Speaker 1: It's the VC Show. It's the VC Show. It's the
Speaker 1: VC Show. It's the season dude, let's see show season two. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we back again, got the world coon in there for show.
Speaker 1: So go and tell a friends my heart got me
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Speaker 2: Then kick your feet up so you can listen.
Speaker 1: It's the VC Show. It's the VC Show. It's the
Speaker 1: VC Shows the season two. Let's welcome to the VC Show.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, VC. The playoffs are still rolling, a
Speaker 1: lot of exciting basketball still going on. It has had
Speaker 1: us on the edge of our seat. So we're gonna
Speaker 1: dive into that. We're gonna dive into new coaches, coaches
Speaker 1: getting extensions, a whole lot of basketball talk. So kick
Speaker 1: your feet up. The VC Show starts now what they wanted,
Speaker 1: then said, what up everybody? Now that the finals are set.
Speaker 1: I would have briefly talked about the Dallas Mavericks and
Speaker 1: their season and their resiliency, their getting the job done.
Speaker 1: They go up three three nothing, Minnesota gains a little
Speaker 1: momentum and they find a way to get the job
Speaker 1: done to move on to the finals. Uh.
Speaker 2: It says a lot about that that team, staying focused,
Speaker 2: living in the moment, But it also says a lot
Speaker 2: about their superstars. And I'll be the first to admit
Speaker 2: I was very, very curious to see if this duo
Speaker 2: would work. That was the elephant in the room in
Speaker 2: my opinion. It's just I'm not saying that we me
Speaker 2: people wrote Kyrie off more so than my questions were
Speaker 2: would it work because of two point guards, ball dominant
Speaker 2: guys like the ball in their hands. And at the
Speaker 2: same time, I've seen Kyrie make a sacrifice with James
Speaker 2: Harden said hey, no, you're the point guard, you handle it.
Speaker 2: So he's definitely made that sacrifice. But my other question was,
Speaker 2: could Luca buy into allowing another superstar be a decision
Speaker 2: maker in the score that they can be for the
Speaker 2: good of the team. And he has done that and
Speaker 2: look at them now listening to some of Luca's interviews,
Speaker 2: he felt disappointed that he let Luca. I'm sorry he
Speaker 2: let Kyrie down because of he felt he needed to
Speaker 2: play better and I thought that showed growth. And the
Speaker 2: one thing that we don't hear often. Yes, some people
Speaker 2: say it, I'm not saying I'm the only person that
Speaker 2: says this, but Jason Kidd does not get enough credit
Speaker 2: for not for them winning and playing well, for his
Speaker 2: approach immediately while getting Kyrie, sitting Kyrie down to the table,
Speaker 2: whether it's the two of them or the three of them,
Speaker 2: meaning Luka, j Kid, and Kyrie laying on the table
Speaker 2: and have an understanding of how they're going to go
Speaker 2: about this. And I think that is what started the
Speaker 2: trust for Kyrie going through the first year, seeing like, Okay,
Speaker 2: I understand what you're saying, coach. You think about his
Speaker 2: interview in the summer talking about next year, like you
Speaker 2: believe like he's going to come back ready to go.
Speaker 2: And we still were like, we'll see, we'll see it
Speaker 2: sounds good, the honeymoon stations. No, they got it done.
Speaker 2: Luka was able to understand when he needed to allow
Speaker 2: Kyrie to do his thing, and it seems like they
Speaker 2: had like an understanding. Luka kind of gets things started
Speaker 2: in the first half and Kyrie still plays well. Kyrie
Speaker 2: gets going in the third. In the early parts of
Speaker 2: the fourth quarter, we see we will see an aggressive
Speaker 2: Kyrie and kind of Luca plays off the ball. Huge growth,
Speaker 2: huge growth for him, and it's paid off and I'm
Speaker 2: now looking forward to an unbelievable matchup with two duos
Speaker 2: that we consider some of the best in the game,
Speaker 2: with Kyrie and Luca versus Jason Tatum Jalen Brown. But
Speaker 2: the interesting thing is the matchups that we're gonna see
Speaker 2: more than anything. Derek White and Drew Holliday are going
Speaker 2: to guard, gonna guard both of those guys a lot.
Speaker 2: But then they can give you a different look with
Speaker 2: Tatum guarding Luca, Jalen Brown guarding Luca, Jaylen Brown with
Speaker 2: a taller guy on Kyrie because they've seen Kyrie and
Speaker 2: they know hisy and tendencies and how he plays as well,
Speaker 2: so from playing with him and seeing him every day.
Speaker 2: So it'll be very, very interesting to see the matchups.
