Speaker 1: Welcome to Bullyball, presented by DraftKings.
Speaker 2: I am Rachel Nichols as always, mister DeMarcus Cousins boogie
Speaker 2: still in Taiwan, Greetings from across the seas here.
Speaker 1: Good to see you.
Speaker 2: Thanks right, and we are joined by the one, the only,
Speaker 2: Isaiah Thomas.
Speaker 3: Look, look, not the one and only, you know, there's
Speaker 3: another one.
Speaker 1: You're the only one of you, my friend, That's what
Speaker 1: I mean. Welcome.
Speaker 2: We're so happy to have you, and you are coming
Speaker 2: off such a great, you know, a couple of months
Speaker 2: of just you know, I think there was so much
Speaker 2: joy around the league to see you back after how
Speaker 2: hard you had worked and uh, you know, overcoming so
Speaker 2: much injury stuff and all the other stuff that comes
Speaker 2: along with once you fall out of the NBA. How
Speaker 2: hard it is to get back in. Can you just
Speaker 2: tell us a little of it, what it was like
Speaker 2: for you, kind of having that finish line after you know,
Speaker 2: running that marathon. As you've said for so.
Speaker 3: Long, it was everything, Like you know, I just at
Speaker 3: the end of the day, I just wanted to get.
Speaker 4: My foot back in the door.
Speaker 3: I just wanted to to to be where I belong,
Speaker 3: where I feel like you know I deserve to be,
Speaker 3: so I had to go through some hurdles. I had
Speaker 3: to you know, run some laps on this marathon, but
Speaker 3: at the end of the day, I just I just
Speaker 3: stayed down.
Speaker 4: I believed in myself.
Speaker 3: You know, Phoenix gave me the opportunity to come in
Speaker 3: and just you know, be a part of the culture,
Speaker 3: be a part of a great organization.
Speaker 4: And I can't thank them enough.
Speaker 3: So you know, I'm I'm I'm happy with, you know
Speaker 3: what what happened getting back in the NBA, but I
Speaker 3: still want to showcase that I could be a part
Speaker 3: of something and still play at a high level as well.
Speaker 3: So super thankful, appreciative. The hard work definitely has paid
Speaker 3: off to get back in, but you know I want
Speaker 3: a little more as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I think once you show people, hey, you know,
Speaker 2: not just one day and day they re signed you,
Speaker 2: they wanted you with them the whole rest of the way.
Speaker 2: I have to assume right book that that's going to
Speaker 2: make an impression on other teams.
Speaker 5: Absolutely, But I mean outside of that, like, I don't
Speaker 5: think this guy gets enough credit for like his story
Speaker 5: and like forget not forget, but excuse the part of
Speaker 5: him you know, making the NBA, and you know the
Speaker 5: legend that he created while.
Speaker 6: Being in there.
Speaker 5: Just the consistency, the grind, obviously, the slow ground, which
Speaker 5: is your model, your logo, Bro, your inspiration to so
Speaker 5: many around the world.
Speaker 6: Hightover I mean.
Speaker 5: Hard over height, all of those things, Bro, like just
Speaker 5: to continue to fight this fight when it could have
Speaker 5: been so easy for you to just you know, hang
Speaker 5: it up, call it quits, or take your talents to
Speaker 5: the other places, because there's so many other places to
Speaker 5: go play basketball. But the consistency with your fight is
Speaker 5: it's inspiring to so many people. And obviously it may
Speaker 5: not just be about basketball. Your story could easily convince
Speaker 5: the next person that's going through their.
Speaker 6: Own personal battles in life.
Speaker 5: So you know, I just obviously I want to give
Speaker 5: you your flowers and your and your kudos in this
Speaker 5: moment right now. But man, your story is amazing and
Speaker 5: I just don't think you've gotten the real credit that
Speaker 5: you deserve with the grind that you've really put into
Speaker 5: this shit.
Speaker 3: So but look, I appreciate you all. You know, I
Speaker 3: came in with you. I came in where you know,
Speaker 3: the back was against the wall, and you've seen the
Speaker 3: work each and every day, so we grew not only
Speaker 3: as teammates but as friends. So I always got to
Speaker 3: you know, I always tell people like I always give
Speaker 3: you your flowers just because you started what's happening now, Like
Speaker 3: we know, we know first and foremost who started the
Speaker 3: big man that could be able to do everything and
Speaker 3: play like a guard. So like you know, that doesn't
Speaker 3: get talked about enough, like and that's I'm always got
Speaker 3: the first and foremost give you your flowers on that,
Speaker 3: because we wouldn't see the all all respect to every
Speaker 3: big man that's playing right now, but we wouldn't see
Speaker 3: the MBS. We wouldn't see the Jokers if it wasn't
Speaker 3: for DeMarcus Cousins being able to to lay to lay
Speaker 3: the ground for those guys to be able to do
Speaker 3: the things that they do at a high level.
Speaker 4: So I appreciate you always giving me the love, but.
Speaker 3: I gotta I gotta give you the love back because
Speaker 3: it's not always given because not only who you are,
Speaker 3: but you're one of the best to ever play the game,
Speaker 3: no matter what, no matter how it ended, no matter
Speaker 3: what you went through, you know I seen it first
Speaker 3: and foremost. How like I never seen a big like
Speaker 3: you before, you know, And I always tell you that
Speaker 3: though like I'm not, I'm not because we on this,
Speaker 3: It's because it's real. And I'm always, you know, showcase
Speaker 3: love and respect for you because I've seen it day
Speaker 3: in and day out.
Speaker 4: I've seen I've seen how special a motherfucker is. Like
Speaker 4: not not you know, talk like that like you.
Speaker 3: You got to give you your respect, you know, like
Speaker 3: I always do that, so you know, it's all love
Speaker 3: and respect on my end, And I appreciate you always
Speaker 3: because you feel like, you know, we.
Speaker 4: Ran the same race for so long.
Speaker 3: We got hurt around the same time we was fighting
Speaker 3: to get back in and it just felt like we
Speaker 3: wasn't given the respect that we ultimately deserved as we
Speaker 3: was fighting for stuff that we shouldn't really had to
Speaker 3: fight for. So you know, we'll talk about that at
Speaker 3: a later day, but always give you your love and respect.
Speaker 4: For sure.
Speaker 6: I appreciate you. I love it always always.
