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Speaker 1: This is the Action Network podcast.

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Speaker 2: You can hear the shatter. It's for the crowd.

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Speaker 1: We have a big chance, a big chance to make.

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Speaker 2: Three pointer time. Oh what a man. Welcome to the

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Speaker 2: Action Network Podcast. I am your host, Brandon Anderson and

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Speaker 2: this is part two of our NBA mid season Update.

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Speaker 2: It's a crossover episode with Buckets, Action Networks daily NBA

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Speaker 2: betting podcasts. Folks, NFL is over. Finally, no football on

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Speaker 2: a Sunday. Imagine that no basketball either. For being honest,

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Speaker 2: many many eyes on the NBA coming out of the

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Speaker 2: All Star break. Hopefully not too much from the break,

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Speaker 2: playoffs around the corner. For many of you, like me,

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Speaker 2: perhaps perhaps not Joe Delaire on our podcast we'll get

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Speaker 2: to in a second, but many of you perhaps have

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Speaker 2: been paying a little more attentional football than basketball. This

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Speaker 2: is kind of that time of the year where it's like,

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Speaker 2: coming out of our hibernation, what's happened in the basketball

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Speaker 2: world out here? This podcast is for you and for me. Frankly,

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Speaker 2: this is your two part crash course. Get you ready

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Speaker 2: to watch and bet the NBA season the rest of

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Speaker 2: the way. So Part one already on the Buckets feed

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Speaker 2: and on the Action Network podcast feed with Jim Turvy.

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Speaker 2: Be sure to go back and listen to that one

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Speaker 2: with Jim on the Eastern Conference today, Part two heading

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Speaker 2: over to the West with Joe Delia At Joe Delia, Joe,

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Speaker 2: what's up?

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Speaker 1: Not too much, man, It's good to have you back

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Speaker 1: doing a little bit of hoops. It's been a been

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Speaker 1: a minute, dude.

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Speaker 2: It has been a minute. It is good to be back.

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Speaker 2: It's good to talk to some basketball. It is good

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Speaker 2: to talk about real basketball and not the All Star

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Speaker 2: weekend because that was terrible. All right, enough of that.

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Speaker 2: The assignment for today for Joe and from Jim the

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Speaker 2: other day, tell me one thing I need to know

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Speaker 2: about each NBA team as they come out of the

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Speaker 2: All Star break, and it's kind of up to them

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Speaker 2: what they want to do with that as a team trend,

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Speaker 2: as a player prof just something about the team, a

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Speaker 2: key thing I might miss. Just done like the night

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Speaker 2: to night grind in December and January. Just just like

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Speaker 2: I said, a crash course, get us up to speed.

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Speaker 2: We're gonna go through teams in order. Basically, if the

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Speaker 2: regular season started fresh zero and zero right now after

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Speaker 2: the All Start break, how do we expect these teams

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Speaker 2: to finish in the standings here forward, we're gonna go

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Speaker 2: worse to first, So okay, see at the end, not okay,

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Speaker 2: see at the beginning, and we'll do some big picture

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Speaker 2: of stuff, some conference futures, so just just jump right

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Speaker 2: into it. We're gonna do tiers as usual, similar tiers

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Speaker 2: to the one you heard from Jim Turby in part one.

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Speaker 2: So tier one, the just nope tier. Not sure if

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Speaker 2: there's really a full full nopeier. But Joe, who do

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Speaker 2: you got at the very bottom of the West.

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Speaker 1: So I've got the New Orleans Pelicans. They just they

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Speaker 1: just can't stay healthy. It's it's really unfortunate. They're a

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Speaker 1: team that you know, they traded brandon ingram Now for

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Speaker 1: better or for worse. Right, Zion is constantly in and

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Speaker 1: out of the lineup. Herb Jones they're missing for the

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Speaker 1: rest of the season. To Jeantay Murray, they're missing for

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Speaker 1: the rest of the season. And then you have obviously

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Speaker 1: c Jim McCullum. Maybe they started managing his minutes a

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Speaker 1: little bit. He's getting a little bit older. Trey Murphy's

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Speaker 1: been the dude. He's been unreal. But it's just it's

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Speaker 1: like all for naught. This team is just totally cooked.

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Speaker 1: They're so far down the standings. I don't know how

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Speaker 1: like you can expect them to do anything besides really

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Speaker 1: shoot for the top of the lottery maybe get a

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Speaker 1: Cooper Flag lottery ticket or something like that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that was the one team coming into the season

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Speaker 2: that I was just like, I don't know anything what

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Speaker 2: to do with this team or how to bet them,

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Speaker 2: And I guess I feel I didn't know that that

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Speaker 2: was right. I'm just glad I stayed out of the fray.

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Speaker 2: We didn't know what was coming with this team. It's

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Speaker 2: kind of gross, Honestly, I don't know. I am sad

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Speaker 2: about Zion, and I don't feel like that's moving in

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Speaker 2: any direction that NBA fan should be happy about. One

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Speaker 2: other team in this tier for you, the Utah Jazz,

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Speaker 2: who are trying to tank. Maybe are they trying to tank?

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Speaker 1: I don't know. They seem always play up to their company,

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Speaker 1: whether it's like Jim always talks about this, and so

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Speaker 1: does our friend Andrew O'Connor Watts. He talks about this too.

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Speaker 1: Basically that the Jazz seem to play their starters in

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Speaker 1: the matchups where they probably just should lose anyway where

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Speaker 1: you know, they play like in Oklahoma City, they play

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Speaker 1: even like a Golden State or team like that, where

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Speaker 1: they could play their their normal guys and they just

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Speaker 1: lose because they're they're they're playing a better team, right.

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Speaker 1: But then in the games that maybe they could lose

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Speaker 1: or it would be a little bit closer, they seem

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Speaker 1: to rest those guys and it's it's a pretty interesting dynamic.

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Speaker 1: One player that has been really really good though, has

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Speaker 1: been Isaiah Collier and since the like really since the

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Speaker 1: start of February, he continues to improve or since the

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Speaker 1: start of the new year, and then in February especially,

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Speaker 1: he's averaging almost a double double, about thirteen points in

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Speaker 1: almost ten assists a game. So he's been awesome, great

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Speaker 1: for player props, and his RA has actually been popping.

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Speaker 1: It hasn't adjusted it as much as the assists line,

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Speaker 1: So if that's an angle that you wanted to bet

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Speaker 1: on a nightly basis, They play fast and they are

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Speaker 1: allowing him to run the offense, which is pretty important

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Speaker 1: for a rookie point guard.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting. I didn't even think he was a

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Speaker 2: point guard. He's a guy that I was really low

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Speaker 2: on as a prospect. You and Jim both hit the

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Speaker 2: group chat with the possible Isaiah Collier Rookie of the

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Speaker 2: Year ticket a while back, and I just dumped all

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Speaker 2: over it, just as my evaluation of him, he did

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Speaker 2: not have this level of passing or the assist turnover

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Speaker 2: ratio that he's had. Yes, no, do I need the

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Speaker 2: Isaiah Collier Rookie of the Year ticket in the wide

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Speaker 2: open field.

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Speaker 1: If you wanted one. I don't think it's crazy, to

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Speaker 1: be honest to you. I think he's about thirty or forty.

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Speaker 1: I think depending on where you shop it, I think

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Speaker 1: there might be even as high as a fifty to

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Speaker 1: one if you want to just sprinkle it. I don't mind.

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Speaker 1: Our whole thing this year with Rookie of the Year

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Speaker 1: has been building a position around all the players that

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Speaker 1: we think, well, like, this could be a pretty good

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Speaker 1: CLV sandwich. But it is going to put us into

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Speaker 1: a position where at the end of the season, if

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Speaker 1: we don't have the guy that we think it's going

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Speaker 1: to go to, we're gonna be able to take a

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Speaker 1: lot of that you know, expected equity and then throw

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Speaker 1: it into that player at the end of the season.

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Speaker 1: So we just talked about that on Buckets and it's

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Speaker 1: you know, we're always we're always adding a guy in

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Speaker 1: the Rookie of the Year portfolio this year.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it does seem like the sort of race that

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Speaker 2: you either need to feel good about the one candidate

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Speaker 2: you like or hit a little bit of everyone. The

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Speaker 2: Matt More Special and I know you guys have built

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Speaker 2: a good position on that good episode over at Buckets

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Speaker 2: that just came out Monday morning from the Future Jays,

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Speaker 2: Jim and Joe and Matt next team a little bit,

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Speaker 2: just barely, I think, in the last two weeks earn

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Speaker 2: their way out of the bottom tier into their own tier.

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Speaker 2: The low key not hanous group. Talk to me about

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Speaker 2: the Blazers.

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Speaker 1: So the Blazers are twenty three and thirty two on

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Speaker 1: the season, but since January first, they actually have a

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Speaker 1: winning record. They're twelve and one and they are fifteenth

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Speaker 1: in net rating. They're almost exactly a net neutral. They

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Speaker 1: are minus zero point one in terms of net ratings.

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Speaker 1: So the biggest thing to me is that Scoot Henderson

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Speaker 1: has really taken that lead and he's averaging thirteen point

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Speaker 1: seven points five point four assists and three rebounds since January. First,

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Speaker 1: you're looking DeAndre Ayton's probably you know, done for the season.

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Speaker 1: He just tied an injury. Imagine they're going to shut

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Speaker 1: him down. Could be time for Donovan Klingen. That's definitely interesting.

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Speaker 1: And to me, they're just a team that has been

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Speaker 1: pretty good against the spread there they've been a little

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Speaker 1: bit undervalued. They're thirty one to twenty three and one

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Speaker 1: against the spread, which is the sixth best against the

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Speaker 1: spread record this season, And a lot of it has

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Speaker 1: really come more recently as they've had this surge. They're

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Speaker 1: winning games outright against teams that you look at the

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Speaker 1: schedule go oh, that's an easy win, or that they

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Speaker 1: should be easy, and they're they're not anymore. And I

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Speaker 1: think the biggest thing has been scoot where you know,

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Speaker 1: we've seen this now with guys coming from the G League,

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Speaker 1: especially like the g leaguing night, they take longer to

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Speaker 1: get going, but then they can kind of cook Jalen Green.

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Speaker 1: As much as I don't think that he's a great player,

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Speaker 1: he has really developed over the past say like season

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Speaker 1: or calendar year or so to the player that he

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Speaker 1: is today. And he was not even close to that

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Speaker 1: before and Scoot Henderson brutal, brutal, brutal rookie year Major

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Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year pick look atrocious, but now he's

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Speaker 1: starting to come along. So I do think it's just

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Speaker 1: the learning curve is different for some of these guys,

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Speaker 1: and the Blazers have just been pretty good. Tamani Kamara

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Speaker 1: has been awesome and there they're a tough team to

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Speaker 1: play on a nightly basis. They're one of those teams

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Speaker 1: that you just don't want to see because they're always

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Speaker 1: no labor he off.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting that those G League guys, you'd think

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Speaker 2: that they should be more ready. They've been playing professional

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Speaker 2: ball in the NBA basically, so that they should have

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Speaker 2: a faster learning curve. Point guards, though in particular from

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Speaker 2: my study of traditionally take a longer learning curve anyway,

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Speaker 2: So I think that kind of checks out. I'm hearing

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Speaker 2: Scoot Henderson most improved next year. Maybe that's what I'm

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Speaker 2: hearing from that. He's kind of we love the guys

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Speaker 2: that make the leap in the second half when people

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Speaker 2: aren't really paying attention, and then it just doesn't really

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Speaker 2: have to You don't have to make the leap again,

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Speaker 2: you just kind of have to curry it over and

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Speaker 2: keep doing the thing later. So, yeah, twelve and eleven,

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Speaker 2: and since jan you're first. That's not terrible in the West.

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Speaker 2: That really we only have two teams that are just

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Speaker 2: outright terrible. So let's get to our next tier. I'm

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Speaker 2: gonna let you introduce this tier because we enjoy our

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Speaker 2: name for it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so we're calling this the rights to face Oklahoma

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Speaker 1: City Tier. There's a lot of teams competing for realistically,

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Speaker 1: that nine to ten spot in the seating, and that's

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Speaker 1: gonna be your eight seed probably or maybe not. Honestly, like,

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Speaker 1: even if you break out of that, you you know,

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Speaker 1: you you really have to, you're gonna be playing Oklahoma City.

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Speaker 1: It's not it's not gonna be a great situation. And

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Speaker 1: even if you do excel a little bit more and

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Speaker 1: you're able to qualify for maybe the seventh seed, that

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Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily make it too much better with a likely

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Speaker 1: matchup against you know, Memphis or the Denver Nuggets. So

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Speaker 1: I have Dallas in this tier, and I don't know

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Speaker 1: if I would have had them a week ago or

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Speaker 1: even right after the Luka Doncic trade.

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Speaker 2: I don't.

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Speaker 1: I don't think I would have had them there. I

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Speaker 1: think that they are going to be pretty good when

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Speaker 1: they're healthy. In terms of the defense, Kyrie Irving has

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Speaker 1: looked obviously great, and you know, people are starting to

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Speaker 1: call this the Max Christie trade. Max Max Christie has

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Speaker 1: been awesome for them since they got him seven over

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Speaker 1: seventeen points a game, five boards, three and a half assists.

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Speaker 1: It was really never coming super close to these numbers

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Speaker 1: when he was on the Lakers. He had been really

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Speaker 1: good over the past month, month and a half for them,

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Speaker 1: But you know, obviously he's packaged in this trade for

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Speaker 1: Luka Doncic. They just aren't gonna have a center for

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Speaker 1: the next like two, three, maybe even four weeks, with

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis getting hurt, Daniel Gaffer getting hurt, and Derek

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Speaker 1: Lively getting hurt. So the natural look has to be

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Speaker 1: a PJ. Washington for his rebounds. They've held him out

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Speaker 1: through the All Star Break in an effort. I think

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Speaker 1: they at least get him healthy, so they have somebody

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Speaker 1: that's a semblance of a big and they're just gonna

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Speaker 1: ride with the small lineup. It could be good for

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Speaker 1: the playoffs if they are able to figure out some

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Speaker 1: small ball lineups that work, but I do struggle with

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Speaker 1: them over the course of the regular season. This is

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Speaker 1: gonna be very, very difficult for this team to kind

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Speaker 1: of excel. Like I know, they've surprised and stayed alive

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Speaker 1: without Luka Doncic. They've also had centers and then you

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Speaker 1: go and get Anthony Davis. It's just a bad It

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Speaker 1: feels like bad vibes there, and I struggle to see

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Speaker 1: how Dallas is going to stay afloat in the Western Conference.

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Speaker 1: They have some room to work with because of their

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Speaker 1: current record, but I could definitely see the bottom falling

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Speaker 1: out real quick if they aren't able to get anybody

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Speaker 1: healthy soon.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, is that Dwight Powell's music. Dwight Powell's still making

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Speaker 2: a living out here playing center for the Mavericks. I

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Speaker 2: think I saw what it's a trivia of my friends

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Speaker 2: and I did. I believe it's just like him, Steph Draimon.

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Speaker 2: I forget like two other dudes that have been with

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Speaker 2: their current team for a decade. Dwight Powell, just like

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Speaker 2: the cockroach of the NBA, is still hanging around.

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Speaker 1: And the sneaky little detail there is they don't even

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Speaker 1: have Maxi Kleiba anymore because Maxi Kleiba was in.

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Speaker 2: The little bit, don't just traaler any of it.

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Speaker 1: So they like they don't even have him. And he's

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Speaker 1: not a great big, but he's a big, he's another body.

