Speaker 1: There are plenty of noteworthy people involved in the sport
Speaker 1: of basketball that boasts Philadelphia and local roots, and a
Speaker 1: miss episode of the podcast peak out one of them,
Speaker 1: the foremost racketologists. I'm just going to say, in the land,
Speaker 1: but in the world, it's got to be that, right.
Speaker 1: Joel Nardi is going to be our guest on the podcast.
Speaker 1: We're going to dive deep into some of the local
Speaker 1: storylines surrounding this year's raft class. That conversation starts in
Speaker 1: fifteen seconds, per usual, We're gonna hit you with some
Speaker 1: reminders and a general psa that if you're not yet
Speaker 1: a subscriber to the podcast, you can become one right
Speaker 1: away by going to iTunes, Google Play, and or Stitcher
Speaker 1: type in Sixers Podcast Network. You can also go to
Speaker 1: our SoundCloud page which is at SoundCloud dot com. Backslash Sixers.
Speaker 1: You got to think that for Joelinardi, his time of year,
Speaker 1: without question, is this December, January, February, March, first weekend
Speaker 1: in April, the heart of college basketball season. But for
Speaker 1: us here at six Ers Digital, our Joelnardi season's right
Speaker 1: about now. We went to the well last year. We
Speaker 1: are privileged and grateful to be able to do so
Speaker 1: again this year and bring in the master of the Brackets,
Speaker 1: the Pride of Hawkhill, the one and only Joelnardi. Great
Speaker 1: to see you, man. How are you well, Brian? I
Speaker 1: got to tell you when you when you called reached
Speaker 1: out a week or so ago. I thought it must
Speaker 1: be that time to flip the cards on twenty eighteen
Speaker 1: and look toward twenty eighteen nineteen, because I guess for
Speaker 1: you guys, you're wrapping up a year, and for me,
Speaker 1: I'm starting to look to next year because once Coward's
Speaker 1: players in particular make a decision whether or not to
Speaker 1: stay in the draft, and that deadline, of course recently passed,
Speaker 1: that's when I can do a legitimate projection for the
Speaker 1: following year and I end kind of my two months
Speaker 1: of hibernation and start looking ahead. So you are the
Speaker 1: first official public appearance for the twenty eighteen nineteen version
Speaker 1: of Draftology. How's that? Yes, we'll take it. And this
Speaker 1: is not to imply that there's ever a point when
Speaker 1: Joelnardi does not sound or seem fresh, energized, enthusiastic. But
Speaker 1: that's even better news because you can tell it's the
Speaker 1: area is there, the vibe is there, it's excellent. I'm
Speaker 1: ready to go. Have been tracking these, uh, particularly the locals.
Speaker 1: Certainly it's an incredibly exciting month for the Sixers. Nobody
Speaker 1: has more picks right right, there's a stockpile. I mean
Speaker 1: you should almost get your own channel inside NBA. Should
Speaker 1: just you know, inside the Sixers. Should it should be
Speaker 1: on my cable box. I like that. Well, we'll put that.
Speaker 1: We'll add to the royalty invoice, okay, for the duties
Speaker 1: you are supplying us here. So wait, I got to
Speaker 1: ask you before we really dive into talking about some prospects.
Speaker 1: Is there the basis or a foundation for some sort
Speaker 1: of bracketology already in place? Like? When does it? When
Speaker 1: does that start? When you really start ruminating about what
Speaker 1: it could look like? Well, we're recording this on AM.
Speaker 1: I allowed to say Monday June fourth, correct, the first
Speaker 1: significant bracket for twenty eighteen nineteen. We'll be posted on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: June fifth. You're completed it last night. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: It's based upon, like we said, the March thirtieth withdrawal deadline.
Speaker 1: You know, like in the case of our locals at Villanova, right,
Speaker 1: if you were trying to make an accurate forecast for
Speaker 1: that team next season. You might want to know who's
Speaker 1: going to be on the team, right, And we didn't
Speaker 1: really know that in their case until I guess Stevincenzo
Speaker 1: made his intentions known last Tuesday or Wednesday, and then
Speaker 1: Spellman a day or two after that, and okay, now
Speaker 1: we can get to work. It is crazy because and
Speaker 1: speaking to a handful of people over the last week
Speaker 1: and a half who are just pumping out mocked draft
Speaker 1: after mocked draft. I mean, this is highly coveted and
Speaker 1: sought after content we're speaking about here that you guys
Speaker 1: do just and I didn't even think about it or
Speaker 1: make the connection between a mocked draft in bracketology. It's
Speaker 1: like people would always want to know, Yes, it is
Speaker 1: the first week in June, but sure, I'd love to
Speaker 1: know what the projection is for the field of sixty
Speaker 1: eight and let me tell you. Because I'm historically bad
Speaker 1: at the business of business. I used to tell ESPN
Speaker 1: and hopefully they won't, you know, pick up directly on
Speaker 1: this particular podcast. They'd want something in the off season,
Speaker 1: and I'd say it's a really dumb idea. It's not
Speaker 1: accurate enough, you know, it's I don't want to do it,
Speaker 1: you know, half baked. Right when I do it, I
Speaker 1: wanted people to know that I take it really seriously
Speaker 1: and I follow all the rules that the NCAA would
Speaker 1: in assembling a field. And then a few years ago
Speaker 1: in terms of offseason content, they said, well, but we'll
Speaker 1: pay you extra for that, and I said, why didn't
Speaker 1: I think of that? What a great idea. And and
Speaker 1: you know those days are gone, you know, being a
Speaker 1: more year round employee. But it certainly is something that
Speaker 1: that public doesn't get tired of. And whenever I think
Speaker 1: that they do, I'll get some hit on social media
Speaker 1: which says, hey, so and so just signed it. Indiana,
Speaker 1: where's the new bracket? So all we're really doing is
Speaker 1: meeting the demands of our publics. That is the hand
Speaker 1: that feeds Indeed, we shall not bite it. Indeed. So,
Speaker 1: how does someone who is so involved in viewing college
Speaker 1: basketball through a collective, team centric lens approach and look