Speaker 2: I wanted to kind of get your insight on Phoenix
Speaker 2: as well. I t because you obviously were up close
Speaker 2: with the organization that is in a pretty big transition moment.
Speaker 2: I guess you know the roster has been the big
Speaker 2: thing that we've been talking about. Buggie has been saying
Speaker 2: since October this TV's point guard. So what did you
Speaker 2: see in terms of that and the sort of the
Speaker 2: things played out with that being such a sore spot
Speaker 2: for them, you know as the series and as the
Speaker 2: end of the regular season and playoffs went on.
Speaker 3: I think we just tried something that you know, really
Speaker 3: hasn't been done before with not having a point guard. Now,
Speaker 3: I think it just paid a toll on us, you know,
Speaker 3: in a series where we played against a young, energetic,
Speaker 3: physical team that kind of kind of knew like, Okay,
Speaker 3: we're gonna pressure these guys the whole game to see
Speaker 3: if they can last, Like see if guys can really
Speaker 3: be able to make point guard plays and not necessarily
Speaker 3: be saying just because I'm on the team, we need
Speaker 3: to play a point guard. Even before you know, I
Speaker 3: got on the squad, like from Afar, looking at the
Speaker 3: Phoenix suns, I always felt like when it came to
Speaker 3: the playoffs, that kind of would be a missing pleae
Speaker 3: because you can't ultimately, you just can't play without a
Speaker 3: point guard, even if it's you play a point guard
Speaker 3: five to ten minutes each and every little half, like
Speaker 3: that's enough. It was taking a toll on a guy
Speaker 3: like Bradley Beial, It was taking a toll on a
Speaker 3: guy like you know, Devin Booker and even Kevin Durant
Speaker 3: at times, because it's just different things you got to
Speaker 3: do when you're a point guard, bringing the ball up,
Speaker 3: getting guys in position, Like I don't think they were ever.
Speaker 3: You know, they ever, They've done that a lot throughout
Speaker 3: their careers. So like when you go against a team
Speaker 3: that pressured us full court, that made us bring the
Speaker 3: ball up and get past half court at ten, you know,
Speaker 3: at thirteen fourteen seconds on the shot clock, that's tough
Speaker 3: for forty eight minutes. So I think it just it
Speaker 3: just paid a toll on us. You know, like those
Speaker 3: guys did a hell of a job. Coach put those
Speaker 3: guys in position to do a hell of a job.
Speaker 3: It was just, you know, we ran into a group
Speaker 3: that had some really good energy that you know, a
Speaker 3: guy like Anthony Edwards really showcased to the world that
Speaker 3: he's here and he's here to stay. So it was
Speaker 3: it was tough, but you know, we didn't match their energy.
Speaker 3: We didn't match their energy throughout the series, and I
Speaker 3: think that just paid a toll on us for sure.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean Book's been on it since being in the
Speaker 2: season that this wasn't gonna work when it got to
Speaker 2: the postseason to structure the team that way, and look,
Speaker 2: we saw it, And now they're gonna have to make
Speaker 2: some changes to the roster or something. If one of
Speaker 2: the big guys ends up getting traded. Do you have
Speaker 2: any insight into whether it would be a KD. I
Speaker 2: can't see Devin Booker getting traded. Bradley Beal has a
Speaker 2: no trade clause. It's complicated. They don't have a ton
Speaker 2: of roster flexibility there. Do you have any thought about
Speaker 2: what they could or should do going forward.
Speaker 4: I don't think they're gonna trade any of them.
Speaker 3: Like when it went well, like when we played well,
Speaker 3: and those guys really played well, you've seen you've seen
Speaker 3: what it could look like on a consistent basis. It
Speaker 3: just was inconsistency at times. But those guys really rock
Speaker 3: with each other, So I don't think. I think you
Speaker 3: just got to figure out who you can put around
Speaker 3: those guys to compliment their personalities, to compliment their game,
Speaker 3: to make things a lot easier for those three guys
Speaker 3: and then you move on from there because, like you said,
Speaker 3: there's not a lot of options you can go to,
Speaker 3: So you got to figure out how to make this
Speaker 3: thing work for the next couple of years and how
Speaker 3: to maximize you know, their abilities to win a championship.
Speaker 3: And I think I think it could happen. I think
Speaker 3: it's a great organization. You know, it was the first
Speaker 3: year for a lot of things, figuring things out, and
Speaker 3: I think you just got to you got to figure
Speaker 3: out what's best for those three and maximize there the
Speaker 3: opportunity you got for the years down the line, because
Speaker 3: you know, you only got probably a two to three
Speaker 3: year window in terms of playing at a high level
Speaker 3: for a guy like Kevin Durant, not necessarily saying he
Speaker 3: only got three years, but that window is not not
Speaker 3: a five year window at all.
Speaker 4: So you you'll see what changes they make.
Speaker 3: You know, hopefully I'm around to be to be able to,
Speaker 3: you know, make things easier for those guys. You know,
Speaker 3: I'm I'm a definitely you know, have my two cents
Speaker 3: and try to be around because it's definitely a a
Speaker 3: good group of guys and a great organization to be
Speaker 3: in for sure.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 2: And look, you mentioned Anthony Edwards and what it was
Speaker 2: like playing against him book, did you expect the ant
Speaker 2: experience to just carry right over to the Denver series
Speaker 2: from what he was doing against Phoenix the way it did,
Speaker 2: because I mean, he just was phenomenal again in Game one.
Speaker 5: Man, I love everything about this kid. The biggest thing
Speaker 5: that stands out is the fact that he's twenty two
Speaker 5: and his leadership skills are off the charts, Like I
Speaker 5: just I don't feel like that can go unnoticed. And
Speaker 5: the contagious good energy that he brings to the group,
Speaker 5: the charisma, the personality, just everything that comes with this kid.
Speaker 5: I really think this is his coming out moment, and
Speaker 5: I think this is also where he's letting you know,
Speaker 5: the world know, the league know that you know, I'm
Speaker 5: taking this league Like this is now becoming his lead.
Speaker 5: And I think the opportunity presented itself and he took
Speaker 5: full advantage of the opportunity.
Speaker 6: So he's definitely a gain de fan in me.
Speaker 5: I think he has all the intangibles of carrying this
Speaker 5: league and continuing.
Speaker 6: To make it a great lead.
Speaker 5: Like I said, the personality, the charisma, the great energy
Speaker 5: is everything that that's that's that's.
