WEBVTT - Does Steve Nash's MVPs Help Or Hurt Chris Paul's Chances To Win One? 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:06.600 Ninety seven. 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:10.360 Partly cloudy. 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:18.080 Cumulone members SPF eighty five. 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:25.160 By the way, all previously reported temperatures are in fahrenheit. 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:37.400 That good mornings swim. Then welcome to the Now Dungs 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:40.800 podcast on the Athletic Network. It's Thursday, April twenty ninth. 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:41.360 J E. 0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:44.120 Skeeds along with my top shot hot boy Trey Kirby 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:48.800 heyl Hey, the international Man of Mystery, taking it to 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:53.920 the max Leyelism, and last but not least, making the 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:57.840 magic happiness JD. Hello Darius here we are shout out 0:00:57.880 --> 0:00:59.800 to the stream team for joining us live right now 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:04.760 on YouTube. Smash that like button, leave your comments and subscribe, 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:09.000 cause tonight at nine pm Eastern. Yeah, we already changed 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:12.640 the start today for this NBA Happy Hour is now 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:16.319 game night. Yes, come join your boys on the live 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:19.679 stream here on YouTube as we play a little Geo guesser, 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:23.920 maybe a little Sparkle quiz. Maybe Lee opens up an 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:27.039 old pack of F one racing cards. You don't know 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:29.520 what's gonna happen on Game Night tonight, but anyway, we'll 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:32.119 hang out for a couple hours, have a blast, of course, 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:34.480 answer your questions and comments that you're dropping in the 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:36.880 stream team there as well, So join us tonight nine 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:41.000 pm Eastern. NBA Happy Hour is now game Night. Okay. 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:44.440 Also email us your questions and comments for the next 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:47.080 beach step. In podcasts No Dunks at the Athletic dot com, 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:49.480 we hit the beach yesterday. We talked about new NBA 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:52.080 awards we'd like to see added to the mix. We 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:56.120 attempted to agree on, like what actually makes up an 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:59.880 NBA journeyman, like the criteria for that. That was fun, 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:03.000 uh task leading that discussion, and then Lee talked a 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:10.560 lot about cars and construction. Real manly Man yesterday's Johnson. 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:13.000 Rotten Man Man, that's right, yeah, all. 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:17.799 Right, Yeah, how's your Stanley bru. 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:22.320 You gotta be a hippie, you gotta be way more 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:22.920 into it, you know. 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:25.600 Yeah, my bad. 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:28.399 I've got a grunt like Tim the tool Taylor. Yeah. 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:32.040 He was talking a lot about uh again, driving over 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:35.480 screws and then his screw drivers and. 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:37.600 The left and right. 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:43.480 Yeah yeah, yeah to stuff from a gang. Go check 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:45.800 out that beach dub podcast that we posted yesterday, and 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:48.400 I finally grab your suite No dunks merch over at 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:50.600 No dunk dot com. Okay, On today's show. We got 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:54.320 tweeted the night we got pick the results. Uh, though, 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:56.720 maybe we'll just skip that, you know, I think we'll 0:02:56.800 --> 0:03:00.200 just gloss over that today nothing important happened. Yeah, we're 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:02.880 gonna run back some what you got fun. We had 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:04.640 a blast doing night yesterday. I got some other ones 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:06.639 for you guys today, and we'll get to the big 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:09.680 games and the big news from a very busy Wednesday 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:15.120 night in the Association. But first, Weggie number forty four. 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:20.480 It was a prime time Weggie Paul George. Hmm, nice 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:25.320 nice wedge there underneath sort of the rim lodged in 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:28.480 there against the backboard. So beautiful shot there. I love 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:31.040 that camera work. And here we are go to weggietracker 0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:34.640 dot com. Up to forty four wedgies on the season. 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:38.440 We're getting closer and closer to that magic number fifty 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:39.960 and then we're gonna try and set the all time 0:03:40.000 --> 0:03:42.760 record on pace for fifty five. We're loving it. So 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:46.440 great stuff there from a very entertaining game from the 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:48.560 Clippers and the Suns. And that's the first game we're 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:51.680 starting with here Ley the Suns. The headline is the 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:54.520 Suns clinch of their first postseason birth in eleven years, 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:57.040 and they did it in style and once again Chris 0:03:57.040 --> 0:03:59.640 Paul taking over late. But what's the big takeaway for 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:01.760 you in terms of that game and then making the 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:03.360 postseason for a first time in a long time. 