1
00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:04,840
Speaker 1: The volume. At the end of the season, there's only

2
00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:07,640
Speaker 1: one team that can call themselves NBA champs, only one

3
00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:09,559
Speaker 1: player that can call themselves the number one pick in

4
00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,720
Speaker 1: the NFL draft. Well, there's only one electric suv worthy

5
00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:17,400
Speaker 1: of the title, the Ultimate, the all Electric BMWIX. What

6
00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:19,840
Speaker 1: I love about the IX is that it delivers legendary

7
00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:24,360
Speaker 1: BMW performance I've had several while It's sleek design exudes

8
00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,720
Speaker 1: innovative style from the inside out, not to mention how

9
00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,760
Speaker 1: much space and utility it provides over seventy five cubic

10
00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,000
Speaker 1: feet of cargo space. The IX is completely changing the

11
00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,000
Speaker 1: game with an all electric suv. The greatest legends of

12
00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:40,400
Speaker 1: sports never compromise any part of the game, So why

13
00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,440
Speaker 1: would you settle for anything less from your suv? After all,

14
00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:48,560
Speaker 1: there's only one ultimate, the BMWIX. Everything you love about

15
00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:52,120
Speaker 1: the ultimate driving machine electrified bmw.

16
00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:58,840
Speaker 2: All right, welcome to HOOS today, you're at the volume.

17
00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,920
Speaker 2: Happy sun to everybody. You guys are having a great weekend.

18
00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:04,120
Speaker 2: Well today, I woke up this morning thinking we're going

19
00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,240
Speaker 2: to crown a new NBA champion today. It's been a

20
00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:08,520
Speaker 2: long time since we've had a game seven of the

21
00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,080
Speaker 2: NBA Finals, and it got off to a little bit

22
00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:14,200
Speaker 2: of a bummer start as Tyre's Halliburton goes down with

23
00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:17,720
Speaker 2: what we can only assume is an achilles injury. The

24
00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:21,080
Speaker 2: eighth achilles tear in the NBA this season, a very

25
00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,360
Speaker 2: bizarre trend, Colin and I are going to spend some

26
00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:25,040
Speaker 2: time talking about that towards the tail end of the

27
00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:27,720
Speaker 2: show tonight. But the Oklahoma City Thunder are the twenty

28
00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,920
Speaker 2: twenty five NBA champions. Colin, what's your big takeaway from

29
00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:33,200
Speaker 2: the NBA Finals this year?

30
00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:39,959
Speaker 1: Well, our NFL champion Philadelphia is about roster construction and

31
00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,240
Speaker 1: the best GM, and you have a clear number one,

32
00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:49,000
Speaker 1: and that's Oklahoma City. Whereas the modern games about scoring

33
00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:53,040
Speaker 1: and wings and high flying, they're about their general manager,

34
00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,680
Speaker 1: their depth, their youth, their legs, and a kind of

35
00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,960
Speaker 1: non vertical leading score. Who goes against hype for the

36
00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,480
Speaker 1: NBA stars we fall in love with And you know

37
00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,760
Speaker 1: I've been saying this on FS one. I've been saying

38
00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,520
Speaker 1: this for months. Is the NBA now because of the

39
00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,280
Speaker 1: Aprons and the CBA is going to be like the NFL.

40
00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:16,520
Speaker 1: We're going to talk more about general managers. You can't

41
00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:18,560
Speaker 1: stack players and I think, you know, they were the

42
00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:22,880
Speaker 1: best team all season. The home court ended up mattering

43
00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,880
Speaker 1: against Indie and Denver, you know, really formidable opponents that

44
00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:31,160
Speaker 1: had some older star players. But you know, I think

45
00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,840
Speaker 1: in the end, you know, when you look back at

46
00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:35,880
Speaker 1: this season, you'll go, well, they were a dominant regular

47
00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:40,320
Speaker 1: season team. They weren't a great road team in the playoffs,

48
00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:43,360
Speaker 1: but they were dominant at home and that's where they

49
00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:46,359
Speaker 1: were crowned. And you know, that's why the regular season

50
00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,440
Speaker 1: does matter. It may not look like the playoffs, but

51
00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,280
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City, I don't think it's winning this thing on

52
00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:57,720
Speaker 1: the road, and so they earned it. And you know,

53
00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:02,280
Speaker 1: the injuries, gutting, but that stuff happens. I mean, Kd's

54
00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,120
Speaker 1: gone down in big games. I mean it happens. So

55
00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:07,720
Speaker 1: and I think over the course of this season, Okase,

56
00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:08,880
Speaker 1: he was the best team.

57
00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:12,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not interested in any talk about asterisks. For

58
00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:15,880
Speaker 2: the most part, in NBA history, almost every championship has

59
00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:18,520
Speaker 2: some injury you can point to that impacted things in

60
00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:21,640
Speaker 2: one way or another. And ultimately, I think Oklahoma City

61
00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:23,600
Speaker 2: did this to healthy teams along the way too. They played.

62
00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:25,280
Speaker 2: They played some really good teams. Colin they went through

63
00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:27,160
Speaker 2: the best, the best player in the world, and Nicola

64
00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:31,080
Speaker 2: Jokic and played him into the first three consecutive bad

65
00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,239
Speaker 2: game stretch I've literally ever seen him play. They took

66
00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:36,880
Speaker 2: that Minnesota team that was kicking everybody's butt and they

67
00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,000
Speaker 2: handled them like easily. And then the Pacers, who have

68
00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:42,240
Speaker 2: been the kind of the enigma of this of this

69
00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,480
Speaker 2: playoff run, every time they needed to beat them, they

70
00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:47,720
Speaker 2: were able to contain them and keep them under control.

71
00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,360
Speaker 2: You know, we talked after Game five, like there is

72
00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,120
Speaker 2: this test that you have to pass to beat the

73
00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:57,920
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City Thunder, and it's that when the shit hits

74
00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:00,320
Speaker 2: the fan and there's a few minutes left in a

75
00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,000
Speaker 2: big game where the series is hanging in the balance,

76
00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,320
Speaker 2: they are going to tighten the screws defensively. In every

77
00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,800
Speaker 2: single series, the opposing team fell apart, whether it was

78
00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:13,960
Speaker 2: Denver at multiple spots in Game four in the fourth quarter,

79
00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:16,479
Speaker 2: in Game five in the fourth quarter, the entirety of

80
00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:19,280
Speaker 2: Game seven. What we saw in big spots against Minnesota,

81
00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:22,400
Speaker 2: specifically down the stretch of Game four. In this series,

82
00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:25,760
Speaker 2: in Game four, down the stretch, they just strangle the

83
00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,880
Speaker 2: life out of Indiana. In Game five, it's ninety five

84
00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,200
Speaker 2: ninety three off of a Siakam offensive rebound three. It's

85
00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:33,800
Speaker 2: a two point game. You're like, oh man, this could

86
00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:38,320
Speaker 2: go either way. Literally turns the Pacers over four consecutive

87
00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,840
Speaker 2: times just with the strength of their defense. And then

88
00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:44,920
Speaker 2: again tonight. You know, admirable effort from the Pacers there

89
00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,080
Speaker 2: in that first half to keep things competitive. TJ McConnell,

90
00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:50,360
Speaker 2: I'll always remember the way he played in this series.

91
00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,400
Speaker 2: What a remarkable performance from him. But they came out

92
00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:55,920
Speaker 2: the gates in that third quarter and they tightened the

93
00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:58,920
Speaker 2: screws and they turned the Pacers over and they got

94
00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,520
Speaker 2: out in transition. We finished this game with twenty three

95
00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:06,720
Speaker 2: forced turnovers in thirty two points off of turnovers. That's

96
00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:07,720
Speaker 2: the star of this team.

97
00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:10,680
Speaker 1: I said this the other day to you, is the

98
00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,240
Speaker 1: one thing you have to have against OKAC is two

99
00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:16,839
Speaker 1: elite ball handlers. So when Halliburton goes down, they play

100
00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:21,120
Speaker 1: with guts and toughness and length, but in the end

101
00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,880
Speaker 1: they just turnovers. There's no Haliburton if you don't have

102
00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:28,880
Speaker 1: elite ball handlers against this team. I mean, we've fallen

103
00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:30,560
Speaker 1: in love with a three and D in the wings.

104
00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,440
Speaker 1: Well o case, he's got a lot of them. But

105
00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:34,560
Speaker 1: there is a way to combat that is to have

106
00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,159
Speaker 1: guys that can create space that you can't trap and

107
00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:41,960
Speaker 1: double them. And TJ. McCall's excellent. But again, when Halliburton

108
00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,839
Speaker 1: got hurt the first time, again they show great courage

109
00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,920
Speaker 1: and gusto, but there's just limitations on that. You can

110
00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,560
Speaker 1: only play down your most important players so long. So

111
00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:54,839
Speaker 1: you know, there was that I think it was like

112
00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,560
Speaker 1: at one point there was a I wrote it down here.

113
00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,200
Speaker 1: There was a huge nineteen to two Oklahoma City run.

114
00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:04,720
Speaker 1: A lot of that kickstarted by defense, and so they

115
00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:06,479
Speaker 1: just feast on teams, and you know what, you know what,

116
00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:09,920
Speaker 1: they're a little bit like they're like a fighter who

117
00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:14,279
Speaker 1: sends his blood. Like, okay, see, they're not dominant enough

118
00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,599
Speaker 1: offensively to just blow you out against great teams, against

119
00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:22,240
Speaker 1: Denver and Indy. They can score, they have runs, but

120
00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:26,600
Speaker 1: when they sense blood, somebody's in foul, trouble, somebody's hurt

121
00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,520
Speaker 1: your start. You know, they have a matchup advantage. Man.

122
00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:34,160
Speaker 1: They play downhill, they play downhill fast, and you look

123
00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:36,000
Speaker 1: up and you're like, well, this was a four point game.

124
00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:39,080
Speaker 1: Now it's a thirteen point game. And you know that's

125
00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:43,039
Speaker 1: what great teams do. Their run looks different than a

126
00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:48,920
Speaker 1: Jordan explosion or a Shaq Kobe explosion, but nonetheless it's

127
00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,080
Speaker 1: a burst, and everybody looks different, you know. I mean,

128
00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:56,960
Speaker 1: so I listen all my notes here, I look through.

129
00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:02,120
Speaker 1: I kept waiting for the inevitable run, and it happened,

130
00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:05,799
Speaker 1: and it was you know, it was off turnovers, and

131
00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:09,440
Speaker 1: I just kind of felt like I saw an SRR stat.

132
00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,560
Speaker 1: I think that's what it's called, an SRR stat about Indiana.

133
00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:14,560
Speaker 1: And they said, if Indiana wins, they'll be the worst

134
00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,920
Speaker 1: champion since the nineteen seventy eight Washington Bullets, which, by

135
00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:20,080
Speaker 1: the way, I can name the entire roster because it

136
00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:22,320
Speaker 1: was when I fell in love with basketball. But the

137
00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:26,760
Speaker 1: truth was is if Indiana one, it was probably our

138
00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:30,880
Speaker 1: weakest champion. Though I love them, and okay, s wins.

139
00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,840
Speaker 1: At least we can hang this boy, that's a top

140
00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:37,320
Speaker 1: five defensive team all time. We can hang something that

141
00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:42,120
Speaker 1: sounds like a champion. NBA's leading score, deepest team in years,

142
00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,880
Speaker 1: all time, top five defense that sounds like a champion,

143
00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:47,360
Speaker 1: does it not?

