WEBVTT - 41 Game Forecast 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:13.680 On this episode of The Heat Check, the Milwaukee Bucks 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:19.400 just played their forty first game on Saturday, which means 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:25.400 we are officially at the halfway point of the NBA season. 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:28.880 Where did the time go. I don't know, I don't know. 0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:31.000 I guess it was like all of those G League 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:33.879 call ups that made us think that we were like 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:36.400 three weeks into the NBA season, because it's really only 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.360 been three weeks of the real NBA season before COVID 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:43.160 struck the league. It's like we've been watching the Big 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:46.199 Three turned into the Big Five. So nope, we're not. 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:48.919 We are barreling towards the All Star break. We are 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:52.360 a month and change away, and we have the trade 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:55.720 deadline coming soon. So Brock, let's get into it. Let's 0:00:55.760 --> 0:01:10.760 drop that beat a damn, damn damp damn. All right, 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:15.039 since we are halfway into the season, I think it's 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:19.640 time we do two things. One, make some predictions, which 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:23.600 I love to do prediction time. Prediction time is where 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:26.920 I plant my little flag into my take and for 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:30.400 the rest of the season, I defend that flag in 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:34.360 that take for the rest of the way. That's when 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:37.120 I get super fucking annoying. That's when I literally like 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:40.240 scream that the Bucks are the most overrated team to 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:42.800 ever make the finals. That's where I say crazy things. 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:45.039 That's what I say, like Ben Simmons is a bum 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:48.640 Utah Jazz aren't doing shit like things that are true, 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:51.880 but things that are very inflammatory. That is happening. That 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:54.840 is happening starting now. So here's what I'm gonna do. 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.560 I'm gonna survey the NBA landscape and give you my 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:03.120 leaders on who I think will win all of the 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:07.840 major awards this year. Cute the haters in the comment section. 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:12.560 Nothing they love more than them telling me that I'm 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:15.560 wrong when reality, if you let the time set in 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:18.720 and you just wait for the clock to talk, Dick, 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:21.519 I'm usually right. I'm usually right at the end of 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:23.720 the day. Haters are gonna hate, So let's do it. 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:26.639 Let's start with the babies, the ones that are just 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:29.840 taking their first little baby steps. Rookie of the Year, 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:33.080 My rookie of the year is everyone's rookie of the year. 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:38.359 I think Evan Mobley. Evan Mobley maybe was one of 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:42.560 my worst takes I've ever had. I have a thing 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:46.720 against the PAC twelve. I have a thing against Pac twelve. Quarterbacks, 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:49.360 and I certainly have a thing against pac twelve big men. 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:53.519 You got a big man, seven feet quote unquote athletic 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:56.440 coming out of the University of Southern California, And I 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:59.919 thought to myself, and by the way, the Cleveland cav 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:02.840 drafted him, which you knew was a recipe at that point, 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:05.560 I thought was a recipe for disaster. Just the fact 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:08.200 that the Sacramento Kings take someone, Just the fact that 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:13.200 the Cleveland Cavaliers take someone means I immediately downgrade them 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:16.280 in my mind. Smart franchise takes them. I'm like, ooh, 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:20.239 Golden State likes Evin Mobley, which is also sometimes a 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:23.639 farce like James Wiseman. But like, I don't trust you Cleveland, 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:27.880 and I don't trust you USC. But boy was I wrong? 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:31.919 Boy was I wrong. Evan Mobley's getting thirty four minutes 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:35.680 a game as a rookie with all seven footers, I 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:38.840 thought to myself, like, oh, they got Jared Allen as 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:42.320 an insurance policy for Evan Mobley not working out, or 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:44.240 they didn't know that they were gonna get Evan Mobley, 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:46.400 and they traded for Jared Allen, and all of a sudden, 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:49.600 here we are one of them is gonna play, one 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:51.480 of them is gonna sit. Why would you pay Jared 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:54.160 Allen all that money you extended him. You have Evan Mobley. Now, 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:58.200 is Evan Mobley not that good? No, folks, they're playing 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:03.160 them at the same guy. Damn time, two seven footers 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:09.840 playing two different roles, functioning in symbiosis. Just beautiful basketball 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:12.840 being played. He's played thirty four minutes, like I said, 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:15.840 a game as a rookie. He's averaging fifteen eight and 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:22.640 three offensively good, defensively elite. He's averaging one point eight 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:27.880 blocks and one steal per game as a fucking rookie. 