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Speaker 1: Welcome to Bullyball, presented by DraftKings. I am Rachel Nichols
Speaker 1: as always, mister DeMarcus Cousins. His plant has been replaced
Speaker 1: by some artwork. We're gonna have to discuss that in
Speaker 1: a minute, but first we are also joined by I
Speaker 1: mean Al Hassen and I mean something happened over the weekend.
Speaker 1: We can't give the people the full story because we've
Speaker 1: got to wait till it airs. But Boogie Cousins and
Speaker 1: Paul Pierce faced off against each other during the final four.
Speaker 1: It just gives us a little taste. You don't have
Speaker 1: to tell us a whole story book, but but give
Speaker 1: us a little taste of whether you or Paul came
Speaker 1: out victorious and it was a.
Speaker 2: Fish far so I think we're new, yeah, man, Poor Paul,
Speaker 2: Poor Paul.
Speaker 1: I just want you to know that we would be
Speaker 1: breaking down to this comes out.
Speaker 3: One thing I love about Paul, you know, he talks
Speaker 3: to ship. He may not always be able to back
Speaker 3: it up, but he's gonna take it like a chance
Speaker 3: regardless of the results. So he's a good sport. Thought
Speaker 3: he was just saying he could beat the number one
Speaker 3: pick in this year.
Speaker 1: Is that's what I was saying. Wasn't he just saying
Speaker 1: he could be that everyone picking? And didn't he also
Speaker 1: say earlier this year that he could like beat someone
Speaker 1: in a forty Yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Think, I think, Yeah, I think.
Speaker 3: Paul in that moment once the game started, all his
Speaker 3: thoughts and comments came to him at that moment, and
Speaker 3: like it was like a punch of reality kind of helping.
Speaker 3: He kind of had this look of shock on his face,
Speaker 3: but like they were of the day. Damn what I
Speaker 3: get myself into. But he was a great sport about it.
Speaker 1: That's I can't wait to see it. Very excited. Everyone
Speaker 1: watch when it comes out. It's going to be good.
Speaker 1: And yes, we will be going frame by frame, breaking
Speaker 1: down table, just saying, all right, guys, much more seriously,
Speaker 1: we got to get to your opinion. Boogie on John Calipari.
Speaker 1: John Calipery finalizing a five year deal to become the
Speaker 1: next head coach at Arkansas, salary being reported in the
Speaker 1: eight million dollar range per year. Now in fifteen seasons
Speaker 1: with UK Calipere was four to ten and one twenty
Speaker 1: three seven Elite eights, four final fours, twenty twelve National Championship.
Speaker 1: But of course, as we know, and we've talked about
Speaker 1: on the show, lots of dissatisfaction around Lexington. He had
Speaker 1: not reached the second round of the NCAA Attorney since
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen. So, Boogie, I want to know when you
Speaker 1: first just crossed your phone. I don't know if it
Speaker 1: was last night, I don't know if it was this morning.
Speaker 1: What was your reaction, your first, like thirty second reaction.
Speaker 2: I was shocked. I was I was. I was shocked.
Speaker 3: And you know, I have a soft spot in my
Speaker 3: heart for you know, Lexington, Kentucky. That was a place
Speaker 3: I consider home at a certain part of my career.
Speaker 3: You know, I've got great memories, great times, great relationships
Speaker 3: still to this day in that place, and it's gonna
Speaker 3: remain that way, you know what I mean. The same
Speaker 3: goes with Kyle. Like I understand this business. I understand
Speaker 3: the ups and downs of it. I see both sides.
Speaker 3: I understand both sides. But uh, you know, I think
Speaker 3: I think this it's good for both sides in a way.
Speaker 3: I think This is a fresh start for Kyle and
Speaker 3: it's also a fresh start for the University of Kentucky.
Speaker 3: You know, it's been a lot up chatter and back
Speaker 3: and forth about you know, what's the standard, what's what's
Speaker 3: expected on the year to your basis, Well, I think
Speaker 3: I think everybody's going to get a real, you know,
Speaker 3: taste of reality moving forward. Like from this, I think
Speaker 3: with cal he's now in a place where it's not
Speaker 3: this pressure to bring in a championship every single season,
Speaker 3: since you know that's the standard at U K. This
Speaker 3: is now a place I think Arkansas, we all know,
Speaker 3: we've seen this movie before with Kyle, like where he
Speaker 3: goes becomes the hotspot. That's the reality of this. Yeah, Arkansas.
Speaker 3: Everything about Arkansas is I put Cayl and Deon Sanders
Speaker 3: in the same category. You know, Deon has the prime effect.
Speaker 3: And we've seen what it's done for not just the program,
Speaker 3: but the entire city of Colorado, uh fire, state of Colorado.
Speaker 3: In the city that they're we've seen what is done.
Speaker 3: It's the same thing with Caliberry, Like Arkansas will now
Speaker 3: be the hot spot. Arkansas will now have the number
Speaker 3: one recruiting classes coming in every single year, Arkansas will
Speaker 3: be full of celebrities, Arkansas will have the most talent
Speaker 3: coming in and now every single year the machine will
Speaker 3: continue to go.
Speaker 2: It's just being a new place.
Speaker 3: I think when it comes to you know, UK, we're
Speaker 3: gonna have to go throughout our rebuilding process. I don't
Speaker 3: think there's a right well, I actually do, and I'll
Speaker 3: get to that point in a second. Outside of that
Speaker 3: one specific thing, I think there isn't a right answer
Speaker 3: as to you know, who will feel that spot. And yeah,
Speaker 3: there's plenty of you know, popular names out there right now.
Speaker 3: You know, you got you know, Daran Hurley and Yukon.
Speaker 3: You kind of letting him go. Let's let's well.
Speaker 1: That was my question. Okay, So if if you were,
Speaker 1: if you were the athletic director, who would you get
Speaker 1: to replace John Caliperry, who's gettable?
Speaker 3: Then Harley's not going. Jay Wright is living his best life. Yes,
Speaker 3: he has to work even more money.
Speaker 2: He's not leaving.
Speaker 3: I saw something about Oats, the coach Oates from Alabama, Alabama,
Speaker 3: Uh we go. I also saw something about Brad Stevens.
Speaker 3: You're out your mind if you think he's leaving his position.
Speaker 3: He's living his best life. And then I saw something
Speaker 3: about Billy Donovan. Billy Donovan has been a part of
Speaker 3: college basketball. He's now at the ultimate level when it
Speaker 3: comes to the NBA. Uh, it's going to be hard
Speaker 3: to convince any coach that has been to the ultimate
Speaker 3: level to then take a step down to go to
Speaker 3: the collegiate level. And it's not the collegiate level of oh,
Speaker 3: this is a this is a brand new monster. So
Speaker 3: now and most of these coaches that used to coach
Speaker 3: in that old way, it was their way or the highway.
Speaker 3: That's not what college basketball is anymore. So to think
Speaker 3: that it's going to be a lying around the door
Speaker 3: of coaches that want to, you know, not only coach
Speaker 3: at this level, and it's ten times the amount of
Speaker 3: work you now have to convince them that, yeah, you
Speaker 3: have to meet this standard of being a championship team
Speaker 3: every single year. Good luck finding a replacement for Cale
Speaker 3: because it's gonna be very very hard. Yeah, and UK
Speaker 3: will and what we experienced in those fifteen years of
Speaker 3: KYL being it, we will never experience again. Now I'm
Speaker 3: not saying we won't have championships down the line because
Speaker 3: UK is UK.
