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Speaker 1: slash ft ball. All right, welcome to hoo todaight you're
Speaker 1: at the volume. Happy Friday, everybody, hope a if you
Speaker 1: guys have had a great week. Got a jpack show
Speaker 1: for you today we are hitting number one on our
Speaker 1: preseason power ranking. Season previews. The Boston Celtics obviously very
Speaker 1: little changing year over year for them, but we'll talk
Speaker 1: a little bit about their outlook and then one of
Speaker 1: the things we're gonna do to kind of try to
Speaker 1: find more talk about with the Celtics is kind of
Speaker 1: focus on some specific matchups with them playoff series style
Speaker 1: against some of the teams at the top of the league,
Speaker 1: which teams I think have a realistic path to try
Speaker 1: to upset Boston versus teams that I don't. And then
Speaker 1: at the tail end of the show this morning, I
Speaker 1: tweeted out asking for some mailbag questions to just kind
Speaker 1: of hit on a bunch of preseason topics. We're going
Speaker 1: to be bouncing all around the league. You guys know
Speaker 1: the Joe. Before we get started, subscribe to the Hoops
Speaker 1: and Out YouTube channel so you don't miss any more
Speaker 1: of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore JSNLTS.
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Speaker 1: podcast feed where you get your podcast and our Hoops Tonight.
Speaker 1: Don't forget it's helpful if you leave a rating and
Speaker 1: a review on that front. And the last but not least,
Speaker 1: keep dropping mail bag questions in those YouTube comments so
Speaker 1: we can keep hitting them throughout the remainder of the season. Also,
Speaker 1: before we get started, I want to talk to you
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Speaker 1: What time is it? Game time? All right, let's talk
Speaker 1: some basketball. So number one in this year's power ranking
Speaker 1: season preview style is the Boston Celtics. Not really much
Speaker 1: to say in terms of an offseason recap, only changes
Speaker 1: to the back end of the roster. Baylor Shireman, their
Speaker 1: draft pick at shot the ball poorly in preseason, but
Speaker 1: I don't think he'll be in the rotation much. You know,
Speaker 1: we might see a guy like Lonnie Walker, who had
Speaker 1: some impressive driving kick possessions. We might see him make
Speaker 1: the roster and see some opportunities but none of it
Speaker 1: really matters. The core eight for the Boston Celtics is
Speaker 1: the core eight. Derek White, Drew Holliday, Jaylen Brown, Jason Tatum, Chrisopsporzingis,
Speaker 1: Al Horford, Peyton Pritchard, and Sam Houser. That's their player rotation.
Speaker 1: I think it's the best top eight in the NBA.
Speaker 1: My friend Sam Vessini was saying on the show yesterday
Speaker 1: that he thinks Minnesota's top eight is the best in
Speaker 1: the NBA. I think I disagree with him, Like, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Dante DiVincenzo, Nikhil, Alexander Walker and nasried are a better
Speaker 1: trio than Al Horford, Peyton, Pritchard and the same Hauser.
Speaker 1: But the top five are just so much better for Boston.
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, I think I'd take Oklahoma
Speaker 1: City's top eight before I would take Minnesota's top eight.
Speaker 1: But I think boston That top eight rotation is rock solid.
Speaker 1: Pritchard and Howser both really flashed defensive upside in the postseason.
Speaker 1: Upsides the wrong word. They held up well off in
Speaker 1: the postseason. They got hunted consistently as you would expect,
Speaker 1: and they held up well. Porzingis brought everything that we
Speaker 1: in the brief stints where he was actually available. He
Speaker 1: brought everything that we knew that we were that Boston
Speaker 1: needed from him in terms of rim protection and matchup
Speaker 1: attacking on switches and ball screens. It all just came
Speaker 1: together perfectly in a dominant playoff run. They've looked completely
Speaker 1: locked in and ready to go in the preseason. They're
Speaker 1: four and one. They have the best offense in the
Speaker 1: league one twenty one offensive rating that's five point seven
Speaker 1: points better than the second best offense in preseason insane.
Speaker 1: They're averaging fifty three three point attempts per game. They
Speaker 1: have a sixty one percent for shooting. As a team.
Speaker 1: Boston's offensive system is just the best that we have
Speaker 1: in the league right now, most talented that we have
Speaker 1: in the league right now. It's like a well oiled machine.
Speaker 1: The defense has been fined in preseason. They have a
Speaker 1: plus sixteen point three net rating in preseason that's the
Speaker 1: best in the league by five point three points. So
Speaker 1: just continuing their dominance. Jason Tatum looks great, as Jumper looks.
Speaker 1: I just kind of reconfigured and just it's almost like
Speaker 1: he just took a moment to reset and just kind
Speaker 1: of find his foundation, find his base again as a
Speaker 1: jump shooter one point one to three points per jump
Speaker 1: shot in preseason, one point two points per catch and
Speaker 1: shoot jump shot, one point zero eight off the dribble,
Speaker 1: all really good. I think the Celtics will face some
Speaker 1: substantially tougher playoff competition this year, and I'm going to
Speaker 1: get into that concept a little bit more here in
Speaker 1: a second. But I also think that they'll have a
Speaker 1: substantially better version of Jason Tatum at their disposal in
Speaker 1: the playoffs than they did last year, and I think
Speaker 1: that that is going to put them in a position
Speaker 1: to handle a tougher playoff run. Think like the twenty
Speaker 1: sixteen Golden State Warriors team. You know, I've seen a
Speaker 1: lot of There's been a lot of like kind of
Speaker 1: like argument among basketball fans between Celtics fans and the
Speaker 1: rest about like how to regard last year's team, And
Speaker 1: part of the disconnect is like a lot of Boston
Speaker 1: fans want that team to be regarded as all time great,
Speaker 1: and my point of view on that is there's no
Speaker 1: such thing as an all time great team until you've
Speaker 1: won multiple championships. That to me is like the baseline, right.
Speaker 1: And one of the things that happens is when you
Speaker 1: on the course of a run to a championship, you
Speaker 1: need some luck, right, And there are lots of teams
Speaker 1: in NBA history that have benefited from luck on their
Speaker 1: way to an NBA championship. But that is why the
Speaker 1: all time great teams we typically look at multiple championships
Speaker 1: because it's as circumstances change, as things go different, you
Speaker 1: have to legitimize your championship when things don't go the
Speaker 1: way that you want them to, right. Like just take
Speaker 1: most recently the twenty seventeen and twenty eighteen Warriors. Now
Speaker 1: they had a massive talent advantage, even to a greater
Speaker 1: extent than the Celtics, but they went in twenty seventeen
Speaker 1: beat the shit out of everybody. They went fifteen straight
Speaker 1: playoff games. Right. But the next year it's like, all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, there's this Houston Rockets team. It's really interesting.