Speaker 2: And I think BA will have that advantage by saying,
Speaker 2: and I mean that by saying, they can throw different
Speaker 2: bodies at both of those guys, and I think we'll
Speaker 2: see some double teams. I think the one thing that
Speaker 2: Minnesota did to get themselves back in the series is
Speaker 2: they frustrated. They tried to frustrate Luca a little bit
Speaker 2: by double teaming him, knocking them down, knocking them around
Speaker 2: a little bit, making him get off the ball, denying
Speaker 2: Kyrie and making Gafford, making Lively, making Jones Junior, making
Speaker 2: those guys the playmakers and decision makers, which is huge.
Speaker 2: Sometimes you got to give tip your hat when Jones
Speaker 2: Junior hit a three or two and got to the basket,
Speaker 2: But like, can they sustain that because that's not what
Speaker 2: they do game in and game out, That's not their
Speaker 2: role if you would. They tried to change it up,
Speaker 2: and then the MAVs j Kid, Luka, Kyrie, they adjusted
Speaker 2: and that's why they're here. So yeah, it's gonna game one,
Speaker 2: game two, I think, I honestly feel like game two,
Speaker 2: game three. Maybe the game three's when we'll kind of
Speaker 2: see all the adjustments. I mean, obviously there will there
Speaker 2: be more and where do you go from here? But
Speaker 2: game one is going to be a feel out who's
Speaker 2: going to guard, who how you can guard, because I
Speaker 2: think Dallas won't be able to crack the code of
Speaker 2: Boston until Luca and Kyrie has seen the matchups of
Speaker 2: those four guys that I need, and they'll probably see more,
Speaker 2: but once they got to see what it looks like
Speaker 2: when they're going against those four guys individually is when
Speaker 2: Dallas can really adjust and possibly take off diving into
Speaker 2: Dallas and the importance of Jason Kidd. I got the
Speaker 2: opportunity to play with JA Kid, and I understand how
Speaker 2: valuable he is as a player. His knowledge of the game.
Speaker 2: We all knew about the Kid vision. If you know,
Speaker 2: for you young or you young people, you probably don't
Speaker 2: know about the Jkid vision. But he could see the
Speaker 2: game the play before it happened, and he put me
Speaker 2: in positions to where I was able to shine and succeed,
Speaker 2: which is probably why my jersey is getting retired now
Speaker 2: because of him. I really believe that. Shout out to
Speaker 2: j Kid, But I think I'm going to start with Luca.
Speaker 2: I thought his hire for for for the MAVs was
Speaker 2: essential to Luca's growth, and I talked about could Luca
Speaker 2: buy into playing off the ball and allowing another superstar
Speaker 2: player to be to do their thing to make the
Speaker 2: game easier for him. Check he has done that. I
Speaker 2: thought he also was great for Kyrie one. Kyrie Respectshim
Speaker 2: were talking about a Hall of Fame point guard, super
Speaker 2: successful at the position. Even j Kidd with me, you know,
Speaker 2: I talked about being an elite point guard and a
Speaker 2: great decision maker. It was times where he got off
Speaker 2: the ball allowed me to be the ball handler, to
Speaker 2: make plays in situations, and he was a shooting guard.
Speaker 2: So he's been there, he's seen it all, he's done
Speaker 2: it all. He's been in all of these positions. Even
Speaker 2: playing in the Olympic team with the Kobe d Wade Lebron,
Speaker 2: he understood how to there I use empower but allowing
Speaker 2: these guys to be themselves and giving them the ball
Speaker 2: in their hands and saying, hey, I'll play off the ball.
Speaker 2: And he did that and teams were successful. And I thought,
Speaker 2: you know, and I mentioned it earlier and I'll say
Speaker 2: it again, Jay kidds value of being upfront, being a
Speaker 2: point guard, being able to navigate through players and understanding
Speaker 2: how to coach that individual player. Sitting Kyrie down, having
Speaker 2: a heart to heart conversation on his growth, their expectations,
Speaker 2: and what the future could look like if everybody could
Speaker 2: buy in. And everybody has bought in. And I also think,
Speaker 2: like a lot of people have said, but when they
Speaker 2: drafted Lively, I said, oh, that's gonna be a huge
Speaker 2: pickup for them because of his live and active body
Speaker 2: before he went down with his injury, getting knee kicked,
Speaker 2: beat up, punched in the face, the whole nine. His
Speaker 2: activity on the screen, to the screen, to the role,
Speaker 2: to the lib set up everything for him. Not that
Speaker 2: Gaffert was not doing it, but it was. It was
Speaker 2: tough for Minnesota to guard. Then you go and get
Speaker 2: a gaffer. So now maybe Lively is not having the game,
Speaker 2: Maybe he Lively's in foul trouble. You bring another live
Speaker 2: body in there that plays the same way, super active
Speaker 2: on the glass, creates extra possessions for open threes, like wow,
Speaker 2: that was another great pickup. Oh and then you go
Speaker 2: even further and go get PJ. Washington, which a lot
Speaker 2: of us I played against the young fella and you
Speaker 2: knew he's a big guy who could shoot shoot the ball,
Speaker 2: but he kind of got lost in the sauce in
Speaker 2: in Charlotte. But kudos to Nico Nico Harrison over there.