Speaker 6: Needed for this league to move forward. And you know
Speaker 6: the kid is shining.
Speaker 5: So he's living in the moment and the moment is
Speaker 5: his right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I T what do you think now?
Speaker 3: I mean, bog he said it like his energy is
Speaker 3: amazing and he and he's doing it the right way,
Speaker 3: Like he got personality. He knows what this opportunity is.
Speaker 3: He knows the world is watching like like like, but
Speaker 3: he said his leadership skills are not like a twenty
Speaker 3: two year old would be. Like you could tell everybody
Speaker 3: respects him on the floor, you could tell his coach.
Speaker 4: Has got his respect and he shows respect to his coaches.
Speaker 3: Like that was big for what he said after game
Speaker 3: one when they talked about what is Nick Norri to
Speaker 3: you guys, he said, he's the same as Fincy, Like
Speaker 3: he got the same voice as Finchy. We respect him
Speaker 3: just like he's the head coach and that goes a
Speaker 3: long way. Like he knows one thing I say, like
Speaker 3: he's a humble kid, but he knows he's cold, like
Speaker 3: he knows he's really good, Like he gives his props
Speaker 3: to everybody else. If you look at his quotes you're
Speaker 3: gonna tell you like I'm here, I'm I'm I'm.
Speaker 4: Here to kill all y'all.
Speaker 3: And I think that's an energy like we don't always
Speaker 3: see like God shy away from that, and he's he's
Speaker 3: taking full advantage of it. Like I always go off
Speaker 3: if if I pay to see you play, like he's
Speaker 3: one of the guys I'll pay. I'll pay my money
Speaker 3: to go to play for sure.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean he's just so natural with it too, right,
Speaker 2: the leadership side, the way he goes at it on
Speaker 2: the court, it none of it feels fake. It's super authentic,
Speaker 2: and I think that's what other guys, even on his team,
Speaker 2: pick up on. I mean I was watching him with
Speaker 2: Karl Anthony Towns after one of those games in the
Speaker 2: series against you guys, and you know he's sitting up
Speaker 2: there giving Carl a hard time on the podium in
Speaker 2: front of everyone about you know, I think he just
Speaker 2: was like, stop fucking failing, stop fouling, you know what's happening.
Speaker 1: And like, you know, that could potentially be pretty touchy.
Speaker 2: I mean it's like to transfer that to some of
Speaker 2: the dynamics on other teams, Like if someone turned and
Speaker 2: looked at Lebron, one of the young players up on
Speaker 2: the podium, it was like, hey, l runs, don't mean
Speaker 2: can you imagine like the cold list that would descend
Speaker 2: over the room.
Speaker 1: And yet you have to tell.
Speaker 3: He just has that good energy with him mate to
Speaker 3: where you can't even be like, damn, you're hating on
Speaker 3: me right now. He's doing that at all times. You
Speaker 3: could just tell. And from being in that series and
Speaker 3: watching him, you could tell everybody rocks with him, like
Speaker 3: he lets them talk to him, he lets them tell,
Speaker 3: like he lets others get on him as well. So
Speaker 3: he's not a guy that's just trying to get on
Speaker 3: everybody else and think he's doing everything right. You can
Speaker 3: tell he's the leader of that squad and everybody will
Speaker 3: run through a wall for him for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And look, obviously he was the engine. He was
Speaker 2: incredible in Game one, forty three points seven to twenty
Speaker 2: nine from the floor. He's averaging nearly thirty a game
Speaker 2: so far in the postseason. But when I look at
Speaker 2: that matchup overall, the biggest thing that jumps out isn't
Speaker 2: ant although obviously he jumps off the screen. It's that
Speaker 2: this was a team built to beat the Denver Nuggets,
Speaker 2: and you know, of course it was built by the
Speaker 2: same guy. I mean, that's what's incredible is you had
Speaker 2: a guy who was in Denver for I think about
Speaker 2: a decade summer, give or take, and then he goes
Speaker 2: to Minnesota. Right, Tim Conley goes to Minnesota and basically
Speaker 2: builds the team to take down Denver. And I got
Speaker 2: to give him credit too, because the rest of the
Speaker 2: league wasn't as on point of Okay, no matter what
Speaker 2: else we do, it's got to be a team that
Speaker 2: can take on Nikolaiokch.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 2: You saw Phoenix adding the positions they've adding, and the
Speaker 2: big man was kind of almost thought but something a
Speaker 2: piece they had to put in later. And all of
Speaker 2: these big moves around the league over these past couple
Speaker 2: of seasons haven't been as big man focused as Minnesota
Speaker 2: was when they led the way with the Gobert trade,
Speaker 2: which got a ton of criticism at the time, Right,
Speaker 2: I mean, it was a ton to give up for
Speaker 2: Rudy Gobert. It didn't work out in the first you know,
Speaker 2: sort of half season that they had, and it was
Speaker 2: sort of like, man, this was a colossal flub. This
Speaker 2: was a failure, and guess what, they figured it out.
Speaker 2: And with Karl Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid,
Speaker 2: I mean, what is that like for a guy like
Speaker 2: Jokich to face all of that. He came out after
Speaker 2: the game and said, the only thing I can think
Speaker 2: of is to get another carbon copy of me, because
Speaker 2: they just keep throwing guys and I don't have another
Speaker 2: me to throw at them.
Speaker 5: It's actually mom blowing to me that is taking this
Speaker 5: long to figure out the formula. Like the last championship
Speaker 5: team that did this was the Lakers Bubble team three Bigs,
Speaker 5: David Javel McGain, Dwight Howard, and the formula worked. I
Speaker 5: spoke on this on an earlier episode of how After.
Speaker 6: Denver one, I thought, well, at one point this was
Speaker 6: a copycat league, and.
Speaker 5: I thought that after Denver one, I just figured most
Speaker 5: teams would now start to go big.
Speaker 6: They'll start to respect the big man a lot.
Speaker 5: More, since the current champion is a big man driven team.
