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Welcome back to

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the latest episode.

0:08

Old Man of the Three

0:10

Things. Mr. Joe Kim No,

0:13

we the latest episode old man

0:15

of the three things mr. Joe

0:17

came know we got a little action,

0:19

what's action What's going on How are

0:21

you? No no complaints man. It's a

0:23

beautiful day out here in Miami.

0:25

It's not cold anymore not cold anymore.

0:28

is shining. I don't I to stunt too

0:30

much because I know you guys are

0:32

in cold New York, know you but cold New

0:34

York. But it's good here, out here. High

0:36

living. This is what the is what

0:38

the Miami The guy lives in

0:40

Chicago lives in of his

0:42

life but he gets gets back

0:44

down and back totally different person.

0:46

person. I'm not gonna lie,

0:48

man, to I some fruits coming

0:51

in. I got some in. I coming

0:53

in. I got some... coming in. I got

0:55

some not yet, but

0:57

got some avocados. avocados. What do you,

0:59

do you want to grow you

1:01

want to grow that you have tried

1:03

yet. yet? Besides

1:06

some some some nice that plants that

1:08

I haven't been able to

1:10

grow out here not the enough not

1:12

good enough yet to I'm trying

1:14

to figure that out out some weed

1:16

plants would be cool that, Does that,

1:18

did you need, do you need more rain for

1:20

that? What's the science behind it? it? You

1:23

know, there is a big science

1:25

behind it. For sure. sure. I

1:27

don't know too much about it. I

1:29

think I'm just gonna I'm just some

1:31

seeds in the ground and just

1:34

see what happens and just see what

1:36

there. This is going to be

1:38

your there. This is going to be research

1:40

project. project. On January 5th, we're

1:42

going to do a check going to

1:44

do I need? to,

1:47

to what do I need to maximize the concrete? Exactly.

1:49

If you you got any info

1:51

on it, just let me

1:53

know. let me know. time next

1:55

year, this is going to

1:58

be year, it's compound. to be a compound. farm

2:00

out here for you. All right let's

2:02

talk basketball just for a bit. We're

2:05

gonna run through we're gonna run through

2:07

all four of the your favorite thing

2:09

in season tournament we're gonna run through

2:11

all four games and we just want

2:13

to you know we'll get into specifics

2:16

but I think the most important thing

2:18

for me and for us is to

2:20

get your sort of X factors and

2:22

initial thoughts on all of them. So

2:25

let's start we'll start Nick's Hawks first

2:27

Tuesday night. Makes Hawks. I mean, first

2:29

of all, the in-season tournament, I think,

2:31

is awesome. You know, these are do-or-die

2:33

games. I think everybody's really excited. I

2:36

think the 500K is definitely something that

2:38

everybody's really hype about. I'm seeing like

2:40

really competitive basketball in December. That's kind

2:42

of a new system that I think

2:44

is really working for the NBA. And

2:47

it just shows like when you incentivize

2:49

the guys to play do or die

2:51

games, you know, the competition picks up.

2:53

So let's figure out how they're going

2:56

to do that for the All-Star game

2:58

as well. I think that would necessarily

3:00

take it. the lead to another level.

3:02

For sure. With this series, we've talked

3:04

about the Knicks offense so far. Right

3:07

now, they're their first in offensive rating.

3:09

They've been at times completely unstoppable. You

3:11

know, when they haven't cats missed a

3:13

few games, but cats having a career

3:16

year right now, he and Jayla had

3:18

been great. They've been shooting crazy from

3:20

three. But I wanted to talk about

3:22

Jaylon Bronson versus Dyson Daniels in particular,

3:24

because I feel like this is one

3:27

of the sort of individual specific. uh...

3:29

matchups that is probably going to define

3:31

this game and feels like you know

3:33

as as dyson has been like playing

3:36

as he has and as the hawks

3:38

even has been playing how they have

3:40

it's probably going to be sort of

3:42

an existing uh... a little bit of

3:44

a rivalry for the rest of the

3:47

season uh... i went to their game

3:49

in november when they played and dyson

3:51

really got under his skin hawks one

3:53

uh... is down the only doesn't really

3:56

got under a skin he was just

3:58

fighting through basically everything blowing up a

4:00

lot of actions. I have some of

4:02

his crazy defensive numbers but I wanted

4:04

to get your thoughts before we get

4:07

into that just on this particular matchup

4:09

and and what you see both the

4:11

parties having to do. Yeah,

4:13

that matchup is definitely going to dictate

4:16

a lot. So, you know, when you

4:18

think of Bronson and just this, the

4:20

floor general that he is probably one

4:22

of the top floor generals in the

4:25

league, he's brought so much stability to

4:27

that team. Obviously, the high pick and

4:29

roll cat is, it's, it's deadly. And

4:31

when you think of a guy like

4:34

Dyson being able to blow up pick

4:36

and rolls, It's really exciting. And usually

4:38

when you see a guy like Dyson

4:41

back in the day, he reminds me

4:43

a lot of like Tony Allen. And

4:45

when you think of guys who are

4:47

6-8, usually they were guarding the top

4:50

score, which was usually a wing. And

4:52

now you see guys guarding the high

4:54

pick and roll and being able to

4:56

really show an effect. So having a

4:59

6-8 guy on Brunson, who can really...

