their second best players in his mid

52:53

30s. Yeah, I'd rather not have the bucks.

52:56

I'd still say the Pacers man, like

52:58

their best players relative to the young.

53:00

I think they're my number I think

53:03

they're my number one. Of those four

53:05

of those four teams? Nah, they're my

53:07

number two. I'd take the Knicks over

53:10

the Pacers for sure. That's fine. That's

53:12

fine. I know problem with that. Pacer

53:14

Rob. Check it in. They're looking pretty

53:17

good. I don't want to tell you.

53:19

I'm still waiting for it. You'll have

53:21

as much as you could stomach my

53:24

friend. I would pick the next one

53:26

market muscle have a lot of talent

53:28

You could just completely change the team

53:30

on the fly basically like teams are

53:33

gonna want bridges teams are gonna want

53:35

a cat if you want to just

53:37

completely upend this thing It's just gonna

53:40

keep moving forward in the different permutation

53:42

I might pick the pistons over the

53:44

Pacers. It's kind of what I'm leaning

53:47

toward. I mean I'm not surprised that

53:49

you feel this way this way, but

53:51

you're consistent Is already better than Haliburton?

53:54

False, but if not, it's awesome. Is

53:56

going to be better? No. I think

53:58

you have a better number one. I

54:01

just need to see some more proof

54:03

of concept than two games. And the

54:05

whole season was decent. All day worthy

54:08

season for sure. Yeah, no, I'm talking

54:10

about the team proof of concept. Not

54:12

K. Like, they played two playoff games.

54:15

They won 41 games. Like, I hate

54:17

cool. They're cool. They're on the rise.

54:19

But I don't think they're like clearly

54:22

better than the Pacers now. Shut 22%

54:24

for three. I just, I see it.

54:26

I see the future. I think you

54:28

were, you were every player who voted.

54:31

Tyries Hallibur and the most overrated player

54:33

in the NBA like you hacked the

54:35

ballot box and you were just stuffing

54:38

it with Tyries Hallibur. Just saw Tyries

54:40

Hallibur's name at the top and said

54:42

no notes. No editor, no red, no

54:45

red ink through that list. I have

54:47

one more before we get to the

54:49

temporal series about Tyries Halliburton, believe it

54:52

or not. Would you be surprised if

54:54

Tyries Halliburton arrives to game three of

54:56

their series against the box in a

54:59

wrestling Leathard and a newsboy cap? calls

55:01

himself the newsmaker, I was pretty proud

55:03

of that one, and challenges Damien Lillard

55:06

to a latter match for the fate

55:08

of the series. Not surprised at all.

55:10

It's funny. I'm 1.5 I think. I'm

55:13

one. It's likely because I think people

55:15

are more pissed with Halliburton as he's

55:17

trash talking to them than he is

55:19

about the actual trash talk. Like he's

55:22

clearly a freaking little troll. and it's

55:24

it's work like he is pissing people

55:26

the hell off he's a shit poster

55:29

if that if a ship poster were

55:31

an NBA player and it's just riling

55:33

people up which is not surprising uh

55:36

this seems entirely possible we know he

55:38

has the newsboy cap for one that's

55:40

check like he could just wear he

55:43

could wear it and we'll wear it

55:45

at any moment in time we know

55:47

he's a wrestling guy I think Dame

55:50

would take the invitation at this point

55:52

he seems pretty gay to participate in

55:54

all this despite that he is getting

55:57

played as was mentioned the question is

55:59

the leotard like would he would he

56:01

go for the wrestling leotard or not

56:04

because otherwise personality had theatrics I think

56:06

he's delivering on all the newsmaker friends

56:08

you're asking him to Justin like the

56:11

same spandex that like mr. perfect would

56:13

wear like a full body joint but

56:15

I'll be covered in like newsprint like

56:17

headlines from back in the day interesting

56:20

Oh, I thought you would like have

56:22

the like Reggie Miller on the New

56:24

York Post with his hands like this.

