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Speaker 2: All right, welcome to hoo tonight. You're at the volume

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Speaker 2: heavy Sunday. Everybody, hope all the guys are having a

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Speaker 2: great weekend. Well, today, I woke up this morning thinking

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Speaker 2: we're going to crown a new NBA champion today. It's

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Speaker 2: been a long time since we've had a Game seven

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Speaker 2: of the NBA Finals, and it got off to a

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Speaker 2: little bit of a bummer start as Tyre's Halliburton goes

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Speaker 2: down with what we can only assume is an achilles injury.

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Speaker 2: The eight Achilles tear in the NBA this season a

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Speaker 2: very bizarre trend, Colin and I are going to spend

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Speaker 2: some time talking about that towards the tail end of

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Speaker 2: the show tonight. But the Oklahoma City Thunder are the

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty five NBA champions, Colin, what's your big takeaway

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Speaker 2: from the NBA Finals this year?

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Speaker 1: Well, our NFL champion Philadelphia is about roster construction and

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Speaker 1: the best GM, and you have a clear number one,

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Speaker 1: and that's Oklahoma City. Whereas the modern games about scoring

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Speaker 1: and wings and high flying, they're about their general manager,

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Speaker 1: their depth, their youth, their legs, and a kind of

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Speaker 1: non verse article leading score who goes against type. For

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Speaker 1: the NBA stars we fall in love with. And you

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Speaker 1: know I've been saying this on FS one, I've been

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Speaker 1: saying this for months. Is the NBA now because of

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Speaker 1: the Aprons and the CBA is going to be like

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Speaker 1: the NFL. We're going to talk more about general managers.

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Speaker 1: You can't stack players, and I think you know they

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Speaker 1: were the best team all season. The home court ended

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Speaker 1: up mattering against Indie and Denver, you know, really formidable

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Speaker 1: opponents that had some older star players. But you know,

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Speaker 1: I think in the end, you know, when you look

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Speaker 1: back at this season, you'll go, well, they were a

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Speaker 1: dominant regular season team. They weren't a great road team

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Speaker 1: in the playoffs, but they were dominant at home and

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Speaker 1: that's where they were crowned. And you know, that's why

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Speaker 1: the regular season does matter. It may not look like

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Speaker 1: the playoffs, but Oklahoma City, I don't think it's winning

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Speaker 1: this thing on the road, and so they earned it.

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Speaker 1: And you know, the the injuries, gutting, but that stuff happens.

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Speaker 1: I mean, Kd's gone down in big games. I mean

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Speaker 1: it happens. So and I think over the course of

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Speaker 1: this season, Okasey was the best team.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not interested in any talk about asterisks. For

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Speaker 2: the most part, in NBA history, almost every championship has

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Speaker 2: some injury you can point to that impacted things in

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Speaker 2: one way or another. And ultimately, I think Oklahoma City

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Speaker 2: did this to healthy teams along the way too.

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Speaker 3: They played.

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Speaker 2: They played some really good teams, Colin. They went through

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Speaker 2: the best the best player in the world and Nicola

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Speaker 2: Jokic and played him into the first three consecutive bad

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Speaker 2: game stretch I've literally ever seen him play. They took

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Speaker 2: that Minnesota team that was kicking everybody's butt and they

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Speaker 2: handled them like easily. And then the Pacers, who have

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Speaker 2: been the kind of the enigma of this of this

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Speaker 2: playoff run, every time they needed to beat them, they

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Speaker 2: were able to contain them and keep them under control.

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Speaker 2: You Know, we talked after Game five, like there is

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Speaker 2: this test that you have to pass to beat the

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Speaker 2: Oklahoma City Thunder, and it's that when the shit hits

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Speaker 2: the fan and there's a few minutes left in a

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Speaker 2: big game where the series is hanging in the balance,

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Speaker 2: they are going to tighten the screws defensively. In every

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Speaker 2: single series, the opposing team fell apart, whether it was

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Speaker 2: Denver at multiple spots in Game four in the fourth quarter,

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Speaker 2: in Game five in the fourth quarter, the entirety of

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Speaker 2: Game seven. What we saw in big spots against Minnesota,

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Speaker 2: specifically down the stretch of Game four. In this series,

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Speaker 2: in Game four, down the stretch, they just strangle the

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Speaker 2: life out of Indiana. In Game five, it's ninety five

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Speaker 2: ninety three off of a Siakam offensive rebound three. It's

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Speaker 2: a two point game. You're like, oh man, this could

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Speaker 2: go either way. Literally turns the Pacers over four consecutive

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Speaker 2: times just with the strength of their defense, and then

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Speaker 2: again tonight. You know, admirable effort from the Pacers there

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Speaker 2: in that first half to keep things competitive. TJ McConnell,

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Speaker 2: I'll always remember the way he played in this series.

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Speaker 2: What a remarkable performance from him. But they came out

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Speaker 2: the gates in that third quarter and they tightened the

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Speaker 2: screws and they turn the Pacers over and they got

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Speaker 2: out in transition. They finished this game with twenty three

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Speaker 2: forced turnovers in thirty two points off of turnovers. That's

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Speaker 2: the star of this team.

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Speaker 1: I said this the other day to you, is the

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Speaker 1: one thing you have to have against OKAC is two

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Speaker 1: elite ball handlers. So when Halliburton goes down, they play

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Speaker 1: with guts and toughness and length, but in the end

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Speaker 1: they just it's turnovers. There's no Halliburton if you don't

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Speaker 1: have elite ball handlers against this team. I mean, we've

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Speaker 1: fallen in love with a three and D in the wings.

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Speaker 1: Well o case he's got a lot of them, but

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Speaker 1: there is a way to combat that is to have

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Speaker 1: guys that can create space that you can't trap and

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Speaker 1: double them. And TJ. McCall's excellent. But again, when Halliburton

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Speaker 1: got hurt the first time, again they show great courage

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Speaker 1: and gusto, but there's just limitations on that. You can

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Speaker 1: only play down your most important players so long. So

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Speaker 1: you know, there was that I think it was like

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Speaker 1: at one point there was a go I wrote it

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Speaker 1: down here. There was a huge nineteen to two Oklahoma

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Speaker 1: City run. A lot of that kick started by defense,

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Speaker 1: and so they just feast on teams and you know what,

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Speaker 1: you know what, they're a little bit like they're like

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Speaker 1: a fighter who sends his blood. Like, okay, see, they're

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Speaker 1: not dominant enough offensively to just blow you out against

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Speaker 1: great teams, against Denver and Indy. They can score, they

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Speaker 1: have runs, but when they sense blood, somebody's in foul, trouble,

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Speaker 1: somebody's hurt your start. You know, they have a matchup advantage. Man.

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Speaker 1: They play downhill, they play downhill fast, and you look

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Speaker 1: up and you're like, well, this was a four point game.

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Speaker 1: Now it's a thirteen point game. And you know that's

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Speaker 1: what great teams do. Their run looks different than a

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Speaker 1: Jordan explosion or a Shaq Kobe explosion, but nonetheless it's

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Speaker 1: a burst, and everybody looks different, you know. I mean,

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Speaker 1: so I listen all my notes here, I look through.

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Speaker 1: I kept waiting for the inevitable run, and it happened,

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Speaker 1: and it was you know, it was off turnovers, and

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Speaker 1: I just kind of felt like I saw an SRR stat.

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Speaker 1: I think that's what it's called, an SRR stat about Indiana.

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Speaker 1: And they said, if Indiana wins, they'll be the worst

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Speaker 1: champion since the nineteen seventy eight Washington Bullets, which by

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Speaker 1: the way, I can name the entire roster because it

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Speaker 1: was when I fell in love with basketball. But the

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Speaker 1: truth was is if Indiana one, it was probably our

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Speaker 1: weakest champion. Though I love them, and okaysee wins. At

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Speaker 1: least we can hang this boy, that's a top five

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Speaker 1: defensive team all time. We can hang something that sounds

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Speaker 1: like a champion, NBA's leading scorer, deepest team in years,

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Speaker 1: all time, top five defense that sounds like a champion,

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Speaker 1: does it not?

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Speaker 3: Absolutely?

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Speaker 2: Their defense is one of the great defenses that has

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Speaker 2: ever played in the NBA like that was true in

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Speaker 2: the metrics, and all we can do to tie that

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Speaker 2: case together is what the metrics showed in the regular season,

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Speaker 2: and then what do you do in the playoffs against

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Speaker 2: the competition you faced. This was a Pacers offense that

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Speaker 2: was lighting everybody up, Colin and they got strangled every

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Speaker 2: single time it mattered.

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Speaker 3: Nikola Jokic is literally the.

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Speaker 2: Best offensive player I've ever watched, and he and they

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Speaker 2: had him under control in every pivotal moment of that series.

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Speaker 2: That is the type of defense that we watched. You know,

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Speaker 2: this Thunder offense was frustrating. Sometimes we're gonna talk about

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Speaker 2: Shaye in a few minutes, Like Shay was great every

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Speaker 2: time he needed to be great, but there were some

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Speaker 2: downsides here. He had a game in this series where

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Speaker 2: had zero assists. They had games where they'd moved the

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Speaker 2: ball poorly, where they were out of rhythm, out of flow.

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Speaker 2: They're young players, young players against elite playoff defense. That

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Speaker 2: that's going to take some time to figure out. And

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Speaker 2: there's no doubt that if the Thunder are going to

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Speaker 2: have sustained success in this league, they're gonna have to

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Speaker 2: figure out some things offensively to be better year after

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Speaker 2: year after year. But their defense right now is elite

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Speaker 2: hold the trophy defense, and that's what came through for them. Again.

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Speaker 1: I was really interested to see if chet Holmgren could

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Speaker 1: deliver finally, and I thought in the second half it

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Speaker 1: was like, Okay, chet Holmgren played with more confidence. That

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Speaker 1: was my only question. I thought, Man, if this is

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Speaker 1: a three point game and there's four minutes left, okay,

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Speaker 1: see Home Favorite could get really tight. And they left

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Speaker 1: no doubt. But I thought Homegroun and Jay Dubb both

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Speaker 1: in the second half, played well in that run. So

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Speaker 1: and that was one of my concerns is that I've

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Speaker 1: never seen a young team like this young win a championship.

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Speaker 1: And you know, I was thinking about this as you

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Speaker 1: were talking about SJ. SGA. Usually, let's say, for instance,

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Speaker 1: Shaq wasn't hitting his free throws, he still had all

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Speaker 1: time power. If Kobe and MJ weren't hitting their jumper,

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Speaker 1: they could go vertical Magic Johnson struggling from the field.

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Speaker 1: He just had a size advantage. He'd back you down.

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Speaker 1: Sga is not a vertical player. So if he's off

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Speaker 1: and he's off center, he doesn't have power. He doesn't

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Speaker 1: have speed. He doesn't have He's not he's not you know,

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Speaker 1: he's strong for his size. He's not a vertical player.

