Speaker 1: Oh, it's the most wonderful time of the year where
Speaker 1: the playoffs are swelling and yet well tried. I was
Speaker 1: talking about the bands are yelling, you know time.
Speaker 2: Anyway, playoffs full swizzing and thunder Celtics, Yeah they are.
Speaker 2: They look like what we thought they looked like pretty
Speaker 2: they were. Yeah, and then love the Lakers Rockets makes
Speaker 2: me k be in a little bit of trouble depending
Speaker 2: on how their next games play out. We are going
Speaker 2: to be discussing all of this, checking the Clips, Lakers
Speaker 2: more with NBA analysts and Sports Better Jamison Welsh on
Speaker 2: the day's episode.
Speaker 1: I'm Miles Gray.
Speaker 3: And I'm Jack O'Brien, and this is Miles and Jack
Speaker 3: Boost Rocks.
Speaker 2: Let me take you be driving Spinny Better number eighteen.
Speaker 2: That's been secure the Celtics or NBA Champions.
Speaker 3: Team n be honest, look show time what you got?
Speaker 2: Yes, James a Welsh Sports Better analyst co host of
Speaker 2: the Mixed Company podcast. Welcome back to Miles and Jack
Speaker 2: got mad Boost. He's bringing your knowledge of the game
Speaker 2: to us.
Speaker 3: By the way, Roth is how you pronounced Ray Fines
Speaker 3: his first name. A lot of people don't know that,
Speaker 3: all right, Sorry, proceed. James, thank you. I just had
Speaker 3: to get that and that was important.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, sure, I think so. I think so, James.
Speaker 2: How you been man, I'm doing well.
Speaker 4: Fellows. Thanks for having me as always, definitely appreciated of course, of.
Speaker 3: Course, great to have you. Is this also the most
Speaker 3: wonderful time of the year for the sports, the gaming contingent,
Speaker 3: the gaming industry?
Speaker 5: It actually is because you can bet on playoff games
Speaker 5: and both NBA and NHL. You've also been on regular
Speaker 5: season baseball games as well, so it's very it's very
Speaker 5: fascinating time.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, game you can kind.
Speaker 5: Of tell what's going to happen, so it's not it's
Speaker 5: not bad. It's not bad at all.
Speaker 3: Is hockey a good sport to bet on? I'm not
Speaker 3: really not familiar with hockey. Oh interesting, All right, that's
Speaker 3: not what this podcast is about. But uh, it could
Speaker 3: be the NHL just let us know.
Speaker 2: But yes, I mean going around obviously there's I don't
Speaker 2: know if we'll get to every series, but the ones
Speaker 2: that stick out I think they're definitely worth talking about.
Speaker 1: We'll definitely get to those.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we should mention we're recording this on Tuesday afternoon,
Speaker 3: so it's right before Game two of the Lakers series,
Speaker 3: right before Game two of who else we got this
Speaker 3: this evening? I mean, does it doesn't matter, it's really
Speaker 3: the lazy and.
Speaker 1: Yes, those are the games.
Speaker 3: Those two seem like they're on rail.
Speaker 1: Yeah, those ones.
Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, we were like, do we talk about them?
Speaker 2: They just feel like your conclude chasers.
Speaker 3: I mean that was a that was a bad luck
Speaker 3: for the Bucks, but will probably not spend a whole
Speaker 3: lot of time on that unless Javison you want to,
Speaker 3: But I personally we're good one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I figured I.
Speaker 3: Personally want to talk about Nuggets Clippers.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I came the Clippers might have the best shot at
Speaker 3: uh coming out of the West other than Okay see,
Speaker 3: and they managed to really blow it in Game one,
Speaker 3: despite seeming like they should have won that one. But
Speaker 3: then they put it back together in game two and
Speaker 3: Kawhi you know, uh, it's an incredible series, just back
Speaker 3: and forth bombs and Kawhi playing out of his mind.
Speaker 3: There's this game that I always mentioned. It was Game
Speaker 3: one of the playoffs in twenty twenty three, where Kawhi
Speaker 3: still seemed like he was the best player in the league.
Speaker 3: For a game and then he got hurt and everyone's like, yeah,
Speaker 3: well that's he got hurt. He and you know that's
Speaker 3: what he does. But it like he's still at one
Speaker 3: hund he still seems to be right there at the
Speaker 3: top of the league, and I don't know he Like
Speaker 3: last night that seemed to be the case again, would
Speaker 3: you guys see.
Speaker 2: I saw just absolute like vintage Kawhi, Leonard James Harden
Speaker 2: scoring at will, responding when they needed to, and like,
Speaker 2: I know you asked before we recorded, like Jabari and
Speaker 2: like what are you as Laker fans, how do you
Speaker 2: feel about are you in denial about what you're saying? Like,
Speaker 2: I I know this is they look really really good
Speaker 2: and to be honest, it really fun to watch too.
Speaker 2: So I'm I'm low key I'm glad to see Kawhi
Speaker 2: playing at the level he is because that's you know.
Speaker 1: That's that's what we deserve as fans and that's what
Speaker 1: he deserves as a player. But yeah, Jamison, how about.
Speaker 5: You, No, It's great to see legends play like legends.
Speaker 5: Like I think that's the biggest thing we take away
Speaker 5: from it is that, Okay, we got a guy that
Speaker 5: is regarded very highly top seventy five player, you know,
Speaker 5: win healthy, he's just as good as anybody. So it's
Speaker 5: good to see that guy being able to stay healthy
Speaker 5: for a long period of time and able to showcase
Speaker 5: he was able to do. The biggest takeaway in my
Speaker 5: opinion in this whole situation was Denver really didn't make
Speaker 5: any adjustments, Like they didn't go to start trapping him
Speaker 5: every time he got the ball.
Speaker 4: There was nothing.
Speaker 5: He let him let whoever guard him get cooked, whether
Speaker 5: it was Murray or Gordon or whomever. It wasn't like, hey,
Speaker 5: let's get the ball of his hands, let Norman pal
Speaker 5: beat us even though he had a big three, or
Speaker 5: let someone else beat us. It was not it was
Speaker 5: let Kawhi just do what he does. And Matt didn't
Speaker 5: work out. But the key is going to be can
Speaker 5: he stay healthy as these games go on, especially the
Speaker 5: series goes there's not necessarily a two day break in
Speaker 5: between games, Like that's going to be interesting to see
Speaker 5: how his body holds up as things go on.