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Speaker 1: They don't even have him. So really tough I think

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Speaker 1: for Dallas right now moving forward.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and just to be clear on the numbers here,

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Speaker 2: just on the setup, you kind of get into this,

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Speaker 2: but we only have three teams below this in the

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Speaker 2: West that are clearly blow The Blazers are not going

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Speaker 2: to get enough into this mix, I don't think, and

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Speaker 2: obviously the teams blow that. So that means this is

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Speaker 2: five teams in this tier, so twelve eleven, ten to

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Speaker 2: nine to eight. Four of those five teams, assuming that

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Speaker 2: this tier is right, teams nine in below literally cannot

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Speaker 2: be anything but the eight seed. That is the best

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Speaker 2: possible outcome for them. If you're not seven or eight

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Speaker 2: when the right of season ends, you can't you can't

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Speaker 2: be anything better than the eight seed. You got to

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Speaker 2: win two play in games just to get to the

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Speaker 2: right to play Oklahoma City and the Mavericks are coming

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Speaker 2: in at number twelve for US on this list that's

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Speaker 2: not great. And obviously some of these teams like Dallas

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Speaker 2: Golden State Lakers, some of these teams frankly for me

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Speaker 2: for the listener coming in with what's been happening the

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Speaker 2: rest of the season, well, not super relevant because Lucas

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Speaker 2: gone and all the data we have from the year

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Speaker 2: not really particularly important going forward. One team that didn't

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Speaker 2: really make changes that we thought was going to Phoenix Suns.

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Speaker 2: They're next done your last.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, they couldn't get off the Bradley Beal contract. They

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Speaker 1: were trying their darnedest to get Jimmy Butler over there,

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Speaker 1: and they couldn't. They just couldn't make a deal happen.

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Speaker 1: I know that they made that one trade where you know,

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Speaker 1: they brought in they traded one first round pick for

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Speaker 1: three first round picks of lesser quality or so to speak,

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Speaker 1: and they still couldn't really get too much done. I

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Speaker 1: like the acquisition of Nick Richards. I thought that was

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Speaker 1: a smart move. I thought that was a good move,

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Speaker 1: But at the same time, that's not a needle moving move.

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Speaker 1: And Bowl Bowl has been surprisingly good. But at the

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Speaker 1: same time, like this is a team that has Kevin

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Speaker 1: Durant Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, and they're still below

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Speaker 1: five hundred right now. Like they've basically demoted Bradley Beale

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Speaker 1: from the starting lineup in an effort to try to

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Speaker 1: get him to waive his no trade clause, and he

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Speaker 1: wouldn't do it. They're below five hundred. They couldn't really

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Speaker 1: add anybody. And regardless of how you look at this,

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Speaker 1: this is a team that doesn't really have a lot

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Speaker 1: of options right now. They can't really get anybody in

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Speaker 1: the buyout market. They don't have a lot of options

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Speaker 1: still left. And then the free agent acquisitions that they made,

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Speaker 1: you know, like they bring in Tias Jones, Tias Jones

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Speaker 1: barely even playing. He plays like twenty ish minutes a night,

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Speaker 1: And our expectation at the beginning of the year was, Oh,

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Speaker 1: this is gonna be great. He's he doesn't turn the

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Speaker 1: ball over, he can help run the offense. It'll make

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Speaker 1: this team a lot better. And then they're like not

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Speaker 1: really doing that. So unless there's a major change here.

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Speaker 1: And I think we gave Budenholzer maybe a little bit

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Speaker 1: too much credit that it's just it's not like I

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Speaker 1: don't I just don't see what the upside is for

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Speaker 1: this team, obviously they can beat anybody. They can contend

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Speaker 1: with anybody when you have Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.

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Speaker 1: But we've seen this formula before and they have to

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Speaker 1: be perfect in order for that to work because they're

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Speaker 1: just they're taking a lot of tunes and it's a

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Speaker 1: math problem, and they're a little bit older. As good

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Speaker 1: as they both are, I don't know if the rest

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Speaker 1: of this team is really good enough to help move

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Speaker 1: the Suns forward through the rest of the season.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, this is a tough one. This to me is

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Speaker 2: probably my biggest miss as far as preseason futures go.

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Speaker 2: So I you know, last episode with Jim, I talked about, Okay,

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Speaker 2: I've got my position on Kenny Atkinson for Coach of

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Speaker 2: the Year thirty to one. Do I need the hedge? Well,

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Speaker 2: I made two bets and Coach Bud was the other one.

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Speaker 2: And in the world where I really paid attention to

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Speaker 2: the NBA for like two weeks to start the year,

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Speaker 2: I'm looking right now. The Suns started out eight and one.

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Speaker 2: I was like, Yes, Coach Bud got the ticket, let's go.

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Speaker 2: I had Suns Warriors dual forecast and Division Warriors were

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Speaker 2: looking great early. I'm feeling really good, and then it

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Speaker 2: just has totally fallen apart. And right now it feels

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Speaker 2: to me like they don't even really want to tank.

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Speaker 2: Like you said, they don't have their picks to do

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Speaker 2: much with anyway. It just feels like they're one rolled

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Speaker 2: ankle or hammy or something from either Booker or Durant

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Speaker 2: from this just like totally crumbling and falling out of

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Speaker 2: the mikes. To me, instinctively, they just scream, we're not

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Speaker 2: even in the play end of this year. And I

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Speaker 2: feel like it could have that direction, a team that

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Speaker 2: I wish would have that direction. Frankly, are the Sacramento Kings.

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Speaker 2: Tell me about the Kings?

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Speaker 1: You mean the Bulls West right. In fact, they bring

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Speaker 1: back this pairing of DeMar Derozen and Zach Lavine and

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Speaker 1: I strug. I've talked about this before, but like, I

351
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Speaker 1: don't understand the combination. The combination just hasn't worked. People go, oh, well,

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Speaker 1: it worked the first year, but it's like that was

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Speaker 1: literally like three four years ago, before Lonzo got hurt.

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Speaker 1: It did work right, And now these players are older,

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Speaker 1: they played together, we've seen a bigger sample size, it

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Speaker 1: doesn't work. The meshing doesn't really work well. On the

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Speaker 1: other side of this is you had a player in

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Speaker 1: darreon Fox that wanted out and you bring in zach Lavine.

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Speaker 1: From a talent perspective, that's not a bad swap. So

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Speaker 1: I do you think that they're okay? I think they're

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Speaker 1: gonna float around there. They're just gonna be that. Maybe

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Speaker 1: they'll maybe they'll be the ten seed or like the eleven.

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Speaker 1: They're not gonna fall all the way out. I think

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Speaker 1: the floor is too high. And they added Markel Foltz,

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Speaker 1: who's a decent ad given that they kind of need

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Speaker 1: another ball handler, a little bit of a facilitator. So

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Speaker 1: they're gonna be there. They're gonna be a nuisance, but

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Speaker 1: they're never gonna make any real noise in the West.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, they're a nuisance to me as a fan, like

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Speaker 2: exactly what the Bulls were in the East, all the

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Speaker 2: years of the Plants. Like, nobody wants to watch the

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Speaker 2: Kings and the Plan, when I could have watched the Lawyers,

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Speaker 2: when I could have watched the Spurs, I could watch

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Speaker 2: the Suns. Given the options, I just don't nobody's picking

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Speaker 2: the Kings and that mix. I just mentioned the lawyers,

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Speaker 2: they're next on your list.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So I think that the early returns with Jimmy

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Speaker 1: Butler are good from a basketball fit perspective. It's a

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Speaker 1: little odd seeing Quinton Post getting so many minutes out there,

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Speaker 1: for sure, so that's a little weird. But I think

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Speaker 1: that the returns are good. Jimmy's a super high IQ

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Speaker 1: player and he's played very well thing with Draymond and

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Speaker 1: with Curry, and that's the thing that matters, right, And

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Speaker 1: the concern is, obviously they don't That's not a lot

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Speaker 1: of shooting to have out there between Draymond and Jimmy,

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Speaker 1: But Jimmy's a guy that helps them with their free

387
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Speaker 1: throw free throw rate, Golden State just does not get

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Speaker 1: to the free throw line. They don't have any breaks

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Speaker 1: in play. It's hard, I think, to disrupt a team

390
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Speaker 1: an opposing team's rhythm outside of the flurry of threes

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Speaker 1: that they had, which they don't really have this year

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Speaker 1: because the only guy has been Curry. Buddy Heald is

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Speaker 1: a little bit too inconsistent. He struggled to kind of

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Speaker 1: thrive or so to speak, with Golden State outside of

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Speaker 1: a random game here or there. Well, he'll make six

396
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Speaker 1: or seven threes, and Jimmy gets the free throw line,

397
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Speaker 1: he generates some of those tougher buckets. He's another guy

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Speaker 1: that can create from the interior, and I think that

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Speaker 1: that's super important. The on court numbers aren't great yet,

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Speaker 1: but it's also only been like a three game sample size,

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Speaker 1: so I think you just have to throw that out

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Speaker 1: the window and say, when you look at this, it

403
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Speaker 1: makes sense basketball wise. I just don't know if it

404
00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:04,280
Speaker 1: makes them title contenders or if it makes them maybe

405
00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:07,399
Speaker 1: like a very tough first or second round out. I

406
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Speaker 1: think that they're going to get through. I think they'll

407
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Speaker 1: be in the play in. I think they'll probably get

408
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Speaker 1: through the play in, but I don't know. I don't

409
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Speaker 1: know if they can actually make any real noise in

410
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Speaker 1: the Western Conference, especially if that first matchup is against

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Speaker 1: like an Oklahoma City or you know, or a Denver.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, this is flanderous because these are players

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Speaker 2: that I love, But the play in has sort of

414
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Speaker 2: become Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler's specialty. Like that's sort

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Speaker 2: of where these dudes have lived for the last few years.

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Speaker 2: And I think in this group, to me, of the

417
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Speaker 2: teams on this tier. My question for you is this,

418
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Speaker 2: if the Warriors could get above this tier just by

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Speaker 2: one spot and get themselves out of the eighth, they're

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Speaker 2: gonna get demolished. If they play Oklahoma City, get out

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Speaker 2: of the eight, get to the seventh seed, win your

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Speaker 2: first play in game, get to the seven, and let's

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Speaker 2: call it not Denver's. Let's paint the world that we've

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Speaker 2: seen where Denver ends up in the four or five

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Speaker 2: and Denver okase here on the other side of the bracket.

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Speaker 2: And we've seen this in the last we saw in

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Speaker 2: the East a little bit too last year. Could Golden State,

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Speaker 2: you know, Draymond just made headlines this weekend as all

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Speaker 2: as saying that the Warriors are coming the championship. I

430
00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:19,159
Speaker 2: don't think so. But could they be the team that

431
00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:22,080
Speaker 2: makes the surprise run to the conference finals if they

432
00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:25,119
Speaker 2: get the right path assuming the right path is not okay?

433
00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:27,520
Speaker 1: See, I think they just they just would need a

434
00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:29,800
Speaker 1: lot like they would need so much because basically they

435
00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:34,520
Speaker 1: would have to have the two three be Memphis, who

436
00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,360
Speaker 1: I don't think that they can beat, and probably Houston,

437
00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:40,080
Speaker 1: who I think they could maybe bet because they've beaten

438
00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:43,200
Speaker 1: Houston a lot over the past couple of seasons, right,

439
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:45,640
Speaker 1: So that's what they would have to have. It would

440
00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:48,600
Speaker 1: have to be the perfect draw, and I don't I

441
00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,119
Speaker 1: don't know if I really see it. I struggle with

442
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,800
Speaker 1: this Golden State Warriors team. They have all the name

443
00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:57,359
Speaker 1: equity right in Curry, Jimmy Butler, these guys that can

444
00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,359
Speaker 1: Draymond Green, these guys that can pull things out of nowhere.

445
00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:05,080
Speaker 1: But I just don't know if they have that gear anymore.

446
00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,400
Speaker 1: And I know that Jimmy's motivated, But at the same time,

447
00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,040
Speaker 1: Jimmy still just got paid, so like I think that

448
00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:14,080
Speaker 1: he's going to try. I think that this year should

449
00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:18,399
Speaker 1: probably be okay, but they still have a lot of

450
00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:19,800
Speaker 1: work to do. They have a lot of ground to

451
00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:21,800
Speaker 1: make up. And it as good as I think the

452
00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:25,439
Speaker 1: basketball fit has been so far, it's very tough to

453
00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:30,800
Speaker 1: assimilate a player that's as polarizing as Jimmy Butler in

454
00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:32,560
Speaker 1: the last like thirty games of the season.

455
00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:34,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think this feels to me like a team

456
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,119
Speaker 2: that I would look at a long shot ticket on

457
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,320
Speaker 2: an in season tournament that were happening the next two months,

458
00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:42,000
Speaker 2: like the one offs, where you just need to win

459
00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,960
Speaker 2: like six games. Okay, sure, maybe I can paint the picture.

460
00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:46,920
Speaker 2: Then I think it's asking a little bit much. I'm

461
00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:50,040
Speaker 2: surprised but intrigued by your last team in this yeer,

462
00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:52,840
Speaker 2: because again last is best. So of this eight to

463
00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,679
Speaker 2: twelve group you had above the Warriors, above the Suns,

464
00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:00,320
Speaker 2: above the MAVs, of the Kings, whatever, the Santo Onio

465
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:03,680
Speaker 2: Spurs you have as number eight, middle of the last.

466
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:04,760
Speaker 2: Tell me about the Spurs.

467
00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,800
Speaker 1: So the Spurs are technically like lowest really in this tier,

468
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:13,000
Speaker 1: coming in in terms of record, but they and their

469
00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:16,359
Speaker 1: defense has been like rocky. They're twenty eighth in defense

470
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:19,400
Speaker 1: on cleaning the last since January first, but their adjusted

471
00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:22,920
Speaker 1: defense on the season is seventeen, so that's a little

472
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,080
Speaker 1: bit more middle of the road here. I think that

473
00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:29,800
Speaker 1: the Fox inclusion was almost as zero cost upgrade because

474
00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:32,040
Speaker 1: they didn't have to trade vessel. They didn't have to

475
00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:34,639
Speaker 1: trade sohon they were able to keep most of the

476
00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:38,119
Speaker 1: players like around Wemby that they wanted to And to me,

477
00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:41,160
Speaker 1: this was this was a strong move. Fox is a

478
00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:45,520
Speaker 1: plus nineteen point four in one hundred and seventy nine minutes.

479
00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,800
Speaker 1: Like it's insane, It's absolutely insane. I think one hundred

480
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,080
Speaker 1: and sevent nine possessions. I'm sorry, but either way, it's

481
00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 1: been insane and I think that that is going to

482
00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,200
Speaker 1: help elevate them. That was just a clear plug and play.

483
00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:01,280
Speaker 1: Like Chris is getting a little older. I think Chris

484
00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,200
Speaker 1: Paul's been really good. But when you can I think

485
00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:06,320
Speaker 1: at this point you have to say that d Aaron

486
00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:08,560
Speaker 1: Fox is a bit of an upgrade to Chris Paul

487
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:10,560
Speaker 1: just in terms of what they can do on court.

488
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:12,760
Speaker 1: And it also helps, I think further down, where you

489
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:16,520
Speaker 1: don't have minutes where there's no primary ball handler on

490
00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,520
Speaker 1: the floor, You're gonna always have either one of Darren

491
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:21,760
Speaker 1: Fox or Chris Paul on the court, and I think

492
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:25,000
Speaker 1: that helps stabilize the team. You're also seeing Stefan Castle

493
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:27,080
Speaker 1: get a little bit more run where he doesn't even

494
00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:30,000
Speaker 1: have to really run the offense every time down the court.

