Speaker 1: The twenty twenty three to twenty four NBA regular season
Speaker 1: is down to its final six days, and we've got
Speaker 1: updates on year end award ballots, a comprehensive look at
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference for a change rather than the West,
Speaker 1: and more North American solar eclipse talk than this show
Speaker 1: ever planned or imagined. All that's next. You're on a
Speaker 1: brand new episode, a brand new edition of This League Uncut.
Speaker 2: Welcome to This League Uncut in the rule of twenty
Speaker 2: four hour NBA News. This's you love, Chris Haines. It's
Speaker 2: go time, work's time, It's so time. This League Uncut
Speaker 2: is underway and on fire.
Speaker 1: This should be a good one. Hey everyone, welcome in
Speaker 1: to the latest edition of This League Uncut. Mark Stein
Speaker 1: here with Chris Haynes. It is late on Monday night
Speaker 1: as we record this. There were no NBA games tonight
Speaker 1: as the professionals let the collegians have the stage. Of course,
Speaker 1: Yukon won the National Championship. Of course, Chris Haynes and
Speaker 1: I combined to watch so little of it that any
Speaker 1: attempt at analysis from us would be an affront to
Speaker 1: the game of round ball. So we are just going
Speaker 1: to talk about the stuff that we know about, and
Speaker 1: that of course is the NBA. But I have to say, guys,
Speaker 1: and producer Ryan is here as well. I mean, this
Speaker 1: was quite a day in Dallas. Here in the path
Speaker 1: of totality, we had a full on solar eclipse. Obviously
Speaker 1: it was a big deal all across the country, but
Speaker 1: I don't know, I guess in California, where you guys are,
Speaker 1: I mean, you tell me how big a deal it
Speaker 1: was in your lives, because, like I said, for you know,
Speaker 1: we had I had the glasses, my kids at school,
Speaker 1: with all kinds of high tech photo equipment taking pictures
Speaker 1: of this thing. And I'm you know, I didn't. I
Speaker 1: wasn't expecting to, but I really did get swept up
Speaker 1: in the moment here seeing a full blown eclipse.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think there were people who were definitely
Speaker 3: intrigued with it and set up their day and planned
Speaker 3: around to plant around their schedule to make sure they
Speaker 3: could make it. I wasn't one of them. I was
Speaker 3: actually in the air, flying to LA.
Speaker 1: You're in the air.
Speaker 3: I was in the air, and no, I didn't look
Speaker 3: out the window to see if I can see the clip.
Speaker 3: I didn't care, you know, no, really, I have no
Speaker 3: you know, listen, no ill will towards you people who do.
Speaker 3: I just didn't didn't care, so missed it.
Speaker 1: And Ryan was probably on the Herd. Of course, producer
Speaker 1: Ryan is part of the army that produces and runs
Speaker 1: Colin Cowherd's daily show. I'm guessing you guys couldn't just
Speaker 1: hit the pause button on live TV so everybody could
Speaker 1: go outside and check this thing out.
Speaker 4: I had had to do it live. No, we were preoccupied,
Speaker 4: Although I will say I'm a little surprised, Chris. Were
Speaker 4: you a window seat and you just very much avoided
Speaker 4: looking out the window or were you at least an
Speaker 4: aisle guy.
Speaker 3: No, I'm an aisle guy. I like to stretch my leg.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, a little bit, all right, So.
Speaker 5: I get that maybe you didn't have a clear view.
Speaker 3: Of it, Ryan, Ryan, that had absolutely nothing to do
Speaker 3: with it. If I was sitting in a window seat,
Speaker 3: my shades would have been down and I would have
Speaker 3: been sleep just like I was on this On this flight,
Speaker 3: I usually sleep. I knock out like I And I
Speaker 3: love that about myself because it, you know, it makes
Speaker 3: the makes the flight go by quicker. But uh, yeah,
Speaker 3: I just had no desire to. I'm sorry, don't judge me,
Speaker 3: just had no desire.
Speaker 1: No, we're not judging you at all. No, I'm just
Speaker 1: I just have to say, like I said, even from
Speaker 1: my perspective, I was not expecting to get swept up
Speaker 1: in the moment. But you know, here in Dallas again
Speaker 1: being in the quote path of totality. It last happened
Speaker 1: in the Greater DFW area in eighteen seventy eight, and
Speaker 1: it is not projected to happen again like it did
Speaker 1: today with four minutes of darkness just intruding upon the
Speaker 1: afternoon at one forty pm. It's not supposed to happen
Speaker 1: here again until twenty three seventeen. So I don't think
Speaker 1: this league uncut will still be in existence in twenty
Speaker 1: three seventeen.
Speaker 3: Hold on, man, you don't think we'll have a show
Speaker 3: good enough that it will stand the test of time.
Speaker 3: And that's somebody else like our family, as somebody our
Speaker 3: kids will take over the program, on our grandkids and
Speaker 3: their grand kids. You don't think it has survived of
Speaker 3: survivings in staying power.
Speaker 1: Maybe do you think AI is so advanced that it
Speaker 1: could replicate your stories about the rec League and everything
Speaker 1: else that happens in your life. Is that possible?
Speaker 3: Hey, listen, I've been looking at some you know, I
Speaker 3: spent quite too much time on social media, and I've
Speaker 3: seen what AI can do already. It's tricking some folks
Speaker 3: is writing stories for people. AIS was having their own conversation.
Speaker 3: So I wouldn't be surprised what we could see, you know,
Speaker 3: at that juncture.