Speaker 5: For some reason, the league is still outdated to this
Speaker 5: fucking small ball shit like it doesn't work anymore. Is outdated,
Speaker 5: and it's oh, it does not work. So the fact
Speaker 5: that we are seeing a three man a three man
Speaker 5: big lineup where they can all alternate. They're all defend
Speaker 5: him in different ways that it's different looks. It's gonna
Speaker 5: be a challenge from the Kolokics. So I do think
Speaker 5: this team is built to be Denver. I do think
Speaker 5: Tim Conley understands. He knows what he building Denver, and
Speaker 5: he also knows he knows the strengths that he built
Speaker 5: in Denver. He also knows the weaknesses of Denver. He
Speaker 5: also knows the weaknesses of Nicola Yogic. So he's using
Speaker 5: that to his advantage and it's working. So I'll be
Speaker 5: glad when the rest of the fucking NBA catches up
Speaker 5: and realize you can't guard Nicola Jokic with a power
Speaker 5: forward in a small It does not work.
Speaker 3: So you guys hit it over the head though, Like
Speaker 3: he's built a team where at first everybody was everybody
Speaker 3: was down in the Minnesota timber Woods. But he's built
Speaker 3: it just just for this. And I think, you know,
Speaker 3: the biggest thing I think they made them turn the
Speaker 3: page is whether it was a conversation or not.
Speaker 4: They told Anthony.
Speaker 3: Edwards is the head honcho or this group I think
Speaker 3: I think Karl Anthony Towns understands he's robbing and he's
Speaker 3: fine with that. I think last year they were fighting
Speaker 3: that they didn't know who was the head honcho of
Speaker 3: the crew, and now that it's Anthony Edwards, and no
Speaker 3: question about it, it makes everybody.
Speaker 4: Fall in line to what they got to do and
Speaker 4: what they got to do at a high level.
Speaker 3: So I think you guys hit it over the head right.
Speaker 3: You need bigs to stop a big like it's it's
Speaker 3: a no brainer. Like you gotta throw the analytics out
Speaker 3: the window. You gotta turn the computer off and throw
Speaker 3: them numbers.
Speaker 6: Get the game.
Speaker 3: Exactly and have some bigs that can actually guard a
Speaker 3: big and slow him down just a little bit. And
Speaker 3: they got They got the formula, not knowing if they
Speaker 3: gonna win the series, but they gonna make shit tough
Speaker 3: for Nicola Jokics for sure.
Speaker 2: Well, what do you guys think Denver can do because
Speaker 2: obviously dropping the first one at home was not part
Speaker 2: of the plan. So what do you think they can
Speaker 2: do so they don't go down?
Speaker 1: Oh two?
Speaker 5: Well, I think I think it starts with Jamal Murray
Speaker 5: obviously him scoring sixteen seventeen points in a game. Is
Speaker 5: it gonna be enough to help this team win? We
Speaker 5: know what Nicole Yoka is is gonna do. We know
Speaker 5: we're getting thirty and ten, twenty eight and ten, whatever
Speaker 5: the case. We know the numbers that are coming from
Speaker 5: the coach. He has to have his Robin at least
Speaker 5: give us twenty five to thirty for it the ever,
Speaker 5: for it to be a real competitive, you know matchup.
Speaker 5: So and obviously also with KCP, CASEP probably has one
Speaker 5: of the most important matchups on the floor, the toughest
Speaker 5: assignments on the floor with guardner Anthony Edwards, but we
Speaker 5: got to have him make the shots on the other
Speaker 5: end as well. So I'm pretty confident in saying I
Speaker 5: think we'll get a big, a better showing from Jamal
Speaker 5: Murray next game, but we're gonna need KCP to make
Speaker 5: some shots as well.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I feel you on that too.
Speaker 3: I think overall, I think Denver will win win the
Speaker 3: series with their championship experience, But if they go down
Speaker 3: all too, that's gonna be too, especially at home. That's
Speaker 3: that's gonna be tough. But like you said, Jamal Murray
Speaker 3: has to be the twenty five to thirty point game
Speaker 3: because this is what they're gonna do, or from me
Speaker 3: seeing them play against us in the playoffs, Anthony Edwards
Speaker 3: is gonna pick up full court. Alexander's gonna pick up
Speaker 3: full court. Jamal Murray's CAF is not one hundred percent.
Speaker 3: So over seven, over six seven games of you having
Speaker 3: to play bring the ball up, you gotta to go
Speaker 3: against Anthony Edwards every time down. You gotta go against
Speaker 3: the energy and the physicality. Their mindset is like, we're
Speaker 3: gonna wear him down because he's not one hundred percent.
Speaker 3: So if we can have let him have mediocre games
Speaker 3: and then slow Joker down just a little bit, we
Speaker 3: got action that winning this because we have enough. But
Speaker 3: I think Anthony Edwards has to be amazing every game,
Speaker 3: and obviously he's twenty two, twenty two years old, but
Speaker 3: in the playoffs, that's tough to continue to do each
Speaker 3: and every game. So if he has an amazing, you know,
Speaker 3: turn out every game, he's putting them in a great
Speaker 3: position to beat the dependent champs.
Speaker 4: For sure.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be interesting, man.
Speaker 2: I mean, this could end up being the most high
Speaker 2: quality series of the playoffs. Like just these teams are
Speaker 2: both so good, and Minnesota's so hot right now, and
Speaker 2: Denver obviously has shown us who they are. And these
Speaker 2: West second round matchups are great. In the East and
Speaker 2: the second round matchups are a little more lopsided, the
Speaker 2: Knicks are heavily favored in the Indiana series. But Indiana,
Speaker 2: you know, look, it was a beat up Bucks team
Speaker 2: and they had some up and down moments. But they've
Speaker 2: got pace, and they've got young players. And the Knicks
Speaker 2: have fewer bodies, I think than they have or at
Speaker 2: least the way Tibbs plays them. I do have to
Speaker 2: read off the minutes, guys. For the last game that
Speaker 2: the Knicks played against the Sixers, Game six and Nobe
Speaker 2: forty five minutes, Hartenstein thirty minutes, Hartenstein, I should say
Speaker 2: Hertenstein thirty minutes, Brunson forty four minutes, Josh Hart forty
Speaker 2: six minutes, Dante DiVincenzo forty eight minutes. Crazy, and the
Speaker 2: only real bench player that got run was Robinson eighteen minutes.
Speaker 1: McBride played nine. That was it.
Speaker 2: The other guys on the bench who were checked in
Speaker 2: supposedly zero zero zero. I mean he's really going basically
Speaker 2: sixty oh right, I mean at least he's consistent.
Speaker 4: At least what he does, you.
Speaker 1: Know what you're going to get.