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:06.360 Well, yeah, repeat Rinson, repeat there with Chris Paul. Get 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:08.320 the game close, just give the ball to Chris Paul 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:11.240 and he'll finish it off, which is incredible stuff. Once again. 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:14.000 But look, the turnaround in Phoenix I think has gone 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.040 way better than even they could have hoped for. When 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:18.159 they traded for Chris Paul in the offseason, it was 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:20.400 a look, we desperately want to make the playoffs, and 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:22.240 I think they probably would have settled for somewhere like 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:24.080 fifth or sixth, you know, to be honest, I think. 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:27.280 But now they're at the point where they potentially have 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:29.880 home court advantage for as long as they're in the 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:32.400 playoffs because they're only a game back of the Utah Jazz. 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:35.040 They play them tonight, but they already hold the tiebreaker 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:38.320 against the Utah Jazz, having beaten them twice this season. Now, 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:40.920 who knows exactly what happens, maybe guys rest to night, 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.920 I'm not sure, but Phoenix to be in this position 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:46.960 where you know they could have the best record in 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:48.599 the league is incredible. 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:48.840 Now. 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:51.719 Chris Paul obviously deserves a ton of credit for that. 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:54.040 And I think when you saw an Okay, see guys 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:56.640 like Gilges, Alexander Denis Sruder, they elevated their games. And 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:58.200 you see it as well with outside of the guys 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:01.000 of the Stars like Devin Booker and and DeAndre and 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:04.120 Michael Bridges or macale Bridges, Cameron Payne. Those guys are 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:06.720 sort of elevating their game. That's not all Chris Paul, 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:09.720 but I certainly think he has influenced those guys by 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.800 trusting them. He throws in the ball and he needs 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:14.760 them to knock down shots and they do. And then 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:16.360 cam Raon Payne, you just see him out there. He's 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:18.679 just feels confident in his game. And I think again 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:21.880 the way that Chris Paul plays, these guys just see 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:23.840 how he plays and they try to sort of play 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:27.679 the best they can. The Suns offensively, they're great, seventh defense, 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:31.120 their fifth even better. So you know, things have been 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:33.160 legit with this team. It's not like they're just sort 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.880 of riding one particular wave. You know, they're balanced well 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:38.640 they're they're well coached, they're deep, and they've got that 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:41.680 superstar who is really closing out games for them, which 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:44.719 is great. Now it becomes a tricky part because obviously 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:47.440 they're going to make the playoffs and skeezee, you know 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:50.320 better than anybody, after a long playoff drought, the Raptors 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:53.280 made the playoffs. Remember, for their first two years, home 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.720 court advantage probably went into both series favorite and they 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:58.479 lost in that first round. So that's going to be 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:00.760 the real big challenge if the Phoenix Suns. I know, 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:02.360 the Suns fans don't want to hear that. They don't 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:04.320 want to hear that. They're like, hey, stop hating on 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:06.919 the Suns. The big difference is the Raptors didn't have 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:09.080 a Chris Paul in that situation. 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:09.599 Lowry. 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:12.040 I think Larry hadn't made the playoffs once, but obviously 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:13.599 he hadn't gone all that far and he wasn't at 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:16.960 Chris Paul's level. But you know, that's where the Suns 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:18.800 do have a big advantage. They're going to have a 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:21.320 guy who's going to be thirty six. He's a veteran. 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:24.400 You know, he's played over one hundred playoff games and look, 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:26.120 not all of those have been great, let's be fair, 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:29.680 but it certainly feels like he's the sort of guy 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:31.560 who is going to be able to at least steer 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:34.080 them in the right direction. So I think this is great, 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:36.760 and I'm excited for Phoenix. You know, it's been so 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:39.520 long and they're back, They're in the playoffs, and now 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:43.279 it's just going to be okay. Can they translate what's 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:46.000 happened in the regular season into playoff success and what 0:06:46.120 --> 0:06:47.200 is a successful season? 