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Speaker 1: He is a mid range maven. Like he is all

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Speaker 1: time stuff. And so you know I've said before is

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Speaker 1: he's an all time scorer. But he doesn't feel like

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Speaker 1: he's in the Curry class where you're like, wow, I've

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Speaker 1: never seen a human like Caitlin. Clark's got some of that.

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Speaker 1: You're like, I've never seen that, right, Sga, I've seen it,

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Speaker 1: Alex English, Keiky Vandaway. He's just better at it. And

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Speaker 1: so I do think you know when you when you

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Speaker 1: play better teams and you can get it off his game.

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Speaker 1: He has a very centralized game. He's tremendous at it.

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Speaker 1: But I think we both admit he needs a friendly whistle,

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Speaker 1: and because he's so gifted, he almost always gets it.

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Speaker 1: It's not like the hardened whistle, which is like feels illegal.

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Speaker 1: That's not it. It's like that feels unstoppable. Is different

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Speaker 1: then it feels illegal. But you know he is. I

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Speaker 1: love him. I love his maturity. He's just a smart,

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Speaker 1: hard working kid. He's impossible not to root for. I

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Speaker 1: know everybody doesn't like you know, all the flopping. But

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Speaker 1: I have a hard time not rooting for guys who

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Speaker 1: are more mature than their age, with completely refined games

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Speaker 1: where I can see the work ethic, I can see

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Speaker 1: the years you've toiled in a gym. That to me

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Speaker 1: as a grinder, like, I love that kind of basketball,

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Speaker 1: and I think that's what he embodies.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's fascinating because at his age, you know,

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Speaker 2: being twenty six, he's kind of in this weird role

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Speaker 2: that's reminiscent of some of the roles that you've seen

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Speaker 2: guys like Tom Brady and Lebron be in where they're

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Speaker 2: the elder statesman.

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Speaker 3: In the locker room.

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Speaker 2: He's the elder statesman in the locker room at twenty

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Speaker 2: six years old. It's such a bizarre dynamic. But to like,

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Speaker 2: for if he was an immature player at twenty six,

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Speaker 2: this whole thing could fall apart because of the youth

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Speaker 2: in that locker room, and he just brings that veteran presence.

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Speaker 2: This is the perfect time for us to get into

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Speaker 2: the Microsoft bit, and I'm gonna kick it back to you.

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Speaker 2: So welcome to course correction brought to you guys by Microsoft.

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Speaker 2: Just like Star players and teams navigating performance hurdles, and

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Speaker 2: business decision makers today are under immense pressure to get

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Speaker 2: things right. They must rise to the occasion, turning challenges

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Speaker 2: and opportunities. Microsoft empowers these visionaries with AI solutions, simplified

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Speaker 2: cloud and data management, and trustworthy responsible AI. And when

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Speaker 2: you're in the NBA, you have your own hurdles to face.

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Speaker 2: In this segment, we will highlight the player every week

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Speaker 2: that has risen to the occasion when his team has

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Speaker 2: needed him. Whatever challenge you're facing, Microsoft empowers you with

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Speaker 2: the expertise to say, bring it up. Our player of

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Speaker 2: the Week this week is the twenty twenty five NBA

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Speaker 2: Finals MVP. It is now official. Shay Giljess Alexander Colin.

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Speaker 2: I was thinking about a cool way to frame this segment,

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Speaker 2: and all I could think about, like you mentioned with

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Speaker 2: the Washington Bullets roster, You know, everything for me, as

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Speaker 2: I'm talking about all time greats is kind of played

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Speaker 2: through this lens of when I started really following the

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Speaker 2: league closely, which for me was in the like around

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Speaker 2: two thousand and five, two thousand and six. You've been

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Speaker 2: watching a lot of NBA basketball for a really long time,

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Speaker 2: You've seen a lot of stars come through the league

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Speaker 2: as young players leave the league as vets. What has

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Speaker 2: been like your first impression of Shay Gill just Alexander

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Speaker 2: as a playoff performer in the NBA.

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Speaker 1: That if I go back to Kareem and the skyhook,

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Speaker 1: which was unstoppable, unblockable, and he mastered a shot. I'd

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Speaker 1: never seen a player master a shot when I first

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Speaker 1: watched Kareem, I can remember as a kid in my

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Speaker 1: backyard doing it like nobody else shot the hook, Michael

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Speaker 1: Jordan's mid range game. If you look at a lot

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Speaker 1: of the great players beyond just scores, they are the

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Speaker 1: master of their domain. Like I do what I do,

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Speaker 1: and they're all different looking. There was no other There

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Speaker 1: was no other Kareem, you know. David Thompson was a

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Speaker 1: little Michael, but Michael's mid range game he had three

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Speaker 1: or four stock moves, you know, Tim Duncan. The great

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Speaker 1: fundamental is that a lot of the all time great players,

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Speaker 1: and I've said this about Mahomes can be boring. They

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Speaker 1: have mastered what they do frustratingly so. And I look

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Speaker 1: at a player who knows exactly what he is, but

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Speaker 1: more importantly, he knows what he's not and he leans

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Speaker 1: into all of his skills, and I think when you

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Speaker 1: watch them play, they can be uneven offensively. The greatest

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Speaker 1: thing I can say about SGA. He's their clear dominant

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Speaker 1: number one score. So when you play them, I don't

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Speaker 1: have to pick Tony Parker Duncan Manu. It's like stop

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Speaker 1: him and people can't. And that to me is a

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Speaker 1: fastball Like that you know you can beat them. And

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Speaker 1: Jay Dubb can have thirty two, or Check could have

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Speaker 1: twenty four, or Lou Dort hits five threes, but the

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Speaker 1: numbers are if he gets to the free throw line,

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Speaker 1: they win. Everybody in the league knows it and they

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Speaker 1: can't stop him. Like that is precision, That is mastering

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Speaker 1: a craft, and I just I just have great respect

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Speaker 1: for that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the Duncan comp is super fascinating to me because

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Speaker 2: Shay doesn't have some super demonstrative personality on the court.

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Speaker 2: He lacks a vertical element to his game. There's nothing

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Speaker 2: that like like people who play a lot of basketball,

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Speaker 2: Like I've stolen little bits of footwork and moves from

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Speaker 2: him that I think are useful moves for young players

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Speaker 2: to work on. He's brought his own little kind of

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Speaker 2: unique flare to the two guard position, just like Harden did,

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Speaker 2: just like Wade did, just like Kobe did, just like

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Speaker 2: MJ did. He's got his own like kind of unique

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Speaker 2: take on it. But similar to Duncan, even if there

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Speaker 2: wasn't that you know, overwhelming optical appeal, it's just surgically effective.

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Speaker 2: And no matter what happened in this playoff run, the

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Speaker 2: most reliable play type out there was give the ball

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Speaker 2: to Shay at the nail and he's probably going to

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Speaker 2: either draw foul or get to a mid range jump

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Speaker 2: shot that he can hit about fifty five percent of

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Speaker 2: the time. And you know, you know, Colin, it has

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Speaker 2: not been a perfect NBA Finals for him. He had

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Speaker 2: some rough games. But here's the thing. Just about every

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Speaker 2: star struggles in their first NBA finals. Lebron struggled in

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Speaker 2: his first two NBA finals. It is an impossible stage

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Speaker 2: to be to be I shouldn't say it'smpossible, it's a

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Speaker 2: very difficult stage to perform well in. And to his credit,

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Speaker 2: every single moment in this series where things could have

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Speaker 2: gone south. So like Game two, you're down one zero,

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Speaker 2: you lose that game. Series is probably over. Game four,

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Speaker 2: you're down to one, you lose.

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Speaker 3: That game.

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Speaker 2: Series is probably over. Game five two to two, you lose,

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Speaker 2: that game. Series is probably over. And Game seven series tied.

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Speaker 2: If you lose that game, obviously the series is over.

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Speaker 2: In every one of those games, I thought he was awesome.

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Speaker 2: This is actually hilarious stat Colin. In the four games

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Speaker 2: where I thought he played poorly, which was Game one,

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Speaker 2: Game three, Game four, in game six, in those games

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Speaker 2: he combined for just nine assists. Okay, just nine in

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Speaker 2: those four games. In the other three games, in game two,

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Speaker 2: in game five, and in game seven, he had thirty

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Speaker 2: thirty assists. He averaged ten in those three games. And

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Speaker 2: if you watch those games from the start, just surgical

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Speaker 2: and precise with the way he was navigating the late

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Speaker 2: double teams, the help at the rim, making the kickouts

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Speaker 2: to three point shooters, the role man, whether it's hartensteiner Chet,

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Speaker 2: I thought, Shay, to his credit, every time the team

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Speaker 2: needed him to be great in the series, he was great.

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Speaker 2: And I think that is the stereotypical Finals MVP performance.

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Speaker 2: I thought he thoroughly deserved it, and most players don't

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Speaker 2: even do this well in their first time around.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, I think I don't think they're

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Speaker 1: a great team. I think they could be with age,

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Speaker 1: Like next year they'll play and watch next year, Okase

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Speaker 1: won't be as dominant in the regular season. They won't

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Speaker 1: be that there's no need to be. You're gonna rest players.

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Speaker 1: So next year they'll win by an average of six

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Speaker 1: point eight, not twelve point nine. Right, They'll try to

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Speaker 1: build up. You know, they're gonna try to build up

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Speaker 1: their younger players, make their draft picks. They want to

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Speaker 1: see guys that can play. So it'll be interesting. But

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Speaker 1: next year they'll play like a champion, and so what

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Speaker 1: you'll see they'll be a little less uneven to the

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Speaker 1: aforementioned stats where you saw him bounce a little bit,

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Speaker 1: you'll probably get a little bit less than that. But

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Speaker 1: it's also something that Indiana was better defensively than people

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Speaker 1: gave him credit for. They could put a lot a

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Speaker 1: lot of length on the floor. And I think we

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Speaker 1: are going through We've seen it now with multiple teams,

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Speaker 1: and I was fooled with Denver. I say it right now.

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Speaker 1: The last seven champions have been very good team. Will

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Speaker 1: this be a great team. I'm fascinated to watch the

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Speaker 1: Houston Rockets now right like Shangoon, I'm on Thompson, Kevin Durant.

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Speaker 1: It's I want to give Indiana credit because the Haliburton

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Speaker 1: injury didn't matter. But in the end, I still like

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Speaker 1: Oklahoma City. I think when I look at Oklahoma City's

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Speaker 1: rough edges, it's mostly Homebrewn just needs another year to grow.

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Speaker 1: Like one of the roughest edges is God Homebrewn did

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Speaker 1: nothing tonight, Jay Williams, J Dubb. He can stale Williams.

