Speaker 1: Let's talk about Austin Reeves because it's I think it's
Speaker 1: well passed when we should have mentioned him. It really
Speaker 1: has been coming since last year. This is the guy
Speaker 1: that's made Laker fans stop crying about losing Alex crew
Speaker 1: so pretty much overnight. He's been on a tear ever
Speaker 1: since returning from injury. Laker Austin Reeves, undrafted free agent
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves. They call him what I call him, like
Speaker 1: the the Hicck, Kobe Bryant or something like that. It's crazy.
Speaker 1: In his last nine games, Austin Reeves is averaging twenty
Speaker 1: four and six thirty eight percent from three and an
Speaker 1: average plus minus of ten point eight. That is sick.
Speaker 1: To just get him off the street and for him
Speaker 1: to contribute like this is insane. Better Yet, though the
Speaker 1: Lakers are eleven and eight since Reeves came back from injury,
Speaker 1: they are eight and ten in games he's missed so
Speaker 1: far this year. Doesn't feel like a lot until you
Speaker 1: realize that a fifty eight percent winning percentage would with him,
Speaker 1: which is where they're playing with him in the lineup,
Speaker 1: would put them squarely in fourth place in the West.
Speaker 1: Right now, looking at a home series in the playoffs
Speaker 1: at Crypto dot com arena. I don't know. Could Austin
Speaker 1: Reeves be the new player to build around on the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Lakers? Could he be the Lakers' most important piece?
Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm not saying he's is. I'm not
Speaker 1: saying he's not. But he is getting He is scoring
Speaker 1: like a super score star, and he is getting superstar calls.
Speaker 1: In the last last four games, Austin Reeves has gone
Speaker 1: through the line twenty three times. Is this man Lebron James?
Speaker 1: Is this man Kevin Durant? Who in their right mind
Speaker 1: would make that script up where the undrafted free agent
Speaker 1: is getting more superstar calls? Then? I don't know. Steph Curry.
Speaker 1: Let's look at Steph Curry, all right, So last four games,
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves has gone to line fifty three times. Steph
Speaker 1: Curry twelve times in his last four games. For comparison,
Speaker 1: our guy Sam SPINDIARRII from The Light Years podcast, tweeted
Speaker 1: this out. Curry forty five drives, two free throw attempts,
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves fifty drives, sixteen free throw attempts. Curry passed
Speaker 1: sixteen times on those drives. Reeves passed seventeen times out
Speaker 1: of those drives. So, in other words, Austin Reeves right
Speaker 1: now is getting superstar calls from the refs. As an
Speaker 1: undrafted free agent, he is going to align an average
Speaker 1: of thirteen times per game. Joe l. Embiid currently leads
Speaker 1: the league in free throw attempts at ten per game.
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves is getting better calls a better whistle than
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid is the sane. Yes, he gets more offensive calls,
Speaker 1: plays call for him when Lebron is out. Of course,
Speaker 1: he's averaging nine and a half points per game when
Speaker 1: Lebron is playing and sixteen points per game when Lebron
Speaker 1: is out, But that does not diminish what our hill
Speaker 1: Billy Kobe has been up to this season. He has
Speaker 1: got been nearly the same winning percentage as Lebron has
Speaker 1: when he plays the season five oh nine winning percentage
Speaker 1: versus Broun's five to eleven winning percentage. The Lakers win
Speaker 1: pretty much in every scenario with Austin Reeves. Austin Reeves
Speaker 1: in total is twenty eight and twenty seven. Reeves without
Speaker 1: Braun is twelve and eleven. Reeves without ad is seven
Speaker 1: and six, Reeves withd lo Is seven and four, Reeves
Speaker 1: with Vanderbilt eleven and six. If you look at Austin
Speaker 1: Reeves completely for the year, he has a plus one
Speaker 1: oh seven for the season. That's top fifty. This man,
Speaker 1: this man is called the hill Billy Kobe. That's top fifty.
Speaker 1: If we redrafted. I thought about this. I went to
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty one draft, which is the year that
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves was eligibly drafted but not drafted. If you
Speaker 1: look at it, which was a loaded draft. By the way,
Speaker 1: he probably is a mid first rounder in one of
Speaker 1: the most stack drafts in history, where you're going over.
Speaker 1: He probably gets drafted over. Jalen Suggs, probably gets drafted over,
Speaker 1: Zier Williams, James Booknight, Josh Primo, Chris Darte, Moses Moody,
Speaker 1: Moses Mody, Corey Kisbert, maybe Davion Mitchell. That's crazy. So
Speaker 1: the Lakers live or die not with ad or Lebron,
Speaker 1: but rather a twenty four year old undrafted kid from
Speaker 1: the Haulers of Arkansas, the NBA's Western Conference. It's just
Speaker 1: very weird right now. It's very strange in the West.