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:32.680 His defensive rating one hundred and three. That's absurd, That 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:37.600 is absolutely absurd. His greatest strength as a defender is 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:41.240 like he's seven feet tall and doesn't get cooked by guards. 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:45.400 That's crazy, that's in incredible. That's actually what makes Lori 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:48.559 Markinen so good too, is like these guys aren't getting 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:52.280 it's usually twe tween gone gone. You get your like 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:55.160 past these seven footers, you're at the rim, and then 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:58.479 as a defender, you then, as like the Evan Mobley 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:00.360 of the world, you wait for them to go past you, 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:02.480 and then you try to block him. No, No, he 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:05.120 stays in front of all these guards, which to me 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:08.840 is one of the most impressive things. Like, and I 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:13.200 love Yannis Dpoy like he won that award. He gets 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:17.120 cooked by guards all the time. At this point in 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:22.280 this season, Evan Mobley ranks third among anchor bigs in 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:27.480 positional versatility per Basketball Index. So I mean that's just tremendous. 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:29.880 He can do anything. He can guard guards, he can guard. 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:34.760 He's not that week in terms of guarding centers either. 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:37.560 He can't get cooked by like a thicker guy like 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:40.880 Saya Yannis, but nobody can guard Yannis. At nineteen years old, 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:45.840 Mobley is already one of the best big, switching big 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:49.320 men in the league. He's a fucking rookie and that's 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:53.920 the key to everything that Cleveland's doing. If Evan Mobley 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:57.680 is not there, this Cleveland Cavaliers team is exactly where 0:05:57.720 --> 0:06:00.880 they were the year before. Like, yes, Lori Markin is 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:03.880 a nice piece. Yes, Ricky Rubio was a nice piece. 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:07.479 But like without Evan Mobley, I don't think this thing goes. 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:11.520 He is now the fifth player in history with at 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:16.160 least fifty assists and thirty blocks over his first twenty games. 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:23.480 That's insane. JJ Reddick said, this Evan Mobley is unbelievable defensively. 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:26.520 I do not think people are realizing we're talking about it. 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:30.679 Maybe JJ Reddick needs to tune in to he checked, 0:06:30.680 --> 0:06:33.840 because we've been talking about this thing since pretty early on. 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:36.880 He said, this guy is a future defensive player of 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:39.640 the Year. I watched twenty minutes of YouTube highlights of 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:44.000 Evan Mobley's defense. He does everything, including switching onto smaller guards. 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:51.160 He basically is everyone that everyone wanted James Wiseman to be. Like, 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.440 James Wiseman is not this, Like, he's not this. He's 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:57.400 not as smart, he's not as versatile, he's not as 0:06:57.440 --> 0:07:01.320 skilled offensively, he's not as skilled defensively. He is not 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:04.480 And yes, James Wiseman can shoot the three. Yes, James 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:07.320 Wiseen's seven feet tall. Yes he's lean and lanky, but 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:10.280 they are not the same players. James Wiseman is barely 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:13.840 scratching the surface in terms of his upside. He's just 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:18.480 started playing basketball, Like he's played like ten games for Memphis, Like, 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:22.560 what are we doing here? Yeah? So, Evan Mobley also 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:26.400 amazing at cutting to the basket in right moments and decisively. 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:30.120 He sees Jared Allen at the like in the elbow 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:33.960 and immediately dives for lobs, for dunks, for layups, like 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:37.800 he can hit a turnaround jumper. He is so good, 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:42.000 so much better than I could have ever imagined him being. 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:46.720 Scottie Barnes needs consideration as well. He's plus three sixty 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:48.880 to win it. Don't think he's gonna get it. But 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:51.840 he had an early case. He had COVID, then he 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:54.840 had a knee injury. But that's pretty much all she wrote. 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:58.160 Some argue that his real upside is as a six man, 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:01.080 can't ruin win Rookie of the Year if you're upside 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:04.400 a six man just can't. One of the biggest surprises 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:07.320 in his time as a Raptor is really just like 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:10.880 he is a real point guard, shot creator, well, real 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:13.640 point guard in the age of twenty twenty. A shot maker. 