Speaker 2: You know what, I mean, I think I think the
Speaker 2: ad will.
Speaker 3: You know, go about it the right way, find the
Speaker 3: right person to fit the culture, meet the standards, and
Speaker 3: it's gonna be a process as long as they understand
Speaker 3: it's going to be a process. And I think it's
Speaker 3: going to be one of those processes to where you
Speaker 3: get you end up finding talent, you build on them
Speaker 3: for three or four years, and it's going to be
Speaker 3: a team for the juniors and seniors like we continue
Speaker 3: to see in this tournament, because that's what wins tournament games.
Speaker 3: Experience and consistency, that's what wins in college So and yeah,
Speaker 3: it's rare occasions where you get a young group that
Speaker 3: can do it, but that's a rare thing.
Speaker 2: That's like hitting the lottery.
Speaker 3: But at the same time, we see time and time
Speaker 3: again the consistency and the experience is what wins college tournaments.
Speaker 3: So I do think, you know, Kentucky down the line
Speaker 3: of finally get one of those teams and you know
Speaker 3: we'll be back at the top, or in that moment,
Speaker 3: be at the top, But to be the hot spot
Speaker 3: or be what we've been as of lately or these
Speaker 3: last fifteen it'll never be the same, even when it
Speaker 3: comes to TV games, the revenue everything comes with. Kentucky
Speaker 3: won't be on TV anymore. It's going to be hard
Speaker 3: to get a kid to go to Kentucky if they're
Speaker 3: not on TV. What kids are looking for in today's
Speaker 3: time is what's hot, what's cool, what's relevant. I want
Speaker 3: to be on TV every single night to show my talent.
Speaker 3: Guess what team's going to be on TV every night?
Speaker 3: The Arkansas Razorbacks.
Speaker 4: Rachel. I think the thing to keep in mind is
Speaker 4: you know and boogie. You could correct me if I'm wrong.
Speaker 4: But sometimes people in places like Kentucky or UCLA is
Speaker 4: a great example of how it could be because Ucla
Speaker 4: is kind of going through it in terms of they start,
Speaker 4: they think, oh it's here, it doesn't matter who's coaching,
Speaker 4: They're always gonna come. But the reality is, in the
Speaker 4: last fifteen years, these kids wanted to go play for Cal.
Speaker 4: And it's not just because Cal is a nice guy
Speaker 4: or a fun guy to be around. Is because Cal
Speaker 4: went into every one of those living rooms and told
Speaker 4: those kids, my number one priority is to see you
Speaker 4: be as high a draft pick as possible. My number
Speaker 4: two priority is championships, and he knew that if I
Speaker 4: get the talent, we're gonna win games. We're gonna go
Speaker 4: to final fours. We might win some championships. They ended
Speaker 4: up winning one. But the reality is every year the
Speaker 4: start of the year, we knew that Kentucky was gonna
Speaker 4: be one of the top teams in the league. And
Speaker 4: that was because of cow And like Boogie said, we
Speaker 4: could look at the track record. He went to U
Speaker 4: Mass What they do there? Final four? He went to Memphis?
Speaker 4: What they do there? Championship game? And again, those aren't
Speaker 4: hot spots. Those weren't blue bloods. Those were smaller schools.
Speaker 4: He comes to Kentucky, he has a success there, He's
Speaker 4: gonna go to Arkansas. Arkansas ain't Memphis, and it ain't
Speaker 4: you Mass. That's a school with deep pockets, with boosters
Speaker 4: that want to see winning. Jerry Jones, Tyson, Chicken family,
Speaker 4: all them people, Walmart, they got money and they want
Speaker 4: to see wins. And they'll give col whatever he needs.
Speaker 4: He's gonna be happening.
Speaker 2: They'll they'll make the money.
Speaker 4: And they'll make the money back. They'll make the money back. Meanwhile, Kentucky,
Speaker 4: we've seen what happened when they have a coach and
Speaker 4: then they're trying to transition off afterward. So what happened
Speaker 4: after Patino, after Tubby and the down years can happen.
Speaker 4: And like I said, if you don't believe me, look
Speaker 4: at UCLA, the greatest basketball dynasty ever. Look at what
Speaker 4: happened to them in the in the down Look at
Speaker 4: what's gonna happen in some of these other schools, Georgetown
Speaker 4: in the down years, Yukon in the down years. It
Speaker 4: happens to all of us. This is this. This game
Speaker 4: is built around the people who play it and the
Speaker 4: people who coach it, and the name of the team
Speaker 4: has an impact, but it ain't. It ain't going to
Speaker 4: erase what the first two things do.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, it's fast than it ever has been been before.
Speaker 1: And look, the game has changed so much. But you're right.
Speaker 1: I mean the way men's college of basketball is with
Speaker 1: guys in and out, especially the one done culture at Kentucky.
Speaker 1: You know, I would not be surprised if we saw
Speaker 1: Cal shift his approach a little bit at Arkansas. I
Speaker 1: think that it might be definitely some of his you know,
Speaker 1: freshmen coming in huge recruits. I don't think that's changing.
Speaker 1: That's who Calipari is that's why they're on TV so much.
Speaker 1: I think you might see a little bit more mixing
Speaker 1: in of guys who are there for maybe two or
Speaker 1: three years to kind of keep that unity and that
Speaker 1: chemistry together when they go into the tournament. But you've
Speaker 1: got a fan base that hasn't had a title in
Speaker 1: thirty years. That is a very different fan base than
Speaker 1: the fan base that's like, why haven't you want ed?
Speaker 1: What have you done for Lee lately? How come it's
Speaker 1: only been since twenty twelve. You are having a different
Speaker 1: environment when you wake up in the morning and your
Speaker 1: day to day. And frankly, I think cal was ready
Speaker 1: for that because when I saw him sit up during
Speaker 1: that press conference after he and the athletic director they
Speaker 1: came out at the tweet, right, we've decided to bring
Speaker 1: call back for another year. That was so uncomfortable. I
Speaker 1: have never seen two people they did not want to
Speaker 1: be in the same room more. And all I could
Speaker 1: think about was, Okay, they've got a thirty three million
Speaker 1: dollar payout if they get rid of him. So basically,
Speaker 1: it's like staying married to someone because you guys can't
Speaker 1: afford to split up, right, can't you will use the
Speaker 1: house you like, can't afford a new apartment, so you're
Speaker 1: gonna just have to live in the house together. And
Speaker 1: there you go. Nobody wants to be like that, and
Speaker 1: Cal is too accomplished a guy to live like that.
Speaker 1: There's a little bit to me in this of like
Speaker 1: I'm gonna break up with you before you break up
Speaker 1: with me. I'm gonna be just fine. And you mentioned
Speaker 1: the Chicken money, Chicken money man, Chicken money, Walmart money,
Speaker 1: Jerry Jones money.
Speaker 2: Those guys, they are going to be able to automatically.
