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Speaker 3: Rachel Nichols, as always, mister DeMarcus Cousins, and we have
Speaker 3: to talk about a loss. We've had boogie, a death
Speaker 3: in the family. Sorry to bring up something so serious,
Speaker 3: but your plant behind you is gone, and I'm feeling
Speaker 3: very very alone right now.
Speaker 2: I don't know what to say.
Speaker 1: It's been a mainstay of my mondays for quite some
Speaker 1: time now, and now you've got some artwork behind you.
Speaker 2: I don't need culture. I need the plant.
Speaker 4: Man. The plant needed a day off, you know, is
Speaker 4: still in rotation.
Speaker 2: Oh now the plant's resting now. The plants load managing
Speaker 2: low manishment.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, NEA plan to be back soon off vacations like that.
Speaker 1: All right, Kate gave me a scare this morning. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna lie, not gonna lie.
Speaker 4: All right.
Speaker 1: We gotta talk about the big weekend here in La.
Speaker 1: The Lakers getting two big wins over the weekend. Beat
Speaker 1: the Bucks, beat the Wolves. This was considered a huge
Speaker 1: test for them. The winner of the Bucks was of course,
Speaker 1: without Lebron, Dilo exploded forty four points, and then when
Speaker 1: Lebron came back on Sunday, he had a twenty nine
Speaker 1: to eighty nine line and nobody even noticed because Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis was ridiculous. He had literally a historic night, including
Speaker 1: seven steals versus the Wolves. Now, to me, the Bucks
Speaker 1: victory was actually more impressive because the team did it
Speaker 1: without Lebron, and when they won and when Ad had
Speaker 1: that amazing night, well he did it without Cat or
Speaker 1: go Bear in the lineup. In fact, they had four
Speaker 1: regular players missing due to injuries. So I'm giving the
Speaker 1: Bucks win a little more credit, but I still think
Speaker 1: it was a big deal for them this week weekend.
Speaker 1: What do you think the Lakers are learning about themselves
Speaker 1: as they rack these wins up.
Speaker 4: I think I think the Lakers already know that they
Speaker 4: are team good enough and capable of beating any of
Speaker 4: the top teams, basically any team in the NBA. But
Speaker 4: from what I've seen in it from this Lakers team,
Speaker 4: is there to put it in a nutshell, this is
Speaker 4: a good, inconsistent team. And what I mean by that
Speaker 4: is obviously they can win on any given night and
Speaker 4: they can lose on any given night. If I was
Speaker 4: a gambler, I would I would definitely be very very
Speaker 4: stressed out dealing with the Lakers, because you never know
Speaker 4: what team you're getting. But you know, for me, it's
Speaker 4: you know, I go back to the beginning of the year,
Speaker 4: in the off season, when we started talking about this
Speaker 4: Lakers team, and it was all praise, you know what
Speaker 4: I mean, it was you know, they put an incredible
Speaker 4: roster together, they have all the talent, you know, all
Speaker 4: of these things, and and we're now at this point
Speaker 4: in the season. They're there tenth in the West. They
Speaker 4: beat some some very very good teams this season, and
Speaker 4: they've lost the horrible teams this season. So I think
Speaker 4: the excuses are done for this Lakers team. In a nutshell,
Speaker 4: they're a very inconsistent team. These are the results of
Speaker 4: an inconsistent team, and I don't think they'll find the
Speaker 4: success that they're looking for until they find a way
Speaker 4: to be consistent. And that's the difference between good teams
Speaker 4: and bad teams. So if I'm a playoff team and
Speaker 4: you know, seasons coming to that point where you know
Speaker 4: we end up playing the playing team, I'm I'm scared
Speaker 4: shitless because Like I said, you don't know what team
Speaker 4: you're getting, and that's nerve wrecking for either side. You
Speaker 4: know the opponent or being a Laker, you don't know
Speaker 4: what teams showing up. So I feel like as long
Speaker 4: as you have you know that type of issue in
Speaker 4: that locker room or with this team, these are the
Speaker 4: same results you're going to get over and over and over.
Speaker 1: No, that's a great point, especially in the playoffs where
Speaker 1: things just get so much tighter during a seven game series.
Speaker 2: You can't just have one great night. All that's true.
Speaker 1: I did think that the win over Milwaukee. Of course
Speaker 1: we said, oh, it gave the other players confidence they
Speaker 1: can win without Lebron, and that's great. But to me,
Speaker 1: what was most important is it gave Lebron confidence.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: You have seen him not trust his teammates at times
Speaker 1: over this season, and then sometimes he's had very good
Speaker 1: reason to feel that way, and that win showed him, Hey,
Speaker 1: I can trust these guys if I have to sit out,
Speaker 1: if I have to take a break during a game,
Speaker 1: if it's a big moment, I can make the pass
Speaker 1: that I'm conditioned and want to make. Like, I think
Speaker 1: that that was a big deal to the overall what
Speaker 1: they learned about themselves or team chemistry thing, But I
Speaker 1: don't know. I heard Anthony Davis say again after the
Speaker 1: game that the game on Sunday, that we can beat anyone.
Speaker 1: We just got to get in that sort of thing.
Speaker 1: We've heard him say a version of that before. I
Speaker 1: still would put my money on Denver in a seven
Speaker 1: game series that it is just how I feel about
Speaker 1: how good Nikola Jokich is, and then if they were
Speaker 1: somehow able to get past Demver, I would put my
Speaker 1: money on. If it's the Celtics and they play the
Speaker 1: way we've been seeing them play, I put my money
Speaker 1: on them. That doesn't mean the Lakers can't win the title.