56:27

Yeah, the hands are like positioned around

56:29

his crouch. What? You lost me. I

56:31

don't know what's happening. This is how

56:34

I feel about his Terry's Halliburton takes

56:36

in general, but especially now. All right.

56:38

What can I tell you? Last one

56:41

on the board here. Would you be

56:43

surprised on a scale from one to

56:45

five? If the Minnesota Timberwolves... Are we

56:48

not going to talk about Pacers bucks

56:50

at all? That's all we want to

56:52

talk about is the fake newsmaker bit?

56:55

Do you have anything you want to

56:57

contribute about the series in progress, Justin?

56:59

I think the Pacers have this one

57:02

in hand unless Damien Lillard just finds

57:04

a way to flash back to three

57:06

years ago. It's a tough ask under

57:09

the circumstances. Yeah. They don't have enough

57:11

on either. They don't have the horses.

57:13

Yeah, and worse yet, I think you

57:15

see the pace or solving them. And

57:18

I don't care what none of you

57:20

motherfucker say, Kyle Coosme used to be

57:22

a good player. No one's arguing that

57:25

he didn't used to be. He was

57:27

once a good player. Significantly better in

57:29

game too. By which I mean, he

57:32

scored some points. He did some things.

57:34

He was active out in the game

57:36

in a totally different way. I think

57:39

if Milwaukee has anything going for it.

57:41

Their bigg guys. so they can they

57:43

can push on that a little bit

57:46

just it's not enough you know When

57:48

you're trading off everything else, it's just

57:50

not enough. Okay. Glad we got that

57:53

Pacers and losses in there. I mean,

57:55

they better than crotch stock. I don't

57:57

know what to tell you. Is it?

58:00

All right, last one. Would you be

58:02

surprised that the Timberwolves make the West

58:04

finals? No. One. Yeah. I think I'm

58:06

getting there. Yeah. Like they're on the

58:09

plausible side of the bracket where any

58:11

team I would say Any team could

58:13

kind of make it like I wouldn't

58:16

be shocked by any of them. Here's

58:18

the question. Are you saying one because

58:20

it's plausible or are you saying one

58:23

because it's likely? I'm saying one because

58:25

the field on that side on the

58:27

non-OKC side So flat the Lakers Warriors

58:30

or the right like there's just no

58:32

reason to think that they can I

58:34

guess I'm at like a two. It's

58:37

just I'm falling victim to the most

58:39

recent recent game game bias where it's

58:41

where it's just like The the shooting

58:44

luck returning to what it's been all

58:46

year Combined with the collective basketball situational

58:48

IQ being not exactly Excellent on this

58:51

team. It's like Mike Conley and a

58:53

bunch of asylum residence, you know? Like,

58:55

and he's like the one... He's like

58:58

the one nice nurse who's in her

59:00

50s. Yeah. The orderly. Yeah, the one

59:02

nice orderly on the cusp of retirement

59:04

trying to keep this whole thing together,

59:07

it's pathetic. Yeah. Take that retirement package

59:09

at some point. Although, not Mike Conley,

59:11

I hope he plays forever. But yeah,

59:14

like the basketball IQ, the amount of

59:16

times that the Wolves will just... shoot

59:18

themselves in the foot repeatedly for three

59:21

minutes on end is deeply troubling. That

59:23

said, they have advantages that many of

59:25

these other teams do not. They have

59:28

any of the Edwards first or foremost.

59:30

Yep, they have the size, they have

59:32

the defense, they have those nights where

59:35

they go supernova from three and they're

59:37

incredibly hard to beat on those nights.

59:39

And they're also going to have nights

59:42

where Dante even Chenza... doesn't have like

59:44

8,000 three minutes, you know, like they're

59:46

gonna have nights where the rotation is

59:49

a little more complete. Also, Naz read,

59:51

take a value kid, like chill. You're

59:53

prescribing? Yeah, yeah, he's got he's got

59:56

to calm down. Dr. Waz is in.

