Speaker 1: Welcome into NBA pulsive production of iHeart Ratio in the NBA.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarahcusetak, NBA analyst for the s Networking. Today is Monday,
Speaker 1: April first. From our extraordinary core group of NBA journalists
Speaker 1: were joined now by NBA dot Com senior writer Sean Paul,
Speaker 1: who already got me on the April first joke, Sean,
Speaker 1: April Fool's Day is not is not for me. It
Speaker 1: is not for me. I am often got, I am
Speaker 1: often got. But what I am interested in is the
Speaker 1: fact that we are really near in the home strutch
Speaker 1: of this regular season for the NBA seven or eight
Speaker 1: games remaining for most of these teams. Not much, though,
Speaker 1: is solidifying in some of these Western Conference standing races.
Speaker 1: We're gonna touch on some of the games last night,
Speaker 1: But you you hold votes for many of the awards
Speaker 1: that some seem a little clear of of who may
Speaker 1: be winners, others not so much. You're looking at the MVP.
Speaker 1: I think, by by all accounts, and especially with some
Speaker 1: of the regulations of games played rules in sixty five games,
Speaker 1: it appears as though Nicola Jokic will likely return back
Speaker 1: to that reign of being the MVP. Curious your thoughts
Speaker 1: MVP Rookie of the Year is it? In fact, Wenby
Speaker 1: Coach of the Year is one that I think is
Speaker 1: very interesting. Where are your thoughts at when you start
Speaker 1: to put together what you're going to do in regards
Speaker 1: to these awards and just how you approach your evaluation
Speaker 1: in just kind of seeing where things are at.
Speaker 2: You know, that's a very interesting question, Sarah, because everybody
Speaker 2: brings something different to the table. I mean, if you
Speaker 2: talk to a lot of voters, it's like, Wow, what
Speaker 2: were the expectations? You know, who is a cut above
Speaker 2: everyone else? Blah blah blah. But this year, for the
Speaker 2: most part, I think the answers are pretty clear cut.
Speaker 2: I think once Joe went down with an injury and
Speaker 2: therefore ineligible in the first year of the sixty five
Speaker 2: game rule to be eligible for major awards, I think
Speaker 2: Nicola Jokic pretty much became the clear front runner. And
Speaker 2: that's not to say that he would not have won
Speaker 2: it if Mbat stayed healthy. But Mbat was on such
Speaker 2: a historic tare before you went down, so I thought
Speaker 2: he was a favorite back then. But for now Nicola Yogic, who,
Speaker 2: by the way, this four year stretch with him, You
Speaker 2: could put that up with a four year stretch of
Speaker 2: any player in recent history, because you know, considering he
Speaker 2: won two MVPs and finished runner up and another one
Speaker 2: is going to win a third. I mean, how many
Speaker 2: players in the NBA And you could just say in history.
Speaker 2: I don't leave it in recent history, but how many
Speaker 2: players in the NBA have had that stretch? You know?
Speaker 2: Obviously you know Michael the Great, Michael Jordan, Bron James,
Speaker 2: but it's a very small class. So yeah, and I.
Speaker 1: Think too, just the way in which he's elevated his
Speaker 1: play in a lot of years and coming back from
Speaker 1: a championship.
Speaker 2: Yep, yep. Absolutely, And just when you think that you
Speaker 2: know he's going to plateau, you know, he might drop
Speaker 2: a bit and everything. He just you know, just has
Speaker 2: a year that and again, very team oriented to he
Speaker 2: doesn't really care, you know, he just wants to go
Speaker 2: ride his horses, you know. But yeah, he'll say, okay,
Speaker 2: I'll take it, only on behalf of my team. So
Speaker 2: that's the beauty of Nicola Jokic is that he's not
Speaker 2: out there campaigning. He just wants to win games, you know,
Speaker 2: And so that's pretty much clear cut, and you know,
Speaker 2: Rookie of the Year win Manyama, and I know a
Speaker 2: lot of people said, well, the moment he stepped in
Speaker 2: the NBA, he was going to be a rookie year,
Speaker 2: not none, not necessarily. So I thought chet Houngan has
Speaker 2: had and still is having a very good year. I
Speaker 2: think that when Byama is just doing some crazy stuff,
Speaker 2: particularly lately in that forty point twenty rebound game and
Speaker 2: to win against the Knicks and other games that his
Speaker 2: block shots, you know, again just he's but he's gonna
Speaker 2: win Defensive Player of the Year maybe once or twice,
Speaker 2: do you think before it's all over with. And I
Speaker 2: just think he's had a kind of year that most
Speaker 2: rookies just really don't have.