Speaker 1: at a draft just as the everyday normal fan of
Speaker 1: hoops guy, how do you look at the draft you're
Speaker 1: in and you're out. I guess, like a lot of people,
Speaker 1: it's become you know, in their eyes, and in mind
Speaker 1: a futures market. In a lot of respects, there aren't
Speaker 1: many Jason Tatums, necessarily right, who make an impact on
Speaker 1: a team making a deep playoff run in their first season,
Speaker 1: particularly as you know what we used to call an
Speaker 1: underage drafted player. I don't know what underages now. Does
Speaker 1: that mean you can't buy a beard? Does that mean
Speaker 1: you know you can't vote? I don't know what. But
Speaker 1: by and large, when you look at the teams still playing,
Speaker 1: it's unusual for even a lottery pick from this past year,
Speaker 1: a super you know, high draft pick, to be an
Speaker 1: active rotation player. It's not like you know your draft
Speaker 1: lew Assender, You're the Milwaukee Bucks in the early seventies
Speaker 1: and he instantly goes in the starting lineup, is instantly
Speaker 1: paired with Oscar Robertson, and they instantly win a championship. Right,
Speaker 1: I mean that that doesn't happen. And even in the
Speaker 1: Sixers case, it was a couple of years before you know,
Speaker 1: Embiad was an impact player. Certainly injuries played a part
Speaker 1: in that, and Simmons as well, But who's to say
Speaker 1: if not for those quote unquote red shirt seasons that
Speaker 1: they would have been equally impactful a year or two younger,
Speaker 1: I'm guessing they would not have been because there's a
Speaker 1: there's a there's simply a physical development and maturity like
Speaker 1: this is a man's league we're talking about in the NBA,
Speaker 1: and just just look at their bodies pared to a
Speaker 1: lot of collegians, and um, I think that's why getting
Speaker 1: you know, the process of getting a nineteen year old
Speaker 1: into a meaningful role on an NBA championship contender, to
Speaker 1: my way of thinking, is always going to be more
Speaker 1: the exception than the rule. It was really interesting too,
Speaker 1: because this past spring we saw not just Jason Tatum,
Speaker 1: but obviously Ben Simmons with the seventy six ers, Donovan
Speaker 1: Mitchell with the Utah Jazz. There were some legit solid
Speaker 1: rookies this year. Well, and when I say some, I'm
Speaker 1: thinking of those three And now I'm kind of drawing it,
Speaker 1: but I'm saying, how many first rounders were there? Right?
Speaker 1: You're right? Right? So we're talking ten percent? Yeah, in turn,
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that five years from now the hit
Speaker 1: rate's going to be ten percent. I'm just saying today,
Speaker 1: you know, you're trying to crack what eight nine man
Speaker 1: rotation at the very highest level of the sport, like
Speaker 1: no offense to other sports. But it's not like drafting
Speaker 1: an offensive guard in the fifth round out of Wisconsin
Speaker 1: and being you know, one of fifty three correct, right,
Speaker 1: all of whom play? You know, everybody you dress on Sunday,
Speaker 1: what is it forty five? In the NFL, they all play.
Speaker 1: They all get in the game exceptment for maybe the
Speaker 1: third quarterback. Like even the kickers and the holders and
Speaker 1: the specialists play. Like in the NBA in a really
Speaker 1: big game, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, they don't play, and
Speaker 1: they're not going to barring injury or overtime or some calamity.
Speaker 1: What intrigues you in particular about this year's draft class?
Speaker 1: What do you consider some of the main storylines. I
Speaker 1: think that I've never seen a draft that's going to
Speaker 1: have this much local focus. Four kind of the Philly
Speaker 1: area basketball fans. So you're saying it's a good year
Speaker 1: to bring in local bracketologist Joe, and well, no, I'm
Speaker 1: saying that if you grew up in this area as
Speaker 1: a fan of either college or pro basketball, or both,
Speaker 1: this is a pretty interesting month. The Sixers have ten
Speaker 1: percent of the picks right at this moment, and it's
Speaker 1: it's crazy when you put it like that, right, and
Speaker 1: then you think, well, I mean they could drift where
Speaker 1: they're gonna cut half their team unlikely, right, But they
Speaker 1: have the ten percent stakeholder, which is not an insignificant
Speaker 1: stake correct. Ten percent is a lot? Yeah, okay, you
Speaker 1: know even two first rounders is a lot, and they're
Speaker 1: not insignificant slots. It's not like they got twenty eight
Speaker 1: and twenty nine. Ten to twenty six is legitimate plus
Speaker 1: the four seconds. So you have that angle. Now we
Speaker 1: have four guys from a national championship team that won
Speaker 1: the NCAA tournament that are local guys at least by
Speaker 1: it turns with where they played college ball. Well, and
Speaker 1: then there are other players with local roots. You know,
Speaker 1: I think of Tony Carr at Penn State or Mo Bomba,
Speaker 1: who's going to be, you know, a top six or
Speaker 1: seven pick at worst seven footer from Texas, but he
Speaker 1: played at the Westtown School out in Delaware County. And
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people are forgetting about Lonnie
Speaker 1: Walker from a Reading high who was you know, the best,
Speaker 1: most highly regarded collegiate recruit out of that area. I
Speaker 1: would assume since Daniel Marshall back in the day and he's,
Speaker 1: you know, one of those, he's on the bubble of
Speaker 1: the lottery, if you will. And so I think you
Speaker 1: add all that up right, over a half dozen guys
Speaker 1: are going to be drafted, most in the first round.
Speaker 1: You know, bomba Walker, and at least three, if not all,
Speaker 1: four of the Villanova players seem like they're going in
Speaker 1: the first round. Plus the fact that the Sixers are
Speaker 1: picking so many times. If it was the ven diagram
Speaker 1: and you put it all together, it's almost impossible that
Speaker 1: the Sixers don't come out of this draft with at
Speaker 1: least one or two local products. Not necessarily because it's
Speaker 1: the old territorial draft days, but just the odds of it.