5:01

Guard the way that Dyson guards I

5:03

think that's you know, that's gonna be

5:06

a hell of a that's that high-picking

5:08

role is really gonna dictate who's gonna

5:10

win this game What's the what's the

5:12

art with a guy like Tony or

5:15

the guy like this with guys like

5:17

this? What's the art defensively to? Blowing

5:19

up pick and rules blowing up actions

5:21

without fouling I

5:24

mean, you know, some guys got

5:26

it and some guys don't, you

5:28

know, I think that physically, you

5:30

know, obviously he's six eight, he's

5:33

built like a tank, you know,

5:35

not everybody's built like that. So

5:37

he has the physical attributes and

5:39

then it's a mentality thing, you

5:41

know, you, obviously the big man

5:43

has to call out the screen

5:45

early and, uh, I

5:47

don't know if they're forcing him

5:49

left or right but obviously all

5:51

that has to be said nice

5:53

and early and then when you

5:55

have somebody who's six eight who

5:57

really cares and who's you know

6:00

putting that kind of physicality and

6:02

trying to up screens, I think

6:04

that's really important. So to run

6:06

through a few of the dice

6:08

and numbers, he has 73 steals

6:10

in the years, averaging 3.1 steals

6:12

per game. The next closest is

6:14

45. He should break the record

6:16

right now is 212, which if

6:18

he keeps at this pace, he'll

6:20

break by end of January, early

6:22

February. He has... 148 deflections. He

6:24

should break that record by mid-January

6:26

to late-January as well. The record

6:29

there is 315. These are just,

6:31

you know, sort of arbitrary numbers,

6:33

but at the same point, like,

6:35

any time you're breaking a record

6:37

in January or early February before

6:39

the All-Star game, that feels like

6:41

it means something. That means he's

6:43

doing good. A vision to grow.

6:45

What do you think about... What

6:47

do you think about... When you

6:49

think about like deflections in general,

6:51

even from your career and the

6:53

other guys you looked at defensively

6:55

as guys who were really good

6:58

defensive players, do you feel like

7:00

these numbers are kind of like

7:02

instructive of something? Or is it

7:04

just a, does it, do they

7:06

feel like, what are their importance?

7:09

No, I think deflections are everything. That

7:11

means that you care, first of all.

7:13

And I think that when you look

7:15

at defection, they don't show up in

7:17

a statute, you know, but you know,

7:20

if you look at the team that

7:22

usually has the most deflections, it shows

7:24

effort. And the team that usually gives

7:26

the most effort usually wins the ball

7:28

game. It's not the talent that wins.

7:30

It's just like how much effort are

7:32

you putting into the game. I think

7:34

the deflections definitely show that. Yeah, is

7:37

there is there anything we're going to

7:39

talk a ton about the Knicks this

7:41

year in general? If we talk from

7:43

the beginning of the show about how

7:45

defensively with Tip schemes, you know, they're

7:47

not going to be perfect overnight and

7:49

they've said it they said it the

7:51

other night when they lost to Detroit.

7:54

Is there anything you've seen watching watching

7:56

them because the town is clearly there

7:58

and you know, they're missing, they're missing?

8:00

protector, but the talent on the wings

8:02

are clearly there basically to be a

8:04

top defensive team. And when we talk

8:06

about how good the offense has been,

8:09

you know, this is a team that

8:11

if they can reach that peak defensively,

8:13

you probably start putting in a, you

8:15

know, a June title conversation. Is there

8:17

something defensively that you're looking at maybe

8:19

they can start Tuesday that they haven't

8:21

been doing? Well,

8:24

look, offensively, they're a juggernaut. That's,

8:26

that's, you know, you can't, you

8:28

can't deny that. And as, as

8:30

effective as they are in the

8:32

high pick and rule with Bronson

8:34

and Cat, they have to figure

8:37

out how to guard it themselves

8:39

on the other end. And sometimes,

8:41

you know, you can get. you

8:44

know you can get a little

8:46

tricky and maybe take Brunson out

8:48

of that high pick and roll

8:50

and put one of those big

8:52

wings and try to have them

8:54

guard the pick and roll it

8:56

you can't do it all the

8:58

time but this is this is

9:00

a really really interesting game especially

9:02

like being able to play that

9:04

game in the garden trays real

9:06

comfortable in that building we know

9:08

the history that he had in

9:10

that building in the playoffs so

9:12

It's a do-a-die game and you

9:15

know, Trays really had to come

9:17

to all that New York hate.