Speaker 1: So we've hit the obvious ones. The Coach of the
Speaker 1: Year is interesting. We've seen some surprises in terms of
Speaker 1: what teams are accomplishing, some that have youthful teams, whether
Speaker 1: you look at what Oklahoma City is doing, what the
Speaker 1: Orlando Magic are doing, Minnesota Timberwolves and just how they've
Speaker 1: been performing. And obviously a lot of teams dealing with injury.
Speaker 1: Who are some of your top candidates at the front
Speaker 1: line of who may be your coach of the year.
Speaker 2: Well, again, I think in this situation, we come back
Speaker 2: to expectations. You know, did you expect Boston to be
Speaker 2: where they are pretty much? So that cancels out you know,
Speaker 2: one coach, and you expect Denver to be the defending champions.
Speaker 2: We are okay, Well that cancels out of coach again,
Speaker 2: so we're weighing, you know, that sort of thing. But
Speaker 2: I think that uh, you know, you got you have
Speaker 2: to look at the West. You have to look near
Speaker 2: the top of the West. Oklahoma City, Minnesota, two teams
Speaker 2: that you know, based on last year versus this year,
Speaker 2: you know, it's been quite a leap. You know, Mark
Speaker 2: Dagnol who's just been tremendous with a very young core,
Speaker 2: and I know he has Shay who's an MVP candidate,
Speaker 2: and I know he's had some good health for the
Speaker 2: most of the year. But they're still they're young players,
Speaker 2: and you know, a young team rarely rises to the
Speaker 2: top that quickly, particularly over a defending NBA champion still
Speaker 2: in its prime. That's the Denver Nuggets.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: Then you look at Chris Bench with Minnesota. See, to me,
Speaker 2: I think it comes down to those two uh coaches,
Speaker 2: who's going to finish first? And you know, weirdly, you know,
Speaker 2: you don't have your mind made up with two weeks left.
Speaker 2: But look at Chris Finch being able to coach this team.
Speaker 2: Team can't score, you know, but it plays great defense.
Speaker 2: They bought into that philosophy. You know, Kling Anthony Towns
Speaker 2: has been out and yet they still find ways to win.
Speaker 2: Pretty much all season. They've either been in first place
Speaker 2: or a game game and a half out of the
Speaker 2: first place. Definitely in the top three all season. So
Speaker 2: you have to salute someone like that to be able
Speaker 2: to get his team to buy in, particularly defensively, and
Speaker 2: to keep winning in a very difficult conference.
Speaker 1: So you've mentioned how they finish. Is it as simple
Speaker 1: as that? I mean, you're looking with these coaches and
Speaker 1: what other distinguishing factors within a team do you take
Speaker 1: into accounts because it is different situations in Minnesota, for example,
Speaker 1: and Chris Finch, I look at him in the impressive
Speaker 1: nature of thinking about what those expectations were with that
Speaker 1: trade going into last season, the way in which it
Speaker 1: looked like it may not work with Rudy Gobert or
Speaker 1: Karl Anthony towns. How they figure that out? Obviously the
Speaker 1: ascension of what Anthony Edwards is doing. But now you
Speaker 1: deal with injuries, with towns being out, what factors in
Speaker 1: for you more than if there is more than just
Speaker 1: the way these teams finish.
Speaker 2: Yeah, again, like I said, it gets tricky and a
Speaker 2: lot of voters will bring in their own philosophies. There
Speaker 2: are no guidelines when it comes through voting for these awards.
