WEBVTT - Biggest Surprise For Each Western Conference Team 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:07.240 You don'tn't see my rock climbing shoes in the pail 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:09.760 and pale al Since I was twenty one, well really 0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:11.840 more like twenty five. I didn't like these at first 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:16.160 at all, but now I forced myself to like them. 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:17.360 Mango. 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:20.200 A lot of white guys have skeletons in their closet. 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:20.599 Not me. 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:23.040 I just have a five gallon drum of West Coast 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:26.720 Hazy for mintin that smells like Tangerine's and bar my 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:27.320 car best. 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:27.560 Yeah. 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:29.840 I do work outside. Yeah, you ever had to track 0:00:29.880 --> 0:00:32.519 down a disc golf disc in the woods. I like 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.320 my IPAs like I like my women on Tender Tall 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:38.360 Sweet within thirty miles of my home. I love local brewery. 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:40.559 You guys want the ipa with the octopus on it 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:43.520 or the skeleton. You know the phrase Jesse McCartney walked 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:47.640 so bieber could run well, bud Lights walked so IPAs 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:50.080 could cycle. Got an hundre k bike this weekend. 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:50.919 Pretty excitive. 0:00:56.960 --> 0:01:00.520 Good good morning, swimmer, and welcome to the No Dunks 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:04.120 podcast on the Athletic Network. It's Wednesday, November thirtieth, twenty 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:06.399 twenty two. I'm j Skeetz here in the Classic Factory 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:08.680 and alongside me as always task. 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:11.240 Millics podcast listeners, this is for you. 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:13.720 Next to Tassie, It's the Bearded One, Matasha, hot Boy, 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:18.000 Trey Herby, Hey, hey, and last but not least, over 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:21.320 Yonder making the magic happen, super producer. 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:25.399 JD wearing a we are local hat fits JD. Thank you. 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:27.480 There, he is there, he is here. We are shout 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:29.520 out to the stream team joining us live right now 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:32.680 on YouTube. Comment like, subscribe, get your No Dunk's merch 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:35.520 over at no dunks dot com. Send in your questions 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:37.400 and comments to no dunks at the Athletic dot com. 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:39.920 And hey, if you're looking for like a last minute 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:42.760 Christmas gift, might I suggest. 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:44.320 Last minute first minute? 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:48.520 Hey man, Christmas is three weeks away, three and a 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.240 half weeks away, But this is a good idea. Go 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:54.560 get an Athletic subscription for somebody, a sports nut in 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:57.440 your life. Go to the Athletic dot com slash No Dunks. 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:02.120 We still believe that Black Friday dollar a month deal. 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:06.040 Is on three cents a day. People get in now. 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:07.280 Three cents a day. 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:08.639 Well done, that's great. 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:10.800 It's the new pitch for the best sports writing in 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:14.000 the world. And this podcast ad free if you want 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:15.760 that as well, if you get that Athletic subscription, So 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:17.960 go to the Athletic dot com slash no nuncks. We 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:19.760 have a fun one today. We are going to go 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:23.280 through every single Western Conference team and share our biggest 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:26.760 surprise at the quarter mark of the NBA season. But 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.639 before we get to that, had three games on last night. 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:31.360 I want to chuck all the match you and you 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:33.079 guys can talk about any of the ones you want 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:36.040 to pretty entertaining games. Really, we had Luca and the 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:39.560 MAVs edging Curry and the Warriors in a West Finals replay. 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:42.680 Do you like travels because this one had a whole 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.520 lot of traveling violations. We had Norman Powell scoring thirty 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:47.280 two off the bench as the Clippers rallied past the 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:49.520 Blazers one eighteen, one to twelve, and then birthday boy 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:52.520 Julius Randall scored thirty six as the Knicks took care 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:55.280 of the Pistons one forty to one ten. But I 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:57.720 assume you want to talk a little bit about entertaining. 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:01.000 Sort of weird game between the Ecks and Warriors there. 