Speaker 1: But yeah, twenty three seventeen, Yeah, I'm gonna be I
Speaker 1: will be able to tell the story just like Chris
Speaker 1: Haynes about storming out of the car at Popeye's.
Speaker 3: Twenty three seventeen. So that's why everybody was all up
Speaker 3: in arms about this eclipse.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, man, last week in Dallas we had like
Speaker 1: I saw reprint of how the papers covered it in
Speaker 1: eighteen seventy eight. I mean, like I said, I just
Speaker 1: I've never been you know, I've never really gotten wrapped
Speaker 1: up in previous eclipse viewings. But this time, because it
Speaker 1: was such a big story here for days and days
Speaker 1: and days and so much, so much, I guess pessimism
Speaker 1: that the weather was going to mess it up, and
Speaker 1: then the weather really didn't mess it up.
Speaker 3: I have a question, then, when was the last eclipse
Speaker 3: before this.
Speaker 1: One, well, I know there was a significant one in
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen. But like I said, I am not the
Speaker 1: authority on these things, So I mean to quote anything
Speaker 1: I say on the matter is probably probably a mistake.
Speaker 1: I can only speak to it.
Speaker 3: You can only speak to what.
Speaker 1: I can only speak to it. Like I said, from
Speaker 1: this opportunity that Dallas had to have a total eclipse, which,
Speaker 1: like I said, in this area, you know, I know
Speaker 1: the because it's been talked about so much here that
Speaker 1: people were saying, yes, we have not been we have
Speaker 1: not had this opportunity since eighteen seventy eight, and so in.
Speaker 3: Dallas, got you Okay, I'm about to say, because this
Speaker 3: is this is a really uh an erotic trend here.
Speaker 3: So the last one was about seventy.
Speaker 1: One kind of trend?
Speaker 3: Can can I fish my point? Start? About? Allowed to
Speaker 3: fish my point?
Speaker 1: I guess yeah, I mean, sure, finish.
Speaker 3: The last one was seven years ago, and now you
Speaker 3: said the next one won't happen until twenty three seventeen.
Speaker 1: Like what Like I said, like I said, I I
Speaker 1: don't even know. Don't listen to me. I don't know
Speaker 1: what I'm talking about. I know, my knowledge is very
Speaker 1: very very surface.
Speaker 5: I mean, if I don't know about I don't know
Speaker 5: about erotic trends.
Speaker 3: I'm sticking with that erotic I did.
Speaker 5: I did listen to Uh they did a daily episode
Speaker 5: on it today. So they do happen every several years
Speaker 5: or so, right, because there's a guy who's an expert
Speaker 5: and he goes to like every single full eclipse based
Speaker 5: off of where they are on planet Earth. So he's
Speaker 5: been to like once on Antarctica, Australia, India, Canada. So
Speaker 5: to Stein's point, specifically, the one that passes directly over
Speaker 5: Dallas will only happen every few hundred years, but if
Speaker 5: you're willing to go to a different part of the world,
Speaker 5: they do happen more or less like a munch a decade.
Speaker 3: Is kind of I think the cadence of it gotcha.
Speaker 1: Right, So yeah, I think I think the story that
Speaker 1: Ryan is. You know, there's been talk about this Texas
Speaker 1: gentleman who is one hundred and five years old and
Speaker 1: this was his thirteenth total solar eclipse. So they do happen,
Speaker 1: and it just, yeah, like that thing. I think that
Speaker 1: was the other reason why it became such a big
Speaker 1: deal here is that you know, there were stories of
Speaker 1: people coming here from New Zealand and all over the
Speaker 1: world to see this thing where you know, Dallas again
Speaker 1: was in the that's you know that that much. I
Speaker 1: have learned that they do call it the path of totality.
Speaker 1: But you know what we've probably can.
Speaker 3: We learned. We learned something new every day, and I've
Speaker 3: learned like if I you know, it's bigger in Dallas,
Speaker 3: because had I known that I'm only going to see
Speaker 3: this once in my lifetime, I probably would have planned
Speaker 3: my schedule around it.
Speaker 1: So that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: If mygift to you Dallas folks out there, but.
Speaker 1: If Sacramento ever, if Sacramento ever ends up in the
Speaker 1: path of totality, you it will it will, you will
Speaker 1: hear tons about it, and I am sure you will
Speaker 1: get yourself a special set of glasses like I did.
Speaker 3: To Okay, now, let's define eratic, not even or regular
Speaker 3: in pattern or movement, unpredictable.
Speaker 1: So what Whatyes, I do know what the word erratic means,
Speaker 1: but that's not what it sounded like you said. That's
Speaker 1: that was my that was my concern slash confusion. I'm
Speaker 1: pretty sure Producer Ryan and our listeners and I know
Speaker 1: the meaning of erratic E R R A T I C. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: that's not what it sounded like you said.
Speaker 3: Sorry, I've been watching too much of social media clips.
Speaker 3: By my pause.
Speaker 1: Should we talk about should we try? Should we try
Speaker 1: to salvage this show and move on to basketball? Let's go,
Speaker 1: because there was even though this was a day that
Speaker 1: belonged to the collegians, there was a little bit of
Speaker 1: news earlier in the day. I checked with the league
Speaker 1: office because I heard a rumble over the weekend. I've
Speaker 1: said at least once or twice publicly being asked by
Speaker 1: readers by listeners to kind of go over the award
Speaker 1: ballot process and award ballots. I'm sure we've talked about
Speaker 1: it here on this League uncut. When do ballots go out?
Speaker 1: When are awards due? And the voting for year end awards.
