Speaker 1: James Harden makes his debut as an LA Clipper to
Speaker 1: less than rave reviews. The Boston Celtics knocked from the
Speaker 1: ranks of the unbeaten with a loss, an overtime loss
Speaker 1: to the Minnesota Timberwolves. And we're basically two weeks into
Speaker 1: the NBA season, so we're gonna discuss a slew of
Speaker 1: teams here on the latest edition of this League Uncut.
Speaker 1: Welcome to this.
Speaker 2: League Uncut in the world of twenty four hour NBA news,
Speaker 2: Mister Blue, Chris Haynes, it's time, Markstein, It's so time.
Speaker 2: This League Uncut is underway and on fire. This should
Speaker 2: be a good one.
Speaker 1: Welcome in everyone to the latest edition of this League Uncut.
Speaker 1: Mark Stein and Chris Haynes were recording on Monday night,
Speaker 1: a pretty wild Monday night in the NBA. No games
Speaker 1: Tuesday because of elections, so there was a lot on
Speaker 1: the schedule tonight, a lot of craziness on the schedule.
Speaker 1: The Indiana Pacers, fresh off giving up a buck fifty
Speaker 1: five to the Boston Celtics, turn around and ring up
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty two points of their own to
Speaker 1: route Victor Wembin Yama and the Spurs Joe l Embiid
Speaker 1: forty eight points, almost almost the second fifty point outing
Speaker 1: of the season. Philly rings up one hundred and forty
Speaker 1: six on Washington, with both Embiid and Maxi looking fantastic.
Speaker 1: The Lakers in Miami take a one point loss. Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis comes away injured. Another narrow victory from Miami. The
Speaker 1: Heat off to a sub five hundred start in the
Speaker 1: wake of a trip to the finals. But when Miami
Speaker 1: does win, it's been a close one every time. Sacramento
Speaker 1: Kings no dearon Fox, and you can definitely tell two
Speaker 1: losses back to back losses for the Kings in Houston,
Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics arriving in Minneapolis at five and zero
Speaker 1: but losing in overtime. Anthony Edwards takeover in ot. Minnesota
Speaker 1: has now beaten both Boston and Denver at home, the
Speaker 1: only loss for those two teams. But even after saying
Speaker 1: all that, let's face it, the focus on this Monday
Speaker 1: night was it Madison Square Garden. The debut of James
Speaker 1: Harden with his new team, the LA Clippers did not
Speaker 1: go smoothly. The Knicks off to their own sub five
Speaker 1: hundred start, pull away in the fourth quarter, and worse yet,
Speaker 1: for the Clippers, a small team that's really relying on
Speaker 1: Zubach and Mason Plumley to provide their size and their rebounding,
Speaker 1: and Mason Plumley comes away with an injury. So rough
Speaker 1: debut for James Harden and the Clippers. And I think
Speaker 1: we look, you don't want to jump to conclusions either
Speaker 1: way after just one game. Even if the Clippers had
Speaker 1: looked sensational, it would be dangerous and foolish to overreact
Speaker 1: to that. So we shouldn't overreact to a loss for
Speaker 1: these guys on the road when they're just coming together.
Speaker 1: But I think we did see very clearly there is
Speaker 1: a lot of work to do here. These are all
Speaker 1: guys who need the ball. And even if things go well,
Speaker 1: even if Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Russell Westbrook and the
Speaker 1: newcomer James Harden, even if the four of them find
Speaker 1: a smooth harmony quickly, this is going to be a
Speaker 1: small team that's trying to do it with a lot
Speaker 1: of offense. And all those guys, I mean, Russell Westbrook
Speaker 1: has never had trouble rebounding, and Kawhi Leonard when he's
Speaker 1: in the mood, can be a force on the boards,
Speaker 1: but they're all going to have to hit the boards
Speaker 1: because this is a small team and far from a
Speaker 1: traditional construction. Chris Haynes.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they were out rebounded by the Knicks forty eight
Speaker 3: to thirty one. And to your point about you know,
Speaker 3: Paul George is a good rebounder for his position, Russell
Speaker 3: Westbrook's exceptional rebounder for his position. James Harten's always been
Speaker 3: a guy who gets high rebound numbers. So on paper,
Speaker 3: it looks okay. But when you start talking about the
Speaker 3: size of other teams, especially when they have traditional players
Speaker 3: at the power forward and center spot, especially like the
Speaker 3: Knicks Mitchell Robinson and Julius Randall, and you got long
Speaker 3: guys like Barrett at the end, you know, don't Josh
Speaker 3: hart who's one of the best rebounds for his position
Speaker 3: in the league. They're going to have problems when they
Speaker 3: face traditional teams with size. So that's going to be
Speaker 3: the only issue. But as far as James Harden's debut,
Speaker 3: pretty good. You could tell he was trying to blend in.
