WEBVTT - Post-Christmas grades for ALL 30 teams

0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:11.840
<v Speaker 1>On this episode of the Heat Check.

0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.400
<v Speaker 2>You remember the school days. You know the snow is

0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:20.480
<v Speaker 2>starting to fall. It's mid terms. The holiday break is

0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:24.200
<v Speaker 2>when you get your report card and oftentimes dictates how

0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:26.960
<v Speaker 2>good or bad your holidays would turn out. It is

0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:32.040
<v Speaker 2>now mid semester break. We've got grades for all thirty teams.

0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:35.080
<v Speaker 2>Lots to get to Anthony drop that beat that should

0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:51.000
<v Speaker 2>be Rehonno, before we discept this mid simon report card

0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:53.640
<v Speaker 2>for all NBA teams, let's talk a little bit about

0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:54.360
<v Speaker 2>Christmas Day.

0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:56.360
<v Speaker 1>Christmas Day was a hit.

0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:00.880
<v Speaker 2>Even as the NFL is trying to encroach on the

0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:04.839
<v Speaker 2>NBA's territory, which I think is fucking bullshit. The NBA

0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:12.520
<v Speaker 2>still had record ratings even up against Beyonce on Christmas Day.

0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:18.039
<v Speaker 2>Why all five games were incredible basketball? The ratings highest

0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:22.119
<v Speaker 2>for the NBA since the twenty nineteen season. I think

0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:24.720
<v Speaker 2>that should probably put a lid on the whole. Like

0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:27.679
<v Speaker 2>NBA stinks, NBA's.

0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:29.680
<v Speaker 1>An unwatchable product. BA da da da da.

0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:33.080
<v Speaker 2>Talk for like maybe a week or two or maybe

0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:35.800
<v Speaker 2>just a week. We've got the first game Spurs versus

0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:40.959
<v Speaker 2>Nicks that started the day mkil Bridges and Victor Weminiana

0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:45.440
<v Speaker 2>both got forty. The Wolves sweated out a close win

0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:50.520
<v Speaker 2>over Dallas despite thirty nine from Kyrie. The Celtics nearly

0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.640
<v Speaker 2>came back from fifteen down in the fourth quarter, but

0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:57.280
<v Speaker 2>they got held off by the Sixers, which was the Sixers'

0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:01.320
<v Speaker 2>best win of the season. The Sun held off off

0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:04.800
<v Speaker 2>the Nuggets one ten, one hundred behind twenty seven between

0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:08.120
<v Speaker 2>Beale and kd and in the capstone of the day,

0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:11.480
<v Speaker 2>Golden State and the Lakers turned back the clock.

0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:13.560
<v Speaker 1>They put on an all time classic.

0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:16.760
<v Speaker 2>Steph Curry had thirty eight, including two clutch threes in

0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:20.200
<v Speaker 2>the final two minutes. Lebron James had thirty one. They

0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:23.720
<v Speaker 2>asked Lebron after the game what he thought was still

0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:27.640
<v Speaker 2>good about the NBA, and he said, Stephen Lebron is

0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:31.239
<v Speaker 2>what's still good about the NBA. And Austin Reeves is

0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:33.480
<v Speaker 2>who won it for the Lakers in the final seconds.

0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:36.959
<v Speaker 2>He got emotional. He cried on the podium. He said,

0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:39.760
<v Speaker 2>I'm not even supposed to be here. My family's watching,

0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:44.239
<v Speaker 2>my friends are watching, my former coaches and teammates are watching, and.

0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:48.520
<v Speaker 1>I showed up for them. He was literally in tears.

0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:49.800
<v Speaker 1>It was a very special moment.

0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:55.160
<v Speaker 2>How great was the slate of Christmas games, the average

0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:59.760
<v Speaker 2>margin of victory was five points, the closest ever for

0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:04.200
<v Speaker 2>a Christmas Day with five plus games. So the NFL

0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.440
<v Speaker 2>did not destroy the NBA on Christmas. Also, we had

0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:12.280
<v Speaker 2>Goofy and we had Mickey and Mini Mouse. So take

0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:16.200
<v Speaker 2>that NFL you want to take. Put put Jamar Chase

0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:18.600
<v Speaker 2>in whatever he was in what was he He was

0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:21.360
<v Speaker 2>like some sort of random character in nbation. We could

0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:25.200
<v Speaker 2>do that too. We got that there's room for everyone

0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:28.079
<v Speaker 2>on Christmas Day. I do agree, though, that Christmas Eve

0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:31.280
<v Speaker 2>should have some games. I think that at least some

0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:35.040
<v Speaker 2>sports might be nights after dinner when you're opening up

0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:40.640
<v Speaker 2>your one Christmas gift all the night before Christmas.

0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:42.600
<v Speaker 1>I've got lots to say about that.

0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:48.840
<v Speaker 2>Anyway, onto the main course, it's the holiday break. Just

0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:51.440
<v Speaker 2>like back in the day when you were a little tight,

0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:55.200
<v Speaker 2>It's time for mid semester grades. I know we're not

0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:59.600
<v Speaker 2>quite halfway through the NBA season, like, but let's take

0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:02.840
<v Speaker 2>out Amber two, pencil mark some shit out of the teams.

0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:06.400
<v Speaker 2>Let's sit back, hand out some grades. Reach for some

0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:10.760
<v Speaker 2>hot cocoa or hot buttered rum or a coke zero.

0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:13.240
<v Speaker 2>If that's what you're down for whatever. You need to

0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:15.640
<v Speaker 2>keep your A little cocaine, that's what you need to

0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:17.360
<v Speaker 2>keep your holiday break going.

0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:19.400
<v Speaker 1>Let's start out out east.

0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:23.000
<v Speaker 2>The East I feel has gotten a bad wrap this season,

0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.680
<v Speaker 2>in part because there's a lot more disappointing teams.

0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:27.120
<v Speaker 1>Out east than there were in the West.

0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:29.440
<v Speaker 2>But I don't know if that's actually true anymore. It

0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:32.120
<v Speaker 2>feels like the West is actually the low key trash.

0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:34.279
<v Speaker 2>It was a good narrative for most of the season.

0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:36.919
<v Speaker 2>Let's start at the top. Cleveland Cavaliers sitting there at

0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:43.320
<v Speaker 2>twenty six and four A plus Calves started the year

0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:45.160
<v Speaker 2>on an absolute burner.

0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:47.960
<v Speaker 1>Just go back and listen to the earlier episodes that

0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:48.360
<v Speaker 1>he checked.

0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:50.440
<v Speaker 2>We talked about the Calves more this year than we

0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.640
<v Speaker 2>probably have ever, even when Lebron James was playing with

0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:57.159
<v Speaker 2>that team. The truth of the matter is the biggest

0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:00.680
<v Speaker 2>problem that Kenny Atkinson has in Cleveland is just how

0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:05.040
<v Speaker 2>many minutes to play? Everybody the rotation players all need minutes.

0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:07.520
<v Speaker 2>There's so many players bawling out. He had to give

0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:11.679
<v Speaker 2>a press conference earlier last week about George bang bang Niang,

0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:15.080
<v Speaker 2>who's having an incredible start to the year and now

0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:17.000
<v Speaker 2>is gonna lose some playing time because mac Struez is

0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:20.120
<v Speaker 2>off the IR finally off of a sprained ankle. Atkinson

0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:22.640
<v Speaker 2>was kind of like, Yo, it sucks, but you can

0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:26.040
<v Speaker 2>be so effective and have your minutes cut and if

0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:29.680
<v Speaker 2>that's your biggest problem, if they can stay healthy. We've

0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:31.360
<v Speaker 2>talked a lot about the Caves this year, so I

0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:34.839
<v Speaker 2>won't go too much into depth about them. We're gonna

0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:37.839
<v Speaker 2>I'll probably talk about them more in April. You've got

0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:41.640
<v Speaker 2>issues with the Celtics and their injury issues. Kristavs porzingis

0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:45.200
<v Speaker 2>a team in the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have two very strong,

0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:46.400
<v Speaker 2>very big big men.

0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:49.400
<v Speaker 1>This team is solid from top to bottom.

0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:51.719
<v Speaker 2>They're the one of the deepest teams, if not the

0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:55.159
<v Speaker 2>deepest teams in the East. Also, Donovan Mitchell looking like

0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:59.359
<v Speaker 2>he is every bit as important as people thought he

0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:01.000
<v Speaker 2>was going to be when they wanted to trade for

0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.440
<v Speaker 2>him when he was having the Donovan Mitchell sweepstakes for

0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:08.479
<v Speaker 2>the Utah Jazz. Darius Garland looking really great. You have

0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:11.640
<v Speaker 2>so many good role players balling out like Ty Jerome.

0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:16.240
<v Speaker 2>This team is a problem A plus mid semester grade.

0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:19.200
<v Speaker 1>Boston Celtics.

0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:23.000
<v Speaker 2>You would think twenty two and eight would get you

0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:24.159
<v Speaker 2>a better grade than B.

0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:27.440
<v Speaker 1>They get a B. But this is your defending champion.

0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:32.520
<v Speaker 2>All the stars came back, Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum

0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:35.680
<v Speaker 2>playing really good basketball as you might expect. Jew Holliday

0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:38.640
<v Speaker 2>and Derek White have been solid performance as they always are.

0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:41.720
<v Speaker 1>But to be perfectly fair, the.

0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:45.760
<v Speaker 2>Celtics have an injury issue to address over the course

0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:47.840
<v Speaker 2>of the rest of the year, and that is Kristas Porzingis.

0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:48.720
<v Speaker 1>He has now been.

0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:51.600
<v Speaker 2>Pulled for four games this season since his return, which

0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:52.760
<v Speaker 2>is like about three weeks ago.

0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:55.919
<v Speaker 1>I think they kind of hit lightning in a bottle

0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:56.400
<v Speaker 1>last year.

0:06:57.000 --> 0:06:59.960
<v Speaker 2>Christas Porzingis has never really been the model of health

0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:04.480
<v Speaker 2>he's been in his career has largely been dominated by

0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:08.240
<v Speaker 2>his injuries, from the nixt to the MAVs to I

0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:10.600
<v Speaker 2>think he was pretty healthy on the Wizards, but like,

0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:12.720
<v Speaker 2>let's be honest, there wasn't a lot of impact on

0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:18.000
<v Speaker 2>that body. He's missed twelve of the celtics nineteen playoff

0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:21.640
<v Speaker 2>games last season, and of course, like when he's on

0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:23.840
<v Speaker 2>the floor, the Celtics are a different team, a more

0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:26.760
<v Speaker 2>dynamic team, a team you believe in a lot more.

0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:30.880
<v Speaker 1>They had a very easy path through the playoffs.

0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:33.800
<v Speaker 2>Without him, What's gonna happen when they run into friction

0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:35.000
<v Speaker 2>in the playoffs.

