Speaker 1: No, no, come home, Come home, Come home, Come home, Come.
Speaker 2: Home.
Speaker 3: On this episode of the Heat Check, we are joined
Speaker 3: by our favorite coach, coach Jimmy Patzos, former Coldgate coach
Speaker 3: who is also our basketball insider, here to break down
Speaker 3: the final playing games.
Speaker 4: And we've got some doozies here.
Speaker 3: Paul George apparently isn't playing he got COVID as well
Speaker 3: as give us some insight into this year's crop of
Speaker 3: rookies and how they played out this season. So do
Speaker 3: me a favorite rock and drop that beat?
Speaker 1: Perfect pray?
Speaker 4: What are you going on?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 3: First and foremost, welcome coach to the show. What are
Speaker 3: you looking at? You got getting up out of your seat?
Speaker 5: We loved you.
Speaker 4: We've muted yourself. What's happening?
Speaker 5: I'm not muted?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 2: Am?
Speaker 5: I good? Yeah? All right, let's go. We're ready. I'm ready.
Speaker 4: Hold on, all right? So where'd you go? You went
Speaker 4: and got a book?
Speaker 5: Look, I keep lists, I keep I use I'll use
Speaker 5: Lindy's Sports for college and pro. I'll read the New
Speaker 5: York Post. I do stuff online, but I also keep
Speaker 5: my own lists. Like on draft night, so it was
Speaker 5: running to get my folder. We're gonna talk about Draft night.
Speaker 5: Should we have taken Scottie Barnes ahead of sug It's
Speaker 5: clearly a good decision.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's like, that's a main one.
Speaker 3: Let's first and foremost talk about these playing games, because
Speaker 3: I have so many questions about last last draft class.
Speaker 3: There's so many good like intriguing storylines. But first and
Speaker 3: foremost Istlanta Hawk's played Cleveland. Uh, Cleveland is a two
Speaker 3: and a half point dog. This is not a betting show.
Speaker 3: This is but I just wanted to say what the
Speaker 3: line was. And you know, here's the interesting thing. Cleveland
Speaker 3: is going to give it a go. Apparently Jared Allen
Speaker 3: is going to play right, and that's who knows how
Speaker 3: he's gonna be. You got bogged on who's questionable with
Speaker 3: an ankle sprain? Obviously no John Collins because he has
Speaker 3: a finger issue as well.
Speaker 4: What do you think happens? Like, how do you see this?
Speaker 4: This game?
Speaker 3: This you know, winner go home game playing playing out,
Speaker 3: especially since Atlanta has only really played well in Atlanta.
Speaker 5: You know, Atlanta has size though with Capella. Now, Bogdanovitch
Speaker 5: is important because he's great out. He's a great, great
Speaker 5: shooter off the bench, Gallinari gives him some experience. But
Speaker 5: it's about Trey Young Herder and DeAndre Hunter. They're tall
Speaker 5: and herd Her and Hunter big guards that can defend
Speaker 5: by the way Herd her That's the steel that they
Speaker 5: got in the twenties. A couple of years ago, was
Speaker 5: at that combine when he played well. Day one shut
Speaker 5: it down. Day two went to the Hawks because he
Speaker 5: got a great move. DeAndre Hunter will always play defense
Speaker 5: because he's a Tony Bennett guy. Another good pick took
Speaker 5: him a year or two. Some guys like Scottie Barnes
Speaker 5: play right away. You got Mobley on the other side.
Speaker 5: Can he score enough? Can he step it up? It's
Speaker 5: about Jared Allen. Jared Allen has to play. He's been
Speaker 5: out six weeks with a broken finger. You have to try.
Speaker 5: I got three of the plans right, Trista and I
Speaker 5: got the Hawks one wrong. I thought the guards. I
Speaker 5: thought the Hornets might come up with Gordon Haywood doesn't
Speaker 5: play what I don't understand. I guess I'm gonna go
Speaker 5: with this. It's a one game survive in advance. A
Speaker 5: couple of years ago, we were all kind of making
Speaker 5: fun of the playing is it good enough. What's the deal?
Speaker 5: You know where out of the summer league you hear
Speaker 5: about it, and last year was a little quirky, although
Speaker 5: the Wizards took advantage of it. I think it's brilliant.
Speaker 5: I actually think whoever thought of it was I was wrong.
Speaker 5: They were right. I thought it should be seven ten,
Speaker 5: eight nine, a little play in that way, blah blah blah. Nope,
Speaker 5: this is a good format. Cleveland gets to go home.
Speaker 5: They didn't look terrible against the Nets, but Marketing missed
Speaker 5: too many shots. I saw the Calves this year against
Speaker 5: the Whiz, I thought they were gonna win the whole
Speaker 5: championship because it was one of those nights. Okoro Garland,
Speaker 5: Ricky Rubio was still playing market and making threes. Jared
Speaker 5: Allen defended the paint mobley free to Rome Kevin Love
Speaker 5: making threes. They had seven guys with Rubio and Love
Speaker 5: off the bench. Now they had injuries. They've hit a
Speaker 5: wall and Marketing can't score anymore. They're going home, backs
Speaker 5: against the wall. Chance to survive. Go play the Heat,
Speaker 5: who we all know is a little vulnerable. Probably the
Speaker 5: best team that doesn't have a star is the Heat.
Speaker 5: So like all this comes into play back to we're
Speaker 5: going to talk about the draft. You got Mobley and
Speaker 5: you got Hrder, Trey Young and Hunter. The only person
Speaker 5: the Hawks missed on the last three years was Reddish,
Speaker 5: And you know, Reddish has some flaws. He doesn't really
Speaker 5: like basketball that much in my opinion. Sorry, that's what
Speaker 5: I think. I don't think he loves the game. But
Speaker 5: you got Hurder, Hunter and Trey Young. You hit good.
Speaker 5: Coral is pretty good for the Calves. Solid armor guy,
Speaker 5: but now they're hitting on Mobile. Who's gonna get Rookie
Speaker 5: of the Year, So like it's gonna be a fascinating game.
Speaker 5: Who can take over? Like you said, the Hawks don't
Speaker 5: play well at home, but they do play defense, and
Speaker 5: Nate McMillan has always gotten guys to play d and
Speaker 5: they played defense. The other night. They locked up the Hornets,
Speaker 5: Rosier and and Ball couldn't score. You know, they just
Speaker 5: didn't look good. But they didn't have going Haywood. If
Speaker 5: Jared Allen plays tonight, I think the Calves can win.