Speaker 1: It just means it would be an upset. And I
Speaker 1: think that inconsistency bog is the reason why for sure
Speaker 1: I want to talk about the flip side of the Wolves, though,
Speaker 1: because that Town's injury definitely impacting the Timberwolves. They've lost
Speaker 1: two in a row. They've now fallen down into the
Speaker 1: three spot. Remember they were sitting at one for a
Speaker 1: lot of this big chunk of the season. They're only
Speaker 1: one game up on the Clippers. The strength of schedules
Speaker 1: fifteenth so right in the middle of the league, Kat
Speaker 1: has that knee injury. It's a meniscus tear, having surgery
Speaker 1: on it. He's going to be reevaluated a month. They
Speaker 1: hope that he's back toward the beginning of the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I don't know there's an argument that they shouldn't be
Speaker 1: fighting to stay in that three or get up to
Speaker 1: the two, because if you said these playing teams could
Speaker 1: be pretty dangerous.
Speaker 2: Is there an argument that.
Speaker 1: They actually want to let the Clippers over to take
Speaker 1: them and they go to the four or five.
Speaker 4: With the way the West is this year is it
Speaker 4: doesn't really matter what team you your face, you're gonna
Speaker 4: have a very very tough matchup. So you know, in
Speaker 4: the past, it's situations where you know, the West might
Speaker 4: not have been in strong or the standards weren't in strong,
Speaker 4: and you know, teams can kind of flirt with all right,
Speaker 4: maybe if we lose the next two, we could play
Speaker 4: this and guarante play this team first round, guarantee us
Speaker 4: in the second round. You know, management in the top
Speaker 4: of an organization, they get to save their job, they
Speaker 4: look good in front of the owner. You know, the
Speaker 4: bullshit that comes with the business. But yeah, when it
Speaker 4: comes to this season and the way it's going there,
Speaker 4: there is no easy route out. You know, they slipped
Speaker 4: to Minnesota, slips to fourth, and they face New Orleans
Speaker 4: like that isn't a pushover series. Like New Orleans is
Speaker 4: a very, very good team. They've been good for most
Speaker 4: of the year. They had, you know, some things they
Speaker 4: had to figure out, you know, in that locker room,
Speaker 4: you know, dealing with Zion earlier in the year. He
Speaker 4: wasn't happy. Those things aren't are the issues at hand
Speaker 4: Now this team has passed that. They've been playing well
Speaker 4: for most of the year, and you know, their stars
Speaker 4: are being stars. So that's not an easy matchup either.
Speaker 4: So I think when it comes to the Wolves, they
Speaker 4: just need to play this thing out the way it's
Speaker 4: gonna play out, allow guys to step up, gain their confidence.
Speaker 4: You really don't know how this injury is gonna go
Speaker 4: with Karl Anthony Towns. You can't bank on him coming
Speaker 4: back playing the same way he was playing before. This
Speaker 4: isn't a finger injury, This isn't a roll the ankle
Speaker 4: or anything like that. This is a serious injury. It's
Speaker 4: gonna take some time going on top of that This
Speaker 4: isn't like a guard where you can throw them out
Speaker 4: there and they can you know, dribble up a few
Speaker 4: times and find that rhythm. This is a big man,
Speaker 4: so it's a different type rhythm when it comes to
Speaker 4: a big coming back to the game anyway. So it's
Speaker 4: a lot of things at state, you know, for this
Speaker 4: Minnesota team. So I think with them, you continue to
Speaker 4: build confidence with you know, the guys behind Karl Anthony Towns.
Speaker 4: You have a very, very talented guy in Najree who
Speaker 4: could easily step in and not beat Karl Anthony Towns,
Speaker 4: but be the best version of himself. He's that good
Speaker 4: of a player to do so. One of the more
Speaker 4: underrated bigs in the league. And it's not because you know,
Speaker 4: he's not getting the credit of recognition you deserve. It's
Speaker 4: just the fact that he's playing under a more season
Speaker 4: big with Karl Anthony Towns. But him alone, the talent
Speaker 4: is through the roof. He has all the capabilities of
Speaker 4: being a starter in this league and actually producing at
Speaker 4: a high rate. So you feel him in that void
Speaker 4: while he's missing, and you build his confidence. You know,
Speaker 4: whatever happens from that, it could you know, move on
Speaker 4: to the playoffs, and you never know what that guy
Speaker 4: can become from that confidence he gained in regular season
Speaker 4: in the playoffs. He could be the X factor that
Speaker 4: helping y'all reach the finals, you know what I mean. So,
Speaker 4: like I said, I feel like you just continue to
Speaker 4: play this thing out, you know, build your guy's confidence up,
Speaker 4: and once Towns is ready to go, you try to
Speaker 4: bring him in with the group and you know, keep
Speaker 4: things moving forward. So as far as trying to you know,
Speaker 4: pick and choose where to go on the stand is
Speaker 4: I don't think this is the season to do that
Speaker 4: because the West is so strong and so talented this season.
Speaker 2: I think it's a great point.