495
00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:32,240
Speaker 1: There can be possessions where Fox plays a little bit

496
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:35,200
Speaker 1: off ball or Chris Paul plays off ball, and Stefan

497
00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:39,080
Speaker 1: Castle can start facilitating the offense and it gives a

498
00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:42,800
Speaker 1: different look for San Antonio. So I think when you

499
00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:45,760
Speaker 1: couple it with that, I was shocked by this on

500
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:49,000
Speaker 1: the season with a minimum of two hundred and fifty possessions.

501
00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:53,360
Speaker 1: The Spurs have three different lineups in the top twelve

502
00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:57,080
Speaker 1: fun cleaning the glass. So I think they're a team

503
00:23:57,160 --> 00:23:59,720
Speaker 1: that can beat anybody. They're a little bit of a

504
00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:02,320
Speaker 1: match problem for a lot of different teams because you

505
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:06,600
Speaker 1: have guys like Victor wium Minyama, and if they see

506
00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,800
Speaker 1: this expansion in their minutes right where, say, if you're

507
00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:12,639
Speaker 1: in the playoffs and Wemby starts playing thirty five plus

508
00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,800
Speaker 1: or forty minutes a game, what does that do? Or

509
00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:18,640
Speaker 1: if Fox is playing forty minutes or you know, Vissel

510
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,240
Speaker 1: or Castle, these guys start playing a lot more minutes.

511
00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:23,879
Speaker 1: It kind of changes what the ceiling can be for

512
00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,320
Speaker 1: this team. So I like them. I think the Castle

513
00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:30,720
Speaker 1: is a very live rookie year candidate. He's a clear

514
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:32,560
Speaker 1: favorite right now. We talked about this a little bit

515
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,280
Speaker 1: more on The Future Jay's episode of Buckets, But to me,

516
00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,800
Speaker 1: the Spurs have the highest ceiling and we've seen Wemby

517
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,679
Speaker 1: just like the growth is exponential. So every time there

518
00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:45,560
Speaker 1: seems to be a division, you go, man, he's a

519
00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:47,640
Speaker 1: lot better than he was like three months ago. He's

520
00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:49,880
Speaker 1: a lot better than he was at this point, even

521
00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:53,160
Speaker 1: if you look a year ago from today, he's significantly

522
00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:56,000
Speaker 1: better than he was then. So I think that this

523
00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:59,120
Speaker 1: is a team that has untapped potential, whereas a lot

524
00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:01,560
Speaker 1: of the teams that we just talked about before. I

525
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,280
Speaker 1: think that, like you know, we're trying to say, these

526
00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,160
Speaker 1: guys have to reach back into something that they had

527
00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,120
Speaker 1: right whereas the Spurs have to grow into what they

528
00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:10,720
Speaker 1: still could be.

529
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:14,040
Speaker 2: Yeah. I like that a lot. My fear is is

530
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:16,760
Speaker 2: there enough time? Are there enough games left for the

531
00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:18,720
Speaker 2: Spurs to close the ground, because like you said, they

532
00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:20,960
Speaker 2: start at the bottom of this tier, and I'm not

533
00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:23,840
Speaker 2: a small margin either right now. Like looking at the

534
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,240
Speaker 2: standings right now where the Spurs.

535
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:28,639
Speaker 1: At, it's only three losses though to the Mavericks, so

536
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:30,120
Speaker 1: they have a lot fewer.

537
00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,120
Speaker 2: Sure you're right by by the losses, Yeah, they need

538
00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:35,720
Speaker 2: to get the wins. They are seven wins behind the Mavericks,

539
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,440
Speaker 2: but only three losses behind, so yeah, you're right, they

540
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,600
Speaker 2: do have some chances to get wins. Here's here's my

541
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,000
Speaker 2: I'm just gonna throw a future out for you here.

542
00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:45,720
Speaker 2: This is why I know you just talked about in

543
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,680
Speaker 2: the Buckets episode as well, with Matt and Jim. I

544
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:51,480
Speaker 2: think even Matt thinks that the Defensive Player of the

545
00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:54,480
Speaker 2: Year award is over. I think if the Spurs don't

546
00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:57,000
Speaker 2: make the push you're expecting here and do end up

547
00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:59,119
Speaker 2: outside the plane, which I do think is their most

548
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,639
Speaker 2: likeliest scenario, given that they are seven wins back of

549
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:05,600
Speaker 2: the eight seed right now, if they don't, and if

550
00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,800
Speaker 2: you're right, and you are right, that the numbers defensively

551
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:11,320
Speaker 2: are not great for the team, like they are below

552
00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:14,760
Speaker 2: average even on the adjusted for the whole season. To me,

553
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:17,840
Speaker 2: I got this one way wrong. I thought Wemby. Wemby's

554
00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,119
Speaker 2: been better offensively already than I thought he would get

555
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:23,320
Speaker 2: to this year, but he's been way less impactful defensively.

556
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,159
Speaker 2: I do not think women Yama Defensive Player of the

557
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,639
Speaker 2: Year is cooked. I think that if the Spurs don't

558
00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:32,199
Speaker 2: make the push that we want them to, if they

559
00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:34,920
Speaker 2: don't make it into at least the play in, he's

560
00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:38,320
Speaker 2: being priced right now at like minus twenty five hundred,

561
00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:40,600
Speaker 2: minus thirty five hundred for Dennis Player of the Year.

562
00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:43,320
Speaker 2: I don't know who the position is. It's probably just

563
00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:46,240
Speaker 2: the next two guys, Jaron Jackson, Evan Mobley. You can

564
00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:48,680
Speaker 2: basically bet both of those two together for like fifteen

565
00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:52,680
Speaker 2: to one. Right now, I just think maybe no one's

566
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,120
Speaker 2: gonna do the work and we're just gonna crown Wemby

567
00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:57,359
Speaker 2: and he's gonna have all the stocks. But if you

568
00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,159
Speaker 2: do any of the work and it's a bad team

569
00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:02,879
Speaker 2: that didn't make the play in, that's not even playing

570
00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:05,280
Speaker 2: Like defensive player of the Year goes to a top five,

571
00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:08,440
Speaker 2: usually top three defensive team. This is not a top

572
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:10,520
Speaker 2: half of the league defensive team, and one that, like

573
00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:14,199
Speaker 2: you said, is playing bottom three defense. And that is

574
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:18,200
Speaker 2: also part of the Fox thing too potentially, So that

575
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:21,359
Speaker 2: to me just is a number that I'm willing to

576
00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:23,760
Speaker 2: take a shot on to possibly be wrong on. I

577
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 2: know you kind of feel similarly, just on that position.

578
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,159
Speaker 2: If there's somebody else besides Jackson or Mobile that I

579
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,040
Speaker 2: would need to add to that position, because I don't

580
00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:35,520
Speaker 2: see other names. It should be a thunder, But neither

581
00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:37,160
Speaker 2: one of the guys from the thunder that it should

582
00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:39,600
Speaker 2: be have played enough games, So I don't know who

583
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:41,240
Speaker 2: else is on the list that they'll need to add.

584
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:43,560
Speaker 1: Is there somebody No, those are the two guys that

585
00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:46,040
Speaker 1: I would want. I just think I'm kind of at

586
00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,159
Speaker 1: the point where I think it might be cooked just

587
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,920
Speaker 1: because the meat. There's media that are just saying it's

588
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:54,840
Speaker 1: gonna be went, you know, like if you like, like

589
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:58,960
Speaker 1: if you listen to the WHO collective, like Windhorst, Bontemps, McMahon,

590
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:01,400
Speaker 1: like they're all just like, yeah, it's Wemby, and it's

591
00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:03,919
Speaker 1: like it's a foregone conclusion. The other problem that I

592
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:07,680
Speaker 1: have with it is I think that I think Jaren's

593
00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:10,880
Speaker 1: better than MOBILEI, but I don't think it's that far apart, right,

594
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:13,840
Speaker 1: And this requires two things.

595
00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:15,800
Speaker 2: It requires one to separate from the.

596
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:19,240
Speaker 1: Other exactly, and they could coalesce and say, Okay, well,

597
00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:23,200
Speaker 1: like it's not it's not gonna be Victor, but Victor

598
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:26,080
Speaker 1: could still win on plurality. Then at that point where

599
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,679
Speaker 1: if Victor gets a third and then Jackson and Mobley

600
00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:31,800
Speaker 1: each get you know, like a third or whatever, so

601
00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,040
Speaker 1: then it gets close, and then you go people are

602
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:36,240
Speaker 1: gonna go, well, I'm not gonna put Victor that far down,

603
00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:38,000
Speaker 1: you know, Like I don't know if he should win,

604
00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:39,840
Speaker 1: but I think he should be second, and I think

605
00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:42,160
Speaker 1: it's going to I just feel like it's there's we're

606
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:44,600
Speaker 1: asking for a lot of things to happen in order

607
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:48,440
Speaker 1: for it to nobter him, and like, even though I think,

608
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,600
Speaker 1: you know, the other two should win the other, the

609
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:55,080
Speaker 1: problem is when we look at even the adjusted defensive rankings,

610
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,520
Speaker 1: Memphis is seventh, in Cleveland is ninth, so they're top ten,

611
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:01,920
Speaker 1: but they're not one, So like it's not like we're saying,

612
00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:05,680
Speaker 1: you know, like let's say Isaiah Hartenstein had played enough games,

613
00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:08,400
Speaker 1: so like it's not Isaiah Hartenstein because he's on the

614
00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,040
Speaker 1: Thunder and they're number one, where you'd say, well, they

615
00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,840
Speaker 1: had literally the best defense in the league, or chet

616
00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:17,120
Speaker 1: holmgrid if he was healthy. We're looking at guys that

617
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,479
Speaker 1: are seventh and ninth and San Antonio is not great,

618
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,880
Speaker 1: but there they're seventeenth, So I think it's the margins,

619
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:26,400
Speaker 1: not as far as it normally would be in like

620
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:27,080
Speaker 1: a different year.

621
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:29,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's a good point. You're not going

622
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:33,120
Speaker 2: from seventeenth to first. Okay, See, with the transcendent defense

623
00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:35,400
Speaker 2: that is breaking the number, it should be the team

624
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:37,520
Speaker 2: that has it. But then we don't know who it is,

625
00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:39,440
Speaker 2: as it doesn't seem like it's one of the wings

626
00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,160
Speaker 2: or guards. Probably it's supposed to be chet but then

627
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:44,160
Speaker 2: he missed like two months of the numbers that they

628
00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:47,680
Speaker 2: have so great, So yeah, to me, we'll let leave

629
00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:50,320
Speaker 2: it there. I just feel like it's we got two

630
00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:53,480
Speaker 2: months to fill airtime with in the media and on

631
00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:57,200
Speaker 2: TV shows and podcasts, there is going to be an

632
00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:00,920
Speaker 2: anti Wemby for defensive player that you're moved. Meant sometime

633
00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:04,120
Speaker 2: along the way, Bill Simmons or somebody on a podcast

634
00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:06,800
Speaker 2: is going to start the we need to have a conversation.

635
00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:09,640
Speaker 2: And when that happens, we've seen it in the odds,

636
00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:12,320
Speaker 2: those odds are gonna shorten and shrink towards each other.

637
00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:14,360
Speaker 2: And I think you can even even if you have

638
00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:18,000
Speaker 2: to buy Wemby at a minus something numbers, still maybe

639
00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:19,720
Speaker 2: be able to still kind of get both sides of

640
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:22,560
Speaker 2: things at that point. All right, luskeme moving are good,

641
00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:26,400
Speaker 2: not great tier we've got in this group, the Timberwls

642
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:28,000
Speaker 2: and the Rockets start with the Timberwolves.

643
00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:31,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, So Julius Randall's hurt right now, for better or

644
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,720
Speaker 1: for worse. For this team, it means that you're seeing

645
00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:36,480
Speaker 1: a lot more nase read minutes, which I think is

646
00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,360
Speaker 1: a good thing. That's been something that's beneficially to this team.

647
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:42,480
Speaker 1: And they're eighth and justin net their fifth in defense,

648
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:46,360
Speaker 1: so there's still a solid basketball team. Rudy Gobert is

649
00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:50,480
Speaker 1: still very much that dude. Defensively, he has been incredible.

650
00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,160
Speaker 1: He's actually at the number one rimm deterrent rate in

651
00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,400
Speaker 1: the NBA. It's not Wemby, it's Rudy, which is like

652
00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:58,720
Speaker 1: one of those stats you go, oh, okay, well, that's

653
00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:02,120
Speaker 1: that's interesting. That's good to know. And I just think

654
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:05,160
Speaker 1: that the offense definitely still misses Karl Anthony Towns to

655
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:09,720
Speaker 1: a degree. They make this big trade and then you

656
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,480
Speaker 1: lose out on this guy who's going bonkers in New York, right,

657
00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,760
Speaker 1: And I think that this team is obviously very very

658
00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:19,400
Speaker 1: well coached, and that's what makes the difference, especially during

659
00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,360
Speaker 1: the regular season. And the one thing that we have

660
00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:25,800
Speaker 1: seen with Rudy Gobert, as much as people want to

661
00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:29,680
Speaker 1: give him shit, is that he is a clear anchor

662
00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,840
Speaker 1: to a top ten defense. Like every year, without fail,

663
00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:35,440
Speaker 1: you are getting a top ten defense with Rudy Gobert

664
00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:39,040
Speaker 1: at this as the centerpiece, right and in the regular season.

665
00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:41,360
Speaker 1: I think that works and I think that makes you

666
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:43,840
Speaker 1: very good. But I don't know if it makes you great,

667
00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:48,280
Speaker 1: because the thing is here, they've held up decently against

668
00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:51,400
Speaker 1: teams in the top ten there since January first. They're

669
00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:54,360
Speaker 1: plus four point four in terms of point differential, which

670
00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:57,000
Speaker 1: is solid. It's a top ten, it's above a top

671
00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:59,520
Speaker 1: ten ranking in the NBA. The problem is that their

672
00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:02,920
Speaker 1: offense those games is one twenty two point nine, which

673
00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,960
Speaker 1: to me seems extremely unsustainable for a Timberwolves team who

674
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,800
Speaker 1: has not been good offensively over the course of the season.

675
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:13,320
Speaker 1: And if we look at their adjusted net rating, they're thirteenth,

676
00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:15,800
Speaker 1: which is just about They're about average, right, So to

677
00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 1: see them take that big leap forward in these games

678
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:22,400
Speaker 1: against top ten teams, I think that that's unsustainable over

679
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:25,040
Speaker 1: the course of the entire season, especially in the postseason.

680
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:27,360
Speaker 1: So you know, it's hard to count them out because

681
00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:30,640
Speaker 1: you have a guy like Anthony Edwards who has shown

682
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,040
Speaker 1: that he can elevate his game at the highest stages,

683
00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:35,920
Speaker 1: at the highest levels. But I don't think they have

684
00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,520
Speaker 1: that much else besides him. I think that Nasrid is good.

685
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:42,600
Speaker 1: I think that Jaden McDaniels has taken steps forward. He's

686
00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:45,440
Speaker 1: been great, especially his rebounds market has been solid. It's

687
00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:47,160
Speaker 1: something that we've been betting and making a lot of

688
00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:49,840
Speaker 1: money on But I don't think that they have that

689
00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:52,560
Speaker 1: extra gear right now. And I think that when they

690
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:55,760
Speaker 1: had Karl Anthony Towns, they did because they had another

691
00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:59,440
Speaker 1: elite offensive option, and right now they don't have that

692
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:02,760
Speaker 1: the playoffs where you can really zero in and focus

693
00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,520
Speaker 1: on Anthony Edwards, I just don't know if it's there anymore,

694
00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:09,040
Speaker 1: especially because Conley seems to be showing his age like

695
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:10,920
Speaker 1: more and more as the year progresses.

