WEBVTT - #thisleague UNCUT: Direct from Las Vegas 0:00:00.600 --> 0:00:04.520 The Indiana Pacers get a shot at the in season 0:00:04.559 --> 0:00:09.920 tournament title against Lebron James and the Lakers. We're gonna 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:12.800 talk about the two teams that made it to the 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:15.600 IST title game. We're gonna talk about the two teams 0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:18.919 that lost in the semifinals. What is going on with 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:21.760 the Milwaukee Bucks, and what is going on with Zion 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:26.200 Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans. Should the IST champion 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:30.120 hoist up banner? We get into all of that next 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:34.879 here on the latest edition of This League Uncut. Welcome 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:38.879 to this League Uncut in the world of twenty four 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:44.080 hour NBA News. This's you love, Chris Hans. Let's go, 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:52.640 time works time, It's so time. This League Uncut is 0:00:52.720 --> 0:01:00.520 underway in on fire. This should be a good one. Hei, everyone, 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:05.920 Welcome in to the latest edition of This League Uncut. 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:12.080 It's a jealousy tinged edition of This League Uncut because 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:16.759 we are taping this on Friday evening. It's still afternoon 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:20.880 time in the desert where Chris Haynes is. Yes, Chris 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:24.640 Haynes is at the nd season Tournament. He got to 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:29.600 see both games Thursday, saw him all over NBA TV. 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:33.640 On Friday he'll be there Saturday when the Pacers and 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:39.840 the Lakers play for the first Ist crown. I am 0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:42.520 jealous because I am not there. I hate missing out 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:47.120 on Vegas, but due to a number of reasons that 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:50.880 I don't want to bore you with. Despite our best 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:56.200 attempts to reunite in Vegas, like we did in July 0:01:56.360 --> 0:02:00.640 when we did a live edition of this podcast with 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:05.440 Lakers coach Darvin Ham at a very well known sports 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:10.320 book on the Strip, we couldn't quite make that happen 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:16.000 this time. It's my fault. That's my those are that's 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:18.280 supposed to be my department. I couldn't get it done. 0:02:18.360 --> 0:02:23.120 And so Haynes is there amid all the glitz and glamour, 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:26.440 and I'm just fifteen hundred miles away. No, not fifteen hundred, 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:32.720 I'm a thousand plus miles away and very envious, very envious. 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:35.520 But so you felt the need style style, You felt 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:39.400 the need to correct yourself right there. You went from 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:42.639 fifteen hundred miles away to a thousand As if anybody 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:43.760 would have called you out on that. 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:46.680 I just like to I have to be accurate at 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:48.959 all times. I mean, it's Dallas to Vegas. Is not 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:52.440 fifteen hundred miles Dallas to Dallas to Cali or Dallas 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.040 to New York, is you know, in the fifteen hundred ballpark. 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:57.880 But it's more like it's a thousand plus. 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:01.120 Okay, I think it would have been fine. 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:05.040 But striving for accuracy. How is how is the strip 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:07.720 treating you? Rub it in? Tell me what's going on? 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:09.440 How's it been so far? 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:13.880 Well? This is? You said it that the Vegas is 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:19.440 the desert, and I don't know what desert is. Fifty 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:22.480 degrees it's cold, stein you know, I've never been to 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:26.320 Vegas and it's been this cold. This is the first 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:29.040 I haven't been on the strip. I haven't walked. The 0:03:29.040 --> 0:03:31.560 only time I've walked. I've walked a few times back 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:34.920 and forth to the arena. I'm staying at the Aria 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:37.920 and the hotel is like a block away. It's about 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:41.640 a seven minute walk if that. So, I've been doing that. 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:42.920 But stiin this cold man. 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:46.200 Cold Vegas is wonderful? How could what you like it better? 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:48.480 When it's one hundred and ten? I mean, what's wrong? 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:51.800 Throw on a fancy TNT jacket and you're good. 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:55.360 I didn't bring a jacket. I didn't bring. I have 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:57.760 one sweater. I have a hood hooded sweater, but it 0:03:57.840 --> 0:03:59.640 doesn't go with all my outfits, so I can't be 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:01.440 wearing it all the time. But no, Star, I mean, 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:03.920 this is this is the desert, right, So in December, 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:07.080 I expect it to be seventy five plus give me 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:13.760 seventy five to eighty eighty five. That sounds about right cold. 