Speaker 4: But man, if his body holds up, he's just as
Speaker 4: good as anybody.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they were trying to get the ball out of
Speaker 3: his hands, and that was the one thing that like
Speaker 3: in comparing it with his run with Toronto, like he's
Speaker 3: still seems like he's able to evade a double team,
Speaker 3: but it's not quite as seamless. There was sometimes like
Speaker 3: coming down the coming down the stretch where he was
Speaker 3: like kind of having to like dribble around in circles
Speaker 3: a little bit to like just get to his spot.
Speaker 3: But he got there. You know, once he gets to
Speaker 3: a spot, he's it's going in and he eventually got there.
Speaker 3: But it's just like maybe there's five percent less athleticism
Speaker 3: then at his height.
Speaker 2: Jamison, what do you think about the Nuggets, how they've
Speaker 2: looked and just sort of the chaos before the postseason
Speaker 2: and just kind of how they looked the last two games.
Speaker 5: They look like a team that just fired as coach
Speaker 5: within the last pay period. You know, it's one of
Speaker 5: those situations where if you look at how they play,
Speaker 5: they have wild swings where there's some stretches where it
Speaker 5: look really good and there's some stretch away that look
Speaker 5: very disorganized. And it's unfortunate that's the case because you
Speaker 5: have Jokic having one of the best all time seasons
Speaker 5: ever and it's probably not going to result in anything significant,
Speaker 5: Like they're not gonna win a championship with this roster.
Speaker 4: They probably don't get out of this round.
Speaker 5: So you look back at us like, wow, like he's
Speaker 5: had such a great season, but the surrounding stuff is just.
Speaker 4: Not really good.
Speaker 5: Like as good as Jamal Murray is at times, it's
Speaker 5: not at all star level.
Speaker 4: Michael Porter Junior is Michael Porter Jr.
Speaker 5: The fact that someone made a poster or comment after
Speaker 5: game one talking about him being locked in, that ain't
Speaker 5: good to hear in April, Like if you're not locked
Speaker 5: in the playoffs and you're not all for the team and.
Speaker 3: Michael Porter and Jr. Yeah after game one, didn't they
Speaker 3: have to keep him off the court and at the
Speaker 3: end of game.
Speaker 4: Yeah, man, those aren't good things.
Speaker 5: And yeah, as your starter, this is your guy, you
Speaker 5: paid thirty something million two.
Speaker 4: Yeah, like these things aren't good.
Speaker 3: So we're hearing Michael Porter Junior is locked in. It's like,
Speaker 3: oh yeah, anonymous for anonymous sources are are telling us
Speaker 3: that Michael Porter Junior is locked in.
Speaker 2: It's that George Bush me where he's whispering in his
Speaker 2: ear here, Michael Porter locked in.
Speaker 5: A lot of weirdness going on over there and it
Speaker 5: showed like Game one was so chaotic that I mean,
Speaker 5: Russell Westbrook the possession at the end of Game one
Speaker 5: a regulation was like the Democrat experience. It was in
Speaker 5: a big shot, make a big play and then dribble
Speaker 5: the ball out like you know what I mean. It
Speaker 5: was like it was all that in one. So yeah,
Speaker 5: that's kind of how it felt.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, that that was an amazing moment where thirteen
Speaker 3: seconds left where the Nuggets up I feel like they
Speaker 3: were up by one maybe, and he like they were
Speaker 3: trying to kill the clock and he just like drubbed
Speaker 3: the basket and like missed a layup and then like
Speaker 3: got it back or something. It was truly just a
Speaker 3: I forget who said it, but he said, Russell Westbrook
Speaker 3: is like the mystery box from Mario Kart, Like he's
Speaker 3: just like, you don't know what you're gonna get in
Speaker 3: the red shell.
Speaker 1: It could be a banana peel.
Speaker 3: You don't know, you don't know, flip your flip your
Speaker 3: card over.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's there's one stat I was just reading about again,
Speaker 2: Kawhi Leonard and his impact on the Nuggets and maybe
Speaker 2: the lack of impact the Nuggets are having on him.
Speaker 2: This is from at Carsobi on Twitter at According to
Speaker 2: NBA dot Com matchup data, the Nuggets have a combined
Speaker 2: four for from twenty one when guarded by Kawhi Leonard. Meanwhile,
Speaker 2: Kawhi has shot twenty four of thirty four. He is
Speaker 2: a perfect ten for ten when guarded by Jamal Murray.
Speaker 2: Just that, yeah, not having much of an impact. You
Speaker 2: what do you guys think of flopping? Because I watched
Speaker 2: a two and a half minute mixtape of all of
Speaker 2: his flops from the first two games, and I was like,
Speaker 2: is this just frustration because other players are getting the
Speaker 2: calls because that's really not usually a.
Speaker 1: Part of the game, of his game that I'm used
Speaker 1: to seeing.
Speaker 2: Is it just like that it's taking a toll of
Speaker 2: him having to take so many bumps and not really
Speaker 2: moving around and getting the attention of the refs or
Speaker 2: you know, how is am I reading into this too much?
Speaker 4: Am I?
Speaker 1: Are you just as surprised? Not surprised.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's looking like a soccer player out there for sure.
Speaker 3: He's looking FIFA.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yeah, Jamison, what do you think about? What
Speaker 2: any any thoughts on in his sudden loss of rigidity?
Speaker 4: No, he's always This has always been the case. He's
Speaker 4: always flopped.
Speaker 5: It just doesn't get mentioned because, you know, we kind
Speaker 5: of don't talk about We talked about everything else he
Speaker 5: does great, so we don't necessarily about the flopping.
Speaker 4: But that's always been the case. I think the difference
Speaker 4: this year.
Speaker 5: Though, is he's turning the ball over a little bit
Speaker 5: more now than in the past. I think fast the
Speaker 5: biggest takeaway in general. So when you're losing and things
Speaker 5: aren't going to court in a plan, we're going to
Speaker 5: start bringing up turnovers, flopping, et cetera, et cetera. I
Speaker 5: think fasci that as a whole, they're losing. Like last year,
Speaker 5: they are the number one seed, you know, so it's
Speaker 5: a little bit different this year, you know, not as great.