Speaker 1: And also about the Pelicans, by the way, they have
Speaker 1: been playing fire basketball for this last you know, three
Speaker 1: weeks or so. I don't know why more people paying
Speaker 1: aren't paying attention to them, but I think that they
Speaker 1: are going to if they stay this hot, they are
Speaker 1: going to be something to contend with when the playoffs
Speaker 1: come around. And your point about Nasriti is so good too,
Speaker 1: because the Wolves, if they can get their rhythm back,
Speaker 1: and it hasn't been the best road trip for them,
Speaker 1: of course, but you know, it's understandable. They you know,
Speaker 1: they're adjusting. Carl anythink Towns was such a big part
Speaker 1: of that team, and I think they're still adjusting to
Speaker 1: how that chemistry's working on the floor, how everything's going
Speaker 1: to go. I still wouldn't want to face them early,
Speaker 1: especially the thing about some of the teams in the
Speaker 1: West that are still very strong, they're smaller, and I
Speaker 1: just think we're seeing right now. You know, the game
Speaker 1: keeps evolving in one way. It's a guards league, it's
Speaker 1: a big man's league, goes back and forth. But we
Speaker 1: are seeing that in the West this season, the teams
Speaker 1: with more length tend to beat the teams with us.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's just sort of what's happened. Oklahoma City
Speaker 1: has had a bunch of great wins. They're obviously a
Speaker 1: smaller team, but when it comes to the big time
Speaker 1: matchups like we saw with the Lakers last week, the
Speaker 1: length bothers them.
Speaker 2: So I just think the Wolves are still in it.
Speaker 1: But to your point, you know they don't want to
Speaker 1: see the Pelicans either, and I don't I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's no good matchup, right, There's no there's
Speaker 1: no like, oh, we want to avoid this to get
Speaker 1: that there is.
Speaker 4: It's a challenge on a nightly basis in the West.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1: And you know the Warriors are a big question mark
Speaker 1: still right now too. You know, I always say any
Speaker 1: game Steph Curry is in, I feel like they've got
Speaker 1: a shot. So if they're in a play in situation
Speaker 1: and they got to play one game against another team,
Speaker 1: even if it's the Lakers, with the way they've been rolling,
Speaker 1: I think Steph Curry always has a chance to take
Speaker 1: over and win a game.
Speaker 2: But he's not there right now.
Speaker 1: He has his sprain right ankle going to be reevaluated
Speaker 1: on Tuesday. The MRI results didn't show anything major, which
Speaker 1: is great, but still definitely just something to sort of
Speaker 1: keep in mind. They're five games ahead of Houston for
Speaker 1: the final playing spot, so I'm not that worried that
Speaker 1: they're going to fall out of the plan, but I
Speaker 1: know they would like to advance right and they had
Speaker 1: the eight easiest schedule, so I think they were looking
Speaker 1: to climb their way up in the West. I don't
Speaker 1: know which injury do you think is a bigger deal,
Speaker 1: the Curry injury or the town's injury.
Speaker 4: I would say the town's injury. And the reason is,
Speaker 4: you know, his is a tear. His does require surgery.
Speaker 4: And you know, when it comes to Steph and his injury,
Speaker 4: it's an ankle injury or roll to ankle. That's one
Speaker 4: of the more common injuries in this game. Something that
Speaker 4: easily bounce back from. It's not as effective on your
Speaker 4: body or your performance returning back, and the timetables are
Speaker 4: just way different. Obviously, Steph's injury would be a shorter
Speaker 4: length of time when it comes to returning and calling
Speaker 4: it any towns, we're talking a month plus a month
Speaker 4: is at best, you know what I mean in a month, right,
Speaker 4: And usually when they tell you, you know, six to
Speaker 4: eight months, it's usually around eight to nine months before
Speaker 4: you're actually healed and ready to go. So, you know,
Speaker 4: I think the Timberwolves definitely have an issue on their hands.
Speaker 4: I don't think it's the worst situation, but it's an
Speaker 4: issue that they have to deal with and figure out.
Speaker 4: And as far as the Warriors, I mean, they're in
Speaker 4: tenth place. Uh, you know, they may or may not
Speaker 4: make the plan.
Speaker 1: I think they'll make the plan that they're pretty out
Speaker 1: of Houston, but but yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2: I don't know they're getting out of it.
Speaker 4: This hasn't been This team just hasn't been the Warriors
Speaker 4: of old. And that's okay. They've dominated for a decade.
Speaker 4: Father time is real, uh, you know, injuries, age, it's
Speaker 4: a mix of things. This Warriors team just isn't the
Speaker 4: same Warriors team. So this Minnesota team is full of youth,
Speaker 4: full of potential. So I'm leaning with Minnesota for sure.
Speaker 1: Well, look, the Warriors had a lot of unexpected There
Speaker 1: are a lot of transitions to make this season, right,
Speaker 1: like the sort of older players making room for these
Speaker 1: younger players that have come up and really played well.
Speaker 1: Clay sort of, you know, really struggling for the first
Speaker 1: half of the season and it's accepting Aventu role and
Speaker 1: actually thriving in it.
Speaker 2: Draymond, as we know, had a.
Speaker 1: Bunch of issues that got him off the court, suspension stuff,
Speaker 1: so that was something that they had to navigate around.
Speaker 2: So I just don't think we've seen the Warriors be
Speaker 2: the Warriors, and there's been reasons for that.
Speaker 1: And maybe, you know, if they can keep it solid
Speaker 1: and Curry comes back soon for the next month, they'll
Speaker 1: be great. But I agree with you, I think it's
Speaker 1: been a rocky thing and it's hard to go back
Speaker 1: to consistency. It's hard to build it when you haven't
Speaker 1: had it all season. Is there a matchup in this West?
Speaker 1: We're looking at the standings right now. Is there a
Speaker 1: matchup in the West where you're just like, man, that's
Speaker 1: that's what I want to see, whether the way they're
Speaker 1: their position now or if someone you know shifts a
Speaker 1: place or two.