9:19

He leans into it. When they

9:21

beat them in Atlanta, he was

9:23

talking about. He was like, wish

9:25

he was there. He respects. He

9:27

loves it. He loves it, of

9:29

course. And he had some big

9:31

moments in that building as well.

9:33

Yeah. The other Eastern Conference matchup,

9:35

Orlando Milwaukee, really freaky injury luck,

9:37

they announced over the weekend that

9:39

Franz Wagner's been having an incredible

9:41

all-star season, tore his right oblique

9:43

after Palo had done it. Have

9:45

you had that injury? I never

9:47

had that injury, thank God. It's

9:50

weird, it's crazy though that this

9:52

happened to the two guys on

9:54

the two best players on one

9:56

team. Yeah, I mean,

9:58

I think those are definitely free. and

10:00

big shout out to the big German

10:02

Wagner for what he's been able to

10:04

do. It's unfortunate because he was definitely

10:06

having an all-star season. Somebody who in

10:08

Powell's absence really stepped up but you

10:11

know they have two pillars over here

10:13

and okay they're two freak injuries. It

10:15

sucks in the moment but you know

10:17

that the sky's the limit for this

10:19

team and this is these are two

10:21

building blocks that are going to be

10:23

there for a really long time. For

10:25

sure, I don't want to write them

10:28

off in this game this week, because

10:30

you know, they won last night, so

10:32

anything can happen. But at the same

10:34

point, it's going to be tough without

10:36

both those guys. Milwaukee was two and

10:38

eight, they're now 12 and 11, clearly

10:40

playing better. I want to ask about

10:42

Janus in particular. He's now shooting 47%

10:45

on mitties this year, which is like

10:47

by far his best. Number, I think

10:49

as you're looking at him, you're looking

10:51

at his game and his growth, what

10:53

are you saying for this week? And

10:55

then also just like, if this dude

10:57

is shooting like this from the mid

10:59

range, what are you supposed to do

11:02

on him defensively? Because you know he's

11:04

gonna run you over if you give

11:06

the shot. Yeah, I mean,

11:08

I think 47% is a great number,

11:10

and especially when you think about how

11:13

dominant he is at the rim. So

11:15

I think that if you're a coach

11:17

on the other side, you still want

11:20

him shooting that shot. But 47% is

11:22

a high number. He's

11:24

definitely, to me, one of the

11:26

most dominant players in the league.

11:29

And, you know, I think long

11:31

term this is really, really going

11:33

to help him. He's getting more

11:35

and more comfortable shooting that shot

11:37

and it's going to open up

11:39

the floor for his teammate, open

11:41

up the game for his teammates.

11:43

And, you know, when I think

11:45

of somebody, you know, the amount

11:47

of, you know, when you're hitting

11:49

the floor as many times as

11:51

he is when he's getting to

11:53

the rim, I think that making

11:55

that shot is definitely going to

11:57

play a lot longer. How much

11:59

interaction did you have with him?

12:01

Playing was. a playoff series against

12:03

Giones when he was really young

12:05

and then he, we were able

12:07

to, he was already a great

12:09

player. He was really, he was

12:11

already solid, but I remember my

12:13

guy, Mike Dunleavy gave him a

12:15

little cheap shot and he just

12:17

lost it and just got thrown

12:19

out the game for just like

12:21

bulldozer over him. I just, it

12:23

was, it was a crazy play.