Speaker 2: And you know, the GM seeing a gym, a diamond
Speaker 2: of the rough, a piece that would fit their team,
Speaker 2: and he's coming to his own and was a great
Speaker 2: pickup for him. Toughness, fearless, another score, even though he
Speaker 2: did not shoot well in the last series, once he
Speaker 2: got the ball going in, he was a difference maker
Speaker 2: because he gave them another perimeter score. That's gonna play
Speaker 2: hard and play tough. So then you have Derrick Jones Junior,
Speaker 2: who I think j kids said, look, I need you
Speaker 2: to be athletic. I want you to shoot the ball
Speaker 2: when you're open, regardless of makes or not. And you
Speaker 2: can see that, like we get caught up into numbers,
Speaker 2: and sometimes yes, you can look at the numbers, but
Speaker 2: confidence is a mug man. And when you have a
Speaker 2: coach that says, regardless of your numbers, I don't care
Speaker 2: what the percentage, I couldn't even tell you Derek Jones percentage.
Speaker 2: And if I'm on the other team, I'm still gonna
Speaker 2: give him that shot. But as a teammate and as
Speaker 2: a as a player that your coach says, if you're open,
Speaker 2: shoot the damn ball, I don't care about the result.
Speaker 2: Shoot it with confidence. We'll deal with the result because
Speaker 2: he knows that he's gonna get that shot. So by
Speaker 2: telling him to shoot the ball and to be confident
Speaker 2: shooting makes a huge difference because I'm if I'm on
Speaker 2: the other team and I'm saying, okay, we're gonna make
Speaker 2: Derek Jones Junior the shooter. We're gonna make Lively and
Speaker 2: Gafford the decision makers. We're hoping that they're hesitant. Oh man,
Speaker 2: I'm out of a rhythm or I know, I'm not
Speaker 2: supposed to really shoot this one. I'm only supposed shotwo
Speaker 2: or three times and they're getting seven eight shots. After
Speaker 2: a while, you get you get a little gunshot. But
Speaker 2: if my coach is telling me to shoot every time,
Speaker 2: well guess what. I'm gonna shoot every time. But when
Speaker 2: I see the lane, I'm gonna drive the lane. And
Speaker 2: you do it within the reason. And that's what has happened.
Speaker 2: And everybody understands their role, which makes the game easy
Speaker 2: for Luca and Kyrie because they play off of each
Speaker 2: other as well, so they're gonna be a tough out.
Speaker 2: I think this is gonna be a fantastic series and
Speaker 2: I cannot cannot wait. And I'm not going to give
Speaker 2: you a pick yet because i still need to think
Speaker 2: this through, so don't ask. And then we have some
Speaker 2: interesting parallels in this game, and I'm gonna start on
Speaker 2: the other side. Persingus going back to Dallas after that
Speaker 2: matchup was after that stint was very very interesting how
Speaker 2: that ended. He wanted to have more of a a
Speaker 2: more touches and a bigger role, and it just didn't
Speaker 2: work out. So I think that's one. Yeah, that's cool,
Speaker 2: and I started there because the obviously the bigger conversation,
Speaker 2: or I want to say, that's that's that is an
Speaker 2: elephant in the room. Kyrie going back to Boston and
Speaker 2: what that's gonna look like, sound like, feel like for
Speaker 2: him is what has intrigued me because I've been in
Speaker 2: that situation before as a New Jersey net going back
Speaker 2: to Toronto in the playoffs and he's gonna receive booz
Speaker 2: And I've documented this for y'all, like whatever bulls like.
Speaker 2: There's no such thing as oh, this is the lot
Speaker 2: oft boolls I've ever seen, because that's bs because I
Speaker 2: was a part of the lot oft booze ever. But
Speaker 2: to take you into that process or what that looks like,
Speaker 2: it feels like excitement because you're playing your own, your
Speaker 2: old team and trying to gather yourself and not make
Speaker 2: it about you and you only because this is not
Speaker 2: a regular season game. This is a playoff game, so
Speaker 2: try not to get caught up into that. Proving to
Speaker 2: a fan arena player on the other team more so
Speaker 2: than doing what you've done to get you there, which
Speaker 2: is it's tough to do. But the comforting thing about
Speaker 2: what Kyrie is going through is there's one guy on
Speaker 2: that team that has experienced that. That is Jason Kidd.