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Speaker 1: He can still be uneven, he can be masterful. But

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Speaker 1: I think most of the things about them are a

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Speaker 1: lot of them are age specific, as young players in

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Speaker 1: big games, especially on the road, aren't as good. And

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Speaker 1: I just so I look at them and I think, oh,

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Speaker 1: they have a chance to be really good next year,

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Speaker 1: plays a more confidite team, and I think by the

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Speaker 1: way their coaching staff will grow, everybody will just get better.

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Speaker 1: But most of my criticisms of Okay see are you

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Speaker 1: know you just didn't know game to game what you

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Speaker 1: got with chet Holdron on the offensive end. When he

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Speaker 1: played well in the second half, It's like, Wow, that's

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Speaker 1: a really hard team to beat.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, this is a super interesting concept. I want to

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Speaker 2: get a little deeper into this. I do need. We're

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Speaker 2: going to wrap up Microsoft real quick. That's it for

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Speaker 2: this week's course correction. Remember Microsoft's AI solutions empower you

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Speaker 2: to take bold steps and make informed decisions, sparking new

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Speaker 2: ideas to help drive your business forward. With Microsoft as

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Speaker 2: your trusted partner, you can navigate your journey with confidence,

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Speaker 2: finding innovative solutions, and reaching new possibilities. Visit Microsoft dot

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Speaker 2: com Slash challengers to learn more. So, Colin, to your point,

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Speaker 2: I saw this stat before the game, Oklahoma City's net rating,

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Speaker 2: And remember net rating is just how much you outscore

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Speaker 2: your opponent. Just waited for pace per one hundred possessions.

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Speaker 2: Oklahoma City's net rating at home coming into tonight was

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Speaker 2: twenty one. They outscored teams by twenty one points per

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Speaker 2: one hundred possessions on the road negative six. And so

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Speaker 2: to your point, I actually agree with you. I thought

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Speaker 2: Oklahoma City kind of underachieved in this playoff run. They

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Speaker 2: should have put Denver away sooner, They should have put

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Speaker 2: Indiana away sooner. They were not, to me a great

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Speaker 2: offensive team for the majority of this playoff run, downright

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Speaker 2: ugly at various points. But as we look back through

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Speaker 2: NBA history, this is what I look at the Warriors.

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Speaker 2: As a corollary here, it's not just stars that tend

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Speaker 2: to struggle when they get to the finals the first

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Speaker 2: time teams do. The Celtics in twenty twenty two, they

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Speaker 2: really struggled. When they showed up in twenty twenty four,

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Speaker 2: they looked like a bunch of grown ups. They handled

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Speaker 2: it way better Golden State. Steph played so poorly in

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Speaker 2: twenty fifteen. I think he still deserved Finals MVP, but

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Speaker 2: he played so poorly in twenty fifteen, he didn't get

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Speaker 2: a single vote for Finals MVP. They were looking at

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Speaker 2: his teammate as somebody to give the vote to. They,

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Speaker 2: you know, at various points in that playoff run looked

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Speaker 2: a little shaky. They trailed to one to Memphis, they

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Speaker 2: trailed to one to Cleveland. It is very typical for

428
00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,480
Speaker 2: a team that dominates in the regular season but has

429
00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 2: their first truly pressure filled, serious playoff run to be

430
00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:15,120
Speaker 2: a little bumpy. And so the point is is like, yeah,

431
00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,960
Speaker 2: this year they were a mediocre playoff offense that had

432
00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:21,560
Speaker 2: an elite playoff defense, which was enough to get them

433
00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:25,280
Speaker 2: over the top. But this team has by far the

434
00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,879
Speaker 2: most room for internal improvement year over year. I'd argue

435
00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:33,640
Speaker 2: in the entire NBA, like Jada, you talked about the oscillations.

436
00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:36,680
Speaker 2: The oscillations are classic young player stuff. I can't tell

437
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:38,760
Speaker 2: you how many times anybody who spends any time coaching

438
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,800
Speaker 2: young basketball players, you'll see them do something that works.

439
00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:43,800
Speaker 2: You'll be a nice job, and then they'll go on

440
00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:45,919
Speaker 2: the next possession and they'll do something completely different and

441
00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,440
Speaker 2: you're like, just do the same thing, do the same

442
00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:50,320
Speaker 2: thing that you just did, and it works, and then

443
00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:53,600
Speaker 2: when they make mistakes, they can repeat them. They struggled

444
00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:56,920
Speaker 2: to cut out mistakes and the struggle to repeat their

445
00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:01,000
Speaker 2: successes young players over time. You don't think Shay remembers

446
00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:03,080
Speaker 2: how he played in those three bad in those four

447
00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,280
Speaker 2: bad games. He knows, he knows, he learned lessons in

448
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,440
Speaker 2: that in that process, and Shay will be better. Shay

449
00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:12,800
Speaker 2: will just be more consistent. I believe Ja dub can

450
00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,479
Speaker 2: get substantially better. Chet was a nightmare offensively in this

451
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:17,280
Speaker 2: postseason run.

452
00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:18,200
Speaker 3: Nightmare.

453
00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:20,199
Speaker 2: And this is a guy who spends summers working out

454
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:22,920
Speaker 2: with Kevin Durant, who has, like all he has all

455
00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:27,560
Speaker 2: NBA offensive potential, and so maybe they're not that team yet,

456
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:31,080
Speaker 2: but they absolutely can get there. And all you have

457
00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:34,360
Speaker 2: to do in this era where nobody's winning multiple championships

458
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:38,000
Speaker 2: is win multiple championships and pretty quickly you will like

459
00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:40,720
Speaker 2: establish yourself as one of the all time great teams.

460
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:43,080
Speaker 2: I'm with you, they were. This was a rocky road,

461
00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:45,480
Speaker 2: but they got it done. If you were gonna beat

462
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,320
Speaker 2: the Thunder, this was the year. This was the year

463
00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:51,919
Speaker 2: where they're young, they're thin. Chet has never been in

464
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,600
Speaker 2: these big moments before, Like this was the year to

465
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,120
Speaker 2: beat them and nobody could get it done. And it's

466
00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:58,480
Speaker 2: only gonna go up from here.

467
00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:04,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I think Houston now has to be considered

468
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:08,040
Speaker 1: very interesting. I contend Dallas when everybody's healthy. Now, I

469
00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:10,560
Speaker 1: don't know exactly where Kyrie is going to be. I

470
00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:14,560
Speaker 1: love their size and length. I also think, you know,

471
00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:19,560
Speaker 1: the NBA, especially out West, has some really good gms.

472
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:23,879
Speaker 1: There's a lot of levers to pull here. And even

473
00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:27,159
Speaker 1: though and I've told you, I think draft picks are

474
00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:30,639
Speaker 1: going to matter more. Like everybody's banging on the suns today,

475
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,320
Speaker 1: what if that number ten pick ends up being a really,

476
00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:35,840
Speaker 1: really good player and they have all these second round

477
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,120
Speaker 1: picks and they can figure out a way to move

478
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:41,680
Speaker 1: one of the other players and get another first round pick.

479
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:46,760
Speaker 1: And I think Oklahoma City is going to be very

480
00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:51,679
Speaker 1: good for a very long time. But I still think

481
00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:56,240
Speaker 1: and we've seen it this year, these long playoff runs.

482
00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:58,720
Speaker 1: You see it with pitching staffs, and you see it

483
00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:03,040
Speaker 1: with teams. You keep going to seven games against Western

484
00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:06,479
Speaker 1: teams and in the finals, I don't like it. I

485
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,680
Speaker 1: think you're going to have more injuries. I don't remember

486
00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:12,320
Speaker 1: a two year stretch where we had more key injuries

487
00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:16,000
Speaker 1: to star players. So you know, it's one of those things.

488
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,600
Speaker 1: They've got the they've got a lot of depth, but

489
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:23,160
Speaker 1: they do have one dependable score So keeping SGA healthy

490
00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:27,000
Speaker 1: and trying to develop second, third, and fourth scorers is

491
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:30,360
Speaker 1: a real thing because they're inconsistent there. But it is

492
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:33,080
Speaker 1: you know, as I look at this playoff series, one

493
00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:36,119
Speaker 1: of my takeaways is, and I've been on this four years,

494
00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,280
Speaker 1: you do not need seven games in the first round,

495
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:41,720
Speaker 1: like and you say, well, it could be a sweep.

496
00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:45,840
Speaker 1: You do not need four game sweeps. You could do it.

497
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:48,080
Speaker 1: You could do it in five games or three games.

498
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:52,960
Speaker 1: So I think OKAC is not good enough to be brittle,

499
00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:56,879
Speaker 1: injury riddled. I think healthy. You know, we always say

500
00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:02,320
Speaker 1: it in the NFL, it's attrition these playoffs. Cleveland fell

501
00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:06,320
Speaker 1: apart the year before New York fell apart, and that

502
00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:09,199
Speaker 1: I think that's a lot of it. I think the

503
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,359
Speaker 1: West is gonna be razor thin keep you know, we

504
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,479
Speaker 1: all know San Antonio is gonna take a jump. So

505
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:16,520
Speaker 1: I think a lot of it is if we're gonna

506
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,639
Speaker 1: keep doing seven game series. Well, a lot of it

507
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 1: is who's healthy because a lot of guys went to

508
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:23,400
Speaker 1: the floor this year.

509
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:26,159
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Okay, so he's super young, and they just

510
00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:29,560
Speaker 2: held up. They kind of physically wore everybody down over

511
00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:31,240
Speaker 2: the course of this Playffron because they just have this

512
00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 2: deep rotation of young players.

513
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:34,399
Speaker 3: I agree. I agree with you.

514
00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:36,959
Speaker 2: For the record, I want to be clear, like I

515
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:39,680
Speaker 2: do not think this Oklahoma City team is the KD

516
00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:43,919
Speaker 2: STEPH Warriors, Like that team felt borderline unbeatable when they

517
00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:46,640
Speaker 2: were healthy. Like I don't think this Oklahoma City team

518
00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:49,560
Speaker 2: is unbeatable. I just think we haven't seen their ceiling yet.

519
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:51,840
Speaker 2: I think there's a level they can get to, especially

520
00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:53,960
Speaker 2: in the offensive end of the floor, that we haven't

521
00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:55,639
Speaker 2: seen yet, and I'm curious to see where that ends

522
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:57,680
Speaker 2: up is does that end up being a team that's

523
00:27:57,720 --> 00:27:59,960
Speaker 2: just like all the other champions recently they can't repeat,

524
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:01,840
Speaker 2: or does it end up being a team that ends

525
00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,240
Speaker 2: up making a mark on this air. But the injuries

526
00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:08,040
Speaker 2: thing is fascinating. So we have a shout out to Josh.

