WEBVTT - The UnstoppaBulls, NBA Expansion, All-Disappointing Team 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:07.960 So en tasting. What we do is take a small 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:09.240 amount right off the top. 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:10.760 It doesn't take much. 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:13.520 That's the warmest part Right here. I'm going to invert 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:21.680 the spoon cover all nine thousand taste bud aerate it, 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:27.880 warm it up, driving up that top. Note that cream 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:33.959 pure vanilla sweeteners. That's a ten. 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:47.840 Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the Nodungs podcast 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:50.920 on the Athletic Network. Sorry that cold opens got me 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:58.320 giggling that cream. It's Wednesday, January sixth. Happy Armenian Christmas 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:02.640 to all my Armenians out there. I'm Jay Ski's rolling 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:08.520 with Steve Kirby's favorite son and podcaster Trey Kirby. Hey, 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:12.480 we got the international man of mystery taking it to 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:18.120 the max. Lee Ellis lely last but not least making 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:18.800 the magic happen. 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:19.200 It's JD. 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:23.039 Hello, there he is, and here we are. I gotta know, 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:26.000 I just stumble into that that clip. 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:29.000 It's so good. I don't know I stumbled upon it. 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:30.679 It's really old, obviously. 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:30.520 But. 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:37.360 I compose myself here to hit the open and I 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:39.240 couldn't do it. Oh it's great, all right. Shout out 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:43.200 to the stream team. Please like, comment, and subscribe to 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:47.880 No Dunks on YouTube. Our ambitious goal to hit twenty 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:49.840 five thousand subs by the end of the week. We're 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:52.800 on our way, so keep doing your thing, keep sharing 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:56.360 those videos. Email us your questions and comments to no 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:59.120 Dunks at the Athletic dot com. We'll be stepping on 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:03.480 the beach late today on Wednesday here three pm Eastern 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:06.840 live on YouTube. Yeah, we going back to back to 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:09.280 back today. If you're counting test this video task is 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:11.440 going to join us for that one too, So we'll 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:16.160 have the entire band back together on the beach, the 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:20.440 boys getting together, splashing some sand, reading some emails. You 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:22.280 know we're gonna be talking cream on the beach. You 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:26.440 can't resist it, you can't. Speaking of Tassy, make sure 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:28.680 you check out this morning is what you Need to Know, 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:32.400 the little Mini Recap pod. The content kings right now 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:36.040 are not messing around. We have tasks with the What 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:39.240 you Need to Know and Trey, yesterday you dropped your 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:43.920 latest NBA Weekly Recap video that's up on YouTube, so 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:46.200 highly recommend you go check that out. A lot of 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:49.080 people and I think they're right saying, WHOA. This is 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:53.240 very starters like in terms of the memes and the 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:56.000 whoopsies and some video in there night and I think 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:59.320 that's spot on. So if you miss the starters. 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:02.400 It could be something else coming on the weekend too quickly. 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:08.680 Interestingly, yes, JD is a well you're a one man production. 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:13.880 Seriously, interns around here, let's let's get real. 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:18.960 Man, you got two kids, that's true, and. 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:21.160 That's it's amazing. And this is not a knock on 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:24.080 other companies, but JD is like basically the equivalent of 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:27.959 fifty Ringer employees or something like that. I mean, yeah, 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:30.760 you're a rerecing machine. Man, it's amazing. Go grab your 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:33.640 No Dunk's merch at no dunks dot com. We got 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:36.920 the hoodies and the T shirts and the mugs and uh, well, 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:39.080 after yesterday's show, there's some talk about whether or not 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:43.680 we should add slippers, so you tell us, yeah, it 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.840 might be a fun idea. Uh. And finally, don't miss 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:48.400 out on the hottest deal we're run right now at 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:50.360 the Athletic Go to the Athletic dot Com slash No Dunks. 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:53.040 You can sign up for just three ninety nine a 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:55.520 month for the best damn sports writing in the world. 