Speaker 5: They're at home, they're tough. What do the Hawks have,
Speaker 5: Nate McMillan, They got experience from last year. They've kind
Speaker 5: of been waiting around. They started slow, but they need
Speaker 5: Bogdanovitch because that guy A he's a feisty defender, he
Speaker 5: makes jumpers, and he's got experience.
Speaker 3: Do you think that the injury to Jared Allen like
Speaker 3: he should even be playing? Because the thing that's interesting
Speaker 3: to me is like when Trey played against the Calves,
Speaker 3: all these four games that they've played, he's gotten to
Speaker 3: the line like a crazy amount of I want to say,
Speaker 3: he's gotten to the line like eight to ten times
Speaker 3: in each of those occurrences. He's scoring on average like
Speaker 3: thirty two and a half points. Like Jared Allen obviously
Speaker 3: helps them be able to defend without without fouling Trey,
Speaker 3: Like I guess, do you think the X factor of
Speaker 3: this is all about Jared Allen and how effective he is?
Speaker 5: I do. I loved him. I liked him in Texas,
Speaker 5: but I loved him on the nets. I saw him,
Speaker 5: like I said, I do the Wizards pre and post
Speaker 5: game and back in the day. You can go to
Speaker 5: the games, you know before COVID we'll be back there too.
Speaker 5: We've been in the studio the last two years. I
Speaker 5: saw Jared Allen warming up. I saw how tall along
Speaker 5: he was. I saw his attention to detail on defense.
Speaker 5: He wants to be a I love his hair. He
Speaker 5: got a great throw and all that. That guy wants
Speaker 5: to play d He's super pride. He's taken the next step. Sure,
Speaker 5: he broke his finger and the one game thing, I
Speaker 5: think both him and Collins. If you can play, he
Speaker 5: should play. If that's what they because they're missing a
Speaker 5: little depth at the four. Yeah, Hawks and Jared Allen
Speaker 5: if he can help. Look, it's just no replacing a
Speaker 5: guy like Jared Allen back there. Trey Young when he
Speaker 5: gets to the line, that's one thing. When he gets
Speaker 5: to the paint period, good things happen for the Hawks.
Speaker 5: But Garland's quick enough to stay with him. I just
Speaker 5: think Jared Allen back there marketing to tog Iban. He
Speaker 5: doesn't block shots, will see mobiley. I like them. He's
Speaker 5: a little raw. He's still he's just not like there yet.
Speaker 5: He had a great start. He got figured out a
Speaker 5: little bit. He can play some defense. I love what
Speaker 5: he did with usc and and the enfield. He got
Speaker 5: him to the Elite eight. Those days are over. This
Speaker 5: is the NBA A surviving advanced game against an Hawks
Speaker 5: team that's very experienced, but so far the home team
Speaker 5: has pretty much had their way. If Jared Alleen walks out,
Speaker 5: I'm not saying it's Willis reed the Knicks, but he
Speaker 5: remotivates that team. I'm bickerstaff. I say, hey, man, if
Speaker 5: there's one game you can try to play, it's tonight.
Speaker 5: Now is it long term damage? I'm not a doctor,
Speaker 5: but it's been six weeks. I hope he plays.
Speaker 4: Who do you think has the best chance of beating
Speaker 4: the Heat?
Speaker 3: If they win tonight, that's.
Speaker 5: A great see you ask good questions. This is why
Speaker 5: you're a world famous journalist.
Speaker 4: Haha, you're a world famous fluffer. Is what you are
Speaker 4: coaching at Oregon.
Speaker 5: You got the dog, you got Emma, you got the
Speaker 5: em of the dog. You got You, you got Quinn,
Speaker 5: and you got Ryan. You're all over the place, barstool,
Speaker 5: back to DC, up to New York. There's a reason
Speaker 5: you're on the fan because New York City needs you.
Speaker 5: Let me tell you this. If John Collins plays, and look,
Speaker 5: I'm going on what the Hawks did last year, I
Speaker 5: mean they beat the Heat. I mean they beat the
Speaker 5: Sixers in Game seven. They dismantled the next four to one.
Speaker 5: No problem. All Right, that wasn't the best next team
Speaker 5: in the world, but they were still They still went
Speaker 5: me in there and won, and they meet the Sixers.
Speaker 5: I mean, I don't care what Ben Zimmons did. They
Speaker 5: still had to meet Zeth Curry and Tobias Harris Day.
Speaker 5: Mcmellan's got guts. That guy can coach. Now gotta play defense,
Speaker 5: and I don't think they wanted to play defense in
Speaker 5: November and December. But just like you did the year before,
Speaker 5: he brought him in and said it's January. They were hot.
Speaker 5: They had a really good February. They had tough. I
Speaker 5: haint the Hawks seven better chance. But if Jared Allen
Speaker 5: was to be healthy with I sik, I said Garland.
Speaker 5: Of course, they have the biggest lineup. When it win
Speaker 5: Achorrol marketing.
Speaker 4: We'll get four to seven footers.
Speaker 5: It's just but the Heat's resiliency and the way that
Speaker 5: Heat play, I think the Hawks have a better chance. Actually,
Speaker 5: if I had upon reflection after watching ten minutes of
Speaker 5: the Hawks won its game, I couldn't believe I took
Speaker 5: the Hornets, And I don't want to be saying the
Speaker 5: same thing tonight. So even though it's not a gambling show.
Speaker 5: I think the Hawks go in there and find a
Speaker 5: way to win, and then they give the Heat all
Speaker 5: they want. How about that the Heat are gonna get
Speaker 5: the Hawks who went to the finals last year, and
Speaker 5: the Celtics are gonna get the Nets. This is gonna
Speaker 5: be too compelling. First round series one in two seeds. Meanwhile,
Speaker 5: the Bucks are going to cruise from the three seed
Speaker 5: against the sleeping Bulls that took they ripped van winkled
Speaker 5: it from.
Speaker 4: February on, Yeah, they did.