0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:36.680
<v Speaker 1>I don't know if they're gonna.

0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:42.920
<v Speaker 2>Count on him going forward and without him up against dynamic, formidable,

0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:48.160
<v Speaker 2>healthy teams, I feel like they are beatable, especially if

0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.920
<v Speaker 2>you limit their threes. The Celtics are talented, The Celtics

0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:54.520
<v Speaker 2>are deep. The Celtics are well coached. The Celtics have

0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:58.760
<v Speaker 2>championship experience and championship caliber. But they are no longer

0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:02.960
<v Speaker 2>the odds on favorites to come out of the East. Academically,

0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:06.480
<v Speaker 2>Vegas says they are. There's still I think like minus

0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:08.440
<v Speaker 2>one ten to come out of the East, which is

0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:11.600
<v Speaker 2>absolutely fucking bonkers. Forty percent of the season. You gonna

0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:14.480
<v Speaker 2>be though, Boston because I think there's still room for improvement.

0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:16.600
<v Speaker 2>Maybe a little tweaking here and there.

0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:18.520
<v Speaker 1>Maybe one trade for Rob.

0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.000
<v Speaker 2>Williams again, I don't know, that'd be a nice little

0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:23.960
<v Speaker 2>comeback story. Let's go on in New York Knicks twenty

0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:26.520
<v Speaker 2>and ten, they getta be plus.

0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:31.880
<v Speaker 1>Let's face it, I.

0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:35.800
<v Speaker 2>Was not a believer in that Karl Anthony Towns trade.

0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:39.640
<v Speaker 2>I am very surprised that this is going as well

0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:44.240
<v Speaker 2>as it's going. He Karl Anthony Towns has not been

0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:47.720
<v Speaker 2>just everything that they could have hoped for. He has

0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:50.560
<v Speaker 2>been a lot more offensively than they could hope for.

0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:53.800
<v Speaker 2>I think he's top five right now in MVP voting

0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:58.480
<v Speaker 2>if you're talking about a replacement for Julius Randall. I

0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:02.000
<v Speaker 2>expected him to be pretty good. But the truth of

0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:05.240
<v Speaker 2>the matter is he is like all pro right now.

0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:08.400
<v Speaker 2>He's averaging over twenty five points a game. He's leading

0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:11.400
<v Speaker 2>the league in rebounds, and he's kind of like bringing

0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:14.839
<v Speaker 2>the vibes up to his stodgy, sort of stiff Tom

0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.040
<v Speaker 2>Thibodeau Villanova situation.

0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:20.120
<v Speaker 1>I did not see it coming.

0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:24.400
<v Speaker 2>I thought losing Dante DiVincenzo would have been a bigger deal.

0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:28.200
<v Speaker 2>Dante DiVincenzo right now is languishing in Minnesota, one of

0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:32.240
<v Speaker 2>the worst shooting splits of his career right now, and

0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:34.760
<v Speaker 2>Carl Anthony Town's is three point shooting is much better

0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:38.480
<v Speaker 2>forty five percent from three versus thirty three percent for Dante.

0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.800
<v Speaker 2>Maybe it's the system that's getting these guys good looks.

0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:46.280
<v Speaker 2>Karl Anthony Towns is spacing the floor and wigs. It

0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:49.480
<v Speaker 2>literally unlocks everyone on the team. Oh Giannanobi is having

0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:53.040
<v Speaker 2>a career year. Mikhale Bridges is finally finding himself. His

0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:56.760
<v Speaker 2>December has been really great. He went for forty one

0:09:56.840 --> 0:10:01.680
<v Speaker 2>points on Christmas Day. He's shooting forty percent from three

0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:05.040
<v Speaker 2>I think forty five percent right now from three for

0:10:05.160 --> 0:10:09.240
<v Speaker 2>mckel Bridges in the month of December. The team needs

0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:12.040
<v Speaker 2>a center. We know that because that's not Carl Anthony Towns.

0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:15.600
<v Speaker 2>When Mitchell Robinson comes back, which we last heard was.

0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:17.920
<v Speaker 1>Sometime in January, their defense is gonna get better.

0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:22.280
<v Speaker 2>They still play at that same slovenly sloth like, not

0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.800
<v Speaker 2>slovenly molasses like pace.

0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:27.120
<v Speaker 1>Can't find this synonym.

0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:32.040
<v Speaker 2>It's fine, uh, And they now lead the league though

0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:35.760
<v Speaker 2>in offensive efficiency because of Carl Anthony Towns. This is

0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:39.920
<v Speaker 2>a super fun team. This is a dangerous team. And

0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:43.520
<v Speaker 2>if Tibbs doesn't wear them out, because you know he's

0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:45.920
<v Speaker 2>running mckel Bridges into the ground with forty minutes per

0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:48.440
<v Speaker 2>night like he always does, this next team is gonna

0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:51.920
<v Speaker 2>be around and they are gonna be a problem. Great start, Nicks,

0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:55.480
<v Speaker 2>What a fucking trade that that B plus might.

0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:57.360
<v Speaker 1>Just turn into an A by the end of the season.

0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:05.360
<v Speaker 2>Orlando Magic Grade nineteen and thirteen grade B plus. This

0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.880
<v Speaker 2>is kind of like when like one of your best

0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:12.440
<v Speaker 2>students gets like mono, you.

0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:14.320
<v Speaker 1>Know, and like they have to go.

0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:17.120
<v Speaker 2>This happened to me like my junior year in high school.

0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:17.680
<v Speaker 1>I had to like.

0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:21.640
<v Speaker 2>Watch Pride and Prejudice from my basement cause I couldn't

0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:24.200
<v Speaker 2>read it cause I was so sick for like six

0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:27.400
<v Speaker 2>straight weeks. And my Mom's like, hey, like, we know

0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:30.240
<v Speaker 2>you can't read, so we've gotten you the like PBS

0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:31.920
<v Speaker 2>Shakespeare's stories.

0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:32.920
<v Speaker 1>You know, I forget what those.

0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:36.800
<v Speaker 2>Are called, like masterpieces. That's like what's happening with.

0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:37.840
<v Speaker 1>The Orlando Magic.

0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:41.920
<v Speaker 2>You can't really great them. You don't like when you

0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.600
<v Speaker 2>were healthy in class, you were good. They've now not

0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:49.120
<v Speaker 2>gone down one player, not two players, but now three

0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:53.120
<v Speaker 2>important players. I almost gave them an eye for incomplete.

0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:54.640
<v Speaker 2>But they're gutting it out.

0:11:54.720 --> 0:11:55.760
<v Speaker 1>This team.

0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:58.200
<v Speaker 2>They get like they're like that kid who gets hit

0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:01.240
<v Speaker 2>by the car and then they're like hobbles into the

0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:04.600
<v Speaker 2>class A week later. You're like, yo, you shouldn't be

0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:08.280
<v Speaker 2>here right now, you're still bleeding. I'm gonna give you

0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:09.719
<v Speaker 2>bonus points.

0:12:09.679 --> 0:12:12.200
<v Speaker 1>Just for showing up. Someone fix those wounds.

0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:16.560
<v Speaker 2>Paalo, Ben Carrol and Franz Wagner, both playing at elite

0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:19.360
<v Speaker 2>levels before suffering one are of the rarer injuries in

0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:21.560
<v Speaker 2>the league, which is an oblique tear. And then, to

0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:24.480
<v Speaker 2>top it off, Moe Wagner, who is averaging thirteen and

0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:27.760
<v Speaker 2>five on thirty six percent from three, he suffers a

0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:31.360
<v Speaker 2>season ending injury with his knee. This team was like

0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:35.800
<v Speaker 2>destined to cause trouble, especially if KCP can shoot a

0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:39.319
<v Speaker 2>fucking three, cause they are just row from the perimeter.

0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:41.600
<v Speaker 2>But the fact that they are even sticking around at

0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:45.280
<v Speaker 2>this stage is incredible and a testament to Jalen Suggs.

0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:51.000
<v Speaker 2>Poolo's coming back soon. He's having on court workouts. Pallo

0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:53.719
<v Speaker 2>is on his way. If Vo Frogner can come back

0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:57.920
<v Speaker 2>by April, this B plus did grade probably goes.

0:12:57.720 --> 0:12:58.800
<v Speaker 1>To an AA minus.

0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:02.559
<v Speaker 2>Let's move on to the Milwaukee Bucks. They are sixteen

0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:07.120
<v Speaker 2>and thirteen tough to grade. The Milwaukee Bucks. They are

0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:11.000
<v Speaker 2>like they're like the kid that doesn't come to class,

0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:14.120
<v Speaker 2>like the first half of the semester, and then all

0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:16.160
<v Speaker 2>of a sudden, they're in the front row in the

0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:19.400
<v Speaker 2>second half of the semester, are answering every question, They

0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:20.920
<v Speaker 2>got their homework finished.

0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.719
<v Speaker 1>That's them. No team has been as big of.

0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:28.560
<v Speaker 2>A disappointment early on as the Bucks, especially when you

0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:31.000
<v Speaker 2>look at their record. They're three games over five hundred.

0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:34.360
<v Speaker 2>But they've been better. They reeled off.

0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:35.840
<v Speaker 1>Nine of their last ten.

0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:38.920
<v Speaker 2>They've now come back to Earth five and four since

0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:42.640
<v Speaker 2>that win streak ended. Damon Jannis have started to learn

0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:46.880
<v Speaker 2>to coexist. Chris Middleton is coming back. Chris Middleton when

0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:49.559
<v Speaker 2>he's healthy, adds another layer to what this team can do.

0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:54.120
<v Speaker 1>They can be dangerous. Jannie is playing at an MVP level.

0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:59.440
<v Speaker 2>Doc Rivers are starting to get a lot more accolades. Again,

0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:01.840
<v Speaker 2>I don't know what to make a doc Rivers, honestly,

0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:05.400
<v Speaker 2>like he's the same guy that gave all those excuses

0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:07.880
<v Speaker 2>last season and all these excuses to the beginning of

0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:12.320
<v Speaker 2>this season. Dame and Giannis getting fouled trouble if they

0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:13.400
<v Speaker 2>have an off game.

0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:16.079
<v Speaker 1>There's no safety net. I'm not sure if this Sea

0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:18.839
<v Speaker 1>grade improves. I don't know if they're any good.

0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:22.160
<v Speaker 2>They don't have much depth and there's not much they

0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:23.680
<v Speaker 2>can do to improve their roster.

0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:24.760
<v Speaker 1>C grade.

0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:30.560
<v Speaker 2>They continue with Miami Heat. They are fifteen and thirteen.

0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:34.960
<v Speaker 2>They get a C minus. They are on the verge

0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:38.120
<v Speaker 2>of crashing out, and this has been coming for a while.