Speaker 1: They take a three to two lead in the series. Now,
Speaker 1: obviously they benefit from more luck in the form of
Speaker 1: Chris Paul getting injured, but inevitably what happens is you
Speaker 1: see some different circumstances and it's about overcoming adversity. You
Speaker 1: look back at the Warriors dynasty and like there are
Speaker 1: some easy ones in there, right, Like there's the two
Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen, in twenty eighteen where they just kicked
Speaker 1: everybody's ass with talent. But it's like then we have
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen where they came back from two separate tow
Speaker 1: to one deficits. Right, we go back to the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two series against the Celtics where they're down to
Speaker 1: one on the road, they need a big win. You
Speaker 1: look at the totality of their success, it looks different
Speaker 1: going back previously to the previous Heat champion, the Miami Heat,
Speaker 1: right twenty twelve, they kind of handle everybody. Even in
Speaker 1: the finals, they end up getting out of there in
Speaker 1: five games. There's like a little bit of a brief
Speaker 1: kind of thing with the Boston Celtics in the conference
Speaker 1: was that in the finals. I think it was in
Speaker 1: the conference finals, but there was a little bit of
Speaker 1: adversity there, but they kind of kick butt. Then you
Speaker 1: get into the twenty thirteen season, it's like this grueling
Speaker 1: seven game series against the Pacers, this grueling seven game
Speaker 1: series against the San Antonio Spurs, and by the time
Speaker 1: they win the title, it's just like it just kind
Speaker 1: of adds like a different layer to it. Right, So
Speaker 1: think like the twenty sixteen Golden State team, Right, they
Speaker 1: get super lucky in a bunch of different ways in
Speaker 1: that playoff run. Every single team they play as guys hurt.
Speaker 1: Now of the lineup, they end up going into that
Speaker 1: gold that Cleveland Cavaliers series, and Kyrie Irving gets hurt
Speaker 1: in the first game, Kevin Love had his shoulder dislocated
Speaker 1: in the first round, and it's like Golden State wins,
Speaker 1: and then outside of the Golden State fan base, there's
Speaker 1: just a lot of like people talking like like, yeah,
Speaker 1: they got lucky this, Yeah they you know, let's see
Speaker 1: him do it ag next year. They come out next
Speaker 1: year and they just start beating everybody's ass. And then yeah,
Speaker 1: we obviously had that weird kind of NBA Finals series
Speaker 1: where they end up losing. But as we zoom out
Speaker 1: from the Warriors dynasty, it's clearly legitimate. There's four championships,
Speaker 1: Steph Curry as all these big moments. It just has
Speaker 1: this like kind of aura in retrospect that legitimizes everything
Speaker 1: that they do. And so that's the thing like, was
Speaker 1: there some luck for the Celtics last year. Yeah, Like
Speaker 1: there was the five best teams in the league, they
Speaker 1: didn't have to play any of them, right, And that's
Speaker 1: just kind of part of how basketball goes. This year
Speaker 1: will be tougher, go kick everyone's ass and shut them
Speaker 1: all up. I've seen a lot of people say things like, well,
Speaker 1: we're all time great because of the advanced metrics. No
Speaker 1: one cares about the advanced metrics in an Eastern Conference
Speaker 1: where you're beating the shit out of really bad teams
Speaker 1: a lot of the nights. Multiple trophies is where you
Speaker 1: get that respect. That is the opportunity that lies before Boston.
Speaker 1: As we look back to previous champions, look at how
Speaker 1: all of them are regarded. Denver one, but then they
Speaker 1: didn't get an and so now a lot of people
Speaker 1: are already right in Denver off and no one's going
Speaker 1: to regard Denver as an all time great team unless
Speaker 1: they win another one here in the next year or two. Right.
Speaker 1: Going back to that Warriors team into twenty twenty two
Speaker 1: is really cool, but they kind of fell off again
Speaker 1: the next year, so no one views that twenty twenty
Speaker 1: two team as some sort of all time great team. Right,
Speaker 1: going back to twenty twenty one with the Milwaukee Bucks,
Speaker 1: like impressive team, there hasn't been anything after that to
Speaker 1: legitimize it. I thought that Lakers team in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: was really good, but then they got started to run
Speaker 1: into some injury stuff, and then they fucked up their
Speaker 1: roster doing some stupid stuff in the front office. Right,
Speaker 1: the Raptors end up losing Kawhi Like. There is the
Speaker 1: only way that a championship team can truly resonate on
Speaker 1: a level that lasts is to get multiple That's the
Speaker 1: way it goes. When we look back at the great
Speaker 1: teams in NBA history, who are they. It's the Warriors
Speaker 1: they won four. It's the heat they won two. It's
Speaker 1: the Lakers in the twenty tens they won two, The
Speaker 1: Spurs they won five, the Kobe, the shack Lakers they
Speaker 1: win three, the Bulls they win six, the Rockets they
Speaker 1: win two, the Pistons they win two, the Lakers and
Speaker 1: Celtics in the eighties. Like, you've got to put together
Speaker 1: multiple iconic playoff runs in order to truly resonate on
Speaker 1: that level. But that said, this team has that potential.
Speaker 1: So let's get into it a little bit more and
Speaker 1: talk about what a repeat would look like for this
Speaker 1: particular team. First of all, I want to address one weakness,
Speaker 1: the one specific weakness that this team has. They're a
Speaker 1: little bit thin at the center position and a little
Speaker 1: bit old and frail in their best player group, right
Speaker 1: with Horford and Porzingis. How Horford turns thirty nine before
Speaker 1: the NBA Finals this year. Porzingis gets hurt every year,
Speaker 1: and he's hurt all ready to start this year from
Speaker 1: an injury suffered last year in the postseason. But Brad
Speaker 1: Stevens has done a really nice job at building out
Speaker 1: like a deep rotation of backup centers. They have five
Speaker 1: centers that are going to be on their season opening
Speaker 1: roster right like Luke Cornett, nimas Queda, and Javier Tillman
Speaker 1: are all going to get the like the majority of
Speaker 1: the center minutes to start the year. I think they're
Speaker 1: going to manage Al Horford very carefully to start the year.
