WEBVTT - Jalen Brunson should be getting more MVP buzz 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:11.680 On this episode of the Hate Check. 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:13.840 March Madness is here. 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:17.439 So while everyone's focuses on the college game, we're gonna 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:20.599 watch the NBA for you, including that epic Mass versus 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:22.919 Nuggets game that was right in the middle of other 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:26.960 good college games. Good thing for that, multiview TV. Gotta 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:30.920 talk today about Jalen Brunson. We got a big question 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:36.360 to ask about Jalen Brunson. After another amazing performance for 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.360 the New York Knicks. We gotta be talking about the Rockets, 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:42.600 the hottest team in the league right now, What sneaking 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:45.120 up on the Warriors, and we get. 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:46.479 Into some news from around the league. 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:49.760 Anthony, it's a Sunday night, Monday morning for. 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:51.279 Y'all, so let's get into it. 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:53.560 Let's drop that motherfucker beat the should be be honest, 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:11.280 best regular season game so far outside of the Nuggets 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:14.480 and the Celtics. Somewhat, I don't know, I don't know. 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:16.400 It's hard in president of the moment. We got to 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:20.039 get into what I'm fired up about. While most hoops fans' 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.640 attention were squarely on the conference tournament on a Sunday, 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:26.640 and then they were looking at the bracketology, they're filling 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:29.840 out their bracket. They're paying venmo to fool to folks. 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:33.080 The Intrepid podcast host had one eye firmly on the 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:35.400 association as well. So before we get into the meat, 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:38.840 there was some potatoes popping on a Sunday. And I'm 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:41.399 not talking about BAM's game winning three against Detroit. I'm 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:44.520 not talking about Victor weberin Yama thirty three seven fifteen 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:47.360 and seven with seven blocks and an OT win against 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:51.480 the Nets, or Grady Dick and Anthony Black trading jerseys 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:53.800 in an all time photo op where Dick gets Black 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:58.080 and Black gets Dick Black Duck. I'm talking about the 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:03.160 MAVs and the Nuggets on National TV, two of the players, 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:06.240 best players in the world, Luka and Jokic giving us 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:09.480 a show and Jamal Murray cannot forget him in a 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:13.040 game that the MAVs had to win, they had to 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:13.440 win it. 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:16.320 They're firmly on the ropes. They threw everything out. 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:20.320 The Nuggets almost wasn't enough up ten in the fourth. 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:23.160 The Nuggets did that Nuggets thing, decided that they wanted 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:26.320 to win the game, and then boom poof goes the 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:30.079 Magic Dragon. Lead disappears fast and with forty five seconds. 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:30.920 The Nuggets had. 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:34.400 The clock advantage, two possessions to one and the ball 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:35.079 in a tie game. 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:39.200 We just all assume that's that Jamal Murray. 0:02:38.919 --> 0:02:43.920 Puts them to bed, Jokic tucks him in, and that's all. 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:44.640 That she wrote. 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:48.120 But somehow, some way, Jamal Murray figured out a way 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:51.680 to create some space, was left all alone, and boom, 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:54.840 three point lead for the Nuggets came around the screen. 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:57.640 Somebody just went, I forget who was maybe Kyrie or 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:01.200 Irving went underneath the screen. That is a that is 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:04.119 a mistake. But then Lucas said, oh, no, baby, hold 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:08.359 my beer. Hit a twenty foot seven twenty seven foot 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:11.239 three to tie the game. Then the Nuggets had the 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:13.840 possession with twenty four seconds left. Worst that could happen, 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:15.480 right is ot for Denver. 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:19.959 No, baby, that's not true. They took the time down 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:21.200 to about seven seconds. 