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:03.520 Yeah, MAVs got a little revenge for the Western Conference 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:06.399 Finals loss. Before we get to the travels that everybody 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:09.960 wants to talk about, it's Luca magic. Obviously, he was 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:12.360 a magician out there. It was cool seeing him against 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:15.359 different defenders like the Warriors throwing Jonathan kuming Adam, who 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:18.119 was the best type of guy I think you put 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:21.880 on him. Luca calls lou Dort one of the best 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:24.280 few defenders in the league because he just want a 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:28.079 huge body to try and match the size and strength 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:30.960 of Luka Dancic and Kuminga Kainda does that. It's just 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:34.760 hard to find those dudes. So him, Luca being able 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:38.680 to just dissect, diagnose, do whatever he wants against double team, 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:42.600 split them, dance and the beautiful scoopedy loop pass to 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:46.000 the corner on for that went right by Klay Thompson. 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.000 That was amazing. He was just phenomenal out there. So 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:52.160 he dropped another forty spot, another forty point triple double. 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:55.880 You know, these numbers, these stats come flying at us. 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:58.840 But when I saw that, it took him two hundred 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:02.200 and eighty three games to get to his twentieth forty 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:04.720 point game of his career, and it took Dirk fifteen 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:08.160 and twenty two games to get there. I thought that 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:11.320 was pretty significant perspective. Yeah, yeah, I know there's point 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:15.080 inflation out there, but still, this is Dirk we're talking about. 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:18.200 Dirk took him eighteen seasons to get there. Luca, he's 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:20.560 in season number five, so it was it was just 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:23.560 magical out there and he did it. You know, the 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:26.880 Warriors got contributions from the bench, which was weird the 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:29.760 way it balanced out, but Luca was the story last night. 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:31.280 What did you think of that game, that first one 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:31.719 on TNT. 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:34.560 I saw today that Jared Weis at The Daily Dean 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:37.560 called it the game of the season so far. The 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:40.920 last two minutes. I think you at least got got 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:43.000 a case to be made there because the shot making 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:46.960 was awesome. Seeing two of the top five MVP candidates 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:49.720 going ahead to head kind of trading shots pretty cool. 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:51.840 A lot of weird stuff happened in this game, all 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:54.679 the travels, I mean, the Warriors got looks for Steph 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:57.840 and Clay down three a travel and a miss on 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:00.800 those ones. But I was really impressed with the role 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:03.440 players coming through in the clutch for the Mavericks. Tim 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:06.000 Hardaway Junior finally had a good game, had a massive 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:07.880 three late in the fourth quarter of this one, and 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.719 Josh Green had a wild take to the hoop where 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:13.400 he scored a layup, and that really kind of helped 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:15.920 ice things for the MAVs. We've talked a lot about 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:19.640 how great Dancic has been throughout this season. Three forty 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:22.560 point triple doubles already. I do think he will bypass 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:26.359 Dirk eventually for career forty point games, probably by the 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:31.000 next game. But they've gotten good performances from wood throughout 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:34.080 the season. Spencer Dinwoody has been up and down a 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:36.120 little bit, but has had a solid season as well. 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.560 The role guys, the actual role players on the MAVs 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:42.000 have not been very good so far this season. They 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:44.480 showed up last night. So the MAVs got an incredible win. 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:47.760 Yeah, Tim Hardaway Junior hitting five threes, some timely buckets too, 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:50.000 and Josh Green playing really well in his twenty five 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:50.839 to twenty six minutes. 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:52.839 He was scared. He was scared when Spencer didn't win. 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:54.240 He went out, he said, oh, I'm gonna have to 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:56.880 play point guard now. I've never haven't done that in 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:59.840 a long time. But yeah, yeah, they need It's sometimes 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:02.080 good for a team to get a young guy sort 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:05.880 of thrust into a bigger role. So, as Trey said, 0:06:06.080 --> 0:06:09.640 they just need those guys to play. Really, they have 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:12.360 to play average basketball and they can win because they've 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:15.640 been losing these really close games. So they're back to 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:19.720 five hundred. Hey, they could literally be number one in 0:06:19.760 --> 0:06:21.240 the West if they want some of those close games, 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:22.840 if they got some of these performances from some of 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:23.560 these role players. 