144
00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,840
Speaker 2: Absolutely? Their defense is one of the great defenses that

145
00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:55,000
Speaker 2: has ever played in the NBA like the that was

146
00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,080
Speaker 2: true in the metrics, and all we can do to

147
00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:00,880
Speaker 2: tie that case together is the metrics showed in the

148
00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:02,720
Speaker 2: regular season, and then what do you do in the

149
00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,920
Speaker 2: playoffs against the competition you faced. This was a Pacers

150
00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:08,640
Speaker 2: offense that was lighting everybody up, Colin and they got

151
00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:12,280
Speaker 2: strangled every single time it mattered. Ye, Nikola Jokic is

152
00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:15,960
Speaker 2: literally the best offensive player I've ever watched. He and

153
00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,800
Speaker 2: they had him under control in every pivotal moment of

154
00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,119
Speaker 2: that series. That is the type of defense that we watched.

155
00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:26,120
Speaker 2: You know, this Thunder offense was frustrating. Sometimes we're gonna

156
00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:28,120
Speaker 2: talk about Shaye in a few minutes, Like Shae was

157
00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:29,880
Speaker 2: great every time he needed to be great, but there

158
00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:32,079
Speaker 2: were some downsides here. He had a game in this

159
00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:34,199
Speaker 2: series where had zero assists. They had games where they'd

160
00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:35,960
Speaker 2: moved the ball poorly, where they were out of rhythm,

161
00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,480
Speaker 2: out of flow. They're young players, young players against elite

162
00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:42,760
Speaker 2: playoff defense. That's going to take some time to figure out.

163
00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:45,200
Speaker 2: And there's no doubt that if the Thunder are going

164
00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:47,880
Speaker 2: to have sustained success in this league, they're going to

165
00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,400
Speaker 2: have to figure out some things offensively to be better

166
00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:53,400
Speaker 2: year after year after year. But their defense right now

167
00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:57,520
Speaker 2: is elite hold the trophy defense, and that's what came

168
00:08:57,559 --> 00:08:58,679
Speaker 2: through for them again today.

169
00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:03,199
Speaker 1: I was really interested this if Chet Holmgren could deliver finally,

170
00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,360
Speaker 1: and I thought in the second half it was like, Okay,

171
00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:09,000
Speaker 1: Chet Holmgren played with more confidence. That was my only question.

172
00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:10,920
Speaker 1: I thought, Man, if this is a three point game

173
00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,200
Speaker 1: and there's four minutes left, okay, see Home Favorite could

174
00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:17,680
Speaker 1: get really tight and they left no doubt. But I

175
00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:19,880
Speaker 1: thought Homegroun and Jay Dubb both in the second half,

176
00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,440
Speaker 1: played well in that run. So and that was one

177
00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:25,520
Speaker 1: of my concerns is that I've never seen a young

178
00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,719
Speaker 1: team like this young win a championship. And you know,

179
00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:34,959
Speaker 1: I was thinking about this as you were talking about SJ. SGA. Usually,

180
00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,400
Speaker 1: let's say, for instance, Shaq wasn't hitting his free throws,

181
00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:42,160
Speaker 1: he still had all time power. If Kobe and MJ

182
00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:47,199
Speaker 1: weren't hitting their jumper, they could go vertical Magic Johnson

183
00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:50,080
Speaker 1: struggling from the field. He just had a size advantage.

184
00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,920
Speaker 1: He'd back you down. Sga is not a vertical player.

185
00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:59,880
Speaker 1: So if he's off and he's off center, he doesn't

186
00:09:59,880 --> 00:10:04,120
Speaker 1: have power. He doesn't have speed he doesn't have. He's

187
00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:06,640
Speaker 1: not he's not you know, he's strong for his size.

188
00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:09,600
Speaker 1: He's not a vertical player. He is a mid range

189
00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:13,360
Speaker 1: maven like he is all time stuff. And so you

190
00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,800
Speaker 1: know I've said before is he's an all time scorer.

191
00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:20,600
Speaker 1: But he doesn't feel like he's in the Curry class

192
00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:24,640
Speaker 1: where you're like, wow, I've never seen a human like Caitlin.

193
00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:28,960
Speaker 1: Clark's got some of that. You're like, I've never seen that, right, Sga,

194
00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,600
Speaker 1: I've seen it, Alex English, Keiki Vandaway. He's just better

195
00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:35,839
Speaker 1: at it. And so I do think you know, when

196
00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:37,800
Speaker 1: you when you play better teams and you can get

197
00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:41,480
Speaker 1: off his game. He has a very centralized game. He's

198
00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:43,920
Speaker 1: tremendous at it. But I think we both admit he

199
00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,320
Speaker 1: needs a friendly whistle, and because he's so gifted, he

200
00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:50,920
Speaker 1: almost always gets it. It's not like the hardened whistle,

201
00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:54,240
Speaker 1: which is like and it feels illegal. That's not it.

202
00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:58,679
Speaker 1: It's like that feels unstoppable. Is different than it feels illegal.

203
00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:02,439
Speaker 1: But you know he is. I love him. I love

204
00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:06,240
Speaker 1: his maturity. He's just a smart, hard working kid. He's

205
00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:08,880
Speaker 1: impossible not to root for. I know everybody doesn't like

206
00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:12,080
Speaker 1: you know, all the flopping. But I have a hard

207
00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:16,240
Speaker 1: time not rooting for guys who are more mature than

208
00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:21,040
Speaker 1: their age, with completely refined games where I can see

209
00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:23,840
Speaker 1: the work ethic, I can see the years you've toiled

210
00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:28,080
Speaker 1: in a gym. That to me as a grinder, like,

211
00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:30,880
Speaker 1: I love that kind of basketball, and I think that's

212
00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:31,800
Speaker 1: what he embodies.

213
00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:35,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's fascinating because at his age, you know,

214
00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:39,520
Speaker 2: being twenty six, he's kind of in this weird role

215
00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:42,240
Speaker 2: that's reminiscent of some of the roles that you've seen

216
00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:44,480
Speaker 2: guys like Tom Brady and Lebron be in, where like

217
00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:47,200
Speaker 2: they're the elder statesman in the locker room. He's the

218
00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:50,199
Speaker 2: elder statesman in the locker room at twenty six years old.

219
00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:53,800
Speaker 2: It's such a bizarre dynamic. But to like, for if

220
00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,600
Speaker 2: he was an immature player at twenty six, this whole

221
00:11:57,640 --> 00:11:59,880
Speaker 2: thing could fall apart because of the youth in that

222
00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:04,400
Speaker 2: locker room, and he just brings that veteran presence. This

223
00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:05,920
Speaker 2: is the perfect time for us to get into the

224
00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:07,640
Speaker 2: Microsoft bit and I'm gonna kick it back to you,

225
00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,960
Speaker 2: So welcome to course correction, brought to you guys by Microsoft.

226
00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,600
Speaker 2: Just like star players and teams navigating performance hurdles, and

227
00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:17,080
Speaker 2: business decision makers today are under immense pressure to get

228
00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,959
Speaker 2: things right. They must rise to the occasion, turning challenges

229
00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:24,880
Speaker 2: and opportunities. Microsoft empowers these visionaries with AI solutions, simplified

230
00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:28,880
Speaker 2: cloud and data management, and trustworthy responsible AI. And when

231
00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:31,079
Speaker 2: you're in the NBA, you have your own hurdles to face.

232
00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:33,880
Speaker 2: In this segment, we will highlight the player every week

233
00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,680
Speaker 2: that has risen to the occasion when his team has

234
00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:40,600
Speaker 2: needed him. Whatever challenge you're facing, Microsoft empowers you with

235
00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,800
Speaker 2: the expertise to say, bring it on. Our player of

236
00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,960
Speaker 2: the Week this week is the twenty twenty five NBA

237
00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:51,280
Speaker 2: Finals MVP. It is now official. Shay gil Jess Alexander Colin.

238
00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,360
Speaker 2: I was thinking about a cool way to frame this segment,

239
00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:57,679
Speaker 2: and all I could think about is, like you mentioned

240
00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:01,240
Speaker 2: with the Washington Bullets roster. So everything for me, as

241
00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:03,920
Speaker 2: I'm talking about all time greats is kind of played

242
00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:06,280
Speaker 2: through this lens of when I started really following the

243
00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:08,679
Speaker 2: league closely, which for me was in the like around

244
00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:11,160
Speaker 2: two thousand and five, two thousand and six. You've been

245
00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:14,319
Speaker 2: watching a lot of NBA basketball for a really long time,

246
00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:17,559
Speaker 2: You've seen a lot of stars come through the league,

247
00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:20,880
Speaker 2: as young players leave the league as vets. What has

248
00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:24,199
Speaker 2: been like your first impression of Shake Gill just Alexander

249
00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:26,800
Speaker 2: as a playoff performer in the NBA.

250
00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:32,079
Speaker 1: That if I go back to Kareem and the skyhook,

251
00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:37,160
Speaker 1: which was unstoppable, unblockable, and he mastered a shot. I'd

252
00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:40,199
Speaker 1: never seen a player master a shot when I first

253
00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:42,480
Speaker 1: watched Kareem, I can remember as a kid in my

254
00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:46,320
Speaker 1: backyard doing it like nobody else shot the hook, Michael

255
00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:49,400
Speaker 1: Jordan's mid range game. If you look at a lot

256
00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:54,040
Speaker 1: of the great players beyond just scores, they are the

257
00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:57,240
Speaker 1: master of their domain. Like I do what I do,

258
00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:01,160
Speaker 1: and they're all different looking. There was no there was

259
00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:05,360
Speaker 1: no other Kareem you know there. David Thompson was a

260
00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:08,079
Speaker 1: little Michael, but Michael's mid range game he had three

261
00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:13,040
Speaker 1: or four stock moves, you know, Tim Duncan. The great

262
00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:16,520
Speaker 1: fundamental is that a lot of the all time great players,

263
00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:21,760
Speaker 1: and I've said this about Mahomes can be boring. They

264
00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:28,000
Speaker 1: have mastered what they do frustratingly so. And I look

265
00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:31,480
Speaker 1: at a player who knows exactly what he is, but

266
00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:35,640
Speaker 1: more importantly, he knows what he's not and he leans

267
00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:41,200
Speaker 1: into all of his skills, and I think when you

268
00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,920
Speaker 1: watch them play, they can be uneven offensively. The greatest

269
00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:48,400
Speaker 1: thing I can say about SGA. He's their clear dominant

270
00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:51,320
Speaker 1: number one score. So when you play them, I don't

271
00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:55,760
Speaker 1: have to pick Tony Parker Duncan manu. It's like, stop

272
00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:01,080
Speaker 1: him and people can't. I that me is a fastball

273
00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:06,080
Speaker 1: Like that, you know you can beat them. And Jay

274
00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:09,000
Speaker 1: Dubb can have thirty two, or Check could have twenty four,

275
00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,080
Speaker 1: or Lou Dort hits five threes, but the numbers are

276
00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,080
Speaker 1: if he gets to the free throw line, they win.

277
00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,720
Speaker 1: Everybody in the league knows it and they can't stop him.

278
00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:23,000
Speaker 1: Like that is precision, That is mastering a craft, and

279
00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:25,480
Speaker 1: I just I just have great respect for that.

280
00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,200
Speaker 2: Yeah. The Duncan comp is super fascinating to me because

281
00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:33,480
Speaker 2: Shay doesn't have some super demonstrative personality on the court.