Speaker 1: Hey nil money as much as they want. They're going
Speaker 1: to be paid for a deep staff book. I know
Speaker 1: we were talking about the assistant coaches and how maybe
Speaker 1: he could be beef up the assistant coaches on his
Speaker 1: staff to kind of get some of the guys who
Speaker 1: relate to players who are a little younger. Well, he
Speaker 1: is a leader still of the ship, obviously. I'm very
Speaker 1: curious to see what happens here. I will say, Faetteville
Speaker 1: is not Lexington. Lexington is beautiful. Fetteille his all kinds
Speaker 1: of strengths to it. But they are different cities. But
Speaker 1: I do think, why are you laughing at me. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to be nice.
Speaker 3: I do think there is a right answer to UK,
Speaker 3: like moving forward and making this process, like moving forward
Speaker 3: with a good energy. I think I think the perfect
Speaker 3: high for UK at this point would be Rajon right though.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, we sat here last week, Bog he said,
Speaker 1: I want to go into coaching. We sat with rajeon
Speaker 1: last week. He said, I definitely want to go into coaching.
Speaker 1: He said, the only reason I'm not doing it now
Speaker 1: is that I need to get my daughter off to
Speaker 1: her final year of high school volleyball. And then once
Speaker 1: she's set and she's in college, I can go guess
Speaker 1: what he can play and coach and the I mean sorry,
Speaker 1: he can coach in the same place as o't her place.
Speaker 1: He doesn't have to wait that year. She's right there,
Speaker 1: He's right there. It's all good and by the way
Speaker 1: I mean. He also said that he'd like Boog on
Speaker 1: his staff, so I might be looking for a new
Speaker 1: co host if that happens, we'll talk a little bit
Speaker 1: more later.
Speaker 2: Book.
Speaker 4: You don't you don't want to be babysitting these kids.
Speaker 2: Man, you're gonna go man.
Speaker 4: You're gonna go crazy. Well, you like the way as
Speaker 4: hard as you played, as passive as you were having
Speaker 4: to deal with I'm like, today, I don't want to
Speaker 4: do this today. I want to be a TikTok star
Speaker 4: raw man man.
Speaker 3: At the top of my lungs, getting the goddamn again
Speaker 3: farther that TikTok man. But I honestly think Razean would
Speaker 3: be the perfect guy for this situation. And the reason
Speaker 3: saying that is obviously he's a Kentucky kid. He played
Speaker 3: that Kentucky, He's an alumni.
Speaker 1: He lives there right now.
Speaker 2: He lives there.
Speaker 1: He's already in town. He doesn't even have to move,
Speaker 1: don't even have to pay moving expenses.
Speaker 3: Yes, but he understands both sides, like probably better than
Speaker 3: anybody else ever will. And I think when it's this
Speaker 3: is going to be a healing process for Kentucky, Like
Speaker 3: it's going to be a lot of things moving forward.
Speaker 3: And I think putting a run in that position, he's
Speaker 3: going to be a great energy moving forward. He's great
Speaker 3: at creating a standard, he's great at leading the ship.
Speaker 3: I don't think he I don't think there's a better
Speaker 3: leader to lead Kentucky out of this spot than a
Speaker 3: Rajon Rondo.
Speaker 2: He has the intelligence.
Speaker 3: We don't even have to speak on the intelligence and
Speaker 3: knowledge of basketball.
Speaker 4: That's want you want to know what my prediction is.
Speaker 4: My prediction is they're not going to do that. They're
Speaker 4: going to hire the wrong person. They're going to learn
Speaker 4: the hard way that all this ain't as easy as
Speaker 4: we thought it was, right, and then maybe they'll they'll
Speaker 4: come around.
Speaker 1: But because don't want to be the rebound anyway, right,
Speaker 1: So I don't know, we see me he doesn't want
Speaker 1: to be the rebound. Maybe he wants to wait, I'm.
Speaker 2: Not thinking about it in that type of a way.
Speaker 3: I just think this is great for everybody moving forward,
Speaker 3: not in the rebound type of way, but just putting
Speaker 3: things in a positive way moving forward because at the
Speaker 3: end of the day, I'm still I believe Blue like
Speaker 3: I'm Kentucky to the death of it. So I always
Speaker 3: want success for this, you know, university in school.
Speaker 2: So that's more so my thinking.
Speaker 3: And you know, how can we write this ship now
Speaker 3: that we've moved on from this part, And I think
Speaker 3: those was the perfect person to do it.
Speaker 1: All right, We're gonna call him after we're done taping
Speaker 1: this and we'll pump him up a little bit, we'll
Speaker 1: guess and we'll see what happens. So all right, let's
Speaker 1: move on to the NBA, friends, because Paul George led
Speaker 1: the Clippers to a huge comeback last night against the Calves.
Speaker 1: He had thirty nine, eleven and seven, the clutch game winner.
Speaker 1: LA is looking a little more healthy. They've now won
Speaker 1: three straight. They're likely kind of locked into that four spot.
Speaker 1: They would match up with the MAVs at five. We're
Speaker 1: going to talk in a minute about how dangerous Dallas is,
Speaker 1: but just foing focusing on the LA side right now.
Speaker 1: Would you do you still think of the Clippers as
Speaker 1: a contender the way we were sort of maybe in
Speaker 1: the middle mid late of the season, or are you
Speaker 1: sort of like I've seen enough to know that they
Speaker 1: probably won't be there toward the end.
Speaker 3: I still think, you know, this is a team that
Speaker 3: can definitely compete in the West. And obviously with every
Speaker 3: team there's ups and downs. I feel like every team
Speaker 3: in the West this year has had their ups and downs.
Speaker 3: Probably outside of the top three, who've you know, dominated
Speaker 3: most of the year. But uh, when it comes to
Speaker 3: you know, the possible first round matchup if we going
Speaker 3: to the playoffs, as of right now, and it's just
Speaker 3: match up with the MAVs. I mean, we know the
Speaker 3: fireworks that's coming with these squads. I mean there's so
Speaker 3: much history between them, the love hate relationship between you know,
Speaker 3: Kawhi pg Luca, and you know, now you add Kyrie
Speaker 3: to that mix, it's it's going to be an electric,
Speaker 3: you know, playoff series.
Speaker 1: So oh, it's gonna be amazing.
Speaker 3: Playoffs are always about matchups, So I think I think
Speaker 3: these two teams meeting up first round, I mean, this
Speaker 3: shit could really go either way. So but outside of that,
Speaker 3: I do still think the Clippers are you know, contenders,
Speaker 3: but the inconsistencies that they've had, you know, throughout the season,
Speaker 3: we can't have that in the playoffs or they will.
Speaker 2: Be a first round exit.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think so. First of all, first of all, yes,
Speaker 4: they are absolutely contender. This team. The biggest thing is healthy.
Speaker 4: Are they healthy? If they're healthy, then absolutely, yes, they
Speaker 4: are contenders. There's no question about that. I think the
Speaker 4: inconsistency and play biggie that you're talking about that happens
Speaker 4: a lot with veteran teams that know, man, just get
Speaker 4: me to the stuff that matters, right because They've been there,
Speaker 4: They've done that, They've been on teams that won sixty
Speaker 4: games and done all those things. They understand all right,
Speaker 4: especially now this time of year. Just get me there.
Speaker 4: They've been pretty locked in the fourth for a while,
Speaker 4: so I can see a lack of motivation of going
Speaker 4: on now trying to save for the playoffs. The other
Speaker 4: thing is, Man, you cannot discount the impact of having
Speaker 4: ty Lewis your head coaches.