Speaker 3: So let's talk Clippers now versus the Pelicans. Pelicans went
Speaker 3: one to twelve to start the year. We were just
Speaker 3: throwing massive amounts of shade on them that looked like
Speaker 3: a tanking team. Zion of course hasn't played all year,
Speaker 3: despite him doing windmills in practice and pre game all
Speaker 3: that stuff. And then of course they trade for my guy, CJ. McCollum,
Speaker 3: Love them love him.
Speaker 4: Isn't it true too?
Speaker 3: It appears right looks like he's more of a point
Speaker 3: guard in this system, especially with big long wings next
Speaker 3: to him, with b I Herb Jones, Jackson Hayes and
Speaker 3: of course JV.
Speaker 5: Right.
Speaker 3: So, and then the biggest news is like five minutes ago,
Speaker 3: we find out that Paul George contracted COVID, so he's
Speaker 3: not gonna play tonight.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, this is news to you. This is brand
Speaker 4: new news to you too.
Speaker 5: Wow. I didn't know he was not gonna play. I
Speaker 5: was out getting my little lock in with my dog
Speaker 5: and get a piece of chicken.
Speaker 4: Come home, George Pg. Thirteen is not playing tonight, So
Speaker 4: it's Norm Powell and the others.
Speaker 5: Away.
Speaker 3: So now the line is probably let me look and
Speaker 3: see what it is now. I think it's a pick
Speaker 3: them one and a half. Yeah, so one and a
Speaker 3: half Clippers are at home. The line is still two
Speaker 3: fifteen and a half as the total. Just a fascinating,
Speaker 3: fascinating matchup. Just give me how you see this going
Speaker 3: in terms of like matchups.
Speaker 5: Yes, let's review, let's review. Yes, love you and your trailblazers.
Speaker 5: You're trying so hard to fail. After what I'm seeing
Speaker 5: from a column. You might have traded the wrong guy.
Speaker 5: A he's taking a leadership bro. If you read I
Speaker 5: do this show with Bobby Aber, remember the quarterback Bobby
Speaker 5: who that good guy. I do this New Orleans show
Speaker 5: with him and Christians really good and they talk a
Speaker 5: lot about the Pelicans. He had to do some LSU
Speaker 5: and some other stuff, but it's about Pelicans. Really interesting team.
Speaker 5: David Griffin's been absent because he doesn't want to take design.
Speaker 5: He Ingram's hurt. They're doing the tanking thing. Whatever you say.
Speaker 5: Valancenis keeps it together. Ingram is good. Herb Jones is
Speaker 5: why Alabama one. He is why Alabama one. They whooped
Speaker 5: Maryland to go to Sweet sixteen. It wasn't the young guys.
Speaker 5: It just wasn't okay. I like Josh Primo. I liked
Speaker 5: those other guys. Herb Jones was the leader in that
Speaker 5: locker room. He was a tough guy, plays defense. All
Speaker 5: of a sudden, he picks up Alvarado, who led Georgia
Speaker 5: Tech to the ACC title. They came in last this
Speaker 5: year without him last. Josh pass is a friend of mine.
Speaker 5: It's not his fault, but Alvarado New York tough. Will's
Speaker 5: Will's Georgia Tech to the NCAA. Well, he's playing well.
Speaker 5: Jackson Hayes has grown up. I love Valentiunis, but it's
Speaker 5: all about McCollum. I guess he went to lunch and
Speaker 5: dinner with all these different guys. He's spending a lot
Speaker 5: of time with Willie Green. He's like, I can help more.
Speaker 5: Remember he went to Lee High, so he's really smart guy.
Speaker 5: It's basically an Ivy League school Patriot Leaguers.
Speaker 4: Also NBPA president CJ.
Speaker 5: McCollough and right, see, like this is a bright guy
Speaker 5: who's like, we're not that far off. Instead of everybody
Speaker 5: making ben ye jokes and fat jokes and all this
Speaker 5: about Zion, let's get him involved because he shoots sixty
Speaker 5: percent from the field. I'm a big Zion guy. You know,
Speaker 5: he's got to grow up. Sure, maybe his boys are
Speaker 5: down there and they're hanging out, or it's his first
Speaker 5: year in New Orleans. Hey, I was just there. I
Speaker 5: didn't do well there either. It's hard.
Speaker 4: I had a lot of talents.
Speaker 5: They got food, Begnet's with Chris, drinking at night. I've
Speaker 5: been there, beads, beads, they had everything. Hurricanes. Here's the thing,
Speaker 5: what does CJ. McCollum do gets the Scion Now Zion's
Speaker 5: back on the bench, Like c J. McCollum has brought
Speaker 5: them together. But I think Trey Murphy was a really
Speaker 5: good pick. I thought Corey Kisper was a little better
Speaker 5: than him. He went to Rice, who's smart, Trey Murphy
Speaker 5: than Virginia. So Murphy Alvarado Jones. There's your young guys, McCollums,
Speaker 5: your leader. Valance Unis is just a really good, big ingram,
Speaker 5: super talented. And Jackson Hayes, we know it's grown up he.
Speaker 3: Had and of course JV has that Toronto blood in him,
Speaker 3: right because he played for the Raptors for a long
Speaker 3: period of time and he ended up well. He was
Speaker 3: like one of the leaders when they were trying to
Speaker 3: build things. Lowry and and DeRozan people.
Speaker 5: They won it. And by the way, I just I
Speaker 5: might take them in the futures back next year to
Speaker 5: like go to the conference finals. This team is like
Speaker 5: right there and they're gonna get a.
Speaker 4: Decent They feel kind of like Memphis a little bit
Speaker 4: to you was last year.
Speaker 5: Very trista, very good. Yes they do. Who has Desmond Maine,
Speaker 5: who's tougher than you think, who took you know, John
Speaker 5: Morian has been fantastic, there's no there's no question there.
Speaker 5: But all of a sudden they got Dylan Brooks and
Speaker 5: Desmond Maine and all these other guys that are better
Speaker 5: than you think. And they got a little family atmosphere too. Yeah,
Speaker 5: they throw in Steven Adams, So it's a mix. You
Speaker 5: gotta have salary cap that works, but you gotta have
Speaker 5: some young guys because they're cheaper on the tax. But
Speaker 5: really you got to have a guy that could lead,
Speaker 5: and it's McCollum. McCollum has got a fantastic job. And
Speaker 5: I've been hearing Dame. He has been voicing his support,
Speaker 5: following them and saying how much they already miss them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I heard Dame is gonna come up to it
Speaker 3: the CJ mccollingers, And just like Patrick Beverly did for
Speaker 3: Eva Zubah at a joke, I don't think so. But like,
Speaker 3: we couldn't have had them both. They were making too
Speaker 3: much money. Dame's gonna get an extension. CJ's making thirty
Speaker 3: you know, Nirk wants his. And then you're in a
Speaker 3: bad CA situation. So sometimes you have to just let
Speaker 3: the birds that.