Speaker 1: I don't think they're going to compensate for Porzingis being
Speaker 1: out by just riding Al Horford into the ground. They're
Speaker 1: gonna run off of these backup centers and playing center
Speaker 1: for the Celtics is an easy job. They're always flanked
Speaker 1: by excellent perimeter defenders and athletes who could shoot, and
Speaker 1: they just make life easier for them. Right. Will they
Speaker 1: drop a few regular season games here and there because
Speaker 1: they're running a week drop coverage with a week center. Sure,
Speaker 1: they're going to drop some games, But the most important
Speaker 1: thing for this team is to manage their health so
Speaker 1: that Porzingis and Horford are ready to go in April.
Speaker 1: Because when Porzingis is healthy, they look like far and
Speaker 1: away the best team in basketball. So here's my prediction
Speaker 1: for the season. I think they'll run away with the
Speaker 1: best record in the league. Again, they're built for regular
Speaker 1: season basketball, just with the depth and the way that
Speaker 1: their system kind of generates shots in the way that
Speaker 1: they defend. I think they're gonna end up with a
Speaker 1: large margin over the number two seed in the East. Again,
Speaker 1: I think they'll end up several games ahead of Oklahoma City.
Speaker 1: Like I think Oklahoma City is at least relatively close
Speaker 1: to Boston and Talent now after the acquisitions of Hartenstein
Speaker 1: and Caruso. But the East has seven bad teams. Like
Speaker 1: I looked at the Celtic schedule this year, they have
Speaker 1: four games against the Hawks, four games against the Nets,
Speaker 1: four games against the Bowls, four games against the Hornets,
Speaker 1: three games against the Pistons, four games against the Raptors,
Speaker 1: three games against the Wizards. Like they might drop a
Speaker 1: game or two there, but they're going to go like
Speaker 1: twenty five and one against that set, or twenty four
Speaker 1: and two. Like last year in that same set of teams,
Speaker 1: they dropped three really close games to Charlotte Atlanta, two
Speaker 1: of them went to overtime. You could argue they should
Speaker 1: have gone undefeated against that group. So like that I
Speaker 1: think will keep a good, healthy gap between them in
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City because o the Oklahoma City has to play
Speaker 1: that Western Conference schedule, they're not playing any of those
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference teams more than twice, and the West has
Speaker 1: thirteen teams that legitimately think they can make the playoffs
Speaker 1: and be good. So like I would imagine that Boston
Speaker 1: is going to end around sixty five wins with a
Speaker 1: healthy advantage in the East and a little bit of
Speaker 1: an advantage over the West. My guess is that they'll
Speaker 1: be the runaway number one overall seed. As for the playoffs,
Speaker 1: I think there are teams that are capable of taking
Speaker 1: them out, But I would pick Boston in each matchup.
Speaker 1: Like the Knicks, I'm having a really hard time getting there.
Speaker 1: I've looked at it a lot in light of the
Speaker 1: Karl Anthony Towns edition. I just think the Celtics are
Speaker 1: a better version of the Knicks. I don't think there
Speaker 1: are enough matchup advantages there for the Knicks to potentially
Speaker 1: swing that series. Obviously, with the Sixers, it's like what
Speaker 1: if embiid is just healthy in April and finally has
Speaker 1: this breakout playoff run. But that feels like a long shot.
Speaker 1: We've been talking about that for years. Right the Bucks,
Speaker 1: I think they're too slow on the perimeter. I also
Speaker 1: think that they have the personnel to switch the Damiannis
Speaker 1: pick and roll when things really slow down, which most
Speaker 1: teams don't have. Like I think you put Jalen Brown
Speaker 1: on Dame and you put Tatum on Giannis and you
Speaker 1: just switch that action, and I think that puts them
Speaker 1: in an advantageous position and slow down half court environments.
Speaker 1: I have a really hard time seeing Boston lose out East. Like,
Speaker 1: I think that it's far more likely than not that
Speaker 1: Boston wins the Eastern Conference. Now there are two teams
Speaker 1: out west that I think have more straightforward paths to
Speaker 1: beating Boston because Boston just can't guard Jokic. Like put
Speaker 1: it very simply, the only team that Boston couldn't beat
Speaker 1: last year was Denver, and it was the same thing.
Speaker 1: It's just they can consistently generate great shots off the
Speaker 1: back of Jokic because Boston just doesn't have anybody on
Speaker 1: the roster that can remotely make him feel uncomfortable. But
Speaker 1: even then, I think Boston's a little better now than
Speaker 1: they were last year. I think Tatum will be better
Speaker 1: than he was last year, and I think Denver's a
Speaker 1: little bit worse. So in a way that I would
Speaker 1: have picked Denver by a smidge over Boston last year,
Speaker 1: I think I'd picked Boston over Denver this year. But
Speaker 1: at least if you're a Denver fan, there's a straightforward
Speaker 1: path there, right like Jokic picks him apart, they go
Speaker 1: cold from three, you can kind of like see the vision,
Speaker 1: so to speak. But I would pick Boston and then
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City. They have true five out spacing. All five
Speaker 1: of those players that are in their small ball group
Speaker 1: are excellent defenders in space. Shay Gills as Alexander would
Speaker 1: be the best player in the series. But even then,
Speaker 1: I think I'd picked Boston because Jalen Williams is Oklahoma
Speaker 1: City's second best player and the guy who's going to
Speaker 1: be determining so many important possessions, and he's twenty three
Speaker 1: years old, so like Boston just has a substantial experience
Speaker 1: advantage there. So my prediction, I think this is the
Speaker 1: year that Boston finally breaks the trend of teams not repeating.
Speaker 1: I think they cement themselves in the ranks of the
Speaker 1: all time great teams. I think they'll have some more
Speaker 1: memorable playoff moments because I think they're going to face
Speaker 1: some tougher teams and they're going to have to overcome
Speaker 1: a little bit of adversity on their way there. And
Speaker 1: I think that when we come to this point next year,
Speaker 1: Boston will finally have the respect that they're seeking, being
Speaker 1: viewed as one of the all time great teams in
Speaker 1: NBA history. All right, let's get to our mailbag. First question,
Speaker 1: a lot of good ones from you guys today, thank
Speaker 1: you for participating. Is always, did the Knicks sacrifice their
Speaker 1: identity gritty offensive rebounds TIBs guys to appear better on paper.