Speaker 4: I think it's gonna be a complete gauntlet and this
Speaker 4: some conference series, uh made the best team win. I'm
Speaker 4: just excited for good basketball, good competitive basketball, and I
Speaker 4: think we're gonna get that with this playoffs this year,
Speaker 4: there is no guarantee to come out the West. I mean,
Speaker 4: obviously you could say Denver because they are the defending champs,
Speaker 4: but everybody's gotten so much better this year. Like I
Speaker 4: don't think Denver necessarily got better after they won a championship.
Speaker 4: They are still a very very good team. They they
Speaker 4: have all the chance in the world to you know, repeat,
Speaker 4: But as far as just making roster moves and getting
Speaker 4: better on paper, I don't think they did that this
Speaker 4: past offseason. But like I said, everybody in the West
Speaker 4: did so it's gonna be a gauntlet this this this
Speaker 4: playoff series, and I'm excited for good basketball.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I still you get for me a bunch.
Speaker 1: I still think that Denver is the team to be
Speaker 1: in the West, but it doesn't mean that someone can't
Speaker 1: be them. And to your point, a bunch of these
Speaker 1: teams got better. So I think any first second round
Speaker 1: matchup in the West is going to be fire. I
Speaker 1: think it's going to be really, really good. So I'm
Speaker 1: excited for that. The East, we got to wait a
Speaker 1: round or two, but still then they'll be there. The
Speaker 1: Bucks are going to be a very interesting playoff team
Speaker 1: in the East. They needed that road wind Sunday they
Speaker 1: got over the Clippers, Giannis and Dame combining for sixty
Speaker 1: nine points twenty one assists. I should mention though Paul
Speaker 1: George and Kawhi Leonard were not playing in that game. Still,
Speaker 1: the Bucks, they've won seven out of ten. They're in
Speaker 1: the number two spot with the Calves in the East,
Speaker 1: and I just think that they are shaking out as
Speaker 1: this number two team. Donovan Mitchell is out now again
Speaker 1: for a while and all that stuff. So I guess
Speaker 1: the bigger question about the Bucks. The question that has
Speaker 1: been at the forefront since they made the trade is
Speaker 1: is the damianis combo finally clicking the way you expected
Speaker 1: it to. I mean, there's certainly more pick and rolls
Speaker 1: with the two of them than there were under agent Griffin.
Speaker 4: I mean, I would say it is it sounds crazy
Speaker 4: to say, yeah, they're now clicking, like they haven't been
Speaker 4: a top three team the entire year. Like, I just
Speaker 4: don't understand this narrative over this Bucks team. Like we
Speaker 4: know when Griffin got let go, they were a playoff team.
Speaker 4: They were top three in these So it's not like
Speaker 4: it was a firing to where you know, they weren't
Speaker 4: playing at a high level or tour expectations. They actually
Speaker 4: been playing good basketball all year. Has it been the
Speaker 4: prettiest basketball between their stars. No, But that's what happens
Speaker 4: when you bring in a major piece like a Damian
Speaker 4: Lillard to fit with another major piece in Gianni's So
Speaker 4: it's gonna take time for those guys to build chemistry
Speaker 4: and figure out their flow. And there's been a lot
Speaker 4: of ups and downs with this Bucks team. Not only
Speaker 4: did they bring in two they're trying to mesh two
Speaker 4: star pieces you did a coach fron mid midway through
Speaker 4: the year. That's a huge adjustment for any team. So
Speaker 4: you know they're finding their flow once again. I gotta
Speaker 4: give credit to Pat Bev. I'm sure he's in there
Speaker 4: holding guys accountable, using his voice, bringing that you know,
Speaker 4: that that great energy into the team, all the stuff. Yes,
Speaker 4: So I think everything is just coming together for this team,
Speaker 4: not only you know, before playoffs, but just at the
Speaker 4: right time. It's still giving you time before playoffs to
Speaker 4: continue to build this chemistry and flow. So they're on
Speaker 4: the right path. They're obviously one of the top duos
Speaker 4: in the league. We can easily say they're the top
Speaker 4: five duo, maybe top three.
Speaker 2: They have everything. Who's who's your top duo?
Speaker 4: I mean the best team in the NBA, it's the
Speaker 4: Boston Celtics. You gotta look at Tatum and Jaylen Brown, like,
Speaker 4: you can't overlook those young guys.
Speaker 2: You put them over Lebron and a d Yo. Get
Speaker 2: your Murray.
Speaker 4: They have they have the best team. They have the
Speaker 4: best recording team in the NBA. You have you have
Speaker 4: to like, you can't overlook those guys, no matter if
Speaker 4: the numbers are good enough for you or not. That
Speaker 4: duo and what they're doing on a nightly basis it shows.
Speaker 4: So I think Dame and Gianni's are top five, top
Speaker 4: three duo and like I said, they're just clicking at
Speaker 4: the right time, and I'm ready to see what they
Speaker 4: can do in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well it'll be interesting. You know.
Speaker 1: Certainly, Damian Yannis feel more comfortable with each other when
Speaker 1: you're when you're around them, And I just think Doc
Speaker 1: has unlocked some basic I mean basic stuff. And that's
Speaker 1: not an insult to Adrian Griffin. It's just first time
Speaker 1: head coach with the team that was not a bunch
Speaker 1: of young guys, and so you had veteran guys who
Speaker 1: are used to veteran coaches who sort of accept the
Speaker 1: basics and know how to handle all that stuff. And
Speaker 1: Griff was still learning them as was expected his first year,
Speaker 1: but it just wasn't the right fit. And and you've
Speaker 1: seen Doc just make things a little bit simpler in
Speaker 1: terms of taking advantage.
Speaker 2: Of that duo.