527
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:12,760
Speaker 2: It gave us the stat before the show, the Tyres

528
00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:15,480
Speaker 2: Haliburton achilles tear. If that confirms to be what it is,

529
00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:17,520
Speaker 2: which is what it looked like. I mean ABC made

530
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:19,639
Speaker 2: us watch it thirty times. I have no idea what

531
00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:22,680
Speaker 2: that was all about, but that would be the eighth

532
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:25,000
Speaker 2: achilles tear in the NBA this year. The previous season

533
00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:28,080
Speaker 2: high was five. What do you make of this, like

534
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:30,520
Speaker 2: upticking these weird severe injuries in the NBA.

535
00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:35,760
Speaker 1: Well, okay, the pace is faster, the players are better,

536
00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:43,479
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's a more physical postseason. It's just

537
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:46,240
Speaker 1: more taxing on the bodies and these athletes now come

538
00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:49,440
Speaker 1: into the season in shape. You're just asking a lot.

539
00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:52,280
Speaker 1: I means, you know, like we can criticize Jamal Murray

540
00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:54,880
Speaker 1: of Denver sort of playing himself into shape and Luca,

541
00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:58,680
Speaker 1: but I think I think there are very few Lebron's

542
00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:01,280
Speaker 1: out there where the body just holds up. And I think,

543
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:05,480
Speaker 1: I think guys, I think the level of play, the

544
00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:09,240
Speaker 1: level of pace, the level of physicality. These guys are

545
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:12,960
Speaker 1: more like tightly tuned violins and it just doesn't take much.

546
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:17,320
Speaker 1: And so I don't I just do. Listen, college basketball

547
00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:20,720
Speaker 1: doesn't have near the quality of talent of the NBA,

548
00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:24,880
Speaker 1: But why are their ratings often beating NBA playoff games?

549
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:27,880
Speaker 1: Because of the urgency And we all know baseball you

550
00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,000
Speaker 1: have to have a longer series because such a big

551
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:32,880
Speaker 1: component of baseball as starting pitching, so you know you're

552
00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:35,320
Speaker 1: setting up your pitching. That's part of the chess match

553
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:39,000
Speaker 1: of baseball. But I don't think in basketball I need

554
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:42,480
Speaker 1: a seven game series. Michael Jordan's big years it was

555
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,440
Speaker 1: a five gamer until you get to later rounds. And

556
00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:48,400
Speaker 1: I just think, I think Adam Silver and I'll give

557
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,520
Speaker 1: Rob Manfred and Roger Goodell credit. I think our commissioners

558
00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:56,680
Speaker 1: see this. They're very open minded. Manford's made multiple big swings,

559
00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,960
Speaker 1: you know, which goes against baseball's history. Basketball has been,

560
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:05,360
Speaker 1: you know, a much more progressive, willing to experiment league. Sometimes,

561
00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:07,479
Speaker 1: you know, the new ball David Sturn didn't even give

562
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,200
Speaker 1: the players a heads up. But the lee Adam Silver

563
00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:12,960
Speaker 1: has made you know, the nd season tournament, I think

564
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:15,520
Speaker 1: you have to really examine. And when I had him on,

565
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:20,200
Speaker 1: we talked about this is that embrace college basketball. You

566
00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:23,240
Speaker 1: know how you know what Indie, Oklahoma City is to me.

567
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:25,720
Speaker 1: We're all the G League guys. It's a lot of

568
00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:28,600
Speaker 1: guys who played a lot of years of college embrace

569
00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:33,080
Speaker 1: college basketball as an almost educational basketball tool, not the

570
00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:35,560
Speaker 1: school part. Just be what Tom is over two or

571
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:38,680
Speaker 1: three years, like it matters. And also, you have to

572
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:42,760
Speaker 1: really examine the value of these players. If you're signing

573
00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:45,320
Speaker 1: a seventy six billion dollar contract for eleven years, you

574
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,400
Speaker 1: want your stars playing as long as they can. Halliburton's

575
00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:50,760
Speaker 1: injury made me sick to my stomach. The game didn't

576
00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,920
Speaker 1: feel the same after that injury. I was so fired

577
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:55,719
Speaker 1: up all day. I got home early, I watched two

578
00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:58,320
Speaker 1: hours of the pregame show a sick to my stomach.

579
00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:04,080
Speaker 1: I'm like wow, and and again I am. I just

580
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,800
Speaker 1: think you can the money's not the problem. We got

581
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,720
Speaker 1: seventy six billion coming like, money's not the issue. The

582
00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:14,000
Speaker 1: owners are all billionaires, let's protect the players. There's no

583
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:16,680
Speaker 1: reason for seven days deniable.

584
00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:19,680
Speaker 2: And it keep the thing is calling too, It keeps

585
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:22,640
Speaker 2: happening on the same play, the same like what they

586
00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:25,040
Speaker 2: call it the negative step, where you like step backwards

587
00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:28,400
Speaker 2: to try to launch yourself forwards. Essentially the body is

588
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,040
Speaker 2: fatiguing to the point that when they're trying to explode

589
00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:33,760
Speaker 2: forward at these points, the body's failing, and it's happening

590
00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:37,440
Speaker 2: at an increasingly high rate. And it I think it

591
00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:39,240
Speaker 2: has a lot to do with just the way the

592
00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:42,360
Speaker 2: game has changed, in the sense that the point at

593
00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:45,720
Speaker 2: which players are engaging defenders, the point at which players

594
00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:50,320
Speaker 2: are being asked to contend with physicalities extended substantially further

595
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:53,480
Speaker 2: away from the basket. You're facing ball pressure and being

596
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:55,800
Speaker 2: guarded thirty thirty five feet from the basket.

597
00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:56,560
Speaker 3: Some of these times.

598
00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:59,720
Speaker 2: I bet if you tracked an individual player's movement and

599
00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:03,120
Speaker 2: just how often he runs around the floor, just the

600
00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:07,280
Speaker 2: straight line distance that he runs, it's probably double what

601
00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:09,720
Speaker 2: it was in the nineties in a single game, just

602
00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:12,600
Speaker 2: because of the pace, the amount of ball in player

603
00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:14,920
Speaker 2: movement that occurs on every single possession.

604
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:16,120
Speaker 3: It's just a lot.

605
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,800
Speaker 2: And so to your point, like I understand the TV aspect,

606
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:21,520
Speaker 2: and it's like, okay, we go, we get money from

607
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:23,840
Speaker 2: these games. We can't cut games because it costs us money.

608
00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:26,600
Speaker 2: If anything, we're trying to add games. Here's the Ncason Tournament,

609
00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:29,520
Speaker 2: here's the play in tournament. You know they added that

610
00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:32,080
Speaker 2: seventh game to the first round after it used to

611
00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:36,080
Speaker 2: be five. Like they are adding inventory that the players

612
00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,120
Speaker 2: can't handle. And if you really dig into it and

613
00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:41,160
Speaker 2: you actually start to look at the way it affects

614
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:43,680
Speaker 2: the product, I'm so glad you mentioned that, Colin. This

615
00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:45,600
Speaker 2: is the most excited I've vent for games so long.

616
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:48,800
Speaker 2: And what a buzzkill to watch the best player on

617
00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:50,880
Speaker 2: the other team come out hit three straight three, start

618
00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:52,840
Speaker 2: talking a bunch of shit to the crowd. Next thing

619
00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:54,600
Speaker 2: you know, he's on in a heap on the ground.

620
00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:58,040
Speaker 2: It's a huge bummer. And like, these guys can't be

621
00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:02,040
Speaker 2: asked to play back to these guys can't be asked

622
00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:03,360
Speaker 2: to play an additional two.

623
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:05,080
Speaker 3: It is June twenty.

624
00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:08,160
Speaker 2: Second, Colin, you know how this playoff runt has been

625
00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:11,480
Speaker 2: going on forever, Like it is a long stretch. They

626
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:14,160
Speaker 2: have to find a way to make this actually achievable

627
00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:16,720
Speaker 2: for these bodies, they are not holding up. In my

628
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:19,080
Speaker 2: theory is that if you tweak it in a way

629
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:22,760
Speaker 2: to where guys can hold up, it'll improve the ratings

630
00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:25,720
Speaker 2: just by virtue of everyone being present and bringing the

631
00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:29,120
Speaker 2: urgency due to the lower inventory.

632
00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,800
Speaker 1: Oh, it's just like baseball ratings when when you shorten

633
00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:36,160
Speaker 1: the game create urgency. Everybody's I mean, I've done this

634
00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:39,320
Speaker 1: ad nauseam. Everybody's on their phones. People are just I'm

635
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:43,200
Speaker 1: watching the game tonight and I'm I'm literally in the

636
00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:46,160
Speaker 1: first quarter. You know, I'm sitting there watching the game

637
00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:49,400
Speaker 1: and I'm writing some notes, but I'm also reading an

638
00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:52,920
Speaker 1: article on the finals as I'm watching the finals. We're

639
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:57,200
Speaker 1: all distracted, So you know, I just I think the

640
00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,320
Speaker 1: reality is you just anytime you can make make a

641
00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:04,080
Speaker 1: game feel like an event, everybody wins. The players win,

642
00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:09,440
Speaker 1: I win, you win, the networks win. So it'll be

643
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:11,120
Speaker 1: interesting now because the NBA is going to be on

644
00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:13,160
Speaker 1: so many networks and it's going to dilute some of

645
00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:16,880
Speaker 1: the coverage. But you're going to have to make it special.

646
00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:19,759
Speaker 1: And and by the way, this is what Baseball did.

647
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:21,880
Speaker 1: Fox went to Baseball and said, you guys have to

648
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:24,600
Speaker 1: create the home run Derby's your highest rated non World

649
00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:27,799
Speaker 1: Series moment. Create more things like that. So they did

650
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:30,560
Speaker 1: the Cornfield game. They put the Mets in the Phillies,

651
00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:34,799
Speaker 1: you know, overseas, and I watched all of them. So

652
00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,840
Speaker 1: I do think there's a certain apathy in the regular season.

653
00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:40,239
Speaker 1: I mean, even the league officiates different in the postseason.

654
00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:43,439
Speaker 1: They understand the urgency. So I think they'll get it right.

655
00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:45,840
Speaker 1: I think Adam will eventually get it right. He's not

656
00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:48,799
Speaker 1: a stubborn guy. I don't think any of our commissioners are.

657
00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:53,160
Speaker 1: And I think going from seven games to five games,

658
00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:56,040
Speaker 1: you may not think it's a big deal, but I

659
00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:58,360
Speaker 1: over the course, it could be four less, four or

660
00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:01,480
Speaker 1: fewer playoff games. You know. I feel like Halliburton's body

661
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:04,880
Speaker 1: just gave out tonight. It just it was exhausted. He

662
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:06,759
Speaker 1: just pushed it and pushed it and pushed it.

663
00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:09,920
Speaker 2: I think that's exactly what happened. Again, it's becoming undeniable.