282
00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,440
Speaker 2: He lacks a vertical element to his game. There's nothing

283
00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:40,080
Speaker 2: that like like people who play a lot of basketball,

284
00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:43,600
Speaker 2: Like I've stolen little bits of footwork and moves from

285
00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:45,720
Speaker 2: him that I think are useful moves for young players

286
00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:47,960
Speaker 2: to work on. He's brought his own little kind of

287
00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,120
Speaker 2: unique flare to the two guard position, just like Harden did,

288
00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:53,200
Speaker 2: just like Wade did, just like Kobe did, just like

289
00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:55,920
Speaker 2: MJ did. He's got his own like kind of unique

290
00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,000
Speaker 2: take on it. But similar to Duncan, even if there

291
00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:05,240
Speaker 2: wasn't that overwhelming optical appeal, it's just surgically effective. Yeah,

292
00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:07,760
Speaker 2: And no matter what happened in this playoff run, the

293
00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,600
Speaker 2: most reliable play type out there was give the ball

294
00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:13,400
Speaker 2: to Shay at the nail and he's probably going to

295
00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:15,400
Speaker 2: either draw foul or get to a mid range jump

296
00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:17,320
Speaker 2: shot that he can hit about fifty five percent of

297
00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:19,440
Speaker 2: the time. And you know, you know, Colin, it has

298
00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:22,160
Speaker 2: not been a perfect NBA Finals for him. He had

299
00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,440
Speaker 2: some rough games. But here's the thing. Just about every

300
00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:28,640
Speaker 2: star struggles in their first NBA finals. Lebron struggled in

301
00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:31,720
Speaker 2: his first two NBA finals. It is an impossible stage

302
00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,080
Speaker 2: to be to be I shouldn't say it'smpossible, it's a

303
00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,080
Speaker 2: very difficult stage to perform well in. And to his credit,

304
00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,240
Speaker 2: every single moment in this series where things could have

305
00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:43,120
Speaker 2: gone south. So like Game two, you're down one Zho,

306
00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:45,680
Speaker 2: you lose that game, series is probably over. Game four,

307
00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:47,920
Speaker 2: you're down to one. You lose, that game. Series is

308
00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,000
Speaker 2: probably over. Game five to two, you lose that game,

309
00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:54,520
Speaker 2: series is probably over. And Game seven series tied. If

310
00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:56,720
Speaker 2: you lose that game, obviously the series is over. In

311
00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,880
Speaker 2: every one of those games, I thought he was awesome.

312
00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:02,400
Speaker 2: This is actually a hilarious stat Colin. In the four

313
00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:04,840
Speaker 2: games where I thought he played poorly, which was Game one,

314
00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:09,600
Speaker 2: Game three, Game four, in game six, in those games

315
00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:14,359
Speaker 2: he combined for just nine assists. Okay, just nine in

316
00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,320
Speaker 2: those four games. In the other three games, in game two,

317
00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:20,639
Speaker 2: in game five, and in game seven, he had thirty

318
00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:25,000
Speaker 2: thirty assists. He averaged ten in those three games. And

319
00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:29,160
Speaker 2: if you watched those games from the start, just surgical

320
00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:31,680
Speaker 2: and precise with the way he was navigating the late

321
00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:35,640
Speaker 2: double teams, the help at the rim, making the kickouts

322
00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,400
Speaker 2: to three point shooters, the role man, whether it's Hartenstein

323
00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:41,960
Speaker 2: or Chet, I thought Shay, to his credit, every time

324
00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:44,439
Speaker 2: the team needed him to be great in the series,

325
00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:47,360
Speaker 2: he was great. And I think that is the stereotypical

326
00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:50,600
Speaker 2: Finals MVP performance. I thought he thoroughly deserved it, and

327
00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:52,960
Speaker 2: most players don't even do this well in their first

328
00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:53,440
Speaker 2: time around.

329
00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:03,120
Speaker 1: I don't think they're a great team. I think they

330
00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:06,040
Speaker 1: could be with age, Like next year they'll play and

331
00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:08,399
Speaker 1: watch next year, Okase, he won't be as dominant in

332
00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,359
Speaker 1: the regular season. They won't be that there's no need

333
00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:13,680
Speaker 1: to be. You're going to rest players. So next year

334
00:18:13,680 --> 00:18:16,200
Speaker 1: they'll win by an average of six at point eight,

335
00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:20,160
Speaker 1: not twelve point nine. Right, they'll try to build up.

336
00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:21,919
Speaker 1: You know, they're going to try to build up their

337
00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:24,800
Speaker 1: younger players, make their draft picks. They want to see

338
00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:27,560
Speaker 1: guys that can play, so it'll be interesting. But next

339
00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,080
Speaker 1: year they'll play like a champion, and so what you'll

340
00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:34,080
Speaker 1: see they'll be a little less uneven to the aforementioned

341
00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:37,400
Speaker 1: stats where you saw him bounce a little bit, you'll

342
00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,120
Speaker 1: probably get a little bit less than that. But it's

343
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:44,119
Speaker 1: also something that Indiana was better defensively than people gave

344
00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:47,280
Speaker 1: him credit for. They could put a lot of length

345
00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:50,000
Speaker 1: on the floor. And I think we are going through

346
00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:52,040
Speaker 1: We've seen it now with multiple teams, and I was

347
00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,680
Speaker 1: fooled with Denver. I say it right now. The last

348
00:18:55,720 --> 00:19:00,879
Speaker 1: seven champions have been very good teams. Will this be

349
00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:04,640
Speaker 1: a great team. I'm fascinated to watch the Houston Rockets now. Right,

350
00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:11,520
Speaker 1: Like Shamgoon, I'm on Thompson, Kevin Durant. It's I want

351
00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:15,679
Speaker 1: to give Indiana credit because the Haliburton injury didn't matter.

352
00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:22,000
Speaker 1: But in the end, I still like Oklahoma City. I

353
00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:26,280
Speaker 1: think when I look at Oklahoma City's rough edges, it's

354
00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:30,320
Speaker 1: mostly homebrewn just needs another year to grow. Like one

355
00:19:30,359 --> 00:19:34,959
Speaker 1: of the roughest standards edges is God Holmbren did nothing tonight.

356
00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:39,120
Speaker 1: Jay Williams, J Dubb he can Jaleen Williams, he can

357
00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,040
Speaker 1: still be uneven. He can be a masterful. But I

358
00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:45,920
Speaker 1: think most of the things about them are a lot

359
00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:49,400
Speaker 1: of them are age specific because young players in big games,

360
00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:53,119
Speaker 1: especially on the road, aren't as good. And I just

361
00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:55,320
Speaker 1: so I look at them and I think, oh, they

362
00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:57,680
Speaker 1: have a chance to be really good next year, plays

363
00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,760
Speaker 1: a more confident team, and I think by the way

364
00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:03,480
Speaker 1: their coaching staff will grow, everybody will just get better.

365
00:20:04,119 --> 00:20:07,520
Speaker 1: But most of my criticisms are, Okay, see, are you

366
00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,280
Speaker 1: know you just didn't know game to game what you

367
00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:12,679
Speaker 1: got with chet Holmgren on the offensive end. When he

368
00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:15,800
Speaker 1: played well in the second half, It's like, Wow, that's

369
00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:17,840
Speaker 1: a really hard team to beat.

370
00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is a super interesting concept. I want to

371
00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:22,000
Speaker 2: get a little deeper into this. I do need. We're

372
00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:23,800
Speaker 2: going to wrap up Microsoft real quick. That's it for

373
00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:27,320
Speaker 2: this week's course correction. Remember Microsoft's AI solutions empower you

374
00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:30,480
Speaker 2: to take bold steps and make informed decisions, sparking new

375
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,320
Speaker 2: ideas to help drive your business forward. With Microsoft as

376
00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:35,720
Speaker 2: your trusted partner, you can navigate your journey with confidence,

377
00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:39,680
Speaker 2: finding innovative solutions, and reaching new possibilities. Visit Microsoft dot

378
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:43,679
Speaker 2: com Slash challengers to learn more. So, Colin, to your point,

379
00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:48,520
Speaker 2: I saw this stat before the game, Oklahoma City's net rating,

380
00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:50,719
Speaker 2: And remember net rating is just how much you outscore

381
00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,520
Speaker 2: your opponent. Just waited for pace per one hundred possessions.

382
00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:57,359
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City's net rating at home coming into tonight was

383
00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:00,560
Speaker 2: twenty one. They outscored teams by twenty one points per

384
00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:04,800
Speaker 2: one hundred possessions on the road negative six. And so

385
00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,920
Speaker 2: to your point, I actually agree with you. I thought

386
00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,600
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City kind of underachieved in this playoff run. They

387
00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,240
Speaker 2: should have put Denver away sooner, They should have put

388
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,679
Speaker 2: Indiana away sooner. They were not, to me a great

389
00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:23,560
Speaker 2: offensive team for the majority of this playoff run, downright

390
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:27,400
Speaker 2: ugly at various points. But as we look back through

391
00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:29,640
Speaker 2: NBA history, this is what I look at the Warriors.

392
00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:33,240
Speaker 2: As a corollary here, it's not just stars that tend

393
00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:35,080
Speaker 2: to struggle when they get to the finals the first

394
00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,240
Speaker 2: time teams do. The Celtics in twenty twenty two, they

395
00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:40,640
Speaker 2: really struggled. When they showed up in twenty twenty four,

396
00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:42,320
Speaker 2: they looked like a bunch of grown ups. They handled

397
00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:45,480
Speaker 2: it way better Golden State. Steph played so poorly in

398
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,600
Speaker 2: twenty fifteen. I think he still deserved Finals MVP, but

399
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:50,719
Speaker 2: he played so poorly in twenty fifteen, he didn't get

400
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,239
Speaker 2: a single vote for Finals MVP. They were looking at

401
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,080
Speaker 2: his teammate as somebody to give the vote to. They,

402
00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:58,520
Speaker 2: you know, at various points in that playoff run looked

403
00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:00,919
Speaker 2: a little shaky. They trailed to one to Memphis, they

404
00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,840
Speaker 2: trailed to one to Cleveland. It is very typical for

405
00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:06,680
Speaker 2: a team that dominates in the regular season but has

406
00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:10,520
Speaker 2: their first truly pressure filled, serious playoff run to be

407
00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:13,320
Speaker 2: a little bumpy. And so the point is is like, yeah,

408
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,160
Speaker 2: this year they were a mediocre playoff offense that had

409
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:19,800
Speaker 2: an elite playoff defense, which was enough to get them

410
00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:23,439
Speaker 2: over the top. But this team has by far the

411
00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:27,080
Speaker 2: most room for internal improvement year over year. I'd argue

412
00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:31,840
Speaker 2: in the entire NBA, like Jadub you talked about the oscillations.

413
00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:34,880
Speaker 2: The oscillations are classic young player stuff. I can't tell

414
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:36,959
Speaker 2: you how many times anybody who spends any time coaching

415
00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:40,040
Speaker 2: young basketball players, you'll see them do something that works,

416
00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:41,919
Speaker 2: and you'll be a nice jock, and then they'll go

417
00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:44,080
Speaker 2: on the next possession and they'll do something completely different.

418
00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:46,680
Speaker 2: You're like, just do the same thing, do the same

419
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:48,520
Speaker 2: thing that you just did, and it works. And then

420
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,760
Speaker 2: when they make mistakes, they can repeat them. They struggle

421
00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:55,120
Speaker 2: to cut out mistakes and they struggle to repeat their

422
00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:59,200
Speaker 2: successes young players over time. You don't think Shay remembers

423
00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:01,760
Speaker 2: how he played those three bad in those four bad games.

424
00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:05,040
Speaker 2: He knows, he knows, he learned lessons in that in

425
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:08,040
Speaker 2: that process, and Shay will be better. Shay will just

426
00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:12,040
Speaker 2: be more consistent. I believe Ja Dub can get substantially better.

427
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:16,400
Speaker 2: Chet was a nightmare offensively in this postseason run. Nightmare.