Speaker 4: You love dirt.
Speaker 5: Can't we playing dirt by the game? How many games
Speaker 5: he plays?
Speaker 4: We need to get rid of him, Coach, he's got
Speaker 4: to go. We got now.
Speaker 5: I remember when he was picked in the first round.
Speaker 5: I didn't know who he was. Comes around, he's always injured, he.
Speaker 4: Is, he is well.
Speaker 3: We shut him down this year because we didn't want
Speaker 3: him winning any games for us.
Speaker 5: So that was that was Simon's is coming around for
Speaker 5: your Trailblazers. Now there is an interesting draft pick out
Speaker 5: of IMG. I wish that he went to college. I
Speaker 5: wish they all went to college for a year. I
Speaker 5: think he had helped him, helps them marketing, it helps
Speaker 5: him grow up. And what Simon's showed what he can
Speaker 5: do this year. But can't you do it on a
Speaker 5: winning team? Is what you have to ask yourself.
Speaker 3: Let's pivot now, because so your pick is, your pick
Speaker 3: is Pelicans, Pelicans. Let's pivot. Let's hard pivot now. Let's
Speaker 3: talk about this draft, this last year's draft. A lot
Speaker 3: of people coach telling telling me the twenty twenty one
Speaker 3: draft class might be the best since nineteen ninety six.
Speaker 3: Twenty eighteen obviously is elite. This court class, of course,
Speaker 3: is deeper than that.
Speaker 4: For you.
Speaker 3: I mean, we've got just it's just stacked. You literally
Speaker 3: can just go through the list and we'll go through
Speaker 3: some of them. I'm very curious. The first thing that
Speaker 3: I want to where the where the mock separated was
Speaker 3: the Jalen Sug Scottie Barnes pick. Everybody thought, Jalen Sugg's kid,
Speaker 3: who's like multi sport athlete from the you know, the
Speaker 3: Minneapolis area, best friends with Paige Becker's.
Speaker 4: Blah blah blah, A born.
Speaker 3: Winner, goes to Gonzaga, stands up on the table when
Speaker 3: he beats UCLA in that game winner, that he should
Speaker 3: have been the one to go to Toronto. A lot
Speaker 3: of people thought that was like the very easy, safe
Speaker 3: pick because he's a proven winner and they needed a guard.
Speaker 3: They end up going with Scotty Barnes instead, and I
Speaker 3: think a lot of people thought that was like pretty befuddling.
Speaker 4: What did you think about the pick then? And then
Speaker 4: you know, what do you think went wrong with Suggs
Speaker 4: when he ended up going to Orlando?
Speaker 3: Was it just like a depth issue with all the
Speaker 3: guards that they had. Could they have passed on him
Speaker 3: and gone with someone else? So much going on with
Speaker 3: those two picks.
Speaker 5: I've known Suggs since he was fifteen because he was
Speaker 5: on the under Armoured Circuit competitor Hits Game Winners. I
Speaker 5: talked to Mark Few about when he hit the game winner.
Speaker 5: He does that in practice all the time. Big fan
Speaker 5: of Sugs. Feisty, but he's only six y three. Barnes
Speaker 5: is tall. This guy Messi knows what he's doing in Toronto,
Speaker 5: whether it's Van Fleet, Siakam, all the players that picked
Speaker 5: picking up Kawhi for a year knowing that was probably
Speaker 5: all you're going to get out of him. He was
Speaker 5: right about that too. This guy Messi is like he's
Speaker 5: got It's like he's got a little crystal ball. Scottie
Speaker 5: Barnes played for Leonard Hamilton. He basically came off the bench,
Speaker 5: you know, and waited his turn and stuff like that.
Speaker 5: Devin Vass was doing well this year. He did the
Speaker 5: same thing. I like Leonard Hamilton's guys. Scottie Barnes has
Speaker 5: always wanted to win. It's always been about the shot
Speaker 5: and it actually goes in. It doesn't look great, but
Speaker 5: it goes in. But his intangibles with Siakam, Van Fleet, guys,
Speaker 5: they have there. Now you may not have needed Suggs
Speaker 5: as much as we thought. We did brilliant play and
Speaker 5: now he's in purgatory because I think the magic's going
Speaker 5: to be a while. Even though they have fans. I'm
Speaker 5: not a huge fan of because when you lose by thirty,
Speaker 5: someone's got to score. The Magic are a long way away.
Speaker 5: Bonds goes to a winning situation like Florida State, fills
Speaker 5: In doesn't have to be the guy shows has worked
Speaker 5: on defense, rebounding, understanding how to play, happy to pass,
Speaker 5: happy to be a role player, and quietly, he really
Speaker 5: probably should have been the MVP MOBILEI, as we know
Speaker 5: in our society, got off to such a quick start.
Speaker 5: Caid came along too, But it's just hard when you
Speaker 5: lose every game. Okay, I like what cunning him does.
Speaker 5: He's got to shoot the ball better. Suggs broke and
Speaker 5: hurt his wrist. He's down there in the Magic which
Speaker 5: is just not a good situation. It's going to take
Speaker 5: a couple of years to clean up. And Jalen Green
Speaker 5: in the Rockets, they were trying to lose. Okay, they
Speaker 5: were trying to lose. So at leaves Barns as a winner.
Speaker 5: B he's playing in meaningful games. I really like Dute
Speaker 5: two and the Pacers, but they lost. Corey Kispert really
Speaker 5: didn't play until the end. Like you can vot.
Speaker 4: Bars could be coach because like the.
Speaker 5: Shawn Prince, Tayshawn Prince. My point is because you guys
Speaker 5: weren't playing in meaningful games, and he was screaming well
Speaker 5: in meaningful games making a playoff run. Nobody wants to
Speaker 5: play the Raptors right now. Sixers got their handsful. So
Speaker 5: Scottie Barns to me, answered the bell. He did it
Speaker 5: the whole season. He did enough on the on the
Speaker 5: stats thing, but he won and played meaningful minutes. I really,
Speaker 5: if I was voting and waited until the last day
Speaker 5: of the season, he gets it for me.