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:16.640 But man, cold Vegas. Like I said, cold Vegas sounds 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:17.320 wonderful to me. 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:19.960 I'm not feeling it. And in the arena stein t 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:24.920 Mobile Arena, it is super cold in that arena, super cold. 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:27.560 You know they got that ice under there for hockey. Man, 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:31.880 So god, I hate freezing. I hate freezing. But look, 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:35.640 I'm in Vegas. I'm enjoying getting to see my comrades 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:37.760 out here. Miss you out here. Stein. 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:41.159 But uh, it sounds like a big media contingent is 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:41.880 on the scene. 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:45.720 You know what. I wouldn't say. No, I wouldn't I 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:49.080 wouldn't call it big. It's not that, it's not that, 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:54.720 it's not that many. You know, I would probably say 0:04:54.720 --> 0:05:00.440 there's probably the same amount of foreign media here than 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:03.440 American media. I'll say it's probably more forim media than 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:10.080 American media. There's not there's not a large contingency here, Stean, there's. 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:11.839 Not bad info apparently. 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.560 Yeah, well it doesn't from from my eye, you know, 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:17.159 from the naked eye, doesn't look that way. 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:19.679 Well, look, before we get into the Pacers and the Lakers, 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:21.200 and of course we're going to talk about the Bucks 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:22.960 and the Pelicans too, before we get into all that, 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:27.400 just tell me your impressions of being in the building 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:32.440 last night. Again, we're taping this Friday, almost seven pm 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:33.480 Eastern time. 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:33.600 So. 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.320 It was last night, you know, the Bucks, especially that 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:43.760 Bucks Pacers game five pm Eastern tip off, two pm 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:50.680 local tip off. And I can't imagine that a slew 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.760 of Bucks and or Pacers fans made their way from 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:56.480 the Midwest all the way to Vegas on short notice. 0:05:56.520 --> 0:06:01.279 So I saw Damian Lillard said something like neutral was 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:04.080 a good word because it had a neutral atmosphere in there. 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:06.960 I mean, what was the noise like. 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.520 Noise? The PA announcer was making a lot of noise. 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:17.720 He probably made the most noise. You know during that 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:20.640 Pacers Bucks game, there was a lot of seats available. 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:22.800 I say that you could have grabbed the seat last 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:25.320 minute and probably had you a really good seat, A 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:29.039 lot of seats available for that two o'clock local time 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:35.160 start between the Pacers and Bucks. The wasn't really an atmosphere. 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:42.680 There wasn't really a Pacers fan contingent or Bucks fans contingent. 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:45.080 You know, obviously there were some of those fans there, 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:51.040 but nah, it was pretty Yeah, it was. It was neutral, 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:53.760 but it didn't have much of an atmosphere. Really. 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:55.160 It was a good game, though, so I mean, it 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:57.560 looks like it didn't have any real impact on the game. 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:01.799 Yeah. Well, the players are playing art because everybody's trying 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:06.080 to get that money, so you know, the product didn't suffer. 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:11.640 But that was my concern starting a having a two 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:16.360 o'clock game start at start on a SAT on a Thursday. 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:21.119 So that was my my, my baby, excuse me, stein 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:24.480 my baby. She is facetiming me right now. Jada cannot 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:29.000 call you back, baby. Your hair looks nice. I love 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:34.080 your baby. Hear my daughter's Styn She said, hy Mark 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:39.400 sty always said bye my bad okay, bye bye baby, 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:44.840 love you. That's my third youngest daughter right there. She 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:48.200 is thirteen. She just got a new hair. Deuces. She 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:52.880 facetimed me right now avid podlistener, Yes, big blistener subscribes 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:56.680 and everything to this league uncut but no, yes, Stein, 0:07:56.840 --> 0:07:59.480 so she would show me her hair, her new hair, dude. 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:01.640 But Stein, Yeah, it was like it was, you know, 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:04.120 it wasn't really an atmosphere now, the six o'clock game, 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:08.040 the six thirty game or whatever. It was, Lakers Pelicans, 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:12.640 definitely Lakers fans all in the building much more. The 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:15.800 arena was much more packed, much more of an atmosphere, 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:19.920 an environment. I would have liked to have seen a 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:23.080 more competitive game, but yeah, it was night and day 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:26.000 were talking about the atmosphere and the environment from the 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:27.840 two o'clock game to the six o'clock game. 