Speaker 2: I mean, do you guys think that that is going
Speaker 2: to have a long term effect by the time they
Speaker 2: get to the second round or do you feel like, Hey,
Speaker 2: that unit, they're guys, they know what they're doing. They've
Speaker 2: been conditioned to play that way the entire season, and
Speaker 2: they're going to be consistent throughout this series and fatigue
Speaker 2: is not a factor.
Speaker 1: What do you think, I tea.
Speaker 4: I think fatigue is a factor.
Speaker 3: Like, obviously they I believe they can get past the Pacers,
Speaker 3: but it's not going to be easy.
Speaker 4: It's not going to be easy.
Speaker 3: If you can't play more than seven guys and you're
Speaker 3: playing those heavy minutes, no matter who you are, it's
Speaker 3: gonna take a toll on you. So I think like
Speaker 3: they gotta be smart with this, especially with the pace
Speaker 3: that Indiana comes with. Like if Indiana is playing well
Speaker 3: in hidding shots and their pace doesn't slow down, like,
Speaker 3: that's gonna be tough to keep up to playing forty
Speaker 3: eight minutes, playing forty five minutes each and every game.
Speaker 3: And I think at this point in the season, it's
Speaker 3: hard to change up and go to your bench. Like,
Speaker 3: guys don't even think they're getting in at this point,
Speaker 3: so their minds might be already checked out. You know,
Speaker 3: I'm not in the Knicks locker room, so I don't know.
Speaker 3: But like being a player, if it's not being talks
Speaker 3: about you getting in that game, you're already like, ah, dang,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna just cheer my ass off. You know, I'm
Speaker 3: gonna just I'm gonna just stay ready. But it's hard
Speaker 3: to stay ready when you know guys are playing forty
Speaker 3: five plus minutes. So I think it's gonna take a
Speaker 3: toll on them. I'm not saying they're gonna lose a series,
Speaker 3: but they gotta play exceptionally well, especially the guys like
Speaker 3: brunt Sid. I mean especially guys like Heart even Chinz.
Speaker 3: So those guys gotta play well. Brunton is gonna bring
Speaker 3: his thirty because he get the opportunity and he's really good.
Speaker 4: But those other guys got.
Speaker 3: To be able to keep up with playing those heavy
Speaker 3: minutes against different opponents.
Speaker 4: So we're gonna see.
Speaker 3: But this is a TIBs team that he's consistent with
Speaker 3: how he coaches, So every team down the line that
Speaker 3: he's been on plays these type of minutes, so you
Speaker 3: who knows they could be ready?
Speaker 4: But the history history repeats itself with a TIBs.
Speaker 3: Team, like they always seem to die out later in
Speaker 3: the later in the playoffs, whether they gotta Derek Rose
Speaker 3: or they got a Brunson, they always seem to hit
Speaker 3: a wall.
Speaker 4: Who knows that they're going to But it's going to
Speaker 4: be tough to last Like that.
Speaker 5: I couldn't agree more, and he actually took the words
Speaker 5: right out of my mouth. I mean, as big of
Speaker 5: a fan as I am of this New York team,
Speaker 5: as happy as I am for them to have the
Speaker 5: success that they're having with this market, what it does
Speaker 5: for the league, what it does for the brand, all
Speaker 5: of those things. When it comes to TIBs in his teams,
Speaker 5: has the formula worked yet and the answer is no,
Speaker 5: So to expect different results, I mean, that's that's just
Speaker 5: foolish thinking. Obviously, Brunson is the starters team. He's going
Speaker 5: to produce on a nightly basis, But playing seven guys
Speaker 5: playing them at this rate.
Speaker 1: Like he's basically playing six guys.
Speaker 2: Okay, Mitchell Robinson getting eighteen minutes is not playing seven
Speaker 2: guys to in a regular basis to me, I mean, it's.
Speaker 1: Sorry, he's the sixth guy. Mitch is sorry. Robinson is
Speaker 1: the sixth guy. He's the sixth guy. He's basically playing
Speaker 1: six right.
Speaker 5: So it's going to be very, very hard to find
Speaker 5: success with this formula.
Speaker 6: Guys are going to burn out.
Speaker 5: Guys are human, they're not robots like and like I said,
Speaker 5: it's like I Tea said, history repeats itself like, we
Speaker 5: haven't seen success with is formally yet, So it would
Speaker 5: be foolish to think about the wise moving forward in
Speaker 5: my opinion. But I am happy with the success of
Speaker 5: the New York Knicks for sure.
Speaker 4: They got the league jumping, for sure.
Speaker 5: Exactly when when the Knicks are winning, When the Knicks
Speaker 5: are successful, the league is successful.
Speaker 6: It's a fun.
Speaker 2: But I think the vibe in that building is insane.
Speaker 2: And I do think that, by the way, gets you
Speaker 2: a game in a playoff series, just just the sheer
Speaker 2: force in a close game of that crowd and that
Speaker 2: building and all the magic and history that's in there.
Speaker 2: And then you were saying that you can tell it's
Speaker 2: legit in Minnesota or in Oklahoma City. I think we
Speaker 2: were talking before the show about how these guys play
Speaker 2: for each other, and you can tell that it's you know,
Speaker 2: everyone's crowded around at the interview or all of that.
Speaker 1: That's what's going on in New York right now.
Speaker 2: Like, the guys in New York are a team, and
Speaker 2: obviously they have the base of three Villanova guys and
Speaker 2: so they had a little team that came to become
Speaker 2: to their team. But they are a team and they
Speaker 2: want to play those minutes. I mean, what's funny is
Speaker 2: they do these player polls. I think the athletic does them,
Speaker 2: and TIBs for the whatever year in a row, was
Speaker 2: the coach players would least like to play for. And
Speaker 2: it's been several years that he's won that honor quote unquote,
Speaker 2: and obviously that's because of the way he runs guys
Speaker 2: into the ground. But the guys on the team right
Speaker 2: now love playing for him and they will, you know,
Speaker 2: go to the mat for Thibodeau. So like I you know,
Speaker 2: they they found the right guys, they found the TIBs guys,
Speaker 2: they found the guys who play well together.
Speaker 1: That organization is built. I think so well.
Speaker 2: I love this time of year because I don't think
Speaker 2: front offices really get a ton of attention when people
Speaker 2: are talking about the league and what makes team.
Speaker 1: Successful or not.