Speaker 1: This is a really interesting question. There's no doubt that
Speaker 1: their identity will look a little bit different this year.
Speaker 1: I think that goes without saying I still think a
Speaker 1: good chunk of last year's identity is there though, right
Speaker 1: with Josh Hart Ognnobi Duce McBride is a guy that
Speaker 1: just kind of brings that same mentality. Jalen Brunson is
Speaker 1: a tough minded guy. Mitchell Robinson when he's healthy, I
Speaker 1: think McHale Bridges kind of fits that mold and will
Speaker 1: add to that this season. But the reality is is
Speaker 1: they had a certain ceiling last year. Too much was
Speaker 1: on Brunson's play offensively to actually win four playoff rounds.
Speaker 1: I didn't think that they had enough aggregate talent to
Speaker 1: really capitalize on the advantages that Jalen Brunson was creating
Speaker 1: as well, like they capitalize on attention devoted to Brunson
Speaker 1: on the offensive glass as guys would break free and
Speaker 1: crash as they were in rotation. But I actually think
Speaker 1: they have enough talent this year to have a little
Speaker 1: bit more of a driving kick look, a little bit
Speaker 1: more of an advantage extending look, meaning like when Jalen
Speaker 1: Brunson draws a heavier preponderance of the defense in his direction.
Speaker 1: Guys that can drive closeouts and turn good shots into
Speaker 1: great shots. I think that was something that was missing
Speaker 1: last year. And then obviously just the true five out
Speaker 1: spacing that they can accomplish with Karl Anthony Towns at center.
Speaker 1: It's a look that they just didn't have in the past. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: look at it this way. Anytime you make substantial roster changes,
Speaker 1: there's a certain amount of risk. And yes there's a
Speaker 1: version of this where this team just isn't as tough
Speaker 1: as they are last year and they underachieve and it
Speaker 1: doesn't go well, right, But last year's team had no
Speaker 1: championship ceiling. This team actually does, And so it's about
Speaker 1: the risk. Anytime you want a real reward in life,
Speaker 1: you've got to put yourself out there and take some risk.
Speaker 1: That's what the Knicks are doing. Yes, it could go south,
Speaker 1: but there's also a version of this that works out.
Speaker 1: Do you think Dalton connect will eventually play his way
Speaker 1: into the starting lineup for the Lakers? A lot of
Speaker 1: folks thought he could eventually take Rui's spot, although I disagree.
Speaker 1: I would like to hear what you have to say
Speaker 1: about it. Definitely not this year. With the way that
Speaker 1: this Laker starting lineup is constructed, they really need Rui's size,
Speaker 1: especially on the defensive glass. Lebron in just some of
Speaker 1: his inconsistent defensive engagement at this phase in his career.
Speaker 1: It's also part of them just kind of leaning into offense.
Speaker 1: But maybe a future version of the Lakers, you could
Speaker 1: see that. And this is where it gets interesting because
Speaker 1: let's say we think about life post Lebron. So you
Speaker 1: have your foundational pieces, right, you have I think we
Speaker 1: can I think we see like the Lakers would see
Speaker 1: their like three four years from now backcourt as Austin
Speaker 1: Reeves and Max Christy. Think that goes about saying and
Speaker 1: I think that's a nice natural fit, right, skill guard
Speaker 1: athlete guard primarily defense and attax closeouts. Right. Then you
Speaker 1: have Anthony Davis. But then there's this two or the
Speaker 1: three to four spot that you're looking at, right, and
Speaker 1: the obvious choice is like, oh well, Ruy slots down
Speaker 1: to the four when Lebron is gone, and then you
Speaker 1: put in Dalton connect at the three. This is where
Speaker 1: it gets tricky though. That has one good defensive athlete
Speaker 1: at the two. In Max Christie right, I don't think
Speaker 1: Dalton could start at the three for an NBA team
Speaker 1: unless the four man and the two man and the
Speaker 1: five man were all excellent defensive players. Do I think
Speaker 1: Dalton Connects will eventually become somebody that is functional on defense.
Speaker 1: We'll see it's definitely he has the athleticism too. It's
Speaker 1: just a question of whether or not he puts in
Speaker 1: the work and picks up the instincts and commitment to
Speaker 1: attention to detail to actually make that happen. But just
Speaker 1: in terms of who he in terms of his natural
Speaker 1: abilities as a basketball player, I don't think you could
Speaker 1: start him alongside another week defensive forward like Ruey Hotcha Mura.
Speaker 1: So in terms of the long term goals for the Lakers,
Speaker 1: if you're looking at as Austin Max Dalton, that four
Speaker 1: man next to ad is going to have to be
Speaker 1: another big, strong athlete who is an excellent defensive rebounder,
Speaker 1: an excellent defensive player, and so more likely than not,
Speaker 1: I almost see Dalton connect at this kind of point
Speaker 1: in his correct because this is the other part of it. Two,
Speaker 1: you better be damn good on offense. If you are
Speaker 1: starting for an NBA team and you're a mediocre to
Speaker 1: below average defender. So like, so much of this is like,
Speaker 1: maybe Dalton Connect never really has starting potential. He's more
Speaker 1: of like a sixth man type of guy, right than
Speaker 1: maybe Ruy is the or and they look for a
Speaker 1: long term option at the three. But in terms of
Speaker 1: future version of the Lakers, do I think Dalton Connect
Speaker 1: could eventually become a starter. Sure, but I see almost
Speaker 1: I see it basically a zero percent chance of that
Speaker 1: happening this year. He might get a spot start here
Speaker 1: or there because of injuries, but I don't see that
Speaker 1: being part of the vision for this particular season. If
Speaker 1: the Thunder get a lottery pick from the Clippers this year,
Speaker 1: what should the Thunder do with the pick? Easy decision.