Speaker 1: You know, you've got six picks, You've got this many
Speaker 1: guys with roots to the area, they almost have to overlap.
Speaker 1: At some point, when we were going back and forth
Speaker 1: about what topics we might cover here on the podcast,
Speaker 1: my initial thought was to riff on the old first
Speaker 1: four in, first four out theme for various cutoff points
Speaker 1: of the draft. We'll circle back to that at some point,
Speaker 1: and maybe there's a little bit of an overlap here,
Speaker 1: but I definitely think we should just keep rolling on
Speaker 1: the on the train of talking about some of the
Speaker 1: local guys, because, as you said, not only is their
Speaker 1: talent individually, guys who were a part of phenomenal collective
Speaker 1: team success. Watching Villanova there is I'm not asking you
Speaker 1: to speak for a university or a Hill, but it
Speaker 1: was a great run. And I mean this really was
Speaker 1: a year where I just thought it was like so
Speaker 1: compelling to see din Vincenzo break out the way he
Speaker 1: did and cap it off with the type of performance
Speaker 1: he had in the championship game. Someone like Micail Bridges
Speaker 1: slowly building over time when we look at the Villanova quartet,
Speaker 1: maybe some bullet points that first come to mind about
Speaker 1: each of those guys. Well, first, I want to make
Speaker 1: a kind of a collective comment, and everybody knows this
Speaker 1: is coming from a you know, a person who bleeds
Speaker 1: Crimson and Gray and Hawk Hill. What Villanova has done.
Speaker 1: And I'm not just talking about winning the championship this
Speaker 1: year or necessarily winning it in twenty sixteen. This five
Speaker 1: year run is not just the greatest run ever by
Speaker 1: a local college team. It's one of the greatest stretches
Speaker 1: for any college team ever. Historically my favorite stat in
Speaker 1: these five years, Villanova has yet to lose back to
Speaker 1: back games. Think about that, Like, like I spent a
Speaker 1: lot in my offseason attempting to golf. That would be
Speaker 1: like going five golf seasons without ever missing two puts
Speaker 1: in a row that mattered. Like that's inconceivable to me.
Speaker 1: And you know they're not playing you know, the dregs
Speaker 1: of college basketball here and what and all the one
Speaker 1: and two seeds I mean, and this whole thing that
Speaker 1: you know, there were no great teams in college basketball
Speaker 1: last year. I think the draft is about to disprove that,
Speaker 1: and all the metrics already disproved it. And I mean
Speaker 1: it was great that they won a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1: For Villanova fans, this team was way better, Like this
Speaker 1: team was historically good. And I would argue that if
Speaker 1: the Big East were still on ESPN, and that's not
Speaker 1: to show for my other employer, a lot more people
Speaker 1: would know that because like people can keep saying Villaneova's
Speaker 1: under the radar, and I'm thinking, do these people not
Speaker 1: have electricity? So, like, like what they've done and the
Speaker 1: player development, like Brunson was maybe the most highly rated
Speaker 1: player of Villanova has ever signed in my year, with
Speaker 1: the possible exception of Tim Thomas okay back in Steve
Speaker 1: Lapis's years in the late nineties. But you know, she
Speaker 1: was a good high school player. I saw him in
Speaker 1: high school. Nobody would have talked about him then some day,
Speaker 1: maybe going tenth in the draft to the seventy six ers.
Speaker 1: Just no way, Devincenzo. I mean, it helps to have
Speaker 1: the best game of your life in the National championship
Speaker 1: game with you know whatever, forty million people watching. Good
Speaker 1: career move on his part, but he's follow it. Sure
Speaker 1: looks like he can play well the combine, he was terrific. Right,
Speaker 1: and U Spellman, who I actually thought coming into the
Speaker 1: season had the highest long term upside on the team,
Speaker 1: kind of became the fourth He wasn't even he might
Speaker 1: have been the fifth offensive option on that team after
Speaker 1: booth Right, I mean, because they were so perimeter oriented,
Speaker 1: But how many six eleven guys at least, you know,
Speaker 1: before the modern era of the stretch big man could
Speaker 1: could so comfortably step out and do what he's doing.
Speaker 1: So maybe it's just time to admit that they were
Speaker 1: really really really good, and I think we'll see that
Speaker 1: June twenty. First. First, so what do each of them
Speaker 1: bring to the table, you know, I think Bridges is,
Speaker 1: you know, exactly what the NBA has become on the wing.
Speaker 1: And I don't think he's done improving, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: you look at he took a red shirt year. One
Speaker 1: of their secrets has been largely playing with older guys, right,
Speaker 1: So let's see if he continues to evolve. Certainly has
Speaker 1: been well coached and seems to have the work ethic.
Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson, to me, you could have a really good
Speaker 1: bar argument over who's going to have the better NBA career,
Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson or a Jamir now who's been in the
Speaker 1: news lately, of course, for for coming back and earning
Speaker 1: his degree at Saint Jose. In fact, I just saw
Speaker 1: an NBA TV segment the other night about which was tremendous.
Speaker 1: And yes I'm biased a bit, but you know, to me,
Speaker 1: Brunson's a better shooter than Jamir was at that age.
Speaker 1: I think a more you know, confident shooter. I think
Speaker 1: Jamir was faster and is still faster and stronger, and
Speaker 1: obviously work ethic and basketball IQ off the charts. But
Speaker 1: it seems that Brunson has that it's just pretty unusual
Speaker 1: for a guy of their size to play fourteen years
Speaker 1: like Jamir has and may still not be done. Right.