Speaker 1: For as long as I can remember, ballots were always
Speaker 1: due the day after the season, and ballots typically would
Speaker 1: go out, you know, today with like a week to go,
Speaker 1: and then again, you know, in this year, I even
Speaker 1: wrote about it because tax Day is April fifteenth, and
Speaker 1: that's the day after the regular season, so it was like, oh, wow,
Speaker 1: April fifteenth this year is going to be tax Day
Speaker 1: and the day that year end award ballots are due.
Speaker 1: But no, the league is actually implementing a new system
Speaker 1: this season for the first time in years and years,
Speaker 1: and the reason is the sixty five game rule, and
Speaker 1: it really does make sense when you kind of get
Speaker 1: the explanation, but basically, in five different award caps that's
Speaker 1: where the sixty five game rule applies. Only for five
Speaker 1: different awards MVP, All NBA Most Improved, Defensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Year, and the All Defensive Team. So for example,
Speaker 1: the Rookie of the Year Award, the All Rookie Team,
Speaker 1: the sixty five game rule does not apply in those categories.
Speaker 1: But for the five categories that the sixty five game
Speaker 1: rule does apply, we're not going to know the full, exact,
Speaker 1: precise list of eligible winners until the season is completely finished.
Speaker 1: So basically, the league office confirmed today that ballots won't
Speaker 1: be able to go out to voters until after the
Speaker 1: regular season, and it sounds like the voting process is
Speaker 1: going to be conducted and completed between April sixteenth and nineteenth,
Speaker 1: when the play in tournament is going on. And that
Speaker 1: means Chris Haynes, in addition to working the sideline for
Speaker 1: a play in game or two for TNT, you are
Speaker 1: gonna have to do your ballots then, because, as we
Speaker 1: have previously discussed here on this league uncut, you are
Speaker 1: again an official voter. I am not an official voter.
Speaker 1: But that's the newsy slight change to the award situation
Speaker 1: that ballots will go out and be completed between April
Speaker 1: sixteenth and nineteenth, now the week. This will all take
Speaker 1: place during the week after the season, as opposed to
Speaker 1: in the past where it had to be wrapped up
Speaker 1: immediately the day after. It really is not that big
Speaker 1: a deal. I don't think it's going to change things dramatically.
Speaker 1: What it does is, though people who like to vote early,
Speaker 1: you can't. You can't even get started until the league
Speaker 1: sends out the ballot, which again is not going to
Speaker 1: happen till next week. So you got a little You've
Speaker 1: got a little X for time to get ready with
Speaker 1: your various awards elections.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's true. I mean they give you three days
Speaker 3: from what you reporter, You got three days from when
Speaker 3: they give you your ballot. You got three days to
Speaker 3: submit it. That's different. But yeah, I mean you don't
Speaker 3: need your ballot to to you know, have you know
Speaker 3: to already have your picks in mind or have them
Speaker 3: written down. So yeah, that's not going to change anything.
Speaker 1: Have you begun that process to any serious degree?
Speaker 3: No? I have not.
Speaker 1: No, I have not, right, and I'm not going to
Speaker 1: press you. But I'm sure if we said, hey, you
Speaker 1: need to tell us your MVP right now, you could
Speaker 1: at least give us two three names that you're looking at.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean Joker, Shaye. Those the top two.
Speaker 1: Man, you are still you don't even have Luca in
Speaker 1: your top two yet. Man, top two over say and
Speaker 1: Joker you are tough. Hey, it's your ballot. It is
Speaker 1: your ballot again.
Speaker 3: And again I have it dissected, the numbers and crunched everything.
Speaker 3: So you know that can change once I do a
Speaker 3: deep dive. But as of right now, just looking at
Speaker 3: things from a glass, Yeah, those are my top two
Speaker 3: Shayan Joker right now.
Speaker 1: So Harrison Fagan, he's the NBA manager at ESP Nation,
Speaker 1: works with all kinds of NBA team sites under that
Speaker 1: ESP Nation umbrella. And I know he is a he's
Speaker 1: a very loyal listener to this podcast and he tweets.
Speaker 1: He tweeted after the last episode. This pod is great
Speaker 1: because every episode is basically like dot dot dot Stein,
Speaker 1: who is your MVP? Haines? I got mad. My wife
Speaker 1: picked Popeyes for dinner, so I got out of the
Speaker 1: car and walked three and a half miles home. That's
Speaker 1: the way he summed up this league, uncut.
Speaker 3: That sounds like a natural. That's a natural progressive on
Speaker 3: a conversation. That's how totally normal to me.
Speaker 1: All right, today I'm gonna rant about something, and we'll
Speaker 1: see what kind of reaction I go.
Speaker 3: Oh, hold on, hold on, stop, hold on, hold on,
Speaker 3: hold on, ladies and gentlemen, hold on, ladieship, before he
Speaker 3: goes here, before he goes there. I want y'all to
Speaker 3: understand and appreciate how big of a pull this is
Speaker 3: to get this out of Stein. Stein doesn't tell you
Speaker 3: much about I've just I've just found out about his
Speaker 3: family about a year ago, and I've been knowing a
Speaker 3: guy for ten years now.
Speaker 1: So this is how this is. I didn't want to
Speaker 1: get your hopes up too much. This is not a
Speaker 1: personal rant. This is this is NBA related.
Speaker 3: You fooled us all even producer Ryan was ready go ahead.