696
00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:13,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I agree, I think we know what

697
00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:16,040
Speaker 2: I think about the Turmerrolves another team that maybe folks

698
00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:18,960
Speaker 2: are not expecting to be this low given where the

699
00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:21,160
Speaker 2: standings have been this season. The Rockets have really been

700
00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:23,160
Speaker 2: in that kind of two three seed range most of

701
00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:25,400
Speaker 2: the year. You're not sold on Houston.

702
00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:28,400
Speaker 1: No, So Houston's kind of fallen off a bit since

703
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,520
Speaker 1: January first. They're thirteen and ten, which is fine, but

704
00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:35,000
Speaker 1: they're just thirteenth in point differential at plus one point two,

705
00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:38,760
Speaker 1: So it's definitely a downturn and I just don't I'm

706
00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:40,720
Speaker 1: not sold in them. I don't think that they have

707
00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:43,719
Speaker 1: a clear one A and that's been my major problem

708
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:47,040
Speaker 1: with Houston. Like basically the entire season coming into the

709
00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:51,120
Speaker 1: offseason whatever, and you know they made that. They've made

710
00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:53,840
Speaker 1: a couple moves in the offseason. They extended Alprin Shngun

711
00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:56,680
Speaker 1: and gave them the full rookie max, and they also

712
00:33:56,760 --> 00:34:00,640
Speaker 1: gave Jalen Green like a different rookie max. Right, they

713
00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:02,760
Speaker 1: gave him the three year one because they weren't really

714
00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:05,120
Speaker 1: sure what they had and I think we still can

715
00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:08,480
Speaker 1: say we're not really sure what you have. And it's

716
00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:13,560
Speaker 1: clearly an issue as well that Fred van Vliet definitely matters.

717
00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:15,560
Speaker 1: I think he helped stabilize the team. I think the

718
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:19,640
Speaker 1: defense a little bit underrated, and he's been super important

719
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:22,960
Speaker 1: for this rotation. When he comes back because he's been

720
00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,640
Speaker 1: missing some time, Aman Thompson has taken al lead, and

721
00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:29,399
Speaker 1: I think that it's obvious that he is very good.

722
00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:31,600
Speaker 1: He's probably going to be very good for a long time.

723
00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:32,319
Speaker 2: He is.

724
00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:34,680
Speaker 1: I think you said it. He's the Ben Simmons that

725
00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:39,359
Speaker 1: was promised. And like when Fred van van Vliet comes back,

726
00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:41,960
Speaker 1: does Aman go back to the bench, And that's probably

727
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:43,600
Speaker 1: a net negative. I don't think that would be a

728
00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:46,600
Speaker 1: good thing. So I think they have almost too many

729
00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:50,120
Speaker 1: dudes and not enough clarity on who is going to

730
00:34:50,160 --> 00:34:54,000
Speaker 1: be in charge of this team. They're very deep. They're

731
00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:56,440
Speaker 1: a team that to me was dying for a consolidation

732
00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:58,719
Speaker 1: trade and they didn't do it. And as good as

733
00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:02,280
Speaker 1: they've been when you get into the playoffs, having roster

734
00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,520
Speaker 1: flexibility and positional like options in terms of your rotation,

735
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,160
Speaker 1: I think is very very important. But I also think

736
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:11,759
Speaker 1: that it's a problem where they don't have somebody that

737
00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:13,359
Speaker 1: I think you can give the ball to and say

738
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:16,319
Speaker 1: we need a bucket, go get it, and you know,

739
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:18,600
Speaker 1: like when things break down. As much as we hate

740
00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:22,799
Speaker 1: ioball and I don't think that ioball is really going

741
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:25,840
Speaker 1: to be fruitful if you have to do it NonStop

742
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:29,239
Speaker 1: throughout the entire postseason. There are times where you need that,

743
00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:31,880
Speaker 1: and there are circumstances where you say, we got to

744
00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:33,799
Speaker 1: stop this run, we got to stop the bleed. We've

745
00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:35,680
Speaker 1: got to give the ball to Kevin Durant, we got

746
00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:37,359
Speaker 1: to give the ball to Shad, we got to give

747
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:41,319
Speaker 1: the ball to Job. And I don't think Houston has that.

748
00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:45,400
Speaker 1: So they're sliding right now. I think that they're going

749
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:47,480
Speaker 1: to have some issues even when they bring players back

750
00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:49,480
Speaker 1: as they start to try to figure out what exactly

751
00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:52,760
Speaker 1: is the playoff rotation, and Turvy was on it first.

752
00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:55,919
Speaker 1: But to miss the playoffs is twenty to one if

753
00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:59,719
Speaker 1: they fall into the play in, which is not completely

754
00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:02,759
Speaker 1: unreasonable when we look at what the standings are, They're

755
00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:06,400
Speaker 1: thirty four and twenty one to fall into the play in.

756
00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:11,080
Speaker 1: There are four losses ahead of Minnesota. I don't think

757
00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:13,719
Speaker 1: it's crazy that they fall into the play in. And

758
00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:16,040
Speaker 1: if they fall into the play and I know that teams,

759
00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:19,120
Speaker 1: if they've been the seventh seed, they I think they've

760
00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:22,080
Speaker 1: made it every single time. Right this year or since

761
00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:26,200
Speaker 1: the playan started. This play in is still filled with

762
00:36:26,239 --> 00:36:28,240
Speaker 1: a lot of really really tough All.

763
00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:29,839
Speaker 2: Those teams we just talked about. They got to beat

764
00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:31,879
Speaker 2: two of those potentially, or they need to be one

765
00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:34,200
Speaker 2: of them in two home games. But it's not gonna

766
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:35,080
Speaker 2: be easy home games.

767
00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:38,440
Speaker 1: No, so especially when my concern is that they don't

768
00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:41,640
Speaker 1: have a number one guy, and a lot of times

769
00:36:41,719 --> 00:36:44,359
Speaker 1: you need that in those in those types of situations.

770
00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:46,160
Speaker 1: So I think that's the way that I would go,

771
00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:49,480
Speaker 1: I'd be fading Houston. I think they've been a great story.

772
00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:52,640
Speaker 1: I wish they made a big splash at the deadline

773
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:55,880
Speaker 1: and you know, put the push the chips in for somebody.

774
00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:59,000
Speaker 1: This is too deep of rotation for me. And I

775
00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:01,399
Speaker 1: think it's great in the regular I don't think it's

776
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:03,640
Speaker 1: going to be a benefit to them in like a

777
00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:06,560
Speaker 1: postseason setting. So if they can't figure it out between

778
00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:09,000
Speaker 1: now and the end of the season, it's not crazy

779
00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:11,280
Speaker 1: to see them dropping four games in the lost column

780
00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:13,120
Speaker 1: and slipping into this play in situation.

781
00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:16,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, they remind me of like Oklahoma City or Memphis

782
00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:20,000
Speaker 2: in the recent years. They're just that young team that's exciting,

783
00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:23,080
Speaker 2: that's like really good all regular season, that's deep, so

784
00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:25,239
Speaker 2: you're getting all the regular season benefits of your deep

785
00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:28,319
Speaker 2: roster and your youth and the energy. But they're also

786
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:30,439
Speaker 2: the team that we're like, come on, it's right there,

787
00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:33,680
Speaker 2: just make one move, one consolidation trade, and like, yeah,

788
00:37:33,719 --> 00:37:36,160
Speaker 2: that's not how nbagms tend to play the game. We

789
00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:39,000
Speaker 2: want fantasy basketball when I'm to just go for it

790
00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:41,399
Speaker 2: and any of the Rockets, like these other younger teams

791
00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:44,920
Speaker 2: are kind of playing the longer game. Differences in this case, well, okay,

792
00:37:45,239 --> 00:37:47,360
Speaker 2: sort of waiting out Lebron and Steph and some of

793
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:50,360
Speaker 2: these guys. But you're waiting in when Mi and Yama

794
00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:53,000
Speaker 2: and whatever. Okac is building up too, So I don't

795
00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:54,799
Speaker 2: know if there's really going to be a gap for them.

796
00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:57,600
Speaker 2: We will see. We're in our top five now. Our

797
00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:00,080
Speaker 2: next tier are just two teams and they are the

798
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:02,600
Speaker 2: LA teams. So which of the two LA teams do

799
00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:03,960
Speaker 2: you have lower in the tier?

800
00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:06,920
Speaker 1: So I have the Lakers lower. I really struggled and

801
00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:10,600
Speaker 1: where exactly to put the Lakers because bringing in Luka

802
00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:14,719
Speaker 1: Doncic is a move, uh you know, it's literally like

803
00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:17,480
Speaker 1: one of the biggest moves that's happened in the last

804
00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:20,600
Speaker 1: probably like twenty five years in the NBA. Right, and

805
00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:23,000
Speaker 1: they're doing it mid season and you're pairing him with

806
00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:27,680
Speaker 1: Lebron James, so incredible, Right, they don't have a lot

807
00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:29,920
Speaker 1: of bigs, and I struggle with that. But at the

808
00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:31,960
Speaker 1: same time, and you had talked about this when we

809
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:35,840
Speaker 1: did the Reaction pod. If you have Luca and Lebron

810
00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:38,880
Speaker 1: like like who you like, you'll take your chances with

811
00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:41,640
Speaker 1: them against pretty much anybody. So I do think that

812
00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:44,319
Speaker 1: they're a team that they have enough of the head

813
00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:47,160
Speaker 1: start right now that they're gonna be in a good situation.

814
00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:49,480
Speaker 1: I think that they're gonna be able to stick. You know,

815
00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:52,359
Speaker 1: even if they fall into the play in there, they're

816
00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:54,799
Speaker 1: still gonna have Lebron and Luca in a one game setting. Like,

817
00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:58,480
Speaker 1: I'll take that any day against anybody. The other thing

818
00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:01,240
Speaker 1: is since January first, it's a little bit skewed because

819
00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:03,560
Speaker 1: you know, Anthony Davis is on the team anymore. But

820
00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:07,800
Speaker 1: second best in point differential and against top ten teams.

821
00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:11,200
Speaker 1: Against top ten teams, they're three and three in that.

822
00:39:11,239 --> 00:39:13,239
Speaker 1: So they were second best in point differential against top

823
00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:16,719
Speaker 1: ten teams with a plus six point nine point differential.

824
00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:19,879
Speaker 1: I think that they play up to their competition. They

825
00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:23,120
Speaker 1: really show out. And the other thing is, I think

826
00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:25,279
Speaker 1: the offense, the geometry on the floor is going to

827
00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:27,759
Speaker 1: change a little bit. Jackson Hayes is going to be

828
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:29,960
Speaker 1: getting a million lobs. Jackson Hayes is going to make

829
00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:33,600
Speaker 1: so much more money because of Luka Danci's unfathomable. Right.

830
00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:37,120
Speaker 1: I don't know how great they're going to be this season,

831
00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:40,600
Speaker 1: but again, like I'm not, I'm willing to back them

832
00:39:40,719 --> 00:39:43,760
Speaker 1: because of that combination of players between Luca and Lebron

833
00:39:44,239 --> 00:39:46,520
Speaker 1: and the way the geometry on the court is going

834
00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:49,400
Speaker 1: to change is because you have two different players that

835
00:39:49,440 --> 00:39:51,760
Speaker 1: can facilitate, and then they can also kind of spot

836
00:39:51,840 --> 00:39:54,440
Speaker 1: up when they need to. Everybody's going to take a

837
00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:56,239
Speaker 1: lot more threes. I think that that's going to be

838
00:39:56,280 --> 00:39:59,040
Speaker 1: the thing that's unlocked with this roster. You're going to

839
00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:01,479
Speaker 1: see a lot more three For Austin Reeves, you're gonna

840
00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:03,319
Speaker 1: see more threes. I think for Luca, you're gonna see

841
00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:06,120
Speaker 1: a lot of threes. For Gave Vincent Dorfinny Smith. And

842
00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:09,600
Speaker 1: that's the swing that I think Los Angeles is going

843
00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:12,960
Speaker 1: to have. It's one of the complaints Lebron didn't really

844
00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:16,360
Speaker 1: say it outright, and JJ didn't really say it completely outright.

845
00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:20,240
Speaker 1: But when you play with an offense that's really centered

846
00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:23,040
Speaker 1: on Anthony Davis and Lebron James attacking the paint, attacking

847
00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:25,600
Speaker 1: the rim, you're not taking a lot of threes, and

848
00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:30,480
Speaker 1: the threes are all basically driving kick, which isn't It

849
00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:33,480
Speaker 1: can work, but it's not always the best right now,

850
00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:36,360
Speaker 1: because you have two different facilitators, Lebron can drive and

851
00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:38,399
Speaker 1: kick to Luca, and then Luca can find somebody else

852
00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:40,000
Speaker 1: on the perimeter. He can drive and kick and do

853
00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:42,160
Speaker 1: the cycle over and over and over again. I think

854
00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:43,800
Speaker 1: the offense is gonna be a little bit more fluid.

855
00:40:44,239 --> 00:40:47,600
Speaker 1: I'm higher on the fact that they can jack up

856
00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:50,080
Speaker 1: the variants in a way that they couldn't do it before,

857
00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:53,120
Speaker 1: and I think that that helps them with their ceiling

858
00:40:53,239 --> 00:40:54,279
Speaker 1: moving forward as well.

859
00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:57,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's interesting. Certainly, there'll be plenty of

860
00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:00,959
Speaker 2: Lakers talk over in the Buckets feed every every week

861
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:04,080
Speaker 2: going forward, plenty of Luca and Lebron. The team that

862
00:41:04,120 --> 00:41:06,319
Speaker 2: I did not think we'd be talking about, certainly this

863
00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:08,719
Speaker 2: late in the podcast. I don't really think we'd be

864
00:41:08,719 --> 00:41:10,160
Speaker 2: saying much about this team. And all the season I

865
00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:12,759
Speaker 2: thought the Clippers were a sub five hundred team. They

866
00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:14,560
Speaker 2: to me, were one of the teams I was expecting

867
00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:16,200
Speaker 2: to just kind of be out of the mix of

868
00:41:16,280 --> 00:41:17,600
Speaker 2: things so that we could have some of the more

869
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:20,840
Speaker 2: interesting teams. And here they are number four in your list. Really,

870
00:41:21,400 --> 00:41:23,080
Speaker 2: why do I need to pay attention to the Clippers?

871
00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:24,759
Speaker 2: It seems like this late in the season I must

872
00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:25,800
Speaker 2: have to pay attention to this.