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:57.320 Go to the Athletic dot com slash no dunks, so 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.280 they know that we sent you and you can get 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:02.120 that incredible to you. All right, we got lots to 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:05.520 talk about as always here on no dunks, But perfectly 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:07.280 we had five games on last night, so we gotta 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:10.160 do five games one thing, and we're gonna we're gonna 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:12.480 flip up the order in terms of the way we 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:15.280 saw the games last night because we gotta go to TK. 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:19.200 He's pumped. He had a great Tuesday, which has bled 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:22.120 into Wednesday. Guy was up late last night. Trey Kobe 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:26.360 White scores twenty one and the Bulls rally to beat 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:29.320 the Blazers one eleven, one o eight. They were down 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:31.000 twenty but they came back. 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:33.760 What's the big takeaway, well, Skeets, I only got one 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:36.960 thing for you. Ball stop ball stop ball stop ball 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:39.479 stop ball stop balls. The balls are back. Are you 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:42.440 hitting me? Win of the year? The first twenty point 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:45.880 comeback in the NBA this season. I saw some highlights 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:48.800 from the Clippers versus the Spurs. They were talking could 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:50.480 they be the first team to pull off a twenty 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.479 point comeback? No, they can't, but the Bulls did. This 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:57.479 was a crazy game. What a night in the Kirby household, 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:02.679 Bulls blazing on the deck, Blazers on deck, election results 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:06.440 trickling in on the computer. A luxurious matchup out there, 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:10.599 Red and Black, both teams January five going down in history. 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:13.159 But this was a weird one. Like I said, the 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:15.160 Bulls gave up a twenty point lead. They gave up 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.240 thirty nine points eighty three pointers in the first quarter. 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:20.719 The Blazers looked like they were on fire. It looked 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:23.000 like it was gonna be sad Trey Kirby coming in 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:25.640 on the show today. But I had the faith skeets. 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:28.480 I said, just stick around. The comeback Bulls will take 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:31.800 care of this, and somehow they did. Billy Donovan has 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:34.200 gotten something out of Zach Lavine that feels a little 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:36.560 bit different. He was out there overpassing the ball in 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:40.040 the first half of the game, but kept getting teammates involved. 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:41.760 This ended up being a really nice team win. The 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:45.160 Bulls had so many guys in double figures. They ended 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:48.400 up with seven players in double figures. Everybody was doing something, 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:51.240 everybody was boreding. This was a fun game to watch. 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:53.360 Like I said, the Bulls have this huge comeback. Zach 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.799 Lavine had said dagger three under a minute left. I'm upstairs. 0:05:57.040 --> 0:05:59.160 Everybody else in the house is asleep. I'm just yelled 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:01.640 like this back in my arms against each other. It 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:06.080 was legendary stuff. Damian Lillard basically didn't make a shot 0:06:06.080 --> 0:06:09.000 in the second half, but did make the one that 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:11.920 was most important, knocked down that three from the right wing, 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:14.919 the purest Swiss you could ever hope to see if 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:18.479 you're Damian Lillard. But this was just this was just exciting. Man. 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:21.679 I was going nuts in the house. Batteus Young playing 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:26.239 small ball five auto porter, thirteen rebounds, including a huge 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:29.080 rebound highlight under a minute skeets didn't even jump off 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:32.120 the FLOORI to grab it. This was legendary stuff. And 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:35.280 you know, if you are a Bulls fan, you'll look 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:38.440 at Jim Boylan being hired as an assistant coached by 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:41.000 the Trailblazers and you say, this was a revenge game. 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:45.120 Where's your defense, Blazers. You can't stop the Bulls, the unstoppables. 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:56.200 What this feels finals, Yeah, he just called the Bulls 0:06:56.279 --> 0:07:00.520 win in Portland in early January legendary twice. 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:03.560 And I'm pumped for you, man, I'm excited, but I'm 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:04.560 also pissed. 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:06.000 I marked it down. I was like, I was getting 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:07.160 ready to go to bed last night, I was like, 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:08.680 I got I got to write this down. I gotta 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:12.520 remember January fifth, What a night the election, the Bulls 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:14.320 I was flying. 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:17.440 It felt like, I'm a little pissed with that Bull's 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:19.960 victory because this is what I saw in the Bulls 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:23.720 last year. Tray like a quarter contributing, Saudius Young contribute. 