428
00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:18,440
Speaker 2: And this is a guy who spends summers working out

429
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,120
Speaker 2: with Kevin Durant, who has, like all he has all

430
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:25,760
Speaker 2: NBA offensive potential, and so maybe they're not that team yet,

431
00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:29,280
Speaker 2: but they absolutely can get there. And all you have

432
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,600
Speaker 2: to do in this era where nobody's winning multiple championships

433
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,239
Speaker 2: is win multiple championships and pretty quickly you will like

434
00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:38,919
Speaker 2: establish yourself as one of the all time great teams.

435
00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:41,320
Speaker 2: I'm with you, they were. This was a rocky road,

436
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:43,680
Speaker 2: but they got it done. If you were gonna beat

437
00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:46,520
Speaker 2: the Thunder, this was the year. This was the year

438
00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:50,119
Speaker 2: where they're young, they're thin. Chet has never been in

439
00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:52,800
Speaker 2: these big moments before, Like this was the year to

440
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,320
Speaker 2: beat them and nobody could get it done. And it's

441
00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:56,680
Speaker 2: only gonna go up from here.

442
00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:02,119
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I I think Houston now has to be

443
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:06,479
Speaker 1: considered very interesting. I contend Dallas when everybody's healthy now,

444
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:08,520
Speaker 1: I don't know exactly where Kyrie is going to be.

445
00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:13,159
Speaker 1: I love their size and length. I also think, you know,

446
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:18,040
Speaker 1: the NBA, especially out West, has some really good gms.

447
00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:22,359
Speaker 1: There's a lot of levers to pull here. And even

448
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,639
Speaker 1: though and I've told you, I think draft picks are

449
00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:29,159
Speaker 1: going to matter more. Like everybody's banging on the suns today,

450
00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:31,800
Speaker 1: what if that number ten pick ends up being a really,

451
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:34,280
Speaker 1: really good player and they have all these second round

452
00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:37,600
Speaker 1: picks and they can figure out a way to move

453
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,160
Speaker 1: one of the other players and get another first round pick.

454
00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:45,280
Speaker 1: And I think Oklahoma City is going to be very

455
00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:50,200
Speaker 1: good for a very long time. But I still think

456
00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:54,719
Speaker 1: and we've seen it this year, these long playoff runs.

457
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:57,240
Speaker 1: You see it with pitching staffs, and you see it

458
00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:01,520
Speaker 1: with teams. You keep going to seven games against Western

459
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:04,960
Speaker 1: teams and in the finals, I don't like it. I

460
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:08,200
Speaker 1: think you're going to have more injuries. I don't remember

461
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:10,800
Speaker 1: a two year stretch where we had more key injuries

462
00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:14,520
Speaker 1: to star players. So you know, it's one of those things.

463
00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,119
Speaker 1: They've got the they've got a lot of depth, but

464
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:21,639
Speaker 1: they do have one dependable score So keeping SGA healthy

465
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,520
Speaker 1: and trying to develop second, third, and fourth scorers is

466
00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,840
Speaker 1: a real thing because they're inconsistent there. But it is.

467
00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:31,560
Speaker 1: You know, as I look at this playoff series, one

468
00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,640
Speaker 1: of my takeaways is, and I've been on this four years,

469
00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:37,800
Speaker 1: you do not need seven games in the first round,

470
00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:40,200
Speaker 1: like and you say, well, it could be a sweep.

471
00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,320
Speaker 1: You do not need four game sweeps. You could do it.

472
00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:46,600
Speaker 1: You could do it in five games or three games.

473
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:51,440
Speaker 1: So I think OKAC is not good enough to be brittle,

474
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:55,400
Speaker 1: injury riddled. I think healthy. You know, we always said

475
00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:59,320
Speaker 1: it in the NFL, it's attrition some of these playoffs.

476
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:04,480
Speaker 1: Cleveland fell apart the year before New York fell apart,

477
00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,560
Speaker 1: and I think that's a lot of it. I think

478
00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:09,720
Speaker 1: the West is gonna be razor thin keep you know,

479
00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:12,159
Speaker 1: we all know San Antonio Is could take a jump.

480
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:14,760
Speaker 1: So I think a lot of it is if we're

481
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,880
Speaker 1: going to keep doing seven game series. Well, a lot

482
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,639
Speaker 1: of it is who's healthy because a lot of guys

483
00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:22,040
Speaker 1: went to the floor this year.

484
00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:26,520
Speaker 2: And okay, Seer and yeah and okay, so he's super young,

485
00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:29,359
Speaker 2: and they just held up. They kind of physically wore

486
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:31,959
Speaker 2: everybody down over the course of this playoffron because they

487
00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:35,280
Speaker 2: just have this deep rotation of young players. I agree

488
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:36,800
Speaker 2: with you. For the record, I want to be clear,

489
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:40,240
Speaker 2: like I do not think this Oklahoma City team is

490
00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:44,040
Speaker 2: the k D STEPH Warriors, Like that team felt borderline

491
00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:46,720
Speaker 2: unbeatable when they were healthy. Like I don't think this

492
00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:49,480
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City team is unbeatable. I just think we haven't

493
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:51,960
Speaker 2: seen their ceiling yet. I think there's a level they

494
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:54,159
Speaker 2: can get to, especially in the offensive end of the floor.

495
00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,200
Speaker 2: That we haven't seen yet, and I'm curious to see

496
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:58,120
Speaker 2: where that ends up. Is does that end up being

497
00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:00,439
Speaker 2: a team that's just like all the other champions they

498
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:02,520
Speaker 2: can't repeat, or does it end up being a team

499
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:04,600
Speaker 2: that ends up making a mark on this air. But

500
00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:08,440
Speaker 2: the injuries thing is fascinating. So we have a shout

501
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:10,520
Speaker 2: out to Josh. It gave us the stat before the show,

502
00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:16,119
Speaker 2: the Tyres Haliburton achilles tear. If that confirms to be

503
00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:17,520
Speaker 2: what it is, which is what it looked like. I

504
00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:19,959
Speaker 2: mean ABC made us watch it thirty times. I have

505
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:23,280
Speaker 2: no idea what that was all about, but that would

506
00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:25,160
Speaker 2: be the eighth achilles tear in the NBA this year.

507
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,160
Speaker 2: The previous season high was five. What do you make

508
00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:31,000
Speaker 2: of this? Like upticking these weird severe injuries in.

509
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,240
Speaker 1: The nbakay, the pace is faster, the players are better,

510
00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:41,960
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's a more physical postseason. It's just

511
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,720
Speaker 1: more taxing on the bodies and these athletes now come

512
00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:47,920
Speaker 1: into the season in shape. You're just asking a lot.

513
00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:50,760
Speaker 1: I means, you know, like we can criticize Jamal Murray

514
00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,399
Speaker 1: of Denver sort of playing himself into shape and Luca,

515
00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,200
Speaker 1: but I think I think there are very few Lebron's

516
00:27:57,240 --> 00:27:59,840
Speaker 1: out there where the body just holds up. And I think,

517
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,960
Speaker 1: I think guys, I think the level of play, the

518
00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:07,719
Speaker 1: level of pace, the level of physicality. These guys are

519
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:11,440
Speaker 1: more like tightly tuned violins and it just doesn't take much.

520
00:28:12,119 --> 00:28:15,240
Speaker 1: And so I don't I just do listen to college

521
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:19,080
Speaker 1: basketball doesn't have near the quality of talent of the NBA.

522
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:23,359
Speaker 1: But why are their ratings often beating NBA playoff games?

523
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:26,359
Speaker 1: Because of the urgency And we all know baseball you

524
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:28,560
Speaker 1: have to have a longer series because such a big

525
00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:31,360
Speaker 1: component of baseball as starting pitching, so you know you're

526
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:33,840
Speaker 1: setting up your pitching. That's part of the chess match

527
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:37,480
Speaker 1: of baseball. But I don't think in basketball I need

528
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:40,960
Speaker 1: a seven game series. Michael Jordan's big years, it was

529
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:43,920
Speaker 1: a five gamer until you get to later rounds. And

530
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,880
Speaker 1: I just think, I think Adam Silver and I'll give

531
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,000
Speaker 1: Rob Manfred and Roger Goodell credit. I think our commissioners

532
00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:55,160
Speaker 1: see this. They're very open minded. Manford's made multiple big swings,

533
00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:59,840
Speaker 1: you know, which goes against baseball's history. Basketball's been, you know,

534
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:04,080
Speaker 1: much more progressive, willing to experiment. League sometimes, you know,

535
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:06,440
Speaker 1: the new ball. David Stern didn't even give the players

536
00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:09,120
Speaker 1: a heads up. But the Lee Adam Silver has made,

537
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:11,680
Speaker 1: you know, the nd season tournament, I think you have

538
00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:14,160
Speaker 1: to really examine. And when I had him on, we

539
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:18,800
Speaker 1: talked about this is that embrace college basketball. You know

540
00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:21,720
Speaker 1: how you know what Indi, Oklahoma City is to me.

541
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,200
Speaker 1: We're all the G League guys. It's a lot of

542
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,080
Speaker 1: guys who played a lot of years of college embrace

543
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:31,560
Speaker 1: college basketball as an almost educational basketball tool, not the

544
00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:34,040
Speaker 1: school part. Just be what Tom is over two or

545
00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,160
Speaker 1: three years, like it matters. And also, you have to

546
00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:41,240
Speaker 1: really examine the value of these players. If you're signing

547
00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:43,800
Speaker 1: a seventy six billion dollar contract for eleven years, you

548
00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:46,880
Speaker 1: want your stars playing as long as they can. Halliburton's

549
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:49,240
Speaker 1: injury made me sick to my stomach. The game didn't

550
00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:52,440
Speaker 1: feel the same after that injury. I was so fired

551
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:54,240
Speaker 1: up all day. I got home early, I watched two

552
00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:56,800
Speaker 1: hours of the pregame show a sick to my stomach.

553
00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:02,920
Speaker 1: I'm like wow, and and again I just think you

554
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:07,320
Speaker 1: can Money's not the problem. We got seventy six billion

555
00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,600
Speaker 1: coming Like, Money's not the issue. The owners are all billionaires.

556
00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,960
Speaker 1: Let's protect the players. There's no reason for seven game series.

557
00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:14,920
Speaker 1: In the first two rounds.

558
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 2: The data is becoming undeniable and its the thing is

559
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:22,360
Speaker 2: calling too. It keeps happening on the same play the

560
00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:24,880
Speaker 2: same like what they call it the negative step, where

561
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,680
Speaker 2: you step backwards to try to launch yourself forwards. Essentially,

562
00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,120
Speaker 2: the body is fatiguing to the point that when they're

563
00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:33,960
Speaker 2: trying to explode forward at these points, the body's failing,

564
00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:38,120
Speaker 2: and it's happening at an increasingly high rate. And I

565
00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:39,880
Speaker 2: think it has a lot to do with just the

566
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:42,360
Speaker 2: way the game has changed, in the sense that the

567
00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:46,000
Speaker 2: point at which players are engaging defenders, the point at

568
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:50,240
Speaker 2: which players are being asked to contend with physicalities extended

569
00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:53,800
Speaker 2: substantially further away from the basket. You're facing ball pressure

570
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:56,800
Speaker 2: and being guarded thirty thirty five feet from the basket

571
00:30:56,880 --> 00:30:59,200
Speaker 2: some of these times. I bet if you tracked an

572
00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:03,400
Speaker 2: individual player movement and just how often he runs around

573
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:06,800
Speaker 2: the floor, just the straight line distance that he runs,

574
00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:09,480
Speaker 2: it's probably double what it was in the nineties in

575
00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:12,680
Speaker 2: a single game, just because of the pace, the amount

576
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:15,920
Speaker 2: of ball in player movement that occurs on every single possession.