Speaker 1: If you wanted a personal rant, you should have seen
Speaker 1: me about ten minutes before we started, because I wanted
Speaker 1: to throw every piece of equipment I own into the
Speaker 1: into the garbage because nothing was working, so that that
Speaker 1: actually would have been a good You guys would have
Speaker 1: been quite amused had you seen that. It was not
Speaker 1: pretty okay. If Missus Stein ever comes on here, like
Speaker 1: Missus Haynes did last week, she'll probably tell you how
Speaker 1: dismayed and disgusted she was by my behavior because it
Speaker 1: was a John McEnroe esque throwing tantrum, my horrendous equipment.
Speaker 1: But that is not what I came here to rant today.
Speaker 1: I came here to rant about the Eastern Conference. Your
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference, Chris Haynes. Seriously, I've been debating. I did
Speaker 1: this in print as well. Do I need to bring
Speaker 1: back my Leastern Conference tag that I used for years
Speaker 1: and years and years in the power rankings? This is ridiculous, ridiculous,
Speaker 1: and your Milwaukee Bucks are a big part of this.
Speaker 1: I mean, do you realize on Tuesday morning, when this
Speaker 1: pod drops and when the season resumes, the Celtics of
Speaker 1: Boston will enter the Final six days of the regular
Speaker 1: season with a fifteen game lead over the number two
Speaker 1: seeded Bucks of Milwaukee. Fifteen games. That is outrageous. That
Speaker 1: is unbelievable. And I'm gonna put this to you both.
Speaker 1: Producer Ryan can also participate trivia time. When was the
Speaker 1: last time we saw a conference race that was this
Speaker 1: out of hand, this lopsided? And listen, do not be
Speaker 1: ashamed if neither one of you can get this answer.
Speaker 1: Because I didn't know either. I had to turn to
Speaker 1: Justin Kubatko, a good friend of mine who keeps he
Speaker 1: does incredible NBA research. I needed his help to look up.
Speaker 1: I give you, guys, pretty much a zero percent chance
Speaker 1: of getting it unless you read my piece tonight, and
Speaker 1: I'm guessing neither one of you did. So tell me,
Speaker 1: do you have any clue when the last time we
Speaker 1: saw such a gap between one and two in any
Speaker 1: conference in NBA history, any season.
Speaker 3: I have I do not have a clue.
Speaker 1: None whatsoever. That is totally understandable, because you guys know,
Speaker 1: I fancy myself to be a pretty decent NBA historian,
Speaker 1: and I had no idea. No, guests, you have to
Speaker 1: go all the way back to the nineteen seventy five
Speaker 1: seventy six season when there were only eighteen teams in
Speaker 1: the NBA as opposed to thirty in nineteen seventy five
Speaker 1: seventy six Golden State defending the first championship in franchise history.
Speaker 1: Those Warriors, led by Rick Berry fifty nine and twenty three.
Speaker 1: In nineteen seventy five seventy six, Seattle sixteen games back
Speaker 1: at number two in the West at forty three and
Speaker 1: thirty nine, and Phoenix ended up going to the finals
Speaker 1: that year and losing to Boston. Of course, that series
Speaker 1: feature the game with Garherd forcing overtime with one of
Speaker 1: the most memorable shots in NBA history. Celtics, though, did
Speaker 1: win that series over Phoenix in seventy six. So I mean,
Speaker 1: the point is Boston has been so good this season
Speaker 1: and the dominant team of the regular season that the
Speaker 1: Celtics presence that does give me some pause in throwing
Speaker 1: out Leastern Conference rampantly on this podcast. And obviously injuries
Speaker 1: have been a factor up and down the East, with
Speaker 1: more teams than not in the East top ten. There
Speaker 1: is an injury situation with note, but still none Chris, Please,
Speaker 1: I've ranted long enough. Please tell me what's going on
Speaker 1: with the Milwaukee Bucks. I mean they are, I mean
Speaker 1: to be fifteen games behind Boston. And what we witnessed
Speaker 1: last week from the Bucks consecutive losses in Washington then
Speaker 1: at home to Memphis at Toronto, those teams are combined
Speaker 1: sixty seven and one sixty eight. What in the world
Speaker 1: is going on with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Speaker 3: Before I touch on the Bucks, Stein, Stein and Ryan producer, Ryan,
Speaker 3: I want to stay on the Eastern Conference because you
Speaker 3: you're calling it the Leastern Conference, and you're pointing out
Speaker 3: the travesty that is at the top of the Eastern
Speaker 3: Conference standings in which the Celtics hold a fifteen game
Speaker 3: lead over the number two Bucks, which is a valid
Speaker 3: point to bring out. But I would like to take
Speaker 3: your attention downward. Let's go down, Let's go Let's get
Speaker 3: to the eighth seed, nine seed, tim seed. This is
Speaker 3: where it's a travesty in my opinion, Ryan, Ryan, and Stein,
Speaker 3: you're talking about the play in situation. This is the
Speaker 3: problem I have with the play in under this circumstance
Speaker 3: and when this scenario happens, and I think you know
Speaker 3: where I'm going with the stun You have the Miami
Speaker 3: who excuse me, you have the Miami Heat, who sit
Speaker 3: at number eight right now. They will be in the
Speaker 3: play in situation most likely. But behind them or below them,
Speaker 3: I should say, are the Chicago Bulls. And they are
Speaker 3: six games above the Chicago Bulls. So what you're telling
Speaker 3: me is this a team that is six games above
Speaker 3: the next team. You're telling me all it takes is
Speaker 3: for that team below to win two games, just two
Speaker 3: games in the play is scenario to make it to
Speaker 3: the playoffs. I think that is totally unfair. I love
Speaker 3: the play and I think has been great, But I
Speaker 3: think if you're a seventh seed or sixth seed or
Speaker 3: whatever I mean seventh seed or a seed and you
Speaker 3: have I think there needs to be a number like
Speaker 3: if you're six games are more above the next team,
Speaker 3: you should get an automatic birth to the playoffs because
Speaker 3: it doesn't make sense that.