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:31.000 Well, I think we knew that was gonna happen. Vegas, 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:33.920 of course, well known as a Laker town, so we 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:36.640 knew there were gonna be no issues in the night game. 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:42.000 And look, the league, honestly to me, has gotten everything 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:46.320 it could have hoped for with this championship game matchup 0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:51.920 Saturday night because the Pacers and you know, you've had 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:55.200 to hear these lectures for me about how the league 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:57.199 is trying to make this. You know, the league has 0:08:57.320 --> 0:09:00.400 used soccer tournaments abroad as the guide for this, but 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:04.160 there are so few soccer elements to it, and that's 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:06.760 something that has bothered me from the start. But this 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:13.400 is the Indiana Pacers have made a classic Soccer Cup run, 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:17.920 exactly what the NBA would have hoped, because you know, 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:21.839 they're beating Boston in the quarterfinals at home. They're beating 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:26.320 Milwaukee in the semifinals in Vegas. If it's a seven 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:31.000 game series, the Pacers are obviously not going to be 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:35.079 favored against either one of those teams. And you'd struggle 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:37.959 to imagine a scenario where the Pacers won a seven 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:41.040 game series against the Celtics or the Bucks. But this 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:46.000 is supposed to be a knockout competition, a cup competition. 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:50.160 Mama said, knock you out, and that's what the Pacers 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:52.560 have done. They're six and oh in these knockout you know, 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:54.800 they went four and oh in the group. They won 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:58.840 their two knockout games. They beat two of the Eastern 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:04.080 Conference powers in Milwaukee and Boston. And that is what's 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:06.400 supposed to happen in a cup. Those are the kind 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:10.559 of magical things where a team gets hot and catches 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:15.600 fire and goes farther than it normally might have because 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:18.319 they've only got to win. You know, anybody can beat 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:20.400 anybody in one game. And then on the other side 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:22.920 of it, it's the Lakers, and of course this is 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:27.080 the NBA's dream, this is what Adam Silver wanted. Unfortunately, 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:31.560 it comes with the assist of a very disputed ending 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:36.080 in the quarterfinals against Phoenix, when a call was clearly 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:38.360 missed and the Lakers got a timeout they shouldn't have. 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:42.520 But obviously the Lakers left no doubt with the way 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:47.600 they destroyed New Orleans in the Semis, and Lebron James 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:49.880 is on the final stage, and you know, for the 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:55.719 league office, that is huge beyond words, because again you've 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:58.959 got the Cinderella Pacers on one side, and you've got 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:06.800 Lebron to attract the national TV audience and legitimize this 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:09.720 thing because he clearly wants to win it. It's something 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:13.760 that means something to him. So honestly, to me, the 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:16.280 NBA couldn't have drawn it up better had they tried. 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:19.080 Although again, there will be cynics out there who will 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:21.920 point to the way that Lakers Suns game ended and 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:25.760 say that, you know, the league, the league did have 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:28.440 a role here. Although look, I'm I'm by no means 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:33.040 suggesting that there was league intervention. It was a bad call. 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:35.720 It shouldn't have happened. It was a missed call. It 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:38.720 was it was a mistake, but it did help the 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:41.040 Lakers on this path. And again, full credit to the 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:45.240 Lakers for taking advantage of that and blowing New Orleans 0:11:45.240 --> 0:11:47.800 out in the semis Stein, I'm slow. 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:53.600 I'm slow, and I probably shouldn't be acknowledging this or 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:55.640 saying this, but I'm gonna say it because this is 0:11:55.960 --> 0:12:00.400 this league uncut Starn, I'm slow. I'm listening to you, 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:04.360 and you're saying, this is exactly what the NBA wanted. 