Speaker 2: This guy is a.
Speaker 4: Master x's and oh's, master adjustment guy, and so he's
Speaker 4: got a team where other than his three bigs of Zubats, Tye,
Speaker 4: and plumb Lee, everybody else is switchable one through four.
Speaker 4: They are switchable the whole time. So he's gonna have
Speaker 4: all types of combinations that he can run out there.
Speaker 4: I think if you're saying that the Clippers aren't a threat,
Speaker 4: you're whoever says that they're out of their mind. The
Speaker 4: one thing is looking like they played Dallas in the
Speaker 4: first round, and you have to acknowledge Dallas since the
Speaker 4: trade deadline has been a different team. They've been a
Speaker 4: much better defensive team, and Kyrie and Luca have been
Speaker 4: playing out of their mind together making each other better.
Speaker 4: Making their teammates better. Tim Hardaway Junior or Bono five
Speaker 4: six Man of the Year candidate, and Jason Kidd really
Speaker 4: has this team on the page. And like Boogie said,
Speaker 4: it ain't in a random matchup. These two teams haven't
Speaker 4: seen each other in the playoffs before. There is a
Speaker 4: history there, so you know it's going to be fireworks.
Speaker 4: It's kind of ironic. I can call them both championship
Speaker 4: contenders and also say one of them is going to
Speaker 4: be going one of them could go home.
Speaker 1: In the first round. Look, Kyriees dropped forty eight points
Speaker 1: right yesterday, wallfasting Luca, wallfasting Pharamada on not a small thing, seriously,
Speaker 1: not a small thing. Luca dropped thirty seven points. They've
Speaker 1: won nine of ten. It is impossible not to take
Speaker 1: them seriously. In fact, I think they're the sleeper in
Speaker 1: the West, the team you know obviously Nuggets aside, et cetera.
Speaker 1: But they're they're the team that you don't want to
Speaker 1: see from that half of the bracket. And I just
Speaker 1: I don't know, man. I think that the Clippers still
Speaker 1: have some trouble with teams with length. It is matchup dependent,
Speaker 1: and if they end up facing a big team and
Speaker 1: Dallas has some height. I mean, we got to see
Speaker 1: where Derek Lively's health is. But I don't know. I
Speaker 1: as stars studied as the Clippers team is. And I'm
Speaker 1: with you on Tyler TYLERU you know, I think he's
Speaker 1: the best excell no coach in the game right now.
Speaker 1: The Mavericks, man, they just look like they have everything
Speaker 1: right now to be a very very dangerous team. Who
Speaker 1: do you think the Mavericks should be scared of? I mean,
Speaker 1: is there anyone? I don't know if you even they
Speaker 1: face Denver. I always think that Luca and Yokis just
Speaker 1: raised each other's games. Those games are a battle. I
Speaker 1: don't know if the if the Maverick should be scared
Speaker 1: of anyone right now.
Speaker 2: I don't think the MAVs are scared of anybody.
Speaker 3: You have two matchup problems every single night in Kyrie
Speaker 3: and Luca, and we all know the playoffs are based
Speaker 3: on matchups like or mismatches. Going into a game with
Speaker 3: these two guys who are walking thirty balls on a
Speaker 3: nightly basis, I just I don't think.
Speaker 2: I don't think they are operating off of fear at all.
Speaker 3: So this is a scary team for any team that
Speaker 3: meets up with them. And I mean when you think
Speaker 3: about it, like when it comes to these top teams
Speaker 3: in the West and you think about their point guards,
Speaker 3: their two guards or three guards, the guys that will
Speaker 3: be matching up against you know, Kyrie and Luca. It's
Speaker 3: just like I can't see these guys having an assignment
Speaker 3: like that for an entire playoff series and seeing them
Speaker 3: be successful in that matchup.
Speaker 2: So this is tough for any team.
Speaker 3: I think the MAVs are, like I said, a matchup
Speaker 3: probably from anybody in the West, and when they're on
Speaker 3: their air game, they're dangerousing, very dangerousing.
Speaker 1: I mean, I want to ask you a little bit
Speaker 1: more about Kyrie, because first of all, we talked to
Speaker 1: you on the Pot a few weeks ago just about
Speaker 1: how difficult it is to play during Ramadan, the limitations,
Speaker 1: just not even being able to have water. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't think people understand what even when they read it,
Speaker 1: just really what it means and what you're going through.
Speaker 1: But I also want to take it out even wider.
Speaker 1: You know, I just sat down with Kyrie for our
Speaker 1: show Headliners at the beginning of the season, and I said,
Speaker 1: what's the biggest thing you've learned through all of this, Right,
Speaker 1: all of the tumult he had gone through in Brooklyn
Speaker 1: and a dick and forth and all the other stuff,
Speaker 1: And he said, I've learned not to touch the stove
Speaker 1: when it's hot. And I thought that was a great
Speaker 1: way to say, right. And I think Jason Kidd has
Speaker 1: been really instrumental. Jason said to him, He's like, I
Speaker 1: don't want you to tamp down who you are. He goes,
Speaker 1: I'm looking for the creative Kyrie. I'm looking for Kyrie
Speaker 1: the artist. I'm looking for the guy who thinks outside
Speaker 1: the box. I just want you to know when it's
Speaker 1: smart to weigh in and not weigh in, when it's
Speaker 1: smart to put basketball first, so everyone can see who
Speaker 1: you are. And I just want to give Kyrie credit
Speaker 1: for that, because I don't think we can be as
Speaker 1: critical as people were of him in Brooklyn for not
Speaker 1: knowing how to do that and not recognize that he's
Speaker 1: had personal growth and been able to do that. And
Speaker 1: that doesn't mean that he's had to shut up or
Speaker 1: change who he is. Kyrie is still Kyrie Irving. I mean,
Speaker 1: you talked to him for five minutes. He is still Kyrie,
Speaker 1: but he has been able to really kind of put
Speaker 1: the part of him that is also Kyrie Irving, which
Speaker 1: is this basketball genius to the four during the NBA season,
Speaker 1: and I just think it's been great to watch he
Speaker 1: and Luca clearly like each other. Kyrie said at one point,
Speaker 1: just like I wish I had been drafted by the MAVs.
Speaker 1: I just think that they would have sort of helped
Speaker 1: me mature, quicker and taken care of me. I think
Speaker 1: Jason Kidd hasn't really gotten enough credit, frankly, because Jason's
Speaker 1: such a laid back guy. Everyone's just like, oh, Jason.
Speaker 1: But I mean, obviously he has known what buttons to
Speaker 1: push with this team. So I don't know. When you
Speaker 1: look at Kyrie, and you've been critical of him in
Speaker 1: the past, but when you look at his growth and
Speaker 1: sort of what he's done this year, what do you think.
Speaker 4: Well, I think a couple of things. First of all,
Speaker 4: Jason Kidd laid back. He looks laid back. That man
Speaker 4: ain't laid back that right now. But you first of
Speaker 4: all have to give a lot of credit to Mark Cuban.
Speaker 4: Nico Harris talking about.
Speaker 1: The waffle house at three in the morning. I'm talking
Speaker 1: about you know, I'm.