Speaker 1: I think some people would back you up on that
Speaker 1: that you know, should there be a games behind limit
Speaker 1: or minimum requirement? Should teams nine to ten do they
Speaker 1: have to be within three games of number eight or
Speaker 1: four games of number eight? But I hear what you're saying,
Speaker 1: the Bulls will enter Tuesday's play six games behind number
Speaker 1: eight Miami. The Hawks will enter Tuesday's play seven games
Speaker 1: behind number eight Miami, and if playing matters go in
Speaker 1: a haywire fashion, a team like Philly or Miami could
Speaker 1: be knocked out by a team that's well under five hundred. However,
Speaker 1: I don't know that it was appropriate for you to
Speaker 1: distract from my initial rant when I suspect that your
Speaker 1: real complaint here is you want to be in Miami
Speaker 1: and that's really all you care about selfishly, which you've
Speaker 1: admitted on this podcast numerous times, and you're just upset
Speaker 1: that because of the play in the Heat could get
Speaker 1: knocked out early and you might not get any games
Speaker 1: in Miami this playoffs, and that's really all your concern
Speaker 1: is here.
Speaker 3: You brought that up, not me, but what I'm saying,
Speaker 3: let's stick to the broader point. The broader point is, yes,
Speaker 3: I think that is a complete travesty when a team
Speaker 3: can win two games, just two games, because basically now
Speaker 3: you're telling me that five or six games of the
Speaker 3: regular season really didn't matter because the Hawks or Chicago
Speaker 3: could just get a heat.
Speaker 1: Are really six or seven games better than the Bulls
Speaker 1: and or Hawks. I mean, shouldn't they win a one
Speaker 1: off game.
Speaker 3: It doesn't match Stine. We understand the injuries take you know,
Speaker 3: players can be hurt, you know what I mean, Like
Speaker 3: the Atlanta's finding a stride right now, like they're gonna
Speaker 3: get Trey Young back pretty soon. They're a different team now.
Speaker 3: So no, you can't just look at it like because anybody,
Speaker 3: anybody can be That's why I have a story. Anybody
Speaker 3: can beat anybody. And this brings me to my story, Stine.
Speaker 3: I'll tell at the end of our pod. Anybody can
Speaker 3: beat anybody at any given time. So if you're gonna
Speaker 3: say Star, well they just they're better. They should be
Speaker 3: able to beat them in a two game scenario. No,
Speaker 3: these are professional players. It doesn't matter. And you just
Speaker 3: taking away all the importance of having a six game lead.
Speaker 3: You might as well just eradicate those five or six
Speaker 3: wins that the Miami had. That's all.
Speaker 1: Well, Look, you were there last season when after Atlanta
Speaker 1: stunned Miami in the first playing game, you had Heat Chicago.
Speaker 1: You were there for the start of the Heat's fairy
Speaker 1: tale run from playing tournament almost play in tournament failure
Speaker 1: all the way to a trip to the NBA Finals.
Speaker 1: But you know what, again, let's I think we still
Speaker 1: need to rewind, go back where this ranting all started.
Speaker 1: What in the world is going on with the Milwaukee Bucks?
Speaker 1: Please enlighten us. I know that's a team you know
Speaker 1: well cover closely. You're constantly dialed in there. What happened
Speaker 1: last week? Seriously, those losses were ridiculous.
Speaker 3: They're losing to horrible teams. The team is just not
Speaker 3: very good right now. Period. Can they turn it on?
Speaker 3: Can they find something? I don't know, possibly, but this
Speaker 3: team is just showing that they're not that good, period,
Speaker 3: And it would be hard to pick them in any
Speaker 3: series right now. That's just how terrible they've been over
Speaker 3: the past few weeks. After the All Star break, it
Speaker 3: seemed like they turned the corner. They were doing good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought I thought they started to figure things out.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean yeah, Stein, I can't, I can't put
Speaker 3: a finger on it.
Speaker 1: But how worried do you think they are? Because now
Speaker 1: I'm not even sure they're going to hang on to
Speaker 1: number two again. You know, it looked and as I
Speaker 1: you know, all kind of joking aside. Injuries have been
Speaker 1: a major factor in the East all season. There's no
Speaker 1: question Miami has dealt with numerous absences. Philly only just
Speaker 1: got Joel Embiid back, Indiana lost Benedict Maturin, and Halliburton
Speaker 1: has not been the same player since the hollatious groin strain,
Speaker 1: and Cleveland has had multiple, multiple significant injuries. The Knicks,
Speaker 1: you know, we're going to get into that your report
Speaker 1: about Julius Randall last week, and now Julius Randall is
Speaker 1: not coming back this season, and they've had to play
Speaker 1: so many games without Randall, without og An Andobi. Pretty
Speaker 1: much everyone in the East top ten has had to
Speaker 1: deal with a variety of injury issues. Maybe Orlando's have
Speaker 1: been slightly less impactful than many of the teams around them,
Speaker 1: and that's among the reasons why the Magic, in conjunction
Speaker 1: with their surprisingly great top five defense, why the Magic
Speaker 1: are in the hunt now for number two, as no
Speaker 1: one predicted coming into the season. Again, you know, if
Speaker 1: we want to talk about awards, another really tough one
Speaker 1: is going to be Coach of the Year. Trying to
Speaker 1: set rate Chris Finch in Minnesota, Mark dagnaalton O Ca
Speaker 1: se Jamal Mosley in Orlando. Like to me, all three
Speaker 1: of those coaches.