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:10.560 You know what single game elimination knockout scenario. When you 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:16.360 said that, Stime, I've came to the rezation. I understood now. 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:21.840 That's why they played that ll COOJ song. Mama said 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:25.920 knock you out, the knockout round. That's why I never 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:27.120 knew exactly why. 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:32.440 I thought, you remember my big rant when we got 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:37.120 the news that the league had convinced LL COOLJ to 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:40.880 do a freshened up version of Mama said knock you out. 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:42.920 And I thought that was a great idea. But what 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:46.240 bothered me so much was that was the anthem that 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:49.440 is the NBA's official anthem for the nd season tournament. 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:54.600 But because there are sixty group games only seven games 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:58.200 in this tournament, can you actually get knocked out? That 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:03.960 was my issue. The song is awesome, but like, yeah, 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:07.520 and you've always you've seen this week when they're when 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:12.480 they're when when there is a knockout, We've seen great 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:14.959 We've seen great stuff. You know, the indie crowd was 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:18.280 great when the Pacers beat the Celtics, and then obviously 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:20.760 that was you know, Pacers Bucks went went all the 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:22.600 way down to the wire. I mean that that's what 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:28.920 we want. That's that's the the novelty and the newness here, 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:33.840 because nothing in the NBA is single elimination, nor you know, 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:37.120 obviously in the playoffs there shouldn't be single elimination. I 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:39.960 remember being a kid, and you know, in the first 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:41.880 round of the playoffs, they used to have the mini series, 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:45.160 which was two out of three, and that was considered 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:47.400 too short, and then we had three out of five 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:50.000 in the first round and they even did away with that. 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:52.160 And I think there are some people who do miss 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:55.200 the playoffs when the first round was just best of five. 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:59.960 But obviously now in the playoffs it's best of seven, 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:02.400 all four rounds. So if the playoffs are gonna be 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:05.000 best of seven, all four rounds, let's make the end 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:08.240 season toment. Let's have even more single elimination games. Let's 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:08.920 get crazy. 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:14.280 Yeah that I'm down for that. I'm not opposed to that. Yeah, 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:17.199 I'm just slow. So I had I had to admit 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:19.560 that I'm slow. It makes sense now. 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:23.600 Well it was a bold admission, because yeah, it makes sense. 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.480 You know, I've been I've been harping on that one. 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:30.040 But I think it also just proves that you're not 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:34.200 you're not reading. You're not reading my substock as close. 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:39.080 I on the other, hold on, I got a question 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:41.240 for your style. First of all, I do read. Second 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:45.160 of all, I got let me ask you this. Would 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:49.720 you rather I read all your work or would you 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:54.120 rather I subscribe and pay for a subscription? You pick one? 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:56.720 Sty Oh, I'd much rather you pay for the subscribe. 0:14:56.760 --> 0:14:58.760 Okay, thank you, all right, because I do pay. 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:04.480 But difference is Last night, when Chris Haynes posts a 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:08.240 story for Bleacher Report about some post game tensions in 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:11.320 the Bucks locker room, I click on it instantly and 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:12.840 read every single word of it. 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:18.440 I do. I do the same as well. Most of 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:20.440 the time I do. They're reciprocated. 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:23.000 Most It's fine. All I want. All I want is 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:23.800 to sum it's fine. 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:26.680 You got that check out, let's check it. 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:34.080 Let's talk about your Buck story. I don't want to. 