Speaker 1: Devincenzo is now, you know, the flavor of the month
Speaker 1: because of the combine, but he certainly will not be
Speaker 1: overmatched athlete medically, and it wouldn't surprise me, as we said,
Speaker 1: if Spellman actually has the most productive long term career
Speaker 1: of the bunch, because he's he's the most unique in
Speaker 1: what he can do at his size, Like there might
Speaker 1: be twenty Michail Bridges a year that come into the league, right,
Speaker 1: and ten Brunsons and five de Vincenzos, but not a
Speaker 1: lot of six to eleven guys you know, can do
Speaker 1: that Al Horford thing. Now, I'm not saying that Spelfman.
Speaker 1: You know, we're all we have Horford on the brain
Speaker 1: right here in here in six or Land. But you know,
Speaker 1: he's unselfish, he can pass. It'll be interesting to see
Speaker 1: if he can defend fours and fives at the NBA,
Speaker 1: because you're really not defending just fours and fives now,
Speaker 1: you know, last night watching game two of the finals,
Speaker 1: there's Kevin Love getting switched on and attempting to guard
Speaker 1: Steph Curry on the perimeter. You know, I'd have a
Speaker 1: better chance of like, you know, falling off the Ben
Speaker 1: Franklin Bridge, I think on the way back home than
Speaker 1: Kevin Love has to guard Steph Curry off the dribble.
Speaker 1: But I think all four of these guys have a
Speaker 1: chance to be contributors. And I'm becoming more and more
Speaker 1: convinced that at least one of them is going to
Speaker 1: still be wearing some kind of blue and white come
Speaker 1: Come Camp. It's crazy because I think that in the
Speaker 1: past we've looked at Villanova as a program that you
Speaker 1: think of collective success first. But now maybe it's shifting
Speaker 1: in some ways. Who knows what this class could do
Speaker 1: when it comes out. It could almost change that narrative
Speaker 1: in some way, shape or form that yeah, you can
Speaker 1: go there and the team can thrive and succeed, but
Speaker 1: you know what, we're going to produce some pretty legit
Speaker 1: individual talent. Maybe Josh Hart was pretty good too, Yeah, right,
Speaker 1: as it turns out, you know, from the Lakers, I
Speaker 1: think he's off in saying that his sixteen team was
Speaker 1: a lot better than this year's team. I'm definitely taking
Speaker 1: the under on that, but I don't want he and
Speaker 1: Archidiakan are showing up at my house and you know,
Speaker 1: painting my door the wrong call from what you've observed.
Speaker 1: Because hitting on that point about the development, what has
Speaker 1: Villanova been able to do to maintain its success at
Speaker 1: such a high level, Because I mean, you've been around
Speaker 1: college long enough where you know if you just have
Speaker 1: one off recruiting cycle that can really change your trajectory
Speaker 1: over a multi year period. Well, I think even more
Speaker 1: remarkable than that for them in this era of guys
Speaker 1: who you know, let's be honest, for the best players,
Speaker 1: college is more like a snack right then the prime
Speaker 1: component of their career. I would call it almost like
Speaker 1: a business organization in the sense that increasing responsibility the
Speaker 1: longer there with the company, right, progressive adding of responsibility,
Speaker 1: you know, role player, key rotation guy, you know, double
Speaker 1: digit scorer, star Like that's the path that Bridges took
Speaker 1: and Josh Hart took, and to a lesser extent, Chris
Speaker 1: Jenkins took and Spellman would have taken, and you know
Speaker 1: de Vincenzo was on the path there aren't many who've
Speaker 1: come in and been a brunson and a starter, you know,
Speaker 1: from day one. And because Jay Wright and the staff
Speaker 1: there have have recruited well every year, they haven't typically
Speaker 1: had to thrust guys into roles for which maybe they
Speaker 1: weren't yet ready. They also haven't had a lot of
Speaker 1: guys leave excessively early like they are now. So next
Speaker 1: year's team is going to have to break from the mould,
Speaker 1: sup and guys are going to have to maybe you know,
Speaker 1: go from the first floor to the fourth floor on
Speaker 1: the elevator instead of making every stop along the way.
Speaker 1: And I think that will ultimately impact them in the
Speaker 1: one lost column negatively, at least to start the year.
Speaker 1: Were you surprised that Spellman decided to stay in. No,
Speaker 1: In fact, when when we did our first really really
Speaker 1: really kind of unofficial bracket at the very end of
Speaker 1: the tournament, I had him staying in and de Vincenzo
Speaker 1: going back simply because of supply and demand. There are
Speaker 1: fewer Spellman's right than Devincenzos, or so we thought at
Speaker 1: the time, So no surprise that he ultimately decided to
Speaker 1: keep his name in the draft. It wasn't for me no, gotcha,
Speaker 1: it's I don't know if can't wait to see how
Speaker 1: all those guys shake out. And I think it's it's
Speaker 1: great that you brought two will light. A guy like
Speaker 1: Tony Carr Penn State had a really solid season, a
Speaker 1: big step four. What can you tell us about his game? Well,
Speaker 1: I think car is I mean this sounds like I'm
Speaker 1: I'm demeaning him, Like I think Cars a great college
Speaker 1: point guard. I'm not sure I see anything special about
Speaker 1: him at the next level. I mean, certainly, you know,
Speaker 1: as a first team All Big Ten player, I assume
Speaker 1: he was the MVP of the n I T. I
Speaker 1: apologize for not knowing that, but I mean he was
Speaker 1: clearly the best player on the team that won the
Speaker 1: n I T. So I assume as much you know,
Speaker 1: Kenny make a roster. Sure, do I think he's going
Speaker 1: to have, you know, a ten year NBA career. I don't,
Speaker 1: simply because there are probably thirty Tony cars every year, okay,
Speaker 1: and is he going to be the one or two
Speaker 1: of the thirty? You know, that becomes a Terry Rosier
Speaker 1: who was a nice college point guard, and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden becomes much more than that. I mean, there's
Speaker 1: always the exception that proves the rule, but the odds
Speaker 1: are against it. As we begin to move towards that
Speaker 1: first four and end the first four out thing that
Speaker 1: we referenced earlier, are we ready for it? Well? I
Speaker 1: just called it the bubble, Okay, I like bubble freight
Speaker 1: group because it's not always a you know, perfect I
Speaker 1: dig that. I think that's more all encompassing. I like that.