Speaker 3: Oh you're not mentioning udokah, now huh.
Speaker 1: Now they're out of the play.
Speaker 3: Oh okay, all right.
Speaker 1: But see, Actually, you know, after that pod, when you
Speaker 1: mocked me for that suggestion.
Speaker 3: And I mocked people who only give Culture the Year
Speaker 3: awards to teams that you didn't expect much of, that's
Speaker 3: all right.
Speaker 1: But you what you said there was you likened what
Speaker 1: the Rockets were doing to a participation trophy, And when
Speaker 1: I thought about that after the pod, I feel like
Speaker 1: that was a little bit much. Because the Rockets were
Speaker 1: nine games under five hundred, they lost Shengon, their best player,
Speaker 1: ended up reeling off an eleven game winning streak to
Speaker 1: put themselves over five hundred from being way under five
Speaker 1: hundred and putting some real pressure on Golden State. I
Speaker 1: don't think that's just a participation trophy. I think that
Speaker 1: was a pretty impressive run. But hey, they followed up
Speaker 1: eleven do.
Speaker 3: We Award style? You just said it was an impressive run?
Speaker 3: Do we Award runs? Or do we.
Speaker 1: Had? Had they sustained it to the finish line and
Speaker 1: finished over five hundred, and I think would have been
Speaker 1: in the conversation they lost five game and that thing,
Speaker 1: and that's why Udoka's out. They lost, They followed up,
Speaker 1: they followed up eleven straight wins with five straight losses.
Speaker 1: They're back under five hundred, they're out of the play
Speaker 1: and they've been officially eliminated. So now I'm in agreement
Speaker 1: with you will not be in the Coach of the
Speaker 1: Year race. But when we talked about it, they were
Speaker 1: still in the midst of that run and still alive
Speaker 1: for maybe knocking Golden State out of the play in
Speaker 1: I don't think that would have been a participation trophy,
Speaker 1: but they couldn't pull it off in the end.
Speaker 3: Stop it, we gotta stop it. Are we giving? Is
Speaker 3: this a Coach of the Year award or Coach of
Speaker 3: the Month or Coach of the post All Star Break Award.
Speaker 1: We did a pod recently. We did a pod recently
Speaker 1: where you put two trophies on the desk and then
Speaker 1: told us how another season is coming up in like
Speaker 1: a month. So what you get to be MVP again
Speaker 1: in a month? I mean, how many you get to
Speaker 1: be MVP five times a year because they just keep
Speaker 1: starting a new season. Or the Houston but now the
Speaker 1: Houston Rockets who went on this amazing run without their
Speaker 1: best player to almost get over five hundred. Like, that's
Speaker 1: not a participation trophy.
Speaker 3: Okay, run of the run of the period, Run of
Speaker 3: the year. I gave you that run. See in twenty
Speaker 3: twenty four. We always making up new awards because we
Speaker 3: won award. Everybody, there you go, run of the Year award.
Speaker 3: I'll give you that. Who had the best run?
Speaker 1: It is run of the year?
Speaker 3: Yeah the year.
Speaker 1: Congratulations Houston Rockets. Only, by the way, the Houston Rockets
Speaker 1: will go down as only the fifth team in league history.
Speaker 1: There are only five and only two others in the
Speaker 1: modern NBA era where sixteen teams have gone to the
Speaker 1: playoffs for the last forty years to post a double
Speaker 1: digit win streak and not make the playoffs. So typically,
Speaker 1: if teams can win a double digit amount of games
Speaker 1: in a row, they almost always go to the playoffs.
Speaker 1: So all I'm saying is, I think, I think what
Speaker 1: Houston did is more impressive than participation trophy territory. But again,
Speaker 1: yet again, this is like the seventh time we've diverted
Speaker 1: from the Bucks and everything going on in the East.
Speaker 3: I mean, what's up with the Bucks? Nobody cares about
Speaker 3: the Bucks. Nobody want to hear about the Bucks.
Speaker 1: You know what nobody cares about the Bucks.
Speaker 3: The Bucks got the Celtics tomorrow or when it's tonight,
Speaker 3: I should say, because this is when this podcast is
Speaker 3: going to drop. Let's let's talk about him after that game.
Speaker 3: Let's see what happens.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about it. Let's talk about another team in
Speaker 1: the East that you reported on extensively last week, the
Speaker 1: New York Knicks. You got everybody talking Thursday night, You're
Speaker 1: in New York to cover Kings at Knicks. By this point,
Speaker 1: we know that Julius Randall has been ruled out for
Speaker 1: the rest of the season, but TNT's Chris Haynes before
Speaker 1: Thursday's game, reports that he had spoken to Julius Randall
Speaker 1: and Julius Randall previously a guest here on this League Uncut.
Speaker 1: Julius Randall told you that he had suffered a setback
Speaker 1: in his rehabitempts to try to get back on the floor,
Speaker 1: and that's what led him to decide that he did
Speaker 1: need season ending shoulder surgery.
Speaker 3: So just.