Speaker 3: You could tell he's trying to defer. He was very
Speaker 3: efficient from the field on the offensive end six to
Speaker 3: nine from the field two or four from three. So,
Speaker 3: you know, I think there's a lot of positives that
Speaker 3: the Clippers can take, but definitely on a defensive end
Speaker 3: that's going to be a concern, and particularly on the glass.
Speaker 3: So you know, this is you know, a plubly situation.
Speaker 3: That's that's tough. We'll have to see what comes in that.
Speaker 3: But yeah, they really have no size, you know, in
Speaker 3: that reserve unit spot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and when they made the trade, I mean, I
Speaker 1: you know, I was more for it than against it.
Speaker 1: The price was obviously very high. Cynics are going to
Speaker 1: look at this trade and ask themselves, why are the
Speaker 1: Clippers giving up so much when there are no other
Speaker 1: bidders for James Harden? Do the Clippers? Did the Clippers
Speaker 1: really need to trade away at unprotected first and to
Speaker 1: pick swaps to bring in James Harden at this point?
Speaker 1: But I guess on one hand, I talked myself into
Speaker 1: it from the perspective of they've committed already so many
Speaker 1: trade assets to put the team together that they have,
Speaker 1: that they're already all in. Had they held those picks
Speaker 1: back and not done this trade, is what they would
Speaker 1: have kept, would that have been enough to theoretically protect
Speaker 1: them from the ultimate demise of this group. And let's
Speaker 1: face it, it, I you know, I think they're gonna have
Speaker 1: to stick with this team and stick with at least
Speaker 1: three of these stars going forward because they're going into
Speaker 1: this new arena and we know Steve Balmer's not gonna
Speaker 1: want to rebuild. So it actually has given leverage back
Speaker 1: to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, who possess player options
Speaker 1: for next season, and James Harden, who's going to be
Speaker 1: a full on free agent in the summer. James Harden
Speaker 1: is not eligible to do a contract extension with his
Speaker 1: new team right now. But I you know, I think
Speaker 1: the Clippers are going to have to resign these guys.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're not gonna want to go into a
Speaker 1: new new building starting over. But again, the West, you know,
Speaker 1: and again I also they kept Terrence Man, they kept
Speaker 1: Norman Powell, So I mean, they they achieved a lot
Speaker 1: of their goals this trade. But man, you look at
Speaker 1: the West and the Denver Nuggets, they just ooze continuity
Speaker 1: and the Golden State Warriors the same. And they've added
Speaker 1: Chris Paul who has really lifted their bench unit. The
Speaker 1: Warriors are also very small, very very small, but they
Speaker 1: have so much continuity and that's what the Clippers now
Speaker 1: have to catch up to. And you know, just comparing
Speaker 1: them to Denver, can they get there? How fast can
Speaker 1: they get there? I mean they did get hardened very early.
Speaker 1: It basically okay, he wasn't there for training camp, but
Speaker 1: they're basically getting hardened at the start of the season.
Speaker 1: But do they have enough time to really put a
Speaker 1: team together? And I say that as a Tyloo fan,
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think there's a better coach you
Speaker 1: could put in charge of this particular situation. But again,
Speaker 1: you know, I think we saw enough tonight to say
Speaker 1: there are a lot of questions to be answered and
Speaker 1: Tyler has a lot of work to do.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure, we knew that from the get go.
Speaker 3: You know, for the Clippers felt all off season that
Speaker 3: they needed a point guard. Even though they resigned Russell Westbrook.
Speaker 3: They tried everything that they could to get a starting
Speaker 3: caliber point guard. So walk with me a little bit.
Speaker 3: So if that's the case, right, and you're talking about
Speaker 3: players that are probably going to be mainstays for the
Speaker 3: Clippers because they got that new Arena coming in that's
Speaker 3: gonna be that's going to open next season. And James
Speaker 3: Harden Paul George have leverage, possibly a resigning of James
Speaker 3: Harden possibly, But where does that leave Russell Westbrook? And
Speaker 3: I'm not even talking about next season? What is that
Speaker 3: leaving for this season? If they were so adamant about
Speaker 3: trying to upgrade the point guard spot, they wanted Drew Holliday,
Speaker 3: they tried to get Malcolm Braden, who else it was
Speaker 3: some Damian Lillard. They tried to see if they get
Speaker 3: in on that. It just feels like if somebody is
Speaker 3: going to end up leaving this season, seems like it's
Speaker 3: going to be Russ, Like he would be made It
Speaker 3: seemed like he would be made available at some point.