0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:42.080
<v Speaker 2>The split between Jimmy Butler and pat Riley has been

0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:46.520
<v Speaker 2>imminent since pat Riley decided not to give Jimmy Butler

0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:50.120
<v Speaker 2>an extension, which honestly I understand. Like Jimmy Butler's thirty five,

0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:53.080
<v Speaker 2>he's got a player option. Maybe you ride out one

0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:56.560
<v Speaker 2>more year with him and then you move on. Jimmy

0:14:57.720 --> 0:15:01.480
<v Speaker 2>is trying to get up out of there, is signaling

0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:06.040
<v Speaker 2>to Sean Sharanya pretty much directly, Hey, I want out

0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:10.359
<v Speaker 2>of here. The agent is saying all of the opposite things.

0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:14.160
<v Speaker 2>I think the agent might be somewhat in alignment with

0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:19.720
<v Speaker 2>the Miami Heat and not Jimmy Butler, and Jimmy is

0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:22.560
<v Speaker 2>kind of quietly quitting right now. His last game that

0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:25.000
<v Speaker 2>he played was on the twentieth of December. He played

0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:28.360
<v Speaker 2>seven minutes, took zero shots, took himself out of the

0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:34.160
<v Speaker 2>game due to some sort of un unsort of specified illness.

0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:37.640
<v Speaker 2>Has not been on the court ever since, isn't traveling

0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:41.000
<v Speaker 2>with the team. We'll cover more details on Jimmy in

0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:43.240
<v Speaker 2>the next episode, but for now, the team is kind

0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:47.160
<v Speaker 2>of low key trash. Haimi Hawke's production is down nearly

0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:51.160
<v Speaker 2>thirty percent from last year. Terry Rozier is averaging twelve

0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:54.120
<v Speaker 2>points per game and he's making twenty five million dollars

0:15:54.160 --> 0:15:54.480
<v Speaker 2>a year.

0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:55.800
<v Speaker 1>BAM has had.

0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:59.400
<v Speaker 2>His lowest offensive production since twenty nineteen. This team's just

0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:02.840
<v Speaker 2>not very good. If it wasn't for Tyler Hero, who's

0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:05.960
<v Speaker 2>playing awesome right now, this team would have an f

0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.000
<v Speaker 2>If they do trade Jimmy, I don't know what they're

0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:13.880
<v Speaker 2>getting back for him because they don't want Bradley Beal.

0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:17.200
<v Speaker 2>Feels like Jimmy Butler and the Heat are going to

0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:19.880
<v Speaker 2>come to a very unceremonious and at some point in

0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:23.520
<v Speaker 2>the next twelve months. I don't see the C minus

0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:26.720
<v Speaker 2>grading proving despite the fact that the Heater kind of

0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:32.920
<v Speaker 2>just hanging around. Atlanta Hawks sixteen and fifteen Vegae to

0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:37.280
<v Speaker 2>b They're one game over five hundred, and I actually

0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:38.040
<v Speaker 2>thought they'd.

0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:40.240
<v Speaker 1>Be a lot worse. This is the team they have

0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:43.840
<v Speaker 1>a number one pick in last year's draft. They are fun.

0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:47.520
<v Speaker 2>Dyson Daniels had eight steals the other day. He is

0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:51.800
<v Speaker 2>a defensive revelation and he is someone who is like

0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:56.240
<v Speaker 2>so unbelievably happy to be out in New Orleans. He's

0:16:56.280 --> 0:17:00.400
<v Speaker 2>like yo that place fucking sucked. Trey Young just got

0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:03.360
<v Speaker 2>his eleven thousandth NBA point and he.

0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:05.440
<v Speaker 1>Doesn't need to score thirty five points a game anymore.

0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:08.040
<v Speaker 1>He's one of the top assist leaders in the NBA.

0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:12.119
<v Speaker 2>He's playing very efficient basketball for Trey Hung And I

0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:13.320
<v Speaker 2>really like Quinn Snyder.

0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:14.879
<v Speaker 1>He's a really good coach.

0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.720
<v Speaker 2>He's building a defensive first team, a lot of rangy

0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:21.480
<v Speaker 2>long guys that can play multiple positions. I think in

0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:25.000
<v Speaker 2>a year or two he's when he starts developing more

0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:27.680
<v Speaker 2>guys in the mold that he did with Jalen Johnson.

0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:29.800
<v Speaker 1>This is a very dangerous Hawks team.

0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:35.160
<v Speaker 2>They are one elite fitting player away from being a

0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:37.960
<v Speaker 2>very very good team. And if they finish at five hundred,

0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:43.320
<v Speaker 2>I think that's a huge success. Indiana the Indiana Pacers,

0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:49.920
<v Speaker 2>what the fuck? Fifteen and sixteen they get a D plus.

0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:54.560
<v Speaker 2>I just don't know what's going on, I like, other

0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:57.840
<v Speaker 2>than the fact that Tyreus Halliburton is putting game lines

0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:01.640
<v Speaker 2>up with four, two and eight in thirty seven minutes

0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:06.000
<v Speaker 2>like he did to Okay See the day after Christmas.

0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:07.120
<v Speaker 1>I don't know what's going on.

0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:10.960
<v Speaker 2>You can't have your star player get four points in

0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:14.200
<v Speaker 2>a full game of work. Tyrese Haliburton is supposed to

0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:17.040
<v Speaker 2>be the dude that you rely on your franchise guy.

0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:23.359
<v Speaker 2>If you're getting lou Dort, Caruso and Casein Wallace thrown

0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:25.640
<v Speaker 2>at you like darts on a water balloon at the.

0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:28.080
<v Speaker 1>State Fair, I don't care you need more.

0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:33.440
<v Speaker 2>Than four points. I just don't know what to make

0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:36.160
<v Speaker 2>of it. And the Pacers are going as far as

0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:39.720
<v Speaker 2>Halliburton takes him. He has to be still injured or

0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:44.040
<v Speaker 2>mentally not there with his hamstring yet. His inconsistent play

0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:47.520
<v Speaker 2>is a massive issue. They'll be probably a playing team,

0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:49.720
<v Speaker 2>but this is a franchise who.

0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:54.359
<v Speaker 1>Is just in the Eastern Conference finals. They have aspirations

0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:55.800
<v Speaker 1>of another deep playoff run.

0:18:56.320 --> 0:19:01.720
<v Speaker 2>Very bad first semester for the Pacers Detroit Pistons fourteen

0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:07.400
<v Speaker 2>and seventeen. They get a beat. I did not see

0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:14.760
<v Speaker 2>the Pistons getting to their win total by Christmas. They

0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:18.560
<v Speaker 2>are in ninth place right now and something that no

0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:22.639
<v Speaker 2>one saw coming. I thought they'd continue to be what

0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:26.400
<v Speaker 2>they've been, which is the lottery team. Cade Cunningham has

0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:30.200
<v Speaker 2>been really really good, putting up twenty four points, seven

0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:31.679
<v Speaker 2>rebounds and ten assists.

0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:33.320
<v Speaker 1>That's ridiculous.

0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:37.240
<v Speaker 2>I think a lot of this resurgence is smoking mirrors

0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:39.720
<v Speaker 2>because we've got a bunch of veteran players who are

0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:41.840
<v Speaker 2>not going to be in Detroit for in a couple

0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:44.920
<v Speaker 2>of years. You got like Tobias Harris, you got Malik Beasley, Like, really,

0:19:44.920 --> 0:19:45.440
<v Speaker 2>why do you.

0:19:45.400 --> 0:19:48.120
<v Speaker 1>Want to be good? You know, I don't know. They've

0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:48.480
<v Speaker 1>been the.

0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:50.959
<v Speaker 2>Worst in the league for the last three years. But

0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:52.880
<v Speaker 2>it's fun to see him win some games. Maybe they'll

0:19:52.880 --> 0:19:56.640
<v Speaker 2>get the fifth overall pick again, like they consistently get

0:19:56.760 --> 0:19:59.720
<v Speaker 2>no matter how good whatever, it's that groundhog day, no

0:19:59.840 --> 0:20:02.399
<v Speaker 2>matter matter how good or bad they are. The Atlanta

0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:04.440
<v Speaker 2>Hawks weren't that bad they got them were an overall pick.

0:20:04.920 --> 0:20:07.439
<v Speaker 2>This is a very Pistons like thing for them to

0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:10.159
<v Speaker 2>be too good to make the high lottery in the

0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:13.240
<v Speaker 2>one year and where the lottery is the best it's

0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:16.919
<v Speaker 2>ever been, where there's a bunch of can't miss prospects.

0:20:17.160 --> 0:20:21.520
<v Speaker 2>Good job for those fourteen wins, Detroit, though I appreciate that.

0:20:21.800 --> 0:20:25.120
<v Speaker 2>I respect you for trying Chicago Bulls.

0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:33.040
<v Speaker 1>Yes, they're thirteen and eighteen. They get a C minus.

0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:38.120
<v Speaker 2>I know the Bulls only have thirteen wins and they're

0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:42.880
<v Speaker 2>five games under five hundred. I want to give them

0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:47.560
<v Speaker 2>a decent grade because we weren't sure what to expect

0:20:47.560 --> 0:20:52.000
<v Speaker 2>for them. They're kind of outperforming someone's expectations, but like

0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:56.000
<v Speaker 2>I had zero expectations.

0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:57.560
<v Speaker 1>For them, and a lot of the reason that they're.

0:20:57.400 --> 0:21:00.960
<v Speaker 2>Winning games is because zach Lavine is born for his life.

0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:02.600
<v Speaker 1>He's like, please get me out of here.

0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:05.920
<v Speaker 2>People want to hate on zach Lavine, and they have

0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:09.440
<v Speaker 2>for the last two years because he's been super injury

0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:12.439
<v Speaker 2>prone and he's got like this I don't give a

0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:14.680
<v Speaker 2>fuck and I don't want to be here attitude, which

0:21:14.720 --> 0:21:17.640
<v Speaker 2>is like, I don't know if that's fair. I think

0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:20.840
<v Speaker 2>it's fair. But this year zach Lavine twenty two, five

0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:24.440
<v Speaker 2>and four, and I think someone's gonna try and scoop him.

0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:27.120
<v Speaker 2>He can fill it up when he's on. He put

0:21:27.200 --> 0:21:31.280
<v Speaker 2>up twenty points in a quarter recently at six May threes.

0:21:31.440 --> 0:21:34.200
<v Speaker 1>He's a bucket. Let's be honest. Zach Lavine's a bucket.

0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:38.280
<v Speaker 2>Okay, even though he's from Seattle and Portland people we

0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:39.840
<v Speaker 2>don't love Seattle people.

0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:42.280
<v Speaker 1>Like overall, he's a bucket.

