WEBVTT - The How and Why Behind Matisse Thybulle's Emergence 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:04.800 Just about every NBA rookie experiences his share of ups 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:08.800 and down. Here's a steal by Batist in Asiakaba Slammatiste 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:12.479 Bible rocks the round. What a play. The rookie is 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:14.640 doing it at both ends of the poor. But for 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:18.159 Matiste Thible, lately, the trends have definitely been of the 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:22.000 upward variety with Matis. The scouting and the eye test 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:24.239 was always that he was a really good defender. So 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:26.759 the fact that the numbers are backing that up, you know, 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:29.720 it really just reinforces the immediate impact he's been able 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:32.680 to have on a championship team. ESPN NBA writer Tim 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:36.120 Bontemps recently did a feature on this year's twentieth overall pick, 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:38.319 and he joins me to talk about it on this 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:46.519 episode of the broadcast. How are you out there, seventy 0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:50.640 six ers pod people. I hope you are preparing, excited, 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:54.920 pumped for what will be a great holiday week for 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:58.960 you coming up. I'm excited. You know, there's the time 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:03.360 for family, friends, grub, some other stuff, all those things. 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:06.560 The seventy sixers. Yes, they have some immedia games on 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:09.600 the horizon this coming weekend and early next week. But 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:14.800 I cannot freaking wait for the Christmas Day game at 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:19.039 the Center against the Milwaukee Bucks, likely the top two 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:22.320 teams in the Eastern Conference going at it to close 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:26.240 out the first third of the season should be fantastic. 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:29.520 But as for matters of the present, we are going 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:32.360 to speak about a guy who has been really good 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:35.520 for the seventy sixers as of late, and his name 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:39.480 is Matise Thible. Tim Bontemps wrote an article about Matise 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:42.880 that ran on ESPN on Wednesday. Suggest that you google it, 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:46.080 find it and check it out. But before we sit 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:49.080 down with Tim, a reminder that to subscribe to the podcast, 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:52.240 all you gotta do is head to anywhere you get 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:56.960 your podcasts. It could be Spotify, Pandora, maybe Apple Podcasts, 0:01:56.960 --> 0:02:01.800 Google Pods, tune in Stitcher, soundclous, type in seventy Sixers 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:08.440 podcast and that should take you to our feed. Two 0:02:08.520 --> 0:02:11.560 days after one of the toughest losses of the season, 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:14.800 the seventy six ers twenty point defeat at Brooklyn, this 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:17.800 past Sunday, the team was back at it at the 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:21.840 training complex in Camden, and at the conclusion of practice 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.160 to Bias Harris spoke. He was asked who on the 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:28.120 team has impressed you the most so far this season? 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:34.240 He paused, thought about it, then gave his answer. Batistible 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:38.240 said the veteran What is it about the twenty two 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:41.400 year old Thible that Harris thinks it so impressive? You know, 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:45.520 I would say his defense and then visibility as a 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:49.720 young player to find his way on the floor. You know, 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:52.280 I think you beginning the season we roll with him 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:56.120 for a little bit, then you know he coached one 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:58.880 a little different direction and now to find himself back 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:03.640 on the floor. It's Thible. As Harris said, it is 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:07.360 currently enjoying a strong stretch and recently he seems to 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:10.840 be on the tip of everyone's tongue. In The Inquiry, 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:13.640 which ran a feature on him last Sunday, and as 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:15.960 I mentioned on a Wednesday, the morning of the seventy 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:19.480 six ers match up with the Miami Heat, ESPN published 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:23.079 a story about him. Now before both pieces came out, 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:25.920 and this is the God's on his truth fingers crossed 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:29.520 a cross my heart. We here at the Old Broadcast 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:31.640 had planned to focus on the versatile rookie for this 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:35.400 week's episode of the Pod, but then when Tim Bontemps's 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:38.240 piece ran we felt the timing could not have been 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:41.880 more perfect to invite Tim to appear as our guests 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:45.680 on the pod. And here he is. Tim. How good 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:48.640 did you say, Matisse Thible is playing at this moment, 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:52.760 twenty seven games into his professional career. I would say, 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:56.160 as Brett Brown has said repeatedly, he's progressing well, right. 