Speaker 1: I think their defense one hundred percent. I think their
Speaker 1: defense is still looking really good. That's going to be
Speaker 1: very important, especially against Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum, and
Speaker 1: you know, we'll see if they can give the Celtics
Speaker 1: a little run here in the East. Will be pretty interesting.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: All right, buggy, it's time for my newly favorite segment
Speaker 1: of the pod.
Speaker 2: Here two truths and a lie.
Speaker 1: We have three stats I want to know if you
Speaker 1: can pick them out.
Speaker 2: Here we go.
Speaker 1: You ready, We're going to do better than last We're
Speaker 1: gonna do better than I have. By the way, I
Speaker 1: have not talked to the producers about this at all,
Speaker 1: So I am looking at these as you are, and
Speaker 1: I predict we will do better as a duo than
Speaker 1: we do last week.
Speaker 2: So here we go.
Speaker 1: Number One, Nikola Jokic has the second most triple doubles
Speaker 1: this season. Stat Number two, Grayson Allen leads the league
Speaker 1: in three point percentage. Number three, the Nuggets lead the
Speaker 1: league in assists per game.
Speaker 2: What do you got?
Speaker 1: What's the lie of those three?
Speaker 4: I know Nicola Jokic has the most, second because Sabonis
Speaker 4: has the most this year. H okay, And I'm gonna
Speaker 4: go with the Nuggets lead the league in assists per game.
Speaker 4: As another truth, Okay, Grayson Allen is the lie.
Speaker 2: Okay, So again, I haven't spoken to anyone.
Speaker 1: But I will say this, I learned the other day
Speaker 1: that Grayson Allen in fact leads the league in three
Speaker 1: point percentage because his shooting coach, that guy Lethal Shooter.
Speaker 2: On Instagram.
Speaker 1: By the way, DC kids love that, he was bragging
Speaker 1: about Grayson his client, being the three point shooter. So
Speaker 1: I would have said the exact same thing. But I
Speaker 1: just met his shooting coach the other day, so I
Speaker 1: knew that was I'd say, the Nuggets is a lie?
Speaker 2: Is that right, Nate? Yes, wow, Wow, there you go.
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, I know we gotta give Grayson his pops.
Speaker 2: I did not like la.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I like yeah, So there you go. We still
Speaker 1: did better than we did last week. I'm just saying,
Speaker 1: all right, I'll take that bet presented by DraftKings.
Speaker 2: I want to look at.
Speaker 1: Some of the team's odds to be in the plan right,
Speaker 1: so make it stay in it whatever to be in
Speaker 1: the play in And it's really all over the board.
Speaker 1: The Warriors are the odds are minus twenty five hundred,
Speaker 1: the Lakers minus eleven hundred because, by the way, this
Speaker 1: also takes into account if they jump up right, it's
Speaker 1: not just falling out of the plan.
Speaker 2: It's that if they jump up.
Speaker 1: And they're not in the plan, the Suns only at
Speaker 1: minus two hundred, MAVs minus three sixty, Kings plus one
Speaker 1: point fifteen, Pelicans plus two oh five, and the Timberwolves
Speaker 1: plus eighteen hundred to end up in.
Speaker 2: The play in, which I guess is a good value bet.
Speaker 1: But they would really have to struggle over the next
Speaker 1: month for that to happen. I'm not even sure the
Speaker 1: math is. I guess it's possible draft Kings would not
Speaker 1: stereos wrong, but I think that's that's tough. But you
Speaker 1: which bet would you take at what childs?
Speaker 2: What do you think?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 4: Where? Rach? The way this West is going, Like, it's
Speaker 4: hard to bet on anything because nothing has been consistent
Speaker 4: in the West. Like it's just been a dog fight
Speaker 4: all year, the rankings flip all year. I'm not even
Speaker 4: confident in saying the Lakers will be a playing team because,
Speaker 4: like I said, they're so inconsistent, they might actually just
Speaker 4: start playing great basketball down the stretch and end up
Speaker 4: being a fifth or sixth seed. And the same thing
Speaker 4: can go for the Warriors if you know Steph returns
Speaker 4: from injury. This really sucks Okay, let's lock in.
Speaker 2: You cannot bet. You can pick now to bet this week.
Speaker 4: You know what, I think, I'm gonna take the safe
Speaker 4: route and sit this one out rage. I don't want
Speaker 4: to take anybody's money. I don't want anything to me
Speaker 4: and actually go do this shit and lose money.
Speaker 2: It's just too it's just too hard.
Speaker 1: But the way these teams are like half a game,
Speaker 1: half a game, half a game, I don't know. We
Speaker 1: got to hit doom scroll real quick, because this is interesting.
Speaker 1: The NCAA Men's nil million dollar Tournament is coming this fall,
Speaker 1: yet another thing boogie.
Speaker 2: You did not have when you played.
Speaker 1: It is the first of its kind men's college basketball tournament.
Speaker 1: It will offer more than two million in name, image
Speaker 1: and likeness deals to participating teams, and teams get a
Speaker 1: million dollars just for participating, and another million is awarded
Speaker 1: to the winner. The tournament's called the Player's Era. It's
Speaker 1: going to have eight teams this fall. It's going to
Speaker 1: eventually get up to sixteen teams.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: It's going to be played in Vegas, where you live.
Speaker 1: What do you make of all this? They're playing for money?
Speaker 4: Literally, man, if the if the players and the team
Speaker 4: is you know, getting a million and the winner of
Speaker 4: it gets two million. It just makes my mind wonder
Speaker 4: what the n C Double A gets. I feel like
Speaker 4: this is you know, I think it's it's good for
Speaker 4: you know, the game. Obviously it was the simple size
Speaker 4: we got from the NBA with their n season tournament.