12:25

Like if you look at it,

12:27

you're like, you don't see plays

12:29

like that in the NBA. But

12:31

he just completely lost his cool

12:33

and... No, what did Dunleavy do

12:36

though? Dunleavy just, he just chopped

12:38

him in the neck real quick,

12:40

just a quick chop in the

12:42

neck. And it definitely, he just

12:44

lost his composure completely. It was

12:46

his first playoff series and he

12:48

got thrown out the game. We

12:50

ended up winning the series. And

12:52

I think it was a learning

12:54

experience for him, but... I

12:56

didn't really get to spend too much time

12:58

with him, but obviously a lot of respect

13:00

for Giannis and what he's been able to

13:03

accomplish. I think it was a tough start

13:05

of the season for them, but I think

13:07

they're going to come back really nicely in

13:09

the second half and we'll definitely see him

13:11

in the playoffs and there'll be a hard

13:13

team to beat. Yeah, I was going to

13:16

say, as you just look at as you

13:18

look at his physical gifts. And you look

13:20

at what he's, and you look at the,

13:22

somebody that size. No, we talked about this

13:24

a couple weeks ago with Yolkich, but you

13:26

look at somebody that size, that level of

13:29

agility, and just kind of fluidity on the

13:31

court. It really, truly,

13:33

it feels sometimes like you're helpless as a

13:35

defender. Even just watching from the sidelines. It

13:38

feels like I don't know, you know, I

13:40

saw them in Brooklyn yesterday and he has

13:42

four or five plays a game. We were

13:44

like, this guy can do whatever he wants

13:47

and it doesn't really feel, everyone else kind

13:49

of doesn't feel like they're out there when

13:51

he wants to do this. And so it,

13:54

it's just, I like, I'm always curious when

13:56

I, you know, talk to you know, talk

13:58

to and I talked to somebody who is

14:00

your your job is to stop somebody like

14:03

this you know what I mean and you

14:05

don't and it's kind of like and you're

14:07

kind of like and you could basically do

14:10

it with everybody but then you have some

14:12

people who are and it's and it's a

14:14

and it's you know it's not just purely

14:16

physical he's obviously a really smart player but

14:19

there's a level of physicality that he has

14:21

that just is at a different level from

14:23

everybody else and it and it feels you

14:26

know it's pretty crazy to see. I

14:28

mean they definitely don't call them the

14:30

Greek freak for nothing for sure and

14:32

for me it was like I remember

14:34

how tough that pick and roll was

14:36

when him with him coming at you

14:38

full speed how tough that was 10

14:40

years ago so you know now he's

14:42

definitely a lot stronger he's bigger he's

14:44

more athletic than he was even back

14:47

then so good luck to everybody who's

14:49

in Hey everybody, this is Jason Concepcion

14:51

alongside Shea Serrano, host of the award-winning

14:53

Six trophies podcasts where basketball and pop

14:55

culture come together in ways you didn't

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even know you needed. With the WABA

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playoffs and full swing, we're dropping special

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episodes each week to crown the best

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moments in the league throughout the playoffs.

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And for the first time, we're inviting

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some incredible guests to the conversation. Will

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Asia Wilson, take up our invite and

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join the show? There's only one way

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15:15

As always, we combed through all the

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basketball news in the past week and

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15:42

Hello ladies and germs boys and

15:44

girls the Grinch is back again

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to ruin your Christmas season with

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tis the Grinch holiday podcast after

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the insufferable holiday season. But that's

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Grab your hot cocoa and cozy

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to every episode ad free by

16:36

joining Wundery Plus in the Wundery

16:38

app, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. In

16:40

his way. We got we got

16:42

the West now. Your favorite team,

16:44

the Houston Rockets. How's the love

16:46

affair coming? I love them. I

16:48

got to watch their game yesterday.

16:51

They got a big, big win

16:53

yesterday. I just love their competitive

16:55

spirit, man. You know, Duka, the

16:57

coach is like just definitely doing

16:59

a great job and they bring

17:01

in those, those, they brought in.

17:04

Brooks and they brought in the

17:06

point guard. Fred, Fred Van Fleet.

17:08

Van Fleet. I think that those

17:10

two guys are just, they were,

17:12

they're just ready to win. It's

17:14

so obvious. The, you know, shangoons

17:16

playing at a really high level.

17:19

I think the pieces just add

17:21

up and I think that they're

17:23

just ready to take that next

17:25

step. You know, they were in

17:27

a rebuild the last couple years.

17:29

And it's tough, you know, rebuilding

17:32

sucks. You lose a lot of

17:34

games. But to see those guys

17:36

taking that next step, having the

17:38

right bets around, their competitive spirit,

17:40

it just shows all over the

17:42

team. And those young guys are

17:44

definitely taking the next step. And

17:47

it's really exciting to see what

17:49

they're going to do in the

17:51

playoffs. I think that they're going

17:53

to be a team to beat.

17:55

Your love of them is going

17:57

to be like a constant theme.

18:00

I'm a part of these Monday shows.

18:02

I have a crazy staff reason. They're

18:05

playing the Warriors this week. They just

18:07

lost to them the other night. The

18:09

last time they beat the Warriors, last

18:11

time the rockets beat the Warriors, Russ

18:14

and Harden were playing in Houston. Yolkata

18:16

did not want an MVP. The bubble

18:18

had not happened. 15 straight for Golden

18:20

State. And I think the other night

18:23

was pretty impressive because Stefan Dreymont weren't

18:25

playing comminga had 33. And so there

18:27

sometimes and I'm curious your perspective on

18:30

this in general about like mental blocks.