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:36.920 I don't want to make a huge deal of it 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:39.200 unless you tell me I should. But I mean, I 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:43.800 do think it's worrisome. Now. Look, the Bucks, even after 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.960 losing the Semis to Indiana, they woke up on this 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:49.840 Friday at fifteen and seven. They've got the second best 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:54.320 record in the East. They've been, you know, very good 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:56.800 lately when Dame's been in the lineup. So I mean, 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:02.240 it's you know, it'd be overstatement to suggest that there's 0:16:02.280 --> 0:16:04.600 some kind of crisis going on, but there has just 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:08.160 been you know, Adrian Griffin is basically a quarter of 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:10.440 the way through his first season with the Bucks, and 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.320 there's been a lot. I mean, it's been you know, 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:18.160 Terry Stotts leaves the coaching staff before the regular season 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:22.800 even starts. You reported how various Bucks players went to 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:27.560 Adrian Griffin lobbied him to reinstate more of last season's 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:32.240 drop coverage schemes on defense, and the Bucks did that. 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:37.280 There was the game against Boston recently where Jannis did 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:39.560 not look thrilled about being taken out of the game, 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:43.160 and there was some back and forth between Giannis and 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:47.200 the rookie coach. And now this story that you reported 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:49.200 last night, and I should probably let you expound on 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:52.720 what you actually reported instead of assuming that everyone read 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:53.640 it as closely as me. 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:59.120 Well, if you look at the game, look at how 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:02.200 it and it was it was a collapse on the 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:05.800 offensive end. You really didn't see any structure, You didn't 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:12.719 see any plays being called, and it definitely were not executed. 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:16.800 So I went, you know, I'm waiting by the Bucks 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:20.280 locker room and I just I noticed it. You know, 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.080 it's taking a little bit more time than usual to 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:25.639 get out, and you know, usually when that's the case, 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:31.600 you know, okay, something might be going on. And you know, 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:34.960 I got word, you know, numerous people. I got word 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:40.600 that Adrian Griffin went in and you know, he started 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:45.320 harping on rebounding, on their lack of aggressiveness and losing 0:17:45.320 --> 0:17:49.760 the rebounding battle, and you know, Bobby Portis I heard 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:54.199 interrupted and was like, nah, we got to you know, 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:56.840 we got to have more structure on offense. We got 0:17:56.840 --> 0:18:00.560 to have more sets called. You need to called more 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:04.879 sets to get us, you know, running the right offensive sets. 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:07.440 We're out there, not not doing anything, We're just going. 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:10.280 And you know, there's one play that sticks out the 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:16.240 last two minutes of the game where where Giannis imbounds 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:19.159 the ball but he inbounds it to he inmbounded it 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:22.720 to Chris Middleton. Damian Little was coming over to bring 0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:27.400 the ball up, but Chris Milton kept the ball to 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:29.440 bring up, bring it up the court, and emotion for 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:32.840 Dame to go opposite. So Dame goes. You could tell 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:36.439 Dame's a little bit confused. So Dame goes, and then Chris, 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:39.240 once he passes half court, he starts looking for Dame 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:44.159 and Bruce Brown is just hovering Damon and Chris throws 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:47.480 it and Bruce Brown picks it off and Dame stops 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:50.120 him from scoring. But nobody got back and Buddy Hill 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:51.800 was able to get the offense rebound and put it 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:54.560 back in. And so there was a couple of plays 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:57.920 just down the stretch where there was really no plays called. 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:03.000 They were just they just going freely. And so what 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:05.720 you have to understand not you, Stein, but I'm talking 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:07.640 about people have to understand about the Bucks is that 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:12.280 they're in win now mode. You know, the stakes are high. 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:16.920 And yes, Adrian Griffin is a rookie head coach. Yes 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:19.960 there's going to be it's going to take time. But 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:25.239 you know, this is the situation, this is it. You know, 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:30.760 there's pressure, there's a miss pressure. Players feel it. And 0:19:31.160 --> 0:19:34.480 their record is good Stein for fifteen and six you said, 0:19:34.560 --> 0:19:38.720 or fifteen and seven. Really they have a good record, 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:43.960 but they haven't been winning games by large margins. You know, 0:19:44.080 --> 0:19:46.360 a lot of these games have gone you know, I've 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:49.520 been going down the stretch and they they're closing based 0:19:49.520 --> 0:19:53.160 off of their talent. Dame has heroic plays, or Giannis 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:56.399 has hero plays or Chris Middleton lately, you know, they 0:19:56.440 --> 0:19:59.480 continue to struggle in the first half. They start games 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:04.159 off slow. They're always like finding their way back, you know, 0:20:04.240 --> 0:20:07.880 climbing out of large deficits. Like so they haven't been 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:13.000 playing good, you know, so that the standings can be misleading. 