Speaker 4: No chance. I mean, that's absolutely true.
Speaker 3: Like the thing that's crazy is that everybody was saying
Speaker 3: that he wasn't a true scorer, but he had thirty
Speaker 3: one points seventeen rebounds on fourteen for twenty one shooting
Speaker 3: when they played the Lakers. He had five double doubles
Speaker 3: since the All Star breaks, averaging fifteen right foraging eighteen
Speaker 3: on fifty eight percent true shooting since the All Star Break,
Speaker 3: and scoring was supposed to be the weakness.
Speaker 5: So I think they say Tayshawn Prince because we played
Speaker 5: him in the NC Double A and he looked a
Speaker 5: little funky with his left handed shot and like all
Speaker 5: of a sudden, Larry Brown figured out, hey, that's the
Speaker 5: last team that won it without a top ten player.
Speaker 5: By the way, it was the Pistons. Gary Brown figured
Speaker 5: out all the things Tayshawn Prince did well instead of
Speaker 5: complaining about what he didn't do well. I feel like
Speaker 5: the Raptors have done the same thing. Nick Nurse has said,
Speaker 5: look at all the things this guy does and helps
Speaker 5: us win and happy to do it. But he can score.
Speaker 5: Like you said twisted eighteen. Since the All Star Game,
Speaker 5: what do.
Speaker 3: You think happened with James Bookknight Because everybody was excited
Speaker 3: about you always did.
Speaker 5: No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm known Booknight
Speaker 5: since he was young, and that was all that was joke.
Speaker 5: He visited Sientle when I was there, and I was
Speaker 5: the first scholarship offer he has. James brook Knight's a
Speaker 5: New York kid. He's very talented. He lost to Maryland.
Speaker 5: Eric Coyella outplayed him in the NCAA. I was this
Speaker 5: go to the I was going on all the nc
Speaker 5: double A games. That's when I saw herb Jones, who,
Speaker 5: by the way, was a great first pick. First round
Speaker 5: pick for the Pelicans, like you gotta find guys that
Speaker 5: can win book Knight got out played by Ayela, But
Speaker 5: he's a nice kid. Stephen Cruz was his high school
Speaker 5: coach who was on the bench for Saint Peter's. See
Speaker 5: it's always connected.
Speaker 4: We love to connect Twista for sure. Why do you
Speaker 4: think he played at all or played in play?
Speaker 5: He's got some look, first of all, they got other guys.
Speaker 5: Second of all, I don't they weren't going to pick him,
Speaker 5: but he was left on the board, and I heard
Speaker 5: I heard conjecture, yep that the big boss down there,
Speaker 5: we all know who that is, said, why is the
Speaker 5: number six ranked prospects still on the board? Take? And
Speaker 5: we've all been in those I've been in the rooms
Speaker 5: with bosses when I know it's a bad idea, and
Speaker 5: I go, oh, yeah, that's a great idea. Boss Like
Speaker 5: that wasn't a great idea. They didn't need that position.
Speaker 5: They got Rogier and LaMelo, they took him. I think
Speaker 5: he's got a little growing up to do. Like he
Speaker 5: just didn't shoot the ball well against I saw Connecticut
Speaker 5: twice last year, two years ago. He didn't shoot the
Speaker 5: ball well. He's got a good pace. His crossover getting
Speaker 5: till the rim is excellent. But they'll block that shot
Speaker 5: in the NBA. Yeah, Devin Woters, you just said Cleveland
Speaker 5: has three of them. I think this is a huge offseason.
Speaker 5: Just like in college. I thought the jump from year
Speaker 5: one to year two was big. I go to Summer League.
Speaker 5: I want to see book Knight. Can he grow up?
Speaker 5: Can he spread back on d Is he contempt to distribute?
Speaker 5: Remember New York City guys, they are a little like Alvarado.
Speaker 5: Like I love his feistiness, that's what makes him good.
Speaker 5: But he took four years in college. Like book Knight
Speaker 5: wants to go back at guys when they scored him.
Speaker 5: I saw this up close in Summer League. Doesn't work
Speaker 5: in the NBA. Like if Kyle Lowry crosses you up
Speaker 5: or somebody hits a Jay in your face, you can't
Speaker 5: take it personal. Because they're really great players. I think
Speaker 5: Booknight is gonna be a really interesting one to watch.
Speaker 5: He was picked eleventh for a reason. Some guys saw
Speaker 5: the flaws. But I will tell you this, I wish
Speaker 5: the Wizards got him because they need a point guard.
Speaker 5: Like I like Corey Kissy. He shoots the ball he's
Speaker 5: a good player, but they could have used bookmank because
Speaker 5: they don't have a point guard. Like he's gone to
Speaker 5: a place where they have two point guards. And yeah,
Speaker 5: with most New York kids, it ain't so happy he's
Speaker 5: sitting on They're not real cool. Was sitting on that bench.
Speaker 3: Playing another another place that had multiple point guards, multiple guards,
Speaker 3: and then somehow head scratchingly took someone that they didn't need.
Speaker 4: Was Sacramento and Davey.
Speaker 5: On the course. He plays hard. I gotta give Davian Mitchell.
Speaker 5: He plays hard. Now. I don't know what they're gonna
Speaker 5: do with Deanon Fox and them him and McBride, Damian
Speaker 5: Mitchell and McBride for the Knicks with the two guys
Speaker 5: I saw at some league that played tremendous defense. Is
Speaker 5: that enough? I don't know, But he really Bobby was
Speaker 5: coaching the team out in uh Sacramento with some Bobby
Speaker 5: Jackson who played that he reminded him of him, like
Speaker 5: he's really good. But the Kings they sort of can't
Speaker 5: get out of their own with either. Can they dwist them? No?
Speaker 4: I don't think.
Speaker 3: I mean, it just feels like same thing with Charlotte.
Speaker 3: You've got you've got despirate, you know, opinions, and then
Speaker 3: you've got a hierarchy of power, and then you get
Speaker 3: guys that like do what the owner wants.
Speaker 4: Now, now it.
Speaker 3: Looks like, uh, my man in Charlotte's gonna get clipped
Speaker 3: Mitch cup check.