18:32

with an opponent where a team beats

18:34

you for so long that it kind

18:36

of feels like it doesn't matter who's

18:39

out there. There's a little bit of

18:41

that. But I'm just kind of thinking

18:43

about like everything you just described about

18:45

how much you love this team, how

18:48

do you take that and translate it

18:50

to stopping staff? Because you know, you're

18:52

gonna have to do it this week,

18:54

but you just gonna have to do

18:57

it in general if they are gonna

18:59

make that jump. Yeah,

19:01

I mean, I think that you can't

19:03

put too much onto a loss, especially

19:05

so early into the season. Obviously, losing

19:07

to a team 15 times in a

19:10

row sucks. But the thing with young

19:12

teams is sometimes when a guy like

19:14

Drey Mon, a guy like Steph, or

19:16

the star players, they sit out. you

19:18

exhale and you can't exhale in this

19:20

lead. So guys are good enough to

19:22

win. And I think that we're going

19:24

to see a big, big game. Obviously,

19:26

I think everybody wants to go to

19:29

Vegas. Everybody wants to get to that

19:31

500K. The star players all the way

19:33

down to the bench. So I think

19:35

we're going to see a different Houston

19:37

Rockets team. I also love the way

19:39

Golden States playing. I think that Stephen,

19:41

Stephanie definitely want to, they definitely want

19:43

to win. I watched them play yesterday.

19:45

Dream on with comminga playing at such

19:48

a high level. I think Dream on's

19:50

minutes went down a little bit, but

19:52

just like you see him just being

19:54

such an emotional leader for everybody regardless.

19:56

his role is. I just love to

19:58

see what they're doing. What's you think

20:00

about the dunk at the end? Oh

20:02

man, he was hyped. He was so

20:04

hyped after the dunk and then he

20:07

put the sleepy on Rudy. You know,

20:09

it's like the game within the game.

20:11

You know, you gotta love that as

20:13

a fan just like watching the games.

20:15

We know that Rudy and Dre don't

20:17

like, they don't like each other. And

20:19

for Dre Monta, you know, get a

20:21

dunk like that and get his crowd

20:23

hype and get his teammates hype like

20:25

that, I thought it was huge. Yeah,

20:28

it's just awesome to have that in

20:30

December. This is like, this is why

20:32

you watch. It's like, it's a, it's

20:34

a, it's a, it's a, it's a

20:36

moment. It's a moment. It's a moment.

20:38

We'll talk about it all year. You

20:40

mentioned comminga. I was going to ask

20:42

if you feel like he's a little

20:44

bit of an X factor for them.

20:47

He's played in his career, you know,

20:49

in his minutes of going up and

20:51

down. They've had a lot of great

20:53

teams. Obviously, he was missing going up

20:55

and down since he was drafted, but

20:57

in his career, he's played 30 minutes.

20:59

36 times, and in those 36 times,

21:01

he's averaged 20.6 rebounds, shot 55% from

21:03

the field, 43% from three. There's been

21:06

all kinds of stuff about, you know,

21:08

they may make trades, either trade him

21:10

or trade other people to get him

21:12

more playing time. But when you look

21:14

at him and his particular game, and

21:16

I think we saw it the other

21:18

night against the rockets, what is it

21:20

about how he plays that you feel

21:22

like kind of attributes to the numbers

21:25

like that? Well

21:27

I just see somebody who's going to get

21:29

a lot of cheeseburgers, a lot of cheeseburgers,

21:31

you know, he's going to get paid a

21:33

lot of money and I think that he

21:36

turned down a deal earlier in the year

21:38

so he has a chip on his shoulder

21:40

and they had him coming off the bench,

21:42

you know, I think that he played really

21:44

well off the bench, but he played so

21:46

well that they got to put him in

21:49

the starting lineup, you know, you can't deny

21:51

the numbers, Tommy, you know, you know, you

21:53

know, so, There's no lying. The truth is

21:55

in the pudding. The guy's balling. And I

21:57

think the fact that he's a fact that

21:59

he's in the starting lineup, it's going to

22:01

be in Twin Street right now going into

22:04

this Thunder on a third three and winning

22:06

streak first in the West. What do you

22:08

think the X factor for this one is?

22:12

Uh, depending on what team you're rooting

22:14

for, but I mean, Jay Dubs playing

22:16

at a really high level for the

22:18

Thunder. I mean, I'm with the Shea-Luka

22:21

matchup is box office TV. You know,

22:23

I think that if you're the Thunder,

22:25

you're coming in there hungry because, you

22:27

know, they're the team that beat you

22:29

last year ended your season. And it's

22:32

a big game. This is a big

22:34

game to go to Vegas. So, you

22:36

know, I'll have my popcorn ready and

22:38

I'm really excited about that match up.