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:27.160 How insane was the Dinwitty ejection? There a flagrant two 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:30.120 foul call on driving to the net. I mean, the 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:33.040 elbow comes up, it hits pool. They go and look 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:35.119 at it. I'm thinking I think most people are like, okay, 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:36.760 they might get they're gonna give him a flagrant one. 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:38.640 You know, it was the chicken winged up there. It 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:41.680 caught them. He went down. Well, we'll just continue to play. 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:45.760 But tossed for that a flagrant two. And then in 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:49.040 addition to all the maybe correct travel calls, it was 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:50.719 just a I just tweeted last night. It was a 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:53.360 fun game, but it was just a weird game with 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:54.160 everything going on. 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:58.880 What do you think Dinwitty call? Wrong travel calls? We 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:00.920 got to understand what a travel a call is. They're right, 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:04.040 we have to figure out what travel calls are, what 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:06.560 pivot feet. The pivot foot is part. 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:08.359 It's that switch into that pivot foot. 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.640 Yeah, yeah, I start to think back to do you 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:15.000 remember when Kevin Garnett, Candace Parker, and Gary Payton jumped 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:17.080 in They had an argument about what the hell is 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:21.720 a pivot foot? Because it's changed. It has changed. The 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:23.600 pivot foot supposed to be the last thing that leaves 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:25.320 the ground, but now it just dances and then you 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:27.760 can move to your other foot and let that one hang. 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:30.800 So it is weird that it's happening now in November 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:33.840 because it wasn't a mandate in October. Tom Havistrow has 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:37.400 broke down the numbers or buddy that they were. You know, 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:39.760 they were just pretty regular in the month of October. 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:42.280 But now they're like four per game, which is like 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:44.800 almost triple what it was in October. So it's weird 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:46.480 that it wasn't at the beginning of the season because 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:49.000 that's when the mandates come. But I think it does. 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:52.200 It's good for the game eventually, like it. Yeah, because 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:54.240 the dancing at the three point line with the you know, 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:56.640 the hard and shuffle whatever you want to call it, 0:07:56.640 --> 0:08:01.280 it's become a little nuts. But anyway, traveling talk is 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:04.200 boring and it's unfortunate, but I think it has to 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:06.640 be done. It's just weird when it's coming out because they. 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:08.600 At least they were consistent about it last night. 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:13.080 Just call it, yeah, learn, the players will learn. 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:15.960 Yeah, you have any thoughts in addition to the test, 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.120 they're on the traveling or the Dinwitty flagrant. 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.680 Too, I feel Yeah, terrible call on Dinwitty. I thought 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:23.559 I thought that was a kind of a textbook flagrant. One. 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:28.080 Contact to the face seemed incidental to me because I mean, yeah, 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:29.600 he's trying to get him off him, but like he's 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:31.520 not aiming for his face. Just very weird hit the 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:33.559 way his arm kind of traveled up. I guess it 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:36.920 was pool right, traveled up his chest into his face. 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:38.120 Maybe he's just got him. 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:43.160 He's got a magnet and he's got good reactions too. 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:45.120 So he sell it and he's got he's got good 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:51.120 facial reactions in general. The Curry travel, that's not a travel, 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:55.120 I don't think so you're talking about yeah, the only 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:57.160 one that really matters, But uh, they called it a 0:08:57.200 --> 0:08:59.800 travel because they missed one for Tyler hero, So it's 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:02.240 it's in the minds of the official. I wouldn't be 0:09:02.280 --> 0:09:04.200 surprised if it's rescinded. I thought that was a big 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:06.680 gather step he did. We've seen that so many times. 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:09.840 Yeah, yeah, that's fair. I mean that is you've seen 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:14.200 that from Curry or one hundred other players a million times. Yeah, 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:17.360 over the last couple the last ten season. So yeah, 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:20.440 if they suddenly changed the ruling on that, we're going 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:22.160 to see a hell of a lot of travel calls. 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:25.000 Well, he got called for one earlier very similar play, 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:27.240 and then post game he's like, they thought I did 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:28.199 the same thing, but I didn't. 