664
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:11,879
Speaker 2: Like there was a point where it was like, oh,

665
00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:14,120
Speaker 2: injuries are on the rise, but hey, it's only been

666
00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:17,040
Speaker 2: like two or three years. It might be just anecdotal

667
00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:19,279
Speaker 2: or too small of a sample size. We're in an

668
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:21,839
Speaker 2: extended stretch here where like dudes are breaking down every

669
00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:22,719
Speaker 2: year in the playoffs.

670
00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:23,759
Speaker 3: Remember last year.

671
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:25,760
Speaker 2: It was like, oh, the calves are going on Donovan

672
00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:27,600
Speaker 2: Mitchell's foot and how were you know? And then oh,

673
00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:29,839
Speaker 2: like here come the Pacers and the tyres. Haliburton gets it.

674
00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:32,719
Speaker 2: It's like it's it's this like it's basically turning into

675
00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:34,840
Speaker 2: a war of attrition more than it's turning into a

676
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:37,480
Speaker 2: battle of basketball. And that's what they have to figure

677
00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:39,760
Speaker 2: out because otherwise what you're going to see is the deepest,

678
00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:42,799
Speaker 2: youngest team win every year. I mean, and that's more

679
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:44,480
Speaker 2: or less what we saw in the finals, you know,

680
00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:47,520
Speaker 2: you know, on so many different levels. But anyway, Colin,

681
00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:49,280
Speaker 2: we did get a new piece of news this morning.

682
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:55,719
Speaker 2: Kevin Durant is now Houston Rocket and in return, the

683
00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:58,440
Speaker 2: Phoenix Suns are getting Jalen Green, a young player with

684
00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:03,799
Speaker 2: tons of potential but maddening downsides at this point, Dylan Brooks,

685
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:06,240
Speaker 2: who I actually think is a very good role player

686
00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:09,800
Speaker 2: in the NBA, the tenth pick in this upcoming draft,

687
00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:14,319
Speaker 2: and five second round picks. What was like your first

688
00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:17,960
Speaker 2: impression when you heard the news today, Well.

689
00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:20,920
Speaker 1: My first impression the Suns were three and seventeen. When

690
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:24,359
Speaker 1: Katie didn't play this year, they stunk. It wasn't him.

691
00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:27,440
Speaker 1: He still get a bucket. If he's a leader in Houston,

692
00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:30,240
Speaker 1: it doesn't work. If you need a bucket in Houston,

693
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:32,719
Speaker 1: it works. And I think today you have to look

694
00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:36,120
Speaker 1: at the Rockets. My take is he's gonna give you

695
00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:38,160
Speaker 1: about sixty five games in the regular season. If we

696
00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:41,240
Speaker 1: get two healthy years, then everybody's going to watch Houston

697
00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:44,160
Speaker 1: via for the NBA Championship and feel like they dominated

698
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:47,799
Speaker 1: the trade. It is, however, a very good draft, so

699
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:51,479
Speaker 1: Phoenix gets the number two ten pick. Well, many people

700
00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:54,560
Speaker 1: are theorizing there are twelve players in this draft, the

701
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:57,680
Speaker 1: top twelve players who are All Star potential. So if

702
00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:00,319
Speaker 1: they stay at ten or move up to six or eight,

703
00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:04,040
Speaker 1: they're getting a potentially really good player, probably with more

704
00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:08,440
Speaker 1: than one year in college. And again, I don't think

705
00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:12,439
Speaker 1: anybody will ever unlock Jalen Green, like I think he's

706
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:16,400
Speaker 1: the classic, doesn't have a defined game, never probably will,

707
00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:19,920
Speaker 1: but we can't deny that he can drop thirty in

708
00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:23,759
Speaker 1: any given moment, that he's wildly talented. I don't like

709
00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:26,400
Speaker 1: his game, but I'm not going to deny that he's

710
00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:31,719
Speaker 1: you know, long, twitchy, fast, very good transition player. He's

711
00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:34,600
Speaker 1: just and there are a lot of these guys in

712
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:37,880
Speaker 1: the NBA. You know, they come in and they're talented,

713
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:40,279
Speaker 1: and maybe either they don't work on their game, or

714
00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:42,759
Speaker 1: they don't get the right coaching, or they just they

715
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:46,920
Speaker 1: probably have so much talent from sixth grade on that

716
00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:50,400
Speaker 1: they never really there's no catalyst for them to like

717
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:54,240
Speaker 1: really burrow down on a specialized you know, not everybody

718
00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:57,480
Speaker 1: has just driven as MJ. Right, Like I'm reading the

719
00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:00,680
Speaker 1: Caitlin Clark book. I mean, that girl's be he is MJ.

720
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:04,080
Speaker 1: She's obsessed, and it's just like, not everybody's like that.

721
00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:08,840
Speaker 1: Some people are just talented. And so between Aman Thompson

722
00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:12,719
Speaker 1: and shn Goon is beautiful touch, Kevin Durant and a

723
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:15,680
Speaker 1: series of four or five very good young players. And

724
00:38:15,719 --> 00:38:18,640
Speaker 1: I think Adokah is a very good coach. That's a

725
00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:22,960
Speaker 1: real team. But I think it's easy to look at

726
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:27,120
Speaker 1: Phoenix and just go, well, they got Green's productive. Dylan

727
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:30,239
Speaker 1: Brooks is a very good small forward defender, can give

728
00:38:30,239 --> 00:38:32,960
Speaker 1: you seventeen a night. You got the number ten pick,

729
00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:35,200
Speaker 1: you got a bunch of second round picks which you

730
00:38:35,239 --> 00:38:38,480
Speaker 1: can turn those into things. Phoenix wanted her a little

731
00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:40,759
Speaker 1: bit of a reboot. They got it. But people on

732
00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:44,440
Speaker 1: the internet are like, oh, Houston dominated. If Katie got

733
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:47,799
Speaker 1: hurt in Game thirty six, it wouldn't feel like Houston dominated. Right.

734
00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:51,200
Speaker 1: They're not bringing him there to be a foundational piece.

735
00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:54,759
Speaker 1: They're bringing him in to get a bucket like he

736
00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:57,919
Speaker 1: will not be the leader is shen Gun will still

737
00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:01,160
Speaker 1: be the I think the centerpiece of the team. Aman

738
00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:03,960
Speaker 1: Thompson will be your best athlete and your defensive stopper.

739
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:07,600
Speaker 1: He's gonna be a bucket guy. So that's why I

740
00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:12,440
Speaker 1: think it works. He's still one of the top twenty three,

741
00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:15,760
Speaker 1: twenty six best players in the league. I would argue,

742
00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:18,520
Speaker 1: I mean, I was on the plane when I was

743
00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:20,880
Speaker 1: flying in today, I started writing down numbers and I

744
00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:25,320
Speaker 1: got to like twenty one. I'm like, he's in that space.

745
00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:29,560
Speaker 1: And again, Phoenix was terrible when he didn't play. So

746
00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:32,279
Speaker 1: that's my long winded answer on I think Houston will

747
00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:34,360
Speaker 1: look like they won the trade, but Phoenix got.

748
00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:38,120
Speaker 2: Asked in Phoenix is a sign that like yeah, KD,

749
00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:42,040
Speaker 2: Steph Lebron, these guys they're not floor razors anymore.

750
00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:42,680
Speaker 3: At their age.

751
00:39:42,719 --> 00:39:45,080
Speaker 2: They're not going to turn a bad roster into a

752
00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:47,359
Speaker 2: fifty win team the way that twenty seven year old

753
00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:50,480
Speaker 2: Nikola Jokic could like that. That goes without saying I don't.

754
00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:54,319
Speaker 2: I do think though, that kd has been dramatically underrated

755
00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:57,040
Speaker 2: because he's been on such a poor roster. I put

756
00:39:57,080 --> 00:39:59,239
Speaker 2: this together for you, callin. This is three stats to

757
00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:01,239
Speaker 2: show that Kevin Durant is still one of the very

758
00:40:01,239 --> 00:40:04,040
Speaker 2: best players in the NBA. He was the best jump

759
00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:06,560
Speaker 2: shooter in the world this year. Among fifty eight players

760
00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:08,600
Speaker 2: in the NBA to take at least five hundred jump shots,

761
00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:10,759
Speaker 2: Kadi was the only player in the league to make

762
00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:13,120
Speaker 2: over half of them, and he in second place with

763
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:16,080
Speaker 2: Shay who made forty five percent. And if you waited

764
00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:18,000
Speaker 2: it for threes, his one point two to two points

765
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:19,160
Speaker 2: per shot was still number one in.

766
00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:20,120
Speaker 3: The NBA number two.

767
00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:22,319
Speaker 2: He was the only player in the NBA last year

768
00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:24,600
Speaker 2: to make at least two hundred pull up jump shots,

769
00:40:24,640 --> 00:40:26,920
Speaker 2: meaning off the dribble, while making more than half of

770
00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:30,080
Speaker 2: them in three He was far and away the best

771
00:40:30,120 --> 00:40:32,200
Speaker 2: isolation player in the world last year. Out of the

772
00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:34,440
Speaker 2: ten players around at least two hundred and fifty ISOs.

773
00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:37,240
Speaker 2: His one point one to six points per possession including

774
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:39,960
Speaker 2: passes ranked number one in the league, a full six

775
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:42,440
Speaker 2: points per one hundred possessions, ahead of Shay who is

776
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:44,959
Speaker 2: in second place. I think he is when it comes

777
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:48,680
Speaker 2: to refined offensive skill, he is still one of the

778
00:40:48,840 --> 00:40:51,000
Speaker 2: very best players in the league. I would put him

779
00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:54,080
Speaker 2: in that six to fifteen range, depending on and we

780
00:40:54,080 --> 00:40:56,239
Speaker 2: haven't seen him play enough high leverage basketball lately to

781
00:40:56,239 --> 00:40:58,279
Speaker 2: see where he really lands in there, but I think

782
00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:00,920
Speaker 2: he's still in that range. And if you asked me

783
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:04,120
Speaker 2: what the Rockets issue was, this is a deep team

784
00:41:04,200 --> 00:41:07,239
Speaker 2: with a load of big, physical athletes. If you ask

785
00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:10,400
Speaker 2: me what their one week at weakness was, it's refined

786
00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:13,000
Speaker 2: offensive skill. And that's what KD comes into address. We

787
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:14,880
Speaker 2: were just talking about this with Desmond Baine in the

788
00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:17,359
Speaker 2: Orlando Magic the other day. When you take a bunch

789
00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:20,040
Speaker 2: of big athletes that kind of struggle with spacing and

790
00:41:20,080 --> 00:41:22,759
Speaker 2: you bring in a guy who like, just run him

791
00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:25,400
Speaker 2: off a screen and he's automatically gonna pull two defenders

792
00:41:25,400 --> 00:41:28,919
Speaker 2: out thirty feet from the basket and unlocks a world

793
00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:31,799
Speaker 2: of possibilities on the short role. A men Thompson will

794
00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:33,839
Speaker 2: be an amazing short role player. You know that thing

795
00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:36,480
Speaker 2: that Draymond Green did for Steph where Steph would come

796
00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:38,760
Speaker 2: off of Draymond to take two players and then Draymond

797
00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:40,239
Speaker 2: would go right down the middle of the floor and

798
00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:43,279
Speaker 2: make the play that broke the defense down. That is

799
00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:45,440
Speaker 2: a thing that a Men Thompson has been unable to

800
00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:47,680
Speaker 2: do in Houston because they just don't generate many of

801
00:41:47,719 --> 00:41:50,799
Speaker 2: those opportunities because none of their shooters are good enough. Hey,

802
00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:53,759
Speaker 2: d will unlock that part of a Men Thompson's game.