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:25.040 Murray shook loose, got himself an open fourteen footer, missed 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:29.200 off the back rim MAVs got the rebound two point 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:31.679 eight seconds left to go. They'll probably surely want to 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:35.040 go to OT as well. Right. Oh, what happened next 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:38.560 just adds to the legend of one of the best 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:43.360 offensive players in the NBA, definitely the best skilled player 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:46.360 in terms of all around game that we've seen maybe 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:49.840 so far. And Kyrie Irving shakes off his defender, ducks 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:52.480 around the screen, gets the ball near the free throw line, 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:56.360 goes around Yokic, and then a hybrid baby hook with 0:03:56.480 --> 0:04:02.240 the left slap splash over Mavericks win and I was 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:08.600 like a ridiculous what a game, Very fun game for 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:11.960 a Sunday matinee. Huge win for Dallas. They move into 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:15.000 a tie with the sixth spot with the Kings. Ooh, 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:19.640 it's getting ugly. Luke had thirty seven, nine and three, 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:22.760 Kyrie had twenty four on an off night. 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:25.039 Jokic had an off night. 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:28.880 Shooting but still put up sixteen eleven and seven. Probably 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:31.520 not a game that the Nuggets sleep loose, sleepover. They're 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:34.200 still pushing for the one seed, but they're furly in 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:36.640 the driver's seat there. If they had to play the 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:40.080 MAVs again in two days, I'm very confident that they 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:42.680 would win again. They would win by twelve probably, But 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:45.200 it's a reminder that these MAVs are dangerous. 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:46.599 That these MAVs going. 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:50.320 Up against anyone in a playing tournament could somehow, some 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:52.640 way find their way into the eighth seed. And if 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:54.320 they find their way into the eight seed and they're 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:56.760 playing against I don't know, the Oka Seat Thunder. I 0:04:56.880 --> 0:04:58.800 tell you what, I wouldn't want to play that game 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:01.640 if I was the Thunder. The West is a gulf. 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:07.320 All right. Moving on, we got to talk about Jalen 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:10.000 Brunston after he's bawled out the past two games for 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:13.000 the Knicks forty two against the Kings followed by forty 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:15.719 five against the Blazers. Obviously, that puts him an elite 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:20.000 company as one of only four Knicks ever to have 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:24.160 back to back forty point games, along with Mellow, Patrick 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:28.200 Ewing and Bernard King. So it's sort of a similar 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:31.800 segment to the MAVs considering that Jalen Brunson is a 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:33.560 former mav He's a bucket, He's a Bucky. 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:34.159 He's a bucket. 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:39.279 And the forty point games are actually more impressive when 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:41.120 you look at the fact that I don't know, the 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:44.479 NBA came out and told us that they have tamped 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:47.560 down and changed the rules or changed what the referees 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.000 are looking at in terms of hunting fouls, and now 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:53.120 we are down to scoring in the nineteen eighties level 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:55.279 in the last third of the season, and in that 0:05:55.400 --> 0:06:01.080 time where we're seeing seventy point games seventy five, Jalen 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:05.240 Brunson is putting up forty. He's actually producing more than 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:08.320 he was in the scoring heyday where guys are putting 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:10.120 up seventy and eighty in a game. 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:11.200 So doesn't that. 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:15.520 Actually feel like along the way, as competition has gotten tougher, 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:19.640 the spotlight has gotten brighter and the moment has gotten 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:22.960 more important, that Jalen Brunson has elevated his game as well. 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:26.000 It does, right, It feels like that to me as well. 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:29.200 So I was thinking about Jayalen Brunson this morning, and 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:32.400 I've got like a few thoughts and questions. Number one, 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:35.000 like the number one thought and question is like, I 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:38.839 think that what Mark Cuban and the MAVs did with 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:41.320 Jalen Brunson's contract when they could have had him for 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:43.320 four years and fifty six million dollars and they turned 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:46.720 it down twice, is maybe the worst fumble the bag 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:52.000 moment in the NBA, Like maybe maybe ever, right, like 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.320 in the last ten years in the NBA for sure, Right. 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:57.479 Is that not the biggest mistake that we've seen a. 0:06:57.480 --> 0:07:00.760 Front office make number two, Like, why are we not 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:04.159 talking about Jalen Brunson as an MVP. I mean, we 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:07.200 talked about Shay, we talked about Luca, but like, let's 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:10.720 get into the details on how impactful Jalen Brunson is 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:14.240 for his team versus Hey, how impactful you know Luka 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:16.560 Doncic is, who is right now the second or the 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:20.120 third MVP candidate, or how impactful you know Jalen Brunson 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:23.400 is compared to Shake Gold, just Alexander and three. And 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:27.760 this is probably the most I don't know, like controversial question. 