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Speaker 1: gambler dot net in West Virginia. Welcome to Hoops Tonight,
Speaker 1: presented by Fandel here at the volume. Happy Wednesday, everybody.
Speaker 1: It is halfway through the week. I hope all of
Speaker 1: you guys are having a great week that turned into
Speaker 1: a much more interesting night of basketball than I expected
Speaker 1: coming into tonight. Obviously you're thinking to three one series
Speaker 1: team at home, significant favorite, gonna be a relatively boring
Speaker 1: night of basketball, you know, the kind of boring night
Speaker 1: that would lead to folks in Lakers Land leaking defamatory
Speaker 1: things about their teammates and compatriots and trying to take
Speaker 1: advantage of the slow news cycle on today. But what
Speaker 1: ended up happening was a very very very interesting Game
Speaker 1: five between Denver and Golden State, and I think Golden
Speaker 1: State was in a lot more trouble there. People realize
Speaker 1: we are going to break that down. We're also going
Speaker 1: to have a what I learned segment about the bulls
Speaker 1: and the Bucks. We're gonna get into the story that
Speaker 1: was released on Bleacher Report about some of this Lakers drama,
Speaker 1: and then at the end, we're gonna do a mail back.
Speaker 1: So I need all of you guys who are listening
Speaker 1: to do a couple of things. Please hit the subscribe
Speaker 1: button to the Volumes YouTube channels. You don't miss any
Speaker 1: more of our shows. And then if you have any
Speaker 1: questions that you can ask literally anything about absolutely anything
Speaker 1: dropped them in the chat, and if we have time,
Speaker 1: we will get to them at the end. But let's
Speaker 1: start with Golden State and Denver. So interestingly enough, this
Speaker 1: series was starting to take on a little bit of
Speaker 1: a feel similar to Toronto and Philly. You know, we
Speaker 1: did a theme last night and the show that styles
Speaker 1: make fights. But not just that styles make fights. It's
Speaker 1: about which style wins the fight, because just because one
Speaker 1: style has an advantage over another, usually that has something
Speaker 1: to do with which style is playing better, not necessarily
Speaker 1: the style in and of itself in a vacuum. Golden
Speaker 1: State has a bunch of advantages over Denver, particularly in
Speaker 1: overall talent and skill level. Right, No one's debating the
Speaker 1: fact that Golden State has significantly more skilled and capable
Speaker 1: perimeter players than Denver does. But Denver has a huge
Speaker 1: advantage in this series too, and its interior size, not
Speaker 1: just on the interior, actually perimeter size as well. Guys
Speaker 1: like you know, guys like Will Barton can cause a
Speaker 1: problem on the perimeter with his length and athleticism. They're
Speaker 1: a big and strong team. Austin Rivers is another guy
Speaker 1: who's very, very good and physical defensive guard. They have
Speaker 1: physical advantages in this series, and early on in this series,
Speaker 1: Golden State held up really well under that physical onslaught
Speaker 1: and had a lot of success and took a three
Speaker 1: oh lead. But what happened in Game three? It was close,
Speaker 1: It was very close, and Stephen Draymond each made a
Speaker 1: key play down the stretch of the game to pull
Speaker 1: that one out, very similar to a Joel and Be
Speaker 1: did to the Raptors in Game three. Up in Toronto.
Speaker 1: But in those games, Game three in Toronto and Game
Speaker 1: three in Denver, Denver and Toronto figured some things out
Speaker 1: and started to inflict their advantages on who they were playing.
Speaker 1: And then you saw Game four swing the other way,
Speaker 1: wins for both teams. Right, So now you got a
Speaker 1: Game five on your home floor. Toronto went into Philly
Speaker 1: and played the same brand of basketball that they played
Speaker 1: at home, and they kicked their ass. Now, Golden State
Speaker 1: is not, as you know, I'm not even sure the
Speaker 1: right word to use here, but Golden State is is
Speaker 1: more experienced, battle hardened, and prepared for something like this
Speaker 1: than Philly is. And so when Denver came in tonight
Speaker 1: and did the exact same thing, just playing that physically
Speaker 1: imposing brand of basketball, Golden State faltered a little bit,
Speaker 1: but they had the mental toughness to push through. Tweeted
Speaker 1: out twice during the game that this was quickly turning
Speaker 1: into not a must win, but as close to a
Speaker 1: must win as it could be for a team that's
Speaker 1: up three one in this series. The reason why is
Speaker 1: you're heading to Denver next, and these advantages, these physical advantages,
Speaker 1: it's really difficult to regain control of that situation. Look
Speaker 1: at Phoenix last year. Phoenix, very similar situation. They hold
Speaker 1: up really well under the Janice and Drew Holiday on
Speaker 1: slot in gains one in game two, right, and then
Speaker 1: it just started to wear on them a little bit.
Speaker 1: Everything got a little bit tougher for them on both
Speaker 1: sides of the floor. And suddenly Milwaukee had the advantage
Speaker 1: in their physicality and it was impossible for Phoenix to
Speaker 1: regain that advantage that because, like we talked another theme
Speaker 1: from last night, the difference between what's in your control
Speaker 1: and what's outside of your control. You know, your perimeter skill,
Speaker 1: guys like Jordan Pool and Clay Thompson and Steph Curry
Speaker 1: and their ability to create shots off the dribble and
Speaker 1: knockdown difficult jump shots. There's a chance element there. Does
Speaker 1: the shot go in or does it not go in?
Speaker 1: And if it goes one way or the other, it
Speaker 1: can swing the outcome of a game. But if you
Speaker 1: are a physically dominant team, that is a very dependable
Speaker 1: tool to have in your toolbox. And I thought Aaron
Speaker 1: Gordon in particular set the tone. So Golden States starts
Speaker 1: small and they go with their best lineup, right, the
Speaker 1: death lineup number two or death lineup, number three, whatever
Speaker 1: you wanna call it, Steph Clay, Jordan Poole, Draymond Green
Speaker 1: and Andrew Wiggins. And on the very first possessions of
Speaker 1: the game, Aaron Gordon just put his head down and
Speaker 1: started driving to the basket, draws a foul on on
Speaker 1: Draymond Green, gets an offensive rebound and draws a foul.
Speaker 1: Then he drove to the basket on Clay Thompson and
Speaker 1: drew a foul. Nicola Yokus was bullying his way inside.
Speaker 1: Draymond had a foul already almost immediately. Steve Kerr had
Speaker 1: two audible out of that small lineup and go big.
Speaker 1: He brings in uh Kivon Looney to try to get
Speaker 1: some size in there, and it ended up being something
Speaker 1: they had to navigate the rest of the night. All
Speaker 1: game long, Denver was being so so aggressive to the basket.
Speaker 1: They weren't making shots from the perimeter. That wasn't their
Speaker 1: advantage in this game. It was just putting their head
Speaker 1: down and going to the rim. And Steph had a
Speaker 1: rough game in the first half, definitely got it going
Speaker 1: and save the day in the second half. We'll get
Speaker 1: to that in a minute. But Steph had a rough
Speaker 1: night in the first half, Jordan Pool was having a
Speaker 1: rough night. You know, everyone on Denver's got it clicking,
Speaker 1: and next thing you know, it's like we're down ten
Speaker 1: in the second half. They've been the better basketball team
Speaker 1: over the last two and a half games. We might
Speaker 1: be in some trouble here. And that's why I was
Speaker 1: saying it was a must win and two Golden States credit.
Speaker 1: They reached down deep and they got it done. You know,
Speaker 1: Draymond all night long. I don't remember how many remounts
Speaker 1: he finished with, but I think he might have had
Speaker 1: zero or or barely more than that. And it's because
Speaker 1: all night long he was fighting his ass off on
Speaker 1: just boxing dudes out, and Golden State was getting killed
Speaker 1: on the offensive glass. And you know, there's this interesting
Speaker 1: dynamic with UH with rebounding that I think led to
Speaker 1: the key substitution at the end of the game. So
Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys noticed, but Jordan Pool
Speaker 1: was absent down the stretch of the game and ended
Speaker 1: up being Gary Payton that closed. And there were two
Speaker 1: reasons why. Part of it was Monty Morris drew a
Speaker 1: couple of fouls on Jordan Pool because he wasn't sliding
Speaker 1: his feet well on the perimeter, and he was getting
Speaker 1: beat to the basket again young guard. Young guards typically
Speaker 1: are gonna take a while before they really pick up
Speaker 1: the details of defensive basketball. So I'm not worried about
Speaker 1: Jordan Pool. In the long run, especially in the Golden
Speaker 1: State system, He'll be a fine defensive player. But Denver
Speaker 1: was attacking him, and so they went to Gary Payton.
Speaker 1: And another big reason why they went to Gary Payton
Speaker 1: was the rebounding. So if Draymond has zero rebounds because
Speaker 1: he's locked in box outs all night long, how is
Speaker 1: it that you secure defensive rebounds. It's crashing. You gotta
Speaker 1: have people come flying in from the perimeter to grab rebounds.
Speaker 1: I thought that was a a big part of why
Speaker 1: Auto Porter Jr. Getting as much playing time as he did.
Speaker 1: He was coming flying in and grabbing rebounds. Gary Payton Jr.
Speaker 1: Coming flying into grab rebounds. And they finally started to
Speaker 1: get some stops down the stretch of the game. And
Speaker 1: then Steph was aggressive to the rim, and this was
Speaker 1: the key difference in the first half. Denver's defense was
Speaker 1: super aggressive on the perimeter. Every time they called the
Speaker 1: ball screen. They were trapping the ball screen and the
Speaker 1: rollman was wide open, and get Golden State was missing
Speaker 1: that pass a lot. And then when Jordan Pool and
Speaker 1: Steph and Clay and all those guys were dribbling, Denver's
Speaker 1: defenders were pressing up into them and taking away their
Speaker 1: three point shooting and they had to drive past them.