0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:45.119
<v Speaker 2>This bulls team has been a little more fun to

0:21:45.200 --> 0:21:47.439
<v Speaker 2>watch and a little more competitive than I thought that

0:21:47.640 --> 0:21:51.240
<v Speaker 2>they would be. But still, you're thirteen and eighteen bulls.

0:21:51.440 --> 0:21:54.960
<v Speaker 2>Can you sell off some pieces like Vucevich and zach Lavine,

0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:59.720
<v Speaker 2>because again, the fact that the Detroit Pistons have more

0:21:59.760 --> 0:22:04.000
<v Speaker 2>ways than you is a surprise. I'll move them up

0:22:04.000 --> 0:22:06.560
<v Speaker 2>a half a letter grade if they trade zach Lavine

0:22:06.600 --> 0:22:13.000
<v Speaker 2>and Vucevich Brooklyn Nets. Wow, I don't know how to

0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:16.760
<v Speaker 2>grade it, because are we grading in on how good

0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:18.959
<v Speaker 2>they've been or how successful.

0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:26.880
<v Speaker 1>They've been on accomplishing their goals? Twelve and eighteen B plus.

0:22:28.760 --> 0:22:30.320
<v Speaker 1>It is kind of weird.

0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:33.320
<v Speaker 2>Giving a team winning just forty percent of their games

0:22:33.320 --> 0:22:37.680
<v Speaker 2>a B plus. But this Nets team. I love Jordy Fernandez,

0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:40.800
<v Speaker 2>He's so underrated. He's gotten the Nets.

0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:44.200
<v Speaker 1>How do you do it? How do you consistently beat

0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:48.560
<v Speaker 1>good teams? Those are the only wins they have. It's like, listen,

0:22:48.560 --> 0:22:50.800
<v Speaker 1>when we want to compete, we will. They just beat

0:22:50.840 --> 0:22:55.639
<v Speaker 1>the books. I know, you know, Yannis no dame, but they're.

0:22:55.400 --> 0:22:57.520
<v Speaker 2>Playing tough basketball in the way that I don't think

0:22:57.560 --> 0:22:58.840
<v Speaker 2>anyone expected them too.

0:22:59.119 --> 0:23:00.840
<v Speaker 1>They're kind of playing a little too good.

0:23:00.960 --> 0:23:03.679
<v Speaker 2>And now the Nets are understanding the assignment they traded

0:23:03.720 --> 0:23:07.440
<v Speaker 2>Dennis shredder. That was just the first step. They have

0:23:07.520 --> 0:23:10.800
<v Speaker 2>four first round picks this year. If you're a Brooklyn

0:23:10.800 --> 0:23:13.040
<v Speaker 2>Nets fan, you should be optimistic because you got a

0:23:13.040 --> 0:23:15.120
<v Speaker 2>guy who can coach. You have a team who knows

0:23:15.160 --> 0:23:18.919
<v Speaker 2>the assignment, which is the tank you have. Those things

0:23:19.160 --> 0:23:22.119
<v Speaker 2>can be incompatible at times, but Jordi understands, Yo, this

0:23:22.200 --> 0:23:24.960
<v Speaker 2>is a team in a rebuild. We gotta move Cam Johnson,

0:23:25.000 --> 0:23:27.360
<v Speaker 2>we gotta move Dorian Phinney Smith. They don't fit into

0:23:27.400 --> 0:23:31.840
<v Speaker 2>the timeline. But it's they're a fun team. They really are,

0:23:32.040 --> 0:23:35.160
<v Speaker 2>and it's fun to see Brooklyn play good, high culture,

0:23:35.400 --> 0:23:42.199
<v Speaker 2>ethical basketball again, with the exception of Cam Thomas. Of course,

0:23:42.960 --> 0:23:47.280
<v Speaker 2>moving on to the Philadelphia seventy six ers, this grade

0:23:47.320 --> 0:23:50.600
<v Speaker 2>could change. I'm just gonna say that what we saw

0:23:50.880 --> 0:23:54.399
<v Speaker 2>on Christmas Day gives me a little glimmer that they

0:23:54.440 --> 0:23:57.960
<v Speaker 2>can fix their grade by finals eleven and seventy And

0:23:57.960 --> 0:23:58.440
<v Speaker 2>I don't.

0:23:58.280 --> 0:24:01.119
<v Speaker 1>Mean the NBA finals. I just mean like the finals

0:24:01.400 --> 0:24:03.639
<v Speaker 1>of the grades. They're not going there, let's be honest.

0:24:04.080 --> 0:24:08.840
<v Speaker 2>Eleven and seventeen d plus, Wow, they've been a dumpster fire.

0:24:10.000 --> 0:24:14.480
<v Speaker 2>Paul George, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxi all have missed major

0:24:14.560 --> 0:24:18.320
<v Speaker 2>time dute injury. Jared McCain the only bright spot on

0:24:18.359 --> 0:24:20.800
<v Speaker 2>the team. He is out for the year now with

0:24:20.920 --> 0:24:25.840
<v Speaker 2>a torn meniscus. They signed ancient players who I think

0:24:26.080 --> 0:24:28.720
<v Speaker 2>when they get out of breath, dust comes out, like

0:24:28.840 --> 0:24:34.280
<v Speaker 2>Kyle Lowry, Eric Gordon. They all have been disasters somehow though.

0:24:34.560 --> 0:24:37.520
<v Speaker 2>The part that gives a glimmer of hope Nick Nurse

0:24:37.840 --> 0:24:41.040
<v Speaker 2>has they have won eight of their last eleven games

0:24:41.680 --> 0:24:45.439
<v Speaker 2>and they are just ticking up the standings in a

0:24:45.560 --> 0:24:48.000
<v Speaker 2>very weak East. They have a lot of time to

0:24:48.080 --> 0:24:50.439
<v Speaker 2>turn this around. I mean more time than you have

0:24:50.520 --> 0:24:52.520
<v Speaker 2>in the West. They're only a one and a half

0:24:52.600 --> 0:24:56.920
<v Speaker 2>games behind the last playoff spot playing spot, and honestly,

0:24:57.080 --> 0:25:01.240
<v Speaker 2>if they're fully healthy, all of them except for Jared McCain,

0:25:01.600 --> 0:25:04.480
<v Speaker 2>I don't know what you would feel if you're like

0:25:04.520 --> 0:25:07.560
<v Speaker 2>a team like the Calves playing this or the Knicks

0:25:07.600 --> 0:25:11.359
<v Speaker 2>playing the Sixers. Again, if they're a seven or eight seed,

0:25:12.760 --> 0:25:15.919
<v Speaker 2>there's a team that could bite anybody that obscures the

0:25:15.960 --> 0:25:18.680
<v Speaker 2>fact that the Sixers, though, are the most disappointing team

0:25:18.840 --> 0:25:20.920
<v Speaker 2>at the break this season, but they can improve their

0:25:20.960 --> 0:25:30.320
<v Speaker 2>grade a ton Toronto Raptors seven and twenty four. They

0:25:30.359 --> 0:25:34.440
<v Speaker 2>get a c. Now, this is a team that doesn't

0:25:34.480 --> 0:25:37.879
<v Speaker 2>surprise me, only winning twenty two percent of their games.

0:25:38.600 --> 0:25:42.280
<v Speaker 2>So although they're very, very bad, they don't get a

0:25:42.320 --> 0:25:44.920
<v Speaker 2>failing grade because they have signs of grogs. You got

0:25:44.920 --> 0:25:47.840
<v Speaker 2>Grady Dick, who's getting better. Scottie Barnes is a star.

0:25:48.040 --> 0:25:50.600
<v Speaker 2>I think putting up twenty eight and seven. I don't

0:25:50.640 --> 0:25:53.879
<v Speaker 2>know how many Toronto games I really want to watch, Like,

0:25:53.920 --> 0:25:55.960
<v Speaker 2>I don't think many people want to watch them, but

0:25:56.080 --> 0:26:00.400
<v Speaker 2>like Darko's awesome. He's a madman on the sidelines. There's

0:26:00.440 --> 0:26:04.040
<v Speaker 2>not really a lot to say. Emmanuel Quickly and RJ Barrett,

0:26:04.040 --> 0:26:04.840
<v Speaker 2>that was a good trade.

0:26:04.920 --> 0:26:07.080
<v Speaker 1>O g Ananobi wanted up out of there.

0:26:07.600 --> 0:26:11.400
<v Speaker 2>The Pascal Siakam trade was okay as well. They're rebuilding,

0:26:11.440 --> 0:26:15.480
<v Speaker 2>they're figuring it out. No time to change this grade though.

0:26:15.920 --> 0:26:23.000
<v Speaker 2>Charlotte Hornets seven and twenty three D minus. Wow, they

0:26:23.040 --> 0:26:26.800
<v Speaker 2>are terrible. This is an awful season for them. Lamello

0:26:27.600 --> 0:26:29.880
<v Speaker 2>remains a highlight reel.

0:26:30.240 --> 0:26:31.600
<v Speaker 1>I'm not sure how.

0:26:31.480 --> 0:26:35.119
<v Speaker 2>Much LaMelo ball helps a team, but he is fucking fun.

0:26:35.320 --> 0:26:36.680
<v Speaker 1>I really think he's fun.

0:26:37.480 --> 0:26:40.720
<v Speaker 2>I don't think like if I'm the Spurs, I want Lamello.

0:26:41.800 --> 0:26:44.840
<v Speaker 2>But there is no reason to tune in and watch

0:26:44.920 --> 0:26:47.800
<v Speaker 2>a Hornets game at all this year. I think you

0:26:48.119 --> 0:26:50.639
<v Speaker 2>just look for LaMelo highlights on threads. That's what I

0:26:50.720 --> 0:26:53.160
<v Speaker 2>just think you do. No one thought that they would

0:26:53.480 --> 0:26:56.400
<v Speaker 2>be this bad. This is what you get for resigning

0:26:56.400 --> 0:26:58.520
<v Speaker 2>a guy who beat the shit out of his girlfriend

0:26:59.680 --> 0:27:06.800
<v Speaker 2>was Wizards yes five and twenty three. They either get

0:27:06.800 --> 0:27:10.560
<v Speaker 2>an A or an F. I don't know if they

0:27:10.600 --> 0:27:13.200
<v Speaker 2>get Cooper Flagg. The years in A they have five

0:27:13.280 --> 0:27:16.000
<v Speaker 2>wins five and twenty three.

0:27:18.000 --> 0:27:18.560
<v Speaker 1>They need to.

0:27:18.560 --> 0:27:20.560
<v Speaker 2>Get rid of those guys though. They need to get

0:27:20.640 --> 0:27:22.680
<v Speaker 2>rid of Jordan Poole. They need to get rid of

0:27:22.760 --> 0:27:27.320
<v Speaker 2>Kyle Kuzma. When the last two years you thought Kyle

0:27:27.440 --> 0:27:31.040
<v Speaker 2>Kuzma will hit you two first rounders. He's probably not

0:27:31.080 --> 0:27:34.000
<v Speaker 2>getting you even one first rounder. Worst grade in the

0:27:34.040 --> 0:27:37.360
<v Speaker 2>East again or the best grade in the East, because

0:27:37.680 --> 0:27:41.160
<v Speaker 2>they really do understand the assignment. They've got Bub Carrington there.