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:30.280 This is a doozy, like I feel scared even asking 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:34.680 it on a podcast, but like, would you rather is 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:38.200 there any world where you would rather if you're the MAVs, 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:44.320 wish that you had built your team around Jalen Brunson 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:47.520 or you would have built your team, knowing what you 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:51.080 know now, around Jalen Brunson making twenty six million a 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:54.480 year versus building around Luca, who is set to make 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:58.720 seventy three point four million dollars according to ESPN, where 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.360 his super max in twenty twenty five is five years 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:04.280 and three hundred and sixty seven million dollars, because let's 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:07.640 let's be honest, these are questions we should be asking 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:10.360 number one, like, we'll take them one at a time. 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:13.560 We've already talked about Brunston's contract, but a bears repeating 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:17.640 like Cuban turning down paying Brunton fifty six million dollars 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:23.880 for four years twice and then lying about it is Malfeason's. 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:26.520 It's maybe the reason he was forced to sell the team. 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:29.360 Honestly, can you imagine this team with Luca and this 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:32.240 version of Brunson on the Dallas Mavericks at the same time, 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:34.800 a guy who can put up forty and a guy 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:38.400 who can put up seventy. Now to the second question, 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:40.760 why the fuck is no one talking about Jalen Brunson. 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:41.439 As an MVP candidate. 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:44.120 I think he may be more important to his team 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:47.800 than any other player than Nicole Jokic, including like maybe 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:50.600 even including Nicol Jokic. If you look at his numbers 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:54.079 twenty eight, four and six on forty eight percent from 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:56.559 the field, forty percent from three, and eighty five percent 0:08:56.600 --> 0:08:58.800 from the free throw line, that is more points per 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:02.800 game than six the last teen MVPs. But to me, 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:05.200 where you get down to the nitty gritty is is 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:09.880 the advanced metrics. Brunson has a win share of eight 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:12.960 and a half on a usage rate of thirty one 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:16.520 point four percent. But the winning, of course, is what 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:19.800 matters always. The Knicks are twenty four and six in 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:22.720 the last thirty games that Brunston has played, and they 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:24.959 are one and four in the games that he has set. 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:28.480 So with Brunton in the lineup right now in the 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.600 last third of the season where things are getting very 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:35.640 competitive and every win is meaningful, everyone's humming, even with 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:38.319 the injuries that the Knicks have sustained. That's the most 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:41.040 important part. No O g a nanobe for many stretches 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:43.640 like the last thirty games, and where the fuck has 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.760 Julius Randleman, who knows where the fuck has Mitchell Robinson been? 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:51.160 So even with this Hodge Podcast roster, this team is 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:54.079 damn near unbeatable with Jalen Brunston on the floor, and 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:57.160 then win and one in four in games that he 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:02.840 has set so unbeatable with Jalen Brunson, and when Jalen 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:04.880 bruns is not on the floor, they are damned near. 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:10.720 The Charlotte Hornets legitimately twenty percent winning percentage, So then 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:12.679 you factor in how good he's been playing this late 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:14.720 in the season when scoring is down by almost twenty 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:17.679 five points per game. How is he not being discussed 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:22.360 as a legit MVP candidate. Shay's amazing, Shay's consistent. Okay, 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:24.640 see the best team in the West and they still 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.640 have players though without Shay light Chet like Jalen Williams, 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:30.160 that can get them wins. Thence Knicks right now simply 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:33.080 do not have those guys, So is he not the 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:37.439 most valuable dude on the team. Finally, though, and the 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:43.840 part that I've been like tiptoeing around philosophically, would you 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:46.440 rather build a team around Brunson at his current contract 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:49.600 versus Luca who will be making seventy three in his 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:51.600 new contract