Speaker 4: A lot of.
Speaker 5: Stuff going on, a lot of ups and downs, and
Speaker 5: when master case they look at the leader and they're
Speaker 5: gonna start nitpicking, and that's, you know, one of the
Speaker 5: few things that you can nitpick about.
Speaker 2: Sure, just add the added scrutiny makes it a little
Speaker 2: bit more pronounced.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the foul hunting has been getting a lot of attention.
Speaker 3: But whether it be Jalen Brunson or you know, shit. Yeah, people,
Speaker 3: people are people are calling it out, people are you know,
Speaker 3: tuning in for the playoffs.
Speaker 1: And they're like, uh, oh you floppy.
Speaker 3: It's good at it. I mean they're all all, all
Speaker 3: three of them are really good at it, which is
Speaker 3: what makes it frustrating, and it's probably why they do it.
Speaker 2: And a couple that were like, I've never seen you
Speaker 2: get so awfully round before in my life, but that's fine.
Speaker 3: It was like fine, a kid getting really into like
Speaker 3: playing war, He's.
Speaker 2: Like yeah, or sounds like a kid saw high jumping
Speaker 2: for the first time.
Speaker 1: He's like, yeah, yeah, something like that.
Speaker 3: I think I could do that. The uh did you
Speaker 3: mentioned the what what Kawhi is shooting?
Speaker 2: And when when Jamal Murray is guarding him, he's perfect
Speaker 2: ye out.
Speaker 3: Of ten of ten, Like is it is? He just
Speaker 3: gonna start being like, hey, Jamal Murray, could you actually
Speaker 3: come over here for a second real quick. I gotta
Speaker 3: I gotta get a couple of shots off.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Every time they're like, oh, he's calling Jamal Murray out
Speaker 2: again in this he's like you you you right now.
Speaker 3: He's my safety blanket. Yeah, ten of ten wouldn't being
Speaker 3: guarded by Jamal Murray and I saw all of those.
Speaker 3: They were just good. They like he shoots over people
Speaker 3: like they're not even there in a way that seems insulting.
Speaker 3: It seems like it would hurt my feelings personally.
Speaker 1: You're like, I'm kind of I wasn't kind of on
Speaker 1: you there. No, No, you weren't even close.
Speaker 3: Man, feel like I almost got that one though.
Speaker 1: Yeah, sure you did, man, sure you did.
Speaker 3: Just holding my knees, breathing real heavy.
Speaker 1: You're like, that's great, man.
Speaker 2: I didn't know make a Wish was doing stuff for
Speaker 2: guys in their forties, but I had to play with
Speaker 2: play against you, man.
Speaker 1: Anyway.
Speaker 2: Uh, Nicks and Pistons, this one could this one could
Speaker 2: get to this is this is They're split both games now.
Speaker 2: Game three is on Thursday. The Knicks took Game one
Speaker 2: after a They went on a twenty one point unanswered
Speaker 2: run in.
Speaker 1: The fourth quarter that just sealed the game.
Speaker 2: But then game game two, Pistons looked very good. Kate
Speaker 2: Cunningham looks really really good. I just after watching that.
Speaker 2: I mean, aside from obviously that twenty one point run
Speaker 2: on in the fourth quarter, the Pistons still looked really good.
Speaker 2: Uh and I'm I don't know, I'm as much as
Speaker 2: I have really, you know, as.
Speaker 1: A neutral, I always like the Knicks, but.
Speaker 2: This time I'm kind of feeling the Pistons. I think
Speaker 2: maybe there's some nostalgia there for me coming back.
Speaker 1: That I'm like, yeah, go go on, now, go on now. Yeah.
Speaker 3: My main takeaway was just the way that Knicks fans
Speaker 3: were freaking out during Game one, and like, I just
Speaker 3: I feel I believe in the fans stress test as
Speaker 3: an indicator. Like I always knew when the Sixers were
Speaker 3: going to lose the series before everybody else, you know,
Speaker 3: even if they want.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like my.
Speaker 3: My skepticism was very well earned. So I just feel
Speaker 3: like nobody knows their team is in a bad place
Speaker 3: better than a fan who has watched them game in
Speaker 3: and game out. And like there was there were some
Speaker 3: reactions to like Pistons runs in game one on social
Speaker 3: media where it was like, yoh what everything, Okay, They're
Speaker 3: gonna be fine, right, fine? Yeah, And then it just
Speaker 3: feels like they might have seen something in game one
Speaker 3: that spooked them a little bit, and we'll see. I
Speaker 3: still think they're gonna win the series, but it's uh, yeah,
Speaker 3: it's definitely an interesting series. It's definitely ah.
Speaker 2: This little jamis what do you think? Where where's this?
Speaker 2: Where's this series going?
Speaker 5: Well, the Pistons have thoroughly outplayed the Knicks in the
Speaker 5: eight quarters, like they've team out in first two games.
Speaker 5: They've made a couple of matchup with you know, matchup
Speaker 5: adjustments they put Instead of putting Duran on Cat, they
Speaker 5: went with Tobias Tobias hairs on in last game, which
Speaker 5: was smart because now you allowed during to stay closer
Speaker 5: to the basket and get the rebounds.
Speaker 4: So that made a lot of sense.
Speaker 5: But the Knicks, they aren't really stagging on offense and
Speaker 5: they don't make any adjustments on defense. So to be honest,
Speaker 5: like I kind of like the Pistons here if Timms
Speaker 5: is going to make any adjustments, and this is what
Speaker 5: we have going from the first two games, I think
Speaker 5: the Pistons have to be favored to win this series.
Speaker 3: Who is favored in Vegas? That I guess that's a
Speaker 3: good question as our like kind of gambling expert. Are
Speaker 3: there any series that have flipped since the beginning of
Speaker 3: the series.
Speaker 5: Yeah, So whatever a home team loses in the first
Speaker 5: two games, the series odds are gonna flip. So for instance,
Speaker 5: right now Nix and Pistons and Knicks are still favored
Speaker 5: to win the series. The minus too fifteen mean you
Speaker 5: got put two hundred and fifteen dollars favorite.