Speaker 2: The NBA doesn't doesn't give out a set of instructions
Speaker 2: that like, for example, the MVP. The NBA doesn't say, well,
Speaker 2: the MVP winner must come from a player whose team
Speaker 2: has won x amount of games. The only guideline now
Speaker 2: is players have to play sixty five games. As far
Speaker 2: as the Coach of the Year, you know, I kind
Speaker 2: of weigh a lot of different things. Number one, you know,
Speaker 2: where the team was last year versus this year. Number two,
Speaker 2: many like really star players they have. You know, if
Speaker 2: you look at a team like Boston, I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: they they're loaded, and that's probably more reflection on you know,
Speaker 2: the man who put them together general manner than the coach.
Speaker 2: No offense, but you know, you know, yeah, so maybe
Speaker 2: Brad Stevens is up for Executive of the Year, probably
Speaker 2: more deserving. But yeah, I look at, you know, last
Speaker 2: year versus this year, the amount of stars and All Stars,
Speaker 2: and way of improvement and the other things more like discipline,
Speaker 2: how smart the team is and clutch situations, do they
Speaker 2: beat themselves? They play hard? And of course winning obviously
Speaker 2: is a factor. So I kind of factor all that
Speaker 2: in whenever I look at who would be the most deserving,
Speaker 2: and I still come down to, you know, two coaches
Speaker 2: who have their team right near the top and the
Speaker 2: West against the defending champion Nuggets.
Speaker 1: All right, then this is the tough one because there
Speaker 1: really are no guidelines of what most improved Player is,
Speaker 1: and I think everyone looks at it in different ways.
Speaker 1: Everyone has different thoughts about the age is a player,
Speaker 1: which should be the natural progression of improvement for a
Speaker 1: player getting used to the league, accustomed to the league,
Speaker 1: making that jump from let's say rookie year to second year,
Speaker 1: second a third year for most improved player who jumps
Speaker 1: out to you as a couple of the top candidates
Speaker 1: to win that award.
Speaker 2: Yeah, See, Sarah, this is the award that you know,
Speaker 2: really has me a little bit frustrated because you know,
Speaker 2: I think a lot of voters misinterpret the spirit of
Speaker 2: the award, And to me, the spirit of the ward
Speaker 2: is someone who just has who maybe no one really
Speaker 2: gave too much thought of, who was maybe drafted low,
Speaker 2: didn't have a lot of you know, hope coming into
Speaker 2: the league, and just was a self made productive player.
Speaker 2: You know, sometimes you give it to that guy who
Speaker 2: was drafting the T six that started off slow and
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, you know, was great. Well, he
Speaker 2: should have been there anyway. Or a guy who was
Speaker 2: actually pretty good last year and just took it up
Speaker 2: a notch. Oh, we should give him. I mean I
Speaker 2: look at a guy like appron Chagun. I mean a
Speaker 2: guy who you know last year was like, you know,
Speaker 2: third option on the Rockets, you know, really trying to,
Speaker 2: you know, really get some tracks in the NBA, trying
Speaker 2: to learn about his body a little bit, and comes
Speaker 2: in this year and before he got hurt, its rockets
Speaker 2: leading scorer, good rebounder, again, very self made. You know,
Speaker 2: got a nickname, baby Yokitch. Anytime you can have a
Speaker 2: nickname with Yokich in the middle of it, that's got
Speaker 2: to be a pretty a pretty good sign. Of course,
Speaker 2: it gets hurt and then you got to look at
Speaker 2: someone like Jaylen Brunson, who again, you know, I know
Speaker 2: he won a couple of national championships Villanova, but you know,
Speaker 2: second round pick, second option in Dallas, comes to New York.
Speaker 2: Last year was pretty good. This year the top five scoring,
Speaker 2: All Star all that. So, uh, it's going to be
Speaker 2: one of those two players on my scorecard. I think
Speaker 2: they're both deserving. Neither of them came into the NBA
Speaker 2: but a lot of fanfare, and yet they were both
Speaker 2: pretty much so made very productive players.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, Jalen Williams jumps out to me for Oklahoma City.