Speaker 1: And part of the reason why the first half was
Speaker 1: so sloppy was they weren't hitting the roll man and
Speaker 1: they weren't attacking that overly aggressive perimeter defense. Got a
Speaker 1: pivotal stretch of the game there in the third quarter,
Speaker 1: Steph got hot, made some threes, got them back into
Speaker 1: the game, and then down the stretch of the game,
Speaker 1: it was Steph Curry putting his head down and going
Speaker 1: to the rim and he was icing the game at
Speaker 1: the rim. But a huge, huge, huge performance from Gary
Speaker 1: Payton Jr. We've talked a lot about him on the
Speaker 1: show in recent weeks. I obviously have a personal attachment there.
Speaker 1: I played against him a bunch of college and have
Speaker 1: a bunch of mutual respect there. And he he made
Speaker 1: his living in college as a playmaker. That's what made
Speaker 1: him so good. In his second year at Salt Lake
Speaker 1: and in his year at Oregon State, and he was
Speaker 1: just the perfect guy to have out there down the
Speaker 1: stretch because he one was making his wide open threes.
Speaker 1: Two he could set screens and roll to the basket
Speaker 1: and make smart decisions because again he's had so much
Speaker 1: experience as a decision maker. Had another player where he
Speaker 1: cut along the baseline and had a beautiful shovel passage
Speaker 1: Draymond Green for a dunk. Just a monstrously impactful Arguably again,
Speaker 1: some Golden State fans might disagree with me here, but
Speaker 1: I thought this game was super pivotal to close the
Speaker 1: deal tonight, to prevent going up to Denver where you're
Speaker 1: probably gonna lose because they're playing better basketball than you
Speaker 1: right now and they're pulverizing you physically. And then a
Speaker 1: Game seven, anything could happen. And just an absolute lee
Speaker 1: monster performance from Gary Payton Jr. Now looking forward, because
Speaker 1: this is where it gets interesting. Denver pulverized Golden State
Speaker 1: with a size advantage, but they just didn't have enough
Speaker 1: skill to capitalize. In the middle of the third quarter
Speaker 1: when Steph got hot. Do you guys remember Golden State
Speaker 1: transition to a box in one? They put Clay Thompson
Speaker 1: on Yokich and then they put basically two guys at
Speaker 1: the elbow, two guys at the block, and it's a
Speaker 1: zone essentially with those four guys. And then Clay Thompson
Speaker 1: stays glue to Yokas there some wrinkles in there, like
Speaker 1: if Yoki said a ball screen, they would just switch
Speaker 1: and then Clay would go into the box and like
Speaker 1: Wiggins or wherever it was, would then take Yo kis.
Speaker 1: But during that stretch, the gimmicky defense wasn't working. It
Speaker 1: was getting stops, but only because Denver was missing shots.
Speaker 1: They were making fantastic reads out of that boxing one
Speaker 1: and getting wide open threes. And during that same stretch
Speaker 1: when Denver was missing those wide open three, Steph got hot,
Speaker 1: made some threes, got the game close, and then they
Speaker 1: were able to close the deal late. But what concerns
Speaker 1: me is again you saw a match up, a physical
Speaker 1: mismatch in terms of size. Damn near allow a Denver
Speaker 1: team that has a significantly they they are, especially on
Speaker 1: the perimeter, at a massive disadvantage with talent, and they
Speaker 1: damn near pushed this series to six games. And so
Speaker 1: the issue is when you get to a later round,
Speaker 1: Let's say Memphis next round, when you're dealing with guys
Speaker 1: like Jaren Jackson Jr. Who's a monster. When you're dealing
Speaker 1: with guys like Brandon Clark, who arguably stole Game five
Speaker 1: from Minnesota, offensive rebounding guys like Desmond Baine who are
Speaker 1: huge at their position. You know, John Moran is skinny,
Speaker 1: but he's very very athletic. Memphis is going to present
Speaker 1: a lot of those same types of size mismatches in
Speaker 1: conjunction with a lot more talent. And so you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not I've still am. I would probably I to
Speaker 1: dive more into this series before I make an actual
Speaker 1: official pick, and I'm but at the moment, I'm leaning
Speaker 1: Golden State because I'm gonna always trust their experience and
Speaker 1: how many times they've been in this type of setting.
Speaker 1: And as big as Memphis is, they don't have a
Speaker 1: Yokich And obviously yo kits was a huge factor in
Speaker 1: this series in Denver's ability to inflict with their size.
Speaker 1: But I think that's gonna be a very very close series.
Speaker 1: Memphis is gonna have a lot of advantages. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be interesting. But one last shout out, I gotta give
Speaker 1: it to step Steph had a rough night in the
Speaker 1: first half. Like I said, everything was trending Denver's way
Speaker 1: for basically up until that fourth quarter. For the previous
Speaker 1: two and a half games, Denver was playing better basketball
Speaker 1: or two games or so, whatever it was, Denver was
Speaker 1: playing better basketball, and so things were looking dire. I
Speaker 1: mentioned on Twitter it was practically a must win, and
Speaker 1: Steph treated it like a must win and he made
Speaker 1: all the plays down the stretch to win that game.
Speaker 1: Just a monstrous sav the veteran refused to die performance
Speaker 1: from Steph current really quickly. I wanted to touch on
Speaker 1: Bulls Bucks just for a minute. That series what just
Speaker 1: about exactly as I expected, with exception of the random
Speaker 1: Game two performance when uh DeMar Derozen went absolutely nuclear
Speaker 1: down the stretch and shot them out of the game.
Speaker 1: But aside from that, it went basically exactly as I expected.
Speaker 1: Golden Uh the Bucks gave up a jazillion wide open threes.
Speaker 1: They gave up I believe, just under twenty two wide
Speaker 1: open threes per NBA dot Com from games one to
Speaker 1: Game four. Um. Obviously they haven't updated the metrics from tonight,
Speaker 1: but that was the most wide open threes that was
Speaker 1: given up. In the first round a Game five, they
Speaker 1: gave up fifty two threes and Chicago was only able
Speaker 1: to make fifteen of them, which was like in the
Speaker 1: like or something like that. So what did we say
Speaker 1: before the series? Chicago is not a good three point
Speaker 1: shooting team. They're not even good at generating three point shots.
Speaker 1: Milwaukee's defense gives up three point shots, what's gonna happen? Well,
Speaker 1: it went exactly like that. Here's the trick. In the
Speaker 1: first four games, Chicago shot just overt on wide open threes.
Speaker 1: Boston shot over on wide open threes against the nets,
Speaker 1: much more skilled team, a team that's prepared to knock
Speaker 1: down threes they knocked down. I think of their three
Speaker 1: is just out of the left corner, which is gonna
Speaker 1: be the three that they get most frequently in their
Speaker 1: offense against against Milwaukee. So this next round is going
Speaker 1: to put that Milwaukee defense to the test. A Milwaukee
Speaker 1: defense that succeeds against teams that relentlessly pressure the rim,
Speaker 1: but don't know how to make you pay from the perimeter.
Speaker 1: And so I we'll get more into this series at
Speaker 1: a later date. But as good as this as dominant
Speaker 1: as this first down or this first round performance was
Speaker 1: from Milwaukee, I can't say that I did learn much
Speaker 1: because it did look like the same defense from the
Speaker 1: regular season, which was an bridge defense, a defense that
Speaker 1: dominated the painted area, a defense that dominated on the
Speaker 1: defensive glass, and a defense that gave up a million
Speaker 1: wide open threes. And that's why they were an average defense. Well,
Speaker 1: Boston is gonna take the look at did you guys
Speaker 1: see Janice tonight? I think he made ten of his
Speaker 1: first eleven shots or something, literally just dunking all over
Speaker 1: them and getting whatever he wanted to paint. Chicago is
Speaker 1: incapable of making Janice work hard the way that Boston
Speaker 1: is going to. That's gonna be a much more interesting
Speaker 1: series than people think. We will get deeper into both
Speaker 1: of those series, Golden State Second Round Series and Milwaukee
Speaker 1: Second Round series as we get further along here in
Speaker 1: a minute, we're going to talk about this Lakers drama.