Speaker 3: I don't have any concrete aggregators, hear me. I don't
Speaker 3: have anything concrete on it. I don't know. But it's
Speaker 3: just the way that the Clippers have been going about
Speaker 3: their pursuit of a point guard, considering it that they
Speaker 3: considering they just resign Russell Westbrook this summer, that like
Speaker 3: if I'm if I'm Russ, like I don't, I don't
Speaker 3: know if I feel too comfortable with that even though
Speaker 3: I know James Harden is a really good friend of his.
Speaker 1: So and look, you know what the Clippers are going
Speaker 1: to say. The Clippers are going to say that when
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook was resigned, he was briefed on management plans.
Speaker 1: He was told that, hey, you might be resigning here
Speaker 1: and we might pull off a trade for James Harden
Speaker 1: in the future and bring James Harden back. Are you
Speaker 1: okay with that? And they, you know, they say that
Speaker 1: that Russ knew that was a possibility and blessed it.
Speaker 1: And like I said, I don't want I do not
Speaker 1: want to jump to too many conclusions because I feel
Speaker 1: like we're you know, I've been complaining about this for years.
Speaker 1: I know, I said it on a recent pod with you.
Speaker 1: And I just feel like, because we are watching these
Speaker 1: games so closely, there's a lot of excitement at the
Speaker 1: beginning of the season. Everybody has been waiting months to
Speaker 1: see their team, Like we just we want to draw
Speaker 1: conclusions night to night, and you just cannot do that
Speaker 1: in the NBA in early November. You shouldn't do it.
Speaker 1: I know. I'm people are just gonna say Stein, you're
Speaker 1: you're a traditionalist, You're an old head. You're stubborn, You're
Speaker 1: never gonna change. But there's a reason why.
Speaker 3: All that is true. That is true, but it is true.
Speaker 3: I agree with your point.
Speaker 1: But it's an eighty two game season, and there is
Speaker 1: a value in waiting twenty games to really make evaluations.
Speaker 1: I mean it, you cannot make you cannot make declarations
Speaker 1: after game five, six, and seven. It's just too soon.
Speaker 1: And I do not want to do that with the Clippers.
Speaker 1: And I'm going to see the Clippers with my own
Speaker 1: eyes this week. They're in Dallas on Friday night, when
Speaker 1: it's going to be the second night of your beloved
Speaker 1: in season tournament, and all these crazy garish courts will
Speaker 1: be trotted back out because again no NBA games on
Speaker 1: the Agile Tuesday. The next in season tournament night is Friday.
Speaker 1: I will be there at the AAC when the Clippers
Speaker 1: are in town. I can't wait to see it for myself.
Speaker 1: I'll have more, you know, I can't. I can't wait
Speaker 1: to visit with ty Lou and all the principles and
Speaker 1: kind of take their temperature myself. But based on initial evidence,
Speaker 1: you know, I think it's fair to say that much
Speaker 1: much must be figured out and uh ty Lou is
Speaker 1: not going to have not gonna have much time off
Speaker 1: in coming weeks. There's he's got a lot to dig into.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And one thing I want to say I wanted
Speaker 3: about the Clippers in their situation and their lack of
Speaker 3: size depended on the severity of Plumbley's injury. It is
Speaker 3: very important even for the Warriors to think down the
Speaker 3: road because Joker is a problem. You need you need
Speaker 3: to have insurance just in case you have to go
Speaker 3: through him in the playoffs, and you need to have
Speaker 3: a traditional big you know, just like when Shaq was dominating.
Speaker 3: All these big men were dominating and you knew that
Speaker 3: they were going to be there at the end. Teams
Speaker 3: had two bigs, sometimes even had three bigs on the run.
Speaker 1: The Lakers, you know, the Lakers have been at their
Speaker 1: best in these this early part of the season. And
Speaker 1: they've certainly had their struggles again, losing both in Orlando
Speaker 1: and Miami. But the Lakers have been at their best
Speaker 1: so far the season when you've had Anthony Davis and
Speaker 1: Christian Wood next to Lebron James. So that's a pretty big,
Speaker 1: big allignance.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, for sure, and the Warriors for whatever reason,
Speaker 3: they chose to go in a different direction right now,
Speaker 3: So you know it's still early, but you're definitely teams
Speaker 3: that are that are in contention. They definitely have to
Speaker 3: go into the playoffs with the mindset of how are
Speaker 3: they going to handle Joker And if you don't have
Speaker 3: a couple of quality bigs with with six thousand six
Speaker 3: files a piece, you probably won't have a shot.
Speaker 1: I am a system, so says James Harden. It's the
Speaker 1: kind of thing that I would have expected Chris Haynes
Speaker 1: to say at a podcast, meaning I am I am
Speaker 1: the system.
Speaker 3: Nah, I can't get away with that. I definitely can't
Speaker 3: get away with that. I wasn't surprised he said that though, Well.