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:32.240 Yeah, I trust him. As for the other games. Just 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:34.920 some love to Norman Powell for twenty two points in 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:38.240 the fourth quarter. I mean shot seven to nine, hit 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:40.320 both of his threes, got to the line six of eight. There. 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:42.520 I read that no Clipper in the last twenty five 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.640 seasons has scored more points in a fourth quarter. Norman 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:48.440 Powell has that. Now, incredible stuff from him as they 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:50.680 came back to sort of shock Portland there who looked 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:52.760 like they had a comfortable lead. And then the birthday. Boy, 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:56.280 I love a guy scoring on his birthday. Randall fourteen 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:58.640 to twenty four from the field, seven boards, five assists, 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:00.640 put Beef stew on a poster. He was not happy 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:04.240 about it. I'll shove after. But I think for the Knicks, 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:06.200 I mean it was against the Pistons with no kid 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:10.040 and no IV I get that. But they did have Randall, RJ. Barrett, 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:13.120 and Jalen Brunson all playing well, sort of on the 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:15.640 same night. Because they've struggled with that. It's either one 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:17.800 guy's having a big performance, the other two a stinging up, 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:20.000 maybe two guys the third guys nowhere to be seen, 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:22.760 but all three were decent and Mitchell Robinson stayed out 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:25.640 of foul trouble, stayed on the floor. He's very vital 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:28.360 to them, and he grabbed thirteen rebounds. So they're happy 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:31.120 with those guys contributing. Grime's playing well quickly off the 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.760 bench with fifteen. Everybody played all right there celebrating Julius 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:36.840 Randall's birthday. Wouldn't you love to have a big performance 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:37.480 on your birthday? 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:38.280 Yeah? 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:40.240 Do you think about that with the podcast? I guess 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:43.760 we're August birthdays, so yeah, you know we're not doing 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:45.839 a live podcast generally in the off season. 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:48.600 I blasted a home run on a baseball podcast on 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:49.520 my birthday this summer. 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:50.000 Oh, there you go. 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:55.480 I don't remember what it was, but it was no doubt. Yeah, 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:57.880 I think it was a solo pod forcing JD to 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:01.160 talk about baseball. But just like normal going solo in 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:03.880 the fourth court. It's a good win for the Clippers. Yeah, 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.960 and we'll talk about the Clippers as the surprise that 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:09.840 they are. Yeah, considering all the injuries that they had 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:10.600 going into last night. 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:12.400 Before we get to that, had an update with Karl 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:16.320 Anthony Towns. He's expected to miss several weeks, likely four 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:19.679 to six weeks with that right calf strain he suffered 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:21.800 on Monday night. But the good news Tray is that 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:25.079 he avoided a more serious injury like a ruptured achilles. 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:26.000 But four to six. 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:27.920 Weeks here, I mean, that's a chunk of time figure 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:30.240 it out. Yeah, a month and a half if he misses. 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:32.559 Of trying to actually figure out how you're going to 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:36.000 play together. We've seen a lot of clips going around 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.319 of go beart in Towns, just like in the lane, 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:40.560 kind of shoveling the ball back and forth to each other. 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:43.720 A lot of congestion there so my guess is that 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:46.800 the Timberwolves offense is going to instantly improve just because 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.000 there's one less big guy out there. Anthony Edwards is 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:51.680 gonna go crazy. He's been looking forward to playing with 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:55.120 only one big guy out there. Unfortunately for Rudy Gobert 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:56.880 means he probably won't touch the ball for the next 0:11:56.880 --> 0:12:00.640 month and a half. But I mean think the good 0:12:00.679 --> 0:12:03.480 thing is that Towns isn't, you know, seriously hurt where 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:06.040 he's gonna have to recover from an achilles injury. But 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:08.600 this is bad for the Timberwolves still, even if it's 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:10.680 only a month and a half, they need every single 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:12.880 game they can play together to figure out how they 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:13.440 fit together. 