Speaker 2: Jason Kidd was my teammate going into Toronto when all
Speaker 2: that was happening, so he understands that moment. He understands
Speaker 2: as a player what that's like and what it was
Speaker 2: like for me, and helping me be in the moment.
Speaker 2: But feel confident that your teammates have your back. You're
Speaker 2: not doing this alone and not allowing me to go
Speaker 2: off the beaten path and trying to beat Toronto by myself,
Speaker 2: allowing Kyrie to beat tried to beat Boston by himself,
Speaker 2: and I think that's a huge advantage for him. Yes,
Speaker 2: I want you to be aggressive, and if i'm him,
Speaker 2: meaning Jay Kidd, I don't. I wouldn't even run the
Speaker 2: first couple of plays for Kyrie. I just let him
Speaker 2: just play within the offense, make a play if he
Speaker 2: has a drive. If anything, your first shot should be
Speaker 2: a drive, because I can tell you my first shot
Speaker 2: boy playing against him for the first time, didn't go well,
Speaker 2: I felt like I shot an easy shot and I
Speaker 2: wanted to make it so bad I airmailed. I missed
Speaker 2: the whole darn rim and hit Jerry West on the
Speaker 2: other side. And that was just a regular season game.
Speaker 2: So obviously the anxiety and just the moment of finals
Speaker 2: in itself, and yes, Kyrie has been in the moment,
Speaker 2: but this is different when you're playing your old team
Speaker 2: and you hear what you're gonna hear out there and
Speaker 2: stuff like that. So I would allow a couple of
Speaker 2: couple of possessions, maybe a couple of minutes to where
Speaker 2: I don't I don't run and play for him and
Speaker 2: maybe in the first, you know, the first two games,
Speaker 2: and just allow him just to play in the moment
Speaker 2: where he can settle down a little bit because he's
Speaker 2: gonna hear a lot, see a lot, feel like he's
Speaker 2: gonna his emotions are gonna be so high, Like you
Speaker 2: can say, he can say what he wants and you
Speaker 2: can say, oh it is he he said, He's like,
Speaker 2: it's just another game. No, no, no, I've been there,
Speaker 2: and we do that, we as players, we do that
Speaker 2: for our own good. The approach you wanted to feel
Speaker 2: like just another game, but the reality is not just
Speaker 2: another game because it's the Finals. It's not just another
Speaker 2: game because of how things ended and went in Boston.
Speaker 2: So I think he'll be fine, particularly knowing that you
Speaker 2: have that other guy by the same of Luka Doncas
Speaker 2: up there who can get things going and get you
Speaker 2: settled in and you can just ease into the game
Speaker 2: as opposed to having to carry the load, which I
Speaker 2: think makes things a little a little different and more
Speaker 2: difficult for someone in that position. So I'm definitely interested
Speaker 2: in seeing both dynamics because for for for for Zingis,
Speaker 2: it's still the same thing. Maybe it's not going to
Speaker 2: be as high scale, as high of a scale and
Speaker 2: draw as much of attention, but it's going to draw
Speaker 2: some attention because of that's just how it goes. Like
Speaker 2: the MAVs. Remember he was there, and I think Boston
Speaker 2: for Zincas, I think it's easier for him than it
Speaker 2: is for for Kyrie because he's not the number one,
Speaker 2: number two in my opinion, he's the number three, and
Speaker 2: the early early in games, they're gonna play through Jalen
Speaker 2: and Tatum, but he will benefit by getting some open shots.
Speaker 2: But I if if they ask my opinion, ever, I
Speaker 2: say drive the ball. I don't care how open three
Speaker 2: you are from three for your first couple of shots,
Speaker 2: drive the ball, get as close as possible, and work
Speaker 2: your way out just because of all of the anxiety
Speaker 2: and feeling that's inside of you. It's gonna come out
Speaker 2: and you're gonna feel like Hawk Hogan out there when
Speaker 2: you're shooting, as opposed to just a finesse player, because
Speaker 2: of the emotion and excitement. So I'm interested to kind
Speaker 2: of watch that. I'll be watching that closely just because
Speaker 2: I've been there and just like to see how they
Speaker 2: handle that. But j Kid, more than anybody, has been
Speaker 2: there as a player and understands and has seen it all,
Speaker 2: so he can kind of direct Kyrie in the right
Speaker 2: direction towards this. The Eastern Conference right now is on hiatus.