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.760 This is what I've envisioned, and maybe yeah, just took 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:28.640 getting Boiling out of there and Billy in there to 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:31.240 help put it all together. But yeah, Lee, this was 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:33.360 I mean, really, it is an impressive comeback. And as 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:35.560 Trey said, the first time this season that a team 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:37.880 came back from twenty down. There's been a lot of 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:41.520 teams down twenty so far this season. The numbers are crazy, 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:43.920 the blowouts we've had, and we've had some teams get 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:46.080 back into games. You know, the Clippers being one of 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:47.880 the last night, but always tough to come back from 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.760 twenty and then to continue to get to victory. You 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:52.520 see it come back a lot of times, but then 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:54.160 you know the other team start of takes control and 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:55.040 ultimately closes it. 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:55.200 Out. 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:57.160 But Bulls, what do you think about this one? 0:07:57.240 --> 0:07:58.880 Yeah, and I'm mocking and either there for the bull 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:02.080 sided a little bit shortand but yeah, they just basically 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:05.480 with that first quarter and after that they clearly outplayed 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:08.000 Portland for three quarters in this game. I thought Portland 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:09.760 just sort of got on. I think they hit their 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:11.480 first four to three pointers and sort of got off 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:14.240 to that lead. But that was really the best they 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:16.160 did in that first quarter. They built that big lead 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:18.360 and that was it. After that, Chicago and the Chicago 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:20.720 Bulls went into the paint anytime they wanted, which is 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.080 a real concern here. I think for the Blazers. Their 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:26.320 defense was very, very ordinary, particularly in that second half 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:29.600 there last night. That's a question here for Portland going forward, 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:31.200 but for the Bulls to go on the road to 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:33.680 get this win. This season started off so badly and 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:37.240 they'd look badly, but now they're starting to resemble the 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:39.600 team that's starting to just change a little bit. And 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:41.480 Zach Lavine was asked after the game, you know, would 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:43.199 you guys have won this game last year? And he 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:46.280 was like, no, no way, because they wouldn't have. You know, 0:08:46.640 --> 0:08:48.400 you give the Bulls a punch last year and they 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:50.920 lie down straight away. But this season does feel a 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:52.920 little bit different already. I mean it did get off 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:54.600 to a bit of a slow start there with Billy Donovan, 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:56.839 but sometimes that can be the way with a new coach. 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.319 So you know, I think there's two sides here. I 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:01.679 think you should I go, very impressive win the Blazers 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:05.679 another just ordinary performance by them, and I wonder if 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:07.400 they will be a move made there at some point 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:07.960 in the season. 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:10.760 There's a lot of people wanting you to start to 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:12.760 fire up the trade machine to get the Blazer is 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:13.959 a defensive big if you can. 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:16.840 Yeah, well, see Nerk should be that guy though, really 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:19.040 shouldn't he. I Mean he was very very good down 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:20.599 in the bubble there, but last night a couple of 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:24.080 times just got beaten very very easily. And also, you 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:26.880 cannot have Canter and mellow out on the court together. 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:29.880 You just cannot do that. That's just a recipe for disaster. 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:32.160 But again, I think what Chicago did, which was smart. 0:09:32.320 --> 0:09:34.959 They just sort of kept attacking, attacking, attacking, in the paint, 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:37.120 and then when someone was over for three, they'd fire 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:39.560 it out to that guy to shoot the three. So yeah, 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:42.400 this was a fun win and you can just see 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:44.719 with Trade like look happy. Isn't it that exciting to 0:09:44.720 --> 0:09:47.280 see when someone has a big comeback, because I imagine 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:49.760 in that first quarter, Tray was pretty much almost ready 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:51.760 to just jump into bed and say, screw this, this 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:52.440 one's all over. 0:09:54.240 --> 0:09:56.880 No way, no way. I had a tweet during the 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:59.199 first quarter a Blazers fans had to me, Man, I'm 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:01.400 so sorry you got to watch the Bulls every single night. 