Speaker 1: Like I said, I can't. I can't wait to see
Speaker 1: these guys for myself, and they will be in my
Speaker 1: city soon. Let's shift to another game that was pretty
Speaker 1: fascinating tonight. I was I was really psyched for this one,
Speaker 1: and this will be this will be I I kind
Speaker 1: of have a feeling this will be one of those
Speaker 1: things that that draws looks of disdain and confusion from
Speaker 1: my podcast partner. But do you are you aware of
Speaker 1: the game Stratamatic.
Speaker 3: I've heard of it, but I'm not familiar with it.
Speaker 1: So Stratamatic is basically a board game, a dice rolling game.
Speaker 1: It's a managerial game. So you can you will have
Speaker 1: no trouble imagining little Mark Stein, age nine ten and
Speaker 1: on for the rest of his life just sitting in
Speaker 1: his room by himself on the floor playing Major League
Speaker 1: Baseball games, NBA games and h recreating NHL games with
Speaker 1: player cards and dice rolling, and it's just managerial sports.
Speaker 1: Nerd hur nervana.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm looking at the images right now. Yes, this
Speaker 3: is this is definitely even before my time.
Speaker 1: But go ahead and right you're and you're not surprised
Speaker 1: that I love this, right, I mean, this is just classic.
Speaker 1: This is well in twenty twenty three. Of course, it's
Speaker 1: all computerized. Now you can still play the game old
Speaker 1: school with dice and cards, but you can all it's
Speaker 1: also computerized. So as a season preview, I reached out
Speaker 1: to my friends at Stratamatic and I said, will you
Speaker 1: guys simulate the season, just simulate the whole season for
Speaker 1: me to let me know what happens, And crazily enough,
Speaker 1: to the absolute delight of our friend Scott Shapiro at
Speaker 1: iHeart what happened. The stratamatic computer said that the NBA
Speaker 1: Finals would be the Boston Celtics sweeping Scott Shapiro's Minnesota Timberwolves.
Speaker 1: But now he didn't like the sweet part. But the
Speaker 1: Minnesota Timberwolves have only won two playoff series in franchise history.
Speaker 1: So a trip to the NBA Finals, I think most
Speaker 1: Wolves fans would take that. And so if you if
Speaker 1: you read my stratamatic simulation season preview, then you would
Speaker 1: know that tonight was low key in NBA Finals preview,
Speaker 1: Celtics at Wolves, and of course there were zero people
Speaker 1: on Earth besides me and maybe Scott who looked at
Speaker 1: it that way. But still a damn good game. Aunt Edwards,
Speaker 1: ridiculous in overtime, and the Wolves who awoke today on
Speaker 1: this Monday as we record with the number one rank
Speaker 1: defense in the league. If you want to go real,
Speaker 1: super small sample sample sized theater. And now the Wolves
Speaker 1: have knocked off Boston, knocked the Celtics from the ranks
Speaker 1: of the unbeaten after doing it to Denver, what are
Speaker 1: your throw out? All my throat put aside, all my
Speaker 1: uh all my nonsense, And you tell what are your
Speaker 1: early impressions of the Wolves? And I mean this is
Speaker 1: you know Aunt Edwards tonight, This this is the guy
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people were waiting for after
Speaker 1: what we what we saw during the summer with Team USA.
Speaker 3: Before I address that, I'm just I don't know if
Speaker 3: you're helping Stratumatic out with publicity or if you're hurting
Speaker 3: them by revealing who they had representing the Western Conference
Speaker 3: in the NBA Finals. I don't I don't know if
Speaker 3: if that's hurting their credibility right there, I don't.
Speaker 1: Know their credibility. Their their credibility is untouchable. It's one
Speaker 1: computer simulation. It is the greatest American managed sports managerial
Speaker 1: sports simulation game there is. I have literally been playing
Speaker 1: it since the seventies, man and it's still here. So
Speaker 1: their credibility cannot be besmirched.
Speaker 3: So with that being said, the Minnesota Timberwolves, we've been
Speaker 3: looking for the last few years for them to take
Speaker 3: that next step. They got into the playoffs. Remember the
Speaker 3: road they they had getting through the excuse me what
Speaker 3: the play in the play in game? Getting there? And
Speaker 3: Anthony Edwards this is his team now he kind of
Speaker 3: he kind of took over last year. This is his
Speaker 3: team and coming off of a you know, having a
Speaker 3: successful stint with Team USA over this past summer. You know,
Speaker 3: I think Anthony Edwards not just basketball wise, like personality wise,
Speaker 3: like he's a star. He has all the attributes needed
Speaker 3: to be a star.
Speaker 1: Do you think Cat and Gobert are good with it
Speaker 1: that it's his team? Now?