Speaker 4: It was great. It worked out well for the fans,
Speaker 4: it worked that well for the players, and most importantly,
Speaker 4: it worked out well for the sport. We got the good,
Speaker 4: you know, competitive nature that we wanted, you know, early
Speaker 4: on in the season. So I'm not against any N
Speaker 4: season tournament. So I understand, and I can admit in
Speaker 4: the beginning I thought it was you know, I thought
Speaker 4: it was bullshit, but uh, it worked out well. I
Speaker 4: was totally wrong, and I'm okay with that. So I
Speaker 4: can see why, you know, college is now trying to
Speaker 4: bring that to it. But uh, you know, at the
Speaker 4: end of the day, I think this is more so
Speaker 4: for you know, the n C Double A to find
Speaker 4: other ways of making more money off of these kids and.
Speaker 2: At least something.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean million.
Speaker 4: One to two million, that that should easily be five ten,
Speaker 4: like to the school man, to the players, like it because,
Speaker 4: like I said, if they're offering one to two million
Speaker 4: in the tournament, I means yeah, yeah, we don't even
Speaker 4: know what the numbers really are when it comes to
Speaker 4: what's being brought in. So off rip the initial you know,
Speaker 4: offers one to two million, that's they're easily making one
Speaker 4: hundred two hundred million off this tournament. So that's more
Speaker 4: so what my issue is, if you know, if it's
Speaker 4: really about you know, giving these kids the money that
Speaker 4: they deserve, and you're not trying to you know, slave
Speaker 4: them out and find other ways of making more money
Speaker 4: off these college kids, to find the other ways to
Speaker 4: exploit them. Let's raise let's raise that product, because any
Speaker 4: person that's done business is the first initial offers one
Speaker 4: to two million, that's bullshit. Let's let's let's push that
Speaker 4: number up, buddy. I think it's dope. I think the
Speaker 4: fans enjoy it. I think the kids will enjoy playing
Speaker 4: the game. But let's just get that business part right.
Speaker 4: I'm all for the business, but let's make sure business
Speaker 4: is business for everybody.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I totally agree. I think you're right about the
Speaker 1: amount of money and who's getting what. I do think
Speaker 1: the fact that it will have tangible stakes makes this
Speaker 1: an interesting tournament, right the fact that sort of we
Speaker 1: see what these kids are playing for. You know, I
Speaker 1: think for some college kids, a piece of a million
Speaker 1: dollars is still a big deal. A piece of two
Speaker 1: million dollars is still a big deal. So not the
Speaker 1: players that are earning the top top nil deals, but
Speaker 1: some of the other players. So I think it'll be interesting.
Speaker 1: And by the way, that that's in the fall. I
Speaker 1: got to get to March Badness a little bit first
Speaker 1: because on the women's side, did you see what happened
Speaker 1: over the weekend with.
Speaker 2: In the sec.
Speaker 1: LSU and South Carolina? Things got nasty. We had a
Speaker 1: bench clear, brawl, suspensions all over the place.
Speaker 2: What did you make of all of that? And how
Speaker 2: to get you fired up for the next month or so?
Speaker 4: Well, first of all, I just want to say shout
Speaker 4: out to women's basketball in general. Y'all are you know,
Speaker 4: beating the narrative. Y'all are going against the odds. Women's
Speaker 4: basketball is at an all time high right now, and
Speaker 4: I love that for them. I actually, and it's it's
Speaker 4: sick to say, I actually get more of an enjoyment
Speaker 4: watching these women compete compared to the men, because I.
Speaker 2: Don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think it's
Speaker 2: a more entertaining products right now.
Speaker 4: But it's just women. They play the game the right way,
Speaker 4: they complete, they compete the right way. I'm all for
Speaker 4: having emotions in the game. I think it makes emotion
Speaker 4: and passion in the game. It makes the game that
Speaker 4: much more entertaining. It makes it to where I want
Speaker 4: to watch it that much more. And I think you
Speaker 4: know from you know, from Angel Rees, Caitlyn Clark, Juju
Speaker 4: even on at the professional level when it comes to
Speaker 4: the A and you know, just being as timinated as
Speaker 4: they are, having a charisma and personalities they have on
Speaker 4: that team. Even it's one thing they enjoy watching them play,
Speaker 4: but just to see them interact with one another on
Speaker 4: a daily basis or in the locker room or you know,
Speaker 4: just their team Carider in general, it's it's great for
Speaker 4: the sport and it's it's great for fans. So I
Speaker 4: think these women are doing an incredible job with pushing
Speaker 4: their their leagues and their sports. And like I said,
Speaker 4: I think women's sports is at all time high and
Speaker 4: I'm definitely a huge fan. And uh, you know, I
Speaker 4: think when it comes to March madness and and what
Speaker 4: we're receiving right now and just in conference play, it's
Speaker 4: going to be electric March. So I'm excited for this.
Speaker 4: And uh, this is great for women's sports.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah, totally.
Speaker 1: And look, it's the playing style which is really entertaining.
Speaker 1: It's the fact that these women stay in school for longer.
Speaker 1: They're not one and out and one and done and
Speaker 1: typically and I think that's because there's more money frankly
Speaker 1: in college basketball now than there is in the pro
Speaker 1: level for a lot of these women in the top
Speaker 1: top stars. But that creates feelings like you had over
Speaker 1: the weekend with you know, in the SEC tournament, because
Speaker 1: Kim Olke has not beaten don Staley since she got
Speaker 1: to LSU, and that is something that these teams feel.
Speaker 1: Angel Rees feels it, the players on the teams feel it.