Speaker 1: I probably should have deferred to the master from the start. Um,
Speaker 1: why don't we look at the lottery round first? Well,
Speaker 1: when I look at it's fourteen slots right in the lottery. Now,
Speaker 1: you know, but the some of the players who seemed
Speaker 1: to be so let's call that bubble, you know, anywhere
Speaker 1: from eleven twelve ish to the mid teens, you know, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen,
Speaker 1: guys that are going to be in that range. There
Speaker 1: seems to be a reasonable consensus when you look at
Speaker 1: all the mock drafts on maybe who the top ten
Speaker 1: or so guys are. Right. So we're not going to
Speaker 1: talk about I mean, we're certainly not going to talk
Speaker 1: about the obvious guys. We're not going to talk about
Speaker 1: you know, bomba, We're not talking about you know, right right,
Speaker 1: because those guys aren't going to be on the bubble
Speaker 1: of the lottery. But but I think some of these
Speaker 1: players aren't. One of them we mentioned earlier with the
Speaker 1: local connection, that's Lonnie Walker of Miami via Redding, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1: And I've seen him anywhere from like nine ten, like
Speaker 1: nineteen or twenty. There seems to be a pretty wide
Speaker 1: range on him, and I think in part because he
Speaker 1: was pretty inconsistent in his one year at Miami and
Speaker 1: he's probably one of those guys who really should play
Speaker 1: more in college, but he and whoever's advising him also
Speaker 1: know that he's too talented to be passed over. Like
Speaker 1: he's not playing twenty minutes a game in the NBA
Speaker 1: next year. I would be shocked. I would be shocked,
Speaker 1: but it wouldn't surprise me if he goes at the
Speaker 1: back end of the lottery. And I actually think he's
Speaker 1: kind of intriguing for where the Sixers are, if in
Speaker 1: fact they're looking for. I mean, again, not to we've
Speaker 1: all got Celtics on the brain, but you know, everybody
Speaker 1: would say the Sixers need their Jayson Tatum, right, and
Speaker 1: there's at least a half dozen guys in this draft,
Speaker 1: probably more who you could put in that kind of
Speaker 1: body type and type of game that they play, Walker
Speaker 1: being one of them. Same for Miles Bridges at Michigan State.
Speaker 1: Now he would be at the He's probably gonna go
Speaker 1: in the lottery, but he and and Micaial Bridges are
Speaker 1: both getting a lot of attention for folks studying the
Speaker 1: Sixers prospects. Now, Miles Bridges and maybe this goes with
Speaker 1: the kind of Michigan State DNA is seemed to be
Speaker 1: more the D part of the three and D right,
Speaker 1: and I think that's a great description that's come about
Speaker 1: in recent years. But I think he might be on
Speaker 1: the bubble because people will question his scoring somewhat. Robert
Speaker 1: Williams of Texas A and M is one of the
Speaker 1: few true low post guys in this draft, someone who
Speaker 1: who could really play center. I mean, we have Eton
Speaker 1: at the top, right, but for the most part, you know,
Speaker 1: people aren't drafting centers anymore unless they're so obvious that
Speaker 1: you have to take them like an MBA or in Eton.
Speaker 1: But I certainly think in that range tailor to the lottery,
Speaker 1: Williams will get some attention, and just because I tried
Speaker 1: to find guys from from every spot on the floor.
Speaker 1: Kentucky's point guard or at least shared the job with
Speaker 1: Quade Green of of South Philly. Shay giljis Alexander. To me,
Speaker 1: he's interesting. I like him. I'm trying to play catchup
Speaker 1: on Brad. Yeah, he's he's a decent shooter. He's just
Speaker 1: so skinny, like all their point guards seem to have been. Like,
Speaker 1: I don't know if they get him down there and
Speaker 1: they stick him on a rack and stretch them out.
Speaker 1: But that's my lottery bubble, and I'm saying two of
Speaker 1: them will make the lottery and two of them won't.
Speaker 1: To me, that's one of the most fascinating parts about
Speaker 1: where the seventy sixers are. Should they hold it at
Speaker 1: number ten this year. And don't get me wrong, there
Speaker 1: is something fantastically great about holding the first pick, second pick,
Speaker 1: third pick, because when you get up in that range,
Speaker 1: to me, at least you have I'm gonna try to
Speaker 1: articulate this the right way. An idea you've seen the
Speaker 1: raw potential at the college level or elsewhere of what
Speaker 1: ultimately could be, you would think a difference making package.
Speaker 1: Whereas when you get a little bit deeper into the
Speaker 1: lottery phase you're talking about ten or in the early teens,
Speaker 1: you're like, all right, you see things on the surface
Speaker 1: of what could be, but you're not quite sure what
Speaker 1: the ultimate finished product could be. And the Sixers where
Speaker 1: they are now organizationally, timeline wise, I guess what it
Speaker 1: goes back to is what I'm trying to say is
Speaker 1: that if you see some raw potential there, like you
Speaker 1: can say, where the Sixers are right now, we have
Speaker 1: a little bit more wiggle room. I think this is
Speaker 1: me saying this not the organization for massaging some raw potential,
Speaker 1: maybe not needing someone right away. If you want to
Speaker 1: go to let's say, the free agent market to address
Speaker 1: a certain position of need, you might have some more
Speaker 1: time where it's not like that, Okay, we've got a
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons or a Joel embed and to kick start
Speaker 1: this next step four, we need these guys producing right
Speaker 1: away where there might be a little bit more time
Speaker 1: for whomever's at number ten. Should the Sixers say that,
Speaker 1: just as there would have been more time for Jason
Speaker 1: Tatum to develop if Heyward hadn't incorrect for instance, Yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess I was kind of looking at it the opposite,
Speaker 1: maybe more like a fan than an analyst, because when
Speaker 1: it comes to the seventy six ers, I am more
Speaker 1: of a fan than an analyst. You know, I'm looking
Speaker 1: at it and going, well, geez, they're not that far away.