Speaker 1: Let's go back to your day in New York and
Speaker 1: just tell us kind of how that all played out.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I had obviously, I had the game for
Speaker 3: T and T that night. It was the Kings and
Speaker 3: the Knicks. And that morning news broke that Julius Randall
Speaker 3: would have season in the surgery. So obviously, you know,
Speaker 3: I'm all on the Julius Randall situation. And so I
Speaker 3: had to go on to on inside the NBA before
Speaker 3: and you know, you know, they wanted some you know what,
Speaker 3: what did I know about Julius Randall. So I'm like,
Speaker 3: you know what, let's give it a try. Let me
Speaker 3: call Julius himself, let me figure it out. And I
Speaker 3: texted him and he said, I'm gonna hit you back
Speaker 3: in a couple hours. You hear that from players a
Speaker 3: lot sometimes in my forget or whatever whatever happens. He
Speaker 3: called me back, and he called me probably about an
Speaker 3: hour before I was to go to the arena, and
Speaker 3: he was just ready to talk. And one thing that
Speaker 3: stood out to me is that he really wanted it
Speaker 3: out there publicly, that he suffered a setback about five
Speaker 3: weeks about five weeks ago during a contact session, and
Speaker 3: you know, it was back to square one with a shoulder,
Speaker 3: and he still, he said, he still tried to fight
Speaker 3: and still try to go through rehab, but the shoulder
Speaker 3: just wasn't cooperating and wasn't responding until recently until he realized,
Speaker 3: you know, that there was nothing else he could do.
Speaker 3: He was not going to be able to return this
Speaker 3: season and surgery was the only option. So that was
Speaker 3: never revealed before the fact that he had suffered a
Speaker 3: setback during a contact session with Pat. So you know,
Speaker 3: he really wanted that. He want he wanted he wanted
Speaker 3: his story told. So I appreciate him and trusted in
Speaker 3: me two to reveal that on his behalf. But uh,
Speaker 3: you know, remember when he had this, when he first
Speaker 3: suffered the injury, he could have opted for surgery then,
Speaker 3: but he really wanted to stick it out and we
Speaker 3: wanted to try to play and get back this season.
Speaker 3: And so this really doesn't hurt him at all for
Speaker 3: next season because I know there's some peoples like, well,
Speaker 3: he probably should have had the surgery then, Well, it
Speaker 3: wouldn't have changed any change anything. He hasn't surgery stilled
Speaker 3: out for five months. He has a surgery. Now it's
Speaker 3: gonna be out for five months, but he'll be ready
Speaker 3: for the start of training camp. So and you know
Speaker 3: it's brief. I'm being brief, but you know that's and
Speaker 3: that's the consensus of what he shared with me, and
Speaker 3: he really wanted wanted it known that he really tried
Speaker 3: everything he could to get back on the court, but
Speaker 3: his shoulder just did not cooperate, especially after suffering that setback.
Speaker 1: And you can understand why he would want to try
Speaker 1: to leave open every chance to come back this season,
Speaker 1: because again, look, Boston has been tremendous. They're sixty two
Speaker 1: and sixteen. You know, they have done pretty much everything
Speaker 1: you could possibly ask of a team in the regular season.
Speaker 1: But outside of Boston, I mean, number two in the
Speaker 1: East is up for grabs still, the Knicks. Despite all
Speaker 1: the games that Randall and og Annobi have missed, the
Speaker 1: Knicks enter Tuesday's play only a game behind the Bucks
Speaker 1: in a tie with Orlando. Orlando does have the edge
Speaker 1: and is technically the number three seed. The Knicks are
Speaker 1: at number four. But there's this, there's there's a tremendous
Speaker 1: opportunity to at least go to the conference finals this
Speaker 1: season and presumably play the Boston Celtics. It's there for
Speaker 1: the taking. So it makes sense why Randall would have
Speaker 1: wanted to come back, because I mean, the East does
Speaker 1: seem so wide open underneath Boston. But now that was
Speaker 1: that was interesting and pretty cool to see how candid
Speaker 1: he was with you and how much he told you
Speaker 1: about that situation.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I said, I appreciate Julius for doing that, but yeah,
Speaker 3: that's how that came about. Called me by surprise.
Speaker 1: And then now, you know, having heard having heard what
Speaker 1: you just said about Chicago and Atlanta, I'm almost hesitant
Speaker 1: to segue to this other injury topic. But Trey Young
Speaker 1: on Monday, he was officially cleared to return to contact
Speaker 1: and practice. I know on your Bleacher Report stream on
Speaker 1: Friday you had some Trey Young intel on there as well.
Speaker 1: It sounds like it sounds like Trey Young really wants
Speaker 1: to come back before the season ends. This Sunday night.
Speaker 1: It sounds like Trey wants to get back on the
Speaker 1: court so he can make a contribution in the play
Speaker 1: and round. And you know, I think there was a
Speaker 1: sense that when he sustained this ligament injury in a
Speaker 1: finger on his left hand in late February, that that
Speaker 1: might be the rest of the season. But Trey Young
Speaker 1: clearly isn't looking at it like that, and it sounds
Speaker 1: like he sounds like we have a decent chance of
Speaker 1: seeing him play this week, which to me, is again
Speaker 1: not super interesting for the standings because the Hawks can
Speaker 1: only finish as high as ninth. Atlanta's gonna play Chicago
Speaker 1: in a nine to ten playing game. Really, the only
Speaker 1: mystery is where that game is gonna be. But Trey
Speaker 1: Young coming back for the end of the season and
Speaker 1: a play in game or two, and maybe even some
Speaker 1: playoff games, if the Hawks can get through the playing round,
Speaker 1: as they've done multiple times in the past, all that
Speaker 1: is pretty intriguing to me. I'm really curious to see
Speaker 1: what it looks like for Trey Young to come back
Speaker 1: and rejoin the Hawks here at such a late stage.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's adamant on returning. That was always his focus
Speaker 3: right now, and they're a different team. If he comes
Speaker 3: back and he can get back to the form he
Speaker 3: was before that injury, they're a completely different team. And
Speaker 3: that would put the Miami Heat in a tough situation
Speaker 3: if they were to see the Atlanta Hawks at some point. Basically,
Speaker 3: what I'm saying is Miami Heat deserved to be in
Speaker 3: the playoffs. They deserve to be in the playoffs, and
Speaker 3: I'll leave it.