Speaker 2: Why because the Boston Celtics did what they're supposed to
Speaker 2: do and they got the sweep. And yes it was
Speaker 2: a sweep, and I think a lot of you, even
Speaker 2: if you're a Boston fan or not, you will agree
Speaker 2: it was a very entertaining series. The Indiana Pacers were undermanned,
Speaker 2: they had guys down, and they still stepped up and
Speaker 2: made it a series. I think, you know, there's a
Speaker 2: lot of teams and I've said this on a couple
Speaker 2: of episodes with some of our guests and otherwise that
Speaker 2: you look at teams like the the Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, Pacers, Timberwolves.
Speaker 2: A lot of these young teams who are getting experience
Speaker 2: have one games or one series. This is huge experience
Speaker 2: for their superstars going into next year, and it's gonna
Speaker 2: make it even more interesting because there's teams like the
Speaker 2: Memphis Grizzlies who aren't in the playoffs this year, who
Speaker 2: are trying to get healthy. Uh you know, the Miami
Speaker 2: Heat who are banged up and injured. Le's see what
Speaker 2: happens with them. The Clippers, like, you know, they're gonna
Speaker 2: have the experienced teams, and then you're gonna have these
Speaker 2: young teams who now understand what the playoffs are like,
Speaker 2: understand how you must play to win playoff series round
Speaker 2: a round and as you move forward. And so I
Speaker 2: think the Pacers are going to be a very scary
Speaker 2: team next year because of this. And you know, shout
Speaker 2: out to Nie Smith, who was fantastic on both ends
Speaker 2: of the floor, Nim Hart who I think got an
Speaker 2: opportunity to elevate his game to the next level, being
Speaker 2: that Halliburton went out and did not play games three.
Speaker 2: In games four, and he shined and kept them afloat
Speaker 2: and almost got them a win in game four, losing three.
Speaker 2: The young rookie Shepherd, I thought, being that he'd never
Speaker 2: been there before. All those guys never been there before.
Speaker 2: You could see the young mistakes, first time mistakes as you,
Speaker 2: like I said, as you move into deep into the playoffs,
Speaker 2: turnovers are magnified to the next level, and I think
Speaker 2: turnovers hurt the Indiana Pacers three of the four games
Speaker 2: which they should have won. I think game two they
Speaker 2: were blown out, but Game one, three and four, I
Speaker 2: felt the Indiana Pacers had the game in hand. We
Speaker 2: recall a simple inbounds play, late game turnovers by their
Speaker 2: go to guys superstars. I know Siakam had a turnover,
Speaker 2: a big turnover in each of those games that they
Speaker 2: should have won. The turnover getting the ball in. I
Speaker 2: think that was game one, late game execution, so on
Speaker 2: and so forth. It's just those are the things that
Speaker 2: they will learn to settle in a little more. You
Speaker 2: can see the more experienced team in the Boston Celtics,
Speaker 2: and shout out to the Boston Celtics who for taking
Speaker 2: the Pacers' best punch. There were times where Jason Tatum
Speaker 2: didn't play his best basketball, but the experience that they have.
Speaker 2: Jalen Brown is a number two guy that lives for
Speaker 2: that opportunity when their number one guy isn't playing. He's like,
Speaker 2: I got it, let me handle this, and he's done that.
Speaker 2: He did that is why he deservingly in my opinion,
Speaker 2: I know it could have gone either way. You know,
Speaker 2: won the award for I guess the most valuable Player.
Speaker 2: I mean, he played like it, he was most consistent,
Speaker 2: But the hero in my opinion was Drew Holliday. Drew
Speaker 2: Holliday by far showed his value to this team for
Speaker 2: both teams. He shows his value in general, and I
Speaker 2: think any team that he goes to he will adapt
Speaker 2: and be just what we saw, a score when you
Speaker 2: need him. And obviously on defense, he's gonna make the
Speaker 2: big play just like he did for the Milwaukee Bucks
Speaker 2: to help them get a championship. And I think the Bucks,
Speaker 2: regardless of them making the trade and getting a lot
Speaker 2: of scoring, they miss him. Tremendously on the defensive end
Speaker 2: because of just his intangibles and the things that he
Speaker 2: brings to the table that you do not see on
Speaker 2: the stat sheet. That still that he got Game three,
Speaker 2: if I'm not mistaken, falls down, gets back in the
Speaker 2: defensive states, able to slide, guess correctly, get to steal
Speaker 2: without a foul, and seal the game. You say, oh,
Speaker 2: he's not a great score, he doesn't score much whatever,
Speaker 2: but guess what he had twenty eight points I think
Speaker 2: in that game and another big scoring night Game four,
Speaker 2: close out game. So when he drew Holliday is most valuable.