Speaker 3: Pretty heavy.
Speaker 4: Yea even went out home court. That's really heavy.
Speaker 5: For instance, the Lakers series opened up at Lakers minus
Speaker 5: two hundred. Now it's Lakers plus one ten to win
Speaker 5: the series.
Speaker 3: So that series is basically a toss up.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so that series flipped quite a bit after game one.
Speaker 4: So just depending on how it.
Speaker 5: Goes, each game goes, you know, there's always adjustments, but yeah, no,
Speaker 5: there is, Uh, there's definitely odds being switched after every
Speaker 5: game for sure.
Speaker 3: So that went from like Lakers having say a seventy
Speaker 3: percent chance of winning the series is what Vegas thought
Speaker 3: at the outset to like about fifty to fifty at
Speaker 3: this point basically yeah, yeah, yeah, they're like forty eight
Speaker 3: fifty two. I mean that's speaking of yes, speaking of
Speaker 3: their teams better than anyone. Let's let's take a quick
Speaker 3: break and we'll come back. We'll talk about the Lakers
Speaker 3: and the rest of the series and anything that's jumping
Speaker 3: out to any of us. We'll be running back.
Speaker 4: And we're back.
Speaker 1: We're back.
Speaker 3: We're back, baby.
Speaker 1: Who So are the Wolves with an axta grind? What's
Speaker 1: going on here?
Speaker 5: I mean?
Speaker 1: So yeah, that got game one Lakers Wolves.
Speaker 2: Wolves just absolutely folded us up, just did whatever they want.
Speaker 2: We let them shoot. We just were like, yet to
Speaker 2: shoot whatever, three, Just go ahead, take an open three.
Speaker 1: Every time.
Speaker 2: They were twenty one of forty two from deep and
Speaker 2: pretty much dominated in every other meaningful metric in the game.
Speaker 2: To me, it just felt like we showed up and
Speaker 2: just absolutely did not respect the Timberwolves or the playoffs
Speaker 2: or anything.
Speaker 1: We just looked so not prepared. It was not It
Speaker 1: did not feel good. We look sloppy.
Speaker 2: For Luca being, you know, scoring like he was just
Speaker 2: not having Austin Reeves and Lebron also simultaneously show up.
Speaker 1: Hurt a lot.
Speaker 2: But you know, JJ Reddick said before this game too,
Speaker 2: is like, maybe we should have practiced before that game.
Speaker 3: Wait for real, he said that maybe we should have practiced.
Speaker 2: Turns out maybe that would have been said. And this
Speaker 2: is from Dave mcminnaman, and he said, JJ Redick said,
Speaker 2: in retrospect, he and his coaching staff wonder if they
Speaker 2: should have scrimmaged. He said, scrimmaged more with the week
Speaker 2: off going into Game one, and then said.
Speaker 3: We should have I don't know, played some more basketball.
Speaker 3: But all right, So here's what I So. Both Lebron
Speaker 3: and Luca have been known to have bad game ones.
Speaker 3: I can remember specifically, like a Luca game one I
Speaker 3: think against the Clippers a few years back, where it
Speaker 3: looked like people were like, oh man, the Clippers are
Speaker 3: watch out for them, and then you know, Luca did
Speaker 3: what he did. Like there was I think it was
Speaker 3: Lakers Warriors the year that two years ago when the
Speaker 3: Lakers went to the Western Conference Finals, and I remember
Speaker 3: after Game one, listening to Zach Lowe on a podcast
Speaker 3: be like, I don't see any possible way the Lakers
Speaker 3: win this, Like this one's a rap man, like they
Speaker 3: can't figure this out, and you know, Lebron figures things
Speaker 3: out better than anybody in the history of the league.
Speaker 3: I feel like he's just you know, he's got it.
Speaker 3: He's got an incredible basketball computer that always is going
Speaker 3: to find an angle that said he is forty years old,
Speaker 3: and there did seem to like they looked real bad
Speaker 3: in that game like, usually when they lose game ones,
Speaker 3: they're not getting crushed like that. And physically they looked
Speaker 3: completely outmatched. But I don't know, what would you see jameson.
Speaker 5: It felt like a team that got comfortable after they
Speaker 5: were up in the first quarter. Yeah, they're up twenty
Speaker 5: eight and when at the end of the first quarter
Speaker 5: and it felt like they were in control of the
Speaker 5: game and they felt very comfortable, and it felt like
Speaker 5: they let the foot off the gas and then next
Speaker 5: thing you know, the two Wolves were up ten and
Speaker 5: it was like, whoa what happened? And once they started
Speaker 5: hitting threes and they got in rhythm, it was over
Speaker 5: like And also got to remember Minnesota has been in
Speaker 5: the playoffs before as a unit, Like, even though their
Speaker 5: roster is a little bit different last year, everybody that's
Speaker 5: playing has postseason experience. They're not afraid of the moment.
Speaker 5: They're not afraid of being in LA and playing or
Speaker 5: anything like that.
Speaker 3: They have beat the breaks off of an old team that,
Speaker 3: you know, like a team that everybody was like, yeah,
Speaker 3: so the Sun's we we can like this is going
Speaker 3: to be the end of the Minnesota's run. Oh yeah,
Speaker 3: you should just be happy to be there and then
Speaker 3: they just beat them. You know, did they sweep.
Speaker 5: Them last year?
Speaker 3: They sure did, They sure did, so, I mean they
Speaker 3: in here, yeah, yeah, And I don't think.
Speaker 5: As we get swept. I think there's so much pride
Speaker 5: and talent on there and to get swept. However, they
Speaker 5: do have to mix up the defensive coverages they do
Speaker 5: have tox is, the lineups a little bit. They need
Speaker 5: to get a little bit more athletic on the court
Speaker 5: because the way Minnesota plays, they spread the court very well,
Speaker 5: so you're gonna need some athletes to contest shots. And
Speaker 5: you know, with the switching and the way they attack
Speaker 5: Luca and Reeves, you're gonna need some guys to double
Speaker 5: and recover a lot and to get rebounds too. So
Speaker 5: it's gonna be very fascinating what JJ has got up tonight.