Speaker 1: I don't know what's going on. Scriptwriters are on drugs.
Speaker 1: Let's move on. Kitty Cat. Kitty Cat is back. Karl
Speaker 1: Anthony Towns makes his return last night after missing a
Speaker 1: total of fifty two games. Fifty two games is how
Speaker 1: long ago he went down. Time goes fast in the NBA,
Speaker 1: So there was a lot of drama about how bad
Speaker 1: the injury was. As you guys know, it was a
Speaker 1: Grade three calf strain, but the Wolves tried to downplay it.
Speaker 1: They said it was a Grade two calf strain. But
Speaker 1: he's finally back. Chris Finch put the ball in Karl
Speaker 1: Anthony's Towns hands against the Hawks with three point one
Speaker 1: seconds left, and I'll be damned it worked. Karl Anthony
Speaker 1: Towns ends up going to the free throw line, pulling
Speaker 1: off a one twenty five four victory over Atlanta, which
Speaker 1: I thought that they would lose. He had twenty two
Speaker 1: four and three, He had two steals. Played very well
Speaker 1: within himself for a first game back. But more importantly,
Speaker 1: the Wolves need somebody that they can rely on at
Speaker 1: the end of games, because boy oh boy, they are
Speaker 1: teeter tottering looking from the outside. In eight games left,
Speaker 1: more than enough time for Karl Anthony Towns to shake
Speaker 1: off the rest. But with Anthony Edwards out with an
Speaker 1: ankle injury, man, the Wolves are not healthy. If they
Speaker 1: could get aunt Man back in time, maybe they're dangerous
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. Remember they did take the Memphis Grizzlies
Speaker 1: into a very very tough series. Gonna be fun to watch.
Speaker 1: Not a lot of falter all about Carl Anthony Towns back.
Speaker 1: I'm happy to see him on the court again until
Speaker 1: the offseason, when, of course you'll see trade rumors heating
Speaker 1: up where he'll play in twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: because most likely the Wolves I think will move him.
Speaker 1: But shout out to Karl Anthony Towns coming back into
Speaker 1: the lineup. Shout out to Karl Anthony Towns doing something
Speaker 1: in a late game scenario, even if it is the
Speaker 1: regular season, and the regular season doesn't matter whatsoever. Moving
Speaker 1: on Shaden Sharp, So I think people downplay this man.
Speaker 1: People are slandering Shadon Sharp's name for no reason. Yes,
Speaker 1: he is not a Rookie of the Year candidate. Yes
Speaker 1: he's not as good right now as Powell Ben Caro
Speaker 1: or Benedict Matherin or even Jalen Williams, but man last
Speaker 1: night best game of his young career. Six start, forty minutes.
Speaker 1: He was a plus twenty eight. But here's the thing
Speaker 1: that was more exciting. Twenty four to nine and three
Speaker 1: nine rebounds. That's ridiculous. Twenty four nine rebounds, three assists
Speaker 1: and four steals for Shandon Sharp. That's a nineteen year
Speaker 1: old kid just putting up buckets, beating a Utah Jazz team.
Speaker 1: That is very tough, very tough. I think right now,
Speaker 1: this Shade Sharp performance, to me, he's only no trade
Speaker 1: list Blazers are a tanking team. They are not going anywhere.
Speaker 1: They need another star, and you know what in order
Speaker 1: to get another star or not trading Shadon, that's it.
Speaker 1: Not for ogn Andobi, not for Pascal Siakam, not for
Speaker 1: Andrew Wiggins, no one. I think right now you're looking
Speaker 1: at a kid. I'm gonna predict it. Shaden Sharp is
Speaker 1: going to be one of the most talented people in
Speaker 1: the NBA period, hands down, six to six. His selling
Speaker 1: is the roof. As they say, with only ten games
Speaker 1: left in the season, there's not going to be a
Speaker 1: play in for us. I know that I want him
Speaker 1: to start every single game. I want to see more
Speaker 1: Shaden sharp development. He's strapping. His defense looks really good.
Speaker 1: I want to see what he will do with thirty
Speaker 1: five minutes a game. Dare I say numbers like that
Speaker 1: will be the norm. Do not stunt this kid's development,
Speaker 1: Allow him to grow, Allow him to flourish. I know
Speaker 1: Damian Lillard looks more impatient than I am about the Blazers.
Speaker 1: He's starting to get frustrated again. But I haven't been
Speaker 1: this excited about a Blazers player since Dame Us. Of course,
Speaker 1: we get Victor Wombiama and then everything changes. That's all
Speaker 1: the time that we have for this episode of the
Speaker 1: Heat Check check back Tuesday for an all new episode.
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