Speaker 1: We're talking a lot about winning, impacting winning, what players
Speaker 1: have been doing, and he, to me, has been someone
Speaker 1: that his I don't. I don't think for as much
Speaker 1: as we talk about Oklahoma City, I think a lot
Speaker 1: of people, if they're not watching in a game in
Speaker 1: game out, basis fully understand the impact because because everyone's
Speaker 1: contributing so much, and obviously SGA is having an mv
Speaker 1: MVP type caliber season. I know Kobe White has gotten
Speaker 1: a lot of buzz from the Chicago Bulls. Tyrese Maxie
Speaker 1: is well, the jump. He's made. I think by nature
Speaker 1: you've seen his progression and knowing when that James Harden
Speaker 1: trade happened with him having balvedmore and his usage right
Speaker 1: obviously skyrocket. But gonna be fun, gonna be interesting, Sean.
Speaker 1: We will continue to watch because now, as we had mentioned,
Speaker 1: only seven eight games remaining, but we had some good
Speaker 1: ones last night, including talking Oklahoma City thunder SGA game winner,
Speaker 1: a win over the Knicks. We'll get to that right
Speaker 1: after break.
Speaker 2: Kitty looking looking inside the past jump, Shawn is up.
Speaker 2: That's good.
Speaker 1: At one point eight remainings, Keljas Alexander nails it and
Speaker 1: the Thunder go up by one. Welcome back to me, Paul, Sarahkustaik,
Speaker 1: joined by the Great Sean Poll and Sean. We had
Speaker 1: some fun games going last night, including a tremendous finish
Speaker 1: in just a tremendous game between the Oklahoma City Thunder
Speaker 1: and the New York Knicks at the Garden thanks to
Speaker 1: a game winner by Shake Gildes Alexander, a one point
Speaker 1: win by the Thunder. I had mentioned Jalen Williams, Maryland.
Speaker 2: Williams close over, pull up.
Speaker 1: Jumper, got it again. Tyler Williams putting on a show.
Speaker 1: He comes away with thirty three points, eight assists, four rebounds.
Speaker 1: You had a big night for Jalen Brunson, thirty points,
Speaker 1: seven assists.
Speaker 2: Up top to Brunson nine seconds to go. Brunson looks
Speaker 2: up Brunson on the drive to the rain off.
Speaker 1: The classic back next leave by one with four seconds frommaining.
Speaker 1: And it's interesting watching you look at where these two
Speaker 1: teams are at, what they're trying to accomplish, the NIXT
Speaker 1: dealing with a good amount of injuries or some injuries
Speaker 1: here is they go down the final stretch of the season.
Speaker 1: But looking back at that game last night, what stands
Speaker 1: out to you just with where these Western Conference standings sit,
Speaker 1: those top couple teams between the Nuggets, the Oklahoma City Thunder,
Speaker 1: Minnesota Timberwolves, what that means for them and also the
Speaker 1: next team that's battling still potentially feeling like they could
Speaker 1: jump up to that number two spot in the East.
Speaker 2: I think you had a contrast. You had one team
Speaker 2: that's been pretty much healthy all year, that's Oklahoma City
Speaker 2: against a team that's, you know, least in this game,
Speaker 2: was missing three starters, you know. And also what I
Speaker 2: took away from that is Jayden Brunson. I mean, what
Speaker 2: a role. Last couple of games, sixty one points and
Speaker 2: a loss against Spurs, and then you know, another terrific game.
Speaker 2: Although he did miss a couple of free throws down
Speaker 2: the stretch, he still played very well and just been
Speaker 2: tremendous for the Knicks all season. I'm with you with
Speaker 2: Jayden Williams. I think this, first of all, he's not scared.