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Speaker 1: to some drama with the Los Angeles Lakers, who, predictably,
Speaker 1: on one of the slowest days of this first round
Speaker 1: of the postseason, had some drama release. And again with
Speaker 1: this kind of thing, you never know who it's coming
Speaker 1: from or what the ultimate goal is. But Eric Pinkus
Speaker 1: from Bleacher Report wrote an article today talking about both
Speaker 1: the Nets and the Lakers and their situations with stars
Speaker 1: and their influences on the front office. And obviously the
Speaker 1: article was targeting a bigger issue with the construction of
Speaker 1: super teams and NBA superstars playing a very very hands
Speaker 1: on role in the construction of rosters, and we're gonn
Speaker 1: to talk about that in just a second, but there
Speaker 1: was a nugget in there about the Lakers specifically that
Speaker 1: I wanted to touch on before we get to that point,
Speaker 1: so from Eric Pinkas quote, but James certainly has a
Speaker 1: strong influence on the Lakers decision making. Multiple sources indicate
Speaker 1: that the team's front office is internally blaming pressure from
Speaker 1: Clutch Sports group representing both James and Davis for Westbrook,
Speaker 1: that maybe an epic level of passing the buck. An
Speaker 1: NBA team should consider it, stars wishes, but ultimately make
Speaker 1: the best decision for the team. And quote a little
Speaker 1: bit of a personal opinion there from Pinkas at the
Speaker 1: end that I agree with. I cannot take credit for
Speaker 1: this specific take because it comes from my friend Harrison
Speaker 1: Fagan at Silver Screen and Roll, but he said it
Speaker 1: this morning, and I thought it was a perfect encapsulation
Speaker 1: of this situation. You know, it's fine for the Lakers
Speaker 1: to take credit when they get the trophy in twenty
Speaker 1: I didn't see any reporting or any leaks from Rob
Speaker 1: Polinka or from Genie Buss about how actually it was
Speaker 1: Lebron and Clutch Sports who pushed for the necessary moves
Speaker 1: to build a championship winning roster. But now that things
Speaker 1: are going south, they're wanting to lead you guys to
Speaker 1: believe that Lebron and and Rich Paul held these guys
Speaker 1: at gunpoint to make the Russell Westbrook deal, and that's ridiculous. Now,
Speaker 1: you guys know how I feel about stars getting involved
Speaker 1: in personnel decisions. It's the same thing I said about
Speaker 1: Rob Polinka during all this drama from the beginning. You know,
Speaker 1: in order to be a general manager in this league,
Speaker 1: you have to have a certain amount of dedication to
Speaker 1: diving into film because player evaluation. It's just like all
Speaker 1: of you guys as casual fans, if you turn on
Speaker 1: the right game and you watch Malik Beasley from the
Speaker 1: Minnesota Timberwolves, you might think he's a max contract player.
Speaker 1: There are days where he looks like Bradley Beale out there,
Speaker 1: but then there are other games when it's not so much.
Speaker 1: And that's the job of the GM. You have to
Speaker 1: consume enough total like content of one player to have
Speaker 1: a clear picture of what they actually are like on
Speaker 1: a day in, day out basis. You might have to
Speaker 1: look at them in different circumstances. It's even more complicated
Speaker 1: when you're looking at younger players, like before they make
Speaker 1: it to the league, because then you've got to consider,
Speaker 1: you know, are they at a college program that's adequately.
Speaker 1: You know, that's running a professional enough style of program
Speaker 1: to capitalize on what this player in his talent brings
Speaker 1: to the table. It's a difficult job, and so I
Speaker 1: have a problem with guys like Lebron and guys like
Speaker 1: k D being more hands on because they don't have
Speaker 1: time to actually evaluate players properly. So I agree from
Speaker 1: that standpoint. But at the same time, no one did
Speaker 1: point a gun at Rob Blink and make him make
Speaker 1: that deal. You guys made the decision to allow whatever
Speaker 1: ask Clutch Sports had in this situation, and so as
Speaker 1: a result, trying to turn the blame on Lebron is ridiculous.
Speaker 1: If that's the case, let's go ahead and pull down
Speaker 1: that banner. Let's take down that seventeenth championship banner. Let's
Speaker 1: rip it up, Let's make a new one, and we'll
Speaker 1: put Clutch Sports on it. NBA champions and hanging up
Speaker 1: in Clutch sports headquarters. Because that's the type of lame
Speaker 1: mass attitude. This is shirking the blame when things go
Speaker 1: wrong and accepting the responsibility when things go right, which
Speaker 1: I have a huge problem with. But that set this
Speaker 1: has brought an interesting dynamic to the forefront in this
Speaker 1: playoff run. You know, you have three major star run
Speaker 1: supert teams in the league. You've got Kauai and Paul
Speaker 1: George and what they've done with the Clippers. You have
Speaker 1: Lebron James and Anthony Davis and what they did with
Speaker 1: the Lakers. And you have Kevin Duranton Kyrie and what
Speaker 1: they did with the Brooklyn Nets. And all three of
Speaker 1: those teams secured precisely zero playoff wins this year. Zero.
Speaker 1: So the question becomes, is this mold a failure? Is
Speaker 1: it time as a league to move beyond that? Mold
Speaker 1: kind of reminds me in the NFL and a little
Speaker 1: bit in the n B a of like the coach
Speaker 1: GM concept. There was a time period where a lot
Speaker 1: of the top tier coaches in both leagues would demand
Speaker 1: decision over player personnel in addition to their coaching responsibilities.
Speaker 1: And then some years went by and it became pretty
Speaker 1: clear based on the results, that even the best coaches,
Speaker 1: the hardest working coaches in the league, simply didn't have
Speaker 1: enough time to properly evaluate players into make those types
Speaker 1: of decisions, and they were too intimately involved to be objective,
Speaker 1: and so as a result, now you don't see that
Speaker 1: very often. They're handful of cases around the league. Like
Speaker 1: I know, Greg Popovich still has some role in player
Speaker 1: personnel there in San Antonio, but it's rare, it's unusual
Speaker 1: and more it's more of like a consulting type of role.
Speaker 1: Should you go ask Lebron, should you go ask Katie
Speaker 1: what do you think about this? Absolutely, that to me
Speaker 1: is just getting an additional opinion. Diversity of opinion is
Speaker 1: a great way to make sure that you don't walk
Speaker 1: headlong into a terrible decision. I agree on that on
Speaker 1: that side of things. You know, Kevin Durant said in
Speaker 1: his postgame presser after Game four, He's like, I just
Speaker 1: want to focus on the basketball. I don't want to
Speaker 1: be involved in player personnel. Now, whether or not that's
Speaker 1: true is another story. There's a whole narrative controlling side
Speaker 1: of this thing. But to me, that's the way that
Speaker 1: it should be. Do what you do best, keep the
Speaker 1: main thing, the main thing. Get somebody in the chair
Speaker 1: and the general management. Edition problem is for the Lakers
Speaker 1: they don't have that guy either, But get someone in
Speaker 1: the chair whose job it is every day to dive
Speaker 1: into the tape and figure things out there, and then
Speaker 1: the player, you're a basketball player, figure out the basketball.
Speaker 1: That's all you have to focus on. That keep the
Speaker 1: main thing the main thing. So then the second question
Speaker 1: becomes what about the assembly of superstars? Because you saw
Speaker 1: both teams, the Nets and the Lakers in particular, go
Speaker 1: after the third star in sacrifice depth. As part of
Speaker 1: the process, Lakers send off key pivotal role players from
Speaker 1: their championship team to bring in Russell Westbrook, and the
Speaker 1: Nets send off key role players for James Harden that
Speaker 1: they in turn flip for Ben Simmons, and in that
Speaker 1: deal they actually got a couple of role players in
Speaker 1: Seth Curry and Andre Drummond. So for them it wasn't
Speaker 1: as much of a catastrophe. But you saw that happen,
Speaker 1: and I think there are two very specific reasons why
Speaker 1: I disagree with that strategy. I'm a believer in the
Speaker 1: two stars great role player depth rather than three stars
Speaker 1: and veteran minimum contracts. And the two reasons why I
Speaker 1: believe in that is one, there's a diminishing return with
Speaker 1: the third star when you factor in the jobs that
Speaker 1: players have on the floor in a five man line up,
Speaker 1: especially when you get to the postseason and everybody bumps
Speaker 1: up their minutes, and your best players are all playing
Speaker 1: forties something minutes, there's a diminishing return for number three.
Speaker 1: Had Let's pretend everything went great for the Lakers this
Speaker 1: year and Lebron and Anthony Davis stay healthy and they
Speaker 1: make it to the first round. There's no way in
Speaker 1: the world if Lebron and a d are playing forty
Speaker 1: two minutes a game and a playoff game, that you're
Speaker 1: gonna have a great deal of on ball responsibility for
Speaker 1: RUSSA Westbrook. That's just not the way the game works now.
Speaker 1: Russ also struggled in a lot of different ways, so
Speaker 1: I'm not alleviating him of responsibility in any sense in
Speaker 1: that regard, but strictly in the way that basketball works.
Speaker 1: Being the third guy, you have less responsive, thus requiring
Speaker 1: less talent. So does it make sense to have a
Speaker 1: guy who's overqualified for that position unless you absolutely have to,
Speaker 1: And so I disagree with that strategy from that standpoint.
Speaker 1: That's the first side. The second part of it has
Speaker 1: everything to do with the way that defenses have evolved
Speaker 1: and how important it is now to have five guys
Speaker 1: on the floor that can capitalize on not being guarded.
Speaker 1: We talked a lot about this early in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I said to you, guys, NBA defenses are dangerously close
Speaker 1: to figuring out how to adequately double team stars and
Speaker 1: rotate on the back end and take away easy open
Speaker 1: shots on the back end. It used to be that
Speaker 1: you could have a Wesley Matthews, a guy who can
Speaker 1: knock down spot up threes, but not a whole lot
Speaker 1: else on that week side corner. But now teams are
Speaker 1: closing out on Wesley Matthews and getting there in time
Speaker 1: off of double teams. So now what you need is
Speaker 1: guys that can attack close outs. You need great offensive
Speaker 1: players off ball to capitalize on that attention. And so
Speaker 1: having a third star and then having really like limited
Speaker 1: role players around them causes a predicament where now you
Speaker 1: have guys off the ball that aren't talented enough to
Speaker 1: capitalize in all that extra attention. This is why having
Speaker 1: you know, two stars in great depth is a better model.
Speaker 1: Look at the Lakers. Look at how important k c
Speaker 1: p was attacking closeouts. Look At how important Alex Crusoe was.
Speaker 1: Looking at how important Kyle Kuzma was, Looking at how
Speaker 1: important Danny Green was having better offensive players in those
Speaker 1: roles that when every team is throwing the kitchen sink
Speaker 1: at Lebron and a D, they have lots and lots
Speaker 1: of opportunity and they're talented enough to succeed in that role.