Speaker 2: And I heard whispers, don't shoot the messager, but I
Speaker 2: heard he was one of the first guys called to
Speaker 2: be on the Olympic team because of his value on
Speaker 2: both sides of the ball. He's a point guard that
Speaker 2: can get guys, put guys in position, and then obviously
Speaker 2: you know what he can do on the defensive end.
Speaker 2: I think on the other side, Halliburton and Obi Topping.
Speaker 2: I didn't mention Obi toppin the growth that he's gotten.
Speaker 2: We just we could see how comfortable he was. They
Speaker 2: played through him, Pascal Siakam, Miles Turner, They have so
Speaker 2: many guys that I think learned a lot and they
Speaker 2: couldn't get over the hump. But I'll tell you what.
Speaker 2: I got to give my shout out to coach Rick Carlisle.
Speaker 2: I played for him in Dallas, for him to have
Speaker 2: his particular style and the way he wants to play,
Speaker 2: and being able to buy into a new style of play,
Speaker 2: the new generation, and getting those guys to buy into him.
Speaker 2: They score a lot of points and you would think
Speaker 2: they played isolate some basketball, which yes they do. But
Speaker 2: at the same time, that ball moves. That ball moves,
Speaker 2: and that's a lot of it. Because of Halliburton and
Speaker 2: his unselfishness, I think he's gonna learn how to be
Speaker 2: a scorer and distributor because I think they needed his
Speaker 2: scoring in the first In the first game or two,
Speaker 2: it drove me crazy because he would get in there.
Speaker 2: He's just a setup artist. He's just used to it,
Speaker 2: finding guys, finding guys. But it was at a point
Speaker 2: they needed him to score, needed him to score, and
Speaker 2: he was kind of not looking at the basket, and
Speaker 2: once he decided to do so, it made a difference,
Speaker 2: a huge difference, and in making a push into trying
Speaker 2: to win. So I looked, I mean, we saw that
Speaker 2: in against the Knicks. That's another team. I didn't even
Speaker 2: mention the Knicks. Look Out for the Knicks next year,
Speaker 2: and I'll be interested to see what the summer looks
Speaker 2: like because there will be a lot of moving parts,
Speaker 2: not only for these young teams, but in teams in general.
Speaker 2: We're hearing, obviously Jimmy Butler possibly moving. We're hearing PG
Speaker 2: possibly going somewhere. So many sorrys. That's the two guys
Speaker 2: that I think right now are valuable pieces to teams
Speaker 2: that can go and put them over to hump. So
Speaker 2: we gotta stay tuned with that. But I would to
Speaker 2: go back and I think about the Pacers and I
Speaker 2: said how they were in every game and just did
Speaker 2: not get over the hump. I think about my first
Speaker 2: playoffs with the Toronto Raptors against the Knicks, more experienced
Speaker 2: team I saw. I saw double teams and some triple teams,
Speaker 2: and we were in games and mind you, I don't
Speaker 2: remember the score and I don't know the comparison in
Speaker 2: point differential, but at the same time, I felt like
Speaker 2: we were in some game and our lack of experience
Speaker 2: and them putting pression on me, making other guys beat me.
Speaker 2: T Mac had an unbelievable series and I had to
Speaker 2: work extremely hard to get a bucket, make a play,
Speaker 2: find guys that were open while trying to maneuver in
Speaker 2: those situations. And seeing that, we watched Denver do that
Speaker 2: to end. Edwards put two guys, sometimes three guys on
Speaker 2: him where he struggled and he had to make plays
Speaker 2: for everyone else. And you have to kind of trust
Speaker 2: in your teammates in the simple fact of that they'll
Speaker 2: make the right you will make the right play, and
Speaker 2: they'll make a bucket for you, because if you get
Speaker 2: off the ball and those guys make shots, it opens
Speaker 2: the door for him. And that happened for me. Year two,
Speaker 2: where I was experienced, we got to play the knicks
Speaker 2: again and I was prepared for it, and I was
Speaker 2: settled in because I understood stood the dying mix of
Speaker 2: the playoffs and seeing those doubled and triple teams and
Speaker 2: not only making the right play, but I made quicker decisions.
Speaker 2: And that's what I think will continue to learn, and
Speaker 2: I just think the young pacers will learned that as well,
Speaker 2: being a little more decisive in different situations and not
Speaker 2: settling or holder onto the ball too long, and then
Speaker 2: I jump into the other side. I dive in to
Speaker 2: the Celtics. You know, it's easy to say, if you're
Speaker 2: the Celtics, you want to get this series over with.