577
00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:18,959
Speaker 2: It's just a lot, and so to your point, like

578
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,560
Speaker 2: I understand the TV aspect, and it's like, okay, we

579
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:23,520
Speaker 2: got we get money from these games. We can't cut

580
00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:25,760
Speaker 2: games because it costs us money. If anything, we're trying

581
00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:28,680
Speaker 2: to add games. Here's the Ncason Tournament, here's the play

582
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:31,320
Speaker 2: in tournament. You know they added that seventh game to

583
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,000
Speaker 2: the first round after it used to be five. Like

584
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:38,120
Speaker 2: they are adding inventory that the players can't handle. And

585
00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:41,000
Speaker 2: if you really dig into it and you actually start

586
00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:42,920
Speaker 2: to look at the way it affects the product, I'm

587
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:43,960
Speaker 2: so glad you mentioned that.

588
00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:44,520
Speaker 1: Colin.

589
00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:46,640
Speaker 2: This is the most excited I've vent for game so long.

590
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:49,800
Speaker 2: And what a buzzkill to watch the best player on

591
00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:51,880
Speaker 2: the other team come out hit three straight three, start

592
00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:53,680
Speaker 2: talking a bunch of shit to the crowd. Yeah, next

593
00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:55,600
Speaker 2: thing you know, he's on in a heap on the ground.

594
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:59,040
Speaker 2: It's a huge bummer. And like, these guys can't be

595
00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:02,600
Speaker 2: asked to play back to backs, these guys can't be

596
00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:06,600
Speaker 2: asked to play an additional two. It is June twenty second, Colin,

597
00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:09,680
Speaker 2: you know how this playoff runt has been going on.

598
00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,240
Speaker 1: Forever, Like it is a long stretch.

599
00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:14,520
Speaker 2: They have to find a way to make this actually

600
00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 2: achievable for these bodies. They are not holding up. And

601
00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:19,720
Speaker 2: my theory is that if you tweak it in a

602
00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:23,200
Speaker 2: way to where guys can hold up, it'll improve the

603
00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,600
Speaker 2: ratings just by virtue of everyone being present and bringing

604
00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:28,640
Speaker 2: the urgency due to the lower inventory.

605
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:31,440
Speaker 1: Oh, it's just like baseball ratings when you shortened the

606
00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:35,280
Speaker 1: game create urgency. Everybody's I mean, I've done this ad nauseam.

607
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:38,400
Speaker 1: Everybody's on their phones. People are I'm watching the game

608
00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:42,800
Speaker 1: tonight and I'm I'm literally in the first quarter. You know,

609
00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:46,640
Speaker 1: I'm sitting there watching the game and I'm writing some notes,

610
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:50,000
Speaker 1: but I'm also reading an article on the finals as

611
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:53,560
Speaker 1: I'm watching the finals. We're all distracted. So you know,

612
00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:58,080
Speaker 1: I just I think the reality is you just anytime

613
00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:00,800
Speaker 1: you can make a game feel like an event and

614
00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:05,880
Speaker 1: everybody wins. The players win, I win, you win, the

615
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:09,120
Speaker 1: networks win. So it'll be interesting now because the NBA

616
00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:10,760
Speaker 1: is going to be on so many networks and it's

617
00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:14,280
Speaker 1: going to dilute some of the coverage. But you're going

618
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:17,040
Speaker 1: to have to make it special. And by the way,

619
00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:19,680
Speaker 1: this is what Baseball did. Fox went to Baseball and said,

620
00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:21,800
Speaker 1: you guys have to create the home run Derby's your

621
00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:25,600
Speaker 1: highest rated non World Series moment, create more things like that.

622
00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:28,440
Speaker 1: So they did the Cornfield game. They put the Mets

623
00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:32,040
Speaker 1: in the Phillies, you know, overseas, and I watched all

624
00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:35,400
Speaker 1: of them. So I do think there's a certain apathy

625
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:37,760
Speaker 1: in the regular season. I mean, even the league officiates

626
00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:41,000
Speaker 1: different in the postseason. They understand the urgency, so I

627
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,320
Speaker 1: think they'll get it right. I think Adam will eventually

628
00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:45,880
Speaker 1: get it right. He's not a stubborn guy. I don't

629
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:50,200
Speaker 1: think any of our commissioners are. And I think going

630
00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:52,600
Speaker 1: from seven games to five games, you may not think

631
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:55,520
Speaker 1: it's a big deal, but I over the course it

632
00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,280
Speaker 1: could be four less, four or fewer playoff games. You know.

633
00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:02,040
Speaker 1: I feel like Halliburton's body just gave out tonight. It

634
00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:04,640
Speaker 1: just it was exhausted. He just pushed it and pushed

635
00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:06,640
Speaker 1: it and pushed it, and it just gave out.

636
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:09,640
Speaker 2: Oh I think that's I think that's exactly what happened. Again,

637
00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:12,080
Speaker 2: it's becoming undeniable. Like there was a point where it

638
00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:14,600
Speaker 2: was like, oh, injuries are on the rise, but hey,

639
00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:16,759
Speaker 2: it's only been like two or three years. It might

640
00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,759
Speaker 2: be just anecdotal or too small of a sample size.

641
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:21,960
Speaker 2: We're in an extended stretch here where like dudes are

642
00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:24,680
Speaker 2: breaking down every year in the playoffs. Remember last year,

643
00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:26,760
Speaker 2: it was like, oh, the calves are going on Donovan

644
00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:28,600
Speaker 2: Mitchell's foot, and now we're you know, and then oh,

645
00:34:28,640 --> 00:34:30,520
Speaker 2: like here come the Pacers and the tyres Haliburt and

646
00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:33,160
Speaker 2: gets it. It's like it's it's this like it's basically

647
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:35,440
Speaker 2: turning into a war of attrition more than it's turning

648
00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:38,000
Speaker 2: into a battle of basketball. And that's what they have

649
00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:40,120
Speaker 2: to figure out because otherwise what you're going to see

650
00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:42,719
Speaker 2: is the deepest, youngest team win every year. I mean,

651
00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:45,240
Speaker 2: and that's more or less what we saw in the finals,

652
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:55,759
Speaker 2: you know, you know, on so many different levels. Anyway, call,

653
00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:57,600
Speaker 2: we did get a new piece of news this morning.

654
00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:04,120
Speaker 2: Kevin Durant is now Houston Rocket and in return, the

655
00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:06,719
Speaker 2: Phoenix Suns are getting Jalen Green, a young player with

656
00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:12,120
Speaker 2: tons of potential but maddening downsides at this point. Dylan Brooks,

657
00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:14,560
Speaker 2: who I actually think is a very good role player

658
00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:15,080
Speaker 2: in the NBA.

659
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:15,680
Speaker 1: Yeah.

660
00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:19,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, the tenth pick in this upcoming draft and five

661
00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:23,279
Speaker 2: second round picks. What was like your first impression. Well,

662
00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:26,480
Speaker 2: you heard my first impression. The Suns were three and seventeen.

663
00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:30,120
Speaker 2: When Katie didn't play this year, they stump it wasn't him.

664
00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:33,240
Speaker 2: He still get a bucket. If he's a leader in Houston,

665
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,000
Speaker 2: it doesn't work. If you need a bucket in Houston,

666
00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:38,480
Speaker 2: it works. And I think today you have to look

667
00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:39,240
Speaker 2: at the Rockets.

668
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,440
Speaker 1: My take is he's going to give you about sixty

669
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:44,399
Speaker 1: five games in the regular season. If we get two

670
00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,400
Speaker 1: healthy years, then everybody's going to watch Houston via for

671
00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:50,480
Speaker 1: the NBA Championship and feel like they dominated the trade.

672
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:54,319
Speaker 1: It is, however, a very good draft, So Phoenix gets

673
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:58,080
Speaker 1: the number two ten pick. Well, many people are theorizing

674
00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:00,839
Speaker 1: there are twelve players in this draft, the top twelve

675
00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:03,839
Speaker 1: players who are All Star potential. So if they stay

676
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:06,680
Speaker 1: at ten or move up to six or eight, they're

677
00:36:06,719 --> 00:36:09,960
Speaker 1: getting a potentially really good player, probably with more than

678
00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:14,640
Speaker 1: one year in college. And again, I don't think anybody

679
00:36:14,719 --> 00:36:18,920
Speaker 1: will ever unlock Jalen Green, like I think he's the classic,

680
00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:22,920
Speaker 1: doesn't have a defined game, never probably will, but we

681
00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:26,719
Speaker 1: can't deny that he can drop thirty in any given moment,

682
00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:30,520
Speaker 1: that he's wildly talented. I don't like his game, but

683
00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:35,200
Speaker 1: I'm not going to deny that he's you know, long, twitchy, fast,

684
00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:39,520
Speaker 1: very good transition player. He's just and that there are

685
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,640
Speaker 1: a lot of these guys in the NBA. You know,

686
00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:45,040
Speaker 1: they come in and they're talented, and maybe either they

687
00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:46,600
Speaker 1: don't work on their game but they don't get the

688
00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:49,799
Speaker 1: right coaching, or they just they probably have so much

689
00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:54,040
Speaker 1: talent from sixth grade on that they never really there's

690
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:57,680
Speaker 1: no catalyst for them to like really burrow down on

691
00:36:57,719 --> 00:37:01,919
Speaker 1: a specialized you know, not everybody is just driven as MJ. Right,

692
00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:05,640
Speaker 1: I'm reading the Caitlin Clark book. I mean that girl's

693
00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:09,040
Speaker 1: she is MJ. She's obsessed, and it's just like, not

694
00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:12,080
Speaker 1: everybody's like that. Some people are just talented. And so

695
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:17,520
Speaker 1: between Aman Thompson and Shangon is a beautiful touch. Kevin

696
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:20,160
Speaker 1: Durant and a series of four or five very good

697
00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:23,400
Speaker 1: young players. And I think Adokah is a very good coach.

698
00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:28,359
Speaker 1: That's a real team. But I think it's easy to

699
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:32,440
Speaker 1: look at Phoenix and just go, well, they got Green's productive.

700
00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:35,839
Speaker 1: Dylan Brooks is a very good small forward defender, can

701
00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:38,719
Speaker 1: give you seventeen a night. You got the number ten pick.

702
00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:41,000
Speaker 1: You got a bunch of second round picks, which you

703
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:44,279
Speaker 1: can turn those into things. Phoenix wanted her a little

704
00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:46,560
Speaker 1: bit of a reboot. They got it. But people on

705
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:50,200
Speaker 1: the internet are like, oh, Houston dominated. If Katie got

706
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,560
Speaker 1: hurt in game thirty six, it wouldn't feel like Houston dominated. Right.

707
00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:57,000
Speaker 1: They're not bringing him there to be a foundational piece.

708
00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:00,560
Speaker 1: They're bringing him in to get a bucket like. He

709
00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:03,719
Speaker 1: will not be the leader is shen Goon will still

710
00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:06,920
Speaker 1: be this I think the centerpiece of the team, Aman

711
00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:09,760
Speaker 1: Thompson will be your best athlete and your defensive stopper.

712
00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:13,279
Speaker 1: He's going to be a bucket guy. So that's why

713
00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:15,879
Speaker 1: I think it works. He's still one of the top

714
00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:20,680
Speaker 1: twenty three, twenty six best players in the league. I

715
00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:23,879
Speaker 1: would argue. I mean, I was on the plane when

716
00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:26,440
Speaker 1: I was flying in today, I started writing down numbers

717
00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:30,200
Speaker 1: and I got to like twenty one. I'm like, he's

718
00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:34,120
Speaker 1: in that space. And again, Phoenix was terrible when he

719
00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:37,200
Speaker 1: didn't play. So that's my long winded answer on I

720
00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:39,360
Speaker 1: think Houston will look like they won the trade, but

721
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:40,680
Speaker 1: Phoenix got assets too.