Speaker 5: Here. Well, I don't think the boss. I don't think
Speaker 5: Michael Jordan's gonna take the blame. Here's the thing. If
Speaker 5: Gordon Haywood plays, they probably could have won the other night.
Speaker 5: But he can't stay healthy either. I don't think he's
Speaker 5: a dog. I don't think it's anything personal. He's just
Speaker 5: had some injury problems. Bok Knight. You can't waste picks
Speaker 5: like that, and they didn't need And when you look
Speaker 5: at like whether it was Desumo, I love Dwate, they
Speaker 5: could have had him, Za Wins, bones Hiland, who's an
Speaker 5: under armour guy. He's played Troumatta Love bones Hiland, long rangey,
Speaker 5: great personality, twenty third pick playing yeah, ruggets. All these
Speaker 5: guys that could have helped them, and they just took
Speaker 5: a guy that was ranked higher.
Speaker 4: Heb Jones would have been really good for them.
Speaker 5: Herb Jones would have been great. They could have used
Speaker 5: the three man defender. But here's the problem, Trista. People
Speaker 5: like Herb Jones is like Social Security guy. Because he's
Speaker 5: a senior in college, they moved down. Duarte was a
Speaker 5: better player than book Night, but he moved to the
Speaker 5: Pacers because the one knew he was twenty four and
Speaker 5: twenty three. They don't want that. You know, Desmo had
Speaker 5: a good year for the Bulls. He moved down because
Speaker 5: of that. Meanwhile, all he did was winning Illinois. But
Speaker 5: there is that X factor. If he's younger, he's under twenty,
Speaker 5: he moves up five or six slots because he's under twenty.
Speaker 5: Couldn't be interesting to see. So you did hear Mitch
Speaker 5: Kumpchick's gonna get clipped.
Speaker 4: That's what I heard.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I heard he was on the chopping block. You know,
Speaker 3: so we'll have to see how that all comes to fruition.
Speaker 3: You think that's smart that they not only overvalue young guys,
Speaker 3: but they undervalue old guys in this league.
Speaker 5: Great question depends what you're looking for. You know, Brooklyn
Speaker 5: took Cam Thomas, who I really like, because he's an
Speaker 5: unbelievble scorer. I'm not going to pass it leading scorer.
Speaker 5: I would oak Hill. They're a winning team. We can
Speaker 5: be patient on a young guy who can score. The
Speaker 5: Celtics Peyton Prichard finally worked out a little bit for him.
Speaker 5: Dee Smith Langford terrible pick. I never liked him from
Speaker 5: in Neana. Didn't think you get a good skill set
Speaker 5: picking that. Picking twelve to twenty is tricky. Pick in
Speaker 5: twenty to thirty. I actually think it's easier because you
Speaker 5: can kind of take a little more of a risk
Speaker 5: or say we just need a guy to help us
Speaker 5: win a few games. You know, if the Warriors were
Speaker 5: picking two years ago in any other spot but two,
Speaker 5: I don't think they take Wiseman. They just didn't want
Speaker 5: to miss on a seven to one unicorn. Well, he
Speaker 5: hasn't been healthy. I'm not sure how much he loves basketball.
Speaker 5: Good kid, I've met him before. Nice, smart, speaks Chinese,
Speaker 5: plays a piano, all that stuff.
Speaker 4: How can you tell?
Speaker 3: How can you tell whether somebody likes basketball? Because remember
Speaker 3: there were a lot of people who said that about
Speaker 3: Aunt Edwards as well, And it turns out like he's
Speaker 3: ready for every moment, shows up when you know the
Speaker 3: lights get the brightest, and he's probably one of the
Speaker 3: more charismatic guys that we have in the association.
Speaker 5: I like Anthony Edwards. He was on an enormous circuit.
Speaker 5: He was in the Curry game too. And I say
Speaker 5: that full disclosure. I worked for on Durma. But we
Speaker 5: also get to see kids at USA basketball at McDonald's
Speaker 5: and the Curry campus is not just on d Rhymer's.
Speaker 5: Everybody Chad Holgrom, you know his Florence. Their son is competitor,
Speaker 5: Jalen Green, you know, talented but needed to grow up.
Speaker 5: You see things you could tell Wiseman was really smart.
Speaker 5: I just sometimes when someone has too many interests off
Speaker 5: the corner, like Anthony Edwards loves basketball all right. I
Speaker 5: also think Anthony Edwards got the benefit of being picked
Speaker 5: by Minnesota perfect place, you know why, because it's about
Speaker 5: as far away from Atlanta as you can be. And
Speaker 5: for someone that age, we've all been there. I am certainly.
Speaker 5: I don't have my eighteen to twenty one year old
Speaker 5: years out there publicity wise, but there was no cameras
Speaker 5: back then. The drinking age was eighteen in DC. When
Speaker 5: I went to college, it was chaos mix for anarchy,
Speaker 5: and we were you know, and we were you know,
Speaker 5: playing ball, and GW was good going to Hoya's games
Speaker 5: and Maryland games could go to the bars and all this. Well,
Speaker 5: they probably have the same access now because of their status.
Speaker 5: I think it's fantastic Anthony Edwards went to a team
Speaker 5: that really needed them. They could be patient. Last year,
Speaker 5: they weren't going to be any good. Let him make mistakes.
Speaker 5: This year. What a what a fantastic atmosphere. Loved to
Speaker 5: see him play the Grizzlies. But I always thought Anthony
Speaker 5: Edwards liked basketball. I just didn't know if the other
Speaker 5: stuff was a distress. Like he loved basketball, I just
Speaker 5: didn't know if the other stuff was a distraction. I
Speaker 5: was a little disappointed in how poorly he played at Georgia,
Speaker 5: but in fact, he didn't play poorly. Tom Crean just
Speaker 5: couldn't get that team together. That's why he's not the
Speaker 5: coach there anymore. Yeah, Like there's a lot of factors
Speaker 5: that go into these.
Speaker 4: Young guys situation.
Speaker 5: Situation, But like you better love basketball on Golden State
Speaker 5: because the guy run on the whole team, Curry loves basketball.
Speaker 3: And on top of that, and on top of that,
Speaker 3: basketball Edwards probably wouldn't have flourished at Golden State because
Speaker 3: of the type.
Speaker 4: Of sets that they want to run.