803
00:41:54,040 --> 00:41:56,120
Speaker 2: It is not a perfect roster. I was writing down

804
00:41:56,120 --> 00:41:58,200
Speaker 2: all the names on the roster today. They're a little

805
00:41:58,239 --> 00:42:01,160
Speaker 2: light on ball handling, that sort of thing they can get.

806
00:42:01,200 --> 00:42:03,480
Speaker 2: You know what's so funny, Colin, I remember when the

807
00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:06,760
Speaker 2: Sun signed Highest Jones last summer. I was like, why

808
00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:09,759
Speaker 2: you already have this redundancy of all these dudes who

809
00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:11,759
Speaker 2: can dribble and you're just not athletic enough and you're

810
00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:14,160
Speaker 2: not good enough on defense. Like you need athletes and

811
00:42:14,239 --> 00:42:16,680
Speaker 2: dudes that can like like beat up people in these

812
00:42:16,680 --> 00:42:20,880
Speaker 2: physical environments. You know who could really use Highest Jones Houston? Like,

813
00:42:21,080 --> 00:42:23,120
Speaker 2: I think they should call I think Kevin Durant should

814
00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:25,040
Speaker 2: call up highest tomorrow and be like, hey, dude, come

815
00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:25,360
Speaker 2: with me.

816
00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:28,759
Speaker 3: Yeah.

817
00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:31,080
Speaker 1: I think I think Phoenix. I wish Phoenix would have

818
00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:34,920
Speaker 1: gotten actually a size. I think Phoenix needs size, and

819
00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:37,920
Speaker 1: I think Houston needs a ball handler. And our takeaway

820
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:40,440
Speaker 1: when we watched Golden State beat Houston, we were like, God,

821
00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:43,279
Speaker 1: they're so bad in a half court offense. If you

822
00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:46,520
Speaker 1: stop shn good, it's over right, like it's just and

823
00:42:46,560 --> 00:42:48,360
Speaker 1: so you and I talked about this. He was a

824
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:50,359
Speaker 1: perfect fit there. I thought he worked in New York

825
00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:53,520
Speaker 1: because the Jalen Brunson's you know, has the ball a

826
00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:55,600
Speaker 1: lot in his hands. I thought he would work with

827
00:42:55,640 --> 00:43:00,000
Speaker 1: that offense, whereas Cat can kind of. I always felt

828
00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:02,239
Speaker 1: like Cat and Brunston were playing you know, your turn,

829
00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:04,719
Speaker 1: my turn, your turn, my turn. Kd's kind of like

830
00:43:04,719 --> 00:43:06,600
Speaker 1: I'll sit in the I did it with Russ Westbrook.

831
00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:08,880
Speaker 1: I'll sit in the corner. Get it to me eventually.

832
00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:12,680
Speaker 1: So I think he fits really, really well, and I

833
00:43:12,680 --> 00:43:16,520
Speaker 1: think they have the coach. I think again, it's so

834
00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:19,400
Speaker 1: hard to judge Houston because so much of their roster

835
00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:22,920
Speaker 1: is young. I like feel like everybody's in the fourth inning,

836
00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:25,959
Speaker 1: Like I mean, Amen, Thompson could take a big leap.

837
00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:28,480
Speaker 1: I mean, shne Goon's the only one where I look

838
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:30,000
Speaker 1: at him and I think, oh that again. I used

839
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:32,759
Speaker 1: this word a lot. But that's a defined and refined

840
00:43:32,800 --> 00:43:37,000
Speaker 1: offensive game. He's got European touch, like he has a game.

841
00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:39,360
Speaker 1: A lot of their players I feel like they're just

842
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:42,279
Speaker 1: in early innings. I don't know what they are. So

843
00:43:43,320 --> 00:43:47,400
Speaker 1: Aman Thompson's obviously defensively defined. He's so strong and athletic

844
00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:52,160
Speaker 1: and aggressive. But KD gives them refinement. This is a

845
00:43:52,239 --> 00:43:55,759
Speaker 1: second offensive player. I know exactly what I'm getting. And

846
00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:58,759
Speaker 1: that's that goes back to a little Oklahoma city that

847
00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:04,239
Speaker 1: one of the reasons Indiana kind gave OKC problems. Sciakam

848
00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:09,960
Speaker 1: has an offensive half court game, Haliburton does, TJ McConnell does. Like,

849
00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:12,879
Speaker 1: that's three guys, even Obi Toppen. When he hits threes,

850
00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:15,880
Speaker 1: You're like, he's athletic and hit threes. They had guys

851
00:44:15,880 --> 00:44:18,279
Speaker 1: that they Rick Carlile knew, Okay, this is what this

852
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:22,200
Speaker 1: player does with Houston. Houston's like a younger OKAC. I'm

853
00:44:22,239 --> 00:44:24,960
Speaker 1: just not sure what everybody is like. I just need

854
00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:26,839
Speaker 1: more guys that I go into a game and go yeah,

855
00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:28,920
Speaker 1: I'm going to get twenty fourth tonight from KD and

856
00:44:28,960 --> 00:44:31,640
Speaker 1: I can drop two or three plays for so Houston

857
00:44:31,680 --> 00:44:33,800
Speaker 1: to me is early innings they could end up being.

858
00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:36,080
Speaker 1: They could end up looking at If you told me

859
00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:39,120
Speaker 1: next year a team explodes in the West and ends

860
00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:41,759
Speaker 1: up winning by seven point eight points, I would guess

861
00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:44,560
Speaker 1: Houston because they have so many players that are just

862
00:44:44,600 --> 00:44:46,879
Speaker 1: going to springboard to another level here in the.

863
00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:50,960
Speaker 2: Next BASKETBALLSSI upside, I think they could very easily be

864
00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:52,800
Speaker 2: the second best team in the West and the biggest

865
00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:54,720
Speaker 2: threat to the Thunder next year. I think that's absolutely

866
00:44:54,800 --> 00:44:56,600
Speaker 2: on the table. They match up well with OKC two

867
00:44:56,640 --> 00:44:59,040
Speaker 2: because they have all the big physical size. The ball

868
00:44:59,040 --> 00:45:01,080
Speaker 2: handling will be the week as we saw with Indiana,

869
00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:03,839
Speaker 2: even Oklahoma City struggled because of their lack of depth

870
00:45:03,880 --> 00:45:07,080
Speaker 2: and ball handling against Indiana's ball pressure. But the youth,

871
00:45:07,480 --> 00:45:09,759
Speaker 2: the thing that you're talking about in terms of the

872
00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:12,120
Speaker 2: wide range of outcomes is super interesting because as I

873
00:45:12,160 --> 00:45:14,319
Speaker 2: was breaking down their depth chart today, I'm looking at

874
00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:16,640
Speaker 2: it and I'm like, Okay, Fred van Vliet, legit point guard.

875
00:45:17,080 --> 00:45:21,080
Speaker 2: You know, Shane gun center, Heyd's you're four, Amen, Thompson.

876
00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:24,080
Speaker 2: I think defensively functions as either a two or three,

877
00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:28,080
Speaker 2: so that could be either. But then it's like Jabari

878
00:45:28,120 --> 00:45:31,080
Speaker 2: Smith Junior is kind of a four. He plays basically

879
00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:32,719
Speaker 2: the same position as Katie. I don't think he moves

880
00:45:32,719 --> 00:45:35,480
Speaker 2: his feet well enough to be a three. Cam Whittmore

881
00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:38,880
Speaker 2: could be one of those guys. Reed, Shephard could be

882
00:45:38,960 --> 00:45:41,560
Speaker 2: one of those guys, but like, who knows. And here's

883
00:45:41,560 --> 00:45:44,520
Speaker 2: the other thing too, callin Houston's gave up one first

884
00:45:44,600 --> 00:45:46,440
Speaker 2: round draft pick in this deal. They still have a

885
00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:48,880
Speaker 2: boat load of first round draft picks at their disposal,

886
00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:50,080
Speaker 2: so they're high.

887
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:52,040
Speaker 3: They're like a high likelihood for.

888
00:45:52,120 --> 00:45:55,160
Speaker 2: Like a we bring this team into camp, we watch

889
00:45:55,200 --> 00:45:57,160
Speaker 2: them for twenty games, and we go, oh, here are

890
00:45:57,200 --> 00:45:59,960
Speaker 2: the two things we're missing. Let's go get what we

891
00:46:00,120 --> 00:46:02,960
Speaker 2: need to get. Like they are, they're extremely well equipped

892
00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:04,080
Speaker 2: heading into this next season.

893
00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:07,920
Speaker 1: That's where Houston won the trade. They didn't have to

894
00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:10,600
Speaker 1: give up another first round pick. That that's where they

895
00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:14,480
Speaker 1: won the trade. It's not just KD because my guess

896
00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:17,040
Speaker 1: is because of their depth, they won't play Kad more

897
00:46:17,040 --> 00:46:19,200
Speaker 1: than like sixty to sixty five games. They want him

898
00:46:19,200 --> 00:46:22,120
Speaker 1: for the postseason. There's no reason to play him seventy

899
00:46:22,160 --> 00:46:25,440
Speaker 1: five eighty games, because they also know if you're in

900
00:46:25,480 --> 00:46:27,920
Speaker 1: the West, Jason, you know you're going to be in

901
00:46:27,960 --> 00:46:30,920
Speaker 1: long series. So there's no you know you're going to

902
00:46:30,960 --> 00:46:32,880
Speaker 1: be in six game series. In the West. It's not

903
00:46:32,920 --> 00:46:34,680
Speaker 1: like the East where you kind of feel like if

904
00:46:34,680 --> 00:46:37,279
Speaker 1: Aliberton comes back next year, they're just certain you're gonna

905
00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:40,359
Speaker 1: win a lot of series really quickly. You're gonna have

906
00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:44,440
Speaker 1: long series in the West, no reason to have you know,

907
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:47,319
Speaker 1: I want KD going into the playoffs, you know, off

908
00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:51,000
Speaker 1: about a two games and nine days stretch, healthy and

909
00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:53,000
Speaker 1: ready to go. And I think you have to think

910
00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:54,880
Speaker 1: about that as a GM with an older player in

911
00:46:54,920 --> 00:46:56,920
Speaker 1: the West, if you have a Steph for a KD the.