722
00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:44,680
Speaker 2: I think that what happened in Phoenix is a sign

723
00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:48,520
Speaker 2: that like, Yeah, KD, Steph Lebron, these guys they're not

724
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:51,600
Speaker 2: floor razors anymore. At their age. They're not going to

725
00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:54,360
Speaker 2: turn a bad roster into a fifty win team the

726
00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:57,040
Speaker 2: way that twenty seven year old Nikola Jokic could. Like

727
00:38:57,080 --> 00:38:59,879
Speaker 2: that goes without saying I don't. I do think though,

728
00:38:59,920 --> 00:39:03,560
Speaker 2: that KD has been dramatically underrated because he's been on

729
00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:06,239
Speaker 2: such a poor roster. Yes, put this together for you, Colin.

730
00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:08,920
Speaker 2: This is three stats to show that Kevin Durant is

731
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:10,640
Speaker 2: still one of the very best players in the NBA.

732
00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:13,560
Speaker 2: He was the best jump shooter in the world this year.

733
00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:15,640
Speaker 2: Among fifty eight players in the NBA to take at

734
00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:18,399
Speaker 2: least five hundred jump shots, KD was the only player

735
00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:20,200
Speaker 2: in the league to make over half of them, and

736
00:39:20,239 --> 00:39:22,920
Speaker 2: he in second place was Shay who made forty five percent.

737
00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:25,680
Speaker 2: And if you waited it for threes, his one point

738
00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:27,279
Speaker 2: two to two points per shot was still number one

739
00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:29,680
Speaker 2: in the NBA number two. He was the only player

740
00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:31,359
Speaker 2: in the NBA last year to make at least two

741
00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:34,279
Speaker 2: hundred pull up jump shots, meaning off the dribble, while

742
00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:37,000
Speaker 2: making more than half of them. In three he was

743
00:39:37,239 --> 00:39:39,719
Speaker 2: far and away the best isolation player in the world

744
00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:41,560
Speaker 2: last year, out of the ten players ran at least

745
00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:44,040
Speaker 2: two hundred and fifty ISOs. His one point one to

746
00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:46,880
Speaker 2: six points per possession including passes ranked number one in

747
00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:49,560
Speaker 2: the league, a full six points per one hundred possessions,

748
00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:52,080
Speaker 2: ahead of Shay who was in second place. I think

749
00:39:52,239 --> 00:39:56,080
Speaker 2: he is when it comes to refined offensive skill, he

750
00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:58,279
Speaker 2: is still one of the very best players in the league.

751
00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:01,200
Speaker 2: So I would put him in that sixth to fifteen range,

752
00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:03,480
Speaker 2: depending on and we haven't seen him play enough high

753
00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:06,000
Speaker 2: leverage basketball lately to see where he really lands in there,

754
00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:08,680
Speaker 2: but I think he's still in that range. And if

755
00:40:08,719 --> 00:40:11,120
Speaker 2: you ask me what the Rockets issue was, this is

756
00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:14,960
Speaker 2: a deep team with a load of big, physical athletes.

757
00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:17,440
Speaker 2: If you ask me what their one week at weakness was,

758
00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:21,080
Speaker 2: it's refined offensive skill. And that's what Kad comes into address.

759
00:40:21,160 --> 00:40:23,120
Speaker 2: We were just talking about this with Desmond Baine in

760
00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:25,319
Speaker 2: the Orlando Magic the other day. Yeah, when you take

761
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:27,440
Speaker 2: a bunch of big athletes that kind of struggle with

762
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:30,600
Speaker 2: spacing and you bring in a guy who like just

763
00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:32,800
Speaker 2: run him off a screen and he's automatically going to

764
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:36,400
Speaker 2: pull two defenders out thirty feet from the basket and

765
00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:39,080
Speaker 2: unlocks a world of possibilities on the short role. A

766
00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:41,759
Speaker 2: men Thompson will be an amazing short role player. You

767
00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:44,120
Speaker 2: know that thing that Draymond Green did for Steph where

768
00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:46,320
Speaker 2: Steph would come off of Draymond to take two players

769
00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:48,080
Speaker 2: and then Draymond would go right down the middle of

770
00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:50,799
Speaker 2: the floor and make the play that broke the defense down.

771
00:40:51,239 --> 00:40:53,080
Speaker 2: That is a thing that A Men Thompson has been

772
00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:55,640
Speaker 2: unable to do in Houston because they just don't generate

773
00:40:55,719 --> 00:40:58,080
Speaker 2: many of those opportunities because none of their shooters are

774
00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:01,279
Speaker 2: good enough. KD will lock that part of him N

775
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:03,840
Speaker 2: Thompson's game. It is not a perfect roster. I was

776
00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:06,160
Speaker 2: writing down all the names on the roster today. They're

777
00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:08,759
Speaker 2: a little light on ball handling, but that sort of

778
00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:10,520
Speaker 2: thing they can get. You know what's so funny, Colin.

779
00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:14,040
Speaker 2: I remember when the Sun signed Highest Jones last summer.

780
00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:17,279
Speaker 2: I was like, why you already have this redundancy of

781
00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:19,160
Speaker 2: all these dudes who can dribble and you're just not

782
00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:21,319
Speaker 2: athletic enough and you're not good enough on defense, Like

783
00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:24,279
Speaker 2: you need athletes and dudes that can like like beat

784
00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:26,759
Speaker 2: up people in these physical environments. You know who could

785
00:41:26,760 --> 00:41:30,240
Speaker 2: really use Highest Jones Houston, like, I think they should

786
00:41:30,239 --> 00:41:32,400
Speaker 2: call I think Kevin Duran should call up Highest tomorrow

787
00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:33,680
Speaker 2: and be like, hey, dude, come with me.

788
00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:36,759
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think I think Phoenix. I wish Phoenix would

789
00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:40,560
Speaker 1: have gotten actually a size. I think Phoenix needs size,

790
00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:43,239
Speaker 1: and I think Houston needs a ball handler. And our

791
00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:46,240
Speaker 1: takeaway when we watch Golden State beat Houston, we were like, God,

792
00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:49,080
Speaker 1: they're so bad in the half court offense. If you

793
00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:52,279
Speaker 1: stop shn good, it's over right, like it's just and

794
00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:54,160
Speaker 1: so you and I talked about this. He was a

795
00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:56,439
Speaker 1: perfect fit. I thought he worked in New York because

796
00:41:56,440 --> 00:41:59,480
Speaker 1: of Jalen Brunson's you know, has the ball a lot

797
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:03,480
Speaker 1: in his hands. He would work with that offense, whereas

798
00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:06,440
Speaker 1: Cat can kind of. I always felt like Cat and

799
00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:08,919
Speaker 1: Brunson were playing you know, your turn, my turn, your turn,

800
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:11,160
Speaker 1: my turn. Kd's kind of like, I'll sit in I

801
00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:13,320
Speaker 1: did it with Russ Westbrook. I'll sit in the corner.

802
00:42:13,520 --> 00:42:15,919
Speaker 1: Get it to me eventually. So I think he fits

803
00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:19,320
Speaker 1: really really well, and I think they have the coach.

804
00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:24,000
Speaker 1: I think again, it's so hard to judge Houston because

805
00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:27,200
Speaker 1: so much of their roster is young. I like feel

806
00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:30,120
Speaker 1: like everybody's in the fourth inning, Like, I mean, Amen

807
00:42:30,239 --> 00:42:33,240
Speaker 1: Thompson could take a big leap. I mean, shn Goon's

808
00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:34,879
Speaker 1: the only one where I look at him and I think,

809
00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:36,440
Speaker 1: oh that again. I use this word a lot. But

810
00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:41,000
Speaker 1: that's a defined and refined offensive game. He's got European touch,

811
00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:44,280
Speaker 1: like he has a game. A lot of their players,

812
00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:46,439
Speaker 1: I feel like they're just in early innings. I don't

813
00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:51,520
Speaker 1: know what they are so Aman Thompson's obviously defensively defined.

814
00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:55,640
Speaker 1: He's so strong and athletic and aggressive, but KD gives

815
00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:59,319
Speaker 1: them refinement. This is a second offensive player. I know

816
00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:02,920
Speaker 1: exactly what I'm getting. And that's that goes back to

817
00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:05,960
Speaker 1: a little Oklahoma city that one of the reasons Indiana

818
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:12,120
Speaker 1: gave OKC problems. Syakam has an offensive half court game,

819
00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:17,160
Speaker 1: Halliburton does, TJ McConnell does, Like that's three guy. Even

820
00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:19,720
Speaker 1: Obi Toppen when he hits threes, You're like, he's athletic

821
00:43:19,800 --> 00:43:23,480
Speaker 1: and hit threes. They had guys that they Rick Carlile knew, Okay,

822
00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:26,640
Speaker 1: this is what this player does with Houston. Houston's like

823
00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:29,440
Speaker 1: a younger OKC. I'm just not sure what everybody is

824
00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:31,919
Speaker 1: like I just need more guys that I go into

825
00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:33,400
Speaker 1: a game and go, yeah, I'm going to get twenty

826
00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:35,359
Speaker 1: fourth tonight from KD and I can draw up two

827
00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:37,880
Speaker 1: or three plays for him. So Houston to me is

828
00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:40,400
Speaker 1: early innings they could end up being. They could end

829
00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:42,719
Speaker 1: up looking at If you told me next year a

830
00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:45,560
Speaker 1: team explodes in the West and ends up winning by

831
00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:48,960
Speaker 1: seven point eight points, I would guess Houston because they

832
00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:51,439
Speaker 1: have so many players that are just going to springboard

833
00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:53,799
Speaker 1: to another level here in the next fifty to one

834
00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:55,240
Speaker 1: hundred basketball games.

835
00:43:55,640 --> 00:43:58,000
Speaker 2: Oh no, I totally agree. I think they have massive upside.

836
00:43:58,080 --> 00:43:59,759
Speaker 2: I think they could very easily be the second best

837
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:01,520
Speaker 2: team in the West and the biggest threat to the

838
00:44:01,560 --> 00:44:03,479
Speaker 2: Thunder next year. I think that's absolutely on the table.

839
00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:05,320
Speaker 2: They match up well with OKC too, because they have

840
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:07,920
Speaker 2: all the big physical size. The ball handling will be

841
00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:10,399
Speaker 2: the weakness, as we saw with Indiana. Even Oklahoma City

842
00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:12,800
Speaker 2: struggled because of their lack of depth in ball handling

843
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:16,799
Speaker 2: against Indiana's ball pressure. But the youth, the thing that

844
00:44:16,840 --> 00:44:18,680
Speaker 2: you're talking about in terms of the wide range of

845
00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:21,200
Speaker 2: outcomes is super interesting because as I was breaking down

846
00:44:21,200 --> 00:44:23,279
Speaker 2: their depth chart today, I'm looking at it, and I'm like, okay,

847
00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:26,480
Speaker 2: Fred van Vliet, legit point guard. You know, Shane gun center.

848
00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:30,960
Speaker 2: Kd's your four. A men Thompson, I think defensively functions

849
00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:34,200
Speaker 2: as either a two or a three, so that could

850
00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:37,400
Speaker 2: be either. But then it's like Jabari Smith Junior is

851
00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:39,960
Speaker 2: kind of a four. He plays basically the same position

852
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:41,480
Speaker 2: as Kadie. I don't think he moves his feet well

853
00:44:41,560 --> 00:44:44,759
Speaker 2: enough to be a three. Cam Whittmore could be one

854
00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:48,040
Speaker 2: of those guys. Reed Shepherd could be one of those guys,

855
00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:50,320
Speaker 2: but like, who knows. And here's the other thing to

856
00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:53,560
Speaker 2: call it. Houston gave up one first round draft pick

857
00:44:53,600 --> 00:44:55,440
Speaker 2: in this deal. They still have a boat load of

858
00:44:55,480 --> 00:44:58,360
Speaker 2: first round draft picks at they're disposal, so they're high.