Speaker 3: You need to be ready to run these complicated things
Speaker 3: right away, and you can't get in the way of
Speaker 3: Curry too.
Speaker 4: Like that's the number one thing.
Speaker 3: Like I don't think they wanted to get LaMelo because
Speaker 3: they said they didn't think LaMelo was going to pick
Speaker 3: up on the offense as fast, and they didn't want
Speaker 3: somebody to compete with Curry for touches, which Aunt probably
Speaker 3: would have competed with Curry for touches.
Speaker 5: And you knew Klay Thompson was coming back. Raggins is
Speaker 5: actually see I think Wiggins has been a beneficiary of
Speaker 5: being around Steph Curry's workout, the love of the game.
Speaker 5: But Jordan Poole's gotten a lot better, so they didn't
Speaker 5: need him. They needed it big. They took a risky.
Speaker 5: Maybe those guys are so big and so talented. If
Speaker 5: it ever clicks, and maybe Wiseman little click, you know,
Speaker 5: maybe just I just didn't. Here's what I'm saying about Wiseman.
Speaker 5: I watched them ten weekends, twist to ten. That's you know,
Speaker 5: a rough estimate. He never played a whole weekend. Wow,
Speaker 5: it was USA Basketball Curry Camp McDonald's in high school AAU.
Speaker 5: He just he didn't wait. Here's how this stuff works.
Speaker 5: Usual it as a game Friday night to Saturday. One
Speaker 5: Sunday a practice, so this he never played the whole weekend.
Speaker 5: He never completed one weekend, which made me a little
Speaker 5: concerned because sometimes you just want to do it for
Speaker 5: peer pressure. Second of all, you just want to be
Speaker 5: out there so bad at this level, getting McDonald's jersey
Speaker 5: and I didn't see it. Anthony Anthony Edwards, he wanted
Speaker 5: to play the big moments, saying he had a game
Speaker 5: winner over Nico Mannyon who is now in Italy. I
Speaker 5: mean him and Josh Green couldn't stop the guy and
Speaker 5: he wanted the ball. And this is a Sunday morning
Speaker 5: meetingless game at AAU. They've already qualified for the playoffs,
Speaker 5: and Anthony Edwards drops forty. You gotta give him my credit.
Speaker 5: So that being said, I also think your system think
Speaker 5: it's correct. It's too bad though, because LaMelo I was wrong.
Speaker 5: I don't get him all right. I didn't think he'd
Speaker 5: be that good.
Speaker 4: He is good, Yeah he is.
Speaker 3: Were you surprised at how deep this draft ended up
Speaker 3: being In terms of all the top end talent. Like,
Speaker 3: I know you don't like Franz Wagner, but we have
Speaker 3: ten rookies that have played over fifty I give him credit.
Speaker 5: I just be I'm just what I'm saying on that,
Speaker 5: I'm careful of guys dropping buckets when they're losing by thirty, right, right, right,
Speaker 5: You and I have both seen there's a lot of
Speaker 5: different defense when it's a two point game than when
Speaker 5: it's a twenty five point game.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So we've got ten rookies that have played ten games,
Speaker 3: and they have played over fifty games and average double figures.
Speaker 3: Do you think that this was like kind of stunning
Speaker 3: how deep it ended up being because it was actually
Speaker 3: considered ahead of the draft a slightly weak draft.
Speaker 5: I always thought Mobley was really good. I liked Trey Man.
Speaker 5: There was some guys like that that I liked.
Speaker 3: You've got Zion Williams, Quinton Grimes, Bones.
Speaker 5: Hirings, Williams coming into the perfect culture. I didn't think
Speaker 5: Zion Williams is going to be that good. I did
Speaker 5: like Tray Burdon. Hey, my guy, Aaron Wiggans Maryland play.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Aaron Wiggins is a perfect example Trey Man dessume move.
Speaker 5: I will say this though the NBA is not the
Speaker 5: old NBA starters. The average guys are playing sixty sixty
Speaker 5: five games, not eighty games. Right, Well, there's room for
Speaker 5: some rookie stuff. But yeah, they score on the ball.
Speaker 5: If they've had a good run, they've had a good
Speaker 5: they've had. This has been a good draftless. Like I said,
Speaker 5: Duarte is good. I just happened because AI work for
Speaker 5: you guys and cover the NBA. I happened to dig
Speaker 5: into the Pelicans and there's Trey Murphy, who I wasn't
Speaker 5: sure on him, and then I was wrong. Chase Hughes
Speaker 5: was right. He wonted Trey Murphy for the Wizards. It
Speaker 5: was close. He's got a big upside, he's long. He
Speaker 5: made a big, tough basket the other night. It's been
Speaker 5: a lot of different guys with talent, and they can
Speaker 5: score the ball. I do want to see how it
Speaker 5: shakes out. And it's interesting that book Knight's the biggest disappointment.
Speaker 5: We'll see if he can bounce back bones Highland. He's
Speaker 5: had a few issues up and down, but he's in
Speaker 5: a team with Djokis, solid coaching staff, Conley's the President,
Speaker 5: Booth's the GM like they're very organized. They can put
Speaker 5: up with some of Bones and stuff. He's got Will Barton.
Speaker 5: When they get Murray back and all that, it's going
Speaker 5: to be interesting. But bonesheiland got to go to a
Speaker 5: winning situation, Scotty Barnes's winning situation. The King Cunningham one
Speaker 5: was the most interesting. I just didn't see him play
Speaker 5: that well. They lost to the Wizards both times. One
Speaker 5: time he played terrible. One time he's went pretty good.
Speaker 5: I don't know if he has enough to turn that
Speaker 5: one around. You know, it's funny because I want to
Speaker 5: see if Sons can turn around the Magic with his
Speaker 5: competitiveness because he's so tough. I'm not down on Wagner.
Speaker 5: I just he's just sometimes I set up before he
Speaker 5: didn't make big shots at Michigan. I want to see
Speaker 5: how that goes.
Speaker 4: But they're being related to Mo. Him being related to
Speaker 4: Mo did not help him either.
Speaker 5: Most kind of a feisty, dirty guy. But he's hung
Speaker 5: around the league and now they're on the same team.