Speaker 1: At that translation. As we've already established, you are concerned
Speaker 1: about your ability to return to South Beach this season.
Speaker 1: I know I get it, But I'm going to take
Speaker 1: this thing back to Trey Young because, like I said,
Speaker 1: I will be watching the Hawks this week with great
Speaker 1: interest if he makes it back onto the floor. Because
Speaker 1: I included this in my Monday musing's column on my
Speaker 1: sub stack one league source. The way it was described
Speaker 1: to me, the most likely scenario remains that before next season,
Speaker 1: Atlanta would more likely than not trade one of its
Speaker 1: star guards. The expectation remains at this juncture that Tray
Speaker 1: Young or de Jonte Murray the best forecast at this
Speaker 1: point is that one of the two would likely be
Speaker 1: moved before next season. I'm not sure you agree, but
Speaker 1: I think there are a lot of people around the
Speaker 1: league who see it that way, and so that's why
Speaker 1: I'm saying I think there's it's gonna be really interesting
Speaker 1: to see them reunited on the court and what that
Speaker 1: looks like. Because they've now gone twenty two games where
Speaker 1: this team has been to Jontay Maurice centric. The Hawks
Speaker 1: are twelve and ten in those games, which is still
Speaker 1: a pretty middling record, but the defense has been much better.
Speaker 1: So it's good that we looked at the other side
Speaker 1: of the conference. Coin here and again shout out one
Speaker 1: more time to the Orlando Magic. Top three defensively this season.
Speaker 1: Jamal Mosley has gotten such a good response out of
Speaker 1: that young team to see Orlando when the NBA resumes
Speaker 1: play on Tuesday, Orlando with the league's number three defense,
Speaker 1: behind only Minnesota and Boston, one spot ahead of the
Speaker 1: Miami Heat. And it is it is somewhat amusing to
Speaker 1: me that you had all those things to say about
Speaker 1: the East playing and all joking aside. I know why
Speaker 1: you're saying it, and you make it is it is
Speaker 1: a valid point. I'm sure Philly and Miami are looking
Speaker 1: at the standings right there with Chris Haynes. They're looking
Speaker 1: at the stands and saying, why are we in a
Speaker 1: plan with Chicago and Atlanta that are so far behind us?
Speaker 1: But this week, Chris Haynes, you will be thrust into
Speaker 1: the heart of the West play and race. The records
Speaker 1: in the West playin zone are much more impressive from
Speaker 1: seven to ten, But man, you are in the heart
Speaker 1: of the play in battle. This week, Tuesday night, you're
Speaker 1: on the TNT sideline for Warriors at Lakers. The Lakers
Speaker 1: are still ninth. The Warriors Okay, Houston and their run
Speaker 1: of the year is no longer a concern for the Warriors,
Speaker 1: But Golden State has won fifteen of its last nineteen
Speaker 1: road games. Ridiculous to have a fifteen and four stretch
Speaker 1: on the road. Remember, the Warriors only won eleven road
Speaker 1: games all of last season, and they haven't moved up.
Speaker 1: They're stuck in tenth. The Lakers were briefly up to
Speaker 1: number eight, but they're back to number nine. Got Warriors
Speaker 1: at Lakers on Tuesday night, and then on Thursday night,
Speaker 1: You've got the teams currently in the seventh and eighth
Speaker 1: spots number seven, New Orleans at number eight Sacramento. So,
Speaker 1: Chris Haynes, producer, Ryan Chris Haynes, this week is going
Speaker 1: to experience and be exposed to nothing but absolute NBA
Speaker 1: desperation here in the last three, four, five days.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I mean it, it
Speaker 3: can be very well be these two teams, I mean,
Speaker 3: these four teams in the same pairing Lakers, Warriors, Pelicans, Kings.
Speaker 3: So it can start up some type of short term
Speaker 3: rivalry as I should say, I will say, particularly from
Speaker 3: the Kings and Pelicans, just to playing so close so soon.
Speaker 3: But no, I'm looking forward to it because this has
Speaker 3: you know, both teams should be playing their guys that
Speaker 3: are healthy, and we should you should have some good basketball.
Speaker 3: So I'm excited about this play in matchup potential preview.
Speaker 1: All Right, I think that's going to do it for
Speaker 1: what can only be described as a pretty erratic episode
Speaker 1: of This League Uncut. To underline that was erratic, err
Speaker 1: at ic. That's gonna do it for Mark Stein and
Speaker 1: Chris Haynes on the latest edition of This League Uncut.
Speaker 1: As always, friends, please follow us, rate the show, review
Speaker 1: the show. We would love to get a five star
Speaker 1: rating from you if possible. With all these games coming up,
Speaker 1: with two sideline appearances for Chris in short order Tuesday
Speaker 1: and Thursday, we will still have to figure out exactly
Speaker 1: when we get together for our next edition of This
Speaker 1: League Uncut, but I can promise you it will happen soon.
Speaker 1: We're also working on a special guest to that we
Speaker 1: hope to secure before the playing round starts next Tuesday.
Speaker 1: So lots of stuff going on Thanks as always for listening.
Speaker 1: We'll be back together with you again gras and that'll
Speaker 1: do it for us, See you next time. This League
Speaker 1: Uncut is an iHeartRadio production Chris Haines and Mark Stein