Speaker 4: Talking about in the basketball court, since he's not laid
Speaker 4: back there either. He looks it, but he's very intense.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 4: You got to give a lot of credit to Mark Cuban,
Speaker 4: Nico Harrison, and Michael Finley, because where Kyrie has been
Speaker 4: the last three stops Cleveland, Boston, Brooklyn, he hasn't felt
Speaker 4: the love and welcome from the organization. It's kind of
Speaker 4: almost like, well, he's really good, so let's let him
Speaker 4: do what he wants to do. But I don't do that.
Speaker 4: There's a difference in doing that being nurturing, and I
Speaker 4: think the Mavericks have obviously provided a nurturing environment. Jason
Speaker 4: Kidd and his staff are part of that as well. Also,
Speaker 4: there is exactly what you said, Rachel. Is one of
Speaker 4: the things that blows my mind about people when they
Speaker 4: watch either players or coaches or whoever. They think, if
Speaker 4: I saw you do or be a certain person in
Speaker 4: year two or year three or even year five, that's
Speaker 4: who you are forever. You ain't never gonna change, And
Speaker 4: that's just ridiculous. Everybody grows, everybody learns, every no one
Speaker 4: is the same person they were five years before, and
Speaker 4: I think Kyrie he said, I learned not touch the
Speaker 4: stove when it's hot. How do you learn that by
Speaker 4: touching the stove? He touched the stove when he was
Speaker 4: in Brooklyn, and so some of that was unfair, some
Speaker 4: of that was justified. But he grew from that experience.
Speaker 4: He learned what is the most refined version of myself,
Speaker 4: not changing myself, but refining myself to be sharper. And
Speaker 4: he's done that and he's put basketball first, and ultimately
Speaker 4: that part was always undeniable with him. So I think
Speaker 4: it's a little bit of everything. But I want to
Speaker 4: go back to the fasting part, because it's not just
Speaker 4: you're not eating and not drinking during the day. It's
Speaker 4: everyone when they hear that, they just think about it
Speaker 4: in terms of one day. I woke up today, I
Speaker 4: didn't have anything to eat, a drink, and then as
Speaker 4: sundown I ate and drank, and then I went and
Speaker 4: played an NBA game. Right. What people don't realize is
Speaker 4: he played that game on day twenty seven of Ramadan,
Speaker 4: So that's twenty seven straight days of doing this. There's
Speaker 4: a cumulative effect that happens to your body when you're
Speaker 4: going through this day after day after day. It's not
Speaker 4: just a blip in the calendar. Oh didn't eat and
Speaker 4: drink today, it's I've been doing this day after day
Speaker 4: and for him to continue to not only have the
Speaker 4: focus and the tenacity, but it feels like he's getting
Speaker 4: better as the month goes on. There's only one other
Speaker 4: athlete in the NBA I've seen to do that, and
Speaker 4: that's Akima Ladrawn where he was getting better as a
Speaker 4: month went on. He won Player of the Month when
Speaker 4: it was in Ramadan back in nineteen ninety five. I
Speaker 4: believe mind boggling Kyrie is on that same kind of
Speaker 4: track in terms of he's almost making him better in
Speaker 4: some ways in terms of his focus.
Speaker 1: Well, and you're on day twenty seven of doing it
Speaker 1: and you're podcasting with us, so you know, thank you.
Speaker 1: I think that's basically the same thing as playing an
Speaker 1: NBA game, right, the same.
Speaker 4: Physical They're all there, same physical effort. I got to
Speaker 4: keep talking. I got to keep with this. I got
Speaker 4: enough Venner record.
Speaker 1: There you go, Boom. I want to go to the
Speaker 1: rest of the West though, down there, because if you
Speaker 1: do have that LA Clippers, MAVs sort of four or
Speaker 1: five spot, which is fascinating. Once you get to six
Speaker 1: through ten, oh my lord, right, I mean, you've got
Speaker 1: half a game here, half a game there. Everybody is
Speaker 1: all bunched up. That could end up anywhere. But of
Speaker 1: course the key is that first spot, the six spot.
Speaker 1: The sixth spot keeps you out of the plan any
Speaker 1: of the rest of the way down that those teams
Speaker 1: jumble through. That's just going to be a bit of
Speaker 1: a free for all and depends on who you face
Speaker 1: on a given night. It's March madness, and everyone can
Speaker 1: win one game, that sort of thing. So you want
Speaker 1: to get to that number six. So right now as
Speaker 1: we sit here recording this, and I feel like it
Speaker 1: could change in the next five minutes, even though they're
Speaker 1: not playing any games right now, Phoenix sits at number six.
Speaker 1: You've got Nola there, You've got sacrim I know, you've
Speaker 1: got the Lakers, You've got Golden State. Houston is now
Speaker 1: out of it. So that is your group. Who do
Speaker 1: you think, boogie, Who's going to end up at that
Speaker 1: number six spot. Phoenix, remember, has the toughest schedule in
Speaker 1: the entire NBA going forward, although they have managed it
Speaker 1: already over the last week or two very well, and
Speaker 1: I got to give them credit for that, but they
Speaker 1: do still have more tough games to go. You've got
Speaker 1: Nola Sack, Lakers, Golden State. Who's getting that number six
Speaker 1: spot when it's all said and done.
Speaker 3: There's two teams that stick out for me, and that's
Speaker 3: the Phoenix Signs who's currently in that position, and it's
Speaker 3: the La Lakers. I think the Signs obviously have the
Speaker 3: talent to do so. They have three of the probably
Speaker 3: the most gifted offensive guys in our league right now
Speaker 3: on one team. They've had an up and down year.
Speaker 3: They haven't had the consistent year that they've you know,
Speaker 3: probably planned for or won it. But you know, they've
Speaker 3: had a pretty decent gear for the most part. They're
Speaker 3: for sure a threat in the West.
Speaker 2: Like just with the.
Speaker 3: Talent constructed, like, they're for sure a threat. So you
Speaker 3: can't ignore that. And then obviously with the Lakers, with
Speaker 3: Lebron James and Anthony Davis, everybody knows this is one
Speaker 3: of the most dangerous teams specifically at this time of
Speaker 3: the year, Like for some reason, this is when they
Speaker 3: decide to hit their switch.
Speaker 2: I haven't figured that.
Speaker 3: I don't think anybody's figured that part out yet while
Speaker 3: they wait until you know, this late in the season
Speaker 3: to start, you know, really being the team they can be.
Speaker 3: But you know it works for them. But I can
Speaker 3: for sure see them, you know, winning out the rest
Speaker 3: of the season and easily sliding to that six spot.
Speaker 3: They have the talent to do so, Like I said,
Speaker 3: when those guys do decide to hit the switch and
Speaker 3: Lebron and Anthony Davis, they're a totally different team and
Speaker 3: they are for sure gonna be a threat also in
Speaker 3: the West, which is crazy to say. So for me,
Speaker 3: those two teams stand out in New Orleans. I think
Speaker 3: they've had a great year. But you know, with b
Speaker 3: I being out like that's that's a huge hit to
Speaker 3: this team. So I can easily see them, you know,
Speaker 3: not finishing out as strong as they would like to,
Speaker 3: uh and be I being a big reason, you know
Speaker 3: of that.
Speaker 2: And when it comes to the second, well.
Speaker 1: Though, I'm gonna make you pick. So if you think
Speaker 1: it's Lakers or Sons, who's getting the six Lakers or Sons, I.
Speaker 2: Can't go Lakers or so.