Speaker 4: But it is at must win. And you guys mentioned.
Speaker 5: That Lebron and Luca have had bad games the ones
Speaker 5: before and they usually regroup, so they should be okay tonight.
Speaker 4: But man, you can't allow twenty one threes. That that
Speaker 4: won't work.
Speaker 2: No, no, no, I mean that's that's the other part,
Speaker 2: just especially with so little of them being contested and
Speaker 2: just letting Naz read just also come on, well, he
Speaker 2: is going to punish.
Speaker 1: Us if we just get them. Let them just have
Speaker 1: these open looks.
Speaker 3: So, did you guys know who made the most threes
Speaker 3: in the NBA this year? It's been it's been staffed
Speaker 3: by a lot for I think, like the past, I
Speaker 3: don't know ten seasons, but this year wasn't Steph. It
Speaker 3: was Edward and yeah, like that's unbelievable, Like he just yeah,
Speaker 3: he took the most made threes crown for Like, no,
Speaker 3: I don't think Peter like he was shooting well last year.
Speaker 3: I still wouldn't have like thought that was possible. So
Speaker 3: he's he's a great shooter. They shoot a ton of
Speaker 3: threes and they're they're really good at it.
Speaker 2: I was maybe the fourth quarter when he just threw
Speaker 2: one up in Luca's face and afterwards just gave.
Speaker 3: Him give him the spider mank.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was like, oh, please come on, Like it
Speaker 2: was so hard. I'm like, and Luca even like you
Speaker 2: can see Lucas face, he was like come on.
Speaker 3: Man like taking man like that said, I do like
Speaker 3: Luca likes to get that motivation going, and I like
Speaker 3: when he's being motivated by disrespect from another player on
Speaker 3: the opposing team as opposed to the refs or you know, fans.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, people are saying like they're he has like ongoing
Speaker 3: beef with like fans in different arenas around the lead,
Speaker 3: like just they're like, oh, yeah, that guy Luke always
Speaker 3: get into it and it's like a fan in the
Speaker 3: fifth row. So yeah, he's he's got that right kind
Speaker 3: of mental illness.
Speaker 2: Sources happened to it, Yeah, exactly, yeah, exactly. And I
Speaker 2: think also too for the Wolves, I'm sure that they
Speaker 2: also look at this too and being like, oh, we're
Speaker 2: playing a Luka Doncics team again in the playoffs and
Speaker 2: rather like and there's a lot of you know, that's
Speaker 2: where the real I think motivation is also coming to that.
Speaker 2: I think the lakersers are not prepared for and need
Speaker 2: to sort that out quick.
Speaker 3: Super producer Jabari pointed out the ant went from taking
Speaker 3: six point seven threes per night to ten point three
Speaker 3: threes per night this year and went from shooting thirty
Speaker 3: five point seven percent last year to thirty nine point
Speaker 3: five percent this year. Like that's the wild thing about
Speaker 3: him is like he is one of those guys who
Speaker 3: seems to be improving exponentially, just like adding things to
Speaker 3: his game because he's just such an incredible athlete and
Speaker 3: just works so hard at it.
Speaker 1: Then goes up.
Speaker 3: Who knows. Yeah, line does seem to be go up
Speaker 3: to any other big moves. I'm assuming the Pacers Bucks series,
Speaker 3: like the Pacers' odds went way up after game one, right.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that Yeah, the Pacers line definitely went up. The
Speaker 5: thing with them, that's interesting and it may be off
Speaker 5: the board now since I think the game just start
Speaker 5: or is about the start. But the thing with him is,
Speaker 5: I always thought they would they wouldn't have any problems
Speaker 5: in this series, just based off of they're better like
Speaker 5: than the Bucks at this time, Like.
Speaker 3: You think that's an advantage then being.
Speaker 4: Better you usually win in the bus. You know, they're
Speaker 4: without one of their star players and the rest of
Speaker 4: the roster ain't great, and it feels like Giannis has
Speaker 4: a step out of Milwaukee just gives that kind of
Speaker 4: you already starting to see articles about other cities and
Speaker 4: other places and whatnot.
Speaker 5: So yeah, it gives you a you know, hey, man,
Speaker 5: I wouldn't wish this.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't wish this job on my worst enemy. I'll
Speaker 3: tell you what Doc Rivers is doing. The Lord's work
Speaker 3: out there just happened to gut it out with one
Speaker 3: of the best players in the league on his rosters. Yeah,
Speaker 3: he's a hero. He's a hero that we can all,
Speaker 3: you know, stand back and it's like Rocky one. You know,
Speaker 3: we're watching somebody take a lot of punches and uh,
Speaker 3: you know, we're just admiring him for being able to
Speaker 3: stick with it without retiring to a golf course somewhere.
Speaker 2: Dame is returning though, tonight, so we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 3: Are up ten to five. But yeah, I don't think
Speaker 3: Dame is enough. Like I mean, I could see Dame
Speaker 3: having a game where he's just you know, pulling up
Speaker 3: from the logo multiple times and plays really well, but
Speaker 3: I don't know if that's enough for the them to
Speaker 3: beat the Pacers more than twice.
Speaker 2: What about what it's Celtic's magic here that feels.
Speaker 3: Quarter there where I was, I was getting excited, But yeah,
Speaker 3: it's not gonna happen. But the magic still fun to
Speaker 3: watch play defense, But I don't enjoy watching anybody play
Speaker 3: defense as much as I like watching that team play.
Speaker 2: Du Calves heat also did. Yeah, I'm just like, well,
Speaker 2: good luck, good luck.
Speaker 3: We're good. Yeah. And really, honestly, as somebody who's you know, uh,
Speaker 3: Celtics versus the field, and I'm rooting for the field.
Speaker 3: All I care about is it's not the Celtics, Like
Speaker 3: I want everybody, I want the best team to win
Speaker 3: in every series, you know, and I think the Calves
Speaker 3: are that team. I think the Pacers are that team.
Speaker 3: And I think, uh, the Nicks are probably that team personally.
Speaker 3: But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's the Pistons, I got,
Speaker 3: I got to I'm kind of on the fence on
Speaker 3: that one.