873
00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:29,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, they've just been sneaky good. They're ninth

874
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:32,440
Speaker 1: best in adjusted net and their second in defense. I

875
00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:34,239
Speaker 1: bet you didn't have that one on your go card,

876
00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:36,600
Speaker 1: right and that's with Kawhi missing a lot of time,

877
00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:40,080
Speaker 1: so they've the offense is not good, though offense is

878
00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:43,680
Speaker 1: twenty first, getting Kawhi back and ramped up, I think

879
00:41:43,719 --> 00:41:47,759
Speaker 1: will automatically help the offense, and then they get Ben

880
00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:51,480
Speaker 1: Simmons in the buyout market. I don't think Ben Simmons

881
00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:55,080
Speaker 1: is particularly good, but I also think that Ben Simmons

882
00:41:55,160 --> 00:41:57,719
Speaker 1: went healthy, has shown that he can be like a

883
00:41:57,719 --> 00:42:00,600
Speaker 1: little bit of a contributing player, especially in terms of

884
00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:02,719
Speaker 1: facilitating if you're able to put him out there and

885
00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:04,840
Speaker 1: give Harden a little bit of a break, and I

886
00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:08,000
Speaker 1: think it helps them maybe switch, like switching if they

887
00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:10,320
Speaker 1: have to, if there's a rotation or there's a lineup

888
00:42:10,320 --> 00:42:12,239
Speaker 1: that Zoo isn't going to be a good fit in

889
00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:14,360
Speaker 1: because he basically has to play a drop and you

890
00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:16,520
Speaker 1: need to run maybe a slightly bigger lineup and you

891
00:42:16,520 --> 00:42:19,239
Speaker 1: play Simmons at like the four or five. I think

892
00:42:19,239 --> 00:42:21,239
Speaker 1: that that's helpful. It gives them a little bit more

893
00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:24,040
Speaker 1: flexibility there, gives them a little bit more size. So

894
00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:26,719
Speaker 1: I think they're a pretty dangerous team, and they have

895
00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:29,359
Speaker 1: the second best lineup out of the lineups that have

896
00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:33,040
Speaker 1: played two hundred and fifty possessions or more. Together, James Harden,

897
00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:36,960
Speaker 1: Norman Powell, Kawhi, Leonard Derreck Jones Junior and Zoo are

898
00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:40,200
Speaker 1: plus twenty five point seven. So this is a team

899
00:42:40,280 --> 00:42:43,080
Speaker 1: that has a lot of vets. I think that having

900
00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:46,080
Speaker 1: Kawhi there and Norman Powell has really taken a step

901
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:50,040
Speaker 1: forward right where he's been better. He's just been flat

902
00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:53,000
Speaker 1: out better than Paul George this year and they haven't

903
00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:56,560
Speaker 1: really seen a downturn from that. I think this is

904
00:42:56,560 --> 00:42:58,600
Speaker 1: a team that you have to watch out for. They're

905
00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:01,360
Speaker 1: gonna be a major problem if you have a healthy Kawhi,

906
00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:06,080
Speaker 1: and that's always the question, is Kawhi healthy. I'm not

907
00:43:06,120 --> 00:43:09,239
Speaker 1: super concerned about path for this team. I think that

908
00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:13,120
Speaker 1: they are like if they're healthy, they can contend with anybody,

909
00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:16,200
Speaker 1: but you have to have Kawhi. And they're eighteen to

910
00:43:16,239 --> 00:43:18,520
Speaker 1: one to win the West. I don't know if I

911
00:43:18,520 --> 00:43:19,880
Speaker 1: don't know how it would feel if they had to

912
00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:22,479
Speaker 1: play a team at the Eastern Conference. And I feel

913
00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:24,480
Speaker 1: like I've spent so much money on the Clippers in

914
00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:26,440
Speaker 1: prior years that I'm a little bit gun shy at

915
00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:29,680
Speaker 1: the same time, but I think I might just wait

916
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:31,319
Speaker 1: and see what I don't know if that, I don't

917
00:43:31,320 --> 00:43:33,120
Speaker 1: think the number is gonna move too much between now

918
00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:35,839
Speaker 1: and started the playoffs. And even if it does, let's

919
00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:37,600
Speaker 1: say it moves down to maybe like fifteen to one.

920
00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:40,560
Speaker 1: But I know Kawhi is healthy and I see maybe

921
00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:43,560
Speaker 1: they have actually a great path. That's definitely a team

922
00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:44,960
Speaker 1: when we wanted to back, and I think on a

923
00:43:45,080 --> 00:43:47,759
Speaker 1: nightly basis, they're pretty good to back because they're still

924
00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:51,400
Speaker 1: somehow like a little bit underrated, I think because of

925
00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:54,240
Speaker 1: the stigma around the team going into the season.

926
00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:58,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, look, Kawhi turns into Michael Jordan when

927
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:01,919
Speaker 2: he's actually healthy. In the pos he's never healthy, but

928
00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:04,839
Speaker 2: when we get it, like twice a decade, then they

929
00:44:04,840 --> 00:44:08,080
Speaker 2: make a title run. And so it's like this is

930
00:44:08,280 --> 00:44:11,680
Speaker 2: this is a level above even like the Warriors thing,

931
00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:14,359
Speaker 2: because this is not Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler has had

932
00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:18,440
Speaker 2: incredible playoff runs. Kawhi Leonard is something else entirely. If

933
00:44:18,440 --> 00:44:20,799
Speaker 2: we ever still get that tapped into, I don't know

934
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:23,600
Speaker 2: if it's there, but we have to respect the possibility

935
00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:28,080
Speaker 2: that's there, not saying just saying why're's talking? I looked

936
00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:31,080
Speaker 2: it up. If you Zubac is two hundred and fifty to

937
00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:34,120
Speaker 2: one Defensive Player of the Year, just saying, yeah, never

938
00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:36,880
Speaker 2: gonna happen. He does not have the attention in the media,

939
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:39,439
Speaker 2: but you know, seems to me like he will make

940
00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:42,319
Speaker 2: my first team All Defense when I get there. All right,

941
00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:45,000
Speaker 2: top three teams, we know these teams. You call this

942
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:49,000
Speaker 2: the bounce back Stronger tier. The Denver Nuggets finally making

943
00:44:49,040 --> 00:44:49,439
Speaker 2: their push.

944
00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:52,279
Speaker 1: It seems like, yeah, they've been they've been awesome. I

945
00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:54,440
Speaker 1: hope they don't make that push the same way that

946
00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:56,840
Speaker 1: they did last year, where I think they kind of

947
00:44:56,880 --> 00:44:59,040
Speaker 1: sold out to try to get the better record, and

948
00:44:59,120 --> 00:45:01,520
Speaker 1: then I think they were just burned out. But this

949
00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:03,960
Speaker 1: year they're fifth in a justin Nett, second in offense,

950
00:45:04,040 --> 00:45:06,960
Speaker 1: eighteenth in defense, exactly exactly what you'd expect from this

951
00:45:07,000 --> 00:45:09,440
Speaker 1: Denver Nuggets team. The big thing to me is Christian

952
00:45:09,480 --> 00:45:13,359
Speaker 1: Brown's been amazing, Julian Strauther's been popping, Peyton Watson's been

953
00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:17,040
Speaker 1: really good, but Russell Westbrook has been resurgent for this team.

954
00:45:17,239 --> 00:45:20,760
Speaker 1: And we gave out that one future it was thirteen thirteen.

955
00:45:20,520 --> 00:45:22,920
Speaker 2: Six and six at fifty five to one. We are

956
00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:24,200
Speaker 2: in it, Joe, We are in it.

957
00:45:24,440 --> 00:45:28,319
Speaker 1: We are close to that. So they've been dynamic. They

958
00:45:28,320 --> 00:45:30,400
Speaker 1: have the second best five man lineup in the league.

959
00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:33,280
Speaker 1: This is with five hundred possessions, so bigger sample size.

960
00:45:33,360 --> 00:45:35,080
Speaker 1: I had to scale it down last when we were

961
00:45:35,080 --> 00:45:37,479
Speaker 1: with the Clippers because Kawhi didn't pop in anything because

962
00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:40,680
Speaker 1: he doesn't play. But out of five hundred possesions because

963
00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:42,440
Speaker 1: this is the lineup that you know is playing, but

964
00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:46,440
Speaker 1: it's Murray Brown, MPJ Gordon and Jokic. Pinch me if

965
00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:49,680
Speaker 1: you've heard that before, right, So this team is still

966
00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:52,200
Speaker 1: really good. The path is going to be good because

967
00:45:52,239 --> 00:45:53,560
Speaker 1: I don't think they're going to fall out of the

968
00:45:53,640 --> 00:45:55,319
Speaker 1: two three. I don't think they're gonna have to play

969
00:45:55,360 --> 00:46:00,279
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City in like the second round, right and based

970
00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:02,960
Speaker 1: on the way the standings are, if the season finished

971
00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:05,560
Speaker 1: right now, you'd be getting a matchup against like the

972
00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:08,800
Speaker 1: Clippers or maybe even the Timberwolves. Right right now, it

973
00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:11,359
Speaker 1: would be the Clippers. But I think that they match

974
00:46:11,440 --> 00:46:13,360
Speaker 1: up pretty well against a lot of those teams. And

975
00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:15,480
Speaker 1: I think especially if you get if they're able to

976
00:46:15,520 --> 00:46:17,839
Speaker 1: jump into the two and they're starting to face more

977
00:46:17,840 --> 00:46:19,480
Speaker 1: of these teams that are in the play in where

978
00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:24,120
Speaker 1: you're looking at Minnesota, Dallas, Sacramento, Golden State. They're going

979
00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:26,520
Speaker 1: to match up very very well with all those teams.

980
00:46:26,560 --> 00:46:29,080
Speaker 1: So I like Denver a lot. I think that they

981
00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:31,200
Speaker 1: are very good. I don't know if I need to

982
00:46:31,239 --> 00:46:33,319
Speaker 1: buy them in terms of the in terms of the

983
00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:36,719
Speaker 1: futures market. Though their odds win the West are only

984
00:46:36,719 --> 00:46:39,080
Speaker 1: like plus six fifty at the high, and their odds

985
00:46:39,120 --> 00:46:42,279
Speaker 1: to win the title are fourteen fifteen to one, I

986
00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:46,120
Speaker 1: think that that number probably doesn't Again, I think that

987
00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:49,400
Speaker 1: the favorites are almost so high that it's hard to

988
00:46:49,400 --> 00:46:52,480
Speaker 1: see a lot of these numbers moving too dramatically. So

989
00:46:53,640 --> 00:46:56,080
Speaker 1: I'm okay with waiting seeing where they end up and

990
00:46:56,080 --> 00:46:58,160
Speaker 1: then saying like, all right, I like the path for

991
00:46:58,239 --> 00:47:00,600
Speaker 1: this Denver team, and they're a team and I'm definitely

992
00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:02,960
Speaker 1: willing to bet on. The other thing is with Jokic.

993
00:47:03,640 --> 00:47:07,400
Speaker 1: This season has been transcendent for him, and the triple

994
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:10,400
Speaker 1: doubles have just been popping, and it's a bet that

995
00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:12,440
Speaker 1: you can definitely look at. I think you almost have

996
00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:14,080
Speaker 1: to look at it and try to shop it. Some

997
00:47:14,160 --> 00:47:16,440
Speaker 1: days it's better to bet just over nine and a

998
00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:19,120
Speaker 1: half assists. Other days it's better to bet like ra

999
00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:21,839
Speaker 1: other days it's better to just bet triple double. So

1000
00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:24,440
Speaker 1: he's somebody that on a nightly basis is just putting

1001
00:47:24,480 --> 00:47:28,400
Speaker 1: up these monster numbers. And you know, I think that

1002
00:47:28,440 --> 00:47:29,640
Speaker 1: he's still live for MVP.

1003
00:47:31,160 --> 00:47:33,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of MVP talk over in the buckets.

1004
00:47:33,239 --> 00:47:35,960
Speaker 2: Make sure I follow Joe at Joe Delera on Twitter

1005
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:38,399
Speaker 2: and also in the Action app. A lot of these

1006
00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:42,560
Speaker 2: bets are popping. The ra rebounds, Assis bat, the manual

1007
00:47:42,600 --> 00:47:45,480
Speaker 2: triple double beat. Yeah you got you gotta shop round,

1008
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:47,600
Speaker 2: good way to shop round. Just follow Joe in the

1009
00:47:47,600 --> 00:47:49,279
Speaker 2: app and he just does the shopping for you and

1010
00:47:49,280 --> 00:47:50,600
Speaker 2: just kind of tail the bet. But you gotta do

1011
00:47:50,640 --> 00:47:53,439
Speaker 2: it fast. Get the pro account because once that goes

1012
00:47:53,480 --> 00:47:56,040
Speaker 2: in the app, folks are folks are tailing us, Joe,

1013
00:47:56,080 --> 00:47:57,800
Speaker 2: And especially when you get some of these long shots,

1014
00:47:57,840 --> 00:48:00,680
Speaker 2: they are not sticking around long all right. On the list,

1015
00:48:00,719 --> 00:48:04,399
Speaker 2: the Memphis Grizzly is a team that is very high

1016
00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:06,600
Speaker 2: on this list despite not really even playing a ton

1017
00:48:06,640 --> 00:48:08,600
Speaker 2: of minutes. On their top guys, that seems.

1018
00:48:08,280 --> 00:48:11,360
Speaker 1: Like, yeah, they're the best team against the spread this

1019
00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:14,279
Speaker 1: season at thirty five and nineteen, so they've been incredible.

1020
00:48:14,320 --> 00:48:17,040
Speaker 1: They haven't been great against top teams this season. That's

1021
00:48:17,040 --> 00:48:20,399
Speaker 1: my concern. They're six to ten minus six point four

1022
00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:22,719
Speaker 1: in terms of their net rating. The reason I think

1023
00:48:22,719 --> 00:48:26,040
Speaker 1: that there's some room to change from that, though, is

1024
00:48:26,200 --> 00:48:30,640
Speaker 1: they're they're almost the anti TIBs team. They have basically

1025
00:48:30,719 --> 00:48:33,160
Speaker 1: nobody playing more than thirty minutes a game. The only

1026
00:48:33,239 --> 00:48:36,200
Speaker 1: player on the roster averaging more than thirty points a

1027
00:48:36,239 --> 00:48:39,160
Speaker 1: game is Desmond Bane and it's barely he's at thirty

1028
00:48:39,200 --> 00:48:43,160
Speaker 1: point five. So they have sixteen players averaging over twelve

1029
00:48:43,239 --> 00:48:46,000
Speaker 1: minutes per game. It's I mean, that's impossible, right, but

1030
00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:49,040
Speaker 1: it's because of players being in players being out. They've

1031
00:48:49,080 --> 00:48:51,520
Speaker 1: had to deal with a lot of injuries, players missing time,

1032
00:48:51,560 --> 00:48:55,840
Speaker 1: players getting rest. But as a result, I think that

1033
00:48:55,920 --> 00:48:59,520
Speaker 1: this team has a lot of room to scale up

1034
00:48:59,520 --> 00:49:01,759
Speaker 1: for the playoffs, and that is I think one of

1035
00:49:01,760 --> 00:49:05,440
Speaker 1: the most important details here for this Grizzlies team moving forward.

1036
00:49:05,840 --> 00:49:08,359
Speaker 1: Maybe they start expanding these rotations a little bit, where

1037
00:49:08,360 --> 00:49:10,920
Speaker 1: you're saying, all right, well, we need to get jaw

1038
00:49:11,239 --> 00:49:13,680
Speaker 1: Bain Jarren, we need to get their minutes up. We

1039
00:49:13,719 --> 00:49:15,799
Speaker 1: got to get them into the mid thirties over the

1040
00:49:15,840 --> 00:49:17,640
Speaker 1: stretch run of the seasons. That way, they're ready to

1041
00:49:17,680 --> 00:49:21,400
Speaker 1: go play forty plus minutes a game in the postseason,

1042
00:49:21,719 --> 00:49:23,640
Speaker 1: so I think there's a lot of room to grow there.

1043
00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:26,400
Speaker 1: They have the best five man lineup of two hundred

1044
00:49:26,400 --> 00:49:30,880
Speaker 1: and fifty possessions or more in Jaw bain Wells, JJJ

1045
00:49:31,440 --> 00:49:35,960
Speaker 1: and Edie plus thirty three point seven. They are dynamic.

1046
00:49:36,160 --> 00:49:38,480
Speaker 1: They're twelve to one to win in the West on Caesars,

1047
00:49:38,560 --> 00:49:41,600
Speaker 1: thirty three to one to win the title on ESPN. Honestly,

1048
00:49:41,640 --> 00:49:44,279
Speaker 1: I think that they are both reasonable bets. I think

1049
00:49:44,360 --> 00:49:47,719
Speaker 1: this is a really really strong team. I don't think

1050
00:49:47,719 --> 00:49:49,879
Speaker 1: they're going to fall out of the two or the three.