Speaker 1: You saw there was a playoff game where Mark Keith
Speaker 1: Morris made five threes and they could throw the ball
Speaker 1: to Mark Keith Morris in the right matchup down in
Speaker 1: the post. There was a bunch of different ways to
Speaker 1: go about it, and so I think in addition to
Speaker 1: the idea of taking control back away from stars in
Speaker 1: terms of personnel decisions, they simply don't have the time
Speaker 1: to watch enough film to be educated enough to make
Speaker 1: those calls. But also get away from this idea that
Speaker 1: you need to amass high end talent. If you have
Speaker 1: two guys that you can dependably throw the ball to
Speaker 1: to initiate offense, you don't need a third. Those two
Speaker 1: guys can figure out to give and take, and you're
Speaker 1: better off allowing them to be decoys half the time
Speaker 1: and take on the the attention and let other guys
Speaker 1: go to work. Look at Jayson Tatum, He's just taking
Speaker 1: double teams most times down the floor. It's guys like
Speaker 1: Marcus Smart making plays. It's guys like Jalen Brown making plays.
Speaker 1: This guy like Grant Williams making plays, al Horford making
Speaker 1: plays off of the attention that Jayson Tatum is grabbing.
Speaker 1: It's a really interesting concept. I'm curious to see over
Speaker 1: the over the course of the next few years, if
Speaker 1: you see more big threes form, or if you see
Speaker 1: more teams take on the two star role player type
Speaker 1: of concept. But that's that's just where I stand with it.
Speaker 1: I would go with take player personnel decisions away from
Speaker 1: the stars and build around two high level players and
Speaker 1: get depth because you need quality players around them to
Speaker 1: make people pay when they are throwing the kitchen sink
Speaker 1: at your stars. Hi, it's Colin Coward. I started the
Speaker 1: volume to bring you some of the most apathetic voices
Speaker 1: in sports. While you're here, make sure you hit subscribe.
Speaker 1: Thanks all right, before we bring Carson on. Oh there
Speaker 1: he is. Before we're in Carson on, forget just like
Speaker 1: don't forget, Just like Colin said, hit that subscribe button. Also,
Speaker 1: we are going to do a mail back, so if
Speaker 1: you have any questions about absolutely anything, please drop them
Speaker 1: in the chat. And if we have time, and we'll
Speaker 1: get to them at the end. All right, Carson, what
Speaker 1: do you got from me tonight? Man? We've got a
Speaker 1: game here called Real Question, Fake Question, Jason, and the
Speaker 1: way it works is we've got real questions from fans
Speaker 1: and then we've got questions that I have come up
Speaker 1: with which we're calling fake, which I don't know if
Speaker 1: I love the branding there. I think they're just as real.
Speaker 1: But that's besides the point. So I'll defer to you.
Speaker 1: Do you want to start with a real question or
Speaker 1: a fake question? Let's start with the real one, all right?
Speaker 1: So this is from Georges on Twitter. Do you think
Speaker 1: currently it's Boston versus the field in the playoffs? And
Speaker 1: if so, which remaining team has the best chance against them? Man?
Speaker 1: That the news from Devin Booker really threw me for
Speaker 1: a loop. And I am absolutely stunned that they're bringing
Speaker 1: him back this quickly. First of all, like I I
Speaker 1: understand the threat of New Orleans, but would you pick
Speaker 1: against Chris Paul with all of that talent at a
Speaker 1: home and game? Like I think they'll be fine. So
Speaker 1: like I would have I would have been more hesitant
Speaker 1: to bring Devon back but let's and then also when
Speaker 1: now that he's back, it makes me nervous because hamstrings
Speaker 1: are like arguably the most reinjurable injury that an athlete
Speaker 1: deals with. But let's accept, just for the sake of
Speaker 1: this question, that Devin Booker is healthy and going to
Speaker 1: be fine the rest of the playoffs. Coming into the postseason,
Speaker 1: I had Phoenix as a definitive number one and then
Speaker 1: a tear below them that Boston was a part of.
Speaker 1: So part of me moving Boston up was the Devin
Speaker 1: Booker injury, but also another big part of it was
Speaker 1: just how dominant they look on the defensive end of
Speaker 1: the floor. And so I think it's most likely that
Speaker 1: Boston runs into Phoenix in the finals. And then as
Speaker 1: I start to think about that matchup, like when you
Speaker 1: think about the way that Drew Holiday and the rest
Speaker 1: of the Milwaukee Bucks were able to really really shut
Speaker 1: down Chris Paul, I think Boston is gonna have some
Speaker 1: similar impact there. Yes, Drew, Yes, Devin Booker showed some
Speaker 1: amazing shot making versus Drew Holiday in that series last
Speaker 1: year in the finals, But I think this Boston defense
Speaker 1: is another level above that. So, like I think i'd
Speaker 1: pick Boston over Phoenix too. But if you're asking me
Speaker 1: which team has the best chance to beat them easily,
Speaker 1: it's Phoenix. They've got they're the only team that has
Speaker 1: a talent advantage against them in my opinion. But like, man, like,
Speaker 1: I know everyone thinks I'm crazy, but like, I think
Speaker 1: something special is going on with this Boston defense. I
Speaker 1: think the story coming out of that first round series
Speaker 1: was Brooklyn choking or Kevin Durant struggling and all the
Speaker 1: drama and Brooklyn and Ben Simmons and all that crap.
Speaker 1: But meanwhile, Boston just seems to be like a team
Speaker 1: that has captured some serious magic. So you mentioned the
Speaker 1: son's element of this and the decision to bring book back.
Speaker 1: You touched on a little bit, but there's a fake
Speaker 1: question from me. Give us more of your thoughts on
Speaker 1: that decision, and do you think that that's just a
Speaker 1: bad decision flat out? I don't want to say it's
Speaker 1: a bad decision because you've got a factor in the circumstance. Like,
Speaker 1: you know, what is it that I think it's is
Speaker 1: it's Steve Kerr. I can't remember who it is. It's
Speaker 1: there's a famous NBA coach that always talks about approp fear.
Speaker 1: I think it was Steve Kerr actually, But like I
Speaker 1: think if you have an appropriate fear of the Pelicans,
Speaker 1: which you should, they're dominating you on the defensive glass
Speaker 1: or in the offensive glass. Excuse me. A huge part
Speaker 1: of their offense is brandon ingram And and c J
Speaker 1: McCollum attacking in isolation. And they had a really bad
Speaker 1: game in game five. So there's a version of this
Speaker 1: story where they go back to New Orleans, they bully
Speaker 1: you on the glass again, c J and Brandon play better,
Speaker 1: they win Game six, you'd come back to Phoenix, and
Speaker 1: then I mean, I think I think, uh, New Orleans
Speaker 1: got it within seven about halfway through the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: if I remember correctly last night. So you know, there
Speaker 1: is I think an appropriate amount of fear here, and
Speaker 1: I think that's what's driving the decision. My thing is like,
Speaker 1: it's kind of like Anthony Davis last year against the Suns,
Speaker 1: Like rushing him back it almost stands to do more
Speaker 1: damage psychologically to your team, because what if Devin comes
Speaker 1: back and plays in Game six and pulls his hamstring
Speaker 1: again in the second quarter and you have to watch
Speaker 1: him limp off to the locker room. There's a massive
Speaker 1: psychological impact that that has is on your team. When
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis uh gave it a go last year in
Speaker 1: Game six and his groin started hurting right away. It
Speaker 1: was early first quarter, and I don't know if you
Speaker 1: guys remember, but the Lakers were extraordinarily flat the rest
Speaker 1: of that first quarter. Meanwhile, Devin Booker got hot, and
Speaker 1: next thing you know, they were down by like twenty
Speaker 1: or something like that at the end of the first quarter.
Speaker 1: So there's a very dangerous game that you play with
Speaker 1: bringing back a star that could potentially re injure himself
Speaker 1: because there's the advantage off and potentially playing and helping
Speaker 1: your team, but there's the potential disadvantage of the discouragement
Speaker 1: that comes from him getting reinjured. I sincerely hope that
Speaker 1: that doesn't happen. It's just something that I'm worried about.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the appropriate fear. I believe that's a pop
Speaker 1: is m but is it. Obviously you are balancing those
Speaker 1: two factors that you are talking about against each other.
Speaker 1: But if you were to say this is what has
Speaker 1: to go right for the Pelicans to actually get out,
Speaker 1: like if they were to go and in game six
Speaker 1: and seven, what would sort of the key things be.
Speaker 1: And I know you say it's not particularly likely, but roughly,
Speaker 1: how likely do you think it is that they can
Speaker 1: do that I had them, I would say they have
Speaker 1: like maybe a ten percent chance. It's just the thing
Speaker 1: is is when you know what New Orleans depends on
Speaker 1: for their offense, which again is brandon Ingram kind of
Speaker 1: is like a point forward running a lot of io
Speaker 1: and high pick and roll, and then C. J. McCollum
Speaker 1: kind of more in the Devon Booker role of just
Speaker 1: being a guy who's hunting for his shot when you,
Speaker 1: like Michael Bridges was devastating defensively in game five. Almost
Speaker 1: everybody that he guarded was not not just shut down,
Speaker 1: but shut down in a kind of resounding fashion. And
Speaker 1: so the concern there is, I don't I would give
Speaker 1: New Orleans roughly a coin flip chance to win game six.