Speaker 1: If I have a choice between let's say a McHale Bridges,
Speaker 1: who I think is closer to being able to contribute
Speaker 1: right now on the wing than a Lonnie Walker, who
Speaker 1: strikes me as a guy whose game still has some
Speaker 1: growing up to do. Give me, you know, ten percent
Speaker 1: less upside and eight more could play for me today. Now,
Speaker 1: if you told me prior to the draft that a
Speaker 1: big name who can't be named I was going to
Speaker 1: be on my roster right then you're right. I might
Speaker 1: think differently because I wouldn't want to be overloading or
Speaker 1: putting up an expectation that you know, drafting this twenty
Speaker 1: two year old, we make them sound like their ancient
Speaker 1: versus a nineteen year old you know is going to sit.
Speaker 1: And that's I guess why they get paid the big
Speaker 1: money in the other building, no doubt about it. And
Speaker 1: that's that is going to be the If you're an
Speaker 1: observer and you know fans out there, you might not
Speaker 1: be able to remove the horse from the race type
Speaker 1: feeling they have about it. But right if you just
Speaker 1: in a perfect world, if you have to know it
Speaker 1: would take place in free agency or through a trade
Speaker 1: market or something like that, that could possibly shape how
Speaker 1: you view the number ten pick. But right now it's
Speaker 1: a little bit more unclear because of course got to
Speaker 1: wait until July first, in June twenty first, And I
Speaker 1: wonder why they do it that way now that I
Speaker 1: think about it. You know, it adds a nice dramatic
Speaker 1: touch or flare to it. Even more so perhaps I'm
Speaker 1: sure there's a reason, and I'm sure the reason is
Speaker 1: based upon something in which the players make more money.
Speaker 1: That would be my off the wall guests. They gets
Speaker 1: a safe bet bubble guys for the back end in
Speaker 1: the first round as we look in an area where
Speaker 1: the Sixers will also have a selection at number twenty six,
Speaker 1: should they of course hang on to it. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: have some names here, and not unsurprisingly, these are mostly
Speaker 1: older guys who played at least three and in a
Speaker 1: couple of cases four years of high level college basketball.
Speaker 1: One of whom we've talked about, Gellen Brunson from Villanoe. Uh,
Speaker 1: the National player of the year a point guard. Um,
Speaker 1: we could do an entire podcast. I suppose on the
Speaker 1: future the next five to ten years of the seventy
Speaker 1: six ers at the point guard position. Right, But for
Speaker 1: purpose of argument, I'm going to assume that the powers
Speaker 1: that be between Simmons, McConnell and Faults, they feel covered
Speaker 1: at that spot. Uh. And and not a need to
Speaker 1: go and have you know, kind of a traditional jail
Speaker 1: and Brunson type at the point. Yes, you're right, right,
Speaker 1: right right? Uh so something. But one of the other guys,
Speaker 1: and he's more of a combo guard. And I've not
Speaker 1: heard this name a lot. Uh. I think. One of
Speaker 1: the best players in the back end of the first round,
Speaker 1: but I think because nobody really knows about him, he's
Speaker 1: going to slide near the end of the first round
Speaker 1: is Jerome Robinson from Boston College. I guess he's listed
Speaker 1: as a point guard, but he you know, and my
Speaker 1: he's just a guard, okay. And he may have been
Speaker 1: the most underrated player in the ACC last year, like
Speaker 1: almost single handedly making BC respectable after having only been
Speaker 1: a year two removed from going oh and eighteen in
Speaker 1: the ACC, Like that's not easy to do when you
Speaker 1: have nine home games, like you gotta you almost have
Speaker 1: to try to do that. And as an aside, they
Speaker 1: also went winless in ACC football that same year, which
Speaker 1: is like inconceivable to me, really, like like someday, doesn't
Speaker 1: the ball just have to bounce into your hands in
Speaker 1: a good way. But whatever. Jerome Robinson end of the
Speaker 1: first round. Moe Wagner, who's you know, one of those
Speaker 1: euro forwards. Great career at Michigan, three years worth, you know,
Speaker 1: played at a high level in the tournament, obviously won
Speaker 1: the Big Ten Tournament both of his years, last two
Speaker 1: years at Michigan. Extremely well coached and kind of a
Speaker 1: pro style offense from by John bee Line. He intrigues me.
Speaker 1: And you know, because you can never have too many
Speaker 1: disliked duke players on any list. Grayson Allen, you know,
Speaker 1: and the thought, you know, when he was anointed King
Speaker 1: of the World after scoring double digits in the NCAA
Speaker 1: Championship game as a freshman that he would only quote
Speaker 1: unquote only be a late first round pick three plus
Speaker 1: years later. That would surprise a lot of people. But
Speaker 1: I think that Allen will probably be in this range. Also,
Speaker 1: we'll call them first round bubbles. He's a name that
Speaker 1: attracts a lot of attention because of the way he
Speaker 1: started his career and the way his career played out
Speaker 1: and the team he plays for and all that. What
Speaker 1: did you observe anything as far as fine tuning to
Speaker 1: his game anything like that, or how his career carried
Speaker 1: on and ultimately played out. I'm not sure what his
Speaker 1: NBA skill is, right. You know, people make the JJ
Speaker 1: Reddick comparison around here, and I get it. I get it.
Speaker 1: They're both high energy players from Duke, you know, who
Speaker 1: share the same complexion, the same coach, and much of
Speaker 1: the same college background. I get it. But Allen's never
Speaker 1: been the shooter that JJ Reddick was or is. So
Speaker 1: you can say, well, this is JJ Reddick's NBA skill
Speaker 1: and that's not enough grace, and Allen's a terrific basketball player.