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:03.679 This is my first time catching him. They're terrible. Zach 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:05.400 Lavine barely touched the ball in the first court and 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:08.400 I said, just stick around the comeback Bulls. They've got 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:11.079 this taken care of. Guess what they did. Stacy King 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:13.559 said on the broadcast. Who could have predicted this? Only 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:15.960 a being of pure positivity? And that's what it's all about. 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:19.040 This year the Bulls, they looked like the team everybody 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:20.400 thought they were going to be last year, is what 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:22.400 it was to me. You saw Kevin O'Connor tweet last 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:24.720 night where he's saying, I love the blend of youth 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:27.080 and veterans that they have, and that's exactly what it 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:29.640 seemed like coming into last season. The difference, obviously, there's 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.480 a new coach in charge, and honestly felt last night 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:35.560 watching the game that Billy Donovan had had some sort 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:38.160 of effect on the Bulls, right Zach Levine, like I said, 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:40.240 he was overpassing a little bit. People were calling him 0:10:40.280 --> 0:10:42.280 Rondo last night because he wasn't looking for a shot. 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:44.560 He was just trying to force passes. He didn't have 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:46.679 his shot for the most part, but he did a 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:49.360 great job of getting people involved. And Billy Donovan is 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:52.079 a point guard coach. Point guard's team tend to play 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:55.160 well underneath him. So I liked what I saw from 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:57.320 Zach Levine. I liked what I saw from Pat Williams. 0:10:57.400 --> 0:10:59.600 He hid a nice little uh his push shot to 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:02.200 get things started there in the fourth quarter. Garrett Temple 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:04.760 had a huge game. We already mentioned Otto Porter hitting 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:07.120 the glass. Apparently he's a small ball four now. He 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:09.840 was a rim runner last night. Bad Young a small 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.079 ball five. That was a game changer when he came 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:13.800 in and kind of took Wendell Carter out of that 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:16.160 drop defense was able to play a little quicker and 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:18.079 that kind of shut things off for Damian Lillard and 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:21.080 c J McCollum a little bit. The Bulls they looked 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:23.440 good last night. They've won four out of five. Will 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:27.400 it keep going? Yes it will? Oh here positivity. 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:27.720 Here, positivity. 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:28.000 Yeah. 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:30.400 I wish it was still called the Rose Garden because 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:32.600 we had the florists. Pat Williams do it. Some heist 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:35.560 things late. That Zach Lavine three to that was ultimately 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:39.719 the game winner was huge. Just you know, that was 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:42.160 a one point game and he drains the big three 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:45.200 and you know, you guys know I love a rebound highlight. 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:47.880 But let's go next level with this. I thought Wendell 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:52.160 Carter Junior laid down some huge highlight picks last night. 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:56.280 He was dropping guys. Yes, yeah, dropped like two. I 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:58.360 was able to call him twice. Maybe they got that 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:00.679 sugarman call him and Lollard was but he drops on 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.520 the big picks that the guys were not calling out 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:05.679 because they were not ready for the big Wendel Courage Junior, 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:07.200 you know screen there. 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:09.360 Yeah, but that team needs a bit of toughness too. 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:11.000 I mean that's one thing where you know that does 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:12.720 send a bit of a message to other teams when 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:14.160 you've got to go out there and nothing dirty. No 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:15.920 one was really upset with him because he was just 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:18.240 doing his playing his role there, Like he's a big guy, 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:20.560 make those screens, make your body get felt there, and 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:23.240 he did that. So yeah, I mean that's what Chicago 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:24.920 has lacked in the last couple of years, is any 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:27.480 real defensive toughness. You know, you sort of look at 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:29.320 that team as pretty flimsy. You can score on them 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:32.080 any time, So you do need a guy who can 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:34.160 sort of, you know, show his size. And this is 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:36.240 his third season now, so you expect him to start 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:38.520 feeling a bit more in control out there. The Bulls 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:40.280 have got high hopes for Wendell Carter too. I mean, 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.040 he's been injured a lot through his career so far, 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:45.000 but if he can stay on the floor, he's a 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:47.400 pretty talented guy. I mean, I don't know really what 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:49.680 the ceiling is until we get a good sustained period 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:50.120 from him. 