22:40

We've talked about the Thunder defensively. They're

22:43

on a historic pace right now. With

22:45

that being said, you're on a historic

22:47

pace, you know, you're missing chat, but

22:49

still they haven't missed a beat right

22:51

now. With that being said, you're on

22:54

a historic pace, you know, you're missing

22:56

chat, but still they haven't missed a

22:58

beat. But you got Luka and Kyria

23:00

in the other side. So how do

23:02

you see the matchup but the way

23:05

that these guys just compete defensively? Yeah.

23:07

Well, I don't see Luka Akari changing

23:09

their style of play for anybody. And

23:11

defensively, I think the wings on the

23:13

Thunder, they're some of the best in

23:16

the league. You look at Dor, Shea,

23:18

those guys, and even Jay, these guys

23:20

are top elite wing defenders. Very well,

23:22

Coach, they've been playing together, they have

23:24

continuity. But you know I think that

23:27

there's another step they can they can

23:29

get to when you you bring you

23:31

bring it hard inside comes back onto

23:33

the court. He's playing at a really

23:35

high level and then you bring Chet

23:38

back in. I think the sky's the

23:40

limit for this team. We haven't seen

23:42

them all playing together yet. With how

23:44

Luca plays how physical he is. When

23:46

when we're talking ton about Lou, you

23:49

know, Dor, Crusoe is back now, is

23:51

another guy that does this, Jay Dub

23:53

has been, you know, free safety for

23:55

them, is kind of, but he's just,

23:57

Luke is a matchup, and he's a

24:00

match of nightmare in his own right.

24:02

What do you think the... We just

24:04

did, you know, we've done this on

24:06

the show with him and with other

24:08

guys who've played against him and played

24:11

with him and everything like that. And

24:13

sometimes there's not like a, you know,

24:15

a concrete, this is what you do

24:17

to slow him down, you know, because

24:19

if he gets going, he's just going

24:22

to get going. But when you have

24:24

somebody that's that big and that physical,

24:26

it's, you have to, you have to

24:28

approach that match up. differently, I would

24:30

say defensively than, you know, a smaller

24:33

guard that's an incredible shooter and playmaker,

24:35

but you could maybe knock off the,

24:37

you know, knock off the stride a

24:39

little bit. He's tough to knock off

24:41

his stride. And so what do you

24:44

think with the way those guys play

24:46

defense? If you were like, if you

24:48

were on the sideline and you were,

24:50

you know, talking to them, what do

24:52

you say to them about somebody like

24:55

Lucca? Good luck.

24:57

Honestly, Luca is, he's a, he's a,

24:59

he's a, he's a nightmare, man. It's

25:01

just almost impossible to guard. You know,

25:03

I think for him, it's, it's all

25:05

mental, you know, when I, when I

25:07

think of, of, of, of Luca as

25:09

talent is, as he is offensively, you

25:12

know, I just want him to be

25:14

a better, like, floor leader, a better

25:16

emotional leader for his team. I see

25:18

him front, like he gets frustrated very

25:20

easily. He's complaining at the rest. But

25:22

if he can just like lock into

25:24

getting his teammates on the right path

25:26

and making sure everybody's strong, like kind

25:28

of like how what Dreymont does for.

25:31

for Golden State, if we could get

25:33

like Luka's energy channeled more towards his

25:35

teammates, I think like that's the next

25:37

step for him and that's where they're

25:39

gonna take the next step as a

25:41

team. But I just felt like that

25:43

that's what would be, like I love

25:45

Luka, I love watching him play and

25:47

and I think that he's somebody who's

25:50

definitely in a strid right now, he's

25:52

getting real comfortable after his wrist injury.

25:54

I just, like you're asking. how I

25:56

would guard him, if I was more,

25:58

if I was coaching more, what would

26:00

I do? I would probably try to

26:02

put dort on him, try to front

26:04

him and try to, you know, just

26:06

make him as uncomfortable as possible and

26:09

just play as physical as possible. So

26:11

it's not an easy task though. I

26:13

was going to say, I mean, it's

26:15

a little bit of a rhetorical question

26:17

in that, like, you're going to know

26:19

when you see it. You know, it's

26:21

not like there's a plan that's sitting

26:23

out there that it's like, if you

26:25

do this, it's going to work as

26:27

much as, like, somebody plays him the

26:30

right way. And then you'll be like,

26:32

oh, yeah, that, you know, maybe we'll

26:34

see it Tuesday, but like, that's the,

26:36

you know, that is the way to

26:38

kind of front him, to kind of

26:40

front him, and, and, and, and, and,

26:42

and, and make him, and, and, and,

26:44

and make him, and, and, and, and,

26:46

and, and, and, I mean, Kai's just,

26:49

to me, is the most fun player

26:51

to watch. Just what a magician on

26:53

the court is catch and shoot is

26:55

through the roof. So I just, the

26:57

Luka and Kari combination, they play so

26:59

well together. Sometimes Luka needs a little

27:01

break and they have like the perfect

27:03

one two punch. And I feel like

27:05

Kyrie's accepted that role. You know, sometimes

27:08

he has to step up and just

27:10

be the offensive juggernaut that he is.