Speaker 5: Well, so they are the better team because they have
Speaker 5: better players. However, if you don't play correctly and your
Speaker 5: team has flaws, I don't know. That's the thing. Like
Speaker 5: the Knicks talent wise, of course, and they're gonna the
Speaker 5: Knicks are gonna win a game in Detroit. Like the
Speaker 5: Pistons aren't winning two games in Detroit. They're just too young.
Speaker 5: I don't see that happening. I think the Knicks wake
Speaker 5: up in one of those games. But from top to bottom,
Speaker 5: like the Knicks roster, as highly priced as it is,
Speaker 5: they are a better overall team but man, they just
Speaker 5: forever reason I don't think they play the best brand
Speaker 5: of basketball they can every given night. It feels like
Speaker 5: they can never have a great bruns In and Cat game.
Speaker 5: It feels like one of those two guys goes off,
Speaker 5: but not both at the same time.
Speaker 3: Right, And is that do you think that's a rule
Speaker 3: that they've said internally? Like that, guys, it just wouldn't
Speaker 3: be fair.
Speaker 1: Come on, brou only one of you a knight, that's it.
Speaker 5: You know what though, Like when they put this roster together,
Speaker 5: you thought like, okay, they got the guard and the
Speaker 5: big guy, so it should counter you know, it should
Speaker 5: be able to company each other. It just doesn't because
Speaker 5: in the way Brunson plays, Kat doesn't necessarily fit out
Speaker 5: brunts and plays like Bronson's ISO guy, and Kat is
Speaker 5: a pick and pop guy with a little bit ISO
Speaker 5: as well, So they really don't company each other that
Speaker 5: well what they both do. So it's very interesting to
Speaker 5: see how this is going to go. But also Cat
Speaker 5: has to play better. Kat cannot let Tobias hairs check him.
Speaker 5: That's just unacceptable. And I expect to have a better
Speaker 5: game in game three.
Speaker 3: He was good in game one, so that's what. That's
Speaker 3: his promise to you. He's gonna be good every other game.
Speaker 4: All right, that works, that's face.
Speaker 3: Yeah, producers J Barry pointing out Brunson is one of
Speaker 3: the leaders in unassisted two's the nick a big iso
Speaker 3: ball team.
Speaker 4: Yeah, got good?
Speaker 1: All right?
Speaker 3: Rockets Warriors. Who's so, I'm assuming the Warriors were favored
Speaker 3: and remain favored in that series? Is that? Is that accurate?
Speaker 5: So? Yes, the Warriors were favored going into it, and
Speaker 5: they still are favored.
Speaker 4: The veteranness of the Warriors showed someday.
Speaker 5: It really stuck out because the Ws aren't that great
Speaker 5: of a team this year, Like this is not one
Speaker 5: of the better Warrior teams. This might be the worst
Speaker 5: playoff team that they've had since the run started. I
Speaker 5: just don't think they're that good. However, Houston's so young
Speaker 5: that they made a lot of mistakes early in the
Speaker 5: first half that they really couldn't overcome. Even though they
Speaker 5: got back in the game and they were within the
Speaker 5: possession in the fourth quarter, they just there's so much,
Speaker 5: so many mistakes, so many empty possessions in the second
Speaker 5: quarter and then some of the first quarter that it
Speaker 5: really set them back and eventually Steph is going to
Speaker 5: make you pay, and that's what happened time and time
Speaker 5: again later in that game. But that being said, I
Speaker 5: think a lot of it was first game jitters. I
Speaker 5: don't think Jalen Green plays that bad again. I don't
Speaker 5: think Van Vliet shoots that poorly again. So I think
Speaker 5: the Rockets will win Game two. But overall in that
Speaker 5: series of I'm Golden State, I'm pretty confident.
Speaker 3: I Yeah, there's something like heading into the series, I
Speaker 3: like really wanted to take the Rockets and then it's
Speaker 3: just like yeah, but you still have to make like this,
Speaker 3: the the sport is still you still have to like
Speaker 3: make more points. I think in this one too.
Speaker 2: You're well, I think it's that your number of points
Speaker 2: has to be a big higher.
Speaker 3: Than the other teams run after.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and so the Rockets don't have that many people
Speaker 3: who can do that, and that is my main Like
Speaker 3: when I was going back, I was like talking in
Speaker 3: previous episode about how like that there are always these
Speaker 3: young teams who are like good all year and people
Speaker 3: are like yeah, and that's about to end in round one,
Speaker 3: like Minnesota last year, where people were like yeah, but
Speaker 3: they've had a nice run, but they don't have enough
Speaker 3: experience and then they surprise people. But all those teams had,
Speaker 3: like Memphis a couple like a few years back, all
Speaker 3: those teams had people who could score, who could just
Speaker 3: like create their own shots and get buckets when needed.
Speaker 3: And that just feels like the missing ingredient for for
Speaker 3: the Rockets.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just.
Speaker 2: Steph just he should have just brought for everyone. Yeah,
Speaker 2: because it was just there was a few moments where
Speaker 2: I think it was late later in the game, he
Speaker 2: was just hitting these threes where even Jimmy Butler was
Speaker 2: just slightly disturbed at how good he was at basketball.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he like shot one falling out of bounds, kind
Speaker 3: of didn't didn't even like seem to be a basketball
Speaker 3: shot so much. She was like kind of just.
Speaker 1: Licking it up, got it?
Speaker 3: He a Butler.
Speaker 5: As I said at tune the piece still dance.
Speaker 4: We'll throw up a shot.
Speaker 1: Metrically that should not have happened.
Speaker 3: Wow, what a shot.
Speaker 1: This is crazy.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Anyways, foregune conclusions when he shoots the ball.
Speaker 1: Other foregun conclusions. Okay, Grizzlies, that was U g l y.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well is there in terms of matchups, is there
Speaker 2: any difficulty you foresee Jamison for okay, see or you
Speaker 2: think I think.
Speaker 5: Okay, he's gonna run through the West, and it feels
Speaker 5: like Denver the championship year, where they're just far and
Speaker 5: ahead better than everyone else's going to show.
Speaker 3: It's going to show rather including the East, including the Celtics.