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:47.400 You know? 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:49.400 Do they have to make the conference finals? I don't 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:51.120 think so, but I certainly think they have to go 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:54.520 further than the first round at a minimum to really 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:57.920 make something out of the season. But it's been an 0:06:57.920 --> 0:07:01.440 incredible turnaround, way better than I think any one realistically predicted. 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:04.360 Yeah, Sons have not been there since twenty ten. When 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:07.039 Nash is throwing oops to Amari Stadameyer trade. It's a 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:10.440 long time ten season drought there, tied for fist long. 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:14.200 These guys are literally coaching together. Yeah at this point, Yeah, 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:15.280 wild stuff. 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:17.080 And so here they are. But Chris Paul twenty eight 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:20.440 and ten last night, Clippers, they didn't know what to 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:22.240 do with them again in the fourth quarter, he hit 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:25.200 five of his eight shots, scored fifteen. You know, when 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:28.000 it got tight, when the Clippers pulled within one, it 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:31.480 was Chris Paul once again like making consecutive tough baskets 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.080 there to close it out. He is the closer here. 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:36.600 And you said it, Lee, I mean they're one game 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:39.400 back of the Utah Jazz. Let's say the Suns get 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:42.880 the number one seed, the best record in the NBA. Huh, 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:45.480 Chris Paul comes there in the first season, gets the 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:49.360 best record. Well, we'll get a few former MVPs for 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:51.680 Phoenix Suns that have done that before. Barkley and his 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:54.240 first year with the Suns, right one MVP leading the 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:56.560 league's the best record there in Phoenix. Same with Steve 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:58.840 Nash his first one, you know, returning to the Suns 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:01.440 in his case, winning MVP and leading them to the 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:03.880 best record. A lot of us think Yoki is gonna 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:05.960 win MVP and he We're gonna get to him and 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:10.240 what he did last night. But trait, if the Suns 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:13.240 do have the number one record, does Chris Paul have 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:15.160 any chance over the final ten or even I guess 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:16.800 the question, does he have any chance to get like 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:20.080 top three top two with what he's doing here recently 0:08:20.160 --> 0:08:22.600 and again the caveat the Phoenix Sun's having the number 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:23.320 one record in the liague. 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:28.160 Well Skeets, Now that you mentioned the historical MVPs that 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:30.240 the Suns have, I think that Chris Paul's gonna win 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:32.640 it because Charles Barkley shouldn't have won the MVP in 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:34.760 nineteen ninety three and Steve Nash shouldn't have won it 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.480 in two thousand and five. So maybe they'll give it 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:39.760 to Chris Paul because this belongs to Nicoley Jokinz. But 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:41.560 this guy's gonna get some votes, no doubt about it. 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:44.280 And I think you're right that top three is certainly 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:47.760 in the mix at this point. As you know, Chris 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:51.280 Paul has certainly put the team on his back for 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:54.520 the fourth quarters and the way he is, he's showing 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:56.560 out and doing it every single night, and if they 0:08:56.600 --> 0:08:59.040 get the number one seed, those are some good arguments, 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:02.240 especially considering when you're looking at who's gonna come in 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:06.960 third right now anyways, you're probably saying Jokic, then Embiid 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:09.000 and then third is maybe a toss up. Steph Curry, 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:11.120 I would think, was kind of leading that for a while. 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:13.959 But the Warriors obviously are scrapping to stay in the 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:17.600 play in tournament. Jannis obviously has a case for number 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:20.240 three as well, but it feels like we're just going 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:22.360 to kind of ignore that right now. Meanwhile, the Bucks 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:24.720 are kind of, you know, playing five hundred basketball, just 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:27.839 waiting for the playoffs, which is really where Yiannis needs 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.240 to show up. So yeah, I can certainly see people 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:32.680 talking themselves into Chris Paul at least being a top 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:35.960 three MVP candidate, because it's impossible to deny the impact 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:38.160 he has. Just look at like Frank Kaminski. He has 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:40.920 played like thirty five minutes in the past month, score 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:43.320 thirteen points in thirteen minutes in the first half last night. 