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:58.720 I think that's that's the way you need to look 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:00.840 at it. I mean, coming into the Sea, I was 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:03.600 very high on Matisse. I thought that he was a 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:06.000 guy that needed to be a key piece off the 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:09.120 bench for this team called April fifteenth, when the playoffs start. 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:11.840 It's not usually the way you look at a rookie, 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:15.200 especially for a contending, you know, championship contending team like 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:18.880 the Sixers hope to be. But they they traded up 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:20.360 in the draft to get him as a four year 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:23.479 guy out of Washington because they had the expectation that 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:26.400 he could be an impact player right away for them. 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:29.200 And I think, you know, especially over this past month 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:32.120 since he got benched in Denver and he kind of 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:34.880 has worked his way back into the rotation, I think 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:37.400 you've really started to see a lot of the things 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:40.320 that the Sixers hoped he could be and is already 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:42.560 proving to be a really essential part of what they're 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:45.480 trying to do. Give me some stats that stand out 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:49.359 about him too. Yeah. I mean, look, coming into this season, 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:51.960 everybody knew who Matisse was going to be had the 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:54.159 potential to be a really good defensive player. But the 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:56.160 fact that the numbers already show he's one of the 0:04:56.200 --> 0:05:00.359 more effective defensive players in the league this quick, you know, 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:04.479 is a really good sign for where he's headed. With Matisse, 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:07.640 the scouting and the eye test was always that he 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:09.919 was a really good defender. So the fact that the 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:12.080 numbers are backing that up, you know, it really just 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:15.080 reinforces again the immediate impact he's been able to have 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:17.080 on a championship team, which is not something that rookies 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:18.960 are usually able to do. And now we're starting to 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:21.400 see some steady three point shooting two. I don't know 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:24.320 what exactly his three point shooting percentages, but last I 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:26.560 knew it was over forty percent. And if you told 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:28.679 the Sixers that he was going to shoot even thirty 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:31.479 five percent from three on a decent volume coming into 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.800 the season, they would have been overjoyed. Because the thing 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:37.400 about Matisse coming in was everybody knew he was going 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:42.680 to be a potentially dominant defensive player, right Anybody who 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:45.000 watched him play it for a second at Washington saw 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:47.360 he was incredibly gift at that end of the court. 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:49.760 But the thing people wondered about was was he going 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:51.720 to be enough of an offensive threat to stay on 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:53.440 the court. The fact that Matis has come out and 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:55.680 is making the shots that he is now and as 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:58.640 comfortable and confident as he looks taken three, five tries 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:04.679 the three and nails. Yes, he is an elite defender, 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:07.640 but he's shown the ability and really working on a 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:11.000 three point shot and he shot it well. The percentage 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:14.040 almost doesn't matter if he If he's looking this confident 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:16.960 and is willing to take these kinds of shots and 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:19.520 kind of stay within himself and not turn the ball over, 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:22.800 that's all the Sixers really need him to do. And 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:24.839 he's you know, if he keeps this up there, like 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:27.159 I said, they're going to be absolutely thrilled with the 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:30.200 production they're gonna get. That's a surface of a view 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.400 of the Matisse Thyble story at this point, But I 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:35.520 want to go back a little bit farther. You've been 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:38.240 around the seventy six Ers for a while now throughout 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:42.360 last season, a lot more this year where the franchise 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:46.440 left off the end of twenty nineteen following the playoff exit, 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:49.040 Specifically the front office, what did they deem to be 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:53.800 their mandate going into the offseason to build a championship team. 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:56.640 Definitely disappointed right now we didn't reach our goal, but 0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:59.200 it's only going to fuel us for this offseason. In 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:01.640 the summer, We're all gonna get better. I'm gonna get better, 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:03.839 and I look forward to that challenge. We have a 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:06.800 great plan in place to make a deep run next year. 