859
00:44:58,680 --> 00:45:01,439
Speaker 2: They're like a high likelihood for like a we bring

860
00:45:01,480 --> 00:45:04,399
Speaker 2: this team into camp, we watch them for twenty games,

861
00:45:04,480 --> 00:45:06,120
Speaker 2: and we go, oh, here are the two things.

862
00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:08,480
Speaker 1: We're missing exactly right, Let's go get what we get

863
00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:08,799
Speaker 1: to get.

864
00:45:08,960 --> 00:45:11,839
Speaker 2: Like they are, they're extremely well equipped heading into this

865
00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:12,440
Speaker 2: next season.

866
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:15,520
Speaker 1: That's where Houston won the trade. They didn't have to

867
00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:18,239
Speaker 1: give up another first round pick. That that's where they

868
00:45:18,280 --> 00:45:22,080
Speaker 1: won the trade. It's not just KD because My guess

869
00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:24,640
Speaker 1: is because of their depth, they won't play Kad more

870
00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:26,799
Speaker 1: than like sixty to sixty five games. They want him

871
00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:29,720
Speaker 1: for the postseason. There's no reason to play him seventy

872
00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:33,040
Speaker 1: five eighty games because they also know if you're in

873
00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:35,520
Speaker 1: the West, Jason, you know you're going to be in

874
00:45:35,560 --> 00:45:38,520
Speaker 1: long series. So there's no you know you're going to

875
00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:40,480
Speaker 1: be in six game series. In the West. It's not

876
00:45:40,520 --> 00:45:42,279
Speaker 1: like the East where you kind of feel like if

877
00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:44,879
Speaker 1: Aliburton comes back next year, they're just certain you're gonna

878
00:45:44,880 --> 00:45:47,960
Speaker 1: win a lot of series really quickly. You're gonna have

879
00:45:48,280 --> 00:45:52,000
Speaker 1: long series. In the West, no reason to have you know,

880
00:45:52,080 --> 00:45:54,920
Speaker 1: I want Kde going into the playoffs, you know, off

881
00:45:54,960 --> 00:45:58,560
Speaker 1: about a two games and nine days stretch, healthy and

882
00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:00,600
Speaker 1: ready to go, and I had you have to think

883
00:46:00,600 --> 00:46:02,480
Speaker 1: about that as a GM with an older player. In

884
00:46:02,520 --> 00:46:04,600
Speaker 1: the West, if you have a Steph a KD, all

885
00:46:04,640 --> 00:46:06,200
Speaker 1: these series are long series.

886
00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:08,680
Speaker 2: If they get a couple more ball handlers, like that's

887
00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:10,680
Speaker 2: the thing, Like if they get a Tis Jones, if

888
00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:13,080
Speaker 2: they get you know, one other guy of that ILK,

889
00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:15,520
Speaker 2: then they will be able to rest Kde, not just

890
00:46:15,560 --> 00:46:17,480
Speaker 2: for the regular season, but even in the postseason. Like

891
00:46:17,840 --> 00:46:21,120
Speaker 2: we saw Houston give themselves a really good chance to

892
00:46:21,160 --> 00:46:23,839
Speaker 2: win games even without high level offensive skill because they

893
00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:27,080
Speaker 2: just go, here's Tarry Eason and and Amen Thompson and

894
00:46:27,160 --> 00:46:29,359
Speaker 2: we're picking up full court and you're turning the ball

895
00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:33,400
Speaker 2: over now and it's a mess. Like they are able,

896
00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:37,799
Speaker 2: like they are able to prevent the redundancy that Phoenix had,

897
00:46:38,120 --> 00:46:39,640
Speaker 2: where you have a bunch of guys who do the

898
00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:43,600
Speaker 2: same thing. On Houston, what KD does is so specialized

899
00:46:43,640 --> 00:46:46,200
Speaker 2: for them that they kind of have an identity separate,

900
00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:48,440
Speaker 2: separate from him, so they will be able to win

901
00:46:48,520 --> 00:46:50,719
Speaker 2: games without him. They will be able to carry the

902
00:46:50,719 --> 00:46:52,680
Speaker 2: load so that he can come in and lift them

903
00:46:52,680 --> 00:46:54,520
Speaker 2: over the top. I think it's a I think it's

904
00:46:54,560 --> 00:46:58,280
Speaker 2: a fantastic on paper basketball fit. It'll be ugly sometimes.

905
00:46:58,600 --> 00:47:01,719
Speaker 2: Kdie's gonna have some nights where maybe the statistical performance

906
00:47:01,760 --> 00:47:04,120
Speaker 2: isn't there because it's ugly. They can't space the floor

907
00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:06,400
Speaker 2: as well for him, But they will in turn do

908
00:47:06,520 --> 00:47:09,319
Speaker 2: the same thing to the other team, so to buy

909
00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:11,560
Speaker 2: Kevin that margin for air. Before we get out of

910
00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:13,600
Speaker 2: here tonight, Coln, I didn't want to run this by

911
00:47:13,640 --> 00:47:19,640
Speaker 2: you because I've seen a lot of victory lapping criticism.

912
00:47:20,040 --> 00:47:22,120
Speaker 2: You know, let's just say the Phoenix Suns have been

913
00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:25,040
Speaker 2: the butt of the joke today because they took McHale

914
00:47:25,080 --> 00:47:29,360
Speaker 2: Bridges and Cam Johnson and Chris Paul and they turned

915
00:47:29,400 --> 00:47:37,040
Speaker 2: him into basically Bradley Beal and Dylan Brooks and Jalen

916
00:47:37,080 --> 00:47:39,520
Speaker 2: Green in one first round pick. I get that it

917
00:47:39,560 --> 00:47:42,480
Speaker 2: looks bad. Here is where this is where my brain

918
00:47:42,600 --> 00:47:47,360
Speaker 2: went this morning. They made it to the finals a

919
00:47:47,480 --> 00:47:51,799
Speaker 2: year where because of COVID everyone was hurt, and we

920
00:47:51,880 --> 00:47:55,160
Speaker 2: had a tray young Hawks team in the conference finals,

921
00:47:55,560 --> 00:47:59,160
Speaker 2: a Paul George Clippers team with an injured Kawhi in

922
00:47:59,239 --> 00:48:02,560
Speaker 2: the conference final, and that Sons team. And by the way,

923
00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:05,600
Speaker 2: they ran into Giannis and Giannis beat them four straight

924
00:48:05,680 --> 00:48:08,640
Speaker 2: times for the title. So they weren't good enough. Then

925
00:48:08,719 --> 00:48:10,920
Speaker 2: the next year they kind of have a great regular

926
00:48:10,960 --> 00:48:15,640
Speaker 2: season and Luca like embarrasses them, like embarrasses them for

927
00:48:15,719 --> 00:48:18,760
Speaker 2: the world to see. In the second round, they weren't

928
00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:22,920
Speaker 2: good enough, so they made an aggressive trade. They went

929
00:48:22,960 --> 00:48:26,040
Speaker 2: and got Kevin Durant. Every one of us would have

930
00:48:26,040 --> 00:48:27,759
Speaker 2: done the same thing at that point in time. It

931
00:48:27,800 --> 00:48:30,239
Speaker 2: was Kevin Durant and we had just seen him be

932
00:48:30,360 --> 00:48:33,840
Speaker 2: so amazing for Brooklyn in those couple of previous playoff runs.

933
00:48:34,400 --> 00:48:36,359
Speaker 2: Even the Chris Paul thing. Now, I would argue they

934
00:48:36,360 --> 00:48:39,440
Speaker 2: should have used Chris Paul's salary as a vehicle with

935
00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:42,759
Speaker 2: which to bring in more size and athleticism. But they like,

936
00:48:42,800 --> 00:48:45,279
Speaker 2: you're like Chris Paul for Bradley Beal, Like, I mean,

937
00:48:45,760 --> 00:48:48,479
Speaker 2: come on right, you could talk yourself into it. Again,

938
00:48:48,520 --> 00:48:50,719
Speaker 2: it wasn't perfect. There were mistakes. There are certain things

939
00:48:50,719 --> 00:48:52,960
Speaker 2: I would have done differently. But now we're on the

940
00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:55,160
Speaker 2: other side of this and it's like self awareness. We're

941
00:48:55,160 --> 00:48:57,000
Speaker 2: not good enough. We just missed the playoffs in the

942
00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:00,480
Speaker 2: Western Conference, Like Katie misses a few games and we

943
00:49:00,480 --> 00:49:03,719
Speaker 2: completely fall apart. Like, I understand it looks bad when

944
00:49:03,760 --> 00:49:06,680
Speaker 2: you zoom out, but to me, what happened to Phoenix

945
00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:08,440
Speaker 2: is just what happens when you get aggressive and it

946
00:49:08,480 --> 00:49:11,239
Speaker 2: doesn't work. Well, yeah, matter is there's risk.

947
00:49:11,880 --> 00:49:15,360
Speaker 1: Well yeah, the Bradley Beal deal. And I can't criticize

948
00:49:15,360 --> 00:49:18,200
Speaker 1: it because for years, I mean I must have been

949
00:49:18,239 --> 00:49:20,319
Speaker 1: on the air for five years saying I really like

950
00:49:20,400 --> 00:49:23,880
Speaker 1: Bradley Beal. He's playing with John Wall. You're never going

951
00:49:23,960 --> 00:49:27,759
Speaker 1: to flourish with John Wall. You got to get into,

952
00:49:28,040 --> 00:49:30,960
Speaker 1: you know, a more mature group of veteran players, and

953
00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:33,279
Speaker 1: then it's just like, over the course of a year

954
00:49:33,360 --> 00:49:36,400
Speaker 1: or two, he got really old, really fast, and really

955
00:49:36,440 --> 00:49:40,239
Speaker 1: banged up, and he just he just withered down. So

956
00:49:40,320 --> 00:49:42,919
Speaker 1: I was a Bradley Beal fan for years. I didn't

957
00:49:42,960 --> 00:49:46,040
Speaker 1: understand why he was so loyal to Washington, which was

958
00:49:46,080 --> 00:49:50,680
Speaker 1: poorly runed and poorly owned. So I can't I can't criticism,

959
00:49:50,680 --> 00:49:52,719
Speaker 1: and I always tend to be a big fan of

960
00:49:52,760 --> 00:49:56,400
Speaker 1: being aggressive. I like what Orlando just did to get banged,

961
00:49:56,440 --> 00:49:59,920
Speaker 1: So yeah, I can't bang. And I'm again, if they

962
00:50:00,120 --> 00:50:03,120
Speaker 1: hit on the number ten pick, they've got enough second

963
00:50:03,200 --> 00:50:06,080
Speaker 1: round picks, they got enough pieces to I think you

964
00:50:06,160 --> 00:50:07,880
Speaker 1: just have to take more big swings. I think with

965
00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:10,000
Speaker 1: Bradley Beal, I wonder if you just don't buy out

966
00:50:10,040 --> 00:50:11,880
Speaker 1: the contract, like I mean, that's how bad of a

967
00:50:11,880 --> 00:50:15,040
Speaker 1: deal it was. So, you know, I think if they

968
00:50:15,080 --> 00:50:17,680
Speaker 1: were in the East, you'd have a better vibe or

969
00:50:17,680 --> 00:50:20,719
Speaker 1: more optimism. I just think I look at San Antonio,

970
00:50:20,840 --> 00:50:23,000
Speaker 1: and look, I still think Denver's going to be really good.