Speaker 1: And that only happens when you have consistent players being
Speaker 1: involved in this rivalry over to three years, I mean
Speaker 1: four years, like this is this is a big deal,
Speaker 1: So you get those emotions and I actually I'm not
Speaker 1: trying to condone violence here, but well just a little bit.
Speaker 2: But I loved it.
Speaker 1: I love seeing it come out the way it did,
Speaker 1: a little bit coming out the way it did, because look,
Speaker 1: I just think that that fieriness, that grittiness, that team's
Speaker 1: trying to win at all costs, that is something that
Speaker 1: we love about professional sports. And it took women a
Speaker 1: long ass time to convince society that they deserve to
Speaker 1: be able to have those feelings too. We want to
Speaker 1: feel what it feels like to fight for every inch
Speaker 1: and all of that stuff and get down in the
Speaker 1: mud and play hard. And I think that it took
Speaker 1: a long time for women to even be allowed to
Speaker 1: have those kinds of feelings and win those kinds of games,
Speaker 1: and we are still fighting with a segment of society.
Speaker 1: Women's sports, as you say, is an all time high,
Speaker 1: and I think educated sports fans knows just how entertaining
Speaker 1: it is to watch the women's college game. You still
Speaker 1: have a segment of society, though, who just kind of
Speaker 1: pictures them, you know, skipping up and down the court
Speaker 1: Ladi da Kumbaya, hitting long jumpers and not really getting
Speaker 1: into it. And I love that this sticks in those
Speaker 1: people's faces too, that that's not what is happening here.
Speaker 1: There are real stakes, there are real emotions. These teams
Speaker 1: are fighting, they're two of the top teams in the country.
Speaker 1: They made very well, they could square off for the
Speaker 1: title in the NCAA tournament. So I just I love
Speaker 1: to see it. I thought, no, no one, Fortunately no
Speaker 1: one got seriously hurt, it would be different. And I
Speaker 1: understand that line is thin, but I just love that
Speaker 1: those those women got to experience those emotions and that
Speaker 1: people got to see those emotions and just know how
Speaker 1: weal this is and how feisty the tournament's going to be.
Speaker 4: Absolutely I agree. I think passion and emotions are a
Speaker 4: huge part of any sport. I think that helps you
Speaker 4: get the best out of the competitor, the athlete, all
Speaker 4: of the above. So I just I've obviously we know
Speaker 4: how I played in my career. I played with a
Speaker 4: lot of emotion, a lot of passion, and you know,
Speaker 4: it's something that's slowly trying to be pushed out of
Speaker 4: the game. And then we complain about not having that
Speaker 4: competitive edge. Well, when you allow humans to be humans,
Speaker 4: when you're and obviously we're not trying to take it overboard.
Speaker 4: We don't want any you know, you know Indiana Pistons
Speaker 4: type situation where it gets out of hand. Obviously we
Speaker 4: don't want that. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 4: we want, you know, the product on the floor to
Speaker 4: be at its best, competing at the highest level and
Speaker 4: actually showing that they care every possession in every game
Speaker 4: and allowing these emotions and passion in the game. I
Speaker 4: think those are the results that you get. And just
Speaker 4: to kind of speak a little more, onto know the
Speaker 4: LSU South Carolina situation. When it comes to the young girl,
Speaker 4: Flaja and her family and the things that happened when
Speaker 4: it came to coming out of the stands, it's just like, well, one,
Speaker 4: you got to understand, you know, the severity that comes
Speaker 4: with that. Like I get it, Like you know, that's family.
Speaker 4: I'm big on protecting family, so I understand that part
Speaker 4: of it. But also when it comes to protecting family,
Speaker 4: you got to protect the long term part of it well,
Speaker 4: and in that moment you could have easily destroy her
Speaker 4: long term, you know what I mean. So it's not
Speaker 4: just about protecting her your family in the physical way.
Speaker 4: You got to protect them in every way possible. So,
Speaker 4: like I said, I get it, I understand the reaction,
Speaker 4: and you can't tell anybody how to react in the moment,
Speaker 4: but uh, when it comes to protecting your family, bro, like,
Speaker 4: protect her future as well, protect her long term as well,
Speaker 4: because that situation could have easily got out of hand
Speaker 4: and not only embarrass you, but harm your family member
Speaker 4: in that same moment. And it's just kind of a
Speaker 4: weird thing to see, to see a man jump out
Speaker 4: there with you know, women kind of being in that
Speaker 4: situation and in the first artist like, well, where were
Speaker 4: you going to do? You know what I mean? Women? Yeah,
Speaker 4: like it's not okay, and it's and hey, I would
Speaker 4: have been and thank god he didn't. Like I'm glad
Speaker 4: he was restrained enough. You know, they got.
Speaker 2: Him pretty quickly. The brother it was, it was, it.
Speaker 4: Was it's just like what was what was? What were
Speaker 4: you going to do? What were And it's one thing
Speaker 4: to jump down and start to escalating separating women, but
Speaker 4: even in that situation, it's like you're putting your hands on.
Speaker 2: Women's not your job.
Speaker 4: It's not your job, you're nonsecurity, it's not even your
Speaker 4: event or situation. So you know, I just hope, you know,
Speaker 4: moving forward like that doesn't happen again. And I just
Speaker 4: want to put that, you know, seed in mind. Like
Speaker 4: you want to protect your family long term and not
Speaker 4: just in the moment, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's never okay. It just isn't. It's never okay.
Speaker 2: It's not your job. They'll be fine. You know.
Speaker 1: Let Levern, who's in charge of making things safe, make
Speaker 1: it safe. I want to ask you book before March
Speaker 1: madness gets going for real, what's the thing that just
Speaker 1: reis sticks with you the most from that experience?