Speaker 2: You know, you give him the ball, and you know
Speaker 2: if Shay gives Alexander doesn't want the ball, and Jed
Speaker 2: Williams to take the ball, and I think you saw
Speaker 2: a little bit of that. But Shade really didn't shoot
Speaker 2: well except for the game winning shot, of course, and
Speaker 2: then Jay Williams kind of carried that team on the
Speaker 2: road in a tough place to play, even even though
Speaker 2: the Knick still without og Anobi, Julius Rando, Mitchell Robinson. Now,
Speaker 2: going back to those three players, you wonder for the
Speaker 2: Knicks whether or not they're going to come back. I mean,
Speaker 2: with og and that elbow, that was really a strange
Speaker 2: thing because he did come back and then he went
Speaker 2: out again back to rehab. Julius rand Over his shoulder,
Speaker 2: didn't have any surgery on that shoulder and really has
Speaker 2: been stuck in rehab, and Mitchell Robbins has a problematic ankle.
Speaker 2: This team has played well all things considered, but you
Speaker 2: wonder how much of it's going to wear down a
Speaker 2: guy like Jalen Brunson, who has been tremendous. As I said,
Speaker 2: And by the way, can defenders really understand that Jaylen
Speaker 2: Brunson is left handed? He always wants to go to
Speaker 2: his left. How does he still get to the rim? Sarah?
Speaker 2: Every single time I was watching that Spurs game, he's
Speaker 2: just blowing by Spurs left and right going to his left.
Speaker 2: You would think they would figure it out or at
Speaker 2: least double them. But you know, I know we're a
Speaker 2: little bit off track there, but just frustrating me. No,
Speaker 2: your opponent, Oh my god, I get it. Jaylen Brunson
Speaker 2: is good, so he's probably going to do that more
Speaker 2: often than not. But still, you know, though, a double
Speaker 2: team anyway. Yeah, I just think he just saw a
Speaker 2: contrast line last night. One team injured and somewhat desperate,
Speaker 2: and another team really wants to establish itself as a
Speaker 2: title contender, goes on the road and the world's most glamorous, fantastic,
Speaker 2: what is it, Sarah Greatest Arena and comes out with
Speaker 2: the win.
Speaker 1: Well, you want to talk about double teams. And there
Speaker 1: was another game happening in New York last night in
Speaker 1: Brooklyn against the Brooklyn Nets, and Lebron James is not
Speaker 1: forty yet, but he dropped forty and he did so
Speaker 1: in an absolutely extraordinary manner. I know Brooklyn is had
Speaker 1: a struggle this season trying to piece things together, but
Speaker 1: for the Lakers and Lebron James, he was exquisite. Thirteen
Speaker 1: of seventeen, including nine of ten from the three point line,
Speaker 1: seven rebounds, five assists. Lebron down the midley goes, how
Speaker 1: are you gonna stop it?
Speaker 2: He's got the care.
Speaker 1: I'm Lebron doing little dance out on front, out on
Speaker 1: top now in the corner, look at him looking to
Speaker 1: take a seaton. Lebron, Come on, what we're going with?
Speaker 1: Blasting in front of him? Scoring up Lebron here, God.
Speaker 2: Yes, Lebron, stop showing off. Lebron.
Speaker 1: I was able to see that, Uh see that live
Speaker 1: and living color, and it was just take over time.
Speaker 1: The Lakers jumped out to a seventeen to nothing lead,
Speaker 1: and as the nets started to come back and make
Speaker 1: a little bit of a push, Uh, Lebron just shut
Speaker 1: it down. And he was extraordinary. Watching the power and
Speaker 1: the force that he still plays with to go along
Speaker 1: with that touch, what he's doing from the three point
Speaker 1: line this season. Uh where I know we run out
Speaker 1: of words and descriptions of James, but does it? Does
Speaker 1: it surprise you in any case? And I know he
Speaker 1: had some comments after the game of talking about being
Speaker 1: on the back end of his career, not knowing how
Speaker 1: much longer he may still be doing this. As we're
Speaker 1: watching this and seeing this and not taking it for
Speaker 1: granted because it is his twenty first year and we've
Speaker 1: become so accustomed to him being such a stable part
Speaker 1: of what we see night in, night out, how do
Speaker 1: you view this and in view games like this.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, Sarah, whenever I watch Lebron James, I take
Speaker 2: everything for granted. I'm sorry. He got me man, you know,
Speaker 2: because I have not seen this guy hit a wall,
Speaker 2: And until I see him hit a wall, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: think he's gonna be able to do this every night.