912
00:46:58,120 --> 00:46:59,960
Speaker 2: Series, that's the thing. Like if they get a Ties Jones,

913
00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:03,040
Speaker 2: if they get you know, one other guy of that ILK,

914
00:47:03,239 --> 00:47:05,440
Speaker 2: then they will be able to rest Katie not just

915
00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:07,360
Speaker 2: for the regular season, but even in the postseason. Like

916
00:47:07,719 --> 00:47:11,040
Speaker 2: we saw Houston give themselves a really good chance to

917
00:47:11,040 --> 00:47:13,759
Speaker 2: win games even without high level offensive skill because they

918
00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:17,000
Speaker 2: just go here's Tarry Eason and and Amn Thompson and

919
00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:19,520
Speaker 2: we're picking up full court and you're turning the ball over.

920
00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:23,520
Speaker 2: Now and it's a mess. Like they are able, like

921
00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:27,719
Speaker 2: they are able to prevent the redundancy that Phoenix had,

922
00:47:28,040 --> 00:47:29,560
Speaker 2: where you have a bunch of guys who do the

923
00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:33,480
Speaker 2: same thing on Houston. What KD does is so specialized

924
00:47:33,520 --> 00:47:36,080
Speaker 2: for them that they kind of have an identity separate,

925
00:47:36,239 --> 00:47:38,319
Speaker 2: separate from him, so they will be able to win

926
00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:40,600
Speaker 2: games without him. They will be able to carry the

927
00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:42,560
Speaker 2: load so that he can come in and lift them

928
00:47:42,600 --> 00:47:44,439
Speaker 2: over the top. I think it's a I think it's

929
00:47:44,440 --> 00:47:48,160
Speaker 2: a fantastic on paper basketball fit. It'll be ugly sometimes,

930
00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:51,600
Speaker 2: Katie's gonna have some nights where maybe the statistical performance

931
00:47:51,640 --> 00:47:54,000
Speaker 2: isn't there because it's ugly. They can't space the floor

932
00:47:54,040 --> 00:47:56,319
Speaker 2: as well for him, but they will in turn do

933
00:47:56,400 --> 00:47:58,960
Speaker 2: the same thing to the other team. So what to

934
00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:01,400
Speaker 2: buy Kevin that more for air? Before we get out

935
00:48:01,400 --> 00:48:03,279
Speaker 2: of here tonight, con I didn't want to run this

936
00:48:03,320 --> 00:48:09,080
Speaker 2: by you because I've seen a lot of victory lapping criticism.

937
00:48:09,960 --> 00:48:12,000
Speaker 2: You know. Let's just say the Phoenix Suns have been

938
00:48:12,040 --> 00:48:14,960
Speaker 2: the butt of the joke today because they took McHale

939
00:48:14,960 --> 00:48:19,239
Speaker 2: Bridges and Cam Johnson and Chris Paul and they turned

940
00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:26,960
Speaker 2: them into basically Bradley Beal and Dylan Brooks and Jalen

941
00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:29,400
Speaker 2: Green in one first round pick. I get that it

942
00:48:29,440 --> 00:48:32,440
Speaker 2: looks bad. Here is where this is where my brain

943
00:48:32,480 --> 00:48:37,279
Speaker 2: went this morning. They made it to the finals a

944
00:48:37,400 --> 00:48:41,680
Speaker 2: year where because of COVID everyone was hurt, and we

945
00:48:41,760 --> 00:48:45,080
Speaker 2: had a Trey Young Hawks team in the conference finals,

946
00:48:45,480 --> 00:48:49,080
Speaker 2: a Paul George Clippers team with an injured Kawhi in

947
00:48:49,120 --> 00:48:52,439
Speaker 2: the conference finals, and that Sons team. And by the way,

948
00:48:52,480 --> 00:48:55,520
Speaker 2: they ran into Giannis, and Giannis beat them four straight

949
00:48:55,560 --> 00:48:58,560
Speaker 2: times for the title. So they weren't good enough. Then

950
00:48:58,600 --> 00:49:01,240
Speaker 2: the next year they kind of a great regular season

951
00:49:01,640 --> 00:49:05,680
Speaker 2: and Luca like embarrasses them, like embarrasses them for the

952
00:49:05,719 --> 00:49:09,200
Speaker 2: world to see. In the second round, they weren't good enough,

953
00:49:10,239 --> 00:49:13,200
Speaker 2: so they made an aggressive trade. They went and got

954
00:49:13,280 --> 00:49:16,160
Speaker 2: Kevin Durant. Every one of us would have done the

955
00:49:16,239 --> 00:49:18,080
Speaker 2: same thing at that point in time. It was Kevin

956
00:49:18,160 --> 00:49:20,960
Speaker 2: Durant and we had just seen him be so amazing

957
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:24,560
Speaker 2: for Brooklyn in those couple of previous playoff runs. Even

958
00:49:24,560 --> 00:49:26,520
Speaker 2: the Chris Paul thing that I would argue they should

959
00:49:26,520 --> 00:49:29,640
Speaker 2: have used Chris Paul's salary as a vehicle with which

960
00:49:29,680 --> 00:49:32,640
Speaker 2: to bring in more size and athleticism. But they like,

961
00:49:32,719 --> 00:49:35,160
Speaker 2: you're like Chris Paul for Bradley Beal, Like, I mean,

962
00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:38,040
Speaker 2: come on, right, you could talk yourself into it.

963
00:49:38,120 --> 00:49:38,359
Speaker 3: Again.

964
00:49:38,400 --> 00:49:40,600
Speaker 2: It wasn't perfect. There were mistakes. There are certain things

965
00:49:40,640 --> 00:49:42,880
Speaker 2: I would have done differently. But now we're on the

966
00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:45,040
Speaker 2: other side of this and it's like self awareness. We're

967
00:49:45,080 --> 00:49:46,880
Speaker 2: not good enough. We just missed the playoffs in the

968
00:49:46,880 --> 00:49:50,360
Speaker 2: Western Conference, like Katie misses a few games and we

969
00:49:50,400 --> 00:49:53,640
Speaker 2: completely fall apart. Like I understand it looks bad when

970
00:49:53,680 --> 00:49:56,560
Speaker 2: you zoom out, but to me, what happened to Phoenix

971
00:49:56,640 --> 00:49:58,319
Speaker 2: is just what happens when you get aggressive and it

972
00:49:58,360 --> 00:50:00,520
Speaker 2: doesn't work, and the truth of the matter is that

973
00:50:00,560 --> 00:50:01,160
Speaker 2: there's risk.

974
00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:06,439
Speaker 1: Well yeah, they had the well yeah, the Bradley Beal deal,

975
00:50:06,560 --> 00:50:10,040
Speaker 1: and I can't criticize it because for years, I mean

976
00:50:10,080 --> 00:50:11,760
Speaker 1: I must have been on the air for five years

977
00:50:11,760 --> 00:50:15,600
Speaker 1: saying I really like Bradley Beal. He's playing with John Wall.

978
00:50:15,760 --> 00:50:19,080
Speaker 1: You're never going to flourish with John Wall. You got

979
00:50:19,080 --> 00:50:22,800
Speaker 1: to get into a more mature group of veteran players.

980
00:50:23,280 --> 00:50:25,440
Speaker 1: And then it's just like, over the course of a

981
00:50:25,520 --> 00:50:28,400
Speaker 1: year or two, he got really old, really fast, and

982
00:50:28,520 --> 00:50:31,880
Speaker 1: really banged up, and he just he just withered down.

983
00:50:32,560 --> 00:50:35,080
Speaker 1: So I was a Bradley Beal fan for years. I

984
00:50:35,080 --> 00:50:38,319
Speaker 1: didn't understand why he was so loyal to Washington, which

985
00:50:38,360 --> 00:50:42,200
Speaker 1: was poorly runed and poorly owned. So I can't I

986
00:50:42,239 --> 00:50:44,759
Speaker 1: can't criticism, and I always tend to be a big

987
00:50:44,800 --> 00:50:47,839
Speaker 1: fan of being aggressive. I like what Orlando just did

988
00:50:48,040 --> 00:50:51,360
Speaker 1: to get banged, So yeah, I can't bang it. I'm again,

989
00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:54,759
Speaker 1: if they hit on the number ten pick, They've got

990
00:50:54,840 --> 00:50:58,160
Speaker 1: enough second round picks, they got enough pieces to I

991
00:50:58,200 --> 00:51:00,040
Speaker 1: think you just have to take more big swings. I

992
00:51:00,080 --> 00:51:02,000
Speaker 1: think with Bradley Beal, I wonder if you just don't

993
00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:04,080
Speaker 1: buy out the contract, like I mean, that's how bad

994
00:51:04,080 --> 00:51:07,160
Speaker 1: of a deal it was. So you know, I think

995
00:51:07,200 --> 00:51:09,440
Speaker 1: if they were in the East, you'd have a better

996
00:51:09,600 --> 00:51:12,440
Speaker 1: vibe or more optimism. I just think I look at

997
00:51:12,480 --> 00:51:14,600
Speaker 1: San Antonio and I look, I still think Denver is

998
00:51:14,640 --> 00:51:17,040
Speaker 1: going to be really good. I think they just you know,

999
00:51:17,160 --> 00:51:20,640
Speaker 1: I just look at the West, the better gms, better rosters,

1000
00:51:21,440 --> 00:51:25,200
Speaker 1: deeper teams. I mean, god, we've almost forgotten about what

1001
00:51:25,239 --> 00:51:28,360
Speaker 1: they're building in San Antonio. Holy crap, do they have

1002
00:51:28,400 --> 00:51:31,319
Speaker 1: a lot of talent. They're in the second inning. So

1003
00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:35,520
Speaker 1: I just think a Phoenix relative to the conference. You know,

1004
00:51:35,560 --> 00:51:38,080
Speaker 1: they just feel like I have not, and they probably are.

1005
00:51:38,760 --> 00:51:44,080
Speaker 1: But I I mean, I know Matt Iseshbia and Justin Ishbia.

1006
00:51:44,080 --> 00:51:45,960
Speaker 1: I know Justin actually I met him when I moved

1007
00:51:46,000 --> 00:51:48,560
Speaker 1: to Chicago. He's part of the White Sox. I think

1008
00:51:48,560 --> 00:51:53,799
Speaker 1: ownership group now and Matt got really aggressive, and I

1009
00:51:53,840 --> 00:52:00,360
Speaker 1: think one of the things I've learned over the course

1010
00:52:00,400 --> 00:52:04,880
Speaker 1: of my life, Jason, it's I made a lot of mistakes,

1011
00:52:04,920 --> 00:52:08,320
Speaker 1: but it's hard to master two things. Like Michael Jordan

1012
00:52:08,400 --> 00:52:12,440
Speaker 1: tried baseball, all right, Randy Moss tried basketball. It's really hard.