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:09.720 If you look at the way the Sixers have built 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:13.520 this team, going out and getting out Horford, getting Josh Richardson, 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:16.920 the trade they made last year for Tobias, locking up 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:20.320 Ben Simmons, they have clearly built a team that is 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:22.520 ready to win now. And normally when you have a 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:25.400 guy like Joelle who's a twenty five ish right and 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:28.480 Ben Simmons, who's twenty two twenty three, you'd be thinking 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.880 on a longer term horizon. But I think I give 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.800 the Sixers credit for saying, look, we have a chance 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:36.960 to win right now. We're going to push our chips 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:40.080 in and see where it goes. And I think in 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:43.000 today's NBA, where everybody's trying to do the same thing, 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:45.480 I have a lot of respect for Elton brand in 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:49.280 the front office here for going out and doing something different. 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:51.600 When those five guys are on the court and they're 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:54.520 locked in, you can see the ceiling for this team 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:59.680 is extraordinarily high. Championship obviously, then is the end goal, 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:03.120 and going for it with a starting lineup that features 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:05.920 five players with all league potential. If you turn back 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:09.080 the clock to the spring, at the beginning of the summer, 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:11.560 where do you think the front office of the seventy 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:16.600 sixers felt the twenty nineteen draft picks would factor into 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:20.240 this whole grand plan. Look, they promised Matis really early, right, 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:22.440 he went to the combine and shut it down, and 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:25.080 everybody wasn't quite sure where he got a promise from, 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:28.720 but everybody knew we had one, and the Sixers, you know, 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:31.480 clearly zeroed in on him from the beginning. Elton, what 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:34.240 made you think he had to trade up to number twenty. 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:36.839 It sounds like you guys were pretty locked in on 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:40.679 Matiz the whole time. There's actually some players we were 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:42.440 looking at you know, Matisse was the one that I 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:44.560 felt we had to go get. It's like, Okay, we 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:46.880 need to move up and get this because uh, you know, 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:48.880 he's that talented and that he fits a need that 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:50.880 we need to fill. So that's what we had to 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:54.280 fill it. And I think when you look at where 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:57.120 their team is at, again, this is a guy who's 0:08:57.160 --> 0:09:01.120 a four year college player, who's an expel defensive talent 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:04.160 who they thought they could, you know, work on his 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:07.040 jump shot a little bit and get him to come 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:10.000 in here and immediately produce. It's very hard for teams 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:13.080 playing at this level to have rookies walk in and 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:16.880 be good. It's just really difficult because the learning curve 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:19.280 in the NBA to become a good player is very steep. 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:23.280 And you know, people generally freak out about the rookie 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:25.440 class every year and these guys are good and why 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:28.520 are these guys bad and whatever, And that's what's made 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:31.480 this year's group of players on these teams that are 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:34.360 good right now stand out to me because you do 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:39.319 have guys like Matisse and Tyler Hero and PJ. Washington 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.200 even in Charlotte who's played well. You have some of 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:43.800 these guys on teams that are trying to make the 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:47.400 playoffs and make an impact immediately getting into big roles, 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:51.680 which is not is not a common thing in the NBA. 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:54.160 The other thing that made the Thible acquisition so fascinating, 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:56.839 at least to me, was the team the seventy six 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:58.920 Ers did the deal with to get him. We are 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:02.480 at pig number twenty in the first round. The Boston 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:05.440 Celtics are on the clock right now before the pick 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:07.839 comes in, Let's check with Woads. Right now, woj, could 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:12.360 this pick be on the move Reese? Boston is going 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:17.679 to be selecting for the Sixers. Here batist Thibal from 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:22.400 the University of Washington, a wing player. Philadelphia will send 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:27.240 the Celtics number twenty four and thirty three in this 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:30.080 draft for Thibal. And this wasn't the first time the 0:10:30.120 --> 0:10:33.600 Sixers and their nemesis, the Celtics did a draft night trade. 