1051
00:49:50,239 --> 00:49:53,239
Speaker 1: The defense is there, the offense is there, and I

1052
00:49:53,280 --> 00:49:55,680
Speaker 1: think that they only have more room to really grow

1053
00:49:56,120 --> 00:49:59,359
Speaker 1: because of the minutes that they can start seeing their

1054
00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:02,960
Speaker 1: best player like expand they can see the minutes expanding

1055
00:50:03,200 --> 00:50:05,960
Speaker 1: for their best players as the season continues. As opposed

1056
00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:08,239
Speaker 1: to trying to scale down and say like these guys

1057
00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:10,440
Speaker 1: have been playing too much, there's not as much more ceiling.

1058
00:50:10,640 --> 00:50:12,880
Speaker 1: There is a lot of ceiling left for this Memphis

1059
00:50:12,920 --> 00:50:13,480
Speaker 1: Grizzly Sea.

1060
00:50:13,960 --> 00:50:15,960
Speaker 2: Yeah. It's interesting because I can kind of talk myself

1061
00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:19,440
Speaker 2: into both ways. Like Jaron Jackson has taken a leap,

1062
00:50:19,640 --> 00:50:21,960
Speaker 2: like as a guy that's followed him from scouting in

1063
00:50:22,080 --> 00:50:24,879
Speaker 2: college and ford Man. He just looks like a totally

1064
00:50:24,880 --> 00:50:27,399
Speaker 2: different player this year. At the same time, I don't

1065
00:50:27,440 --> 00:50:29,360
Speaker 2: see it with Zach Edy. I want to see it

1066
00:50:29,360 --> 00:50:31,919
Speaker 2: with Zach Edy. I don't feel like he belongs out

1067
00:50:31,920 --> 00:50:35,000
Speaker 2: there just on an NBA court as a starter, let

1068
00:50:35,040 --> 00:50:38,080
Speaker 2: alone on a top five contender like Memphis is being

1069
00:50:38,080 --> 00:50:41,480
Speaker 2: priced as and so can they ramp up? Can they

1070
00:50:41,560 --> 00:50:43,800
Speaker 2: scale up? They have three guys. I want more minutes

1071
00:50:43,840 --> 00:50:46,839
Speaker 2: from jaw and Bain and Jaren, but like, who are

1072
00:50:46,840 --> 00:50:48,560
Speaker 2: the other guys? And I know, like you just have

1073
00:50:48,640 --> 00:50:50,240
Speaker 2: the stat on the lineup, but that's like a regular

1074
00:50:50,239 --> 00:50:52,200
Speaker 2: season stat, and well, then hold up when you have

1075
00:50:52,239 --> 00:50:55,320
Speaker 2: two rookies from your starting lineup in a playoff matchup,

1076
00:50:55,320 --> 00:50:57,440
Speaker 2: maybe the first round, like we said, even in the

1077
00:50:57,480 --> 00:50:59,719
Speaker 2: first round, We've got some tough teams coming up, so

1078
00:51:00,320 --> 00:51:02,120
Speaker 2: I don't know I can get there either side of them.

1079
00:51:02,480 --> 00:51:04,880
Speaker 2: And really the big question the last is just the thunder.

1080
00:51:04,880 --> 00:51:07,440
Speaker 2: Are you in on the thunder or not? Because the

1081
00:51:07,520 --> 00:51:10,360
Speaker 2: numbers are insane. By the numbers right now at the

1082
00:51:10,360 --> 00:51:12,240
Speaker 2: All Star break, this is one of the greatest regular

1083
00:51:12,239 --> 00:51:14,360
Speaker 2: season teams we've ever seen, and it's not even the

1084
00:51:14,360 --> 00:51:16,719
Speaker 2: team that we've seen. They've been missing one of their

1085
00:51:16,800 --> 00:51:20,239
Speaker 2: key defenders pretty much the entire season and they're still

1086
00:51:20,280 --> 00:51:21,920
Speaker 2: this incredible. Yeah.

1087
00:51:22,480 --> 00:51:23,920
Speaker 1: I do think, and we'll talk about that, we can

1088
00:51:23,960 --> 00:51:25,719
Speaker 1: get to the Thunder in a sec. I just do

1089
00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:28,600
Speaker 1: think if there was a team that maybe had to

1090
00:51:28,640 --> 00:51:32,200
Speaker 1: pair up, Memphis matches up I think decently personnel wise

1091
00:51:32,360 --> 00:51:35,360
Speaker 1: against Oklahoma City in terms of their like, their size,

1092
00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:40,400
Speaker 1: their switchability, what have you. But I do think Oklahoma

1093
00:51:40,440 --> 00:51:43,440
Speaker 1: City is the clear favorite in the Western Conference. They

1094
00:51:43,440 --> 00:51:47,640
Speaker 1: are the best team against top ten teams since January first.

1095
00:51:47,640 --> 00:51:51,520
Speaker 1: They're six and four plus ten point three net rating

1096
00:51:51,600 --> 00:51:54,080
Speaker 1: by far the best number. They have the best five

1097
00:51:54,160 --> 00:51:57,440
Speaker 1: man lineup in the NBA with five hundred plus possessions.

1098
00:51:57,440 --> 00:52:00,080
Speaker 1: That's a huge sample size. That lineup doesn't even have

1099
00:52:00,200 --> 00:52:03,319
Speaker 1: Chet in it because Chet's missed so much. So they

1100
00:52:03,360 --> 00:52:07,320
Speaker 1: have two centers that are incredible defensively in Chet and

1101
00:52:07,360 --> 00:52:10,319
Speaker 1: Isaiah Hartenstein, and they both can play off of each other.

1102
00:52:10,360 --> 00:52:12,520
Speaker 1: We've seen them play Chet now at the four, and

1103
00:52:12,560 --> 00:52:14,200
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna see a lot of times where,

1104
00:52:14,640 --> 00:52:16,799
Speaker 1: depending on the matchup, you only need one of them

1105
00:52:16,800 --> 00:52:20,680
Speaker 1: on the floor, so they're gonna be deep. This is

1106
00:52:20,719 --> 00:52:24,120
Speaker 1: a team where Shay has been unbelievable. He's been everything

1107
00:52:24,120 --> 00:52:27,160
Speaker 1: that you could ask for out of a superstar and

1108
00:52:27,239 --> 00:52:29,879
Speaker 1: he's he's shown it. And then Jalen Williams, I think

1109
00:52:29,880 --> 00:52:32,160
Speaker 1: has been good. I don't know if he's been as

1110
00:52:32,200 --> 00:52:33,920
Speaker 1: good as we thought he was going to be this season,

1111
00:52:33,960 --> 00:52:36,280
Speaker 1: but he's still been He's definitely taken a step forward.

1112
00:52:36,680 --> 00:52:39,120
Speaker 1: And they have so many different options in terms of

1113
00:52:39,280 --> 00:52:41,640
Speaker 1: the roster. As you go further down, it's like, oh

1114
00:52:41,640 --> 00:52:43,840
Speaker 1: my gosh, they have another wing. They got another player,

1115
00:52:43,880 --> 00:52:45,719
Speaker 1: they have another this, they have another of that. So

1116
00:52:46,160 --> 00:52:49,640
Speaker 1: getting off of Giddy and bringing in some other wings

1117
00:52:49,640 --> 00:52:52,280
Speaker 1: that better suit what Oklahoma City wants to do. Putting

1118
00:52:52,280 --> 00:52:55,640
Speaker 1: the ball in their best players' hands has been transcendent

1119
00:52:55,719 --> 00:52:59,240
Speaker 1: for Oklahoma City. They are definitely the team to beat.

1120
00:52:59,719 --> 00:53:03,040
Speaker 1: And the way that the West is kind of shaping up.

1121
00:53:03,520 --> 00:53:06,680
Speaker 1: If you don't have to play Denver in the first

1122
00:53:06,760 --> 00:53:10,360
Speaker 1: round or the second round, that is the winning formula

1123
00:53:10,440 --> 00:53:12,359
Speaker 1: I think for Oklahoma City. I think that they could

1124
00:53:12,400 --> 00:53:15,920
Speaker 1: struggle still as good as Hartenstein is, as good as

1125
00:53:16,000 --> 00:53:18,759
Speaker 1: chet is, I think that you could still struggle if

1126
00:53:18,800 --> 00:53:21,000
Speaker 1: you have to go play Jokic just based on the

1127
00:53:21,040 --> 00:53:23,640
Speaker 1: size and what he brings to the table, because overall

1128
00:53:23,800 --> 00:53:28,279
Speaker 1: Denver is a huge team and Oklahoma Oklahoma City, even

1129
00:53:28,400 --> 00:53:32,319
Speaker 1: with the dual Biggs, they're not like the biggest bigs, right,

1130
00:53:32,520 --> 00:53:35,160
Speaker 1: So I think that's the concern. But from a regular

1131
00:53:35,200 --> 00:53:40,840
Speaker 1: season perspective, this team is just massacring other opposition. And

1132
00:53:41,320 --> 00:53:43,920
Speaker 1: the fact that the way that they run their rotations

1133
00:53:44,280 --> 00:53:47,920
Speaker 1: with Shay basically playing the entire first quarter, entire third quarter,

1134
00:53:48,239 --> 00:53:52,000
Speaker 1: it does make his player props a little bit more

1135
00:53:52,440 --> 00:53:54,239
Speaker 1: betible or so to speak. A lot of times it

1136
00:53:54,280 --> 00:53:56,520
Speaker 1: caps the ceiling because they're blowing teams out and he

1137
00:53:56,520 --> 00:53:58,839
Speaker 1: doesn't even play in the fourth quarter, but he is

1138
00:53:58,920 --> 00:54:02,280
Speaker 1: almost always consistently getting to at least twenty five points,

1139
00:54:02,440 --> 00:54:04,600
Speaker 1: if not thirty on a nightly basis.

1140
00:54:05,640 --> 00:54:08,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, the thunder definitely make things very interesting

1141
00:54:08,800 --> 00:54:11,480
Speaker 2: in the West because looking at like when when Jim

1142
00:54:11,480 --> 00:54:13,440
Speaker 2: and I got through the East in part one, to

1143
00:54:13,480 --> 00:54:15,319
Speaker 2: make sure to listen to if you haven't yet, we

1144
00:54:15,400 --> 00:54:17,359
Speaker 2: basically kind of will it down to like Okay, well,

1145
00:54:17,400 --> 00:54:20,320
Speaker 2: really really these just as three teams, there's three teams

1146
00:54:20,400 --> 00:54:23,040
Speaker 2: going to compete in the Eastern Conference finals and one

1147
00:54:23,040 --> 00:54:25,080
Speaker 2: of those three teams comes out and we go from there.

1148
00:54:25,520 --> 00:54:28,600
Speaker 2: In the West, we can have like twelve teams that

1149
00:54:28,640 --> 00:54:31,319
Speaker 2: we think are like maybe legitimately could at least win

1150
00:54:31,320 --> 00:54:33,239
Speaker 2: a series if they got a chance to get in.

1151
00:54:34,040 --> 00:54:38,920
Speaker 2: And I think the fascinating question is by all the metrics,

1152
00:54:38,960 --> 00:54:41,319
Speaker 2: by all the numbers, but everything you just said, the

1153
00:54:41,360 --> 00:54:46,000
Speaker 2: Thunder should be so well regarded that they should be

1154
00:54:46,239 --> 00:54:49,759
Speaker 2: like the West should have a three or a one.

1155
00:54:49,920 --> 00:54:52,840
Speaker 2: Maybe just maybe the Thunder are a one and everyone

1156
00:54:52,840 --> 00:54:55,480
Speaker 2: else just isn't good enough and they're that good, But

1157
00:54:56,080 --> 00:55:00,000
Speaker 2: it doesn't feel like we're giving them that respect because

1158
00:55:00,040 --> 00:55:01,719
Speaker 2: we're kind of just being like, well, everything is open

1159
00:55:01,760 --> 00:55:03,920
Speaker 2: and it's the right matchup. It has been a thing

1160
00:55:03,960 --> 00:55:06,839
Speaker 2: too with the East, where it's like, okay, these three

1161
00:55:06,840 --> 00:55:10,760
Speaker 2: are just the best. In the West, it's so matchup dependent,

1162
00:55:10,800 --> 00:55:13,200
Speaker 2: which makes it hard to bet, makes it fun to

1163
00:55:13,280 --> 00:55:15,600
Speaker 2: bet because you can kind of like, especially as you

1164
00:55:15,640 --> 00:55:18,080
Speaker 2: get closer, set up the bracket in your mind and

1165
00:55:18,120 --> 00:55:21,120
Speaker 2: where things going, and this path sets up well. And

1166
00:55:21,160 --> 00:55:23,440
Speaker 2: again we've seen that in the West. We saw, you know,

1167
00:55:23,560 --> 00:55:26,359
Speaker 2: Stephen Lebron got the second round series when the six

1168
00:55:26,480 --> 00:55:28,880
Speaker 2: and seven Seeds kind of lined up against the softer

1169
00:55:28,960 --> 00:55:31,560
Speaker 2: half of the bracket. And again there are possibilities here

1170
00:55:31,560 --> 00:55:34,719
Speaker 2: where it's like, Okay, what if last year we saw

1171
00:55:34,760 --> 00:55:38,879
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City couldn't get by Dallas, and even still pre

1172
00:55:39,320 --> 00:55:42,480
Speaker 2: Luca Trade, Dallas seem to have Oklahoma City's number. There's

1173
00:55:42,480 --> 00:55:45,400
Speaker 2: just something about that matchup that wasn't working as good

1174
00:55:45,440 --> 00:55:47,520
Speaker 2: as Okay see as well, maybe that's Denver this year

1175
00:55:47,600 --> 00:55:50,040
Speaker 2: or is there a different version of that? And there

1176
00:55:50,360 --> 00:55:52,320
Speaker 2: is there something like that for Denver? Do they have

1177
00:55:52,360 --> 00:55:55,000
Speaker 2: a kryptonite? We saw Minnesota take them down last year?

1178
00:55:55,040 --> 00:55:58,840
Speaker 2: Is there some team that can knock Denver out? And

1179
00:55:58,880 --> 00:56:01,360
Speaker 2: now Glahoma City is safe because of that? You know,

1180
00:56:01,640 --> 00:56:04,279
Speaker 2: you kind of do the chicken egg, the before and

1181
00:56:04,280 --> 00:56:06,359
Speaker 2: after sort of thing. But I think that's what makes

1182
00:56:06,360 --> 00:56:09,280
Speaker 2: the West really interesting. So let's do some big picture

1183
00:56:09,719 --> 00:56:12,640
Speaker 2: and some futures questions here, a little lightning around just

1184
00:56:12,680 --> 00:56:15,399
Speaker 2: sort of wrap up. So I get some questions for

1185
00:56:15,440 --> 00:56:19,280
Speaker 2: you just before the podcast. Question number one one division,

1186
00:56:19,480 --> 00:56:22,680
Speaker 2: the Thunder Division. We're done. We're done here the thunder

1187
00:56:22,680 --> 00:56:26,200
Speaker 2: of one of the division. What is the parlay that

1188
00:56:26,239 --> 00:56:29,480
Speaker 2: you're gonna make on the Pacific Division? That's like all

1189
00:56:29,480 --> 00:56:33,680
Speaker 2: the California teams, Lakers, Clippers, you know, Kings, et cetera,

1190
00:56:34,160 --> 00:56:38,000
Speaker 2: and the Southwest. What's the Pacific Southwest Division parlay about

1191
00:56:38,040 --> 00:56:38,719
Speaker 2: to make right now?

1192
00:56:39,400 --> 00:56:42,720
Speaker 1: I think it's Clippers Grizzlies. I'm very high on the Clippers.