Speaker 2: I will say this about Lebron James's game, you know, here,
Speaker 2: as you said, you know, twenty first year, the one
Speaker 2: area where he has improved on is his three point shooting.
Speaker 2: You know, he the rest of his game, you know,
Speaker 2: it's pretty much been okay, a little slippage here there, whatever, defense,
Speaker 2: maybe rebound, whatever, it might be, not much, but the
Speaker 2: one era where you can say, ah, you know this
Speaker 2: is what he's been working on. That three point shooting
Speaker 2: is given him basically is buying him time, and it's
Speaker 2: and not only that, it's making him be even more
Speaker 2: relevant in today's game when he can consistently, well not consistently,
Speaker 2: but better than ever in his career drop that three
Speaker 2: point shot. Now he has some cold he has some
Speaker 2: cold spells here and there from that distance, but you
Speaker 2: know this this year I can say that's the one
Speaker 2: area of his game he has definitely improved on. And
Speaker 2: how many players can you say that you know this,
Speaker 2: but first of all, not to me players are playing
Speaker 2: twenty one years, but even late in your careers, how
Speaker 2: many players can you can you say are improving on
Speaker 2: an important part of their game as Lebron James in
Speaker 2: three point shooting. And as far as whether or not
Speaker 2: he has that much time left and everything I still
Speaker 2: think that there's something inside Lebron James who just wants
Speaker 2: to save a little bit for maybe if, if, and
Speaker 2: I know this is a conversation for another day, if
Speaker 2: Bronni James is able to play in the NBA, you know,
Speaker 2: just to have that father son moment, that Ken Griffy
Speaker 2: junior Ken Griffy Senior moment. Again, that's a conversation for
Speaker 2: another day. We got to see if you can play draft,
Speaker 2: all that stuff. But I just I see that in
Speaker 2: Lebron James as sort of something that's.
Speaker 1: Driving him without a doubt. I mean, and you said,
Speaker 1: shooting over forty percent from three for a three point
Speaker 1: shooter that at his career is right around thirty five
Speaker 1: just under he's taken some more three. So the adjustment
Speaker 1: of that to his game, I also think it's evident
Speaker 1: watching and we'll see where the Lakers, you know, how
Speaker 1: they finish. Obviously, it looks like they're going to be
Speaker 1: the playing game again this year. Last year they were
Speaker 1: seven seats, only having to win one game. Not sure
Speaker 1: if they can there's any chance they could jump up
Speaker 1: and get to that eight spot still at this point,
Speaker 1: but they can turn it on and the complimentary pieces
Speaker 1: and the confidence when when they play the way Ruy
Speaker 1: is playing in certain moments, Austin reeves putting it together.
Speaker 1: You know what, D'Angelo Russell. If there's any level of consistency,
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis has been tremendous. But you saw it. I'm
Speaker 1: sitting there watching and when Lebron James wants to turn
Speaker 1: it on, he just absolutely dominates. And that's both in
Speaker 1: So it's still in spurts. I think he's figured out
Speaker 1: how to pace himself and where to pace himself. So
Speaker 1: to me, I do not Sean take it for granted,
Speaker 1: because it is. It is a whole nother level and
Speaker 1: we will see. But but yeah, I don't know. It
Speaker 1: doesn't look like I know. He may say that it
Speaker 1: doesn't look like that. It's it's going to be ending
Speaker 1: anytime soon. But we'll be fun to watch. You know
Speaker 1: what is ending, Sean. Our podcast here and we always
Speaker 1: appreciate your time, will continue to read watch you on
Speaker 1: NBA TV, NBA dot Com, and until the next time,
Speaker 1: we look forward to saying.
Speaker 2: You appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Sarah NBA pauls So Sarahusack is production of iHeart Radio
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