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:36.280 Did this add to the intrigue to the story in 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:39.000 your eyes? Tim? I mean, I think it's impossible to 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:42.680 avoid the history there, right. I mean, these are two 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:45.920 blood rival teams going back for sixty years or seventy years. 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:47.679 And then you also have the fact that you know 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.160 they made the trade for Jason Tatum two years ago, right, 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:52.679 the Jayson Tatum Marco Folks trade. Like that, all that 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:56.080 stuff hangs over all this stuff. You know, they're teams 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:58.280 that I mean, we're both at this game the other 0:10:58.360 --> 0:11:02.280 day in Austin. I was thinking to myself during the 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:03.920 game that was one of my favorite games to watch 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.560 all year, the awesome game. It would be amazing to 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:09.080 see those two teams playing in the playoffs again. And 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:12.000 you better believe it, if Matisse becomes a real player, 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:15.720 that's something that's going to kind of always hang over. 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:17.840 So that's gonna be the latest thing to kind of 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:20.160 hang over this matchup, right. I mean, you could see 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:22.480 scenarios where Matis is guarding Jason take them a lot 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:26.200 in the playoffs, and you know it's there. There are 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:29.280 situations where you could easily re engineer that. And Mattis 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:33.920 is in Boston and Jason's here, so you know, it's 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:36.240 all that stuff is fun and it definitely adds to 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:39.960 the story. And there's no question that the history between 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:43.120 these two franchises is gonna, you know, connect them with 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:46.160 this Matise thing for quite a long time. We go 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:48.080 back to the summer League five. It was pretty good, 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:51.280 average round eleven and a half points for rebounds, had 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:53.800 a couple of steals per game and assists as well. 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:58.640 He then in training camp really seemed to turn some heads. 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:01.240 What was the first impression that you remember having a 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:03.800 Matisse style? Was there a game? Was there a moment? 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:07.319 I was sitting with a scout during the Pistons preseason 0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:10.640 game and Matisse made two or three plays in that 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:17.000 game that were big time, big time plays. How many 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:19.199 steals does he have tonight? Already He's got four, He's 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:22.200 got three of them. I think he blew up I 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:26.680 think two different plays and stole the ball. Just was 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:30.920 really really good, and you could see even in the preseason, 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:33.439 Like like I said, going back to the summer when 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:35.880 he got drafted, everybody knew he was a great defensive player. 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:39.240 But to see him walk in and immediately have the 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:41.520 impact he had and be able to blow up plays 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:45.200 and you know, pick guy's pockets and steal the ball 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:48.480 and block shots and just reek havoc all over the 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:52.120 court was really impressive. And I will follow that up 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:55.720 with in the opener against the Celtics, it was fascinating 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:58.200 to watch him guard Kemba Walker. He comes in the game, 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:00.760 he instantly gets put on Kemba Walker, one of the 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:03.160 best guards in the league. Kemba gets two fouls on 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.679 him in eleven seconds. After a couple of minutes on him. 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.120 He immediately goes with the bench right and like, well, 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:10.480 here's the rookies, welcome to the NBA. Moment he asked 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:12.680 to guard an NBA guard. Then he comes back in 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:15.040 later in the game and it was like watching the 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:19.040 raptors in Jurassic Park, like start to figure stuff out. 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:25.280 He like started to watch Kenba's moves. He stole the 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:27.640 ball off him once, he blocked him once. Remember what 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:29.800 I said earlier about not trying to make a great 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:33.920 play from behind, Forget everything I said. Like, that's the 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:36.040 thing that's really fascinating to be watching him as that 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:39.199 he gets out on the court and he processes stuff 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:41.800 so fast and picks stuff up so fast that he's 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:45.440 like learning stuff on the fly with these guys, and 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:48.319 you know, you can just see the potential there for 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:52.360 him to be just a truly, you know, really impactful, 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:56.600 potentially dominant wing defender, which is just a really rare 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.199 thing to find in today's league. So That's why the 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:02.440 three point shot with him is so critical. Um, if 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:07.600 he can, if he can consistently shoot the ball and 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:11.480 be just just some kind of a threat for where 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.160 teams have to pay attention to him, He's going to 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:16.640 be a really, really good player for a really long time. 