Speaker 1: Lakers or Sons, I'm gonna say.
Speaker 3: I'm going to say the Lakers are going to finish
Speaker 3: out six, just because Phoenix has such a tough schedule
Speaker 3: finishing out. So I'm gonna roll with the Lakers, and
Speaker 3: I think it's a great chance they went out the
Speaker 3: remainder of their games. So I'm gonna say the Lakers
Speaker 3: are going to be at six.
Speaker 4: Okay, all right, man, there's no good answers for this.
Speaker 4: Everybody not Nobody's got challenges. So I'm gonna try. I
Speaker 4: try to make it as simple as possible, but it
Speaker 4: ain't simple. So the Suns, first of all, we got
Speaker 4: to look at that remaining schedule. That schedule is crazy.
Speaker 4: The Clippers twice this week. They've got Sacramento who's playing
Speaker 4: for something. They also have was it Minnesota who's also
Speaker 4: playing for the number one seed? Right, So not only
Speaker 4: are they playing four tough games, it's four tough games
Speaker 4: against teams that have incentive to play hard. Right. Then
Speaker 4: you got to look at the other part of this,
Speaker 4: which is they lose the tiebreaker to the Lakers because
Speaker 4: the Lakers won three out of the four games and
Speaker 4: the Kings they're tied in terms of two games apiece
Speaker 4: for the head to head. But you know what, the
Speaker 4: second tie breaker is is your division record. The Kings
Speaker 4: are ten and six in division right now, the Sons
Speaker 4: are seven and nine, so they lose that tiebreaker. So
Speaker 4: you got the two tierekers against you, and you got
Speaker 4: one of the toughest schedules ahead of you. They've got
Speaker 4: the talent to get it done. Let's make that clear.
Speaker 4: And if they win out then this isn't a conversation.
Speaker 4: But the problem is that tough schedule against teams that
Speaker 4: are motivated. I'm with Boogie. I think the Lakers are
Speaker 4: probably gonna end up six. They have a slightly easier path.
Speaker 4: They've got some hard ones too. They got to play
Speaker 4: Golden State, who are also I'm still tasting them for
Speaker 4: that to get to at least nine.
Speaker 1: So I don't think it's slightly easier. I think it's
Speaker 1: significantly easier that. Yes, they play Golden State, but they
Speaker 1: play Golden State at home. Then they go look at that, hey, people,
Speaker 1: they play Golden State at home. Then they go play Memphis,
Speaker 1: not you know, a game that is locked and loaded
Speaker 1: because they don't have their main guys, And then they
Speaker 1: go to New Orleans and play in New Orleans. And
Speaker 1: I do think that is going to be tough. But
Speaker 1: I just I don't know. I look at Phoenix and
Speaker 1: I am not down on Phoenix. I think Phoenix is
Speaker 1: just an exceptionally loaded team right when you look at
Speaker 1: their top heaviness and their front guys. But they have
Speaker 1: shown that they cannot play in the fourth quarter and
Speaker 1: be organized the way that we expected them to be.
Speaker 1: The numbers aren't good. And it just happened again. It
Speaker 1: just happened against the Pelicans on Sunday, right they had
Speaker 1: the chance to win that game.
Speaker 4: That was a super Bowl for the Pelicans because the
Speaker 4: Pelicans knew, even though they lost the season series, they know,
Speaker 4: if we're gonna have any chance to get in this six,
Speaker 4: we have to win this game for sure.
Speaker 1: And it shouldn't it be shouldn't shouldn't the Sons feel
Speaker 1: the same way. I mean, come on, nobody should feel
Speaker 1: Nobody at this point in the season, in the six
Speaker 1: to ten clot should feel like, oh, that's fine, we
Speaker 1: got this, We're good. The Sons need to have some
Speaker 1: fourth quarter wins. They need to have some wins where
Speaker 1: that fourth quarter it was right there, it came down
Speaker 1: to the wire and they came out victorious and they
Speaker 1: have not been able to consistently do it, and it
Speaker 1: just happened again. So again I'm all in on the
Speaker 1: Suns as a concept. I think it is okay to
Speaker 1: have a team that's a little bit top heavy in
Speaker 1: the way that they did. I think they did a
Speaker 1: good job sort of putting some of those pieces around
Speaker 1: in a better way that right after the Kevin Durant trade,
Speaker 1: where obviously the cupboard was so bare. But I have
Speaker 1: been very surprised with an excellent coach and Frank Vogel,
Speaker 1: guys like Kevin Durant, guys like Devin Booker, Bradley Beal
Speaker 1: that their fourth quarter numbers just they've been pretty shocking.
Speaker 1: And again we just saw it happen again. So I
Speaker 1: don't know that is the thing that gives me pause
Speaker 1: about Phoenix. I do think the Lakers right now are
Speaker 1: one with a bullet in terms of moving up that section,
Speaker 1: and we'll have to see what happens. I mean, as
Speaker 1: we sit here on Monday morning taping this pod, that
Speaker 1: Tuesday game against the Warriors looks huge and it looks
Speaker 1: exciting too, right doesn't it Shouldn't it be fun?
Speaker 4: Super Bowl? These are all super Bowls.
Speaker 1: There you go, all right, let's go to the East guys,
Speaker 1: because the Bucks they fell at home to the Nicks
Speaker 1: on Sunday. Doc Rivers record with the Bucks is not
Speaker 1: what anybody expected. Let's just say that since he came,
Speaker 1: they're fifteen and sixteen. Remember, of course, under Adrian Griffin
Speaker 1: they were thirty and thirteen and he got fired. Milwaukee
Speaker 1: is only ahead of Orlando by one game for the
Speaker 1: number two spot in the East. They could drop down
Speaker 1: to third. So I think it's been very interesting to
Speaker 1: hear the rhetoric coming out of the Bucks the last
Speaker 1: few days. You heard, first Pat Conaden say we're just
Speaker 1: not having fun anymore. There's not really that joy. Then
Speaker 1: you heard Doc Rivers after a game say, hey, one
Speaker 1: of the officials came up to me and said, ah,
Speaker 1: your team's so heavy, man, your team feels so heavy.
Speaker 1: And then you and Jannison Sakoopa after the game last
Speaker 1: night talk about again that same lack of joy. He said,
Speaker 1: I'm not sitting out here like pound in my chest,
Speaker 1: and Pat Conston said, Yannest isn't making dad jokes. So
Speaker 1: I do think that sometimes the fix can just be
Speaker 1: like can this go team have like a team bonding.
Speaker 1: Can they go get drunk and bowling? I mean, can they?
Speaker 1: Can they do something like that? I mean, but if
Speaker 1: you've been on teams for just everything is so tight
Speaker 1: and everyone just needs to let loose and enjoy each
Speaker 1: other a little more, well.
Speaker 3: I mean that's that that comes with, you know, the
Speaker 3: personalities in the room when you really think about.
Speaker 1: It, Like you know, you've been in that room. You've
Speaker 1: been in that locker room, honest when.
Speaker 3: I'm yeah, yeah, loosing happy in his own way, honest
Speaker 3: is a guy that's more to himself as well. Though,
Speaker 3: But when it comes to that just having that that
Speaker 3: personality that can bring everybody together, I think the closest thing.
Speaker 2: They do have is is a Pat Beverly.