Speaker 4: That's a little different. I think that match will be good.
Speaker 4: I think out West they're better than everyone by far.
Speaker 5: Like I don't see a close I don't see who's
Speaker 5: the second best team in the West, Like you can
Speaker 5: run off five teams and like, okay, I can see that,
Speaker 5: but I don't see a close competitor to them out West.
Speaker 5: I think they have least amount of flaws. I think
Speaker 5: they have the best defense in the league. I think
Speaker 5: that's how good their defense is. I do think they
Speaker 5: shoot the ball from the outside well, they play make well,
Speaker 5: and I think losing the way they did last year,
Speaker 5: multiplied by the lack of respect they've gotten this year,
Speaker 5: is gonna loom. You know, it's going to be a
Speaker 5: key factor for them going forward. So yeah, I think
Speaker 5: they're the best out West. In the East, I think
Speaker 5: it's still Boston everybody else. However, Tatum being hurt Jalen
Speaker 5: Brown with the NAT with the knee issue leave some
Speaker 5: concerns because those are their two best players and if
Speaker 5: they're not one hundred percent, they could end up getting
Speaker 5: a situations where the series go a little longer than
Speaker 5: they should and that only catches up to teams like that.
Speaker 5: But they're still the best team in the East and
Speaker 5: until someone gets them, I still have that come out
Speaker 5: to come out the East.
Speaker 3: Yeah, all right, should we take another break and we're
Speaker 3: going to do a very special rapid fire round of
Speaker 3: questioning where we're going to look at some answers to
Speaker 3: a pull that just went up today that we want
Speaker 3: to see if you're in line with the players in
Speaker 3: the NBA with you did all right, So we're going
Speaker 3: to ask you the questions and you're going to pretend
Speaker 3: like you didn't see it, and uh.
Speaker 4: I saw a most overrated part. That's the only one
Speaker 4: I saw it.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, Oh good, because there's a way more questions
Speaker 2: than that perfect perfect.
Speaker 3: All right, we're gonna take a break. We'll be right back,
Speaker 3: and we're back. We're James and Welsh. You are rapid
Speaker 3: fire round of questioning? Oh man, I feel I feel
Speaker 3: sometimes I feel sorry for people to get.
Speaker 2: That feel really bad for our guests because you're about
Speaker 2: to answer the rap fire a round of questioning. This
Speaker 2: question for a question to answer secment in all podcasting podcasting.
Speaker 2: We're asking you a question a little bit different now
Speaker 2: because we're basing it around this anonymous poll of NBA
Speaker 2: players that just came out on the athletic but nonetheless
Speaker 2: answer quick answer faithfully?
Speaker 1: Are you ready?
Speaker 3: Answer faithfully?
Speaker 1: Jameson Welsh is ready? That means Brian start the clock?
Speaker 1: All right, all right, way, I'm gonna give you some names.
Speaker 3: You're gonna tell me if they are on the best
Speaker 3: franchise or worst franchise in the league. All right, you ready? Yep, yeah,
Speaker 3: you already said you're right. Okay, all right, Dallas Mavericks worse,
Speaker 3: they're in the best. They're like twelfth on the on
Speaker 3: the best list. I know, yeah, it might have it
Speaker 3: might have happened a little earlier. Philadelphia seventy six ers.
Speaker 3: Obviously you knew that.
Speaker 4: I mean the medical staff got some issues, so I mean, you.
Speaker 3: Know, in a weird case, why are they around? Yeah,
Speaker 3: they're the fifth worst. Okay, see Thunder the best I
Speaker 3: guess number two, yeah best. Yeah, Memphis Grizzlies.
Speaker 4: Say the worst.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're in the they're on the worst list. New
Speaker 3: York Knicks best worst, there's like seventh worst. Isn't that interesting?
Speaker 4: Wow? I always hear nothing but good things from the players.
Speaker 4: That's interesting.
Speaker 3: I wonder. Yeah, it's I guess it's a lot about perception, right, Like,
Speaker 3: you know, whenever they're trying to get a player, I
Speaker 3: feel like it never goes that well for them, unless
Speaker 3: it's Jalen Brunson. Uh, Cleveland Cavaliers best best, number seven.
Speaker 3: I think winning helps a lot. I would say, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3: all right, Uh, we're gonna do the overrated underrated list,
Speaker 3: and uh, you're gonna tell me which of these players
Speaker 3: are overrated list? Which players are underrated list. We're gonna
Speaker 3: start with Franz Wagner.
Speaker 4: He should be underrated, he is, he's.
Speaker 3: On the underrated list. Uh.
Speaker 5: Jason Tatum, Uh, you should be underrated.
Speaker 4: But I don't think he should be overrated.
Speaker 3: I wish he was overrated, but he's underrated. He's on
Speaker 3: underrated list.
Speaker 5: Lebron James Man, I mean it's I mean, I mean,
Speaker 5: he shouldn't be on a list of over underrated.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I probably guess that he's probably on an
Speaker 4: overrated list.
Speaker 3: He's on the overrated list. Yeah, and I'm hoping that
Speaker 3: he saw that is carrying that energy into the into
Speaker 3: the rest of the postseason. Jared Jackson Junior, Jared jack
Speaker 3: over that is correct, they have him overrated. Yeah, Giannis Antetakupo,
Speaker 3: he can't be overrated, and yet and yet they do
Speaker 3: have him as overrated in between Joel Embiid and Dylan Brooks.
Speaker 4: We can't.
Speaker 5: We can't call him overrated when his when his front
Speaker 5: office has failed him.
Speaker 3: I know that would be my my thought as well.
Speaker 3: But I should mention what the number one is in
Speaker 3: each of these category worries. The number one so the
Speaker 3: number one best organization. So, just going back a second,
Speaker 3: the Golden State Warriors are the number one best organization,
Speaker 3: followed by the OKC thunder and then the Boston Celtics.
Speaker 1: Damn is it about them?
Speaker 3: I thought you guys were cool the NBA, and then
Speaker 3: the league's worst organization number one is the Hornets and
Speaker 3: number two the Washington Wizards. So ouch. And then on
Speaker 3: the overrated underrated list, the league's most overrated player according
Speaker 3: to fellow players. Number two is who I expected, Rudy Gobert,
Speaker 3: because you know, he is not popular among his fellow players.