Speaker 1: You hang onto it and you see if you can
Speaker 1: get Cooper Flag. This is a team like if you're
Speaker 1: looking at the build, the one guy they're missing is
Speaker 1: a legitimate four man two flank Chet. They went with
Speaker 1: a different direction this summer, opting for a look with
Speaker 1: Chet at the four next to a center, which maybe
Speaker 1: that ends up being what this looks like in the
Speaker 1: long run anyway, But if you have an opportunity to
Speaker 1: get Cooper flag. You wait to see if you can
Speaker 1: get Cooper flag. Now, if you can't get Cooper flag
Speaker 1: and you can't get any of these guys at the
Speaker 1: top end of the draft that everyone's kind of keyed
Speaker 1: in on, then I would start looking at potentially trading
Speaker 1: that pick and looking for that forward more through the
Speaker 1: trade market, because there's a timeline things starting to take
Speaker 1: shape here as you look at the age of these guys,
Speaker 1: they're actually starting to enter into legitimate championship contention and
Speaker 1: continuing to develop prospects for the future may not be
Speaker 1: the best path. The other thing they can do. This
Speaker 1: is something that I wouldn't be surprised if we see
Speaker 1: more teams do as we enter into this next phase
Speaker 1: of the CBA with some of the limitations surrounding the aprons.
Speaker 1: But we might actually see a team like Oklahoma City
Speaker 1: let guys go when they need to get paid, because, like,
Speaker 1: if you think about it from the same point of
Speaker 1: the payroll, if you got to pay three max guys
Speaker 1: and let's say that's chet, JDub and Shay, then you
Speaker 1: can't afford to have expensive role players around them. And
Speaker 1: so maybe It's one of those things where you use
Speaker 1: a higher draft pick that typically would be used on
Speaker 1: a player that has upside long term on more of
Speaker 1: a guy that is not as heavy on the upside
Speaker 1: but is ready to go right away and actually try
Speaker 1: to target discount rotation pieces through the draft. I think
Speaker 1: that's something that you might see a team like Oklahoma
Speaker 1: City look to do as well. Not related to preseason,
Speaker 1: but you recently said Lebron's argument for being the goat
Speaker 1: is his longevity and that MJ has a better peak
Speaker 1: for sure. How are you so sure about MJ's peaking
Speaker 1: higher if your argument is only six to eight years,
Speaker 1: that is more of a team stat. That's kind of
Speaker 1: the point, like MJ's peak is clearly more dominant in
Speaker 1: terms of the actual accomplishments of him and his basketball team.
Speaker 1: The best individual basketball player that I have ever personally
Speaker 1: watched was twenty eighteen Lebron. He was basically like Luka
Speaker 1: Doncic as a surgical half court shot creator who could
Speaker 1: pass every single read, who could make every single shot
Speaker 1: from every single spot on the floor. But he was
Speaker 1: also one of the best athletes in the league who
Speaker 1: brought a ton of downhill rim pressure, which is something
Speaker 1: that Luca doesn't bring, and at that phase end of
Speaker 1: his career, Lebron was still able to leverage himself as
Speaker 1: a defensive player at a level near the top guys
Speaker 1: in the league when he needed to. That was the
Speaker 1: best basketball player that I've ever seen personally, But that
Speaker 1: team lost in the finals in large part because the
Speaker 1: team had a lot of limitations and there's a lot
Speaker 1: of subjectivity there. It's hard to argue with six championships
Speaker 1: in eight years with respect to what was going on
Speaker 1: in the world of basketball at that point in time,
Speaker 1: You're not going to be able to argue Lebron's peak
Speaker 1: beyond the realm of subjectivity. So like that's the thing, Yeah,
Speaker 1: do I. I'm also a big believer the basketball players
Speaker 1: are always getting better. Like twenty eighteen, Lebron's the best
Speaker 1: basketball player I've ever seen. I have a feeling I'm
Speaker 1: going to see a player that I think is better
Speaker 1: at some point in the next ten years. But it's
Speaker 1: not going to be because Lebron wasn't the best player
Speaker 1: in the league at the time. It's going to be
Speaker 1: because basketball players keep getting better. Just look at how
Speaker 1: much better the shooting is now compared to where it was.
Speaker 1: Guys are better at shooting further away from the basket,
Speaker 1: Guys are better at shooting off of more complicated dribble combinations.
Speaker 1: As a league, we're getting so much better at advanced passing, reads,
Speaker 1: advanced pick and roll shot creation. We're getting better defensively
Speaker 1: as well, Like the league is just getting better. Basketball
Speaker 1: players are getting better. And so yeah, I tend to
Speaker 1: think that the six ' nine super versatile point forward
Speaker 1: who could dribble and shoot better than most players in
Speaker 1: the league was better than the six to sixth scoring
Speaker 1: guard who was also one of the best perimeter defenders
Speaker 1: in the league, like MJ in his era, was far
Speaker 1: and away the best, and all players have gotten better,
Speaker 1: and Lebron is the best of a better group of players,
Speaker 1: and Wemby will probably be the best of an even
Speaker 1: better group of players, right, And that's just kind of
Speaker 1: how I see. It's not perfectly linear, but generally the
Speaker 1: league is advancing and players are getting better. What percentage
Speaker 1: of the league matches up well enough with Boston to
Speaker 1: make us believe anybody but Boston can win? And do
Speaker 1: you think it makes the season less enjoyable? If you
Speaker 1: know that there's no team that can keep up the
Speaker 1: good work. Really enjoy your content. Thank you for supporting
Speaker 1: the show. I you know, I did feel that way
Speaker 1: about the KD. Staph Warriors. I legitimately didn't think anybody
Speaker 1: could beat them, even when they would lose. I thought
Speaker 1: it was mostly about like just kind of like playing
Speaker 1: down to their competition. This is something I've said many
Speaker 1: times on the show. But even if Chris Paul didn't
Speaker 1: get hurt in the twenty eighteen Conference final series against
Speaker 1: the Rockets, I still think the Warriors win that series. Yes,
Speaker 1: they won up three to two, and obviously Chris Paul
Speaker 1: getting hurt helped things. But let's just put it on
Speaker 1: a real basic level. Does Golden State go home and
Speaker 1: get Game six at home? I think they do, even
Speaker 1: if Chris Paul plays. Then there's a Game seven, and
Speaker 1: yes it's in Houston. But who are you taking? Are
Speaker 1: you taking KD, Steph Draymond Clay and Andre Gudala? Are
Speaker 1: you taking those Rockets dudes? I'm taking those I'm taking
Speaker 1: the Golden State Warriors, dudes. So like, I didn't think
Speaker 1: anybody could beat that team. It was basically like this
Speaker 1: Boston Celtics team, except for instead of Tatum and Brown,
Speaker 1: it was Katie and Steph, the second and third best
Speaker 1: players in the league. That to me is the greatest
Speaker 1: basketball team ever assembled, and it's not particularly close. Boston
Speaker 1: to me, is a special basketball team with regard to
Speaker 1: recent NBA history, but they just don't quite have that
Speaker 1: like otherworldly top end talent that like nobody can mess with,
Speaker 1: and that to me makes them at least beatable even
Speaker 1: though they're the best team in the league. That I
Speaker 1: think keeps this season very interesting. As I mentioned, I
Speaker 1: have a hard time discussing I talked about this in
Speaker 1: the actual Celtics segment. I have a hard time really
Speaker 1: conceptualizing an Eastern Conference team to beat them, just from
Speaker 1: a basketball perspective. But Oklahoma City and Denver are two
Speaker 1: teams out west that I think could present Boston with
Speaker 1: some real issues. Particularly Boston can't guard Jokich. We've seen
Speaker 1: that just too many times over the last few years.