27:12

But I think that he just really

27:14

understands when it's time to go, when

27:16

it's time to slow down and let

27:18

Luca do his thing. It's really beautiful

27:20

to watch. I think he wanted to

27:22

be that. Number one guy, I think

27:24

he understands that it's Lucas team, but

27:27

at the same time, when it's when

27:29

it's when it's time for him to

27:31

go, he has a perfect his timing

27:33

of when it's time to to actually

27:35

push it. He really knows one. Have

27:37

you had moments with him? Because we

27:39

talk about those people constantly with him.

27:41

I think a lot of people will

27:43

consider him if not the best, you

27:45

know, ball handler of all time to

27:48

be in that conversation for sure. But

27:50

have you had moments with him where

27:52

he'll do things and you are, and

27:54

you've been blown away just watching him

27:56

do it? Yeah, he's just like one

27:58

of those guys when you. in

28:01

the pick and roll usually I feel

28:03

pretty comfortable guarding a point guard coming

28:05

at me but he's just he's the

28:07

English that he puts on the on

28:10

the ball when he's when he's scoring

28:12

at the rim he's very comfortable going

28:14

at bigs for his size which is

28:16

pretty unusual but just his skill set

28:19

is just so unmatched it's like it's

28:21

it's tray ball it's but he's the

28:23

handle and just being able to finish

28:25

around around the rim is next level.

28:28

The last thing I want to bring

28:30

up before we before we wrap up

28:32

the the Mavs role players you know

28:34

we just talked about their stars for

28:36

a minute who are obviously a huge

28:39

factor in both getting to the finals

28:41

last year and where they are this

28:43

year so far but lively Quentin Grimes

28:45

they added PJ Washington. Daniel Gafford that

28:48

goes on and on. Clay, you know,

28:50

Clay has been in and out of

28:52

the lineup, but just, it feels, I'm

28:54

just sort of curious, your perspective with

28:57

them from a team building standpoint about

28:59

like, it feels like some of the

29:01

success is also hitting on these other

29:03

guys. I mean, I think that this

29:05

is a team that made it to

29:08

the NBA final. So you saw, when

29:10

you're playing at that level, you see

29:12

where the holes were. They needed more

29:14

shooting. You bring in guys like Clay

29:17

Thompson that, you know, he's not a

29:19

guy who needs to score 25 points

29:21

for them. You know, you just got

29:23

to hit big shots when they matter.

29:26

And I think it was the perfect

29:28

fit for him. I think you see

29:30

the success. They won seven in a

29:32

row. Even though his scoring might be

29:34

a little bit down, I think that

29:37

he's just a perfect fit. And then

29:39

you see a guy like Grimes who

29:41

didn't really get that much of an

29:43

opportunity in New York that I always

29:46

really liked his game. And for him

29:48

to get an opportunity right now and

29:50

play well, I think that that's great.

29:52

So they definitely got better in their

29:55

shooting. And then you could tell that

29:57

live. We also took another step in

29:59

the summer. I love the fact that

30:01

they used Tyson Chandler as well to

30:03

work. him in the summertime. I think

30:06

that's definitely, I see the similarities in

30:08

their games and to be able to

30:10

have a vet, an OG like that,

30:12

to be able to coach you and

30:15

has been through the battles and have

30:17

that kind of communication with them. I

30:19

think it's a really good thing that

30:21

Jason Kidd did. Before we get to

30:23

one city, I want to just get

30:26

predictions for all four of these, because

30:28

I didn't ask for the other ones.

30:30

All right, Nick's Hawks. Nix Hawks, first

30:32

of all, anything can happen in a

30:35

one game, but I'm happy to do

30:37

the prediction thing with you. But, you

30:39

know, this isn't a seven game series.

30:41

This is in one game. This is

30:44

one game. I'm sensing an upstep pick.