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:53.000 But it was Al Horford. We always heard the Al Horford. 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:57.240 Yeah, yeah, I mean that that'd be incredible. Yeah yeah. 0:12:57.320 --> 0:12:59.160 We just again like they need to need to see 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:02.960 him put it together for most of a season anyway. 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:05.880 Yeah, injuries have played a huge part, all right. Congrats 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:08.360 to Tree, Kirby and the Chicgo Bulls fans out there. 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:11.400 I love it. I love it. Big victory in Portland. 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:12.920 All right, our next game, let's keep a moving here. 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:17.400 Kyrie Irving leads the undermanned Nets to the one thirty 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:21.880 to ninety six blowout over the Jazz. Here's one of 0:13:21.920 --> 0:13:23.560 those blowouts, Lee, what's your tickaway? 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:26.600 Well, I was very excited for this game, especially because 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:28.719 Kevin Durant wasn't playing. He's out for the next few 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:32.319 games here with coronavirus protocols, and so I was like, Okay, 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:34.080 let's just see because the Nets are under a little 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:34.520 bit of pressure. 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:35.000 They need to win. 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:36.720 They're playing against a very good team, a very good 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:39.760 defensive team. But Kyrie was in his bag, as the 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:43.640 kids say, in that first quarter, he was just incredibly 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:46.560 hit so many shots, the threes, to step backs inside 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:49.520 the paint. And this was a blowout in the first quarter. 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:51.640 And again in the NBA, we know first quarter, as 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:53.720 we were just talking with the Bulls and the Blazers 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:56.280 there that that usually doesn't count for anything, but in 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:59.000 this game it absolutely did. The Jazz had no real 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:02.920 counter at all. Kyrie was just incredible. They couldn't stop him, 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:05.240 even when they double teamed him. He was just too good. 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:06.800 He made the right play, he made the right read 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:10.520 or just hit the shot. And really disappointing performance here 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:12.320 from the Utah Jazz. I mean, this is a team 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:14.120 that you know, I've looked at a couple of times. 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:16.040 I thought they're very good offensive there makes such a 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:18.560 difference when you have Bogdanovic back in that lineup, and 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:21.120 he stunk it up last night. Mitchell played okay, but 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:21.960 that was really it. 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:23.800 And Rudy Gobert, you know. 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:25.360 He's got into it a little bit with shack Over 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:28.120 on the weekend there Shaq saying that you can get 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:29.880 paid two hundred million if you don't have to score. 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:32.480 And I thought it was not a good response there 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:34.280 from Rudy last night. Defensely wasn't good. 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:36.520 He got his ass handed to him by Jared. 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:39.560 Allen exactly like and that's the sort of thing that like, 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:42.480 you know, the haters of Rudy Gobert look at a 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:45.040 game like that and think, I mean, Jared Allen, he's 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:48.200 a solid player, but Rudy Gobert, if you're an all 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:51.800 NBA player, all Star, you should dominate that matchup. But 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:53.440 he didn't do that last night. So yeah, this one 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:55.880 turned into a real snoozer, So the question has to 0:14:55.880 --> 0:15:00.600 be asked the Nets better without Kevin Durant call him. 