0:27:41.240 --> 0:27:42.400
<v Speaker 2>I like Bob Carrington.

0:27:42.760 --> 0:27:43.480
<v Speaker 1>He's fun.

0:27:44.320 --> 0:27:51.760
<v Speaker 2>They got Kaishawn George, he's good. They've got Alex Sar

0:27:52.080 --> 0:27:56.080
<v Speaker 2>I like him. They've got some dogs. They got Baalah Kolabali.

0:27:56.280 --> 0:27:58.320
<v Speaker 2>This is a fun young team. I kind of like

0:27:58.359 --> 0:28:01.399
<v Speaker 2>what they're doing with the coaching staff, but they're not

0:28:01.440 --> 0:28:03.800
<v Speaker 2>gonna be good for a while. And that arena fucking

0:28:03.920 --> 0:28:07.439
<v Speaker 2>is terrible. I've said it a million times. Let's focus

0:28:07.520 --> 0:28:09.760
<v Speaker 2>on the good things we're going into the new year.

0:28:10.200 --> 0:28:17.320
<v Speaker 2>Cooper Cooper, white chocolate and DC baby hunting, just capturing

0:28:17.560 --> 0:28:18.080
<v Speaker 2>the flag.

0:28:18.960 --> 0:28:23.200
<v Speaker 1>Let's turn to the west. The thunder and the lightning

0:28:23.600 --> 0:28:26.600
<v Speaker 1>and the thunder, lightning and the thunder.

0:28:26.680 --> 0:28:28.439
<v Speaker 2>I wish I had like a draw Anthony put that

0:28:28.520 --> 0:28:31.280
<v Speaker 2>drop in twenty four and five. He won't. It's an a,

0:28:31.840 --> 0:28:34.600
<v Speaker 2>of course, the Thunder get in a. This is the

0:28:34.640 --> 0:28:38.760
<v Speaker 2>deepest team in the league. They have an incredible defensive

0:28:38.800 --> 0:28:41.440
<v Speaker 2>presence with an MVP in the center of it at

0:28:41.440 --> 0:28:43.880
<v Speaker 2>shake yil just Alexander who is averaging, by the way,

0:28:44.040 --> 0:28:48.080
<v Speaker 2>thirty one six and six, which is ridiculous. They've surrounded

0:28:48.120 --> 0:28:53.160
<v Speaker 2>him with more. Isaiah Hartenstein has fit in great. Alex

0:28:53.240 --> 0:28:58.120
<v Speaker 2>Caruso is a monster. If check was healthy right now,

0:28:58.240 --> 0:29:01.280
<v Speaker 2>holy shit, Like we forget he's not even playing.

0:29:02.560 --> 0:29:05.040
<v Speaker 1>What a fucking team. The one thing I worry about

0:29:05.120 --> 0:29:06.640
<v Speaker 1>is they're shooting.

0:29:06.880 --> 0:29:10.200
<v Speaker 2>Which like if you're relying on lou Dort to shoot

0:29:10.200 --> 0:29:13.440
<v Speaker 2>forty percent from three in the playoffs, I think you're

0:29:13.440 --> 0:29:16.960
<v Speaker 2>gonna have trouble. We saw it in the NBA Cup Finals.

0:29:17.800 --> 0:29:21.200
<v Speaker 2>That was rough for them. So I think it's gonna

0:29:21.240 --> 0:29:25.000
<v Speaker 2>take one more player. Maybe they'll trade a role player

0:29:25.680 --> 0:29:28.400
<v Speaker 2>or one of their young guys is not getting any minutes.

0:29:28.440 --> 0:29:31.560
<v Speaker 2>I love Casen Wallace by the way. Maybe they'll trade

0:29:31.560 --> 0:29:33.600
<v Speaker 2>some guy that's not getting minutes and they'll find a

0:29:33.600 --> 0:29:37.240
<v Speaker 2>shooter like a maybe a Cam Johnson. That might costa

0:29:37.320 --> 0:29:39.479
<v Speaker 2>but they've got a million picks. Go and do something.

0:29:39.520 --> 0:29:42.880
<v Speaker 2>Find another corner of sniper. We need somebody who can

0:29:42.920 --> 0:29:45.400
<v Speaker 2>shoot the rock the leather off the ball, because if

0:29:45.400 --> 0:29:48.080
<v Speaker 2>you go up against the Celtics, it's gonna be night night,

0:29:48.360 --> 0:29:50.960
<v Speaker 2>sleep mask, just like it was with the Dallas Mavericks

0:29:51.920 --> 0:29:56.280
<v Speaker 2>Houston Rockets twenty one and nine a minus.

0:29:57.400 --> 0:29:59.640
<v Speaker 1>I don't know what's happening.

0:30:00.400 --> 0:30:02.680
<v Speaker 2>It's like you see the stats and you're just kind

0:30:02.680 --> 0:30:07.920
<v Speaker 2>of like, how nobody on this team can shoot at all?

0:30:08.040 --> 0:30:11.000
<v Speaker 1>Not a lick. I think the average field goal percentage

0:30:11.040 --> 0:30:12.360
<v Speaker 1>is like thirty eight percent.

0:30:13.680 --> 0:30:16.280
<v Speaker 2>No one expected them to be second in the West

0:30:16.360 --> 0:30:21.200
<v Speaker 2>right now. Emy Udoka is the fucking man Portland, Portland, Oregon.

0:30:21.320 --> 0:30:22.760
<v Speaker 1>Stand up. That's my guy.

0:30:22.880 --> 0:30:26.720
<v Speaker 2>E May Udoka from Kenton, one neighborhood, one neighborhood over

0:30:26.840 --> 0:30:31.120
<v Speaker 2>over from me. That's that's that's Jefferson High School right there,

0:30:31.240 --> 0:30:34.640
<v Speaker 2>that's my guy. No other coach throws up the shocker

0:30:34.920 --> 0:30:38.720
<v Speaker 2>for the press conference photos, fresh off one year off

0:30:38.760 --> 0:30:42.360
<v Speaker 2>of a sex scandal. Okay, like, that's my guy right there.

0:30:42.560 --> 0:30:47.040
<v Speaker 2>He's got he's got big coach energy.

0:30:47.320 --> 0:30:48.280
<v Speaker 1>You know what I'm saying.

0:30:48.520 --> 0:30:50.920
<v Speaker 2>Alprin Shank, he'll call you out in the media. He

0:30:51.000 --> 0:30:54.320
<v Speaker 2>does not give a fuck. Alprin Shangun has been awesome

0:30:54.600 --> 0:30:59.480
<v Speaker 2>on both ends. Jabari Smith is quietly improving. He's up

0:30:59.520 --> 0:31:02.760
<v Speaker 2>to thirty from three right now. Tarry Easton has given

0:31:02.840 --> 0:31:05.960
<v Speaker 2>him eleven and six every night. I'm and Thompson is

0:31:06.040 --> 0:31:10.360
<v Speaker 2>really good. He's a defensive monster. Can't shoot a three

0:31:10.400 --> 0:31:12.560
<v Speaker 2>to save their life. But if they can figure that out,

0:31:12.560 --> 0:31:16.000
<v Speaker 2>this is a dangerous team. Dylan Brooks is just an irritant.

0:31:16.280 --> 0:31:18.920
<v Speaker 2>They are a team fred Vanfleet irritant. They are a

0:31:19.000 --> 0:31:23.440
<v Speaker 2>team full of like salt water in your eyes, just

0:31:23.800 --> 0:31:26.840
<v Speaker 2>little paper cuts and salt water, over and over and

0:31:26.880 --> 0:31:29.080
<v Speaker 2>over and over. I don't know how dangerous they are.

0:31:29.200 --> 0:31:31.720
<v Speaker 2>I have no idea what they're gonna do in the playoffs.

0:31:31.720 --> 0:31:36.680
<v Speaker 2>But they are super super fun. Memphis Grizzlies twenty one

0:31:36.720 --> 0:31:37.080
<v Speaker 2>to ten.

0:31:37.720 --> 0:31:39.280
<v Speaker 1>They get a grade of a B plus.

0:31:40.400 --> 0:31:44.000
<v Speaker 2>They are dangerous, they are real, they are deep.

0:31:44.880 --> 0:31:46.120
<v Speaker 1>I love Memphis.

0:31:46.240 --> 0:31:48.280
<v Speaker 2>I love Taylor Jenkins, who might be one of the

0:31:48.320 --> 0:31:51.000
<v Speaker 2>more underrated defensive masterminds in the league.

0:31:51.120 --> 0:31:53.920
<v Speaker 1>Doesn't matter who's on this team. They're rocking John Conkar

0:31:54.040 --> 0:31:54.440
<v Speaker 1>out here.

0:31:54.600 --> 0:31:57.960
<v Speaker 2>John Conkar is getting trade request love like teams are

0:31:58.040 --> 0:32:03.720
<v Speaker 2>circling for John Kung Car. Sante Aldama is one of

0:32:03.800 --> 0:32:05.920
<v Speaker 2>their best players on this team.

0:32:06.440 --> 0:32:07.560
<v Speaker 1>What is happening?

0:32:08.360 --> 0:32:12.760
<v Speaker 2>You will never hear an ESPN story when Desmond Bane

0:32:12.760 --> 0:32:17.200
<v Speaker 2>gets thirty. Jaw is not breaking scoring records, but he's

0:32:17.240 --> 0:32:19.000
<v Speaker 2>been awesome twenty one points a game.

0:32:19.800 --> 0:32:21.640
<v Speaker 1>He's still recovering from his injuries.

0:32:22.000 --> 0:32:27.840
<v Speaker 2>Zach Edie is nice. The role players nice. Jalen Wells, Wow,

0:32:27.920 --> 0:32:30.520
<v Speaker 2>where did he come from? What a great draft pick?

0:32:30.760 --> 0:32:33.080
<v Speaker 2>Really nice start to the season. They are going to

0:32:33.160 --> 0:32:35.760
<v Speaker 2>fuck a team up in the playoffs. They're gonna punch

0:32:35.760 --> 0:32:39.240
<v Speaker 2>you right in the mouth. Taylor Jenkins might lose his.

0:32:39.320 --> 0:32:42.440
<v Speaker 1>Might on the sidelines. I love the Memphis Grizzlies. Love

0:32:42.480 --> 0:32:43.200
<v Speaker 1>what they're doing.