Speaker 1: But you know, I would make I would make a
Speaker 1: bit of a comparison because I follow these kinds of things,
Speaker 1: like Doug McDermott, who I really, really really really wanted
Speaker 1: the Sixers to draft. He was available with whatever their
Speaker 1: second pick in the first round was, and he had
Speaker 1: won every Conceivable College Award as a four year player
Speaker 1: at Creighton yet and he's had some injuries, but he's
Speaker 1: kind of bumped around the league. You know, he's a generalist,
Speaker 1: he's generally really good at everything. But another guy from
Speaker 1: Creighton one dimensional, Kyle Korver is, you know, entering his
Speaker 1: thirty seventh season and playing in the NBA Finals. So
Speaker 1: like Corver has a clear NBA skill, Okay, And if
Speaker 1: you're not, you know, a superstar, you know, a top
Speaker 1: one or two were three option on a team, now
Speaker 1: you're a specialist, it seems so, I don't know what
Speaker 1: Alan is is the long way of answering the question.
Speaker 1: I mean, some people beloved him, and obviously a lot
Speaker 1: of people find him annoying. I don't think that's an
Speaker 1: issue in terms of the NBA because there's probably a
Speaker 1: lot of beloved and annoying players in the NBA. I suspect,
Speaker 1: but most of the ones who last are either stars
Speaker 1: or have a specialty blocking shots, making threes, you know,
Speaker 1: lockdown defense, you know, bang, whatever the it is. And
Speaker 1: I don't know what Allan's it is. Maybe he's hanging
Speaker 1: out towards the end of the first round, early stages
Speaker 1: of the second round. For the seventy six ers, they're
Speaker 1: going to have possibly options in both areas, whether it's
Speaker 1: twenty six and the first thirty eight and thirty nine
Speaker 1: they currently hold in the second round, also fifty six
Speaker 1: and sixty some names that you think could filter into
Speaker 1: draft boards, perhaps said any one of those junctures and
Speaker 1: slots of round two. Yeah, I mean, the second round
Speaker 1: becomes really a crapshoot because of the whole draft and
Speaker 1: stash idea. It's not really an idea, it's a strategy,
Speaker 1: and a good one because you only have so many
Speaker 1: roster spots and obviously they have a lot of picks
Speaker 1: here at the moment. And even if they do some
Speaker 1: moving within the drafts, either this year or in the future,
Speaker 1: I mean, the Sixers are still going to draft probably
Speaker 1: three or four players right minimally, it would seem. And
Speaker 1: focusing you know, on the collegiate ranks for the purpose
Speaker 1: of this discussion, we talked about Tony Carr. I think
Speaker 1: he'll be there middle to late second round. There was
Speaker 1: a player at Georgia, a Yante Maten, just a regular
Speaker 1: you know, rotation forward, uh, who I think would be
Speaker 1: a good investment late. Uh. Now, I'm going to struggle
Speaker 1: with this. The Greek freak, right and help me out here?
Speaker 1: And a coup I can I can give you that.
Speaker 1: A Coupo you know, his nephew played at Dayton this year,
Speaker 1: or tried to. He was hurt most of the year
Speaker 1: for reasons passing understanding he's staying in the draft. But
Speaker 1: I actually saw him play against those Penn Quakers in
Speaker 1: the game out there. Well, let me tell you if
Speaker 1: if if his name was Costas Blinardi or Costas Smith,
Speaker 1: he wouldn't go in the second round. But because his
Speaker 1: last name is and he's gonna get picked. Uh. And
Speaker 1: and he's interesting. My favorite though, uh in this second
Speaker 1: round bubble from Merland Justin Jackson, who who I think
Speaker 1: is the kind of sleeper who who you know, could be.
Speaker 1: He's not as thick as the Sixers other Justin Justin Anderson.
Speaker 1: But why I always think of Merland as ACC even
Speaker 1: though they're in the Big ten now, But totally understandable, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they should be in the ACC anyway. He's a better
Speaker 1: scorer probably than Anderson projects as a better scorer at
Speaker 1: this level. But he's a guy who if he were available,
Speaker 1: certainly fifty six or fifty eight. I don't think he'll
Speaker 1: last that long. I would have a hard time passing up.
Speaker 1: So start to wrap things up. Who is a player
Speaker 1: that stood out the most to you that you saw
Speaker 1: live in person? I knew you're gonna so let's scratch
Speaker 1: Villanova from that, because that's obviously we talked about the
Speaker 1: talent that the Wildcats had this year. Was there one
Speaker 1: guy you saw him? It's your travels doing the games
Speaker 1: the radio for Saint Josephs that really jumped out. Who
Speaker 1: might be in the draft conversation right now? Well, you
Speaker 1: know he's not getting talked about a lot. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: give kind of one national and one lower the national.
Speaker 1: Zaire Smith, the guard from Texas Tech who I saw
Speaker 1: in the tournament. I went up to the Sweet sixteen
Speaker 1: where Villanova was playing, and I saw him a couple
Speaker 1: of times during the season as well, and he's just
Speaker 1: kind of one of those warrior guys, like he's not
Speaker 1: as explosive offensively as let's say, at Kemba Walker, but
Speaker 1: he's a he's a put the team on my back
Speaker 1: kind of guy who who carried them maybe more than
Speaker 1: you would have expected. And a guy locally who's not
Speaker 1: on anybody's draft board, but who I could certainly see
Speaker 1: becoming an NBA player is BJ Johnson from LaSalle. And
Speaker 1: and maybe you know, we're all impacted in a biased
Speaker 1: way by the by the tragic death this year of
Speaker 1: Wrestllll Butler. Right, but there are similar kinds of players, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, at least in college. Rasseul, you know, hardly
Speaker 1: made his reputation as a lockdown defender. B J Johnson
Speaker 1: terrific score. Not sure he could guard me at times,
Speaker 1: but but you know, again has an NBA skill and range.