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:03.240 Lee Ellis later on The Athletic I love it. Well, 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:06.560 here's the other takeaway too, not just Kyrie cooking early, 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:10.080 but the starting lineup tray that Steve Nash ultimately went with, 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:13.040 you know, raised some eyebrows. At least they went with 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:17.720 because there's no Katie Kyrie starting. Okay, Bruce Brown to 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:20.600 a lot of people, that's a who you know, he 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:22.400 played for the Pistons. He's there with the Nets now, 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:26.520 Torrian Prince okay, Jeff Green getting the start, and then 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:31.000 finally finally DeAndre Jordan, we're gonna start the better center 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:34.440 that we have, you know, the better version of basically 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:38.000 you younger you. Jared Allen he got the start. He 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:40.200 was huge nineteen and eighteen for Jared Allen, three steals, 0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:42.280 two blocks, he thoroughly Oh played Rudy Gobert. But that 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:45.240 was It was a lot of names like shuffling around 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:47.320 here from Steve Nash and the Nets coaching staff, well, 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:48.760 a lot of guys that were you know, Joe Harris 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:50.920 to the bench and stuff like that. And for one 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.000 night it works out, But I guess Steve Nash says, 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:55.520 we're just going to try things here and see what 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:57.760 what lineups sort of click. So far, so good with 0:15:57.800 --> 0:15:58.240 this one. 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:02.200 Yeah, not bad. A little experimentation by Steve. Curry is 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:03.480 put in a place where he's got to make some 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:05.720 decisions on what to do with Kevin Durant coming out, 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:08.160 and I think it's kind of interesting that he decided 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:10.320 to go defense first, because that's definitely what this is. 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:12.760 Jared Allen moves better than DeAndre Jordan at this point. 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:15.960 Bruce Brown a defensive player for the most part, Tory imprince. 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:17.600 Maybe he stretches the corp, but he's out there for 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:20.080 his defense. And Jeff Green you just want to highlight 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:22.320 done from him every once in a while. But it 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:24.840 was good for the Nets that they went and tried 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:26.600 to figure out their defense. We've been talking about it 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.000 for the past couple of shows that the Nets haven't 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:31.200 committed to defense. This is a move by Steve Kersey 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.440 or sorry, by Steve Nash. Wrong coach Steve saying, yeah, 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:37.440 we're coming out and we're playing defense. They didn't actually 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:40.040 need to play defense so much last night, only ninety 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:42.200 six to the Jazz, which is impressive, but it's a blowout. 0:16:42.200 --> 0:16:45.160 Who knows the defensive stats there, But Jared Allen getting 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:47.240 the start, you gotta think he's going to be starting 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:48.720 from here on out. There's been a lot of talk. 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:51.560 Obviously the Internet wants him to start over DeAndre Jordan. 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:53.760 He seems like the better player to me. The important 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:57.160 thing is that he has mostly been finishing their games, 0:16:57.160 --> 0:16:59.280 which I think is a bigger deal, and he seems 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:00.920 to be fine with come off the bench, knowing he'll 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:04.040 get his chance eventually. He did last night. He was incredible. 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:06.600 He was being compared to Kenyon Martin. I love to 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:09.399 see that felt like a throwback as well. But he 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:12.160 was great, dominating Gobert. There's some great highlights. Crushed one 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:13.680 on top of his head, blocked him a couple of 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:15.919 times at the rim. He was an impact player and 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:18.479 that's exactly what the Nets needed with Kde going out. 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:22.120 Yeah, my thing with him is whether he's starting or finishing. Okay, 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:25.240 he just needs more minutes. I mean he's He's much 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:28.320 better than DeAndre Jordan's. I love him. I've loved his 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:30.639 games basically since he was a rookie. He is just 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:33.879 a great you know, third fourth guy. If he's like 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:35.760 that type of in the pecking order on your team. Man, 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:37.280 you got a really good squad. I loved what he did. 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:40.960 He also said this. He credited a change of his 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:46.040 pregame meal from pasta with pesto sauce to pasta with 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:49.520 Alfredo sauce for his season high in points and rebounds 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:52.240 in last night's game. I had to get your take 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:54.280 on this, because you're a big pesto man. 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:56.320 Big pesto, big homemade pesto. 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:56.440 Go. 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:56.880 Yeah. 0:17:56.920 --> 0:17:57.960 I love the basil in there. 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:01.320 So he switched it up with the creamier, thicker Elfred. 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:01.720 Yeah. 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:04.720 Interesting, interesting choice there, the sort of dairy option, which 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:07.639 is probably not my profet. He didn't specify what type 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:10.080 of pasta he was using, either, did he. That's what 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:12.480 we need to find out, really the sauce here, you know, 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:15.960