1193
00:56:42,760 --> 00:56:45,120
Speaker 1: I think the floor is there regardless of whether Kawhi

1194
00:56:45,200 --> 00:56:47,520
Speaker 1: is healthy or not. And I'm a little concerned even

1195
00:56:47,520 --> 00:56:49,520
Speaker 1: though the Lakers have a slight step ahead of them

1196
00:56:49,600 --> 00:56:51,799
Speaker 1: right now, that it might take them a little bit

1197
00:56:51,800 --> 00:56:54,520
Speaker 1: of time to coalesce and kind of gel together with

1198
00:56:54,600 --> 00:56:57,359
Speaker 1: Luca and Lebron. And then I think with Memphis, as

1199
00:56:57,360 --> 00:56:59,520
Speaker 1: I just talked about, they have a lot more room

1200
00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:01,760
Speaker 1: to really rest of their foot on the pedal, whereas

1201
00:57:01,800 --> 00:57:03,959
Speaker 1: I think that Houston is starting to regress a little

1202
00:57:04,000 --> 00:57:06,680
Speaker 1: bit and Dallas obviously is now going to go through

1203
00:57:06,760 --> 00:57:08,840
Speaker 1: is going through all their injury issues. So I like

1204
00:57:08,880 --> 00:57:11,760
Speaker 1: the idea of adding the Grizzlies there and to the

1205
00:57:11,760 --> 00:57:14,239
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Clippers at about three to one to win

1206
00:57:14,280 --> 00:57:14,840
Speaker 1: the Pacific.

1207
00:57:15,360 --> 00:57:17,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I definitely like Grizzlies in the one.

1208
00:57:17,440 --> 00:57:19,760
Speaker 2: I'm still not sure on the other one. I kind

1209
00:57:19,760 --> 00:57:21,960
Speaker 2: of nibbled a little bit on the Lakers division right

1210
00:57:22,000 --> 00:57:24,080
Speaker 2: after the trade. Initially it was feeling really good when

1211
00:57:24,080 --> 00:57:26,680
Speaker 2: they got Mark Williams, and then know what, Mark Williams.

1212
00:57:26,720 --> 00:57:28,320
Speaker 2: I don't know, Maybe they'll still get Mark Williams. We'll

1213
00:57:28,320 --> 00:57:30,840
Speaker 2: see what happens with that. But yeah, I think that's interesting.

1214
00:57:30,840 --> 00:57:33,800
Speaker 2: All right, price the odds here or order them how

1215
00:57:33,920 --> 00:57:37,160
Speaker 2: we like most likely to win a playoff series this year?

1216
00:57:37,320 --> 00:57:41,080
Speaker 2: Give you three teams here, Houston Rockets, the LA Clippers,

1217
00:57:41,400 --> 00:57:44,200
Speaker 2: and the Timberwolves. Who's most likely to win a series

1218
00:57:44,240 --> 00:57:44,760
Speaker 2: this season?

1219
00:57:45,440 --> 00:57:47,840
Speaker 1: So I did it with the Clippers as most likely,

1220
00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:50,600
Speaker 1: the Wolves as next most likely, and the Rockets is

1221
00:57:50,640 --> 00:57:53,480
Speaker 1: the least likely. I just think that if the Clippers

1222
00:57:53,520 --> 00:57:56,800
Speaker 1: have Kawhi and they're going to be they're healthy, I

1223
00:57:56,840 --> 00:57:59,240
Speaker 1: think that they have the highest ceiling out of those teams.

1224
00:57:59,320 --> 00:58:02,520
Speaker 1: I think that Minnies, you've got Anthony Edwards. You've got

1225
00:58:02,560 --> 00:58:05,480
Speaker 1: your true one, a type of player on the roster.

1226
00:58:05,640 --> 00:58:08,200
Speaker 1: So I like them. And then with Houston, I voiced

1227
00:58:08,240 --> 00:58:11,000
Speaker 1: all my concerns with them before. I'm just am not

1228
00:58:11,320 --> 00:58:13,720
Speaker 1: fully sold on this Houston Rockets team.

1229
00:58:14,120 --> 00:58:16,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I didn't even realize I did it this way,

1230
00:58:16,040 --> 00:58:18,480
Speaker 2: but I kind of accidentally chose three teams out have

1231
00:58:18,560 --> 00:58:22,800
Speaker 2: a sort of similar format, and I think I purposely

1232
00:58:22,840 --> 00:58:25,680
Speaker 2: chose teams I'm a little skeptical on, but they're all

1233
00:58:25,720 --> 00:58:28,480
Speaker 2: sort of the same stylistic thing, which is not really

1234
00:58:28,520 --> 00:58:31,240
Speaker 2: that great of offense, but lots of defense. And we

1235
00:58:31,360 --> 00:58:33,680
Speaker 2: know in the regular season that wins you a bunch

1236
00:58:33,760 --> 00:58:35,760
Speaker 2: of games and probably gets you even above the play

1237
00:58:35,800 --> 00:58:38,560
Speaker 2: and into the playoffs. But in the playoffs, you got

1238
00:58:38,560 --> 00:58:40,920
Speaker 2: to play some offense, you gotta score against some of

1239
00:58:40,960 --> 00:58:44,520
Speaker 2: these other great teams. So I think the answer probably

1240
00:58:45,280 --> 00:58:47,920
Speaker 2: it comes back to matchup again. It's like, Okay, which

1241
00:58:47,960 --> 00:58:52,880
Speaker 2: team of these three didn't play Oklahoma City or Denver

1242
00:58:53,440 --> 00:58:56,680
Speaker 2: or Memphis. There's one other matchup in the West. There's

1243
00:58:56,720 --> 00:58:59,560
Speaker 2: got to be four playoff matchups. Did one of them

1244
00:58:59,600 --> 00:59:01,640
Speaker 2: not play each other? Or did two of them play

1245
00:59:01,640 --> 00:59:04,480
Speaker 2: each other? Here probably is the answer. You like Clipper's

1246
00:59:04,480 --> 00:59:07,760
Speaker 2: best rockets least all right? Next one further down the

1247
00:59:07,840 --> 00:59:11,360
Speaker 2: last most likely to miss the play in entirely, and

1248
00:59:11,440 --> 00:59:13,920
Speaker 2: probably one of these teams or more could do it,

1249
00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:17,160
Speaker 2: the Mavericks, the Sons, or the Warriors who did not

1250
00:59:17,280 --> 00:59:18,200
Speaker 2: even make the play in.

1251
00:59:18,840 --> 00:59:21,120
Speaker 1: So I think the Suns missed the play in. If

1252
00:59:21,120 --> 00:59:22,760
Speaker 1: I had to pick one of these teams. Then I

1253
00:59:22,760 --> 00:59:24,960
Speaker 1: have Dallas, and then I have the Golden State Warriors.

1254
00:59:25,360 --> 00:59:28,000
Speaker 1: I just haven't really seen it with Phoenix this year.

1255
00:59:28,440 --> 00:59:30,600
Speaker 1: If Dallas, a lot of it depends on how much

1256
00:59:30,640 --> 00:59:34,560
Speaker 1: they can kind of float along without one of the bigs.

1257
00:59:35,320 --> 00:59:38,160
Speaker 1: I think that Kyrie Irving has been really good for them,

1258
00:59:38,320 --> 00:59:40,800
Speaker 1: Max Christy has been awesome for them, and I think

1259
00:59:40,800 --> 00:59:42,960
Speaker 1: they might have like just enough to be able to

1260
00:59:43,000 --> 00:59:45,120
Speaker 1: float around there. Plus they have a little bit of

1261
00:59:45,120 --> 00:59:48,400
Speaker 1: a lead on these other teams. Whereas Golden State. I

1262
00:59:48,520 --> 00:59:51,040
Speaker 1: like the acquisition of Jimmy Butler. I think that immediately

1263
00:59:51,120 --> 00:59:54,000
Speaker 1: raises their floor and I think that they are the

1264
00:59:54,040 --> 00:59:56,200
Speaker 1: team that are probably going to be set in the

1265
00:59:56,240 --> 00:59:58,840
Speaker 1: play in out of these three in the Western Conference.

1266
00:59:59,400 --> 01:00:01,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I agree with that order on that one.

1267
01:00:01,120 --> 01:00:05,000
Speaker 2: All right, Next question question four, Which West team do

1268
01:00:05,080 --> 01:00:07,720
Speaker 2: you think has the biggest delta from the regular season

1269
01:00:07,800 --> 01:00:09,760
Speaker 2: version of them to the postseason version?

1270
01:00:10,480 --> 01:00:13,560
Speaker 1: So I think it's Memphis just because they've limited their

1271
01:00:13,560 --> 01:00:17,000
Speaker 1: guys so much during the regular season. Obviously we need

1272
01:00:17,040 --> 01:00:19,680
Speaker 1: to see it, you know, we haven't totally seen it

1273
01:00:19,720 --> 01:00:22,520
Speaker 1: from Memphis in the playoffs yet. Over the past couple

1274
01:00:22,520 --> 01:00:26,640
Speaker 1: of seasons, but they they're in a prime bounced back spot.

1275
01:00:26,320 --> 01:00:30,000
Speaker 1: They really didn't play much last year, right, and then

1276
01:00:30,040 --> 01:00:32,320
Speaker 1: this season they've all kind of gelled together. They've looked

1277
01:00:32,360 --> 01:00:34,040
Speaker 1: exactly the way that we thought they were gonna look.

1278
01:00:34,320 --> 01:00:36,439
Speaker 1: And I think that they have a lot more room

1279
01:00:36,520 --> 01:00:39,160
Speaker 1: to run if they're seeing their players play like their

1280
01:00:39,200 --> 01:00:42,240
Speaker 1: best guys play forty minutes instead of thirty minutes to night.

1281
01:00:42,760 --> 01:00:45,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think my brain went the other way on

1282
01:00:45,240 --> 01:00:47,640
Speaker 2: this question. I think I go back to those teams

1283
01:00:47,680 --> 01:00:50,000
Speaker 2: we just talked about. I think teams like Houston and

1284
01:00:50,040 --> 01:00:52,720
Speaker 2: the Clippers. Maybe your answer maybe not the Clippers, it

1285
01:00:52,760 --> 01:00:56,800
Speaker 2: depends on Kawhi, but those defense first regular season teams.

1286
01:00:57,080 --> 01:00:59,720
Speaker 2: Maybe I'm just a pessimist by nature. I think folks

1287
01:00:59,720 --> 01:01:03,480
Speaker 2: on its would say so. But I just feel like

1288
01:01:03,520 --> 01:01:06,040
Speaker 2: there are teams Houston in particular, I think is a

1289
01:01:06,080 --> 01:01:08,160
Speaker 2: team that, because of the youth and because of the

1290
01:01:08,240 --> 01:01:11,080
Speaker 2: lack of offense, I just am not ready to trust

1291
01:01:11,080 --> 01:01:13,440
Speaker 2: that team in any sort of postseason setting yet. So

1292
01:01:13,480 --> 01:01:15,840
Speaker 2: I think they'd be my answer more in the negative side, Memphis,

1293
01:01:15,840 --> 01:01:18,240
Speaker 2: more on the positive side for you. All right, two left.

1294
01:01:18,320 --> 01:01:19,960
Speaker 2: This next one is kind of a part one, Part

1295
01:01:19,960 --> 01:01:24,160
Speaker 2: two so three left whatever? All right, Why given everything

1296
01:01:24,200 --> 01:01:27,000
Speaker 2: we've said about the thunder and the historic metrics that

1297
01:01:27,000 --> 01:01:30,120
Speaker 2: they have, and the fact that Chet is back now,

1298
01:01:30,240 --> 01:01:32,160
Speaker 2: who I think is their second best player and they

1299
01:01:32,160 --> 01:01:35,200
Speaker 2: should be even better with why do I even need

1300
01:01:35,440 --> 01:01:37,720
Speaker 2: to do all the rest of this mess? Why don't

1301
01:01:37,760 --> 01:01:40,600
Speaker 2: I just bet okay see to win the title right now?

1302
01:01:40,640 --> 01:01:41,560
Speaker 2: As the Juggernaut.

1303
01:01:42,360 --> 01:01:45,120
Speaker 1: I'm just not totally convinced the number gets shorter, right.

1304
01:01:46,000 --> 01:01:48,080
Speaker 1: They're the clear number one seed in the West. I

1305
01:01:48,120 --> 01:01:50,560
Speaker 1: don't think that anybody's really gonna be able to catch them,

1306
01:01:50,840 --> 01:01:54,760
Speaker 1: And maybe the number actually gets shorter if Boston goes crazy, right,

1307
01:01:54,800 --> 01:01:57,880
Speaker 1: because like Cleveland's kind of regressed a little bit lately,

1308
01:01:58,080 --> 01:01:59,880
Speaker 1: I think the Cleveland's still really good. And not to

1309
01:02:00,160 --> 01:02:01,920
Speaker 1: into the east side of this, you can listen to

1310
01:02:01,960 --> 01:02:05,400
Speaker 1: that part of the catchup. But if Boston goes into

1311
01:02:05,400 --> 01:02:08,320
Speaker 1: a one seed, then maybe that impacts the futures market

1312
01:02:08,320 --> 01:02:10,360
Speaker 1: a little bit more, where they say, Okay, well, now

1313
01:02:10,560 --> 01:02:13,640
Speaker 1: Boston has a better path to the one Boston is

1314
01:02:13,680 --> 01:02:16,800
Speaker 1: a better path to the finals. That naturally has to

1315
01:02:17,320 --> 01:02:21,320
Speaker 1: damage what Oklahoma City could do. I also think that,

1316
01:02:21,400 --> 01:02:23,840
Speaker 1: you know, I would be like I think that they're

1317
01:02:23,880 --> 01:02:25,680
Speaker 1: pretty good. I think they're gonna win pretty much any

1318
01:02:25,720 --> 01:02:28,800
Speaker 1: first round matchup. I think that their one matchup that's

1319
01:02:28,800 --> 01:02:32,480
Speaker 1: probably the worst for them is a healthy Dallas team

1320
01:02:32,920 --> 01:02:35,200
Speaker 1: because of the amount of bigs that they have. If

1321
01:02:35,200 --> 01:02:39,120
Speaker 1: you have Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, and maybe Derek Lively

1322
01:02:39,160 --> 01:02:40,200
Speaker 1: is able to play. I'm not sure if he got

1323
01:02:40,200 --> 01:02:41,400
Speaker 1: I don't think he got rolled out for the rest

1324
01:02:41,400 --> 01:02:44,080
Speaker 1: of the season. But that might be the combination of

1325
01:02:44,120 --> 01:02:46,240
Speaker 1: a team that's like, oh, like, that's not a great

1326
01:02:46,280 --> 01:02:49,240
Speaker 1: matchup for us. But even then, like, I don't think

1327
01:02:49,240 --> 01:02:50,960
Speaker 1: the number is going to really move too much. I

1328
01:02:51,040 --> 01:02:53,480
Speaker 1: just don't see their need to buy it now when

1329
01:02:53,640 --> 01:02:56,800
Speaker 1: maybe it's only fifteen cents shorter in two months and

1330
01:02:56,840 --> 01:02:59,320
Speaker 1: I know for sure that this team is healthy going

1331
01:02:59,360 --> 01:02:59,960
Speaker 1: into the playoff.