Speaker 1: So it wouldn't surprise me to see somebody like that
Speaker 1: make a team among guys that I saw in person
Speaker 1: and who I thought there might be a job for
Speaker 1: that guy. All right, excellent, As I'm thinking of something
Speaker 1: to ask you about to put a bow on all this.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm looking We're here in the business office
Speaker 1: building right now. I'm looking across the parking lot to
Speaker 1: the basketball operations business and there are a couple Hawk
Speaker 1: products that have office space over there. Whether you're talking
Speaker 1: about Jim O'Brien, John Bryant eight, dude who played with
Speaker 1: Jamir Nelson, who's one of the Sixers assistant coaches. There
Speaker 1: really is a pretty strong like there is for all
Speaker 1: the City six schools pro basketball history from Saint Joseph.
Speaker 1: So what's the nugget or the story, whether it's obvious
Speaker 1: or excure that you take the most pride in as
Speaker 1: far as Saint Joseph's contributions to the game at the
Speaker 1: NBA level or it's connection to the NBA. Well, this
Speaker 1: is almost too random, but it's perfect, Brian. When it
Speaker 1: was this past fall, you would appreciate this as the
Speaker 1: you know, new father of of young twins. Congratulations for that.
Speaker 1: I find that long term, a wedded bliss has been
Speaker 1: facilitated generally, if late in October before I start my season,
Speaker 1: if we go on a kind of a week long
Speaker 1: getaway somewhere, right, and the fact that it happens to
Speaker 1: fall on or around our anniversary is just you know,
Speaker 1: God's way of keeping me honest, I guess. But so
Speaker 1: we're in jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, I kid you not. In
Speaker 1: late October this past year in like you know, some
Speaker 1: boutique bookstore, and I think it was four dollars written
Speaker 1: in pencil on the side, and I wish I could
Speaker 1: remember the author's name. I'm embarrassed now, but it was
Speaker 1: the diary of the sixty seven sixty eight six Ers
Speaker 1: championship team like start to finish, largely Wilt focused but
Speaker 1: not and how the team was put together. And of
Speaker 1: course the rookie general manager of that team was Jack
Speaker 1: Ramsey Okay, and his first round draft pick I think
Speaker 1: I want to say fourteenth overall was Mattie Gukas and
Speaker 1: he played, He was in the rotation. There were some
Speaker 1: injuries late in the year and in playoff series. I
Speaker 1: think Larry Costello was hurt for the year, and Maddie
Speaker 1: kind of took those menuts. And there was this Saint
Speaker 1: Joe link. And this was my formative years in basketball.
Speaker 1: I was maybe seven or eight years old and I
Speaker 1: was just I had asked for and received a clock
Speaker 1: radio for Christmas. If that doesn't paint me as the
Speaker 1: biggest nerd of all time, and I would listen to
Speaker 1: the Sixers when I went to bed at night. That
Speaker 1: that year, sixty seven sixty eight. It started the year
Speaker 1: before last year. My dad took me to Convention Hall
Speaker 1: and I saw Will play against Russell and that was
Speaker 1: pretty cool, and then of course the next year they
Speaker 1: were epically great. You know, one of the top, most
Speaker 1: people still think, one of the top pro basketball teams
Speaker 1: of all time, one of the few that physically could
Speaker 1: match up with teams of today. Like there were some
Speaker 1: you know men Luke Jackson and Wilt and Hal Greer,
Speaker 1: the late Hal Greer this year, who was one of
Speaker 1: my first early favorites. And of course they also had
Speaker 1: Wally Jones, another local guy, but a huge you know,
Speaker 1: living and growing up and working on Hawk Hill. Of course,
Speaker 1: you know, we have the Ramsey Center and and he's
Speaker 1: one of our icons. But his first job in the
Speaker 1: NBA was not coaching, It was as general manager of
Speaker 1: what became arguably the greatest one of the greatest teams
Speaker 1: of all time, is certainly the greatest seventy six ers team,
Speaker 1: at least on paper. And uh, you know, he would
Speaker 1: be the first one to say, I hope that record
Speaker 1: is broken by his son in law, Jim O'Brien, who's
Speaker 1: on your staff now. So wouldn't that be full circle?
Speaker 1: If you know, why wait more than a year or
Speaker 1: two to start hanging more banners. Definitely a biased opinion
Speaker 1: on my part. I know that Philadelphia probably will and
Speaker 1: forever always be a football passion first area territory. But
Speaker 1: I think when you really look into where the city
Speaker 1: has made the most direct contributions to any sport, I
Speaker 1: don't know how you could look anywhere farther than basketball.
Speaker 1: It's stories like that that, Yeah, there luggets you uncover
Speaker 1: all the time. Well, here you go. I'm watching the
Speaker 1: NBA Finals this year, and in each of the first
Speaker 1: two games, one of the three referees was from Cardinal O'Hara. Like,
Speaker 1: not just Philadelphia, but right and like that, like like
Speaker 1: there are pockets of coaches and scouts and officials and
Speaker 1: front office people. A week before that, I'm walking up
Speaker 1: the fourteenth hole of my golf club and there's zed
Speaker 1: Stefanski going down seven giving me a raft of you
Speaker 1: know what because I was in the sand, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: all right, well, you know, your new general manager and
Speaker 1: president of operations the Detroit Pistons, I know, proving that
Speaker 1: it can't possibly be that hard to do this job.
Speaker 1: I'll say this a bad ed. His sons are really
Speaker 1: good golfers. Nice. We'll leave it at that. Prospect analysis
Speaker 1: and other things in between with Joelnardi always great catch
Speaker 1: up with the man. Thanks the one and only Joelnardi
Speaker 1: is so lucky to have him in the local area
Speaker 1: to tap into as a resource. Thanks to Joe for
Speaker 1: taking the time to talk here on the podcast. Thank
Speaker 1: you as always for listening. Stay tuned. We'll be rolling
Speaker 1: out more draft coverage pods in the days ahead, so
Speaker 1: keep on check into your feeds. See