Speaker 2: And guess what we're seeing the teams with the good
Speaker 2: front offices. We just talked about Tim Conley in Minnesota
Speaker 2: and then what he built in Denver, and I think
Speaker 2: Leon Rose has done a tremendous job in New York
Speaker 2: with a team that had a crappy front office for
Speaker 2: you know, sort of generation after generation, iteration of different
Speaker 2: guys coming in and out. Just these are a team
Speaker 2: of players that play well together, that play well for TIBs.
Speaker 2: Not everybody is gonna survive in that environment. And he's
Speaker 2: found the guys, and that front office has found the guys.
Speaker 1: So I love all of that.
Speaker 2: I'm curious to see if Indiana can give them a
Speaker 2: little more of a run than people expect him. And
Speaker 2: what do you guys make a Tyrese Halburton?
Speaker 5: I think I think Tyras is an incredible player. And
Speaker 5: everything we just said about the Knicks, obviously I think
Speaker 5: is factual statements. But when it comes to this series,
Speaker 5: I do have the Knicks winning this series against the Pacers.
Speaker 5: I just think they're going to outgrade this team all
Speaker 5: the way through. But as far as Halliburton, I think
Speaker 5: he's an incredible talent. I think he's a star in
Speaker 5: this league. I think he's a franchise guy for the
Speaker 5: Indiana Pacers. But as far as they're moving forward, I
Speaker 5: just don't think there's enough there right now. I think
Speaker 5: it's something to be talked about with the drop off
Speaker 5: after all Star when it comes to Halliburn's production, I
Speaker 5: think that's a conversation that has to be at why.
Speaker 5: I mean, I think it's way more besides an ankle injury.
Speaker 5: Me and I t both know, you know, you can Lenk.
Speaker 5: An injury can linger, but with the ankle injuries, maybe
Speaker 5: two weeks at most that it kind of affects you.
Speaker 5: He's played all the way through since that injury. So
Speaker 5: I think there is a conversation to be had about
Speaker 5: the fall off in production. Like I said, I don't
Speaker 5: have the exact answer, or really don't have an opinion
Speaker 5: on why the falloff happened, but I think that's something
Speaker 5: that you do have to pay attention to. It could
Speaker 5: possibly be where teams are now scouting him in a
Speaker 5: different way, or teams are actually really, you know, paying
Speaker 5: attention to the way he plays a game, how he
Speaker 5: leads the team, and those things can change. So I
Speaker 5: think I think moving forward, the Knicks will win this series.
Speaker 5: And I think this will be a huge offseason for
Speaker 5: tyres with just player development, finding out how to better
Speaker 5: himself as you know, the league guy for this franchise.
Speaker 5: And obviously we obviously moving forward for this franchise to
Speaker 5: have the success that they're looking for with him leading
Speaker 5: the way, he's going to have to be a way
Speaker 5: more productive guy. It can't be a seventeen to ten
Speaker 5: guy we're looking for more so a twenty five twenty five. Yeah,
Speaker 5: gotta be that for them to be So I think
Speaker 5: moving into the off season, those are the you know,
Speaker 5: those are the things he needs to work towards. Like
Speaker 5: as far as becoming a better player, a franchise guy,
Speaker 5: and like I said, moving this franchise in a successful way, Yeah,
Speaker 5: you couldn't.
Speaker 4: Say it even better.
Speaker 3: Like I said, I got the Knicks as well. I
Speaker 3: think they're just gonna be way more physical. They play
Speaker 3: a little harder. Like obviously, if Tyrese has exceptional games,
Speaker 3: I think they get one or two. But he has
Speaker 3: to play, like Buoy said, he got to give you
Speaker 3: thirty and twelve, Like he got to have those type
Speaker 3: of games for them to have any type of action
Speaker 3: at winning this series because they're kind of two totally
Speaker 3: different teams, and I think that that that rubs well
Speaker 3: on the Knicks more so the Pacers in this in
Speaker 3: this series.
Speaker 4: So we'll see.
Speaker 3: But one thing I do think being on the USA
Speaker 3: team this coming year this summer is gonna help Tyrese
Speaker 3: have an exceptional year next year because you know how
Speaker 3: that is, like it gives you that that confidence, it
Speaker 3: gives you that you know you're one of the top
Speaker 3: players in the world. So I think I think that's
Speaker 3: gonna help him having a great year next year and
Speaker 3: learn how to lead from guys that's done it in
Speaker 3: the NBA for a long time. Being around those Lebron,
Speaker 3: being around KD, being around those exceptional guys is only
Speaker 3: gonna make him that much better.
Speaker 4: So I think next year is going to be yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 4: So so it's going to be a big.
Speaker 3: Jump for him.
Speaker 4: But I don't think they have enough to beat the
Speaker 4: Knicks in this series.
Speaker 3: But he's definitely the guy that leads that group, So
Speaker 3: we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that idea about Tim USA for sure.
Speaker 2: And hey, he's going to be around Aunt Edwards, so
Speaker 2: you know he'll get some leadership there too.
Speaker 5: There you go.
Speaker 1: I want to talk to you guys about Dallas.
Speaker 2: Okay, see, that's the other series I think is going
Speaker 2: to be like crazy competitive Dallas.
Speaker 1: You know, took care of the Clippers. We'll get to
Speaker 1: them in a minute.
Speaker 2: But Kyrie, man, he he is doing everything you could
Speaker 2: ever want him to do. Uh. His defense has been
Speaker 2: like exceptional over these this first series. Uh, he's contributing
Speaker 2: and the way the MAVs wanted him to when they
Speaker 2: acquired him. He and Luca Legit really like each other,
Speaker 2: you can just tell. And the way they talk to
Speaker 2: each other about each other on the court, in the
Speaker 2: locker room, when I'm around them, that's a real relationship
Speaker 2: and that makes a big difference, I think.
Speaker 1: And then Luca, of course, I mean he's Luca, doncha.
Speaker 2: She's you know, averaging thirty a game, high usage, doing
Speaker 2: all the things in all the areas he should. And
Speaker 2: then on the other side, Okay, see, I mean we
Speaker 2: know what a young, talented team they are, and Shae
Speaker 2: Shay is just continuing to blow stuff up. Twenty seven
Speaker 2: points per game in the playoffs and just dominant against
Speaker 2: the Pelicans.
Speaker 1: It t where do you see the series going? What
Speaker 1: do you think?
Speaker 4: I see this going six or seven?
Speaker 3: Like I got I got Dallas just because of the
Speaker 3: experience of Kyrie Championship experience. Luca is who he is.