1332
01:03:00,040 --> 01:03:02,560
Speaker 2: Yes, that makes sense. So it's not a no, it's

1333
01:03:02,680 --> 01:03:05,680
Speaker 2: not yet. The NBA season is a marathon, not a sprint,

1334
01:03:05,760 --> 01:03:08,600
Speaker 2: even even for folks like me who are maybe ramping

1335
01:03:08,680 --> 01:03:10,840
Speaker 2: up out of the All Star break so long away

1336
01:03:10,880 --> 01:03:13,640
Speaker 2: to go, there's always the injuries. As much as I'm

1337
01:03:13,680 --> 01:03:16,160
Speaker 2: happy to see Chet back on a court, let's keep

1338
01:03:16,240 --> 01:03:18,320
Speaker 2: seeing Chet back on a court. You know, we need

1339
01:03:18,360 --> 01:03:20,480
Speaker 2: to see that that hip injury and that whole thing

1340
01:03:20,480 --> 01:03:22,440
Speaker 2: has just gone for good too, So that makes sense.

1341
01:03:22,640 --> 01:03:24,760
Speaker 2: Flip side. Then here's the second part of this question.

1342
01:03:25,520 --> 01:03:28,560
Speaker 2: It's the Western Conference Finals and like last year, no

1343
01:03:28,680 --> 01:03:32,920
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City, no Denver, so Joe Dealera, we get to

1344
01:03:32,960 --> 01:03:36,160
Speaker 2: the Western Conference Finals again, no Oklahoma City, no Denver.

1345
01:03:36,520 --> 01:03:37,160
Speaker 2: What happened?

1346
01:03:37,800 --> 01:03:41,360
Speaker 1: I would be shocked if neither of these teams are

1347
01:03:41,440 --> 01:03:44,360
Speaker 1: or in there. I was gonna say, you'd have to

1348
01:03:44,400 --> 01:03:47,160
Speaker 1: have a situation where den like, we're one of these

1349
01:03:47,160 --> 01:03:49,280
Speaker 1: teams like falls all the way down to the bottom

1350
01:03:49,280 --> 01:03:51,560
Speaker 1: of the standings. They play each other in the first round,

1351
01:03:51,880 --> 01:03:54,160
Speaker 1: and that's you know, and then somebody pumps the other one.

1352
01:03:55,480 --> 01:03:57,920
Speaker 1: I think both these teams are top notch. I think

1353
01:03:57,960 --> 01:04:00,520
Speaker 1: it's Denver's obviously the team that's more likely, I think,

1354
01:04:00,560 --> 01:04:03,800
Speaker 1: to not advance that far. And I think it just

1355
01:04:03,840 --> 01:04:06,120
Speaker 1: has to do with path I think that they're more

1356
01:04:06,280 --> 01:04:09,120
Speaker 1: likely to see a tougher first round matchup, and then

1357
01:04:09,200 --> 01:04:11,240
Speaker 1: they're also much more likely to see a tougher second

1358
01:04:11,320 --> 01:04:15,240
Speaker 1: round matchup. So I think that's Denver's path out. And

1359
01:04:15,280 --> 01:04:18,040
Speaker 1: then I kind of outlined the one matchup I think

1360
01:04:18,040 --> 01:04:21,160
Speaker 1: that could be problematic for Oklahoma City is you know,

1361
01:04:21,240 --> 01:04:24,240
Speaker 1: a Dallas matchup. I don't think that any of the

1362
01:04:24,240 --> 01:04:26,320
Speaker 1: other teams that I think could be a real threat

1363
01:04:26,360 --> 01:04:29,360
Speaker 1: are gonna fall all the way down to the eight

1364
01:04:29,480 --> 01:04:32,520
Speaker 1: seed where they would play Oklahoma City. So maybe in

1365
01:04:32,560 --> 01:04:35,400
Speaker 1: the second round, but even then those are gonna be

1366
01:04:35,400 --> 01:04:37,920
Speaker 1: I think a lot longer series where you know, the

1367
01:04:37,960 --> 01:04:39,480
Speaker 1: four or five are gonna have to play each other.

1368
01:04:39,760 --> 01:04:41,960
Speaker 1: That's gonna be maybe a seven game series. You're at

1369
01:04:42,000 --> 01:04:44,480
Speaker 1: a rest disadvantage. It's gonna be very difficult, I think,

1370
01:04:44,560 --> 01:04:48,960
Speaker 1: to get Oklahoma City in a situation where they're getting upset.

1371
01:04:49,480 --> 01:04:51,040
Speaker 2: I'm gonna put you on the spot with a follow

1372
01:04:51,080 --> 01:04:52,880
Speaker 2: up to that one before we get to our last question.

1373
01:04:53,320 --> 01:04:56,360
Speaker 2: Matt Moore loves to give out the exact bat outcomes,

1374
01:04:56,400 --> 01:05:00,360
Speaker 2: like the exact finals, the exact matchups. I don't think

1375
01:05:00,360 --> 01:05:02,640
Speaker 2: i've seen this market up, but let's assume that I

1376
01:05:02,680 --> 01:05:06,680
Speaker 2: gave you a market for Western Conference Finals teams to

1377
01:05:06,760 --> 01:05:09,760
Speaker 2: face each other. It's not Oklahoma City, it's not Denver.

1378
01:05:09,800 --> 01:05:12,600
Speaker 2: I don't have numbers for you. Nobody cares if you

1379
01:05:12,640 --> 01:05:15,720
Speaker 2: get it wrong. Only people remember the hero shot. Take

1380
01:05:15,760 --> 01:05:18,600
Speaker 2: your shot, Joe Delera, Who are the two teams that

1381
01:05:18,640 --> 01:05:21,360
Speaker 2: are not Oklahoma City or Denver who is facing each

1382
01:05:21,400 --> 01:05:22,720
Speaker 2: other in the finals in the.

1383
01:05:22,640 --> 01:05:25,480
Speaker 1: West, Memphis and the Clippers.

1384
01:05:26,640 --> 01:05:30,320
Speaker 2: Interesting, all right, they heard it there. First, last question,

1385
01:05:30,840 --> 01:05:33,520
Speaker 2: I gave Jim this question to you found a crystal

1386
01:05:33,560 --> 01:05:38,280
Speaker 2: ball that allows you to see the playoff future performance

1387
01:05:38,440 --> 01:05:41,880
Speaker 2: for any three West players of your choosing for this season.

1388
01:05:42,320 --> 01:05:43,680
Speaker 2: Who are your picks for the year.

1389
01:05:44,680 --> 01:05:46,720
Speaker 1: You gotta pick Luka Doncic. I need to know how

1390
01:05:46,760 --> 01:05:48,760
Speaker 1: this goes. I have to know. I have to see

1391
01:05:48,760 --> 01:05:51,840
Speaker 1: it because to me, if that combination works, they're going

1392
01:05:51,920 --> 01:05:56,280
Speaker 1: to be incredible. Right. I then then picked chet Holmgren.

1393
01:05:56,520 --> 01:06:00,280
Speaker 1: I want to see how exactly Oklahoma City is deploying him.

1394
01:06:00,360 --> 01:06:02,120
Speaker 1: Is he going to be used as four? Is gonna

1395
01:06:02,120 --> 01:06:03,960
Speaker 1: be used as a five? What are the numbers look

1396
01:06:04,040 --> 01:06:06,600
Speaker 1: like when he gets rammed up? How dominant is that

1397
01:06:06,680 --> 01:06:09,080
Speaker 1: defense down the stretch and in the playoffs as well?

1398
01:06:09,360 --> 01:06:12,800
Speaker 1: And then finally, Kawhi Leonard is he healthy? If so,

1399
01:06:13,280 --> 01:06:16,320
Speaker 1: the Clippers could really be a disruptor in the Western Conference.

1400
01:06:16,640 --> 01:06:19,560
Speaker 1: And that's one where if I knew he was gonna

1401
01:06:19,560 --> 01:06:22,120
Speaker 1: be healthy, I could buy him the Clippers now. But

1402
01:06:22,360 --> 01:06:23,880
Speaker 1: instead I'm just gonna I think I'm just gonna have

1403
01:06:23,880 --> 01:06:26,000
Speaker 1: to wait a couple months and make sure that he's

1404
01:06:26,040 --> 01:06:28,600
Speaker 1: good to go for the postseason. In the playoff runt.

1405
01:06:28,760 --> 01:06:30,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, Unfortunately, in the last if we could just use

1406
01:06:30,760 --> 01:06:32,560
Speaker 2: our crystal ball in health is really the thing that

1407
01:06:32,600 --> 01:06:34,320
Speaker 2: we'd want to use it for. To find out about

1408
01:06:34,360 --> 01:06:37,120
Speaker 2: Kawhi found out about Lebron and Luca, find out about

1409
01:06:37,160 --> 01:06:41,600
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis, lots of these dudes, chet Holmgen Hopefully, hopefully

1410
01:06:41,680 --> 01:06:43,400
Speaker 2: we just get a playoffs that are healthy and we

1411
01:06:43,440 --> 01:06:46,480
Speaker 2: get to see all of these teams, but inevitably pregnancy,

1412
01:06:46,520 --> 01:06:49,360
Speaker 2: a couple injuries derail a couple of them. I think

1413
01:06:49,560 --> 01:06:51,560
Speaker 2: a non injury one that I would like to see.

1414
01:06:51,920 --> 01:06:53,880
Speaker 2: And maybe this is just because I have like seven

1415
01:06:53,960 --> 01:06:56,640
Speaker 2: hundred units on him for most Improved, I think Ja

1416
01:06:56,760 --> 01:07:00,000
Speaker 2: Dubb would be really fascinating to say. Okay, I think

1417
01:07:00,080 --> 01:07:01,800
Speaker 2: I trust Shaye. Now, Shay's going to do the thing

1418
01:07:01,840 --> 01:07:04,440
Speaker 2: in the playoffs. Shay's gonna have his scoring. A trust

1419
01:07:04,480 --> 01:07:07,000
Speaker 2: their defense. I know Glama City is gonna defend well,

1420
01:07:07,480 --> 01:07:10,200
Speaker 2: but I still don't think you win the title with

1421
01:07:10,320 --> 01:07:13,280
Speaker 2: an elite elite defense and an elite elite score. You

1422
01:07:13,360 --> 01:07:16,560
Speaker 2: need a second guy. Somebody I'm not gonna call him

1423
01:07:16,560 --> 01:07:19,240
Speaker 2: the Jalen Brown. That's not how the Celtics work. But

1424
01:07:19,400 --> 01:07:21,840
Speaker 2: the thing that you listener think is the Jalen Brown.

1425
01:07:21,880 --> 01:07:25,280
Speaker 2: You need the second star. And I really felt going

1426
01:07:25,360 --> 01:07:30,400
Speaker 2: into the summer last year, after the postseason, I really

1427
01:07:30,440 --> 01:07:32,720
Speaker 2: wasn't in on Jadub. I really felt like he let

1428
01:07:32,800 --> 01:07:34,800
Speaker 2: them down in the playoffs and could not be the

1429
01:07:34,880 --> 01:07:37,760
Speaker 2: second guy. And I don't think it's Chet. I don't

1430
01:07:37,800 --> 01:07:40,240
Speaker 2: think Chet is supposed to be that dude as a scorer.

1431
01:07:41,120 --> 01:07:43,760
Speaker 2: I think Ja Dubb to me, is a really good

1432
01:07:43,760 --> 01:07:48,440
Speaker 2: barometer test of Okay, what actually did Oklahoma City become?

1433
01:07:48,960 --> 01:07:52,000
Speaker 2: Did he? Could he be the Scottie Pippen to the

1434
01:07:52,040 --> 01:07:54,720
Speaker 2: Michael Jordan version that might be Shay on this sort

1435
01:07:54,760 --> 01:07:59,240
Speaker 2: of juggernaut defensive team. To me, that's a question that

1436
01:07:59,360 --> 01:08:01,680
Speaker 2: helps me find out do I actually want to invest

1437
01:08:01,720 --> 01:08:04,160
Speaker 2: in okay See. I think it's a question okay See

1438
01:08:04,200 --> 01:08:06,520
Speaker 2: has to find out because if they find out the

1439
01:08:06,560 --> 01:08:08,680
Speaker 2: answer of that is not the answer they want it

1440
01:08:08,720 --> 01:08:10,760
Speaker 2: to be. I think they have to make a move

1441
01:08:10,920 --> 01:08:13,480
Speaker 2: the summer. I think they have to decide, Okay, this

1442
01:08:13,640 --> 01:08:17,080
Speaker 2: version is not getting there as good as we look. Shay, Yes,

1443
01:08:17,200 --> 01:08:20,240
Speaker 2: Chat yes, it might have to be not Jadub if

1444
01:08:20,240 --> 01:08:23,240
Speaker 2: he hasn't actually taken the steps forward or look like

1445
01:08:23,320 --> 01:08:25,519
Speaker 2: there is another step there. Especially he's not as young

1446
01:08:25,840 --> 01:08:27,720
Speaker 2: as you think for younger player too, just because he

1447
01:08:27,720 --> 01:08:30,280
Speaker 2: had a few years in college. So to me, I

1448
01:08:30,320 --> 01:08:32,640
Speaker 2: think Jadab would be a really fascinating just kind of

1449
01:08:33,600 --> 01:08:36,960
Speaker 2: temperature gauge of what we might actually see from. Okay see,

1450
01:08:37,040 --> 01:08:38,880
Speaker 2: but there are other names up and down the list.

1451
01:08:38,920 --> 01:08:41,720
Speaker 2: We'll talk about all of them over at Buckets in

1452
01:08:41,760 --> 01:08:44,800
Speaker 2: the days and weeks and months to come. The marathon

1453
01:08:44,920 --> 01:08:47,120
Speaker 2: has only just begun. We got long ways to go.

1454
01:08:47,720 --> 01:08:51,040
Speaker 2: That's it for our two part NBA mid season update.

1455
01:08:51,080 --> 01:08:53,839
Speaker 2: Thank you to Joe Delaira for all things West Today,

1456
01:08:53,880 --> 01:08:56,479
Speaker 2: Thanks to Jim Turvey for part one on the East.

1457
01:08:56,520 --> 01:08:58,360
Speaker 2: Make sure to go back and listen to that in

1458
01:08:58,400 --> 01:09:01,160
Speaker 2: your Buckets feed or Action Network. It's in both places.

1459
01:09:01,640 --> 01:09:05,200
Speaker 2: Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast. Subscribe on the

1460
01:09:05,240 --> 01:09:07,960
Speaker 2: Action Network YouTube channel as well. Don't forget to download

1461
01:09:08,240 --> 01:09:11,040
Speaker 2: and check out everything in the Action Network app. Follow

1462
01:09:11,120 --> 01:09:13,400
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1463
01:09:13,400 --> 01:09:15,720
Speaker 2: and picks. Make sure to get that pro subscription so

1464
01:09:15,760 --> 01:09:18,960
Speaker 2: you get the alerts right away. Check out the discord

1465
01:09:19,080 --> 01:09:21,240
Speaker 2: link in the description. You can join there and see

1466
01:09:21,240 --> 01:09:23,080
Speaker 2: a lot of folks talking about picks there as well,

1467
01:09:23,400 --> 01:09:27,439
Speaker 2: and most importantly, follow us at Buckets Daily Best Bets

1468
01:09:27,680 --> 01:09:30,160
Speaker 2: that future jays were referenced every Monday, Come and do

1469
01:09:30,200 --> 01:09:34,160
Speaker 2: you plenty more all week, every day, all the way

1470
01:09:34,200 --> 01:09:37,240
Speaker 2: into the end of June. When we get to finally, finally,

1471
01:09:37,720 --> 01:09:41,599
Speaker 2: an NBA champion. It's coming, We're getting there. It's time

1472
01:09:41,640 --> 01:09:44,799
Speaker 2: to watch some basketball, Joe. Let's get Buckets.

1473
01:09:52,200 --> 01:09:56,720
Speaker 1: Action Network reminds you please gamble responsibly. If you or

1474
01:09:56,760 --> 01:09:59,519
Speaker 1: someone you care about has a gambling problem, help is

1475
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