Speaker 3: Well? I don't. Does it doesn't matter it Stein because
Speaker 3: it's his team? I think I think, Look, I can't say, well, Rudy, Rudy,
Speaker 3: I don't Why would Rudy have a problem with it?
Speaker 3: You know, he he got traded over there. He's not
Speaker 3: He's not a franchise guy anymore. So Kat is probably
Speaker 3: the only one. But I don't. I don't think Kat
Speaker 3: is think in that way because just going by interviews,
Speaker 3: and again, people stop believing everything you hear in these
Speaker 3: interviews because they don't always say what they really want
Speaker 3: to say or how they really feel. But Kat has
Speaker 3: going out of his way to kind of uplift Anthony
Speaker 3: Edwards and kind of he says things that kind of
Speaker 3: insinuate that ant is the guy. So you know, it
Speaker 3: is what it is at this point. That's why I said, like,
Speaker 3: it really doesn't matter. You know, they have an obligation
Speaker 3: to play to their fullest capabilities on both ends of
Speaker 3: the floor, and the stars are going to show out regardless.
Speaker 3: And Anthony Edwards is that guy, so you know, and
Speaker 3: they're only going to get as far as ant because
Speaker 3: you know he's their playmaker. Is this real? Is this really?
Speaker 3: Is this really a situation where the Minnesota Templewolves have
Speaker 3: really taken the next step and realistically can be there
Speaker 3: representing the Western Conference finals? I mean representing the Western
Speaker 3: Conference in the finals. I don't know that yet. I
Speaker 3: don't you know, I don't know.
Speaker 1: If I'm joking aside, I'm not saying that either.
Speaker 3: Of course you're not. No, of course you're not. No,
Speaker 3: of course you're not. But but it's just, you know,
Speaker 3: I look at that team and I'm like, hmm, the
Speaker 3: size wise, they they do have re member. I will
Speaker 3: tell you about what it's going to take to take
Speaker 3: down the joker if he's there and if he's healthy.
Speaker 3: You know, Minnesota has the size. That's what Tim Conley
Speaker 3: over their head of the basketball operations over there, That's
Speaker 3: what he hadn't had in mind, and so Tim's been
Speaker 3: thinking that way for a few years already. So maybe
Speaker 3: the Minnesota Templeleves can be on course to get to
Speaker 3: that path, but you know, I need to see a
Speaker 3: little bit more for sure.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Look, I think I think what we can say
Speaker 1: about the Wolves at this early juncture. You know, when
Speaker 1: they first got go Bear, I thought that they would
Speaker 1: at least be a great regular season team because Rudy
Speaker 1: until last season was a walking top five defense all
Speaker 1: by himself. And the way this season has started, you know,
Speaker 1: they're on that course that should set them up to
Speaker 1: be a top five defensive team during the regular season
Speaker 1: at the very least, and then we'll have to see
Speaker 1: where they are six seven months from now. But you know,
Speaker 1: I know, I know they're not getting carried away either.
Speaker 1: Even before this win over Boston, I spoke recently to
Speaker 1: their coach, Chris Finch. I had him on my weekend
Speaker 1: radio show in Dallas when Minnesota was opening the season
Speaker 1: in Abu Dhabi with two exhibition games against the Mavericks,
Speaker 1: and Finch gave me some interesting stuff. I've kind of
Speaker 1: I ran this quote today because I'm kind of filing
Speaker 1: it away. I think there's I think he's onto something here.
Speaker 1: This is Chris Finch just looking at the West in general,
Speaker 1: at what an absolutely stacked conference the West is. Here's
Speaker 1: the Chris Finch view quote. I would point to the
Speaker 1: parody that we've seen across the league in the last
Speaker 1: five years. Five years, five different champions, Finch said, I'm
Speaker 1: not putting us right there with the title contenders right
Speaker 1: off the bat. And we're also not in the business
Speaker 1: of predicting anything, but we feel like we have the
Speaker 1: potential to be a really good team. Now in the West,
Speaker 1: it's going to be so tough, A really good team
Speaker 1: might be I don't know, hovering around five hundred for
Speaker 1: a lot of the season, if everybody's going for it
Speaker 1: and everybody is at some point going to take a
Speaker 1: piece out of everybody else. I don't think we're going
Speaker 1: to see many sixty game winners out there this year.