Speaker 3: But you can't you can't count out Okay. See, like
Speaker 3: they're well coached, Coach of the Year. They got guys,
Speaker 3: like you said earlier, the guys that you just you
Speaker 3: could tell they play for each other, not just with
Speaker 3: each other, they genuinely like each other.
Speaker 4: And they remind me of a college team. Like their
Speaker 4: energy reminds me.
Speaker 3: Of a college team in college sets, Like they run
Speaker 3: their shit. They really run the ball movement, player movement.
Speaker 3: They're really hard to guard, and you can tell they
Speaker 3: have no ego. They gotta you never know, Shay might
Speaker 3: be the MVP this year. Like they got somebody that
Speaker 3: special exactly, they got somebody that special, and you can
Speaker 3: see nobody cares about it, like on their team, like
Speaker 3: everybody's in love with anybody's you know, success, and that
Speaker 3: goes a long way. But you can't count out Dallas,
Speaker 3: Like they really made the Clippers not look as special
Speaker 3: as they really are. And you gotta tip your hat
Speaker 3: off to a guy named Kyrie Irvin who was one
Speaker 3: of the best players to play the game. You gotta
Speaker 3: tip your hat off to Jason Kidd as well. He's
Speaker 3: putting those guys in position to where you can't them.
Speaker 3: You can't put two guys on each other of those guys.
Speaker 3: So you gotta tip your hat off to the coaching
Speaker 3: because it's going to be a battle with the coaching as.
Speaker 4: Well, not just on the floor with the players, but.
Speaker 3: It's going to be a battle with the coaches because
Speaker 3: those are two hell of those are two great coaches
Speaker 3: with great coaching staffs that put those guys in to
Speaker 3: be who they are. So I'm I got Dallas winning
Speaker 3: this series, but I got to going six or seven
Speaker 3: guys for sure?
Speaker 6: What do you think that I'm going to complete opposite?
Speaker 6: I can, okay see.
Speaker 5: Any series and the reasons, Okay, okay, it's not any
Speaker 5: of the popular names. I'm the guy that I think
Speaker 5: is going to stand out in this series is lou
Speaker 5: Dort the way he defends I think obviously when it
Speaker 5: comes to Luka Doncics like, I don't think there's a
Speaker 5: human on this earth that can stop this guy. But
Speaker 5: as far as containing them, as far as making the
Speaker 5: game a little more difficult, a little harder for him,
Speaker 5: I think lou Dort is a loot door, is a
Speaker 5: guy that can make that happen, that could actually make
Speaker 5: it a realistic thing. And when I look at these teams,
Speaker 5: I just when it comes to Dallas, I see an
Speaker 5: offensive team, a really really good offensive team. And when
Speaker 5: I look at Okay See, I look at a really
Speaker 5: really good offensive team and also a really really good
Speaker 5: defensive team. So for me, is leaning towards Okay See.
Speaker 5: Like I said, I think Lou Dort is gonna be
Speaker 5: an X factor in this in this series, I do
Speaker 5: agree with I t on the fact that it will
Speaker 5: go to six or seven games. It won't be an
Speaker 5: easy series for either team. But I just don't see
Speaker 5: a guy on Dallas being able to contain Shay. I
Speaker 5: don't see a guy on Dallas being able to contain
Speaker 5: Jaylen Williams. And as far as lou Dort, I think
Speaker 5: he can slow down Lucas somewhat. So I'm gonna go
Speaker 5: with hell, okay see for this series.
Speaker 2: M all right, all right, we'll check we'll check back
Speaker 2: in on both of those predictions. It's so funny I
Speaker 2: watch Kyrie, and by the way, I'm not saying he's
Speaker 2: defensive player of the Year, but he has ratcheted up
Speaker 2: his defense considerably. The whole team has. And that's where
Speaker 2: I think you're right. Jason Kidd gets a lot of credit.
Speaker 2: Jkated to me one of my favorite people in the league,
Speaker 2: like just his personality, the way he heats, chill and
Speaker 2: runs things, and I think that he has been able
Speaker 2: to pull the strings there in a way that again,
Speaker 2: I think we need to give him more credit for that.
Speaker 1: But Kyrie in particular, I.
Speaker 2: Feel like it's just actual magic what he does around
Speaker 2: the basket. I mean, he had that shot the other
Speaker 2: day where he's like fallen down on the ground and
Speaker 2: he throws it up and it goes exactly I mean,
Speaker 2: it's not even it doesn't even bounce, it goes right
Speaker 2: in the hoop and everything. Just from a guard perspective,
Speaker 2: can you explain him at all around the hoop and
Speaker 2: just how great he is and maybe one of the
Speaker 2: maybe the best ever right in that particular way.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I mean I have him down as the
Speaker 3: best ever. When when it comes to finishing around the hoop,
Speaker 3: he has no weaknesses he has when it comes to
Speaker 3: the offensive game, the offensive side of things, like if
Speaker 3: he was six six sixty seven, he would look just
Speaker 3: like Kobe Bryant, Like he has that type of game,
Speaker 3: and his finishing skill is amazing with either hand, either foot.
Speaker 4: Like the things he does, you just.
Speaker 3: Be shaking your head, like, oh my, I don't even
Speaker 3: think he knows the half the shit he's doing.
Speaker 4: Like when he gets in the pain, I think he's
Speaker 4: just like, let me figure out what.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna do at that point in time, and then
Speaker 3: it just happens so like and then to not even
Speaker 3: talk about that the defensive side of the ball with Kyrie.
Speaker 3: Ever since James Harden left Brooklyn and he played against
Speaker 3: James Harden, you could tell he's had an energy against
Speaker 3: James Harden that like, I know.
Speaker 4: All your moves.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna pressure you, I'm gonna pick you up full court,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna be super physical with you. And I think,
Speaker 3: like I watched that as a fan, like I watched
Speaker 3: them two guys go at it, and his his intensity
Speaker 3: on the defensive level has raised everybody's on the team
Speaker 3: and like you know that boogie, Like when your best
Speaker 3: player is playing full out defense and he may may
Speaker 3: not even be known for that, it makes you feel
Speaker 3: like you gotta.
Speaker 4: Do that as well.
Speaker 3: So I think choice, I think that's leadership as well,
Speaker 3: Like that's championship pedigree.
Speaker 4: He's showing.