59:58

Well, that's partly why I have probably

1:00:00

more, I came out of that game

1:00:02

more encouraged for the world because I

1:00:05

don't, it seems tough to replicate to

1:00:07

replicate what the Lakers did on both

1:00:09

ends there. deeper into the mud that

1:00:12

it possibly ever could, to the point

1:00:14

where it almost felt like LeBron was

1:00:16

more engaged defensively, tactically, as a way

1:00:19

to just like, well, allow Luka to

1:00:21

be the end, I'll be all offensively.

1:00:23

It's almost like they loot the house

1:00:26

on fire, and Luka was the only

1:00:28

one wearing like flame retardant clothes, and

1:00:30

that was their whole approach there. They

1:00:33

barely generated any easy looks, especially in

1:00:35

the second half, and I get it

1:00:37

they built the lead, and a lot

1:00:40

of it is just like playing out

1:00:42

the string. but like it doesn't seem

1:00:44

like they get a lot of system

1:00:47

buckets man and I know that's tougher

1:00:49

to do against a team that's willing

1:00:51

to switch literally everything against you that's

1:00:54

the thing um but like I don't

1:00:56

think Luke is a great switch player

1:00:58

right now maybe I know I get

1:01:00

it he's dropped 30 in both games

1:01:03

he just doesn't he doesn't put the

1:01:05

defense in panic in the ways that

1:01:07

we would have expected him to so

1:01:10

you know we'll see to be honest

1:01:12

there aren't that many players you are

1:01:14

If you're going to switch with pretty

1:01:17

high-level players all the time and live

1:01:19

with the results, I think you're mostly

1:01:21

going to keep things pretty contained. Like

1:01:24

Rudy Gobert, I thought, to my earlier

1:01:26

point, did a pretty credible job, just

1:01:28

like kind of hanging around and staying

1:01:31

in front, at least contesting around and

1:01:33

staying in front, at least contesting shots,

1:01:35

got baited into some fouls, that's going

1:01:38

to happen. The reason the wolves lost

1:01:40

this game is because of everything happening

1:01:42

on the other end of the court,

1:01:45

where. So much of what changed for

1:01:47

the Lakers in this was not just

1:01:49

three points. luck, but are you actually

1:01:51

guarding and contesting these three pointers? Are

1:01:54

you actually rotating with force? And that's

1:01:56

where things like LeBron really digging in

1:01:58

defensively felt like an important shift in

1:02:01

the tone of the series. And I

1:02:03

think really amped things up for so

1:02:05

many of his teammates. Like when he's

1:02:08

playing like that, it's so easy to

1:02:10

follow him in doing it. And if

1:02:12

that's the team, the Lakers are going

1:02:15

to be defensively, then I think this

1:02:17

version of Lukka is good enough. See

1:02:19

that's where I wonder if that's replicable

1:02:22

because it felt like all of their

1:02:24

perimeter defenders Minus Luca had to be

1:02:26

on 11 in terms of physicality and

1:02:29

activity in order to get to that

1:02:31

level And maybe they could do that

1:02:33

again. Maybe they just roll out the

1:02:36

same approach But also I think it

1:02:38

depended on the whistle that like they

1:02:40

got away with a little bit more

1:02:43

than the wolves did because the wolves

1:02:45

are a little bit less Because

1:02:47

yes because they have to put their

1:02:49

hands on people I see what you're

1:02:52

saying in order to do like there's

1:02:54

no other way for them to play

1:02:56

defense this is the dream on green

1:02:58

corollary you know and if you're gonna

1:03:00

get away with everything against the smaller

1:03:02

team they're toast yeah I just wonder

1:03:05

though if the wolves had a normal

1:03:07

three-point shooting night which I think they're

1:03:09

probably prone to do now that they've

1:03:11

had such a massive swing. The point

1:03:13

where I think they made twenty one

1:03:15

in the first game. I would say

1:03:17

McDaniel's had a normal shooting night in

1:03:20

game too. Not lately. I just don't

1:03:22

think that all of the players that

1:03:24

struggled and made five threes in an

1:03:26

entire game, Devin Chenso, Mazread, McDaniel, it's

1:03:28

like that's not gonna happen again. And

1:03:30

if that happens, then things came different.