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:19.440 How much do you think the early part of Thible's 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:22.560 relative success has had to do with the environment he's 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:25.960 in right now, the general setting, his skill set that 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.840 he's had both naturally and also worked on to develop, 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:31.720 and then the aptitude part of it. I mean, I 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:34.520 think it's a combination of everything. Right, Tobias after the 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:40.400 first game made that comment where reminded him of Kauai. No, 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:43.640 not at all. Technically, he guard one and four, so 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:46.720 you can really slop him in pretty much anywhere on 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:50.680 a basketball. But I've not seen him looking come in 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:54.280 with his defensive skills. So the only guy I would say, 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.720 it's like Kawhi come in as a would everybody Knill 0:14:56.760 --> 0:14:59.560 be a top defender. Nobody I think realistically thinks he's 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:02.000 going to turn into Kawhi. But like I think he 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.280 could be a more athletic version of Bruce Balling, Right, 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:05.960 that's kind of who I thought he could be Bruce 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:08.440 Bawen was a really really important player for a championship 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:11.680 level team, right, and someone who Brett Brown references that's right. 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:15.120 And so if you know, if you're an elite level 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:19.880 role player, you look really good on really good teams. 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:22.480 If you're out there against a team like the Celtics 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:24.280 and you make a couple of plays against Kemba Walker, 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:26.960 then after the game, people go, hey, Matissa's out there 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:28.880 against Kemba Walker. He made a couple of plays in 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:30.600 the fourth quarter. It helped us win the game, and 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:33.640 then it stands out more. Right. So I don't know 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:37.080 if his development would necessarily be different somewhere else, but 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:40.720 also it certainly helps when you're in a structured, good 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:43.680 team environment and you have talent around you that allows 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:45.160 you to just focus, like, Hey, I'm gonna walk go 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:47.360 out on the court. I gotta make threes and I 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:49.240 gotta guard the hell out of somebody, and if I 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.360 do those two things, I'm gonna play. I don't think 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:54.960 there's any question that helps those guys a lot. Not surprisingly, 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:58.800 a linear path, Thible's rookie campaign has not entirely been 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:02.600 you reference the ups and downs that any rookie, regardless 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:04.640 of where they're selected or what team they played for 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:07.720 tens to experience. And that's kind of where your story 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:10.040 that ran on ESPN the day before the seventy six 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:14.000 He's played in the the Miami Heat began. Look, Mati Matisse 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:18.120 played in a two three zone at Washington a lot 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:20.440 of the time under Mike Hopkins, who was a Jim 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:24.320 Beheim disciple, right, and he kind of went around and 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:27.600 just freelanced a lot right, blew up, play, stole the ball, 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:30.280 made blocks like he was kind of like a free safety. 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:33.400 And he came to the NBA and he tried to 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:35.280 do the same stuff. He admitted as much. And he 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:37.120 like thought he could just come in and like run 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:39.000 around and try to make plays and not really worried 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:42.080 about who was guarding. And in the NBA, you can't 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:45.600 leave decent shooters, right, and college guys just miss all 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:49.120 the time. He doesn't really matter. But if you leave 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:51.680 just some average two point shooter, if you leave them 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:54.200 wide open, they're gonna make that shot most of the time. 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:57.120 And so Matisse would run around and try to make 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:00.240 plays and give up threes, or he would come flying 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:01.920 down an offense and try to like jump in the 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:03.360 air and try to make a pass and turn the 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:07.040 ball over. And so there was after he initially got 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:09.480 that brief burst of minutes, he then had to sit 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:12.080 down for a while and kind of watch a bit 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:15.600 and get it beaten into his head that listen, if 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:19.360 you're gonna play, you need to do again. You need 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:22.159 to take what you're supposed to do and not do 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:25.280 other things. You takes a long life to tease a 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:29.440 young guy and get to the end. How after DNN 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:32.680 limitation of say how much responsibility do you feel as 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:35.000 to stay in his air and saying that this is 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:38.760 a punishment, this is just part of the season. This 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:41.879 is how much of that as the comfortable I understanding? 