Speaker 2: And we talked about Game three, sorry, game four. That
Speaker 2: was what was important. Obviously, trying to get Prozingis back,
Speaker 2: getting him as healthy as possible in rhythm, which is
Speaker 2: to me impossible to do because the only way you
Speaker 2: get in rhythm and get in game shape is to
Speaker 2: play the game. So I Expectzingis to his minutes to
Speaker 2: be monitored, probably short stints throughout the finals, but he's
Speaker 2: gonna play a huge factor in Boston's success and quest
Speaker 2: to win a championship. And Boston now having nine days
Speaker 2: off until they play again. It's kind of a gift
Speaker 2: in the curse, and I think Boston would always say, yes,
Speaker 2: we're gonna get our guys healthy, rested and ready to go.
Speaker 2: And then you have to find that finals energy. You
Speaker 2: have to find that first game energy, that hit first mentality.
Speaker 2: I mean, obviously they'll be on their home court, so
Speaker 2: you'll get the energy of the crowd, but sometimes you
Speaker 2: get a little too hyped and you wear down. So
Speaker 2: nine days is I think a week five days would
Speaker 2: be enough. And I think now you get antsy and
Speaker 2: ready to play again. And so what as a coach,
Speaker 2: what do you do? Simulation? You got to try to
Speaker 2: simulate these moments, so you want to play pick up
Speaker 2: a little bit. And as a coach, you're over there
Speaker 2: crossing your fingers that you don't get anybody injured by
Speaker 2: any means. So everybody has to be careful on how
Speaker 2: they go about it because you need guys ready to
Speaker 2: play more so than trying to prove a point in
Speaker 2: practice prepping for the finals. I think back to twenty ten,
Speaker 2: nine to ten with the Magic, We we did some damage.
Speaker 2: We swept the first two rounds. I think we swept
Speaker 2: the Atlanta Hawks, then we went on to sweep the
Speaker 2: Charlotte Bobcats. At the time, and the first question was
Speaker 2: after the first week, how would we react and handle
Speaker 2: ourselves into the second round, which I thought we did
Speaker 2: a great job because the team prior to me getting
Speaker 2: there had just left the finals, so they understood the
Speaker 2: lack of focus. I'm sorry, they understood the focus and
Speaker 2: not really getting caught in the moment and every game
Speaker 2: counted and being prepared for me. I think even if
Speaker 2: they were a little lack of days ago, here's me
Speaker 2: getting the opportunity to kind of move on. I was
Speaker 2: ready to go. So we had different people who could
Speaker 2: step up and kind of bring our team. But we
Speaker 2: were locked and focus and got into Game one against
Speaker 2: the Boston Celtics in the Conference finals and I thought
Speaker 2: we got we got ahead of ourselves. I think we
Speaker 2: had our chance poked out a little bit and Boston
Speaker 2: hit us in the mouth, and we thought we were
Speaker 2: invincible going eight in a row, and felt like we
Speaker 2: knew it was gonna be a challenge. Don't get me wrong,
Speaker 2: but we felt like we could we could compete with anybody,
Speaker 2: which we did. We ended up losing in six Boston.
Speaker 2: Boston moves on to the finals. So for the Celtics
Speaker 2: this year, I just think they're focus. I think their
Speaker 2: focus because of the fact that they've been there before.
Speaker 2: Al Horford I think told the story to me in
Speaker 2: his interviews, like I'm ready for this, They're waiting for
Speaker 2: the They're chomping at the big ready for the moment.
Speaker 2: You know when you're right around the when it's right
Speaker 2: around the corner, the opportunity, you're ready to go and
Speaker 2: you're gonna do what you have to do. They're experiencing.
Speaker 2: They're not a young team, so I think they'll be
Speaker 2: fine and they're gonna be a tough out. Moving on
Speaker 2: to other topics, let's talk about some coaches that have
Speaker 2: made some headlines, you know, starting with tylu getting the
Speaker 2: extension from the Clippers, becoming if I'm if I'm not mistaken,
Speaker 2: one of the highest paid coaches ever, well deserved, but
Speaker 2: he was one of the guys that was talked about
Speaker 2: potentially becoming a Laker, the Lakes head coach and the Clipper,
Speaker 2: saidnam Man, And it makes sense if you're if you're
Speaker 2: moving into a new building, you want to have your
Speaker 2: coach established, particularly that the fans are very are familiar
Speaker 2: with already players that they're familiar with hit the ground,
Speaker 2: hitting the ground running, and they're going to do that.
Speaker 2: He's a He's one of the best coaches in the
Speaker 2: game right now. Very he's proven, and I think they
Speaker 2: made the right decision on not allowing any thoughts of
Speaker 2: ty lou leaving, particularly going into that Laker locker room
Speaker 2: with transition into JJ Reddick being the front runner for
Speaker 2: the head coaches sounding like he's potentially the guy to
Speaker 2: get that job. So, uh, it's just interesting to me.