Speaker 1: That's fine, but man, the the the chances that New
Speaker 1: Orleans goes into Phoenix and wins game seven are so
Speaker 1: close to zero that I think it leaves it pretty
Speaker 1: damn low. So I'd say maybe around ten per sam,
Speaker 1: But the only way that they pull it off as
Speaker 1: if c J and Brandon catch a little bit of
Speaker 1: that lebron Kyrie two thousand and sixteen Finals magic where
Speaker 1: just a couple to three games in a row where
Speaker 1: they just don't miss, and then yeah, that could be
Speaker 1: the difference, but it's just very unlikely. Yeah, I will
Speaker 1: say it felt like to me before Game five it
Speaker 1: was more of like legitimate even footing. But part of
Speaker 1: that was absolutely You're right, they're so overwhelming and dependent
Speaker 1: on that lead shot making n B. I had been
Speaker 1: like perfect, you know, I mean, he's thirty a game
Speaker 1: on ridiculous efficiency and then you talk about Bridges defense
Speaker 1: changing some of those dynamics. So I'm I'm with you there.
Speaker 1: Maybe I would put its tall task quick follow up.
Speaker 1: And this has been the dynamic that I've talked about
Speaker 1: all the season. What have I always told you Guys like, yes,
Speaker 1: Chris Paul and Devin Booker are great, but down the roster,
Speaker 1: Phoenix is the most talented team in the league, like
Speaker 1: and guys like Mikhail Bridges and DeAndre and have consistently
Speaker 1: been playing in roles that are much smaller than what
Speaker 1: their talent is capable of. And and you compare them
Speaker 1: to guys like guys like a Herb Jones for instance,
Speaker 1: like compare him to like Michael Bridges. Like in a
Speaker 1: tiny role, Herb Jones and Michael Bridges can have relatively
Speaker 1: similar impact. Obviously Michael Bridge is a better player, but
Speaker 1: in a tiny role there can be a relatively similar impact.
Speaker 1: All of a sudden, with Devin Booker out, Michael Bridges
Speaker 1: is being depended on more as a shot maker twelve
Speaker 1: for seventeen, I think he had like thirty four points
Speaker 1: or something like that. In game five was just a
Speaker 1: monster offensively, like Herb Jones is not gonna be able
Speaker 1: to get to that level. And so at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, like it's just so many things would
Speaker 1: have to go right. So many guys with the Pelicans
Speaker 1: would have to play above their ability, so many guys
Speaker 1: for Phoenix would have to play below their ability. I
Speaker 1: think the smart money is on Phoenix there, and I
Speaker 1: will say, you talk about the talent on this Phoenix roster.
Speaker 1: When the book injury happened, one of the biggest concerns
Speaker 1: that we discussed was that really high level shock creation
Speaker 1: coming because the book is so clearly the Apex guy
Speaker 1: and outside of CP there haven't been a ton of
Speaker 1: guys who have filled that role and who are really
Speaker 1: in like the prototype of ball handler, score play maker combo.
Speaker 1: But I have been extremely impressed. I mean you mentioned
Speaker 1: the Bridge's performance. He feels like, for the most part,
Speaker 1: the ultimate role player, just so good at fitting in
Speaker 1: but really asserting himself. Aidan producing at that level, you know,
Speaker 1: on that efficiency has been extremely impressive. So you could
Speaker 1: argue is better than Avalanchunis. Yeah, No, I think that
Speaker 1: that is. I think you would have to argue against
Speaker 1: that at this point. I mean, are you talking overall
Speaker 1: or just like offensive skill, because I think overall two
Speaker 1: way center. Yeah, I totally agree, totally agree. Okay, We've
Speaker 1: got another real question for you here, Jason, and you've
Speaker 1: touched on this a bit before, but how will do
Speaker 1: you think Boston's defense will work against Janice? Will he
Speaker 1: be able to attack it more effectively than Kevin Durant
Speaker 1: and without Chris Middleton, do they have a chance in
Speaker 1: that series which is now booked. This is from Almond
Speaker 1: Milk on Twitter. So this is this is this is
Speaker 1: the million dollar question, man, and it's been something I've
Speaker 1: been thinking about NonStop over of course of the last week.
Speaker 1: I cannot freaking wait for this series? Did did they tell?
Speaker 1: Did uh? Why did you check for me while I'm
Speaker 1: talking when when Game one is? Because I'm so so
Speaker 1: excited for it. But the the interesting thing here is,
Speaker 1: you know, Joannice and k D both have very different games,
Speaker 1: but they're structured in similar ways. There's like a bread
Speaker 1: in the butt, there's a bread and butter, and then
Speaker 1: there's like kind of like supplementary offense, you know. One
Speaker 1: of the things that Joannice, like KD, for instance, Katie
Speaker 1: supplements his offense. I did a video about this earlier
Speaker 1: in the regular season. Katie supplements his isolation offense with
Speaker 1: off ball shooting, like movement shooting, does a lot of
Speaker 1: like fighting for position and coming off of pin downs
Speaker 1: and taking like these fifteen to seventeen foot wide open
Speaker 1: pull up jump shots that he makes like like more
Speaker 1: than half the time. And it's it's way, it's his
Speaker 1: way of supplementing offense, his isolation offense with easy shots. Well,
Speaker 1: Boston completely took that element of his game away, but
Speaker 1: because of how physical they were and how willing they
Speaker 1: were to switch those screens and just basically to grab
Speaker 1: him as he was coming off the screen, so the
Speaker 1: easy elements of Katie's offense were completely removed. Well, Janice,
Speaker 1: he gets a lot of easy offense just with his physicality.
Speaker 1: So whether that's in transition, just putting his head down
Speaker 1: and go into the rim, whether that's another it's offensive rebounding,
Speaker 1: but not just as an off ball player, but like
Speaker 1: he'll pirouette into the lane and throw up a hook
Speaker 1: shot and it's not really a high percentage shot, but
Speaker 1: Janice knows that, and he just continues to bulldoze his
Speaker 1: way into the lane after shooting, grab the ball and
Speaker 1: go right back up with it and dunk it because
Speaker 1: he's so much quicker off his feet than everybody else
Speaker 1: on the floor. And and so he has all of
Speaker 1: those elements. And when I look at that, I think
Speaker 1: that Janice, I don't think Boston's gonna be able to
Speaker 1: shut off those parts of his offense. So I think
Speaker 1: Janice is gonna be able to get better easy supplementary offense.
Speaker 1: But in the half court, when the game grinds to
Speaker 1: the halt, when Boston is in their set defense geared
Speaker 1: up on Janice, I think Joannice is going to struggle
Speaker 1: Joe used as much as KAD does, so in summation,
Speaker 1: I think Joannice has a better series overall because of
Speaker 1: his supplementary offense, offensive rebaum, putbacks, transition things like that,
Speaker 1: So I think his counting stats will appear better. But
Speaker 1: I think at the end of the day, this game
Speaker 1: is gonna come down to half court execution. The series
Speaker 1: is gonna come down to half court execution, and I
Speaker 1: think people are way too quick to blame KD for
Speaker 1: how that went and not acknowledge the Boston defense. I
Speaker 1: think the Boston defense at many points in this series
Speaker 1: is going to make you, honest, look not ineffective, but
Speaker 1: significantly less effective than he is going in other matchups,
Speaker 1: and so that's gonna be the interesting dynamic here. But
Speaker 1: overall he will fare better I would. I would be
Speaker 1: shocked at Milwaukee didn't get one game, but I'm leaning
Speaker 1: not my final pick yet, but I'm leaning towards Boston
Speaker 1: in five, and I think it's gonna overall be ugly
Speaker 1: for you, honest. So obviously, as we look at this matchup,
Speaker 1: the Celtics are exceptional on how many really high level
Speaker 1: defensive weapons they have. But I think an interesting in
Speaker 1: question is who is the primary guy on Janice in
Speaker 1: this series because you have obviously Tatum is that lead
Speaker 1: wing defender. But we've seen teams when they have versatile,
Speaker 1: quick enough bigs try to guard Janice with those guys,
Speaker 1: and you do have a Robert Williams or Horford. So
Speaker 1: who do you think is that guy who Boston should
Speaker 1: lean on most? Isn't a combination, just what do you
Speaker 1: think is their best approach in terms of personnel. So
Speaker 1: you always want to mix up coverage to keep guys
Speaker 1: off their feet. So I would imagine I would imagine
Speaker 1: that there will be a bunch of different looks. My
Speaker 1: guesses they'll start with Horford. Horford is an excellent positional defender.
Speaker 1: He's a guy that doesn't reach. He slides his feast defeat,
Speaker 1: he absorbs contact with his chest. He's kind of like
Speaker 1: your textbook positional defender. That's why he always does well
Speaker 1: against really really big players. The trick is it's gonna
Speaker 1: be I'm really curious to see what Emayduka's strategy is
Speaker 1: in terms of double teaming. I think that you know
Speaker 1: because Jannice goes to a lot of like really aggressive
Speaker 1: spin moves in like pump makes and pivots and things
Speaker 1: like that. I'd like to see them do kind of
Speaker 1: what Golden State did to Yokich a lot in this
Speaker 1: series and during the regular season, which is double on
Speaker 1: the counter move. So let him think he's in single coverage.
Speaker 1: Let him make that initial you know, load up in
Speaker 1: and and get ahead of Steam and go into Horford.
Speaker 1: And then as soon as Horford beats him to the
Speaker 1: first spot and he counterspins back, that's when you come
Speaker 1: with the help and attack the ball. I think you know,
Speaker 1: Boston did an amazing job attacking Katie's handle all series long.
Speaker 1: That's why Katie had so many turnovers and struggled so
Speaker 1: much dribbling the basketball. Well, Katie, I mean, it's not
Speaker 1: it's not some sort of chasm. They're close, but joannice
Speaker 1: Is is not a fantastic ball handler in traffic either.
Speaker 1: So like and it's not necessarily Katie or Jannice's fault.
Speaker 1: It's a tall guy problem. You're just dribbling the ball further.