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:17.440 He can score with a bunch of different low post moves, floaters, 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:19.360 and he can play the guard position and play out 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:22.679 on the perimeter. If he increases his ability to shoot 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:27.760 the three all laws say like Jahn Morant has different 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:30.680 size but like same skill set to a degree, I 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:33.200 think he could turn into a really nice piece. Nurse 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:37.600 continuously implores Barnes to be more aggressive and to raise 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:40.600 his average field goal attempts per game. So I mean, 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:44.160 he's just a baby. Totally different situations, another one for 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:48.679 consideration for Rookie of the Year. Another huge surprise is 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:50.320 my guy, if you were gonna be like, oh, why 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:51.920 didn't you talk about Kate, I don't want to talk 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:54.040 about Kate. I just don't. I just don't. I'm gonna 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:58.240 talk about Franz Wagner. Biggest surprise of the year by far. 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:02.280 You're Wagner. You should need not good. You should not 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:07.959 be good. Your brothers with Mo Wagner pretty much all 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:09.280 I mean, if you're a basketball fan, you know what 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:11.360 I mean, Like, I think everybody actually thought that, not 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:13.520 just me, not just the hater and me. Everybodys like, oh, 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:16.360 Franz Wagner like plays a different game, but like he 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:20.839 is still Mo Wagner's like blood brother. He has logged 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:24.240 thirty five games for the Magic, logged over eleven hundred 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:26.839 minutes before any of the rookies reached one thousand, so 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:30.679 he is getting significant time even with guys like Cole 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:34.400 Anthony Jalen Suggs, Markel Foltz, those guys have been out 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.000 of the rotation, and so Wagner has showed off his 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:40.880 abilities as a primary ball handler. Didn't think that was possible. 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:45.640 I really thought Franz Wagner was like a corner shoot guy. 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:47.480 Like I just thought he would just shoot a bunch 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:50.360 of threes. You'd just kick out to him, maybe he 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:54.600 would slash. But no, he's now like killing his pr 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:57.640 a props. His PR props sometimes are in the thirties 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:00.280 and he's smashing that. I think I didn't take it. 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:02.360 The other night he had thirty eight points or something 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:06.400 bonkers like that. Like, he has been awesome, and I 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:09.040 don't think anyone predicted that he would be this good 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:11.880 off the dribble, but he's shown that. Not only is 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:14.640 he off a good off the ball player and he's 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.040 not gonna like blow by anyone. But he's really good 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:21.760 at angles. He's a smart player, cue the German stereotypes 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:26.760 like like but like he knows how to use angles, 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:30.040 use math to get by his defenders, and offensively, he 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:32.520 works really well without the ball, which is huge. Not 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:35.319 a lot of players, listen, not a lot of players 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:38.760 like to move their bodies without the ball. Ask Russell 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:41.560 Westbrook about that he gets a He does a good 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:44.320 job of getting off screens and making cuts, getting easy 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:46.880 layoffs to the basket. He's a good spot up shooter. 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:50.480 It's almost practically impossible to contest his shot when he's 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:52.920 in the air because he's so long. He can guard 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:54.839 really well. He can keep up with anyone on the 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:58.280 court on the defensive end, and if his opponent ever 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:00.520 beats him too the rim, he's great at still. Like 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:03.080 I said, when guys get cooked, you gotta figure out 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:05.599 a way after the fact to get you know, a 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:07.559 block up, and that's what he does. He's getting good 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:11.360 contests even when he gets cooked, which is huge. Josh 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:15.200 Getty been really surprising at how good he is as well. Eleven, 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:17.280 eight and six, But the numbers really don't tell the 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.120 whole story. He was just named Rookie of the Month 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:23.480 with my Man. Franz Wagner became the youngest player to 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:26.440 get a triple double. He has recorded six double doubles. 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:29.480 That's crazy, youngest player to ever recorded a triple double 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:33.560 in history, recording six double doubles. Of those six, two 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:37.439 games have come with just rebounds and assists, so like, 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:39.920 the guy doesn't even need to get buckets to make impact. 