Speaker 3: But you know that that voice is only going to
Speaker 3: carry so much, but you know it does go to
Speaker 3: the mixture of guys in the locker room. Like when
Speaker 3: it comes to most you know, championship teams, it's always
Speaker 3: that joyous like type energy on that team. And like
Speaker 3: I said, outside of Pat Bev, it's not a lot there.
Speaker 2: I think.
Speaker 3: I think when it comes to Damian Lillard and and
Speaker 3: being that leader and the guy that can bring guys together,
Speaker 3: He's always shown that, but I think he's going through
Speaker 3: his own struggles this year with just theentleness in his
Speaker 3: own life, So we might not be getting the best
Speaker 3: version of Dame when it comes to being, you know,
Speaker 3: a leader.
Speaker 2: For the Bucks. Is he capable of.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, But you know, it's it's hard to you know,
Speaker 3: hold weight from other situations and you know still have
Speaker 3: or still be the perfect person in your active duty
Speaker 3: in your job as well. So I do think Dame
Speaker 3: is kind of struggling with that. But man, it's it's
Speaker 3: been a lot with this team this year. They've had
Speaker 3: a lot of adversity, so and it's hard to sit
Speaker 3: here and not commend them. There's still the number two
Speaker 3: team in the East, like through all of these struggles,
Speaker 3: so there has to be some type of you know,
Speaker 3: credit given to them on that end. But man, it
Speaker 3: does seem to be like a heavy cloud over this
Speaker 3: team just from Afar that you know, I'm not really
Speaker 3: sure outside of you know, just bringing some type of
Speaker 3: a good energy to that team and you know, allowing
Speaker 3: guys to just have fun with, you know, with the game.
Speaker 3: I think it is a lot of pressure now, Like
Speaker 3: I said, it's pressure from the organization, it's pressure from
Speaker 3: the fans. Guys are dealing with their own personal issues
Speaker 3: in their personal lives. So it's a lot going on
Speaker 3: with that team for sure.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Rachel, you know, you look at it and we
Speaker 4: talk about them being a game at Orlando that one.
Speaker 4: At least they've got two more games against Orlando. They
Speaker 4: control their destiny there. They're a game ahead of the Knicks,
Speaker 4: and the Knicks have a season series on them, so
Speaker 4: that tiebreakers take care of if you tie with the
Speaker 4: next day leap progue. So this team, we're talking about
Speaker 4: dropping a three, you might drop to four, and now
Speaker 4: you're talking about something different. But in terms of how
Speaker 4: do you fix this, I'm gonna say this, there's one
Speaker 4: silver lining to dropping out two, and that is we
Speaker 4: talked about the last time, if you're three, four, five,
Speaker 4: or six, you know who you're playing. Meaning the regular
Speaker 4: season ends April fourteenth, for teams three, four, five, and six,
Speaker 4: they know exactly who they're gonna play a week later
Speaker 4: on that Saturday or Sunday, So we get to spend
Speaker 4: that entire week game planning and just figuring out how
Speaker 4: to stop you. I don't have to watch the play
Speaker 4: in and pay attention to how someone's playing or whatever.
Speaker 4: So that is an advantage in and of itself. And
Speaker 4: because you have that week dedicated. If I'm Doc Rivers
Speaker 4: and I'm the staff, Monday morning, kiss your families goodbye.
Speaker 4: We're going on another training camp somewhere, not in Milwaukee,
Speaker 4: not in Wisconsin.
Speaker 1: We're gonna say where with bowling and beer.
Speaker 4: Bowling and beer, which is also in Wisconsin's I guess
Speaker 4: up the Madison or whatever. But the idea is we
Speaker 4: have to sequester ourselves from the outside distractions of people
Speaker 4: who are not in this locker room. The season was,
Speaker 4: what the season was. The new season begins on Saturday
Speaker 4: or Sunday. We got to get together and prep that
Speaker 4: and that's the only thing you can do. You can
Speaker 4: hit a reset button in that week if you're the
Speaker 4: Milwaukee Bucks and you got.
Speaker 1: To count on.
Speaker 4: I've got great players. I've got championship caliber players, and
Speaker 4: I've got people who have been through some deep playoff
Speaker 4: runs and wars. We know how to flip that switch
Speaker 4: if it's going to get flipped. But if we stay
Speaker 4: in this mindset of woe is us and we lost
Speaker 4: to the Wizards and we lost it a rap that's
Speaker 4: just going to carry on that stench with them into
Speaker 4: the playoffs.
Speaker 1: That is a great idea, by the way, because that
Speaker 1: is also the fix. I mean, obviously I'm joking about
Speaker 1: the bowling and beer, but the truth is, if you're
Speaker 1: away for four or five days as a team, everyone's
Speaker 1: on the same page, right. You get to have the
Speaker 1: team dinners, you get to hang out in the lobby
Speaker 1: or hang out in the guys room just playing you know,
Speaker 1: Madden or whatever it is that you're just spending that
Speaker 1: time with each other that you're not spending if everyone
Speaker 1: is going home to their own house. And you mentioned
Speaker 1: Damian Luller book, like you know, he's been very public
Speaker 1: about it. It has been a very difficult personal adjustment
Speaker 1: for him to be in Milwaukee away from his kids.
Speaker 1: I really think that's you know, it's funny. There's certain
Speaker 1: guys in the NBA. You come see them, you haven't
Speaker 1: seen them in a while, and they come across the
Speaker 1: court and you say hi, and you're like, how are you,
Speaker 1: And the first words out of their mouth are about
Speaker 1: their kids. There's about five or six guys I can
Speaker 1: always count on it. The first five or six words
Speaker 1: of their mouth, they'd be like, oh, my son did
Speaker 1: this or that kind of thing. Dame is one of
Speaker 1: those guys. He just is And I think that he
Speaker 1: really feeds off of the joy of being able to
Speaker 1: put the game behind him at the end of the night,
Speaker 1: be with his family, be with his children, and then
Speaker 1: come back the next day energize. And he just hasn't
Speaker 1: had that. And he's been in a place that's frankly
Speaker 1: cold in the winter and it can be a little gray,
Speaker 1: and it could be you know, I went to school
Speaker 1: in the Midwest, it can be a lot, just sort
Speaker 1: of weatherwise. And I think that if he's back on
Speaker 1: equal footing with the rest of the team in like
Speaker 1: a getaway for three days situation where none of them
Speaker 1: are with their kids or families, then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: you're kind of balancing that out a little bit better.
Speaker 1: I love that idea. I love that they would have
Speaker 1: more preparation, as you point out, and frankly, I would
Speaker 1: love that maybe for them, that they would get out
Speaker 1: of range at the Philadelphia seventy six ers, because with
Speaker 1: them be back right now, if they stay in that
Speaker 1: number two spot, with the way Philly is playing, they
Speaker 1: could finish sixth, and maybe they end up playing them anyway,
Speaker 1: but they could play them seventh.
Speaker 4: Rachel. The way they're playing right now, you can't be
Speaker 4: worried about who our oppoint. It might be they are
Speaker 4: not right, they were right, then you can be like,
Speaker 4: let's avoid them, let's try to get them. But they
Speaker 4: got to get themselves right. They got to love themselves
Speaker 4: and what they can love other people. Rachel.