0:32:44.040 --> 0:32:48.840
<v Speaker 2>Wah Chef's kiss probably should get name minus Dallas Mavericks

0:32:48.920 --> 0:32:49.960
<v Speaker 2>nineteen and eleven.

0:32:50.480 --> 0:32:50.720
<v Speaker 1>Woo.

0:32:51.840 --> 0:32:57.120
<v Speaker 2>I don't know, bame minus lot was expected from this

0:32:57.240 --> 0:33:01.800
<v Speaker 2>team after the finals run. They add Clay to the mix.

0:33:02.520 --> 0:33:09.320
<v Speaker 2>Been very inconsistent despite a long winning streak, and now

0:33:09.360 --> 0:33:12.520
<v Speaker 2>they're staring at a stretch of probably a month and

0:33:12.680 --> 0:33:16.680
<v Speaker 2>change without Luca. They're gonna need to hold it together.

0:33:16.960 --> 0:33:22.800
<v Speaker 2>Derek Lively's been pretty good. Kyrie has been incredible. He

0:33:22.880 --> 0:33:25.880
<v Speaker 2>had forty something points the other night on Christmas Day.

0:33:26.200 --> 0:33:27.360
<v Speaker 1>Clay is starting to.

0:33:27.400 --> 0:33:31.400
<v Speaker 2>Heat up a He's a grower, not a shower, you

0:33:31.400 --> 0:33:31.840
<v Speaker 2>know what I mean.

0:33:32.080 --> 0:33:34.720
<v Speaker 1>Clay is giving him fourteen four and two.

0:33:35.200 --> 0:33:38.840
<v Speaker 2>His production just slowly ticks up as the months get

0:33:38.920 --> 0:33:41.800
<v Speaker 2>colder and he can't be on a boat anymore. But

0:33:41.880 --> 0:33:43.360
<v Speaker 2>I think this is a team that could make a

0:33:43.440 --> 0:33:46.640
<v Speaker 2>move before the deadline. It's been a strange semester for

0:33:46.680 --> 0:33:48.760
<v Speaker 2>the MAVs, but I expect more going forward.

0:33:49.320 --> 0:33:51.680
<v Speaker 1>I think they'll tick up if.

0:33:51.680 --> 0:33:53.880
<v Speaker 2>Luca gets back healthy. I think they'll tick up. But

0:33:53.920 --> 0:33:56.680
<v Speaker 2>they're dangerous no matter if they're a playing team. Top six,

0:33:56.760 --> 0:34:02.120
<v Speaker 2>top four, doesn't matter. Denver Nugget teen and twelve. They

0:34:02.160 --> 0:34:06.800
<v Speaker 2>get to see I've said it a million times. This

0:34:06.960 --> 0:34:10.879
<v Speaker 2>is a team that is in serious trouble. They don't

0:34:10.960 --> 0:34:14.920
<v Speaker 2>get that much trouble looking at them because they've got Yokic.

0:34:15.320 --> 0:34:17.440
<v Speaker 2>They could have an f if it wasn't for Yokic

0:34:17.520 --> 0:34:20.200
<v Speaker 2>playing at an MVP level again, He's gonna win it again.

0:34:20.960 --> 0:34:24.960
<v Speaker 2>He's kept them in about half of their game single handedly.

0:34:25.400 --> 0:34:28.920
<v Speaker 2>Jamal Murray is averaging the lowest three point percentage in

0:34:28.960 --> 0:34:31.760
<v Speaker 2>the least amount of points per game since twenty nineteen.

0:34:32.440 --> 0:34:35.120
<v Speaker 2>He has a career high in turnovers. He fucking stinks

0:34:35.200 --> 0:34:39.479
<v Speaker 2>right now, and I love Jamal Murray. The Nuggets, Black Depth,

0:34:40.000 --> 0:34:42.800
<v Speaker 2>Christian Brown, Peyton Watson.

0:34:42.880 --> 0:34:45.000
<v Speaker 1>They are not stars. They are not him.

0:34:45.280 --> 0:34:48.040
<v Speaker 2>They're gonna have to address something before the trade deadline

0:34:48.160 --> 0:34:51.120
<v Speaker 2>or its curtains. They need to trade Michael Porter Junior. Yeah,

0:34:51.160 --> 0:34:54.160
<v Speaker 2>Michael Porter Junior coming out and saying, well, the team

0:34:54.239 --> 0:34:56.280
<v Speaker 2>tells me they're not trading me, but if.

0:34:56.120 --> 0:34:58.640
<v Speaker 1>They were, they wouldn't tell me anyway.

0:34:58.800 --> 0:35:02.480
<v Speaker 2>So he knows what time it is. This team is constructed.

0:35:03.760 --> 0:35:09.280
<v Speaker 2>Can't beat anyone, let alone OKC or a dozen teams

0:35:09.280 --> 0:35:13.680
<v Speaker 2>out West LA Lakers.

0:35:12.520 --> 0:35:14.880
<v Speaker 1>Seventeen wins, thirteen losses.

0:35:15.280 --> 0:35:19.720
<v Speaker 2>They get a C considering everything, because like this roster

0:35:20.320 --> 0:35:25.680
<v Speaker 2>still stinks, Like considering everything, the roster should not have

0:35:25.800 --> 0:35:29.920
<v Speaker 2>them four games over five hundred. Brawn and Anthony Davis

0:35:30.080 --> 0:35:34.040
<v Speaker 2>day to day Davis have regressed. They still he's day

0:35:34.080 --> 0:35:37.320
<v Speaker 2>to day right now. Anthony Davis he sprained his ankle

0:35:37.360 --> 0:35:41.760
<v Speaker 2>on Christmas Day, shocking. They don't have any perimeter shooting

0:35:41.800 --> 0:35:45.600
<v Speaker 2>for the fourth consecutive year. They got Ridatorian Prince, who's

0:35:45.640 --> 0:35:48.520
<v Speaker 2>now like the leading three point shooter in the NBA

0:35:48.680 --> 0:35:52.719
<v Speaker 2>right now, and they replaced him with Dalton Connect, who,

0:35:52.719 --> 0:35:55.400
<v Speaker 2>no matter how awesome Dalton Connect was gonna be, he

0:35:55.480 --> 0:35:57.760
<v Speaker 2>was never going to be the best three point shooter

0:35:57.840 --> 0:35:58.440
<v Speaker 2>in the league.

0:35:59.000 --> 0:35:59.680
<v Speaker 1>It's not great.

0:36:00.719 --> 0:36:02.960
<v Speaker 2>The rumor is that they're gonna ship some first outs

0:36:02.960 --> 0:36:05.080
<v Speaker 2>to try to get a game changing star, But who

0:36:05.160 --> 0:36:05.480
<v Speaker 2>is that?

0:36:06.040 --> 0:36:09.880
<v Speaker 1>Really? Is that? Dearon Fox, you gonna be able to

0:36:09.960 --> 0:36:10.399
<v Speaker 1>do that?

0:36:10.640 --> 0:36:13.920
<v Speaker 2>You better fucking ship out Anthony Davis then, cause if

0:36:13.920 --> 0:36:17.680
<v Speaker 2>I'm Sacramento, I want Sabonus and Anthony Davis together.

0:36:17.920 --> 0:36:21.600
<v Speaker 1>If you're if I'm giving you my franchise star. This

0:36:21.680 --> 0:36:24.319
<v Speaker 1>is this is a gray that's likely gonna go down.

0:36:24.480 --> 0:36:27.759
<v Speaker 2>This is a ship that just slowly but surely is

0:36:27.840 --> 0:36:29.760
<v Speaker 2>losing pieces of.

0:36:29.640 --> 0:36:31.720
<v Speaker 1>The whole is the whole of Peters of the ship.

0:36:31.760 --> 0:36:33.759
<v Speaker 1>It is right for Clippers.

0:36:33.440 --> 0:36:38.680
<v Speaker 2>Seventeen and thirteen, they getna be probably a B plos

0:36:38.760 --> 0:36:42.600
<v Speaker 2>though they have the same record as the Lakers. They

0:36:42.760 --> 0:36:45.440
<v Speaker 2>they have like no one on this team is Kawhi

0:36:45.480 --> 0:36:49.120
<v Speaker 2>hasn't played a lick yet. He's expected back in a week,

0:36:49.160 --> 0:36:50.799
<v Speaker 2>but like, isn't he always expected in.

0:36:50.760 --> 0:36:51.760
<v Speaker 1>A week back?

0:36:51.920 --> 0:36:55.479
<v Speaker 2>Like I have been pleasantly surprised, Like James Harden has

0:36:55.600 --> 0:37:00.000
<v Speaker 2>been so good. Norm Powell has waited his entire career

0:37:00.719 --> 0:37:05.239
<v Speaker 2>to be an option and he's been really good. Not

0:37:05.320 --> 0:37:08.560
<v Speaker 2>an off court in distraction either. James Harden a mere coffee,

0:37:08.600 --> 0:37:10.280
<v Speaker 2>just a small coffee, has.

0:37:10.160 --> 0:37:13.239
<v Speaker 1>Also been good. He's just been really good.

0:37:13.680 --> 0:37:18.160
<v Speaker 2>Terrence Man, Like who is on this roster really and

0:37:18.239 --> 0:37:27.560
<v Speaker 2>you say yourself, wow, Kai Jones, Chris Dunn, MOBILEBA, Like

0:37:28.239 --> 0:37:32.240
<v Speaker 2>they should not have seventeen wins right now. They really

0:37:32.360 --> 0:37:38.040
<v Speaker 2>should not. Trenton Flowers, Jordan Miller, the ghost of PJ.

0:37:38.200 --> 0:37:42.040
<v Speaker 2>Tucker and all of his shoes, Derek Jones Junior has

0:37:42.080 --> 0:37:45.360
<v Speaker 2>been a big disappointment and yet they persist.

0:37:46.080 --> 0:37:47.000
<v Speaker 1>So far, so good.

0:37:47.000 --> 0:37:50.960
<v Speaker 2>Clippers more room to grow, Phoenix Sun's fifteen and.

0:37:50.960 --> 0:37:52.600
<v Speaker 1>Fourteen they get a D plus.

0:37:52.880 --> 0:38:00.000
<v Speaker 2>This team stinks. Okay, they finessed me. I think we're

0:38:00.280 --> 0:38:02.520
<v Speaker 2>the other media members who are smarter than me.

0:38:02.840 --> 0:38:03.719
<v Speaker 1>They finessed me.

0:38:04.120 --> 0:38:06.560
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes I get tricked, like I don't think this is

0:38:07.000 --> 0:38:09.560
<v Speaker 2>a good team, and then Brian Windhorst comes out. He's like,

0:38:09.600 --> 0:38:12.960
<v Speaker 2>I really like Phoenix, and I'm like, yeah, okay, all

0:38:13.080 --> 0:38:17.040
<v Speaker 2>roll No, this team is garbage without KD and he

0:38:17.080 --> 0:38:21.280
<v Speaker 2>has been injured way more than he should be injured.