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:16.560 So I think what it was, you know, but it 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:18.919 look and so in my report as well. Excuse me, 0:20:19.440 --> 0:20:23.000 you know, Bobby Porter's harped on that and then Adrian 0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:24.920 Griffin I was told, was like, you know, I can 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:28.480 take that criticism. I'll accept it. I'll embrace that. So, 0:20:28.640 --> 0:20:31.159 you know, Griffin has been receptive to listening to his 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:33.920 players to hear what they have to say, and he's 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:36.879 changed some things because of it. But Bobby Porters, you 0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:38.840 have to remember, he's one of the leaders of the team, 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:40.800 one of the vocal leaders of the team. You know, 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:43.600 he he has huge respect in that locker room and 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:45.760 around the league. So if anybody is going to say something, 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:48.720 or if anybody sees something, you know, he's well within 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:50.920 his right to do so. And so you know, not 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:53.800 only did he Chinese Griff, but he challenge the players 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:57.760 to be able to execute. So but yeah, uh, nothing 0:20:58.160 --> 0:21:00.879 to get too big off of it. I wouldn't you know, 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:03.160 I wouldn't jump over a cliff if I'm a Bucks fan. 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:05.159 But you know, I think what it points to is 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:08.960 just the urgency that players feel about having, you know, 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:11.920 trying to get this season right and trying to make 0:21:11.960 --> 0:21:14.800 the most of it even though they're only in December. 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:17.000 Well, I think it's something we're gonna have to keep 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:19.920 our eye on because it's just again there have been, 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:24.120 I mean, there have just been a slew of these 0:21:24.240 --> 0:21:27.600 kind of stories, headlines, however you want to term it, 0:21:28.119 --> 0:21:32.679 since mid October, and it's a lot for a rookie 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:34.880 coach to have to deal with. Again, like you said, 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:37.560 because the Bucks are on that list of teams that 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:41.119 they are judged by championship or bust if the Bucks 0:21:41.119 --> 0:21:44.840 don't win a championship this season. Obviously, I think we 0:21:44.920 --> 0:21:49.320 all remember Yannis at the podium last year taking issue 0:21:49.359 --> 0:21:52.320 with that kind of championship or bus talk. But that 0:21:52.480 --> 0:21:55.040 is the reality. That is the way that the Bucks 0:21:55.440 --> 0:21:58.680 are going to be analyzed by the outside world, especially 0:21:58.720 --> 0:22:02.480 when you make a trade for someone as good and 0:22:02.560 --> 0:22:06.200 as accomplished as Dame Lillard. So I mean, I think 0:22:06.280 --> 0:22:09.199 that is one of the early stories of the season 0:22:09.920 --> 0:22:14.040 that you know, how is Adrian Griffin as a rookie 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:18.359 coach adapting to this high pressure situation because there have 0:22:18.520 --> 0:22:22.600 been last night's story from you was not the first. 0:22:23.119 --> 0:22:28.280 Let's shift gears now and focus on the absolutely splashiest 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:35.240 Morning after headlines because Zion Williamson put under the microscope 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:40.760 like never before after New Orleans got absolutely trounced by 0:22:40.840 --> 0:22:44.760 the Lakers in Thursday Night semi final, and you know, 0:22:44.920 --> 0:22:51.080 this worked out for the Pelicans in precisely completely opposite 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:55.080 fashion to what they were hoping. Of course, Zion Williamson 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:57.080 has never played in a playoff game in the NBA. 0:22:57.200 --> 0:23:00.480 He hasn't even played in a play in game the NBA, 0:23:00.600 --> 0:23:04.400 So this was the foremost stage he has ever been 0:23:04.520 --> 0:23:09.040 on since leaving Duke and coming to the NBA. And 0:23:09.520 --> 0:23:13.920 this game was, you know, the Pelicans against the Lakers, 0:23:14.119 --> 0:23:15.960 the two teams who were at the heart of the 0:23:16.000 --> 0:23:19.480 Anthony Davis trade. And you know, this was probably the 0:23:20.520 --> 0:23:23.600 you know, the most the most the game with the 0:23:23.680 --> 0:23:27.399 most stakes between these teams since the Anthony Davis trade. 0:23:27.520 --> 0:23:30.440 And you know, New Orleans had so impressively gone to 0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:35.639 Sacramento and won in Sacramento to book their spot among 0:23:35.720 --> 0:23:39.480 the four teams in Vegas. And then Zion Williamson just 0:23:39.840 --> 0:23:45.640 absolutely punchless in this game. Lebron James guarded him, sagged 0:23:45.680 --> 0:23:50.320 off him, nothing went right for Zion, and after the game, 0:23:50.800 --> 0:23:56.960 just an absolute torrent of criticism sent Zion's way. And 0:23:57.359 --> 0:23:58.800 we're going to take a listen to some of it. 0:23:58.920 --> 0:24:03.119 We're gonna start with this was Charles Barkley on the 0:24:03.240 --> 0:24:08.240 TNT postgame show talking about Zion and his own career 0:24:08.440 --> 0:24:13.200 and repeating challenges that Barkley has issued to Zion in 0:24:13.280 --> 0:24:16.480 the past. But both both Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neil 0:24:16.560 --> 0:24:20.159 were really critical of Zion. And then we have another 0:24:20.240 --> 0:24:24.560 clip from JJ Reddick right after that. JJ Reddick, of 0:24:24.640 --> 0:24:29.280 course he's an ESPN analyst now, but JJ Reddick played 0:24:29.480 --> 0:24:32.800 with Zion Williamson in New Orleans, so really interesting and 0:24:33.520 --> 0:24:37.159 must listen stuff to me to hear Charles Barkley and 0:24:37.560 --> 0:24:41.119