Speaker 1: How close can you get to fifty? That's going to
Speaker 1: be like everyone's kind of standard and he and that
Speaker 1: quote hits on one of my nerdy curiosities. I love
Speaker 1: every year to keep track of how many fifty win
Speaker 1: teams did we see? How many sixty win teams did
Speaker 1: we see? Last season in the West, there were only
Speaker 1: two fifty win teams. It was an abnormal year. It
Speaker 1: was the mildest West in the modern era. And you know,
Speaker 1: you had Denver and you had Memphis squeaking into fifty
Speaker 1: win territory. And it's definitely something to watch this season
Speaker 1: how many teams in the West can get into the
Speaker 1: fifties when the conference is just so stacked. Again, Sacramento
Speaker 1: just went to Houston. Even without the Aaron Fox, the
Speaker 1: Kings would not have would not have expected going to
Speaker 1: Houston and losing two games to the Rockets. But without
Speaker 1: the Aeron Fox, they just did. Teams like Houston. Portland
Speaker 1: has been you know, pretty, they've they've They've won a
Speaker 1: few games, and I'm not sure people were expecting. San
Speaker 1: Antonio obviously has been much more us with wem Minyama
Speaker 1: than anyone was expecting. The Spurs going to Phoenix and
Speaker 1: sweeping a baseball series.
Speaker 3: Did you expect Memphis to beat this bad to start
Speaker 3: the season?
Speaker 1: Not this bad?
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 1: I thought they were going to struggle, and I knew
Speaker 1: the Steven Adams injury was was a huge blow for them,
Speaker 1: But I mean many they were on the verge of
Speaker 1: o and seven. They pulled that out. They turned that
Speaker 1: Portland game around amazingly. I think the Blazers missed their
Speaker 1: last fourteen shots. I mean they were on the brink
Speaker 1: of oh and seven and yeah. In this West, you
Speaker 1: have to ask the question, how how you know how
Speaker 1: big of a hole will they be in by the
Speaker 1: time John Morant can actually come back. I mean, there
Speaker 1: are you know, we could take this thing in so
Speaker 1: many different directions from here. There's some major injuries to
Speaker 1: talk about. With the news that Robert Williams in Portland
Speaker 1: needs surgery, you know, the Blazers, there was obviously a
Speaker 1: lot of belief around the league that when the Blazers
Speaker 1: acquired him in the Dame Lillard multi team blockbuster, that
Speaker 1: the idea was that they could put the time lord
Speaker 1: on the trade market and move him. We'll have to
Speaker 1: see what surgery he's going to opt for and whether
Speaker 1: or return this season is possible. New Orleans has dealt
Speaker 1: with a slew of injuries already. Brandon Ingram has had
Speaker 1: to miss some times. Ion Williamson missed a game, and
Speaker 1: now comes the news that for the second time in
Speaker 1: his career, CJ McCollum dealing with is it a partially
Speaker 1: collapse long I'm not even exactly sure how to term it,
Speaker 1: except knowing that it's obviously a no joke injury. So
Speaker 1: we're obviously going to have to monitor those situations as well.
Speaker 1: But let's I mean, we could talk about ten different
Speaker 1: teams if if we really wanted to go all over
Speaker 1: the map, but let's just try to keep this somewhat streamline.
Speaker 1: Why don't you give us an update on the Milwaukee
Speaker 1: Bucks and then I will close with some notes about
Speaker 1: the very surprising six and one Dallas Mavericks.
Speaker 3: Well, the Bucks, they're still trying to figure it out.
Speaker 3: You know, their game. They've won, they won back to
Speaker 3: back thus far, but it hasn't been pretty. It hasn't
Speaker 3: been pretty at all. And you can still see that
Speaker 3: players are timid and they're trying to figure it out
Speaker 3: on the fly. They beat they beat the Brooklyn Nets.
Speaker 3: It was tough. Cam Thomas went off for I believe
Speaker 3: forty five points. McHale Bridges had a great game as well,
Speaker 3: so they just changed their defense up a little bit.
Speaker 3: Last couple of games where coach Adrian Griffin let it
Speaker 3: be known that a few players went up to him
Speaker 3: before the game against the New York Knicks last Friday
Speaker 3: and told him that, you know, they want to see
Speaker 3: a change on the defensive end, and primarily Lopez. They
Speaker 3: wanted him back in drop coverage. That's what they're all
Speaker 3: also familiar with under coach Blutenholzer, which had them among
Speaker 3: the top defensive efficiency teams in the league over the
Speaker 3: last few years. And under Griffin, he had everybody being aggressive.
Speaker 3: He had everybody being up, you know, up on everything,
Speaker 3: up on pick and rolls. Just it's an ultra ultra
Speaker 3: aggressive defense. But it leaves you exposed, It leaves it
Speaker 3: puts guys into in areas of why they're not that
Speaker 3: comfortable that you saw Brook Lopez, I believe he had.