Speaker 4: Oh man, just one of the excitement, the energy, the butterflies.
Speaker 4: Uh yeah, the fans support is unreal, like I've never
Speaker 4: seen anything like it. Every possession matters. I think college
Speaker 4: will always be electric, especially around this time of year
Speaker 4: because it is a one game elimination. So in sports
Speaker 4: that's always fun. It can go either way. You know,
Speaker 4: the teams that's supposed to win could easily lose because
Speaker 4: it could easily be a bad night. We were in
Speaker 4: that situation in college, you know what I mean. So
Speaker 4: that's that's what makes you know, college sports so great,
Speaker 4: so exciting, and I mean, like I said, any given day,
Speaker 4: it could be a loss or win, so you have
Speaker 4: to leave it all on the floor. It's not really
Speaker 4: time to you know, be upset about one play, in particular,
Speaker 4: because the game continues to go, the next per second
Speaker 4: possession could be just as important as that previous one.
Speaker 4: So man, it's the game is it's like this, It's
Speaker 4: it's moving fast. Everything is fast. It's fun. Man, it's
Speaker 4: a lot of fun, especially as an athlete. And like
Speaker 4: I said, this is one of the most exciting times
Speaker 4: of the year, and I can't wait for it. But
Speaker 4: my prediction Kentucky going all the way.
Speaker 1: And I don't know, really, I'm shocked. I'm shocked to
Speaker 1: hear you say that.
Speaker 4: I bet you.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: You surprised me every day and now that's I don't
Speaker 1: even know what to think.
Speaker 4: We gotta read, we gotta read Shepherd doing this thing.
Speaker 4: We got Robbed Dellingham doing this thing. DJ Wagner justin.
Speaker 4: We got an incredible squad this year. My young boys
Speaker 4: is doing anything. So I'm so super excited for and uh,
Speaker 4: shut a lot of people up. This year. We're gonna
Speaker 4: we're taking it home this year. I'm guaranteeed you heard
Speaker 4: it right.
Speaker 1: Oh ooh, I want that piece of tape we're taking
Speaker 1: home this year. I'm guaranteed. All right, all right, Well,
Speaker 1: we're happen to have Coach Cal on the show soon.
Speaker 1: We'll play him that clip as well, so he knows
Speaker 1: you've got your support.
Speaker 4: Oh no, I got this back forever and always man,
Speaker 4: forever and always.
Speaker 1: Well, I know you got a Joe Miszula story right
Speaker 1: from back then.
Speaker 4: I do, I do. Unfortunately, it's not one of my
Speaker 4: favorite stories to tell, but I gotta get Joe's credit.
Speaker 4: You know, we lost to his college team in the
Speaker 4: Elite eight, you know, my freshman year of college. Man,
Speaker 4: I just feel foolish. He's been saying this, but Joe
Speaker 4: Mazoula was actually guarding me in the back of the
Speaker 4: one three one.
Speaker 2: He's smaller than you.
Speaker 4: You know that, right, very very and you know their
Speaker 4: game plan work. We you know, I think we shot
Speaker 4: one for twenty behind it. It was something just awful,
Speaker 4: like we had an awful night behind the behind the
Speaker 4: arc and you know, fast forward till now come to
Speaker 4: find out Joe actually suggested this to Bob Huggins already,
Speaker 4: And it makes me even more sick to my stomach that.
Speaker 2: Not only did he make it work, he came up
Speaker 2: with it.
Speaker 4: But you know, that's that's credit to Joe. His mind
Speaker 4: obviously he was a head coach in the making, you know,
Speaker 4: goes to his legend even more. I think that's that's
Speaker 4: an incredible story. I never knew that part of it. So,
Speaker 4: you know, shout out to Mazoulu. You know, he had
Speaker 4: an incredible college career and now he's having an incredible
Speaker 4: professional career, So shout out to him. And uh, you know,
Speaker 4: I'm gonna forever hold that grush though when we see
Speaker 4: each other in person, you're definitely getting the side. Uh.
Speaker 4: And I might even you know, make sure I had
Speaker 4: the sneakers on it so we can line it up
Speaker 4: right there, you know. All right, all right, right, I'm
Speaker 4: rolling the ball out. I want to see you get
Speaker 4: a stop right now, Joe. But I'll shout out to
Speaker 4: Joe Man and I wish you much more success, bro
Speaker 4: for sure. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was actually one of the March Badness sideline reporters,
Speaker 1: uh during during their run and later and a little later,
Speaker 1: and uh, he was he was so much fun to
Speaker 1: talk to and and he just had a great mind
Speaker 1: even then.
Speaker 2: He always came up with interesting stuff.
Speaker 1: And when he became the Southist coach, I said, when
Speaker 1: I saw him for this time, He's.
Speaker 2: Like, hell, Rachel, you remember us, you know those years ago.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, yeah, here you go. But he
Speaker 1: left such an impression, so I guess he left an
Speaker 1: impression on you too. We won't talk about that more,
Speaker 1: but you know, for ye forced impression. Hey, everyone out there,
Speaker 1: you can catch all the episodes of Bullyball on the
Speaker 1: DraftKings Network. We're also on the All product All the
Speaker 1: Smoke Productions YouTube channel. You can go back and see
Speaker 1: how all episodes there. If you want, you can list
Speaker 1: listen to us, of course, wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: That's what I do is I listen to everyone in
Speaker 1: the car. So if you're saying listening to us in
Speaker 1: the car, we thank you. Please go rate and review
Speaker 1: us on your podcast network and we will catch you
Speaker 1: next week