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:45.440 They're just like, hey, we need you to shoot your 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:48.120 threes and do your Frank Kominski stuff. He's like, all right, 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.800 I got you. Chris Paul getting the MVP chance, no surprise, 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:54.719 he should be there, But I don't know. Less and 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:56.680 less I'm thinking it's a crazy idea to give Chris 0:09:56.679 --> 0:09:57.679 Paul some MVP votes. 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:00.280 Well, what you're saying there, Trey is a I saw 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:03.120 Kazim had a tweet last night that said Chris Paul 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:05.760 got to blame Steve Nash for not getting real MVP 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:08.800 consideration because folks are hell bent on never letting that 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:11.880 happen again. And there it is any truth to that. 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:16.120 Lee Like does Nash winning you know his MVPs? Like 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:18.760 does it help or hurt a guy's chances? Like Chris 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:21.240 Paul where where the stats are not blowing you away? 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:23.200 But of course it's like what he's done, the impact 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:25.880 on that winning culture, the intangibles, whatever you want to 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:29.160 call it. You know, it is similar to Steve Nash 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:30.320 in that sense. What do you think about like that 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:31.240 tweeting that idea? 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:34.080 Yeah, I mean, I think Steve Nash went back to 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:37.840 Phoenix because largely because Mark Cuban didn't think his back 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:39.840 was going to hold up, and so he didn't want 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:41.880 to re sign him, and so the Sun said we'll 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.160 take him. And then he rejuvenated that Sun's team, and 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:46.080 I don't remember if they finished with the best record 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:47.640 or not in the in the Western Conference. I was 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:50.720 certainly up there, but they seem to when he came 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:53.120 back all of a sudden, you know, he was exactly 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:55.560 what they would needed for a Mari stardomeron for and 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:58.319 Sean Marrion and Raja Bell. You know, Raja Bell was 0:10:58.360 --> 0:10:59.760 that sort of guy who was like, all of a sudden, 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:02.360 he's just shooting threes and it's like, this guy's great 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:05.520 playing alongside Steve Natch. So, but I think with Chris Paul, 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:08.480 it's more the fact that the Sons were like, you know, 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:11.400 they had a good bubble of course, and I was like, okay, 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:13.720 he's there and he improved the thunder. What's he going 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:14.920 to do with the Suns? Are they going to be 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:15.959 about somewhere in the middle. 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:16.880 But instead he's. 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:19.000 Got them, you know, to a point where it's like, wow, 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:21.680 this is this is so much better than what anyone 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:25.360 was really predicting with them. So the numbers, yeah, they 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:27.560 sixteen and eight. I think he's only putting up on 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:31.680 the season. But he's having a much greater significant impact 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:34.079 on that team and their record than those numbers show, 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:36.079 because he's doing it late. I don't have the clutch 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.200 stats here. I meant to check those this morning. 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:40.680 I forgot to. But Phoenix's money in the clyps there's 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:42.600 something like twenty and eleven last year. 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:46.120 Okay, see were as well, you know, so it's no 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.120 coincidence that where he goes his team improves. 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:52.120 But yeah, it's timing as well, isn't it. 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:55.400 You know, because he's playing so well right now that 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:58.440 that is, you know, the freshest recency buyers certainly plays 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:00.520 a factor. You know, Jokic and the the Nuggets are 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:03.680 doing well certainly since Jamal Murray went down. But it's 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:06.200 almost like we've been talking about him so much that 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:08.640 that maybe he has dropped a little bit in the. 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:11.079 Yeah, we've been talking about him in the MVP conversation 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:13.040 for so long that we need to get him out 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:15.560 of the MVP. Come. Guy made a huge clutch play 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:16.640 last night, I know. 