1:03:33

the earlier success luka had on Rudy

1:03:35

specifically almost bated him to keep doing

1:03:37

it over and over to the point

1:03:39

in the fourth quarter it's like he

1:03:41

just saw Rudy and he had to

1:03:43

attack him despite the fact that it

1:03:45

wasn't it was working no it was

1:03:48

not working in the fourth in part

1:03:50

because I also thought they did a

1:03:52

good job crowding with a help defender

1:03:54

and they basically didn't have go bare

1:03:56

going for the contest because then they

1:03:58

were worried Luca was going to draw

1:04:01

a foul or something, they had a

1:04:03

McDaniels or whoever was roving, basically contest

1:04:05

from behind, which I thought was like

1:04:07

really creative and interesting and that's the

1:04:09

type of thing that I worry about

1:04:11

going forward. Also say this to the

1:04:13

possessions where Luca kind of gets Rudy

1:04:16

on his hip, puts him in jail

1:04:18

and it's kind of like getting into

1:04:20

the lane after getting that first step.

1:04:22

Luca misses a fair number of those

1:04:24

kind of like little runners, those little

1:04:26

push shots, and when he does, he

1:04:29

is deep under the basket. He is

1:04:31

not going to be getting back on

1:04:33

the other direction. If you play that

1:04:35

right, you can get points out of

1:04:37

it. I don't think the Wolves played

1:04:39

it right enough. I don't think the

1:04:41

Wolves played it right enough. I don't

1:04:44

think they secured the rebound and got

1:04:46

out enough, and some of that is

1:04:48

a credit to the collective hustle of

1:04:50

the Lakers who took some of those

1:04:52

opportunities. There's ways you can create advantages

1:04:54

out of it, even if he is

1:04:57

going to put up 30 plus every

1:04:59

single night. Like some of the misses

1:05:01

are going to be more painful than

1:05:03

others. So what would you guys say

1:05:05

is the most likely outcome from that

1:05:07

side of the bracket at this point?

1:05:09

Because I think we all agree like

1:05:12

you could see the Lakers coming out

1:05:14

of there. I would say whoever comes

1:05:16

out of this Wolves Lakers series feels

1:05:18

more likely to me given we have

1:05:20

no idea about Butler and I don't

1:05:22

trust you since half. Yeah, I'm a

1:05:25

piggyback on Rob there. Give me the

1:05:27

winner of Wolves Lakers. Give me the

1:05:29

team that's willing. Out of the three

1:05:31

options on the table. I'm technically four.

1:05:33

I'll take the Lakers. I'm sticking with

1:05:35

the Lakers. Although I want to pick

1:05:37

the Wolves because their best players comparing

1:05:40

is jocksized to... crowd members like I

1:05:42

want to be on the side of

1:05:44

the team that's doing that but are

1:05:46

you are you willing to subsidize his

1:05:48

fine like are you willing to pay

1:05:50

a share absolutely not Daniel Act don't

1:05:53

pay me that much I would agree

1:05:55

with you guys I think the the

1:05:57

winner of this series probably goes and

1:05:59

I might lean wolfs at this point

1:06:01

yeah I kind of believe not mad

1:06:03

at that man. They have so much

1:06:05

talent on their team. Yeah, like what

1:06:08

they had. All right, anything else for

1:06:10

you guys? Any other wrestling scenarios you

1:06:12

want to throw out there? Any other

1:06:14

pastas? You want to throw out there?

1:06:16

Any other pastas? You want to get

1:06:18

out for chess before we go here?

1:06:21

Sit. That's all I got. I think

1:06:23

we're done. There's plenty of time to

1:06:25

discuss pasta coming up. Thank to Isaiah

1:06:27

Blakely. Thank you to Ben Cruz. Must

1:06:40

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