Speaker 1: And then Oklahoma City has five I can put together
Speaker 1: five man lineups with real two way athletes on at
Speaker 1: all five positions, which is something that Boston can do
Speaker 1: and part of what makes Boston so difficult to play right,
Speaker 1: I would still pick Boston in both of those matchups
Speaker 1: now because Denver's declined a little bit, I think Boston's better,
Speaker 1: and then I think Boston is more experienced than Oklahoma City. However,
Speaker 1: those there are teams that have punchers chances to beat Boston,
Speaker 1: I do think they are a risk for an upset,
Speaker 1: and that is something that I think makes them a
Speaker 1: more legitimate, like kind of like parody concept favorite compared
Speaker 1: to teams like Golden State, you know. And an interesting
Speaker 1: way to look at it would be like, would I
Speaker 1: take Boston or the Field? If I had to pick
Speaker 1: the KD STEPH Warriors of the Field, I would take
Speaker 1: the KD STEPH Warriors every single time. I just there's
Speaker 1: no version of that where I think one of those
Speaker 1: other teams are going to win. If I had to
Speaker 1: choose between Boston and the Field this year, it'd be
Speaker 1: more of a toss up for me. And even though
Speaker 1: I do think Boston is demonstrably the favorite, it's more
Speaker 1: of a toss up for me in terms of them
Speaker 1: or the Field, And I think that's kind of the
Speaker 1: big difference in terms of I think that's the big
Speaker 1: difference in terms of the parody and just how much
Speaker 1: people can kind of look forward to Boston potentially getting
Speaker 1: upset on a real basic level. I'm pulling up the
Speaker 1: stat right now when I remember when the KD Staph
Speaker 1: Warriors were assembled after they won in twenty seventeen. I
Speaker 1: can't remember the exact I can't remember the exact odds,
Speaker 1: but they were negative odds to They were negative odds
Speaker 1: to win the title before the season in that twenty
Speaker 1: eighteen year for good reason. They had won fift teen
Speaker 1: straight playoff games in the previous year. So like for
Speaker 1: good reason, I want to say they were like minus
Speaker 1: one seventy to win the title, meaning you'd have to
Speaker 1: bet one hundred and seventy dollars before the season started
Speaker 1: to win one hundred if Golden State won the title.
Speaker 1: I can't remember exactly what the number was, but they
Speaker 1: had negative odds to win the title. This year, Boston's
Speaker 1: plus three to ten. So if you bet one hundred
Speaker 1: dollars on the Celtics to win the title right now,
Speaker 1: you'd win three hundred and ten bucks. For the record,
Speaker 1: I think that's a great bet because I think that
Speaker 1: it's probably a little closer to fifty to fifty than
Speaker 1: they're letting on. So I think that's that's a bet
Speaker 1: that would be worth looking at. But I do think
Speaker 1: that there's a lot more parody in the league right
Speaker 1: now than there was at that point in time. Julian
Speaker 1: Strawther has had an amazing summer in preseason. How does
Speaker 1: him excelling affect Denver's outlook? So so far, on twenty
Speaker 1: six jumphot attempts this preseason, he's getting one point five
Speaker 1: points per jump shot. The only real difference though, is
Speaker 1: like he's hitting all of his catch and shoot attempts,
Speaker 1: but he's struggling off the dribble, and he's struggling creating
Speaker 1: shots off the dribble. And I think that is ultimately
Speaker 1: the thing that is going to be what makes him
Speaker 1: a legitimate secondary shot creator or a guy that they
Speaker 1: could potentially slot in for Christian Brown to increase the
Speaker 1: productivity of the starting lineup and so and then obviously
Speaker 1: we got to see how he develops defensively as he
Speaker 1: picks up more high leverage assignments and bigger minute loads. Right,
Speaker 1: But obviously that potential's there. But everything with these young
Speaker 1: guys with Denver is up in the air. At this point,
Speaker 1: and I really need to see some regular season basketball
Speaker 1: before we start making those those stances. Thoughts on the
Speaker 1: Warriors and how they will do this season. Is the
Speaker 1: dynasty officially over? I would never say it's over over.
Speaker 1: I do think that there's some similarities to the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one offseason where they kind of brought in some
Speaker 1: more functional role players that will will immediately make them better.
Speaker 1: I do think the Warriors will be better than last year.
Speaker 1: I think Kyle Anderson, Buddy Heald, and d Anthony Melton
Speaker 1: are all shoe and fits. Young players get a little
Speaker 1: bit better. I think Steph's going to have a bounce
Speaker 1: back season from where he was at the tail end
Speaker 1: of last year. Right The big difference between this right
Speaker 1: now and what the twenty two Warriors became off the
Speaker 1: back of that twenty twenty one offseason was you could
Speaker 1: make the case that Steph was the best basketball player
Speaker 1: alive at that point in time in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 1: before they made those offseason additions, he was barbecuing the
Speaker 1: entire league. He's coming off a pretty substantial slump to
Speaker 1: end last season. I do think he'll be better. I
Speaker 1: still think he's a top ten ish player in the NBA,
Speaker 1: but Steph is not on the true top tier superstar
Speaker 1: tier anymore. That's the main reason that I can't see
Speaker 1: them going over the top into real championship contention this year.
Speaker 1: To put it simply, it's Stephan a bunch of role players.
Speaker 1: And if it's Stephan a bunch of role players and
Speaker 1: he's not the very best player in the league, he's
Speaker 1: not going to beat other teams around the league that
Speaker 1: have more star talent and better role players. And so, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think the Warriors are good. I think they're fisty.