1013
00:52:12,920 --> 00:52:16,000
Speaker 1: And I think sometimes when aggressive owners come in and

1014
00:52:16,040 --> 00:52:19,480
Speaker 1: they think, hey, you know because the sons like don't

1015
00:52:19,480 --> 00:52:21,719
Speaker 1: have the biggest scouting department, and the owner comes in

1016
00:52:21,760 --> 00:52:25,520
Speaker 1: and thinks, I want stars, what you're really saying is

1017
00:52:25,760 --> 00:52:29,640
Speaker 1: I'm moving into a completely different world and I'm smarter

1018
00:52:29,680 --> 00:52:35,560
Speaker 1: than Sam Presty, right, Like even Sam Presty the James

1019
00:52:35,560 --> 00:52:39,160
Speaker 1: Harden deal early, he didn't get enough like it's it's

1020
00:52:39,239 --> 00:52:41,280
Speaker 1: I mean, I look at GMS and football and basketball

1021
00:52:41,280 --> 00:52:45,880
Speaker 1: who I like and they make big mistakes. Shabbaz Napier,

1022
00:52:45,960 --> 00:52:48,160
Speaker 1: the draft pick for pat Riley in the heat like,

1023
00:52:48,640 --> 00:52:52,160
Speaker 1: great people make mistakes. Nobody on the internet, you know,

1024
00:52:52,200 --> 00:52:54,640
Speaker 1: the trolls don't want to ever admit it, but I

1025
00:52:54,640 --> 00:52:56,279
Speaker 1: think they came in and the owner was a little

1026
00:52:56,320 --> 00:52:59,560
Speaker 1: hot and a little aggressive, and this is a hard

1027
00:52:59,680 --> 00:53:06,200
Speaker 1: sport to master, even the best people. Just you know,

1028
00:53:06,360 --> 00:53:10,240
Speaker 1: you're you're drafting nineteen and twenty year olds, and I think,

1029
00:53:11,040 --> 00:53:12,640
Speaker 1: you know, I'm not going to bang on the Suns

1030
00:53:12,640 --> 00:53:14,239
Speaker 1: because when they made the moves, I was like, I

1031
00:53:14,320 --> 00:53:17,799
Speaker 1: kind of like it, and then a year later, I'm like, man,

1032
00:53:18,080 --> 00:53:20,640
Speaker 1: was I wrong? So I can't be I can't stand

1033
00:53:20,680 --> 00:53:24,240
Speaker 1: on any pious mountain today because I like their moves.

1034
00:53:24,320 --> 00:53:27,279
Speaker 1: I thought, Bradley be Bradley Beal's been a disaster. There's

1035
00:53:27,320 --> 00:53:28,840
Speaker 1: nothing else you can say. It's just been a.

1036
00:53:28,880 --> 00:53:32,000
Speaker 2: Day that happens sometimes, Like I mean, like the most

1037
00:53:32,040 --> 00:53:33,799
Speaker 2: recent example I can think of is the Raptors. Like

1038
00:53:33,840 --> 00:53:36,520
Speaker 2: I remember when the Raptors traded for Kawhi. Everyone was like,

1039
00:53:36,560 --> 00:53:38,319
Speaker 2: why would you do that? He's going to go to

1040
00:53:38,320 --> 00:53:41,480
Speaker 2: Los Angeles. He's telling everybody he's going to Los Angeles.

1041
00:53:41,600 --> 00:53:43,480
Speaker 2: His family's out there, he wants to be out there.

1042
00:53:43,560 --> 00:53:45,960
Speaker 2: That's where he's going. This is a rental and it

1043
00:53:46,040 --> 00:53:48,640
Speaker 2: was by the way, if you like remove the championship

1044
00:53:48,680 --> 00:53:50,759
Speaker 2: from the equation, it's like he went there and then

1045
00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:52,440
Speaker 2: he left and he went to La and the Raptors

1046
00:53:52,440 --> 00:53:54,759
Speaker 2: take like the Raptors fell apart after that, Like that's

1047
00:53:54,800 --> 00:53:58,359
Speaker 2: what happened, but they won the title. But even if

1048
00:53:58,400 --> 00:54:00,800
Speaker 2: you zoom in on the series, it's like three to

1049
00:54:00,880 --> 00:54:04,040
Speaker 2: three in Philly and Kawhi hits like a leaning jump

1050
00:54:04,040 --> 00:54:06,359
Speaker 2: shot while falling out of bounds that hits every part

1051
00:54:06,360 --> 00:54:08,160
Speaker 2: of the rim and then falls in Like that.

1052
00:54:08,200 --> 00:54:08,720
Speaker 3: Was the gap.

1053
00:54:08,920 --> 00:54:12,200
Speaker 2: That was the gap between the Gamble being a success

1054
00:54:12,280 --> 00:54:14,960
Speaker 2: and being a failure. And so ultimately, I feel like

1055
00:54:15,000 --> 00:54:17,080
Speaker 2: we're just playing the results when we say that, and like,

1056
00:54:17,400 --> 00:54:19,319
Speaker 2: you know, I look at it, it's like you draft,

1057
00:54:19,400 --> 00:54:22,439
Speaker 2: you've traded for KD. There was one team who gave

1058
00:54:22,480 --> 00:54:26,200
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty three Nuggets trouble, one team, the Phoenix Suns.

1059
00:54:26,800 --> 00:54:29,319
Speaker 2: That the Phoenix Suns were the team that pushed them

1060
00:54:29,320 --> 00:54:30,960
Speaker 2: to two to two in the series, and it looked

1061
00:54:30,960 --> 00:54:33,360
Speaker 2: like everything was hanging in the balance, and so like,

1062
00:54:33,680 --> 00:54:36,719
Speaker 2: for whatever it's worth, it wasn't enough. But yeah, my

1063
00:54:36,880 --> 00:54:38,640
Speaker 2: take was less like, uh, look.

1064
00:54:38,440 --> 00:54:38,960
Speaker 3: At the Suns.

1065
00:54:38,960 --> 00:54:42,440
Speaker 2: They butchered everything, and like they acknowledged to themselves that

1066
00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:44,600
Speaker 2: they weren't good enough to win the title. They made

1067
00:54:44,600 --> 00:54:46,920
Speaker 2: an aggressive move for one of the twelve greatest players

1068
00:54:46,920 --> 00:54:48,840
Speaker 2: of all time when he was still playing really well,

1069
00:54:49,080 --> 00:54:50,840
Speaker 2: and it didn't work out, you know, And that's just

1070
00:54:50,880 --> 00:54:53,680
Speaker 2: how it goes sometimes. But Colin, it was great to

1071
00:54:53,680 --> 00:54:55,399
Speaker 2: see you today. Thanks so much for coming on the show.

1072
00:54:55,400 --> 00:54:57,480
Speaker 2: This has been a really fun season. Shout out to

1073
00:54:57,520 --> 00:55:00,440
Speaker 2: the NBA for giving us our first good NBA final

1074
00:55:00,440 --> 00:55:01,799
Speaker 2: in a very long time.

1075
00:55:02,280 --> 00:55:07,399
Speaker 1: And our best domestic draft coming up in forever. This

1076
00:55:07,480 --> 00:55:13,440
Speaker 1: is a great domestic draft. So's that's we've talked about this.

1077
00:55:13,480 --> 00:55:15,840
Speaker 1: I think with NIL, I think you're going to have

1078
00:55:15,880 --> 00:55:18,360
Speaker 1: more players staying in college, the drafts are going to

1079
00:55:18,400 --> 00:55:21,680
Speaker 1: get more domestic. We're also poaching the best European players

1080
00:55:21,719 --> 00:55:26,080
Speaker 1: with the NIL money. I think draft picks over the

1081
00:55:26,160 --> 00:55:28,719
Speaker 1: next ten years are going to fortify teams much more

1082
00:55:28,800 --> 00:55:31,600
Speaker 1: quickly than they have for the previous twenty where it's

1083
00:55:31,680 --> 00:55:34,240
Speaker 1: eighteen year olds who are just not ready to play.

1084
00:55:34,880 --> 00:55:38,080
Speaker 1: So this will be a really fun draft to watch.

1085
00:55:38,080 --> 00:55:39,760
Speaker 1: There's some really special players.

1086
00:55:40,320 --> 00:55:41,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm super excited.

1087
00:55:41,440 --> 00:55:44,959
Speaker 2: The extended NBA finals have put us right up against it, guys.

1088
00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:46,680
Speaker 2: I have Sam Vessini coming on the show tomorrow. He

1089
00:55:46,719 --> 00:55:48,719
Speaker 2: is an incredible draft guide. We'll be doing a full

1090
00:55:48,840 --> 00:55:52,640
Speaker 2: NBA draft preview that the actual draft is on Wednesday.

1091
00:55:52,680 --> 00:55:54,959
Speaker 2: It's literally right around the corner, so everything's right here.

1092
00:55:55,440 --> 00:55:56,959
Speaker 2: Colin is great to see. Thanks so much for giving

1093
00:55:57,000 --> 00:55:58,080
Speaker 2: us your time. For all of you guys who are

1094
00:55:58,080 --> 00:55:59,680
Speaker 2: on the YouTube stream, we're headed over to playback to

1095
00:55:59,680 --> 00:56:02,879
Speaker 2: take so that's playback dot tv slash Hoops tonight. I'll

1096
00:56:02,880 --> 00:56:04,880
Speaker 2: see you guys there everyone else. Thanks so much for

1097
00:56:04,880 --> 00:56:08,000
Speaker 2: supporting us this season. It's been an incredibly successful season.

1098
00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:10,040
Speaker 2: I can't say enough about the way you guys have

1099
00:56:10,080 --> 00:56:12,040
Speaker 2: supported us in the show over the course of this year.

1100
00:56:12,040 --> 00:56:13,840
Speaker 2: And we will see you guys tomorrow morning.

1101
00:56:14,200 --> 00:56:14,759
Speaker 3: What's up guys.

1102
00:56:14,800 --> 00:56:17,560
Speaker 2: As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting

1103
00:56:17,600 --> 00:56:20,200
Speaker 2: OOPS tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us

1104
00:56:20,200 --> 00:56:21,759
Speaker 2: if you guys would take a second.

1105
00:56:21,480 --> 00:56:24,160
Speaker 3: And leave a rating and a review. As always, I

1106
00:56:24,160 --> 00:56:24,640
Speaker 3: appreciate you.

1107
00:56:24,600 --> 00:56:26,320
Speaker 2: Guys supporting us, but if you could take a minute

1108
00:56:26,320 --> 00:56:30,200
Speaker 2: to do that, I'd really appreciate it.

1109
00:56:30,320 --> 00:56:31,000
Speaker 1: The volume