0:38:21.680 --> 0:38:24.120
<v Speaker 2>At this point, when the big three is healthy, they're

0:38:24.160 --> 0:38:28.200
<v Speaker 2>probably a B B plus. Maybe that happens so rarely

0:38:28.480 --> 0:38:32.560
<v Speaker 2>that we are talking like the Brooklyn Nets of the

0:38:32.600 --> 0:38:36.160
<v Speaker 2>West with kde Harden and Kyrie, Like we never see

0:38:36.200 --> 0:38:41.040
<v Speaker 2>these three dudes together ever. Ever, Booker's having a bad year.

0:38:41.239 --> 0:38:43.719
<v Speaker 2>His numbers offensively are the worst he's put up since

0:38:43.760 --> 0:38:49.560
<v Speaker 2>twenty seventeen. By the way guards in Mike Budenholzer system,

0:38:50.000 --> 0:38:54.440
<v Speaker 2>I'm just gonna say, they don't thrive. They don't thrive.

0:38:54.719 --> 0:38:57.560
<v Speaker 2>They're already looking to move on from use off Nurkic.

0:38:57.880 --> 0:38:58.759
<v Speaker 1>Not a surprise.

0:38:59.120 --> 0:39:01.799
<v Speaker 2>They're trying to get somebody good in return, which they

0:39:01.840 --> 0:39:03.359
<v Speaker 2>will not get.

0:39:04.680 --> 0:39:06.160
<v Speaker 1>What's the solution? In Phoenix.

0:39:06.280 --> 0:39:09.319
<v Speaker 2>I think, I think a time machine, and you go

0:39:09.400 --> 0:39:11.279
<v Speaker 2>back and you say, do not sell this team to

0:39:11.320 --> 0:39:13.680
<v Speaker 2>Matt Ishpia and his two dollars hot dogs.

0:39:14.719 --> 0:39:16.799
<v Speaker 1>This a man tried not to get killed. That's what

0:39:16.920 --> 0:39:18.360
<v Speaker 1>he is. He said, you know what, I'm.

0:39:18.239 --> 0:39:21.240
<v Speaker 2>Not trying to be that United Healthcare ceo hot dogs

0:39:21.239 --> 0:39:26.120
<v Speaker 2>coax everything. Two bucks fifteen and fourteen for Minnesota. They

0:39:26.200 --> 0:39:28.960
<v Speaker 2>get a D minus. Really should be an F, but

0:39:29.000 --> 0:39:31.320
<v Speaker 2>there's room. There's so much talent on this roster, you

0:39:31.360 --> 0:39:33.480
<v Speaker 2>really can't give him an F. They are the single

0:39:33.480 --> 0:39:37.319
<v Speaker 2>most disappointing team in the NBA this year. No one

0:39:37.920 --> 0:39:42.280
<v Speaker 2>seems to have gauged, even me, how important Karl Anthony

0:39:42.320 --> 0:39:46.239
<v Speaker 2>Towns was for this team. Aunt Edwards is almost in

0:39:46.400 --> 0:39:50.800
<v Speaker 2>mourning over the loss of his friend, alternating between sad

0:39:51.239 --> 0:39:54.400
<v Speaker 2>and angry, like a guy who's best friend in grade

0:39:54.400 --> 0:39:56.719
<v Speaker 2>school had moved to Tulsa and he doesn't know what

0:39:56.800 --> 0:39:59.480
<v Speaker 2>to do with it. And they see each other maybe

0:39:59.640 --> 0:40:02.080
<v Speaker 2>during the Christmas holidays, and they hang out every day,

0:40:02.120 --> 0:40:06.319
<v Speaker 2>and they changed trade jerseys and they just pined for

0:40:06.360 --> 0:40:10.680
<v Speaker 2>one another. Yet again, it's clear Karl Anthony Towns was

0:40:10.680 --> 0:40:13.759
<v Speaker 2>the glue we thought it was aunt It is not

0:40:13.920 --> 0:40:18.000
<v Speaker 2>aunt Ant is sending ricochet shots to this team every

0:40:18.120 --> 0:40:19.680
<v Speaker 2>time he gets in front of the media.

0:40:19.800 --> 0:40:20.879
<v Speaker 1>We don't like each other.

0:40:21.080 --> 0:40:24.000
<v Speaker 2>We don't have any chemistry. Things are getting worse. We

0:40:24.040 --> 0:40:28.760
<v Speaker 2>don't have an identity. Like the list goes. We're well coached,

0:40:28.760 --> 0:40:31.920
<v Speaker 2>but we are not executing. We've got players, no one's

0:40:31.920 --> 0:40:35.440
<v Speaker 2>showing up. Julius Randall is.

0:40:35.440 --> 0:40:37.880
<v Speaker 1>Disappearing for long stretches of games.

0:40:38.920 --> 0:40:42.560
<v Speaker 2>It is clear perhaps that he and Chris Finch maybe

0:40:42.560 --> 0:40:45.440
<v Speaker 2>did not get along so well in New Orleans. This

0:40:45.520 --> 0:40:48.800
<v Speaker 2>trades legacy might end up forcing aunt Edwards to leave Minnesota,

0:40:48.800 --> 0:40:50.960
<v Speaker 2>which would be a big yikes. But at least you

0:40:51.000 --> 0:40:55.000
<v Speaker 2>guys got under the second apron. Congratulations to that you

0:40:55.120 --> 0:41:00.799
<v Speaker 2>saved some fucking money. Golden State fifteen and fourteen. If

0:41:00.800 --> 0:41:03.439
<v Speaker 2>we would have done this ten twelve games in the season,

0:41:03.440 --> 0:41:04.720
<v Speaker 2>they would had an A plus.

0:41:05.040 --> 0:41:08.080
<v Speaker 1>But the problem is we gotta play all the damn games.

0:41:08.360 --> 0:41:12.080
<v Speaker 2>They get a D plus, not because they're in tenth

0:41:12.120 --> 0:41:17.799
<v Speaker 2>place at the mid semester break, which honestly was expected,

0:41:18.200 --> 0:41:22.320
<v Speaker 2>but because our dubs once again have had high expectations

0:41:22.360 --> 0:41:24.640
<v Speaker 2>coming into this season. They get Buddy Heal, Buddy Heel

0:41:24.640 --> 0:41:27.080
<v Speaker 2>they're shooting some of the best percentages of his entire career.

0:41:27.320 --> 0:41:31.160
<v Speaker 2>You got slow Mo, you got d Anthony Milton, you

0:41:31.200 --> 0:41:37.480
<v Speaker 2>had Brandon Pajemski, Pods the untouchable hero. You have our man,

0:41:37.840 --> 0:41:41.359
<v Speaker 2>Jonathan Kaminga. Cum Buckets was getting a bigger role on

0:41:41.400 --> 0:41:45.960
<v Speaker 2>this team right before his contract year. Everybody thought this

0:41:46.120 --> 0:41:47.880
<v Speaker 2>was a team that was going to evolve into a

0:41:47.920 --> 0:41:51.160
<v Speaker 2>real contender. And it is just really tough right now.

0:41:51.600 --> 0:41:55.160
<v Speaker 2>You got cum Buckets. Now back to the bench. Pajemski's

0:41:55.200 --> 0:41:58.000
<v Speaker 2>on the trade block. Steph Curry's talking about the end

0:41:58.000 --> 0:42:01.120
<v Speaker 2>of his career is closer than everyone the Steve Kerr

0:42:01.200 --> 0:42:04.680
<v Speaker 2>is pulling out his hair. Where is Moses Mody, Moses Moody,

0:42:04.760 --> 0:42:09.880
<v Speaker 2>Moses Moody, I don't know. Draymond is hooking people down

0:42:10.000 --> 0:42:15.359
<v Speaker 2>like it's WWE raw. If this year were any other year,

0:42:16.040 --> 0:42:18.359
<v Speaker 2>this would be an f If this team was any

0:42:18.360 --> 0:42:20.879
<v Speaker 2>other team, this team would have a C plus grade.

0:42:20.880 --> 0:42:24.600
<v Speaker 2>But it's Golden State and it's Steph Curry and it's

0:42:24.640 --> 0:42:26.920
<v Speaker 2>preserving his legacy, and he says.

0:42:26.640 --> 0:42:27.440
<v Speaker 1>He wants to win.

0:42:27.560 --> 0:42:32.800
<v Speaker 2>Folks, Expectations are a bitch, and so are D plus students.

0:42:34.000 --> 0:42:38.000
<v Speaker 2>San Antonio fifteen and fifteen five hundred. They get a

0:42:38.000 --> 0:42:42.959
<v Speaker 2>Grade B as well. Well, well, well, this.

0:42:42.960 --> 0:42:46.600
<v Speaker 1>Is a team that it took a season and a third.

0:42:47.400 --> 0:42:51.520
<v Speaker 2>But now Victor women Yamatan, he has taken over.

0:42:51.840 --> 0:42:52.600
<v Speaker 1>He might be.

0:42:54.320 --> 0:43:00.200
<v Speaker 2>The best player in the league in twelve months. They

0:43:01.000 --> 0:43:05.680
<v Speaker 2>never have seen anything like this before. My man Victor

0:43:06.080 --> 0:43:10.040
<v Speaker 2>is averaging twenty five ten and four, and he's averaging

0:43:10.680 --> 0:43:16.080
<v Speaker 2>four blocks per game. He's shooting forty percent from three

0:43:17.080 --> 0:43:21.840
<v Speaker 2>on ten attempts per game. As someone who's seven feet four,

0:43:23.400 --> 0:43:27.480
<v Speaker 2>he is a deterrence around the rim at a radius

0:43:28.000 --> 0:43:30.920
<v Speaker 2>about as big as my car, which is an SUV.

0:43:32.120 --> 0:43:35.359
<v Speaker 2>The rebuild is much ahead as schedule. I would go

0:43:35.400 --> 0:43:38.399
<v Speaker 2>out and get a guard, no shade, just Defoncastle because

0:43:38.400 --> 0:43:40.520
<v Speaker 2>I like him a lot. Bitch couldn't get me eight

0:43:40.560 --> 0:43:43.360
<v Speaker 2>points the other night, though, No, he couldn't. This is

0:43:43.400 --> 0:43:45.520
<v Speaker 2>a team that could finish in the top six if

0:43:45.560 --> 0:43:49.280
<v Speaker 2>they keep playing this way. Victor had forty two points

0:43:50.360 --> 0:43:56.399
<v Speaker 2>on Christmas Day. On Christmas Day at the Garden, and

0:43:56.440 --> 0:44:01.720
<v Speaker 2>he's telling people, I'm scared for you, guys. I'm worried

0:44:01.880 --> 0:44:06.560
<v Speaker 2>for you cause I'm only getting better if they get

0:44:06.560 --> 0:44:09.640
<v Speaker 2>a player like Deer and Fox this.