30:46

Be completely wrong. And I'm okay with

30:48

it. But for, for, Nix Hawks, I'm

30:50

going in the garden. I'm going, I'm

30:52

going next. Orlando Milwaukee. Orlando

30:55

Milwaukee like I love Orlando but

30:57

without their two studs it's I

30:59

think it's going to be tough

31:01

but you never know Cole Anthony

31:03

hasn't played all year shout out

31:05

Cole Anthony not playing all year

31:07

being being ready I saw he

31:09

had a big game yesterday so

31:11

you want to get his flowers

31:13

like if he doesn't go for

31:15

big numbers it's going to be

31:17

really tough so Milwaukee. Um, Western,

31:19

the Western Houston Golden State, this

31:21

appeal is the hardest one for

31:23

you. Actually, the lot, both, both,

31:25

both these are tough. This is,

31:27

this is where, I mean, I

31:29

just, I think. Look,

31:32

I love Houston. That's my team. But

31:34

this is a big game. I think

31:36

Dreymont comes in hype. I think everybody's

31:39

gonna be hype. But I can't go

31:41

against Stefan Dreymont to go to Vegas.

31:43

I think the streak rolls on. We'll

31:46

see. Last one, Thunder, Thundermabs. Thundermabs? I'm

31:48

going Mavericks. Dallas Mavericks. Hey, everybody. This

31:50

is Jason Concepcion alongside. Chase. hosts of

31:52

the award-winning six trophies podcasts where basketball

31:55

and pop culture come together in ways

31:57

you didn't even know you needed. With

31:59

the WBAA playoffs and full swing, we're

32:02

dropping special episodes each week to crown

32:04

the best moments in the league throughout

32:06

the playoffs. And for the first time,

32:09

we're inviting some incredible guests to the

32:11

conversation. Will Asia Wilson, take up our

32:13

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one way to find out, you gotta

32:18

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32:20

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32:22

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32:45

Plus. Before

32:49

we wrap, can you tell everybody a

32:51

little bit about what you did this

32:53

weekend? We've talked about it a little

32:55

bit on the show before. It's an

32:57

incredible event, an incredible tournament, and you

32:59

can just kind of give some of

33:01

the highlights. No, you know,

33:03

this weekend I was in Chicago and we

33:05

were able to have our one city finals.

33:08

This is a basketball league that I created

33:10

a long time ago with my brother Kobe

33:12

Williams. This is a violence prevention league. Obviously

33:14

basketball is not. the top priority, but I

33:16

think we have 400 participants and we had

33:18

our finals in the neighborhood at Phillips High

33:20

School. So shout out to Phillips High School

33:23

for letting us host, but it was a

33:25

community driven event. You know, we had people

33:27

cooking out in the cold. And, you know,

33:29

it was just a beautiful event. Derek Rose

33:31

came, poo came, show love to the guys

33:33

on the south side, on the west side.

33:35

I think that everybody was really happy to

33:38

see him. We had Tony Allen, who's our

33:40

commissioner of the league as well. The only

33:42

problem was in the finals. Tony Allen was

33:44

kind of getting on the wet, he was

33:46

on the wet. side side a too

33:48

much. as the And as

33:50

the you commissioner, know, you

33:53

can't really pick sides.

33:55

really pick sides. So we we you

33:57

know, we're know, how we

33:59

have, we're having like

34:01

internal issues with that.

34:03

have that have that conversation

34:05

Tony little bit later.

34:08

You can't be can't because

34:10

you're from the West

34:12

you're be the west one

34:14

of the teams. He

34:16

can't be could anybody, be brooding

34:18

for anybody, trying to can't tell

34:20

him. crazy. crazy. But a

34:23

shout out to everybody who participated. It

34:25

was a great event. a great event. know, one

34:27

city, we're here, we're here to stay.

34:29

we're to keep growing this and this and very,

34:31

very, very proud to be a part

34:33

of this violence prevention prevention the in the

34:35

community. And you guys will do these

34:37

events twice a year a of now? of now?

34:39

Well, right now, we're now we're doing

34:41

three times a year. year. to do it

34:43

a little bit more. We want to

34:45

be able to have it all year.

34:47

We're trying to get a league going

34:49

soon, too. it all building, we're building this.

34:51

This is not going anywhere. I'm

34:54

very proud of the work that we're

34:56

doing in Chicago. And we're just going to

34:58

keep building. anywhere. I'm everybody updated, the know, both

35:00

with this, but then also I'm

35:02

very and when it hits other cities, that

35:04

we're know, because I think there'll be

35:06

opportunities for, anyone who wants to get

35:08

involved, to get involved. building. you, you I

35:10

appreciate that, Tommy. that time. So Joe,

35:13

thank you for the time. I time.

35:15

see, we'll see think we will see,

35:17

we'll see how these predictors

35:19

will check in on these predictions

35:21

this time next week. time next

35:23

That's right. right, right, man. right. you,

35:25

right man. If

35:39

you like the old man of the

35:41

three, you can listen ad-free right now

35:43

by joining Wundry Plus in the Wundry

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