Speaker 2: You fire a coach to get, you know, with who
Speaker 2: gained experience, had some success, and then you go and
Speaker 2: get a guy who is with with who doesn't have
Speaker 2: any experience coach. He's a smart guy. He knows this stuff,
Speaker 2: you know, he knows the game. It's different obviously being
Speaker 2: the coach. So it's just interesting that that's the avenue
Speaker 2: they chose. I feel like when you're you have a
Speaker 2: guy like a Lebron James, uh, and you're trying to
Speaker 2: take advantage of his window and what's left you go
Speaker 2: get an experienced coach. But uh, j J is showing
Speaker 2: that he he's very he's he's a smart guy, and
Speaker 2: I guess they feel like he's very capable. We don't know,
Speaker 2: you know, so it's not knocking. It's like, we just
Speaker 2: don't know. So I'm just interested to see how that
Speaker 2: works and if he becomes the head coach of that team,
Speaker 2: I'm curious to see. And I know we've heard Lebron
Speaker 2: is out of the process and not in the decision making,
Speaker 2: but I hope Anthony Davis is in this process because
Speaker 2: the next year or two, or whenever Lebron chooses to
Speaker 2: walk away from this game, Anthony Davis is going to
Speaker 2: be your guy. And you hope that he and JJ
Speaker 2: Reddick or whoever the coach is has a good rapport
Speaker 2: and get along and have a great understanding, because he's
Speaker 2: the guy now that has to he's the voice. He
Speaker 2: will be the franchise guy and the guy that you're
Speaker 2: going to play through. So I'm curious to see what
Speaker 2: JJ uses as an offense. It goes about it like he's,
Speaker 2: like I said, he knows the game and I'm sure
Speaker 2: he has an idea. And I'm curious to see if
Speaker 2: JJ gets a job, who he has on his staff,
Speaker 2: because I feel like that's extremely important because JJ's going
Speaker 2: to have a lot of responsibility as a new coach,
Speaker 2: and it's just like being a rookie coming into the league.
Speaker 2: Everything's going to go one hundred miles an hour and
Speaker 2: you're still trying to figure out what works, what does it,
Speaker 2: what you like, what you don't like, how you go
Speaker 2: about it as a coach, and feelings and anxiety, the
Speaker 2: all of this stuff, you know, goes into coaching as well,
Speaker 2: So you're gonna have he's gonna need a great assistant
Speaker 2: in staff in general, but first assistant to really help
Speaker 2: with the process, a calming voice, and a decision maker
Speaker 2: sometimes where you're not quite sure on what direction you
Speaker 2: want to go, because like we can, we can sit
Speaker 2: here and say in different situations, hey, that's what this
Speaker 2: is what I would have done, this is what I
Speaker 2: would do, and then we tend to forget about situations.
Speaker 2: We don't think about whether it's a like offense defense situation,
Speaker 2: utilizing your timeouts or to review plays, all of this stuff.
Speaker 2: Like when you're in the moment, like that's when you're
Speaker 2: hit with it and you're like, I never really thought
Speaker 2: about it. But you have that coach who's been there
Speaker 2: before who can make those decisions to help help you along.
Speaker 2: I know Jason Kidd when he first got the job,
Speaker 2: literally from playing his last game to becoming a head coach.
Speaker 2: I soluted it because that's tough to do where you
Speaker 2: don't have any experience. Obviously, he's very smart, understands the
Speaker 2: game like JJ does, but he had Lawrence Frank, our
Speaker 2: former coach, as his first assistant, who's been there, who
Speaker 2: has who had been to the finals twice who understood
Speaker 2: every aspect which helped him understand the coaching chair and
Speaker 2: help him slowly go through it. While having that guy
Speaker 2: is important. So I'll be interested to see who his
Speaker 2: first assistant and his coaching staff in general is. So
Speaker 2: we have to stay tuned. So, yeah, those are my
Speaker 2: thoughts on that. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts
Speaker 2: and what you think about that. I think always the
Speaker 2: coaching decision for an organization is whether is rather interesting
Speaker 2: and why did that go in that direction? What they're
Speaker 2: thinking about? And you know, we can easily say this
Speaker 2: guy hasn't had experience, you know, and then we draw
Speaker 2: comparisons to other coaches and who who hasn't had success?
Speaker 2: And you know, we shall see. But I know I
Speaker 2: need some experience before I take a coaching job. But anyway,
Speaker 2: I appreciate you guys listening once again, continue to tune
Speaker 2: in week after week, interesting topics. We're going to dive
Speaker 2: into the playoffs that higher and Kyrie and and persingus
Speaker 2: what's been going on. So stay tuned, Man the VC
Speaker 2: show Man, it has been a great we out of here.
Speaker 2: Let's go