0:44:09.520 --> 0:44:12.719
<v Speaker 1>Is a team that could contend next year like watch out.

0:44:12.800 --> 0:44:15.239
<v Speaker 2>Okay, see this is Victor Womany on the time, Victor

0:44:15.239 --> 0:44:17.000
<v Speaker 2>Womany on the time, Victor Wmeny you on the time.

0:44:17.719 --> 0:44:24.520
<v Speaker 2>Sacramento Kings Wolf thirteen and eighteen f minus no other

0:44:24.600 --> 0:44:28.759
<v Speaker 2>way to put it. This is a failing grade for

0:44:28.880 --> 0:44:33.640
<v Speaker 2>a failing team with a good roster. I expected the team,

0:44:33.760 --> 0:44:36.359
<v Speaker 2>the Kings, to win the division. I expected the Kings

0:44:36.400 --> 0:44:39.880
<v Speaker 2>to be top six in the West. I expected Demarta

0:44:40.000 --> 0:44:43.640
<v Speaker 2>Rosen to do anything to out this team. I expected

0:44:43.719 --> 0:44:48.040
<v Speaker 2>Keegan Murray to take a step. I expected Kevin Herder

0:44:48.040 --> 0:44:54.720
<v Speaker 2>to somehow be serviceable. I'm not sure what the Kings

0:44:54.760 --> 0:44:57.279
<v Speaker 2>can do to add to this team to make them

0:44:57.320 --> 0:44:58.879
<v Speaker 2>significantly better, because they.

0:44:58.800 --> 0:45:02.319
<v Speaker 1>Not only need a star, they also need depth. They

0:45:02.360 --> 0:45:03.400
<v Speaker 1>have no depth.

0:45:05.680 --> 0:45:08.640
<v Speaker 2>N I don't know what they could have done, like

0:45:08.800 --> 0:45:13.319
<v Speaker 2>just be better, just be better, really, Kean Ellis, I

0:45:13.440 --> 0:45:14.560
<v Speaker 2>need more minutes from you.

0:45:15.560 --> 0:45:16.879
<v Speaker 1>I I mean Sibonis.

0:45:17.040 --> 0:45:20.560
<v Speaker 2>I feel I love Sabonis, but highly limited in in

0:45:20.680 --> 0:45:23.440
<v Speaker 2>certain ways. It's almost like he would be an awesome

0:45:23.520 --> 0:45:27.359
<v Speaker 2>four needs like a five with him or another really

0:45:27.360 --> 0:45:28.040
<v Speaker 2>good backup.

0:45:28.080 --> 0:45:33.000
<v Speaker 1>Big Isaiah Hartenstein would have been an awesome move. M

0:45:33.040 --> 0:45:34.439
<v Speaker 1>only up for h from here, right.

0:45:34.760 --> 0:45:37.239
<v Speaker 2>That's what F students say, like, can't get much worse

0:45:37.239 --> 0:45:40.680
<v Speaker 2>from the rock bottom. I I'm giving them an F though,

0:45:40.719 --> 0:45:43.760
<v Speaker 2>because GE's not a grade. If you could get worse

0:45:43.840 --> 0:45:46.640
<v Speaker 2>than F minus, then that's what they would get.

0:45:47.200 --> 0:45:48.800
<v Speaker 1>What a sad state of affairs.

0:45:48.880 --> 0:45:52.239
<v Speaker 2>Darren Fox probably gone unless he doesn't care that much

0:45:52.239 --> 0:45:55.200
<v Speaker 2>about winning and he only cares about max money. I

0:45:55.280 --> 0:45:58.800
<v Speaker 2>love you, Sacramento, but this is fucking rough, fucking rough

0:46:00.080 --> 0:46:04.680
<v Speaker 2>my Portland Trailblazers ten and twenty grade C.

0:46:06.320 --> 0:46:08.960
<v Speaker 1>Ten wins at this point.

0:46:09.960 --> 0:46:16.120
<v Speaker 2>Ten T I expected six five wins, enough to make

0:46:16.160 --> 0:46:17.120
<v Speaker 2>you hopeful.

0:46:16.719 --> 0:46:19.000
<v Speaker 1>But not r enough to ruin your chances in a

0:46:19.160 --> 0:46:19.960
<v Speaker 1>historic draft.

0:46:20.600 --> 0:46:23.280
<v Speaker 2>I kind of want Dylan Harper now. I'm a little

0:46:23.680 --> 0:46:26.040
<v Speaker 2>worried about Scoot. I know he hit a game winner

0:46:26.520 --> 0:46:28.320
<v Speaker 2>last night. Congratulations to Scoot.

0:46:28.360 --> 0:46:28.839
<v Speaker 1>I love him.

0:46:29.480 --> 0:46:32.080
<v Speaker 2>Fine line between showing growth and tanking, and I think

0:46:32.120 --> 0:46:34.800
<v Speaker 2>the Blazers are sort of doing a good job. Nate Yorkrin,

0:46:35.000 --> 0:46:37.720
<v Speaker 2>by the way, assistant head coach, took over for Chauncey

0:46:37.760 --> 0:46:42.040
<v Speaker 2>Billups last night, who was off because of a family situation,

0:46:43.040 --> 0:46:45.160
<v Speaker 2>and he did an awesome job of coaching this team.

0:46:45.200 --> 0:46:46.160
<v Speaker 1>I like Nate Yorkrin.

0:46:46.680 --> 0:46:49.840
<v Speaker 2>I think they're gonna ditch some salary. Aton might get moved,

0:46:49.920 --> 0:46:54.040
<v Speaker 2>Rob Williams might get moved, and Forne Simons might get moved.

0:46:54.719 --> 0:46:57.400
<v Speaker 1>And that will be clear. Sailing tank away.

0:46:57.800 --> 0:47:01.239
<v Speaker 2>Capture that flag, Portland, capture that flag. We won't get it, though,

0:47:01.280 --> 0:47:05.439
<v Speaker 2>because God hates me. Utah Jazz seven and twenty two

0:47:06.000 --> 0:47:10.280
<v Speaker 2>they get a B plus. Will Hardy knows the command,

0:47:10.440 --> 0:47:14.360
<v Speaker 2>n knows the assignment. He is the tank commander. He

0:47:14.440 --> 0:47:16.839
<v Speaker 2>called a time out on a calling Sexton drive down

0:47:16.960 --> 0:47:19.640
<v Speaker 2>one with four seconds left to keep the Jazz from

0:47:19.680 --> 0:47:22.640
<v Speaker 2>winning a game he was intent to lose.

0:47:23.120 --> 0:47:24.040
<v Speaker 1>That is commitment.

0:47:25.000 --> 0:47:28.279
<v Speaker 2>I always want to reward commitment and execution with a

0:47:28.320 --> 0:47:31.480
<v Speaker 2>solid grade. I love Keyante George. He might be the

0:47:31.480 --> 0:47:35.759
<v Speaker 2>best point guard from this draft class, although some of

0:47:35.760 --> 0:47:39.560
<v Speaker 2>their recent draft picks also have been just kind of

0:47:39.560 --> 0:47:42.400
<v Speaker 2>not that good, Like Kyle Philipowski. They will not get better,

0:47:42.560 --> 0:47:47.080
<v Speaker 2>so this grade should stay where it is. New Orleans they.

0:47:47.000 --> 0:47:51.120
<v Speaker 1>Get a VF, a New gen Z grade.

0:47:52.080 --> 0:47:55.080
<v Speaker 2>A VF is a Vanish fail that you get when

0:47:55.120 --> 0:47:57.080
<v Speaker 2>you just don't show up for class anymore.

0:47:57.280 --> 0:47:59.879
<v Speaker 1>Youse literally are gone off into the ether.

0:48:00.280 --> 0:48:04.680
<v Speaker 2>The Pelicans are so injured and thus so bad, we

0:48:04.800 --> 0:48:07.359
<v Speaker 2>can't even give them a grade. This team isn't even

0:48:07.360 --> 0:48:11.680
<v Speaker 2>an incomplete complete Zion isa Ingram can't be traded. Half

0:48:11.719 --> 0:48:14.600
<v Speaker 2>the squads on injured reserve at any given moment. They

0:48:14.640 --> 0:48:17.160
<v Speaker 2>cannot compete with anyone on the court. And as you know,

0:48:17.239 --> 0:48:20.080
<v Speaker 2>a VF automatically turns into an F if the work

0:48:20.120 --> 0:48:22.080
<v Speaker 2>isn't made up, and so we know that work is

0:48:22.120 --> 0:48:24.000
<v Speaker 2>not going to be made up, so eventually it will

0:48:24.000 --> 0:48:24.400
<v Speaker 2>be an F.

0:48:24.680 --> 0:48:27.239
<v Speaker 1>But right now, at this juncture, VF is all they get.

0:48:28.680 --> 0:48:31.680
<v Speaker 1>Those are the grades, baby, those are the grades. That's

0:48:31.719 --> 0:48:33.320
<v Speaker 1>all the time that we have for this episode of

0:48:33.320 --> 0:48:33.799
<v Speaker 1>the Heat Check.

0:48:33.840 --> 0:48:36.520
<v Speaker 2>Come back Monday for an on new episode. Check out

0:48:36.520 --> 0:48:39.319
<v Speaker 2>the feed for past episodes and many episodes which drop

0:48:39.520 --> 0:48:43.240
<v Speaker 2>unexpectedly like a pat Riley Twitter alert. Do not forget

0:48:43.239 --> 0:48:45.640
<v Speaker 2>to follow the heat Check throughout the season. That means download,

0:48:45.680 --> 0:48:47.960
<v Speaker 2>I mean subscribe. That means tell your friends, even that

0:48:48.000 --> 0:48:52.600
<v Speaker 2>poor customer service people everywhere dealing with irate customers, tell them, hey,

0:48:52.640 --> 0:48:54.640
<v Speaker 2>we know it's not your fault. The company that you

0:48:54.680 --> 0:48:58.120
<v Speaker 2>work for stinks. Throwing a heat Check in your ear pods.

0:48:58.400 --> 0:49:00.239
<v Speaker 2>Dust out that resume, get into a job with the

0:49:00.239 --> 0:49:01.839
<v Speaker 2>company that won't throw you under the bus, and don't

0:49:01.840 --> 0:49:02.799
<v Speaker 2>forget to follow me on.

0:49:02.760 --> 0:49:08.759
<v Speaker 1>Threads, Twitter, I g on Tristan at tristed, Underscore Creek

0:49:08.800 --> 0:49:11.400
<v Speaker 1>and of course the tea checking on TikTok and tritons

0:49:11.920 --> 0:49:18.880
<v Speaker 1>tum