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:17.839 Yes, because it's such an odd combination of biggs, for sure, 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.240 I think it's slow mo time, though Kyle Anderson's gonna 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:24.040 play a lot at the four to stretch it out. 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:26.960 Nas Reed has been so good. I think Chris Finch 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:30.520 probably be tempted to play nas Reed and Rudy Gobert together, 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:33.520 but that would continue to clog things up. So I 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:38.280 think Kyle Anderson, who was a smart signing for them, 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:41.160 I think he's come along slowly. He was injured to 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:43.360 start the season. It's gonna be key here, but it 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:47.080 does suck for them just in general not playing together. 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:49.920 Yeah, that hurts. I think Torrian Prince is out right 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:51.200 now for a couple of weeks. I think he has 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:54.080 a shoulder injury. Maybe when he comes back and it's healthy, 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:56.040 they could put him into the starting lineup as well, 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:58.520 just to add some shooting, because Kyle Anderson doesn't give 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:01.320 you that, like he's actually not gonna try three point 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:03.280 percentage wise, but he doesn't take a lot of them, 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:04.920 so you know, you got him and a Rudy there. 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:06.600 Could that could be an issue, but I think you're right. 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:08.719 They'll probably go with him Nasriy continuing to come off 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:11.360 the bench, but maybe Prince comes back and he's slotted 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:13.400 in there just to give them a threat of a 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:15.880 three point shooter. All right, let's get into it here. 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:20.280 The main bulk of this podcast is biggest surprise for 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:22.920 each Western Conference team. On tomorrow show, we'll do the 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:25.880 Eastern Conference teams. But we are a quarter or so 0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:28.720 into the NBA season, so surprise could be good, it 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:30.959 could be bad, It could be ugly, and it could 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:33.360 be about a player, it could be about a coach, 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:35.600 could be a trend that you've noticed with this team. 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.160 Go wherever you want with your biggest surprise, We'll start 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:43.160 in the Pacific Division. Yeah, I love divisions, you know it? 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:46.120 Great way to break it up. Five here, five here, 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.640 five here. Well, I love that Phoenix Suns tasks in 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:51.640 the Pacific Division. What's the biggest surprise to you at 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:53.280 the Quarner Market the NBA season. 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:55.240 At the Suns in the old Pacific Division. I guess 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:58.640 it shouldn't be surprising that the Suns are the same 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:01.760 old Suns. I just thought something was fishy after the 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:04.439 way they went out, the way they got destroyed by Dallas, 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:09.680 the DeAndre eight and signing a contract with the Indiana Pacers. 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.360 But nope, same old Devin Booker are going to be 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:15.880 all NBA. DeAndre Ayton signed that offer sheet with the Pacers. 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:19.640 It's come back basically the same guy with the Phoenix Suns. 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:23.840 Chris Paul missing games, Ali, that's the same old Just kidding, 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:25.520 I'm an a hole, but I guess I guess that 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:27.840 is one interesting thing with the Phoenix Suns because they 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:30.600 are the number one seed in the Western Conference. Chris 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:33.320 Paul when he has been playing he's played half the games. 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:37.120 Doesn't look like the old Chris Paul is age finally 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:39.600 catching up to thirty seven year old Chris Paul because 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:41.960 he's at nine and a half points per game thirty 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:44.480 seven and twenty seven is percentages just seven and a 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:47.040 half shots per game, which is really weird for Chris Paul. 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:50.480 So is that an issue when he does come back 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:53.400 or will he just find his groove again because Campaign 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:57.600 has been very good replacing him. He has been really solid. 0:14:58.040 --> 0:14:59.800 So the team doesn't look like it has any problems 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:01.720 like Parpin that they don't get to the free throw 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:04.360 line enough. They are amongst the bottom teams that doesn't 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:07.120 get to the line. The Golden State Warriors are the 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:10.400 absolute worst at that. They have the jump shooters to 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:12.920 make it happen, dude. The Suns, I tend to think 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:15.680 they've got to find some extra buckets, but who really 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:17.840 when it looks when you look at the numbers, they 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:19.880 are a great offense. And so they haven't missed Jay 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:24.040 Crowder and they haven't missed Cam Johnson being out, which 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:25.720 is kind of crazy. They're the number one seed in 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:28.800 the West because they got villains and Tory Craig Damian Lee, 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:32.080 Jock Landale plays minutes, but many Williams, I guess is 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:35.440 the He is the rock that keeps this whole thing 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:37.840 together as the head coach, keeps things running. And they 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:42.120 are the same team. So fourteen to six, twenty games 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:45.080 through the season, that would be all you really ask for. 