Speaker 1: You think they're gonna better than last year. I think
Speaker 1: they'll be in that you know, somewhere in that six
Speaker 1: to six to eight range, probably maybe six to ten,
Speaker 1: depending on how their health goes. But yeah, I don't
Speaker 1: see championship intention from this team unless they hit on
Speaker 1: a trade during the season. Even though the MAVs made
Speaker 1: the finals last year, do you see them as contenders
Speaker 1: next year? With the players they've picked up in Kyrie
Speaker 1: turning thirty three, I have them as the best of
Speaker 1: the teams in that second tier. So I'm at top
Speaker 1: four teams right, I have Boston, Denver, Oklahoma, city in
Speaker 1: New York. Those are my true top tier championship contenders
Speaker 1: that I think all should feel really good about their chances.
Speaker 1: Then there was a small gap, and then from five
Speaker 1: to eleven, I've got seven teams that I classify as
Speaker 1: if things go right, contenders. Dallas is for me, in
Speaker 1: the top of that tier. That's where I had them
Speaker 1: last year going into the playoffs. If you remember last year,
Speaker 1: going into the playoffs, I had Boston and Denver and
Speaker 1: then a gap, and then I had Dallas at number
Speaker 1: three as the best of the second tier championship contenders
Speaker 1: going even going into the finals, I never saw them
Speaker 1: as a true top tier contender. Those are you. Guys
Speaker 1: who watched my NBA Finals preview will remember me saying
Speaker 1: I didn't just pick Boston. I specifically said I expected
Speaker 1: Boston to kick their ass. I said they'd win multiple
Speaker 1: games in blowout fashion. They ended up winning. I think
Speaker 1: they led by twenty plus and three of their four
Speaker 1: wins they led by like twenty one twenty six, and
Speaker 1: like it was crazy. They kick their ass. So like
Speaker 1: I like Dallas, I think they're a really good team.
Speaker 1: I think they're the best of the second tier contenders.
Speaker 1: But to me, there's a firepower difference between them and
Speaker 1: the teams that are in that top tier. Do you
Speaker 1: think Moses Moody will have a breakout season this year
Speaker 1: or be subjected to his typical limitations imposed by Steve Kerr.
Speaker 1: The thing is Steve Kerr is always like playing guards
Speaker 1: that he trusts to run his system, and so guys
Speaker 1: liked Anthony Melton and Buddy hild are just going to
Speaker 1: get a lot of minutes. And I think that just
Speaker 1: directly interferes with Moses Moody and his opportunities. He'll get
Speaker 1: his opportunities, but inevitably this is going to end in
Speaker 1: a consolidation trade. They have thirteen guys that could realistically
Speaker 1: play in the rotation and that's just not good for anybody.
Speaker 1: It's not good for their goals for the season because
Speaker 1: it's a waste of talent. It's an inefficient way to
Speaker 1: use talent. It's not good for the talent development because
Speaker 1: guys aren't getting the reps that they need. So inevitably
Speaker 1: there will be a consolidation trade. Maybe it includes Moody,
Speaker 1: but if it doesn't, then that'll be where he gets
Speaker 1: his opportunity. Thoughts on a Brandon Ingram from Michael Porter
Speaker 1: junior trade mid season. Denver gets a consistent playmaker who
Speaker 1: doesn't fit perfectly but supports Jamal Murray staying healthy with
Speaker 1: less responsibility. New Orleans gets a confident three point shooter
Speaker 1: for Zion with very questionable consistency, but a great fit.
Speaker 1: This is an interesting idea because the idea would be okay,
Speaker 1: if Jamal Murray struggles, then you would need somebody that
Speaker 1: can help run perimeter action and be a shot maker
Speaker 1: for Denver. Brandon fits that role pretty well right. For
Speaker 1: the Pelicans, so much of their driving kick offense is
Speaker 1: going to be initiated by Zion and Dejantey Murray, So
Speaker 1: having a guy that's more of a catch and shoot
Speaker 1: off ball player maybe it's a more seamless fit. Although
Speaker 1: Brandon Ingram has looked sharp to start the year, so like,
Speaker 1: here's my thing. It's interesting, but it's high risk, So
Speaker 1: I'd want to see how Jamal Murray looks first. If
Speaker 1: Jamal Murray comes out and he looks like Jamal Murray
Speaker 1: after you know, thirty games or so, then don't fuck
Speaker 1: with it. Jamal Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter junr. They
Speaker 1: won a title and got close to winning a title,
Speaker 1: close than people think last year, so don't mess with it.
Speaker 1: But if you get out into the season in thirty
Speaker 1: forty games in Jamal Murray looks like you did last
Speaker 1: year in the playoffs, then it's one of those things
Speaker 1: where you have to start looking at trying to capitalize
Speaker 1: on Nikolea Jokic's title window here, and in that case
Speaker 1: you have to take on a little bit more risk.
Speaker 1: But don't take on risk if you don't have to.
Speaker 1: Let's wait and see how Jamal Murray looks. Why are
Speaker 1: you so strong fisted on Jokic and the Nuggets title odds?
Speaker 1: Why is it always they were up twenty in Game
Speaker 1: seven and not they blew the lead to the better
Speaker 1: performing team. It wouldn't be the first time the best
Speaker 1: in the world wouldn't have a big chance to win
Speaker 1: the chip. We've seen Braun and Steph in thirty four.
Speaker 1: Here's why I'm still bullish on the Nuggets. They won
Speaker 1: the title the year before last, and then last year
Speaker 1: they were a couple of minutes away from making the
Speaker 1: conference finals. You'd be foolish to write those guys off.
Speaker 1: I just don't. I don't know how else to put it.
Speaker 1: Do the Suns have a legit chance to come out
Speaker 1: the West where they have to upgrade over Nurkic. It's
Speaker 1: hard to say. I mean, Ryan Dunn developing, as Sam
Speaker 1: Vssini was saying yesterday, into a legit three and D
Speaker 1: weapon for them would be huge because he's just one
Speaker 1: of the most dynamic athletes that was in that draft class.
Speaker 1: My thing with the Suns is it goes beyond just
Speaker 1: Nurkic as a roster. They're not very physically imposing, and
Speaker 1: just in the playoffs, especially with the way the rules
Speaker 1: have changed, everything is just so physical and it's so
Speaker 1: much about grabbing and holding and winning these rock fights,
Speaker 1: and I don't think Phoenix has set up well to
Speaker 1: win rock fights. That said, everybody in that tier has issues.