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:43.680 He started thirty two games this year for OKAC. He has, 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:46.560 in my opinion, been one of the reasons that OKAC says, 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.480 all right, well, maybe we won't tank this year like 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:52.280 Josh Getty Shay, like maybe they need to like let 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:55.000 him compete. Who knows, we'll see what happens. We don't 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:58.680 need to like actively try to lose games. And Sam 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:01.640 Presty's probably sad elevating at how many first round picks 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:03.120 he can get for Josh Gitty right now. You can 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:05.000 probably get four first rounds for Josh Getty when he 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:10.080 turns twenty two. And then my next favorite I can 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:12.720 go past, like Jalen Green. He's been good. He's had 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:16.920 a rough start, but like you know, he's been fun 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:19.160 to watch. Chris d Warte was a nice little piece 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:21.520 in the beginning, and then he got COVID and cooled off. 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:24.520 But to me, the last player I really want to 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:28.560 highlight is Herb Jones. Herb Jones, and I don't mean 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:31.839 a regulo, I mean that's his name, Herb. He is 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:35.360 becoming beloved in New Orleans, not only because he's six 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:37.640 foot eight and he can be a three and D wing, 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:40.960 but he can actually like read the floor. He can 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:44.240 see plays before they happen, and that is exactly what 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:48.320 separates him from the other players, not only in his class, 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:51.640 but at his position he currently leads. Here's an amazing 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:56.080 stat He currently leads all rookies in deflections at fifty 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:59.800 seven and steals at twenty nine. He's second among all 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:03.280 rookies in blocks, and that's including Evan Mobley. In the 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:06.760 past three games, he's racked up a total of eleven steals, 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:10.520 joining only Chris Paul as the only rookies in franchise 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:14.160 history with three plus steals in three straight games. And 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:18.000 he's again not six to one, he's six's eight. So 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:20.360 for him to be able to use his body, use 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:23.280 his length and wingspan to get steals and to play 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:27.280 good defense, it's just tremendous. And on defense right now, 0:13:27.320 --> 0:13:30.920 he's already been through the gauntlet. He's checked Donovan Mitchell, 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:34.880 he's checked Damian Lillard, He's checked Luka, Doncic, Paul, George Bradley, 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:40.280 beal other players who routinely cook. He's had varying levels 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:42.520 of success guarding all of them. But and like, while 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:46.559 he's not a lockdown defender, his perimitive defense has been incredible. 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:48.839 And that is exactly what Donovan Mitchell said about him. 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:52.520 This is what he said, Donovan Mitchell, he is going 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:55.880 to be in this league for a very long time. Defensively, 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:58.320 he's his tough. I want to give him his props. 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:00.880 He makes you work, and he makes you think. He's 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:03.000 a hell of a player, and he makes life hard 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:06.160 for scorers like me. Not a lot of players make 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:09.439 life difficult on Donovan Mitchell. Let's just say that he 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:13.319 routinely gets his shot off however he wants, whenever he wants, 0:14:13.960 --> 0:14:17.880 at any time. And I think what's incredible to me 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:21.240 is that New Orleans has been trash, They've been awful, 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:24.880 but with Herb Jones in the lineup, they've actually been 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:29.200 pretty good when he's on the court. New Orleans, who 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:33.240 has been a terrible defensive team mostly because of Zion 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:36.960 for the last couple of years. With Herb Jones on 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.400 the court, they have a defensive rating of one hundred 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:42.840 and four when he's which is equivalent of top five 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:46.080 in the league. When he's not on the floor, their 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:48.680 defensive rating drops to one hundred and fourteen point five, 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:52.560 which is just slightly better than the league worst. So 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:56.280 he is making a huge defense difference and he's not 0:14:56.520 --> 0:14:59.200 just like a savvy defensive player. That's the thing that 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:00.920 I think he's getting all all the credit for. But 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:04.080 now there's new articles coming out like, actually, Herb Jones 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:06.520 is a bucket as well quick for as step can 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:08.760 put the ball on the floor, he can slash, he 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.720 can pass, he can actually be used the way that 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:15.680 they want to use Zion as a point forward, then 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:17.760 he's probably gonna end up on the All Rookie team. 