Speaker 3: He had a ton of blocks in that next game,
Speaker 3: you know, in the in this first game, back and
Speaker 3: drop coverage. So the Bucks are trying to get better,
Speaker 3: They're doing everything on the fly. Adrian Griffin listening to
Speaker 3: his players, so you know, you could tell and see
Speaker 3: that it's a collaborative effort, but still trying to figure
Speaker 3: things out. What I can say, man, Damian Lillard Giannis
Speaker 3: that partner ship, that lethal combination that we're that we
Speaker 3: thought we're going to see probably early. We thought we
Speaker 3: were going to see early. It still hasn't came together
Speaker 3: on a consistent level, but those two are working behind
Speaker 3: the scenes trying to get things together. I know Dame
Speaker 3: was at Giannis's house over the weekend working out at
Speaker 3: his house. They were watching film. Those two are committed
Speaker 3: to trying to enhance each other collectively, and then in turn,
Speaker 3: that's going to enhance the team's play. So they're doing
Speaker 3: everything they can behind the scenes to try to make
Speaker 3: this situation be a successful situation. But it's gonna be
Speaker 3: a work in progress. You can see it. You can
Speaker 3: even see it in their wins. They're not winning of
Speaker 3: the magnitude of like the Celtics have started off winning,
Speaker 3: So it's gonna take time. But nobody in that organization,
Speaker 3: from players to coaches, nobody's worried. But yeah, it's gonna
Speaker 3: take some time.
Speaker 1: I think that's what's wrapped up the pressure because Boston
Speaker 1: has looked so good out of the gate. Chris Middleton
Speaker 1: still playing, you know, tonight he played twenty one minutes
Speaker 1: in a narrow win over Brooklyn, so he's still not
Speaker 1: close to playing, you know, the kind of you know,
Speaker 1: not close to taking on the kind of minute load
Speaker 1: you would expect. And I mean it's been amazing. You know,
Speaker 1: I didn't think they would struggle this badly on defense,
Speaker 1: but to this point, I mean the loss, you know,
Speaker 1: figuring out how to replace or you know, replicate what
Speaker 1: Drew Holliday gave them defensively to come anywhere close to
Speaker 1: that has been a major struggle. And the reason I
Speaker 1: didn't expect it to be this bad, even this early,
Speaker 1: is because you know, Jannie and Brook Lopez are such
Speaker 1: They're so accomplished as individual defenders in their own right,
Speaker 1: but obviously they're back line defenders and not playing on
Speaker 1: the perimeter like Drew Holliday is. So it's early, and
Speaker 1: no one has patience. And I guess where I Live
Speaker 1: is one of the few teams that can be pleased
Speaker 1: with where it is right now because a six and
Speaker 1: one start for the Dallas Mavericks. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: you've heard me talk about it that they went on
Speaker 1: basically the longest trip in preseason history, and when they
Speaker 1: came back from that trip, both Luka Doncic and Kyrie
Speaker 1: Irving came home with injuries. They were feeling tired before
Speaker 1: they even got started. But I have to say they
Speaker 1: have regrouped from that amazingly. Well, maybe as a reward
Speaker 1: for how grueling and long the preseason trip was. They've
Speaker 1: been presented with a favorable early schedule, but that doesn't
Speaker 1: guarantee that you take advantage. The Mavericks have taken advantage.
Speaker 1: The first three games of the season, Luka Doncic was
Speaker 1: playing other worldly basketball. But since then, the last two
Speaker 1: you know, Kyrie Irving had to miss a couple games,
Speaker 1: but he has come back from a left foot issue.
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving with double digit assists the last two games.
Speaker 1: He and Luka Doncic have functioned in crunch time better,
Speaker 1: far better than at any point compared to how they
Speaker 1: looked last season after the mid season trade. But beyond
Speaker 1: the two stars in Dallas, beyond taking advantage of a
Speaker 1: mostly favorable schedule, I mean, Grant Williams has been huge
Speaker 1: as a new Maverick. I mean just making three after
Speaker 1: three after three, as well as anchoring the defense. Tim
Speaker 1: Hardaway Junior, who it's no secret he's been available in
Speaker 1: trades four months. Tim Hardaway Junior himself said when the
Speaker 1: season started he wasn't sure that he was still going
Speaker 1: to be in Dallas. He has been fantastic off the bench,
Speaker 1: and Derek Lively the second The Mavericks had high hopes
Speaker 1: when they drafted him, but they're getting more from him
Speaker 1: as nineteen year old center than they ever expected. The
Speaker 1: Mavericks were not sure that their nineteen year old rookie,
Speaker 1: like Victor Wemenyama and San Antonio, they were not sure
Speaker 1: that Lively was ready to deliver from the jump like
Speaker 1: he has. And even though Lively started the whole preseason,
Speaker 1: Jason Kidd didn't start him opening night in San Antonio
Speaker 1: against wemen Yama. He was trying to ease the pressure
Speaker 1: on Lively, and by halftime of Game one, Lively showed
Speaker 1: the Mavericks no, I'm ready for this, and he has
Speaker 1: been outstanding. And six and one for Dallas. And you
Speaker 1: know what, nobody can talk tonight about easy schedules, because
Speaker 1: they went into Orlando, third game in four night in
Speaker 1: four nights, second night of a back to back, and
Speaker 1: they were down double digits for the second night in
Speaker 1: a row and came back and won against a frisky
Speaker 1: Orlando team that was off to a good start. So
Speaker 1: the Dallas Mavericks at six and one for sure one
Speaker 1: of the surprises of the season. And now Dallas comes home.