Speaker 1: From Dallas, Minnesota, Philly, Lakers, Bucks, Sons, all those teams
Speaker 1: have issues, and so all it takes is a couple
Speaker 1: favorable matchups here and there, a young guy popping like
Speaker 1: Ryan Dunn hitting on a key trade one of the
Speaker 1: top tier teams gets upset something like that could open
Speaker 1: up that door and then they could shoot through that gap.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, last question, then we're done for the day.
Speaker 1: Is there anywhere that screams Zach Levine trade doesn't feel
Speaker 1: it to me? And when they traded for Giddy, do
Speaker 1: you think they knew Lonzo was coming back? Seems very
Speaker 1: redundant to have so many ball dominant guys, incredibly poor
Speaker 1: team building in my opinion. The thing with the Lavigne pieces,
Speaker 1: He's just hard to trade because of how big his
Speaker 1: salary is. Like, on a very basic level, there are
Speaker 1: a lot of teams out there that I think are
Speaker 1: looking at the situation going like, man, if we could
Speaker 1: bring Zack in here, this would actually be really good
Speaker 1: for us. But on the flip side, it's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: but we would have to send out fifty million dollars
Speaker 1: worth of salary as soon as we set out that
Speaker 1: could be three really high level role players. And there
Speaker 1: are just too many examples in NBA history, most recently
Speaker 1: the Russell Westbrook trade, where it's like, Okay, you bring
Speaker 1: in this guy, but it's the Russell Westbrook trade was
Speaker 1: not what killed Russell Westbrook is not what killed the Lakers.
Speaker 1: The Russell Westbrook trade killed the Lakers because they gave
Speaker 1: up KCP Kyle Kuzma and in the ensuing salary crunch
Speaker 1: lost Alex Caruso. So like that's the real issue is
Speaker 1: it's just hard for them to get rid of zach Lavine.
Speaker 1: But the best thing he can do to start this
Speaker 1: season is just you got to feed him and help
Speaker 1: him bump up his numbers and see if he can't
Speaker 1: drive up his value so that you can make a deal.
Speaker 1: As far as Giddy goes to me a Lonzo, Lonzo's
Speaker 1: more of like a connective point guard throwing kickhead passes
Speaker 1: and being a connective passer. He's not a guy that
Speaker 1: I like to run a ton of action, So I
Speaker 1: don't think that that necessarily clashes with Giddy. And you
Speaker 1: got to give good Giddy a good hard look because
Speaker 1: you just traded Alex Crusoe for him instead of for
Speaker 1: draft compensation, and so you damn will better have a
Speaker 1: plan to see if Josh Gitty can do anything. One
Speaker 1: last thing before we get out of here. Actually, I
Speaker 1: wanted to quickly hit I just had a quick thought
Speaker 1: on the I just had a quick thought on the Clippers.
Speaker 1: This Kawhi Leonard things. Khi Leonard is going to miss
Speaker 1: the start of the season. A lot of people are
Speaker 1: talking about the Clippers, And here's the thing. It's really
Speaker 1: easy to make those types of opinions known in retrospect. So,
Speaker 1: for instance, yeah, the Clippers basically set Oklahoma City up
Speaker 1: for success. All this draft compensation, Shay Gils, Alexander fourth
Speaker 1: best player in the league, you know, obviously getting off
Speaker 1: of Paul George. All of this just just spoon fed
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City a contender. Right, But let's we can't operate
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four with what we know now and
Speaker 1: pretend like we would have made a different decision back then.
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty, remember where you were when the Kawhi
Speaker 1: news came down. I remember I was in Mexico with
Speaker 1: some friends. I remember getting the it was late at night,
Speaker 1: getting the tweets coming through from Wojanowski, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, they got Paul George and Kawhi Leonard
Speaker 1: on this team that already has all of these good
Speaker 1: role players. Overnight, they became the championship favorite. At various
Speaker 1: points over the last four years. They looked like the
Speaker 1: best team in the league in twenty twenty at various
Speaker 1: points in the regular season. In twenty twenty one, before
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard got hurt in that playoff run. Right last year,
Speaker 1: in the middle of the regular season, they were playing
Speaker 1: better basketball than Boston. Over the middle third of the season,
Speaker 1: they looked like the best team in the league. So, like,
Speaker 1: as I talked about earlier, you've got to take risks
Speaker 1: to win the championship. And there was a big risk
Speaker 1: there taken by the Clippers. It was the right risk.
Speaker 1: They had legitimate chances to win. It didn't work out,
Speaker 1: and like, yeah, on the tail, every time you give
Speaker 1: up young players, it's like it's like with the Pelicans
Speaker 1: and the Lakers. Yeah, like they happen to win a title,
Speaker 1: So it it all gets talked about differently if the
Speaker 1: Lakers did not win the championship in twenty twenty, can
Speaker 1: you imagine how different that deal would be talked about
Speaker 1: with everything the Pelicans got out of it. Like, if
Speaker 1: you have to give up young talented players in draft compensation,
Speaker 1: there's a good chance that those guys are going to
Speaker 1: turn into good basketball players and it's going to affect
Speaker 1: the outlook of your of the of that deal. But
Speaker 1: you've got to be aggressive to give yourself a chance
Speaker 1: to win the championship. It's really unfortunate what happened to
Speaker 1: KWHI Leonard. It's really unfortunate what happened to the Clippers,
Speaker 1: But every one of us would have done the exact
Speaker 1: same thing. Put yourself in those shoes summer of twenty nineteen. Hey,
Speaker 1: all you got to do is give up Shame's good
Speaker 1: young player has potential to be really great but not yet.
Speaker 1: And a bunch of draft compensation you get Paul George
Speaker 1: Kwi Leonard and really good role players, your overnight championship
Speaker 1: favorite yes or no every day and one of us
Speaker 1: is saying yes every day, and one of us stop
Speaker 1: pretending you wouldn't so like that. That's where it gets
Speaker 1: silly in retrospect to talk about it that way. All right, guys,
Speaker 1: that's all I have for today is always a sincerely
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys for supporting the show. I hope you
Speaker 1: all have a great weekend, and we'll be back next week.
Speaker 1: On Monday, I'll do like a probably some kind of
Speaker 1: like predictions pod or something along those lines, and then
Speaker 1: we'll get into it with the instant reaction on Tuesday
Speaker 1: night after the first light of games is always I
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys, and I will see you then. The
Speaker 1: volume