Speaker 1: There's less margin for error there, right, So the thing
Speaker 1: is is, like I I would test joannice Is, he
Speaker 1: handled NonStop in this series and see if he can
Speaker 1: really truly dribble by sending help while he's in the
Speaker 1: middle of moves. That would be my strategy. I expect
Speaker 1: him to start with Horford, but I bet you'll see
Speaker 1: Grant Williams on him. Probably not Robert Williams because Janice
Speaker 1: tends to utterly destroy slender centers. Um not that Robert Robert.
Speaker 1: Robert Williams is bigger than most people think he is.
Speaker 1: But I just don't think that's the perfect matchup there.
Speaker 1: I think he'd be better in a help side role.
Speaker 1: But I'm really curious. I think email you don't is
Speaker 1: gonna have a bunch of stuff up his sleeve, and
Speaker 1: and and I'm really interested to see what it is. Well,
Speaker 1: you mentioned the excitement for the series. It does tip
Speaker 1: at one Eastern on Sunday and we'll be live that night.
Speaker 1: Also a little interesting sound out a pole in the chat.
Speaker 1: Fifty percent of people say they would take the bucks
Speaker 1: to win that series right now out of our chat,
Speaker 1: which I think it's very interesting. I think that's I
Speaker 1: think that's wild. I'm not saying you guys are wrong,
Speaker 1: but I vehemently disagree. I think I'm not saying Milwaukee's
Speaker 1: I'm not saying you guys are wrong. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: I'm not saying Milah Key doesn't have a chance. They
Speaker 1: absolutely do. But again, I think there's a couple of
Speaker 1: reasons why Boston kind of like the Lakers, not exactly
Speaker 1: the most well liked team around the league because they're
Speaker 1: the They're the two winning as franchises, so the other
Speaker 1: twenty fan bases hate them. So there's a lot of
Speaker 1: anti Celtics bias. There's a lot of anti k D
Speaker 1: and Kyrie bias that is leading people to kind of
Speaker 1: change their analysis of that series and make it more
Speaker 1: about them sucking and less about Boston being good. So
Speaker 1: I think the public perception of Boston is still pretty low.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you notice this, Carson, but on
Speaker 1: fan duel, I believe Boston right now is plus four
Speaker 1: sixty to win the title, and I think they have
Speaker 1: the third best odds overall behind Phoenix and Golden State,
Speaker 1: which I think is absolutely wild. I hopefully this series,
Speaker 1: if I'm right, which we'll see, I could very well
Speaker 1: be wrong, and I've been wrong before, but if I'm right,
Speaker 1: I think in this series people will finally start to
Speaker 1: understand just how special this Boston team is Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think you, I mean very aptly identified a couple of
Speaker 1: the key reasons that people are maybe under selling this team.
Speaker 1: I wonder if there's also just sort of a prove
Speaker 1: it element or maybe that like they don't have a
Speaker 1: consensus top five guy on the planet who's done it
Speaker 1: year in and year out. But like, I mean, there's
Speaker 1: no denying that. Since I don't know exactly what point
Speaker 1: you would pick, but the last thirtysomething games of the
Speaker 1: regular season through the playoffs, it Celtics has been the
Speaker 1: most impressive team in the NBA. And uh, I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I think it's surprising that their odds are still that low,
Speaker 1: especially now that they're healthy again. I mean, they are
Speaker 1: clicking and they are scary, and I would also take
Speaker 1: them against the Bucks. I think five is you know,
Speaker 1: that would be very impressive, But I don't think it's
Speaker 1: at all out of the question. Really quickly, Carson, I
Speaker 1: have a question for you. Is Jayson Tatum a top
Speaker 1: five player? No, I don't think so. I think that.
Speaker 1: I mean, we discussed this briefly. When he is playing
Speaker 1: at his offensive apex, it is like unbelievable peak scoring
Speaker 1: wings stuff with some of the playmaking and great defensive value,
Speaker 1: and like that's an in same portfolio, especially when you're
Speaker 1: dropping thirty and night. I do still think though, that
Speaker 1: over a full sample size, there are guys who are
Speaker 1: just more complete sevengines when it comes to the scoring
Speaker 1: playmaking combo who I would lean on. But also there
Speaker 1: are guys who are more easily exposed. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: a huge believer and a guy like Yokich and I
Speaker 1: would never drop him out of my personal top five,
Speaker 1: But there are things that are more exploitable there. I mean,
Speaker 1: I I think even there's a lot of guys basically
Speaker 1: who I think have bigger holes in their game at
Speaker 1: this point than Jayson Tatum. Like he can do his
Speaker 1: job on both ends at an exceptionally high level, but
Speaker 1: I don't think he's top five yet. I think we
Speaker 1: need to see him sustained, like you said when we
Speaker 1: discussed this a bit ago, this level for a longer time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I gotta stick to my own rule here. I'm not
Speaker 1: a big believer in rushing people up that list. I
Speaker 1: will say this, though, I would not be surprised if
Speaker 1: in our wrap up season wrap up pods at the
Speaker 1: end of June, if we're having a conversation about Tatum
Speaker 1: Legiti being a top five player, because you're right there
Speaker 1: there seems to be with his newfound pensiont for playmaking
Speaker 1: and and kind of absorbing the double team and and
Speaker 1: staying a threat after giving up the ball, that kind
Speaker 1: of thing. There's kind of there's they're they're just they're
Speaker 1: starting to take shape as a player that doesn't have
Speaker 1: a lot of flaws. Like he's all, he's not the
Speaker 1: same defensive player that Kauai was at his peak, but
Speaker 1: he's already a much better playmaker than Kauai. And and
Speaker 1: from the scoring standpoint, like he doesn't have the the
Speaker 1: mid range kind of like back to the basket game
Speaker 1: that Kauai has, but he's a better off the dribble
Speaker 1: three point shooters. So he's kind of like, look this
Speaker 1: is I'll just leave it at this. He's he's a
Speaker 1: lot closer to like Kauai than people think. That's amazing
Speaker 1: that you evoke that comparison, because I was literally about
Speaker 1: to draw that myself, and I asked, like, what, really,
Speaker 1: how big is the gap between current Jayson Tatum the
Speaker 1: level he's been playing at since All Star Break where
Speaker 1: we've read off the stats before, but it's just absolutely
Speaker 1: ridiculous scoring and a on absurd efficiency. I mean thirty
Speaker 1: plus a night on s shooting into these playoffs. Now
Speaker 1: he dropped thirty a game against the Nets, and the
Speaker 1: playmaking was great and the d defense is really great,
Speaker 1: and it's like Kauai is a top twenty something guy
Speaker 1: of all time in most people's eyes. And you know,
Speaker 1: people view that as one of the most impressive individual
Speaker 1: playoff runs ever. And of course there are differences and
Speaker 1: there are things certain guys do better, but it doesn't
Speaker 1: feel like the gap is all that big right now.
Speaker 1: So he sustains this level and I I've always thought
Speaker 1: he was like an all time talented guy. It's just
Speaker 1: been about making the game easier, you know, getting down
Speaker 1: hill more, get into the line, more, developing as a playmaker,
Speaker 1: passing out of doubles, all these things that he's doing
Speaker 1: consistently being really really high level on the defensive end,
Speaker 1: and he's like got it all coming together right now.
Speaker 1: It's really pretty remarkable. I think value of reps man.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys remember was it last
Speaker 1: season that Kemba Walker was hurt to start the year
Speaker 1: in like Boston really flound heard because Jalen Brown and
Speaker 1: Jayson Tatum became the primary initiators and then they ship
Speaker 1: Kemba off and they bring in Dennis Schroder, but then
Speaker 1: they shipped Dennis Schroder off, and like during that time period,
Speaker 1: Jayson Tatum was kind of thrown in the deep end
Speaker 1: as the guy who was like the offensive folk rum
Speaker 1: and it got ugly a lot of the time for him.
Speaker 1: But again, it's the value of reps. And and I
Speaker 1: know we're ready to move on from Tatum, but like
Speaker 1: we can talk about this guy for an hour because
Speaker 1: he's such an interesting player. But I I think it
Speaker 1: was the value of reps. And again, I don't want
Speaker 1: to give him that credit until he gets the job done.
Speaker 1: That I do think he's trending in that direction. And
Speaker 1: it is fascinating. I mean, there are so many great
Speaker 1: scoring wings who come into the league as you know,
Speaker 1: subpar playmakers, but just because of the product of having
Speaker 1: the ball in their hands so much, they developed, Like
Speaker 1: we have seen it from Book who was basically had
Speaker 1: to be a point guard for a couple of years,
Speaker 1: from honest Janice, all these guys it's just product of,
Speaker 1: you know, putting pressure on defense, having the ball in
Speaker 1: your hands a lot. They just improved that almost universally,
Speaker 1: and Tatum is a great example of that. Right now,
Speaker 1: All right, we've got another fake question. Four years have
Speaker 1: now booked their ticket to the second round. They are
Speaker 1: still awaiting their opponent. So, Jason, who would give them
Speaker 1: more trouble the Grizzlies or the Timberwolves. Oh man, that's
Speaker 1: a super super interesting question. Well, the problem because, like,
Speaker 1: just strictly from an XS and O standpoint, I want
Speaker 1: to say Minnesota because Minnesota is such a good perimeter
Speaker 1: defense team and but Minnesota is not a great rim
Speaker 1: protection team, which a rim protection team would cause more
Speaker 1: problems for a team that likes to slash and attack
Speaker 1: the rim all night long. But Golden State's not really
Speaker 1: like that. Golden State mostly operates with a vacated paint
Speaker 1: and there's just a ton of congestion on the perimeter,
Speaker 1: and if they usually can get past that barrier, it's
Speaker 1: like wide open layups. One of the biggest reasons why
Speaker 1: uh Steph has one of the best interior finishing percentages
Speaker 1: for a guard is because he usually is shooting wide
Speaker 1: open because the defense is so far extended. Well, Minnesota,
Speaker 1: that's where they're at their best is in perimeter defense.