when he is set to sign it in 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:55.040 eighteen months. It is not that crazy, honestly, And I 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:57.920 think that this question will be asked sooner than later 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:00.560 by others other than me. I think there will be 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:04.680 legitimate media members that you watch on ESPN. They're gonna 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:07.800 be like, hey, are we sure that Brunson's not like 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:10.840 that much of a drop off from Luca? Like how 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:13.400 much of a drop off is he really Brunston's eight 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.600 and a half win share right, and Luca has a 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:20.960 win share of around eleven. So follow me on the 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:24.520 per dollar win because that's like how. 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:26.000 Major League Baseball does it. 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:30.000 So Brunton gets one win for his team, he contributes 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:33.160 to one win himself for every three million dollars he 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:36.800 gets paid. Luca gets one win for his team every 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:40.320 roughly seven million dollars get he gets paid six point 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:44.840 six eight million, which means for the price, Brunston is 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:48.679 more than twice as valuable and impactful. 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:49.880 At winning than Luca is. 0:11:50.679 --> 0:11:53.559 MLB has embraced this more than anybody else I know, NBA. 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:57.520 It's like a it's a wild way of breaking down data. 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:00.080 But this is a bell Weather question for that. 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:03.240 So how much money per win do you have to 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:07.040 pay when you're comprising your roster? From this perspective, Brunton 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:09.760 is a much more valuable player to winning than Luca. 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:12.480 Is because you can't. It's not unlimited funds. 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:15.439 You have a little little like larger of money, a 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:18.800 little bank account to play with. And when you spend 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:21.240 seventy four million dollars on Luca, you know you can't 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:25.400 pay anyone fucking else, anyone else, and it's like, oh, 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:29.440 we can't surround Luca with the right guys. This team 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:32.480 fucking sucks and they do suck, right, they do suck. 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:35.280 But let's not act like eighty million to a dude 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:37.559 doesn't hamstring a team. 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:41.079 Twenty six million to a dude much more flexible. 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:44.079 And of course that also means that Brunson's contract gives 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:46.840 them forty seven million dollars of available money to sign 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:49.640 other players on the free agent market or trade for. 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:53.880 It's not as preposterous as nice ears you might think, 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:57.679 and honestly, honestly, it's not that preposterous if you take 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:01.280 out the money. It's not that preposterous if you even 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:06.079 take out the money like he's you're getting forty from 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:10.120 Jalen Brunson, and there's no Jalen Brunson barking at the 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:13.000 refs and not going down on the other side to 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:16.080 play defense where your team is now playing five on four. 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:20.040 Brunson torched the Kings for forty two forty and two 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:24.240 with four steals, four steals and a block on the 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.360 heels of a forty five one in four game with 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:31.320 two stocks against the Blazers. In his last five Jalen 0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:35.280 Brunson is averaging thirty three and five with a fourteen 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:40.720 point two plus net rating MVP numbers. This is what 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:43.280 coach Mike brent Brown had to say about Brunson after 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:48.160 the game. Aside from Steph Curry, I don't know if 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.040 we've blissed anyone as much as we did Jalen to night. 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:53.760 We tried to send two defenders at them all game 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:57.160 and he still scored forty two. We sent the double 0:13:57.160 --> 0:14:00.720 team at him every single time, and he came off 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:03.680 the pick and roll in the second half and probably 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:04.559 half the time in. 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:07.760 The first half. He is one hell of a player. 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:12.280 Excuse me, what except for Steph Curry, I don't know, 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:16.000 like we don't see guys like Jalen Brunson. And let's 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:19.640 be honest, the Kings have played the Mavericks. He was 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:21.800 not talking about local that way. This is what Tibbs 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:24.520 had to say. He is such a gifted shot maker. 