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:20.440 But if he had faltered here when Jamal Murray went 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:22.040 out and the Nuggets last a bunch of games, then 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:25.240 this gets really interesting. But that didn't happen. So yeah, 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:26.800 that's why, you know what, We're going to make our 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:29.520 award picks on tomorrow's Drop podcast. By the way, we're 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:31.920 doing that tomorrow. We'll do our top five ballot all 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:34.600 of that. But he did it like he didn't fall 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:36.640 off at all, is the problem. But I'm saying I 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:39.120 think that Chris paul Is is definitely, of course at 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.400 the MVP table at this point. I'm with you on that. 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:44.040 Yeah, And that's what I'm saying. In the more recent 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:46.760 games and in the recent history, we've seen him step 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:49.079 up and hit those shots late, win those games for 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:51.559 his teams, and that just elevates him in the conversation. 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:54.720 That's all I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, No, he's looked. Chris Paul, 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:58.800 believe it or not, has finished top seven in MVP 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:02.960 bloats like eight times, like a lot, you know, which 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:05.360 surprised me a little bit and looking into that, but 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:07.840 he'll do that again. I would imagine at least top 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:10.440 seven and like we're saying, maybe top five, maybe top three, 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:12.400 who knows where he falls. He just like when you 0:13:12.400 --> 0:13:14.080 had Chris Paul to your team at this point, you 0:13:14.120 --> 0:13:16.360 know what's gonna happen. You're gonna be pretty damn good 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:18.880 in the clutch, like you said, Lee, because he's got 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:22.520 a pretty good track history of that. He's gonna steady 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:24.480 the pace, which is where the Suns are, you know, 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:27.400 like they're they play somewhat slowly. They rank in the 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.600 bottom third. Because that's again Chris Paul just has his 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:32.360 fingers over everything, over everything that you're running out there 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:34.840 and then you're gonna protect the ball because he's incredible 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:36.600 at that. So they're a really good team passing the 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:38.920 ball fourth and assists. They don't turn it over a ton, 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:41.920 you know, awesome, you know, sort of assist to turnover 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:45.240 ratio there with them, and again that clutch factor. That's 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:47.160 what you're getting from a Chris Paul led team right 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:49.240 now at the point guard. And this is wild that 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:50.959 they might have the best record in the league or 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:53.400 at least chasing the Jets. So fun stuff. They're really 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.640 fun game now, Clippers, I like, I hope these teams 0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:59.320 meet somehow in the playoffs because they don't like each other, yeah, 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:02.520 which is great. You know, there's some animosity there between, 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:04.640 especially like Booker CP three and then sort of Paul 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:07.240 George and there's no Kauai for the Clippers. So I 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:09.400 don't think everybody's freaking out over that last, though. I 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:11.720 will say I don't like the Clippers' chances maybe now 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:14.920 of going up in the standings anymore. Like that was 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:17.280 a big win for Phoenix in that sensely where they 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:19.400 might be holding on to it the very least the 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:21.400 second seed, like we said, maybe get to first but 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:23.640 you know, they're nice little buffer there a little bit. 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:26.520 Now, yeah, two games, two games and what about eight 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:28.480 to ten to go? I think sort of depending on 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:31.520 exactly what their schedules are, but yeah, that would have 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:34.040 been one of those ones that they would have moved 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:36.240 to what forty four? Yeah, it would have been still 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:40.200 one or two losses behind the Suns, but ahead of 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:43.760 them on victory. So yeah, it's pretty important there for 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:45.960 the Phoenix Suns to hang on at home against the 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:48.800 team they could likely face. But there's enough time, I 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:50.600 think for the Clippers here just to still over the 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:53.040 haul and if they if they really get on a 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:54.600 bit of a hot streak and the Sons do drop 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:56.960 a game or two, but very very close. 0:14:57.480 --> 0:15:00.800 All right, let's get to yell Kitsch, the lead MVP 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:05.200 front runner. At least he blocks, did he? Zion's lap 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:09.120 shot now gets hold off the Pelicans one fourteen, one twelve. 