Speaker 3: Number one Halliburton.
Speaker 4: Which that's interesting.
Speaker 3: That is interesting because I mean he is inconsistent, like
Speaker 3: he I'm like, I wonder if this is just people
Speaker 3: who went against him when he was having like going
Speaker 3: through a slump and they were just like, man, this guy's.
Speaker 5: Cook based off of salary versus got it.
Speaker 4: I think that's what it is, because the player he
Speaker 4: is who he is.
Speaker 5: But when you're making that kind of max, you have
Speaker 5: certain expectations. So I can understand why he would wind
Speaker 5: up at that at that part of the list. But
Speaker 5: I don't think he's the most overrated guy. I think,
Speaker 5: you know, like for Jared Jackson Jr. Was eligible for
Speaker 5: if you won Deep Boy, he would have been the
Speaker 5: number one most overrated guy for a long time just
Speaker 5: based off of the kind of money he was eligible
Speaker 5: for for what he produces.
Speaker 4: It's not about he's actually a really good player.
Speaker 5: It's just that the way these salaries are and the
Speaker 5: way these things end up being.
Speaker 4: Guys get drastic over drastically overpaid.
Speaker 3: And yeah, yeah, league's most underrated players. We'll just go
Speaker 3: down the list here because this is kind of fun
Speaker 3: to here what fellow NBA players think. Number one most
Speaker 3: underrated player, Kate Cunningham underrated.
Speaker 4: So who would be the like, the most underrated player.
Speaker 3: That's that's the number one of the number one most
Speaker 3: underrated player according to other players in the NBA. Number
Speaker 3: two Derek White, which that is painfully true as somebody
Speaker 3: who does not like the Celtics and roots against them
Speaker 3: on every possession that I've ever seen. He is the
Speaker 3: most frustrating person to root against because because he.
Speaker 1: Went, he went, he want Walter White on him, Derek
Speaker 1: White on him.
Speaker 3: When he shaved his head, shaved his head, it was
Speaker 3: it's all been over for all of us since then.
Speaker 3: Number three Norman Pale, And this is maybe the most
Speaker 3: surprising appearance on any list for me. Number four most
Speaker 3: underrated player from the Los Angeles Lakers, Austin Reeves. I
Speaker 3: would not have expected other NBA players to pick him
Speaker 3: as underrated, but.
Speaker 2: I wonder if they're like also just thinking in terms
Speaker 2: of like the money he's paid, rather the money Austin
Speaker 2: Reeves took.
Speaker 3: And yeah, that's true, he took a bad contract.
Speaker 2: I'm fine with this many millions of dollars to be honest,
Speaker 2: to stay here, that's fine. I mean this calculus is
Speaker 2: way different. I think it's probably to do with that,
Speaker 2: because my god, I mean, we got such a steal
Speaker 2: with that contract.
Speaker 3: All right. The coaching list is kind of interesting. So
Speaker 3: best coaches in the league Dagnaut from OKC number one, Uh,
Speaker 3: Kenny Atkinson two, Spo three, Mozilla four and then tylu five.
Speaker 3: Those are all good. Uh. Number one worst coach in
Speaker 3: the league Brian Keith.
Speaker 4: I mean that's not fair.
Speaker 3: Is the Wizard's coach.
Speaker 4: That's not fair. He didn't do nothing for that to
Speaker 4: get that right, right.
Speaker 3: Number two Budenholzer, Bud's.
Speaker 4: Coach, no more so.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean this is obviously taken before he got.
Speaker 4: Fired, fired on his day off.
Speaker 3: So and number three and this one passed this thing
Speaker 3: a little bit because like it's not like there's a
Speaker 3: small like I feel like most of the players in
Speaker 3: the NBA have played for him or have friends who
Speaker 3: have played for him. Doc Rivers Number three, worst coach
Speaker 3: in the league according to the players in the league.
Speaker 3: Number five Nick Nurse Ouch.
Speaker 4: Wow, yeah, I can't for that roster.
Speaker 3: Yeah, number six is TIBs, which I do wonder if
Speaker 3: that's ever going to be coming to an end.
Speaker 5: If they lose in this first round, it will Yeah,
Speaker 5: that's good. Yeah, and six or less he's out of there.
Speaker 3: You can't have losing seven. He's gone to like there.
Speaker 4: This would be.
Speaker 3: On both the best and Worst coaches list. Michael Malone,
Speaker 3: Oh so interesting. He's the only person I saw who
Speaker 3: made both best and worse lists.
Speaker 4: Actually a good coach. I didn't think he was a
Speaker 4: bad coach.
Speaker 2: But yeah, yeah, just I mean, if anything, it feels
Speaker 2: like maybe he just lost that locker room.
Speaker 1: But hey, facts, it is what it is.
Speaker 2: Well, Jameson Welsh, thank you so much for joining us
Speaker 2: on Miles with Jack got Mad Boosties. Where can the
Speaker 2: people find you and follow you and receive your wisdom.
Speaker 5: On Twitter at the Jamison I'm very friendly, so you know,
Speaker 5: anyone has any questions about gaming or the NBA or
Speaker 5: any of the sport I can either do my.
Speaker 4: Best or I can find the answer for you. So
Speaker 4: always here to help.
Speaker 1: You heard it here first, you heard it here you go.
Speaker 2: You can follow us on Twitter and Blue Sky.
Speaker 1: I'm there at Miles of Gray.
Speaker 3: I'm that jack underscore Brian on Twitter and jacko be
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Speaker 2: And yeah, make sure you follow the hashtag mat boosties
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Speaker 1: That's where you'll find show links and updates, and that's
Speaker 1: how you can join the conversation on discord again to
Speaker 1: search out hashtag and you.
Speaker 2: Could figure out how to join up. That's going to
Speaker 2: do it for us this week when we come back.
Speaker 2: Might have bitten all my fingernails off, or maybe I
Speaker 2: grow them in a celebratory manner.
Speaker 1: We will have to find out fingernail.
Speaker 2: Bro sellers got them along, y'all like a blameful falk guitar.
Speaker 1: All right, y'all, we'll see you later. Bye bye