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:45.760 This is what I think it stems from me. First, 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:49.520 It's really, you know, high level type of team. It's 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:51.880 it's part of life in the league. You know. No, 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:55.280 nobody's apologetic about that conversation. It's just a very direct, 0:17:56.560 --> 0:18:00.280 honest conversation. And I think you've seen since then he's 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:04.760 become much more, much more disciplined with the ball. On offense, 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:07.560 He's not really freelancing around. He basically is a catch 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:09.439 and choo guy, which is what he should be. And 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:12.080 on defense, he's done a much better job of staying 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:14.200 within the system and doing what he's supposed to do. 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:17.000 And then you know, if he gets an opportunity, sure, 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:19.200 jump out and try to make a steal, but don't 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:21.160 try to do it every single play and just leave 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:23.840 guys scrambling around behind you all the time, because that's 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:25.800 how you end up staying on the bench. In the 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:28.800 month it passed from when he was going through a 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:31.199 period when he was not in the rotation as frequently 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.440 as we saw, and even the first week of the season. Heck, 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:35.320 he even started game number two of the year when 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:38.240 the seventy Sixers played Detroit to now where he's coming 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:41.159 off games like the one he had against Toronto, scored 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:44.360 twenty points, the thirteen point after against the Denver Nuggets, 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:46.760 he was on the floor down the stretch against the 0:18:46.760 --> 0:18:50.320 Boston Celtics when the Sixers wont at Ted Garden. Is 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:52.399 it just a matter of being able to observe and 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:56.200 learn and adapt in a guy like this is case 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:58.119 from what you've been able to tell him the reporting 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:00.600 you did. Yeah, I mean, look, I think he's certainly, 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:06.399 he's certainly done a great job and again like his 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:09.800 skill set translates very well to being out there in 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:11.800 key moments because you can put him out there and 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:17.359 he can guard a guy. I think he's been I 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:19.879 think he's been really he's been really, really good. I 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:24.160 don't think there's any way to argue that. And I 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:26.600 think that you kind of if you look at the 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:28.800 way this is playing out. If he just keeps doing 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:32.320 what he's doing now, taking the right shots, playing within 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:34.520 the system, he's gonna be out there in big moments. 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:36.280 You have that three at the b and there were 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:38.320 some all stars around you sort of pecking you on 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:40.840 and being excited for you. Will you step back? What 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:43.679 does that feel like to have guys at this talent 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:47.399 level be so excited for and reliance on you? And 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:50.040 that's something that I've I really find myself thinking about 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:54.040 a lot, Like if even just like six months ago, 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:56.080 if you would told me I'd be in the position 0:19:56.119 --> 0:19:58.679 I'm in today, it would have been really hard for 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:01.960 me to believe you. I think I'm incredibly blessed. I'm 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:04.679 so grateful and to have the guys that we have 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:07.320 on this team and to have the opportunity that I have, 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:10.399 There's been nothing so of a blessing. I look at 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:12.920 their roster, I think he's the sixth best player on 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:15.280 the team. I think he has to be a key 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:16.959 part of this rotation if this team wants to win 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:19.560 the title, and they have more work to do to 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:21.360 add another piece or two, because I don't think their 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:24.680 bench is deep enough. But I do think that if 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:27.280 you look at where his development is, it's right on 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:29.560 track with what Brett keeps saying, which is, when I 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:31.959 get to April fifteenth, is this guy ready to go 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:34.760