971
00:50:23,600 --> 00:50:25,600
Speaker 1: I think they just, you know, I just look at

972
00:50:25,600 --> 00:50:30,680
Speaker 1: the West, the better gms, better rosters, deeper teams. I mean, God,

973
00:50:31,280 --> 00:50:34,520
Speaker 1: we've almost forgotten about what they're building in San Antonio.

974
00:50:34,719 --> 00:50:36,960
Speaker 1: Holy crap, do they have a lot of talent. They're

975
00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:40,360
Speaker 1: in the second inning. So I just think a phoenix

976
00:50:40,760 --> 00:50:43,920
Speaker 1: relative to the conference. You know, they just feel like

977
00:50:43,960 --> 00:50:48,839
Speaker 1: I have not, and they probably are. But I I mean,

978
00:50:49,680 --> 00:50:52,200
Speaker 1: I know Matt Ishbia and Justin Ishbia. I know Justin

979
00:50:52,239 --> 00:50:54,520
Speaker 1: actually I met him when I moved to Chicago. He's

980
00:50:54,920 --> 00:50:57,160
Speaker 1: part of the White Sox. I think ownership group now

981
00:50:58,640 --> 00:51:04,360
Speaker 1: and Matt got really agree. And I think one of

982
00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:09,600
Speaker 1: the things I've learned over the course of my life, Jason,

983
00:51:09,960 --> 00:51:13,680
Speaker 1: it's I made a lot of mistakes, but it's hard

984
00:51:13,680 --> 00:51:17,200
Speaker 1: to master two things. Like Michael Jordan tried baseball, right,

985
00:51:17,320 --> 00:51:21,080
Speaker 1: Randy Moss tried basketball. It's really hard. And I think

986
00:51:21,120 --> 00:51:24,439
Speaker 1: sometimes when aggressive owners come in and they think, hey,

987
00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:27,600
Speaker 1: you know, because the sons like don't have the biggest

988
00:51:27,600 --> 00:51:30,000
Speaker 1: scouting department, and the owner comes in and thinks, I

989
00:51:30,120 --> 00:51:34,120
Speaker 1: want stars, what you're really saying is I'm moving into

990
00:51:34,160 --> 00:51:38,960
Speaker 1: a completely different world and I'm smarter than Sam Presty. Right,

991
00:51:39,080 --> 00:51:44,400
Speaker 1: Like even Sam Presty the James Harden deal early, he

992
00:51:44,440 --> 00:51:47,319
Speaker 1: didn't get enough like it's it's I mean, I look

993
00:51:47,360 --> 00:51:50,279
Speaker 1: at GMS and football and basketball who I like, and

994
00:51:50,320 --> 00:51:54,319
Speaker 1: they make big mistakes. Shabbaz Napier the draft pick for

995
00:51:54,440 --> 00:51:57,880
Speaker 1: pat Riley in the heat, Like great people make mistakes.

996
00:51:58,400 --> 00:52:00,640
Speaker 1: Nobody on the internet, you know, the roles don't want

997
00:52:00,680 --> 00:52:02,920
Speaker 1: to ever admit it, but I think they came in

998
00:52:02,960 --> 00:52:05,279
Speaker 1: and the owner was a little hot and a little aggressive,

999
00:52:06,040 --> 00:52:09,960
Speaker 1: and this is a hard sport to master, even the

1000
00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:15,600
Speaker 1: best people just you know, you're you're drafting nineteen and

1001
00:52:15,680 --> 00:52:19,160
Speaker 1: twenty year olds, and I think, you know, I'm not

1002
00:52:19,200 --> 00:52:20,919
Speaker 1: going to bang on the suns because when they made

1003
00:52:20,920 --> 00:52:22,560
Speaker 1: the moves, I was like, I kind of like it,

1004
00:52:23,360 --> 00:52:26,240
Speaker 1: and then a year later I'm like, man, was I wrong?

1005
00:52:26,600 --> 00:52:29,360
Speaker 1: So I can't be I can't stand on any HIGHUS

1006
00:52:29,520 --> 00:52:32,839
Speaker 1: mountain today because I like their moves. I thought, Bradley Beal,

1007
00:52:32,960 --> 00:52:35,879
Speaker 1: Bradley Beal's been a disaster. There's nothing else you can say.

1008
00:52:35,880 --> 00:52:37,000
Speaker 1: It's just been a disaster.

1009
00:52:37,800 --> 00:52:40,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, it didn't work, And that happens sometimes, Like I mean,

1010
00:52:41,480 --> 00:52:43,319
Speaker 2: like the most recent example I can think of as

1011
00:52:43,360 --> 00:52:45,640
Speaker 2: the Raptors, Like I remember when the Raptors traded for Kawhi.

1012
00:52:46,000 --> 00:52:48,080
Speaker 2: Everyone was like, why would you do that. He's going

1013
00:52:48,120 --> 00:52:50,719
Speaker 2: to go to Los Angeles. He's telling everybody he's going

1014
00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:53,160
Speaker 2: to Los Angeles. His family's out there, he wants to

1015
00:52:53,160 --> 00:52:55,560
Speaker 2: be out there. That's where he's going. This is a rental.

1016
00:52:55,760 --> 00:52:57,840
Speaker 2: And it was by the way, if you like remove

1017
00:52:57,920 --> 00:53:00,600
Speaker 2: the championship from the equation, it's like he went there

1018
00:53:00,640 --> 00:53:02,040
Speaker 2: and then he left and he went to LA and

1019
00:53:02,040 --> 00:53:04,520
Speaker 2: the Raptors tanked, Like the Raptors fell apart after that,

1020
00:53:04,600 --> 00:53:08,040
Speaker 2: Like that's what happened, but they won the title. But

1021
00:53:08,120 --> 00:53:10,040
Speaker 2: even if you zoom in on the series, it's like

1022
00:53:10,640 --> 00:53:13,760
Speaker 2: three three in Philly and Kawhi hits like a leaning

1023
00:53:13,880 --> 00:53:16,240
Speaker 2: jump shot while falling out of bounds that hits every

1024
00:53:16,239 --> 00:53:18,160
Speaker 2: part of the rim and then falls in Like that

1025
00:53:18,320 --> 00:53:20,920
Speaker 2: was the gap. That was the gap between the Gamble

1026
00:53:21,040 --> 00:53:24,680
Speaker 2: being a success and being a failure. And so ultimately,

1027
00:53:24,719 --> 00:53:26,480
Speaker 2: I feel like we're just playing the results when we

1028
00:53:26,520 --> 00:53:28,319
Speaker 2: say that, and like, yeah, you know, I look at it.

1029
00:53:28,320 --> 00:53:31,279
Speaker 2: It's like you draft, you trade it for KD. There

1030
00:53:31,320 --> 00:53:34,360
Speaker 2: was one team who gave the twenty twenty three Nuggets trouble,

1031
00:53:34,480 --> 00:53:37,960
Speaker 2: one team, the Phoenix Suns. That the Phoenix Suns were

1032
00:53:37,960 --> 00:53:40,080
Speaker 2: the team that pushed them to two to two in

1033
00:53:40,120 --> 00:53:42,000
Speaker 2: the series, and it looked like everything was hanging in

1034
00:53:42,040 --> 00:53:45,160
Speaker 2: the balance, and so like, for whatever it's worth, it

1035
00:53:45,239 --> 00:53:48,520
Speaker 2: wasn't enough. But yeah, my take was less like, look

1036
00:53:48,560 --> 00:53:51,520
Speaker 2: at the Suns. They butchered everything, and like they acknowledged

1037
00:53:51,760 --> 00:53:54,080
Speaker 2: to themselves that they weren't good enough to win the title.

1038
00:53:54,360 --> 00:53:56,320
Speaker 2: They made an aggressive move for one of the twelve

1039
00:53:56,320 --> 00:53:58,400
Speaker 2: greatest players of all time when he was still playing

1040
00:53:58,440 --> 00:54:00,600
Speaker 2: really well, and it didn't work out, you know, and

1041
00:54:00,640 --> 00:54:03,560
Speaker 2: that's just how it goes sometimes. But Colin, it was

1042
00:54:03,560 --> 00:54:05,080
Speaker 2: great to see you today. Thanks so much for coming

1043
00:54:05,080 --> 00:54:06,920
Speaker 2: on the show. This has been a really fun season.

1044
00:54:07,040 --> 00:54:09,600
Speaker 2: Shout out to the NBA for giving us our first

1045
00:54:09,600 --> 00:54:11,520
Speaker 2: good NBA final in a very long time.

1046
00:54:11,640 --> 00:54:16,360
Speaker 1: Our best domestic draft coming up in forever. This is

1047
00:54:16,440 --> 00:54:22,279
Speaker 1: a great domestic draft. So that's we've talked about this.

1048
00:54:22,320 --> 00:54:24,680
Speaker 1: I think with NIL, I think you're going to have

1049
00:54:24,719 --> 00:54:27,200
Speaker 1: more players staying in college, the drafts are going to

1050
00:54:27,200 --> 00:54:30,480
Speaker 1: get more domestic. We're also coaching the best European players

1051
00:54:30,520 --> 00:54:34,920
Speaker 1: with the NIL money. I think draft picks over the

1052
00:54:34,960 --> 00:54:37,560
Speaker 1: next ten years are going to fortify teams much more

1053
00:54:37,600 --> 00:54:40,399
Speaker 1: quickly than they have for the previous twenty where it's

1054
00:54:40,480 --> 00:54:43,040
Speaker 1: eighteen year olds who are just not ready to play,

1055
00:54:43,719 --> 00:54:46,880
Speaker 1: so this will be a really fun draft to watch.

1056
00:54:46,920 --> 00:54:48,560
Speaker 1: There's some really special players.

1057
00:54:49,000 --> 00:54:52,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm super excited. The extended NBA Finals have put

1058
00:54:52,120 --> 00:54:53,080
Speaker 2: us right up against it.

1059
00:54:53,360 --> 00:54:53,640
Speaker 1: Guys.

1060
00:54:53,640 --> 00:54:55,320
Speaker 2: I have Sam Vessini coming on the show tomorrow. He

1061
00:54:55,320 --> 00:54:57,399
Speaker 2: does an incredible draft guide. We'll be doing a full

1062
00:54:57,480 --> 00:55:01,280
Speaker 2: NBA Draft preview. The Action Sure Draft is on Wednesday.

1063
00:55:01,320 --> 00:55:03,640
Speaker 2: It's literally right around the corner, so everything's right here.

1064
00:55:04,120 --> 00:55:05,600
Speaker 2: Colin is great to see. Thanks so much for giving

1065
00:55:05,680 --> 00:55:06,719
Speaker 2: us your time. For all of you guys who are

1066
00:55:06,760 --> 00:55:08,400
Speaker 2: on the YouTube stream, We're headed over to playback to

1067
00:55:08,440 --> 00:55:11,359
Speaker 2: take some callers, so that's playback dot TV slash Hoops tonight.

1068
00:55:11,400 --> 00:55:13,400
Speaker 2: I'll see you guys there. Everyone else, Thanks so much

1069
00:55:13,440 --> 00:55:16,640
Speaker 2: for supporting us this season. It's been an incredibly successful season.

1070
00:55:16,800 --> 00:55:18,719
Speaker 2: I can't say enough about the way you guys have

1071
00:55:18,760 --> 00:55:20,680
Speaker 2: supported us in the show over the course of this year.

1072
00:55:20,719 --> 00:55:22,479
Speaker 2: And we will see you guys tomorrow morning.

1073
00:55:23,080 --> 00:55:26,520
Speaker 1: Thanks Bud the volume