Speaker 1: But the reason why I think Memphis would be a
Speaker 1: tougher matchup is we just have enough experience watching them
Speaker 1: against Golden State, and they've consistently given Golden State issues.
Speaker 1: Like just it's just a bad matchup for them on
Speaker 1: so many fronts. They don't have great you know, they
Speaker 1: don't have anybody that can stay in front of jaw.
Speaker 1: You know, they have a lot of big athletes that
Speaker 1: can punish them on the offensive glass. They're big on
Speaker 1: the perimeter, which is a huge part of why Denver
Speaker 1: has been so successful. So I think I leaned towards Memphis.
Speaker 1: That's gonna be a really really interesting series, and it's
Speaker 1: gonna be nasty, it's gonna be toxic. There's gonna be
Speaker 1: trash talk, it's gonna be that's gonna be obviously it.
Speaker 1: I talked before this playoff run about how this particular
Speaker 1: playoff run was gonna be one of the most interesting
Speaker 1: in this era of NBA basketball. But like the second round,
Speaker 1: fittingly enough, is just gonna have a bunch of super
Speaker 1: interesting series is and that one's near the top of
Speaker 1: my list. How much of a chance do you think
Speaker 1: the Grizzlies have there? Who it's it's it's not because
Speaker 1: I'm leaning towards Golden State, but it's close, Like i'd
Speaker 1: probably go like a healthy like it's just the Golden State, Okay, Mike,
Speaker 1: we talked about earlier, Memphis is nowhere near serious. Like,
Speaker 1: in the same way that Golden State recognized the threat
Speaker 1: of Denver and closed the deal tonight, Memphis is the
Speaker 1: kind of team that would have lost that game because
Speaker 1: Memphis has had such a in and out focus through
Speaker 1: this entire playoff from We've talked about it a lot
Speaker 1: on this show. So like part of me wants to
Speaker 1: lean on Golden State and their decision making and their
Speaker 1: savvy nous, but this is just a horrible matchup for them.
Speaker 1: And so the question is is the horrible matchup enough
Speaker 1: to make up for you know, obviously Golden State having
Speaker 1: better perimeter talent, it's a good question. You know, we
Speaker 1: talked a lot about Minnesota having a good half court defense.
Speaker 1: Memphis also has a pretty good half court defense, with
Speaker 1: exception of Jaw He's the one kind of weak link
Speaker 1: on that front. So I think, you know, Golden State's smarter,
Speaker 1: they have more experience. I'm gonna lean on them in
Speaker 1: that regard, but Memphis has a legit puncher's chance to
Speaker 1: win because of the fact that it's such a bad
Speaker 1: physical matchup for Golden State. They're bigger and almost every position,
Speaker 1: and you know, and and again with these kinds of things, Carson,
Speaker 1: it's always about, like a lot of it has to
Speaker 1: do with how long this series goes. It's so important
Speaker 1: for Golden State to steal a game in Memphis and
Speaker 1: then to win games three and four because they will
Speaker 1: need to end this series quickly. The longer these series
Speaker 1: with Golden State go, the more susceptible they are to
Speaker 1: physical mismatches, and that's gonna be something that they have
Speaker 1: to keep an eye on. Yeah, that's a really interesting
Speaker 1: take on it. I feel like the Warriors are pretty
Speaker 1: clearly the better back basketball team, but you are righting
Speaker 1: that they would be physically an athletic outmatched. I do
Speaker 1: feel though the level they have been able to reach
Speaker 1: defensively is so impressive, and just the shotmaking right now
Speaker 1: out of pool and obviously Steph and Clay, it feels
Speaker 1: like that's a lot for the Grizzlies to overcome, just
Speaker 1: because it's like their half court offense, in their high
Speaker 1: level shot creation. I mean, even compared to the tables,
Speaker 1: it's like if you were to tell me one team
Speaker 1: would be carried by their offensive stars to a win. Obviously,
Speaker 1: Desmond Bayane has been really tremendous at times in the series,
Speaker 1: but he's not like that go to bucket getter, initiator
Speaker 1: kind of guy you've talked about that. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: a score within the flow, phenomenal catch and shooter, all
Speaker 1: this different stuff, and so it just feels to me
Speaker 1: like that is still an issue with Memphis that can
Speaker 1: be exploited that if Jaw is an other worldly you know,
Speaker 1: you're relying on an inefficient Dylan Brooks as a second
Speaker 1: guy or a Desmond Bayane who you know, it's just
Speaker 1: not really his natural role. Triple j is still every
Speaker 1: other offensive posession when he initiates, it feel like he
Speaker 1: doesn't really know what he's doing. So I just feel
Speaker 1: like things are a little smoother or a little easier
Speaker 1: for the Warriors on that end right now. So I
Speaker 1: would probably put it closer to like Dubs. Honestly, I
Speaker 1: feel like there's a bit of a gap there right now,
Speaker 1: you're very confident. That's interesting. The offensive fulcrum pieces interesting
Speaker 1: because like part of the issue in this series Denver
Speaker 1: has been Yokich's ability to just utterly compromise their defense
Speaker 1: throughout the entire game, so that even these inferior guards
Speaker 1: are just getting amazing looks every time down the floor, right,
Speaker 1: And like not that Jaw doesn't have that capability, because
Speaker 1: he does. But I think that Golden State is going
Speaker 1: to be more equipped and now that will be something
Speaker 1: as the series goes Alonge that becomes an advantage for
Speaker 1: them as the smarter team. I think they're gonna be
Speaker 1: able to figure out more ways to slow Jot down.
Speaker 1: So that is an interesting angle there. Well, you bring
Speaker 1: up the Yoki dynamic, and I mean in terms of
Speaker 1: just making average or media ochre players around him look
Speaker 1: good and put them in exceptional position to succeed. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's all that he's done all year and throughout last year.
Speaker 1: Once Jamal Murray got hurt, is just ut those guys.
Speaker 1: We've got another fake question here. Even in defeat, did
Speaker 1: Yokich shut the haters up with his performance in this series? Okay,
Speaker 1: quick follow up question. Am I considered a hater? No,
Speaker 1: So here's where I would classify you, Jason. I think
Speaker 1: you're a fair skeptic. I think your criticisms about you know,
Speaker 1: having to go out and show that he doesn't have
Speaker 1: these weaknesses that can be exploited compared to other like
Speaker 1: all time, you know, top five kind of players. I
Speaker 1: think that's fair. I don't think that you're a hater.
Speaker 1: I would say haters are people who would like argue
Speaker 1: that he, you know, certainly didn't deserve m v P,
Speaker 1: which you didn't do. I mean, he was your m
Speaker 1: v P. Or I saw Charles Barkley the other day
Speaker 1: didn't have him in his top ten players. Like people
Speaker 1: who I think disregard the context and just blindly make
Speaker 1: anti yokich ar events. I don't think you fall into
Speaker 1: that category, but I would hope they would have shut
Speaker 1: that down. No, I mean I I've always, I've always
Speaker 1: I've had the respect, the requisite respect of Yoki ever
Speaker 1: since that Clipper series and like again, and you you
Speaker 1: guys know how much I value playmaking, Like I think
Speaker 1: he's in that like exclusive echelon of the top four
Speaker 1: playmakers in the league. You know with CP three, Luca
Speaker 1: and Lebron and I have a great deal of respect
Speaker 1: for that specific skill. So like my my thing is
Speaker 1: like I'm kind of sick of this conversation the and
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not talking about like the question. I
Speaker 1: mean like the question, the conversation surrounding like Yokich is
Speaker 1: a floor raiser, Like I'm kind of sick of that.
Speaker 1: Like I'm ready to see Javal Murray come back, Michael
Speaker 1: Porter Jr. Come back, And to see this team with
Speaker 1: some real expectations and see what that looks like. And
Speaker 1: I want to see because because part of the issue
Speaker 1: here is Yokich keeps losing in the first round because
Speaker 1: his team has hurt out all the sast year. I
Speaker 1: guess he did beat that Portland Trailblazers team, but then
Speaker 1: he went out feebly against Phoenix. So it's like part
Speaker 1: of me is like I want to see I want
Speaker 1: to see Yokis go on a real playoff run like
Speaker 1: this now again, the you saw the Lakers give him
Speaker 1: some issues in the bubble with like throwing Dwight Howard
Speaker 1: at him, and Anthony Davis had some success against him.
Speaker 1: They were attacking him on the defensive end as well,
Speaker 1: although the Lakers didn't quite have the personnel to get
Speaker 1: him out of the paint enough. But like I'm just
Speaker 1: I'm ready to see the next challenge for Yoki. Like
Speaker 1: I've already known that he can raise the floor. I've
Speaker 1: already known that he can keep a team relatively competitive
Speaker 1: against the team like the Warriors when he has inferior talent.
Speaker 1: Like I've already seen all of that. So like, to me,
Speaker 1: there's nothing really new from Yokichen here. I would and
Speaker 1: at this point, like the Barkley types and the guys
Speaker 1: that don't have him in their top ten, like they're
Speaker 1: beyond saving, Like they're they're not they're either not watching
Speaker 1: enough basketball or they're deliberately not paying attention to what
Speaker 1: they're seeing. It's just to me, those guys are kind
Speaker 1: of like, uh, nefarious characters in terms of actually trying
Speaker 1: to talk basketball. Yeah, I agree, I would put absolutely
Speaker 1: zero stock into that. I think that this does not
Speaker 1: change my opinion of Yokis whatsoever, because I think that
Speaker 1: you're absolutely right. I mean, if you've watched the guy
Speaker 1: play a lot of basketball, there's never been a doubt
Speaker 1: about his ability to raise an offensive ceiling, and I
Speaker 1: think that. I mean, his postseason production is pretty ridiculous.