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:48.120 They are right on pace to be, you know, another 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:50.160 fifty five to sixty win team. Yah, amazing. 0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:52.280 I remember you doting them quite a bit in the preseason. 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:55.400 You thought the hangover of that brutal loss last year 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:57.680 with the eight and with the Crowder holdout and all 0:15:57.720 --> 0:15:59.080 that could have an effect. 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:02.240 On them, but who knows. Yeah, it's just it's all vibes, 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:04.920 and can you really feel the vibes. I just thought 0:16:05.160 --> 0:16:07.920 losing again, that's unprecedented to lose by fifty at home? 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:10.040 Did DeAndre eton thing where he said, yeah, I'm happy 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:12.360 to be here. Yeah, I'm happy to be here. So 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:18.080 that wasn't selling me. But obviously their play is amazing, 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:21.440 and I thought the Western Conference teams would be better. 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:23.920 So I thought there was a chance when we made 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:26.720 our bold predictions that the Sons would drop down the standard. Yeah, 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:29.360 but they have not been there. There's a lot of 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:31.280 mediocrity as we get to these teams, and there's a 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:33.760 chance that a lot of these good teams could pass 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:37.000 the Suns at some point, because at fourteen six fifty five, 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:39.400 that's very, very good. But there's a chance for a 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:41.840 team to grab the West if they want. 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:44.400 Absolutely all right, let's keep it going, Trey, you got 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:44.920 the Clippers. 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:48.720 Biggest surprise, biggest surprise for the Clippers to me is 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:52.640 how little Kawhi Leonard is played. It's honestly shocking. Like 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:55.480 the guy's coming back from injury. He missed like five 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:58.600 hundred days, just like Ben Simmons. What a number, five 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:01.160 hundred days of summer. We knew he was going to 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:02.880 be in and out of the lineup for sure. Yeah, 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:04.800 you know, like Kawhi has been a load managing kind 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:08.360 of guy since the Zaza injury with the Spurs. Way 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:10.800 back when he played what sixty five games for the 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:14.160 Raptors when they won the championship. That seemed about right. 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:16.600 He's played one hundred and twelve minutes so far. He's 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:19.919 played in five games so far for the Clippers. You 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:21.840 would think that after taking a year and a half 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:24.520 off he would be back more regularly than this. This 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:27.960 is pretty surprising that he's been in basically as a 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:30.159 role player, Like I mean, when he's playing, he's hardly 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:34.040 playing his usual allotment of minutes. It's been weird the 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:36.639 way they would bring him in halfway through the second quarter. 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:41.080 It's just been a very strange experience for Kawhi since 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:43.159 he's been to the Clippers, no doubt about it, but 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:45.880 this season it is shocking to me that it's less 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:49.520 of a story that he's playing so rarely like this 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:52.760 guy hasn't barely been on the court for the Clippers 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:56.000 since he got there. Understandable last year he was out, 0:17:56.040 --> 0:17:58.320 but you would think having that much time off, he's 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:00.199 going to be rare and to go, and that has 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:02.000 not been the case. Clippers have still done a good job. 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:04.520 They played defense. We saw last night. They can get 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:06.720 hot and score a whole bunch of baskets. It helps 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:09.639 ifan Prony Simons is trying to guard you. But the 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:11.840 Clippers ain't winning a title if Kawhi Leonard is not 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:14.200 Kawhi Leonard, and he has not looked anything like it 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:15.640 because we haven't seen him play. 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:19.000 Yeah, and he's already gonna miss the next game. It's 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:22.119 it's so strange with them, how they say, yeah, he's 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:25.359