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:21.720 A few games ago, he had this silly stat line 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:26.800 that needs to be discussed. Silly twenty six points, seven rebounds, 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:32.280 three assists, three blocks, two threes, ten forree eight from 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:35.280 the field, two for four from three, four for four, 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:42.160 three free throws, and zero turnovers. That is some efficient basketball, folks. Yeah, 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:44.320 those are my rookies of the year. Like I said, 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:46.600 I would give the NOD and I wouldn't put my 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.400 money there just because of its minus one ten, which 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:52.040 means you get only ninety percent of your money back. 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:56.840 But Evan heaven mobilely, you gotta give that man his 0:15:57.040 --> 0:15:59.480 flowers and he's gonna win it unless he gets like 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:03.560 some sort of catastrophic injury. Knock on wood. Let's go 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.400 Defensive Player of the Year. I mean to me, this 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:09.920 one's not close either. It's not close. It's Draymond Green, 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:13.760 and Vegas thinks so too. Draymond has been talking about 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:17.120 him being the defensive player, the best defensive player in 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:20.800 all of basketball for like the last five years. He 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:23.280 even said, last year, you guys, don't give this award 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:25.640 to Rudy Gobert's ask, give it to me. I'm way 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:30.200 better than Rudy Gobert. Defense so good this year, Quinn 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:35.040 Snyder thinks that Draymond Green should seriously be considered for MVP. 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:38.600 That's how good he's been. This is what Quinn Snyder said. 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:42.479 I'm not going to qualify this by saying no disrespect 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:46.040 is Steph or Rudy, but Draymond Green is as unique 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:48.720 a player and is having as good of a year 0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:51.240 as both of them. If you want to put someone 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:54.680 in the MVP conversation, he's someone to me that maybe 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:57.080 the numbers don't match up to the numbers other guys 0:16:57.160 --> 0:16:58.880 put up, but as far as the way that he 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:03.000 impacts the game, whether it's his passing, his defense, which 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:06.200 you obviously know how we feel about Rudy's versatility and 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:08.720 all the things that he does. Draymond is like that. 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:12.000 Draymond's better than that. He just does it in his 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:14.639 own way, and then he adds the leadership that he 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.520 shows and the way that he communicates. I think that 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:20.920 he is an unbelievable player. This is Quin Snyder on 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:23.360 Draymond Green, and I think he's showing that this year. 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:26.840 He's shown it before, but it stands out so much 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:30.680 right now when you watch them play. Why because they're winning. 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:33.760 He's been doing this. He did this last year. There 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:37.399 were times where Draymond Green was guarding legit centers and 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:39.800 holding his own being like, I'm the fucking guy. I 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:44.720 am not too small. I am that dude, Draymon. Let's 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:49.080 talk about stats. Ranks twenty seventh and Steels twenty ninth 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:53.960 in block shots. There are nine rotation regulars on Draymond's 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:58.320 own team that have a better defensive rating than he does. However, 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:02.520 the reason that he is almost a lock to win 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:06.639 Defensive Player of the Year is this Golden State ranks 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:10.280 first in defensive rating, first and opponent's field goal percentage 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:15.160 first ten points allowed, Second in defensive rebounding percentage? Who 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:18.040 do you think is doing that? Fourth an opponent's three 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:22.200 point percentage? And Green is the engine. He's the one 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.320 that makes it go. He talked about this with NBA 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:29.680 dot Com. This is what he told them. This is 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:33.479 just like one of the most like porn level quotes 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:37.240 you're gonna get in basketball. Nerds are gonna go crazy 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:38.960 or this. I heard this and I was like, oh 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:43.200 my god, is Draymond Green almost just as transcendent as 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:47.159 Steph Curry? Because this is not something that you hear 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:50.320 NBA players say about the way that they look at defense. 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:52.760 This is what he said. Here's the way that I 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:55.640 look at defense. When I watch film from a game, 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:58.840 or I'll watch any particular game. I'm not watching the 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:00.840 game that plays the pass lane to get the steal. 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:05.600 That guy, more often than not, will completely destroy our show. 