Speaker 1: Throughout his career, he's consistently elevated his raw production, and
Speaker 1: he was thirty one, thirteen and six in this series
Speaker 1: on almost fifty eight percent shooting from the field. Let
Speaker 1: me ask you this, then, I think Yoki is the
Speaker 1: best offensive player on the planet. I think that your
Speaker 1: defensive criticism is fair. I think maybe at times I've
Speaker 1: underrated that. What's your reaction to that. I'll make the case,
Speaker 1: but just gut instinct, what do you think So the
Speaker 1: ability to thrive in any sort of individual coverage but
Speaker 1: also have the ability to play make at such a
Speaker 1: high level, I think automatically puts you in that conversation.
Speaker 1: I I'm always gonna go towards man. The hard part
Speaker 1: is is like my brain wants to go to like
Speaker 1: Lebron or a Steph, but they're both aging, so like
Speaker 1: I want a grandfather. The two of them above Yo
Speaker 1: kich in that conversation, But I could totally see why
Speaker 1: you put yokas on that level. My think the reason
Speaker 1: why I always have thought of Lebron as the best
Speaker 1: offensive engine in basketball is because of that diversity of
Speaker 1: his attack, the diversity of his attack. Like Lebron, just
Speaker 1: if you're giving him issues on one spot of the floor,
Speaker 1: he's just going to a different spot of the floor
Speaker 1: and he can thrive there as well. He can do
Speaker 1: he has a face up game, he's got a post
Speaker 1: up game, he's got a live dribble game. He can
Speaker 1: work at a pick and roll, he can work at isolation,
Speaker 1: he can score from all three levels. Like that to me,
Speaker 1: in conjunction with his playmaking, kind of gives him an
Speaker 1: extra level of versatility. But it's and it's hard for
Speaker 1: me to bump Lebron off that spot after he had
Speaker 1: yet another kind of magnificent offensive season on a garbage
Speaker 1: team where they were loading up on him just about
Speaker 1: every single time he had the basketball. But like, I
Speaker 1: totally see why your Kich is in the running there.
Speaker 1: But again, it's like, I want to see him go
Speaker 1: on a long playoff run where he has some ceiling
Speaker 1: raising potential with a good team before I kind of
Speaker 1: bump him to the top of that list. But I'm not.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna poo poo your idea here at all. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it's interesting. Another thing that I would say
Speaker 1: is a dynamic with Lebron that I think has always
Speaker 1: given him an advantage comparatively over guys like Steph. To me,
Speaker 1: is the physical imposition element where you know, if things
Speaker 1: aren't going right from with his jump shot or what
Speaker 1: have you. I mean, just brutal dominance. I think, yeah,
Speaker 1: just run him over every time. I think it's really impressive.
Speaker 1: I just think, you know, the production with your kich
Speaker 1: is totally historically unprecedented. The efficiency is totally historically unprecedented.
Speaker 1: I do think the versatility is also pretty unreal. I
Speaker 1: mean he does everything. You know. He is curling around screens,
Speaker 1: he is rolling and popping, He's dominating out of the post,
Speaker 1: he's pushing in transition. Like, I think he is really
Speaker 1: in a class of his own in terms of his
Speaker 1: ability to just play all these different roles on offense.
Speaker 1: I agree with you, Lebron also has you know, incredible versatility,
Speaker 1: But I just think the guy is really really something else,
Speaker 1: and purely in terms of offense. I do think he's
Speaker 1: the best. I think he also, for me, might be
Speaker 1: the best player overall in the world. I know you're
Speaker 1: not gonna like that take, and I do have obviously
Speaker 1: some of the same defensive issues I do. At times,
Speaker 1: they'll just think the offense is overwhelming enough to where
Speaker 1: it's like, I don't know, everybody has their flaws. Janice,
Speaker 1: the half court offenses a flaw. Katie I just don't
Speaker 1: think compares as an overall offensive engine anybody. And you know,
Speaker 1: there's a bunch of guys you can throw into that conversation, Steph,
Speaker 1: I don't think the conversation is super complicated now, Like
Speaker 1: I can't wait till after the season kind of get
Speaker 1: in more into the weed of this with you, because
Speaker 1: like the truth of the matter is is like it's
Speaker 1: so up in the air for me because I did
Speaker 1: I had Janice at like third overall behind Lebron and
Speaker 1: Katie coming into this run, and and I don't want
Speaker 1: to just be like, yes, is the best because I
Speaker 1: think he's gonna struggle against Boston. So like I'm really
Speaker 1: curious to see that. Like this is like this whole
Speaker 1: NBA hierarchy is like a snow globe that just got
Speaker 1: like shook like a hundred times, and like I'm just
Speaker 1: really curious to see where it all lands in the
Speaker 1: next month and a half, you know, on equivocally. I mean,
Speaker 1: I cannot remember a time in my brief yet beautiful
Speaker 1: life that there have been remotely this many guys and
Speaker 1: the best player in the world conversation, like not even close.
Speaker 1: You know, it's been so consensus for the most or
Speaker 1: maybe one or two challengers. So it is really fun
Speaker 1: and interesting. All right, last question here, Jason, it's another
Speaker 1: fake one. We talked a little bit about Charles Barkley.
Speaker 1: He called Kevin Duran a bus rider. You reacted to
Speaker 1: those remarks. What do you think the last time was
Speaker 1: that Charles Barkley wrote a bus? Oh? Like literally or
Speaker 1: the NBA version, the last time Charles Barkley literally wrote
Speaker 1: a bus? Oh man, I'm gonna go with like in
Speaker 1: Europe or wherever it was that the Dream Team went.
Speaker 1: That's gonna be my guest. Wait, wait, are we counting
Speaker 1: like charter bus to the arena? Because if that's the case,
Speaker 1: it's probably happened on a road trip. Yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: good question. I'm gonna say, No, I don't think that
Speaker 1: counts as a bus. Okay, like public bus maybe Europe
Speaker 1: for the Dream Team, but that's about it. Yeah, was
Speaker 1: he on the nineties Olympics team. I have no idea.
Speaker 1: That's a really good question. Now, I think he was
Speaker 1: dealing with some injuries at that point in his career,
Speaker 1: so I doubt it because things went downhill fast for
Speaker 1: Chuck after he left Phoenix, right, well six is when
Speaker 1: he actually went to Houston, Right, Yeah, I think. I
Speaker 1: think it's been a very long time. And honestly, I mean,
Speaker 1: would there have been a ton of reason for him
Speaker 1: to be on a public bus. It might go back
Speaker 1: further than that. Yeah, you're right, I think high school. Yeah, man, well,
Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe college. I mean, I think he's
Speaker 1: been living on his palace of Krispy Kreme Donuts for
Speaker 1: quite some time. That dude, Charles Charles and Stephen A. Smith,
Speaker 1: the two of those guys, the clip that they unloaded
Speaker 1: this last week, it's like, oh, man, and you know me, like,
Speaker 1: I try so hard to avoid some of that stuff,
Speaker 1: but I have to to a certain extent because there is,
Speaker 1: like you have to leve me some legitimate criticism on
Speaker 1: some of these guys, like I mean, Kad like Katie
Speaker 1: has always been one of my favorite players. I thought
Speaker 1: he was the best player in the world coming into
Speaker 1: this playoff run and like he had a really bad series.
Speaker 1: Like I can't just sit there and lie about that,
Speaker 1: even though I'm a Katy fan, you know, so it's
Speaker 1: like you gotta be honest about these kinds of things.
Speaker 1: But like, man, Stephen A. Smith and Charles Barkley just
Speaker 1: went for the jugular over the this last week, and
Speaker 1: they're as performative like take artists there's they're unparalleled, and
Speaker 1: so like when the two of them get on a
Speaker 1: roll like that, it's a site to behold. Man, I'm
Speaker 1: telling you, yeah, I I there was a lot of
Speaker 1: talk of everybody just the next time that either one
Speaker 1: of them would get in front of them Mike because
Speaker 1: they knew what was coming. Apparently Barkley was on the
Speaker 1: nineties six team, so maybe that's maybe that's a candidate. Really,
Speaker 1: that's super interesting. Yeah, alright, guys, that is all we
Speaker 1: have for tonight. I sincerely appreciate your support. As always,
Speaker 1: don't forget to hit that subscribe button on the Volumes
Speaker 1: YouTube channel. Don't forget I also do video breakdowns of
Speaker 1: almost every game that I watched, So follow me on
Speaker 1: Twitter at underscore Jason lt so you can get some
Speaker 1: video content to back up the things that I am saying.
Speaker 1: We will be back tomorrow night, not with the live
Speaker 1: show because we're doing some NFL Draft stuff with the
Speaker 1: live element of things, but I'm still gonna be recording
Speaker 1: reaction videos to all three games. So just stay tuned
Speaker 1: to the Volumes YouTube page and you will see those
Speaker 1: videos there, and then we will take our usual Friday
Speaker 1: Saturday off and we'll be back on Sunday for kicking
Speaker 1: down what's going to be an unbelievably incredible first round
Speaker 1: or a first game of the second round. I appreciate
Speaker 1: your guys supports sincerely from the bottom of my heart,
Speaker 1: and I'll see you guys tomorrow. The Volume