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:11.440 Zion asked about it after the game, like that critical, 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:14.880 like nine call there got to earn my respect, he said, So, 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:17.360 you know, he took it on the chin, But what 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:19.680 did you think of that? No call there? Leaves thought 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:21.880 it was a foul or no that you'll could take 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:25.200 something swipe at Zion there as about two seconds left, 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:27.160 ingram nice little shovel pass to him. I thought it 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:29.640 was really nice. But what'd you think about that play? 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:31.880 This was as bang bang a players I think you 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:35.200 can possibly get because he does sort of swipe at him, 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:37.440 which I think that gives the referees a chance to 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:39.400 sort of say, you know what, like that that's a 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:41.600 foul just because you sort of he sort of winds 0:15:41.640 --> 0:15:43.960 up and hits him there. I went back frame by 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.680 frame over both replaces to see him baby, just to 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:49.760 see exactly like what happened first, And I think he 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:54.480 gets enough ball first and as way as far as 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:56.320 I understand the rule, the hand is part of the ball. 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:59.120 If your hand is covering that part of the ball, 0:15:59.160 --> 0:16:01.480 then it's not a fair and I think he gets 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:03.960 enough of that. There's a little bit of collateral afterwards 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:06.080 with the with the sort of hand coming down and. 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:06.920 Their head a little bit. 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:10.040 But overall I'm kind of like, I think that's actually fine. 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:12.280 I think it is it's fine that call he gets. 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:15.040 He gets enough of it there for me to be like, 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:17.200 the refs made the right call on that play. So 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:20.400 you know, the Pelicans obviously upset, not not happy. I 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:22.160 was hoping Zilla would have a little ride up on 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:23.960 it this morning, because he's usually pretty accurate. 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:26.800 He didn't really say anything. He just said it was 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:28.400 like one line. I was like, come on, they'll give 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:29.120 me some more of that. 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:32.360 But overall, I think it's yeah, you could, you could 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:34.320 make the case there's a foul, but I think it's 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:36.960 about a fifty two percent non foul forty eight percent. 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:40.680 I lean a yo kitchen in the nugget's favorite and 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:43.000 for the ref to not, you know, they decided they 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:45.080 weren't gonna well, he still have had to make free throws, 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:46.560 of course, but well. 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:48.160 That's what's funny about it. I feel like Yo kich 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:50.440 was almost trying to foul them in a weird way 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:52.960 put the line like, at least like we're not giving 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:54.640 up the dunker lay up here. I think he even 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:56.880 said that after the game. Well, I'm just going to like, 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:00.040 at least foul you know, sorry, at least take a 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:02.560 hard swipe at yes, and yeah, maybe I hit ball 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:05.359 which definitely does make contact, and at the very least 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:08.439 I prevent him from tying the game up and make 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:11.119 him earning at the line. So it's it's it's a 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:13.520 it's a close one there. But what would you think. 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:18.240 Trey clean, super clean, to be complete completely honest. Yeah, 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:21.120 I mean Zion maybe in five seasons he gets that call, 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:22.520 I would say, you know, when he's one of the 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:25.040 faces of the league, even more so. But Nikola Jokich 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:27.200 is your MVP right now, so he's getting the calls. 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:30.760 And I thought maybe maybe he touches Zion's hair a 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:32.920 little bit at the top, but he doesn't even get 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:35.600 a lot of hand I don't really think on this block. 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:37.320 He gets the ball pretty cleanly. When you see it 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:40.240 from behind, it just looks like a massive swipe because 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:42.960 it is a massive swipe. But I did love Jokic's 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:45.359 reaction afterwards, just walking back to the bench like no 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:47.439 big deal, just like he had a game winner, all right, 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:51.640 game winning blocks. Bought some great quotes from this afterwards. 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:55.639 Stan Van Gundy said, I do think that strength gets 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:58.119 punished in this league a lot more than quickness. If 0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:00.800 you're able to go through contact a little bit called differently. 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:03.200 If you fall down every time your hit or you flop, 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:05.080 you get calls. That's just the way it is. It's 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:07.200 not just just Zion, That's just. 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:08.080