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:09.359 He's destroying rotations on the defensive end. And more importantly, 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:12.760 that guy is gambling. And just like any time in 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:16.040 your life when you gamble, there's a higher risk you're 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:19.359 going to lose. Your defense will probably suffer from that 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:23.840 guy killing your positioning It's the same way with block shots. 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:26.720 In order to be a great defensive player, you can't 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:29.639 just do that. So we never say that Lebron is 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:32.120 great because he scores so well. We never say it's 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:34.480 because he passes the ball so well. We never say 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:36.680 it's because he runs the team so well. We say 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.400 Lebron James is great because he does it all so well. 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:43.280 We say Lebron James is great because he does it 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:46.680 all all the time. Defense historically is not viewed like that. 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:49.119 It's the guy that gets a lot of steals or 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:51.760 block shots a lot of times is a defensive player 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:54.600 of the year. I don't think that tells the story 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:58.800 of the defensive end. It's important for me to cover 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:02.520 for everyone. That's covering the back door cut that's putting 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:07.200 guys in the right position. That's the middle linebacker who's 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:10.080 reading the play and knows what the offense is going 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:12.200 to do right up to the line, and then he 0:20:12.320 --> 0:20:15.159 shifts his defensive tackle over to close the gap that 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:17.640 you know that they're about to run through. That's how 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:22.160 I approach the defensive end. I am the linebacker who's 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:26.560 going to get everybody to their right spots, and after 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:29.520 I get them into the right spots, then I have 0:20:29.680 --> 0:20:33.440 to be there to cover them. That dude is a 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:37.920 fucking genius. Draymond Green is a fucking genius. He should 0:20:37.960 --> 0:20:41.360 get it every year. He's so much more elite than 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:45.080 everyone else in the league. Regardless of what the stats say. 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:49.120 Draymond Green is what makes the Golden State Warriors as 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:53.920 good as they are. He consistently gets undersold because he's 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:56.520 not an offensive player in any way. He does not 0:20:56.680 --> 0:21:00.000 care about that. Find you someone who cares about defense 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:03.880 as much as Draymond Green that's not seven feet tall, 0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:07.800 like it's just for him to be from where he 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:12.359 came from, fat, to be trimmed down, to care about 0:21:12.400 --> 0:21:16.720 his body, to become one of the most transcendent transformational 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:20.440 players at this one thing and still be able to 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:23.440 score if he needs to. You just have to give 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:26.879 it to him. On the list is also Rudy Gobert. 0:21:29.600 --> 0:21:34.440 Fuck him. Let's move on. Yannis. Yeah, he's tall. Yannis 0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:38.480 plus eleven hundred for Defensive Player of the Year, probably 0:21:38.640 --> 0:21:40.480 one of the very few players that can win with 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:42.840 his defensive alone. But you can't give it to him 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:45.560 because he just keeps winning it and he scores thirty 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:50.200 a game. So it's like, yawn, Mkale Bridges very underrated, dude, 0:21:50.680 --> 0:21:55.200 Mikale Bridges hugely improved. People give me hell for this. 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:58.119 I said, hey, what role player? If you had to 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:00.160 choose one role player to build a team around who 0:22:00.240 --> 0:22:03.000 to be? And for me, yeah, it's like, that's an 0:22:03.040 --> 0:22:06.960 interesting question to ask one role player to create a 0:22:07.000 --> 0:22:09.040 team around who to be? For me, it's Mikail Bridges. 0:22:09.320 --> 0:22:12.560 He can do fucking everything. He's a team player, he's 0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:16.720 a winner, and he's from Philly and got scorn from Philly, 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:20.080 so you know I love him. Joe l Embiid another 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:25.280 Philly guy, great defensive year, but the issue is availability, 0:22:25.880 --> 0:22:29.159 and everybody says Philadelphia people always try to gaslight you 0:22:29.240 --> 0:22:31.200 and tell you availability is not the best ability. But 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:35.480 it's not not the best ability either. He's missed a 0:22:35.560 --> 0:22:39.440 month already and he misses Ben defensively, and this team 0:22:39.600 --> 0:22:44.720 is going absolutely nowhere. Let's talk about MVP. I have 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:47.840 a hot take from who I would give MVP two? 0:22:49.000 --> 0:22:53.720 Is it Steph? Is it Bron? Is it Embiid? How 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:57.000 could you be so bold in say Lebron James? How 0:22:57.040 --> 0:23:03.120 could you say Jannis Atatukumpo. To me, what about Jokich. 0:23:03.840 --> 0:23:06.560 Jokic one of the best passers in the league, highest 0:23:06.600 --> 0:23:10.960 player efficiency rating of any player in the NBA ever 0:23:11.240 --> 0:23:14.960 in history. Kevin Durant putting his team on his back 0:23:15.600 --> 0:23:19.000 like an iron man, playing all the minutes, playing fifty 0:23:19.080 --> 0:23:21.920 plus minutes a night. If Steve Nash allows for like, 0:23:22.040 --> 0:23:25.359 if there's fifty minutes, he's playing fifty minutes, Steve Nash 0:23:25.600 --> 0:23:30.800