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:27.760 You almost come to expect what Jalen has done. It's 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:30.760 every night, and it's big play after big play. Every 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.960 time we need a blig bucket, he comes up with it. Also, 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.800 let's be real, like if Jalen Brunson was Lucas Siss, 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:41.880 Jalen Brunson would be like the most unstoppable wayer we've 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:45.720 ever seen. Jameen Brunst is like six foot even doing this, 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:49.280 it's incredible. He's like, we talk about one a's not 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:53.240 being able to be like under six feet five in 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:53.880 this league. 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:55.760 Jaylen Brunson might be breaking the mold. 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:58.440 He might be like the new Isaiah Thomas in terms 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:01.200 of being able to be a one on a championship roster. 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:02.680 Sounds like MVP. 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:09.280 Shit all right, few quick hitters around the league, starting 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:13.440 in Agetown. H Town is leading our news segment. 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:17.240 Here we go. Houston suffered a huge setback. 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:19.040 As we know we've been talking about Goon Squad Alprin 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:20.440 Shangoon was lost for the season. 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:21.960 Great theory Ankle Sprain. 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:25.720 We pretty much wrote the Rockets out off like seven 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:26.240 days ago. 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:27.000 They were an. 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:31.720 Eleven plate, eleventh place, staring straight down at a lottery pick. 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:38.040 And then something interesting happened, something that probably Oprin Shanguon 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:42.680 Dowters are rubbling in. The Rockets got scorching fucking hot. 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:46.000 Even without Shanggon. They have now won five in a row. 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:48.720 They have won seven in their last eight. Oh my 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:53.560 Golden State, Watch out Lakers. Oh no, they better watch 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.320 their fucking backs. Because the Rockets are three and a 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:58.400 half games out of the play in right now, and 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:03.120 the Lakers are on a two game skid, So. 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.240 Why are they winning one? Email? 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:09.560 Udokus is like the man at defense, the man ranked 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:12.680 two in the NBA over the winning strength streak. Their 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:16.480 offense is top ten. In other words, just this is 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:18.600 really good, playing good enough offense to keep them in 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:20.800 games and then playing great defense down the stretch. And 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:25.880 the second reason, Jabari Smith and Jalen Green, two players 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:28.720 I would never say think, I would say we're contributing 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:33.040 to winning basketball games. Jabari Smith quietly bawling out fifteen 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:36.000 nine and two two point two stocks per game. Green 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:38.200 is averaging twenty one, four and three since the All 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:41.200 Star Game on forty three thirty six and eighty seven 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:46.640 percent splits. The funny thing, though, the Rockets offer Jalen 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:49.120 Green and four firsts. 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:50.680 For Michel Bridges, who's. 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:53.520 Averaging seventeen four and four since the All Star break. 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:57.200 Oh boy, Nets, I don't know if that offers out 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:00.800 there for you anymore, sir, Oh No, here's how they've 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:05.040 come down the stretch. This is what their upcoming games 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:08.520 look like. If you're the Warrior fan listening or a 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:12.359 Laker fan listening, listen closely to how easy this stretch is. 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:20.399 They play the Wizards, Bulls, Jazz Blazers, Thunder Tough One, Jazz, Mavericks, 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:27.120 t Wolves, Warriors, Heat, Mavericks, Magic, Jazz Blazers, and Clippers. 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:30.000 That means over half their remaining games are against lottery 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:34.720 bottom dwellers. If they take care of business, they just 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:37.960 might be looking at a playing game and kickstart to 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.000 what could be a hell of a year next year, 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:44.000 and also break the hearts of a fan base and 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:46.760 a team that's thinking about maybe making a deep run 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:48.720 as a playing team like the Lakers did last year. 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:52.080 So oh no, watch your back Dubs and watch your 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:56.400 backs Lake show. All right, Moving on, it's not Friday, 0:17:57.359 --> 0:17:59.879 so this doesn't exactly qualify as Chris's crazy as Stata. 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:02.359 But we gotta talk about Sam Hauser for a second. 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:04.640 He did something last night that only two other players 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:07.240 in the history of the NBA have done in. 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:08.480 A blowout, went over the Wizards. 