Speaker 1: They've got Toronto coming in Wednesday. Really, I'm really eager
Speaker 1: to see the new look Raptors with Scottie Barnes as
Speaker 1: their clearcut focal point. And like I said Friday night,
Speaker 1: I got the Clippers in here, so gonna be a busy,
Speaker 1: busy week in Dallas.
Speaker 3: How was Jason Kidd.
Speaker 1: Jason Kidd is I mean he was ill for the
Speaker 1: game in Denver, the only game they lost. So Jason
Speaker 1: Kidd is six and oh he's riding high, even though,
Speaker 1: of course, the way NBA bookkeeping is done, the loss
Speaker 1: goes on his record. But yeah, I even with you know,
Speaker 1: even if you look at it and want to sit
Speaker 1: here and say it was a favorable schedule, I don't
Speaker 1: think anybody had Dallas starting six. And oh all right,
Speaker 1: I think we covered quite a bit of ground. I
Speaker 1: think we hit on man, we hit on a lot
Speaker 1: of teams tonight. And we really haven't even talked about
Speaker 1: how you somehow convinced the NBA to put the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five All Star Game on your coast San Francisco.
Speaker 1: Twenty twenty five, an easy drive for you after this,
Speaker 1: after this February in Indianapolis.
Speaker 3: Well, listen, we've All Star weekend has suffered long enough.
Speaker 3: We've suffered long enough, this this cold winter All Star
Speaker 3: tour that the NBA chose to put every put everybody
Speaker 3: through and was forced us to endure Chicago cold winter,
Speaker 3: Cleveland cold winter, Salk late what was okay? Still cold?
Speaker 3: Still not the best? You know, New York and Toronto
Speaker 3: was in of Toronto Toronto?
Speaker 1: Yeah, those actually, but you're right those both New York
Speaker 1: was I remember the wins were just gusting something crazy.
Speaker 1: Don't remember what year it was, twenty.
Speaker 3: Fifteen maybe, yeah, about fifteen.
Speaker 1: Toronto, know, Toronto was the coldest All Star game I've
Speaker 1: ever been to. But I love Toronto so much that
Speaker 1: I didn't care. I didn't care how cold it was.
Speaker 1: I had. I had a blast at that.
Speaker 3: I didn't go outside, not one time in Toronto. It
Speaker 3: was that cold now it we me Mark Spears. After
Speaker 3: the after the games and the events, we would just
Speaker 3: hang out in the hotel lobby, like twenty of us.
Speaker 3: That's what we did each and every night, and just
Speaker 3: eight and talk. That was it. No, Toronto does not Sorry,
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, Toronto.
Speaker 1: I love that All Star Game, don't Tonto, And I
Speaker 1: hope it and I hope it's snowy. I hope it
Speaker 1: is snowy and cold in Indianapolis in February.
Speaker 3: Oh, we gotta do better. But yes, thankfully A's coming
Speaker 3: back to a warm weather city, San Francisco. Now, hopefully
Speaker 3: San Francisco can clean up his act before next year's
Speaker 3: All Star Game. Because San Francisco is not the San
Speaker 3: Francisco that you grow up visiting. It is not. A
Speaker 3: lot has changed and I don't have to get into it.
Speaker 3: Get into it all. Those who have been there recently
Speaker 3: understand what I'm saying, but they have a lot of
Speaker 3: cleaning up to do. And I'm talking about literally figuratively
Speaker 3: cleaning up that city.
Speaker 1: So says Chris Haynes, I haven't been there in ages.
Speaker 1: I'll take your word for it. I think that is
Speaker 1: going to do it for this edition of This League Uncut.
Speaker 1: Please remember to rate, review and subscribe to the pod
Speaker 1: if you haven't already. Chris and I will be back
Speaker 1: at weeks and most likely going to record. I would
Speaker 1: imagine Thursday night before Friday, so probably before I get
Speaker 1: a chance to see the La Clippers with my own eyes.
Speaker 1: But we'll figure out the exact schedule for the second
Speaker 1: pod as the week unfills everyone. Thanks for listening. We'll
Speaker 1: be back with you very soon.
Speaker 2: And that'll do it for us. See you next time.
Speaker 2: This League uncutage an iHeartRadio production
Speaker 1: Chris Haynes and Mark Stein.