Speaker 5: But you're right, because he's a very different player. You're right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like you see Mo and you're like, oh, it's
Speaker 3: another Wagner, like don't take him in the top fifteen,
Speaker 3: Like he's like a second round guy, and he ended
Speaker 3: up being obviously like had a bunch of triple doubles,
Speaker 3: like really helping this team stay in it at least
Speaker 3: you know who do you think is not being talked
Speaker 3: about enough? It ends up being in the long run
Speaker 3: like shockingly elite. Because I like the upside of Shangoon.
Speaker 3: I really like the upside of Herb Jones, Like he
Speaker 3: impacts winning defensively in ways that.
Speaker 4: We haven't seen in a long time.
Speaker 3: He had like in fifteen seconds he had what like
Speaker 3: two steals a block and got caused a foul like
Speaker 3: fifteen seconds in that playing game. I also really like
Speaker 3: kaminga A lot of people like him.
Speaker 4: How about Reed made athletic.
Speaker 5: But first of all, I want to talk about my
Speaker 5: guy Desmond Gain from two years ago, another twenty four
Speaker 5: year old from TCU know one would take He looks
Speaker 5: at you. You can play running back tomorrow for the Ravens.
Speaker 5: He's a guy that's not only taken the first step,
Speaker 5: he's taking the second step. Was a leader in Summer League.
Speaker 5: I want to see Josh Getty take the next step.
Speaker 5: They're not built the same. I think Josh Getty's really
Speaker 5: good before he got hurt. He's like a triple double
Speaker 5: machine where he's close to it. He's really good. I
Speaker 5: think he's got a little bit more savvy to his game.
Speaker 5: I really like Josh Guiney. He's saying good. I'm careful
Speaker 5: on that Rockets team. Jalen gree to them. They were
Speaker 5: taking some bad shots. Ye look, they're in it for
Speaker 5: the long run. We all know that them and the Magic.
Speaker 5: I actually like the Thunders plan better, Like sometimes certain
Speaker 5: guys take a lot of shots and then they're out
Speaker 5: and they let the second team. Eric Meder is a
Speaker 5: friend of mine, playing VCU five years in the league,
Speaker 5: assistant coach. Like the Thunder could make a quick jump.
Speaker 5: Josh Giddy is a guy I think. I don't want
Speaker 5: to go crazy here because it's a Friday, it's happy Eastern,
Speaker 5: and I'm gonna go have a good Friday beer right
Speaker 5: after this podcast. But I will tell you this, my friend,
Speaker 5: in three years, when they remock this draft, Trista, don't
Speaker 5: be surprised if he's the number one pick.
Speaker 4: Wow. Yeah, his court vision is insane.
Speaker 5: Telling you he's a little don chicky without the bit
Speaker 5: his builds to like in three years everyone he might
Speaker 5: be saying, why didn't we take that guy?
Speaker 4: No doubt?
Speaker 3: Who who finally is in your all rookie team? Because
Speaker 3: you remember Bill Simmons was just like you hating on
Speaker 3: Jalen Green because he does an impact winning same situation
Speaker 3: than I had. You'd have to say with Bronz Wagner.
Speaker 3: So who's your on your on your all rookie team?
Speaker 5: Like I said, I'm putting Josh Gideon because I just
Speaker 5: said it. The mobiley things really easy, the mobiley things
Speaker 5: just because of I mean, he really did impact.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 5: It's funny I talk about all my old stories of
Speaker 5: USA basketball and all that, but it's interesting to see
Speaker 5: kids in different settings. And Mobley's just tremendously talented. He's
Speaker 5: never been like an alpha dog Suggs is. Suggs ran
Speaker 5: those teams, you know, and he was like the guy
Speaker 5: and all that stuff. Chet Holger Max. He has a
Speaker 5: little more of that than you. Moby very content. He
Speaker 5: was thrust into the spotlight. He handled it pretty well.
Speaker 5: But him and Scottie Barnes clearly have had the most
Speaker 5: smooth seasons for winning teams. I'm putting Josh Giddy, I'm
Speaker 5: gonna go. I'm gonna know Herb Jones because they're in it.
Speaker 5: I'm gonna put throw him in there. And because I'm
Speaker 5: not a Wagner fan, so I can't, I can't do that.
Speaker 5: And as much as I want and I do, I'm
Speaker 5: gonna go with my guy Desumo. So my team would
Speaker 5: be my starting team would be Desumo Giddy at the point,
Speaker 5: Desumo at the two, Herb Jones at the three, Scottie
Speaker 5: Bonds at the four, and Mobile at the five. Would
Speaker 5: be my rookie team to play any other rookie team
Speaker 5: you want.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I love all those guys because they've all
Speaker 3: impacted winning.
Speaker 5: And back to winning. They stayed a little longer some
Speaker 5: of them. Whatever, I just I just Desumo. Maybe it's
Speaker 5: me because he came down to the Marriyland Illinois game
Speaker 5: and his jersey was retired after three years, and he
Speaker 5: was like a kid on the bench. Yet he talked
Speaker 5: about how lucky he was to be a bull. I
Speaker 5: travel a lot, when I read a lot of papers.
Speaker 5: When I travel, and you go through Chicago a lot, Trista,
Speaker 5: so I get a lot of Bulls, either watching picking
Speaker 5: up the newspaper or listening to people. He's handled it
Speaker 5: really well. He helped them. You know, they were they
Speaker 5: were really off to a hot start, the Bulls. They
Speaker 5: ran out of gas with no ball. But so I'm
Speaker 5: gonna go that. Yeah, I'm gonna go to sumo at
Speaker 5: the Herbert the three, Gideon at the one, Bonds at
Speaker 5: the four, allbe at the five, and I'll play any
Speaker 5: team you want. You can, you can have your you
Speaker 5: can have your guys, you can have the other kid
Speaker 5: Connehan and Jalen Reed and those dudes. I'll take my team.
Speaker 4: I like that. Thank you so much for coming on.
Speaker 3: Coach catch him at at Coach Patsos on Twitter and
Speaker 3: on all of the Odyssey stations around the country.
Speaker 4: That's all the time that we have for this episode
Speaker 4: of the Heat Check.
Speaker 3: Moving back Monday to talk about the first weekend the
Speaker 3: NBA Playoffs. Please follow the Heat Check the tube up
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Speaker 4: That's also you coach as well. Thanks so much for listen.
Speaker 2: Awesome lady.
Speaker 1: I'm not not on parting