Speaker 1: Well, look, let's talk about Philly for a minute. Whether
Speaker 1: they played Milwaukee or not. They've won five straight. They're
Speaker 1: three and zero with Joel back on the floor. They
Speaker 1: pulled one out even without him against the Spurs the
Speaker 1: other night. I mean, they definitely look like a team
Speaker 1: that feels comfortable with themselves again. And you get that right.
Speaker 1: The whole team ran around Joel and Beat, so you're
Speaker 1: just waiting for him, waiting for him, waiting for you
Speaker 1: to get back. Once he finally does, everyone can relax.
Speaker 1: The defensive attention is completely different. I mean, do you
Speaker 1: think that with the right matchup in the first round
Speaker 1: they can get back to the conference finals? What do
Speaker 1: you think?
Speaker 4: I mean, absolutely. I watched them play against Miami the
Speaker 4: other night. That was Inbeat's second game he played his
Speaker 4: first game back was against Oklahoma City. He kind of
Speaker 4: looked ginger there, and then against Miami, starts the game unstopped,
Speaker 4: but then he kind of he loses his legs and
Speaker 4: he gets tired as the game wears on, and Maxi
Speaker 4: has an amazing game. They go to Memphis he has
Speaker 4: and b looks even better, and you see the momentum
Speaker 4: start picking up. He said it himself over the weekend,
Speaker 4: he said, I'm still sloppy, but that sloppiness is getting sharper,
Speaker 4: and this is the exact right amount of time he
Speaker 4: needs to get his game and his conditioning to where
Speaker 4: it needs to be. I think ultimately you're still talking
Speaker 4: about Maxi needs to be Maxie and Miami as opposed
Speaker 4: to Maxie and Memphis where he had like seven points
Speaker 4: or something like that. He needs to be assertive and
Speaker 4: aggressive because it's not fear to expect Joel to just
Speaker 4: be Joel out the gate right here. And so I'm
Speaker 4: of the opinion absolutely, if I'm the Sixers, if my
Speaker 4: guy's healthy, he's not moving gingerly, he's not his conditioning
Speaker 4: is better, we absolutely have a puncher's chance against anybody
Speaker 4: in the Eastern Conference. Now, does that mean they're gonna win,
Speaker 4: they're gonna get to the conference finals. No, because, as
Speaker 4: we point out, there are a lot of good teams
Speaker 4: in their way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I shouldn't say back to the conference finals because
Speaker 1: they didn't get there recently. So I would say to
Speaker 1: the conference finals. This is how I shall phrase it,
Speaker 1: not to s a. I Yes, which of course was
Speaker 1: the goal, right, I mean that's frankly where they got
Speaker 1: rid of Duck. They said second round isn't good enough.
Speaker 1: So I think this year it's different. Nicknurse, by the way,
Speaker 1: he's done a fantastic job, and if they don't make
Speaker 1: it past the first or second round, everyone's going to
Speaker 1: blame that, rightly, so on Embiid's injury. So I don't
Speaker 1: think it's a coaching thing. But I do think that
Speaker 1: they are a sleeper team here in the East. And
Speaker 1: I have been encouraged Bogie by how quickly Embiid has
Speaker 1: started to look like himself.
Speaker 3: Yes, man, he's a special talent man like I just
Speaker 3: you know, we were having a conversation before about you know,
Speaker 3: some of the most skilled players to ever played.
Speaker 2: His game, and.
Speaker 3: This dude is he's up there like I mean, you
Speaker 3: think about the lower leg injuries. You know he's had
Speaker 3: a few of them. But one thing about him, he's
Speaker 3: not a player that just relies on athleticism. This dude
Speaker 3: is so gil is crazy. So for him to get
Speaker 3: back in the form or you know, not have to
Speaker 3: rely on athleticism so much. He has a consistent jumper,
Speaker 3: He can get to any shot he want, He can
Speaker 3: create his own, Like, this dude is special.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: So you know that talent now being back apart, you know, affiliate,
Speaker 3: they do have a great chance of competing the needs.
Speaker 3: Like I think conditioning will always be a concern when
Speaker 3: it comes to missing so much time and having you know,
Speaker 3: ten twelve games to come back, and you know he
Speaker 3: can look great finishing out you know the regular season,
Speaker 3: that playoff atmosphere is just a completely different monster and
Speaker 3: you can't ignore that. So conditioning will continue to be
Speaker 3: a concern for me. But just as far as talent
Speaker 3: and impact on that team, like it's, man, this dude
Speaker 3: is incredible.
Speaker 2: Man. That's that's That's just the least I can.
Speaker 3: Say about He's really an incredible player, and I think
Speaker 3: he's going to surprise some people in this playoff run.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I mean no back to backs in
Speaker 1: the playoffs.
Speaker 4: Well, that's a good news.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I think Tobias Harris. Tobias Harris needs to be healthy
Speaker 4: for them too.
Speaker 2: Like that.
Speaker 4: They need everybody, don't They can't afford to have anybody out.
Speaker 4: And like I said, Maxi and Kelly Oubre, the guys
Speaker 4: who've been picking up that offensive slack, they're going to
Speaker 4: need to continue that. It's not like Joelle's going to
Speaker 4: come in and save the day. They need to still
Speaker 4: be aggressive out there. Well.
Speaker 1: I got to give the NBA credit here because they've
Speaker 1: had some new ideas. Some of them have looked great
Speaker 1: at the beginning and then faded. Right. Remember the Elon
Speaker 1: ending and the NBA All Star Game. This is great.
Speaker 1: This fixed the All Star Game. It's wonderful. Oh wait,
Speaker 1: never mind. You know, we've had other things that have
Speaker 1: come in and they just haven't stuck the way that
Speaker 1: you would want them to, even if they were successes
Speaker 1: at first. The plan has stuck, man. I mean, this
Speaker 1: has kept this last third of the season so interesting,
Speaker 1: trying to compete to get into that sixth spot out
Speaker 1: of the bottom. It makes teams in the nine and ten.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine the last couple months if in the
Speaker 1: West the Lakers and Warriors were at nine to ten
Speaker 1: and the cutoff was eight. I mean, the conversation would
Speaker 1: be completely different. Now it's been oh, well, what can
Speaker 1: they do in a plan now where they get into it.
Speaker 1: But I just think the discourse around the league is
Speaker 1: so much more fun. The teams you can see competing
Speaker 1: in a way they weren't. We used to have teams
Speaker 1: sitting guys down the stretch left and right, and that
Speaker 1: hasn't been happening with these kinds of teams. So I
Speaker 1: would just say this organic kind of competing to win
Speaker 1: when the NBA is looking to solve other problems over
Speaker 1: the course of the next few years, whether it's guys
Speaker 1: sitting during the bigger chunks of the regular season, whether
Speaker 1: it's the All Star Game. In the end, you cannot
Speaker 1: bribe people. You actually have to make the stakes worth
Speaker 1: it for them, and they have done that with the
Speaker 1: play in, and congratulations to them on that, because this
Speaker 1: next week's going to be good boys. I cannot wait.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining today. You can catch
Speaker 1: all episodes of Bullyball out there on the DraftKings Network,
Speaker 1: all the Smoke Productions YouTube channel, wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: Please rate and review us. We will see you next week,
Speaker 1: unless Boogie is already the assistant coach and Kentucky by that.
Speaker 2: We'll see.
Speaker 1: We'll see what happens.