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:15.200 Houser went absolutely bazooka ballistic from three, ten for thirteen 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:18.960 from deep, scoring thirty points, making him only the third 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:21.040 guy in the history of the NBA to score thirty 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:26.000 or more points on only three pointers. Quietly having a 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:28.800 nice season, Sam Hauser. He's averaging eight three to one 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:32.960 forty two percent from three quietly on twenty one minutes 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:36.280 per game. That is outstanding value off the bench for 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:38.080 a team that's not really that deep. He is the 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:42.080 kind of player who can turn it on, folks, in 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:44.080 a performance like this in the playoffs. 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:45.440 Just when they need it most. 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:49.320 Moving on, So Pistons, you know, we make fun of 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:52.360 him a lot, and like for a good reason, they 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:55.360 find ways to lose more games and they keep doing it. 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:57.800 So here we go, tied one on one, one on 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:01.159 one with the heat, the Pistons had the ball with 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:04.600 the shot clock turned off. So I mean, there's just 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:06.280 a million ways you can win this game, right, like 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:10.160 worst case scenario, go overtime. If you're surprised by what happened, 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:12.920 you have not been paying attention to what the Pistons 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:17.240 have been doing, what they've been putting together this season, right, 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:20.480 whatever this concoction is, they've been cooking it up. 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:21.760 Evan Fournier. 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:26.040 Yes, Evan Fournier came down with the rebound with twenty 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:28.760 three seconds left in the tie game. Cad Cunningham got 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:31.200 the ball at the top right of the key, paused, 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:35.080 looked for some Iso action with about fourteen seconds left. 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:39.160 Tween Tween then takes a contested three with nine seconds left, 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:44.000 nine seconds left, Cade, No, baby, what you doing? 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:45.040 What the fuck? 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:47.640 So then Miami, of course, like in Miami fashion, gets 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:50.120 the rebound six seconds left, pushes it up the court 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:53.560 finds bam Adebayo sitting unguarded at the top of the 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:56.960 key like his name is Camilla Cardoza, and he goes 0:19:57.000 --> 0:20:00.800 wet from deep for the last second win. He's made 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:05.200 threes and two consecutive games twice in his fucking career. Literally, 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:08.560 Camilla Cardoza from South Carolina. 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:12.480 I have no idea what Kate was thinking. What MONI that? 0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:17.920 What time out? Many time out? This could only happen 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:20.000 to Monny Williams in the circus that we call the 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:23.960 Detroit Pistons. And boy, oh boy, do we just find 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:27.720 ways more ways to talk about them when really we 0:20:27.800 --> 0:20:28.560 do not want to. 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:29.639 So let's move on. 0:20:30.080 --> 0:20:32.880 So someone posted this on Reddit, a fascinating list taken 0:20:32.880 --> 0:20:37.879 from the NBA dot Com Advance Statistics. Who do you 0:20:37.960 --> 0:20:42.280 think the average the slowest average movement speed on defense 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:45.040 is in the NBA this year? In other words, who 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:48.200 is the slowest footed defender in the league? 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:50.680 Who are these? Who is this list? 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:54.040 Some of it might surprise you and some of it 0:20:54.119 --> 0:20:59.199 may not. Uh, look at this list. Number one is 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:02.239 Luka Donci at three point two three three point two 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:04.959 three miles per hour, Lebron James at three point three 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:08.000 three miles per hour. He's forty, Joel Embiid sitting in 0:21:08.000 --> 0:21:10.560 the paint chilling three point three five miles per hour, 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:14.119 Jason Tatum three point three six miles per hour, Chris 0:21:14.200 --> 0:21:17.399 Paul three point three six miles per hour, James Harden 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:20.520 three point three seven miles per hour, Demarta Rozen at 0:21:20.520 --> 0:21:23.440 three point four two, Nikola Yogic at three point four four, 0:21:23.760 --> 0:21:26.719 kd at three point four five, and Donovan Mitchell at 0:21:26.720 --> 0:21:29.640 three point four to seven. So I try to look 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:31.800 up the animal equivalent of these speeds. 0:21:32.920 --> 0:21:34.280 Told me the site wasn't secure. 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:37.280 I don't know what that means, but what is readily 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:41.120 available is the walking speed of an average man, which 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:43.560 is three point three miles per hour, and that is 0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:46.600 actually faster than Luka Dancic plays defense. 0:21:47.480 --> 0:21:48.200 Think about that. 0:21:48.480 --> 0:21:51.240 Like the guy that you see with the fanny pack 0:21:51.640 --> 0:21:54.600 and his kids and the camera around his neck and 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:59.360