Speaker 3: Okay, if I'm dialing in on this end and I'm
Speaker 3: not known for this, everybody else got to lock in
Speaker 3: on this end. So you got to tip your hat
Speaker 3: off to a guy, guy named Kyrie Irvin who's doing
Speaker 3: exceptional things on offense but also raising the level of
Speaker 3: competitiveness on defense as well. And it's that time of
Speaker 3: year to do that. So I can't say enough good
Speaker 3: things about Kyrie ierbt. He's he's one of the greats
Speaker 3: in our league and it's going to go down as
Speaker 3: one of the best guards they ever played this game.
Speaker 6: For sure, Top seventy five as well.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, we mad you know, you know, the peers
Speaker 4: know that. They just can I guess they do that.
Speaker 4: We know it might be top fifty man like that
Speaker 4: he is so exact.
Speaker 3: Peers know that though, like you know, he's that good
Speaker 3: for sure.
Speaker 2: Well, look they'll do in top hundred in twenty five
Speaker 2: years or whatever and take maybe twenty twenty on that one.
Speaker 1: He might make that one, so well, I'll see.
Speaker 2: I mean I asked him, you know, I was talking
Speaker 2: to him during this Slipper series and I was asking
Speaker 2: him about his defensive play and and and what kind
Speaker 2: of caused him to ratchet it up. And he was like, well,
Speaker 2: you know, teams that win championships play really tight defense.
Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, you were on one of those teams.
Speaker 2: Obviously that was a hallmark that Cavaliers team. And the
Speaker 2: personal stuff doesn't hurt. As you point out the James
Speaker 2: Harden stuff. You know, we've got that coming up in
Speaker 2: the next series. You've got Jalen Brunson facing the coach
Speaker 2: that didn't play him in a Game seven or barely
Speaker 2: played him in a Game seven, and you know it
Speaker 2: was part of the decision not to keep him in Dallas.
Speaker 1: So that shit matters, man. I know that.
Speaker 2: Y'all think about that when you take the court against
Speaker 2: a guy that you know did or said something that
Speaker 2: you don't like.
Speaker 4: It's all in there at all times. Time.
Speaker 2: We had a big change since we last saw each other.
Speaker 2: Bug the Lakers did, in fact, dismiss Darvin Ham. We
Speaker 2: certainly thought that was likely what was coming. We actually
Speaker 2: dismissed the entire coaching staff, which surprised me only in
Speaker 2: that Phil Handy, one of the assistants there has been
Speaker 2: with Lebron since that Cavs title in twenty sixteen, and
Speaker 2: it seemed to be a real favorite among the players.
Speaker 2: He's just one of those assistant coaches that can kind
Speaker 2: of relay the message or the rest of the coaching staff,
Speaker 2: pull guys aside, tell them the truth without it feeling,
Speaker 2: you know, like an attack or anything. So I'm interested
Speaker 2: to see where Phil Handy goes. I was a little
Speaker 2: surprised that he got let go, but maybe I don't know.
Speaker 2: We'll see what happens there. Who do you think books
Speaker 2: should should take over that team?
Speaker 1: What kind of coach would work there.
Speaker 5: At this point? At this point, just pull a Bill Ross,
Speaker 5: Meg Lebron the head coach, and ride off in the
Speaker 5: fucking sunset. Whatever the fuck happens happens. We spoke about
Speaker 5: it a little bit off camera. You know, any coach
Speaker 5: that takes this Lakers job, I t sitter, it's a
Speaker 5: higher to five uhs.
Speaker 1: In general. Is that this specific roster or Lebron related.
Speaker 1: What do you think it's I mean, they have been able.
Speaker 2: They haven't been able to find a real fit on
Speaker 2: that team at the coaching spot since Phil Jackson left.
Speaker 6: I'm telling you, pull Bill Roe. That's that's.
Speaker 5: I can't think of another coach. J. J. Reddick, I've
Speaker 5: seen his name. It would be you know, a first
Speaker 5: time situation.
Speaker 6: So you know.
Speaker 5: That's that's a huge question mark. Kenny Atkinson doesn't really
Speaker 5: move the needle.
Speaker 6: What was t Lou exactly? Why would you leave a
Speaker 6: job with great security?
Speaker 5: You have an incredible relationship with the owner, like you
Speaker 5: have a good job security, that's that's a big thing
Speaker 5: in this league. So him, I don't see him want there.
Speaker 1: They are, they are, they're about to back up the bretructure.
Speaker 3: They're not gonna let like the only I feel like
Speaker 3: the only option the Lakers would have if they were
Speaker 3: to get.
Speaker 4: Another coach would be t lu because he's familiar with Brian.
Speaker 3: But like t Louton owes, you you don't you don't
Speaker 3: go to the finals every years, Like he gotta get
Speaker 3: fired too. So like it's a higher, higher job. It's
Speaker 3: a tough job. Because Darvin Ham did what he was
Speaker 3: supposed to do. They made it to the Western Conference Finals,
Speaker 3: they got eliminated by the defending champions.
Speaker 4: This year, with the roster you have, realistically, what's he
Speaker 4: gonna do? Like they won forty seven games, Like, it's
Speaker 4: just tough.
Speaker 3: It's just tough. I don't know what option you're going
Speaker 3: to next. Who's gonna do any that much better with
Speaker 3: the roster you have. At the end of the day,
Speaker 3: it's about the players you have in the building each
Speaker 3: and every day, Like you can only do so much.
Speaker 3: I bet Darvin Ham was a really good coach. I
Speaker 3: bet the players related to him, respected him, like you
Speaker 3: can talk to him like he was one of the
Speaker 3: homies as well.
Speaker 4: Like that. That's a big thing in the league at
Speaker 4: this point.
Speaker 3: In time, with these young guys and with a team
Speaker 3: that has a Lebron James on the team. So I
Speaker 3: don't really know what direction you go in, Like do
Speaker 3: you get JJ Reddick a first time head coach, and
Speaker 3: then when shit.
Speaker 4: Goes bad, what are you gonna do? Let him go
Speaker 4: as well? Exactly.
Speaker 3: So it's a tough job. Like Darvinham had to take
Speaker 3: the job. I feel like it was a lose, lose
Speaker 3: situation for him in your first two years, you do
Speaker 3: that like any other job, like you're probably keeping your
Speaker 3: job right at the end of the day. So it's
Speaker 3: a tough situation for him. I know he's a good
Speaker 3: head coach. That coaching staff was really good as well.
Speaker 3: So I don't know what direction Lakers go at this
Speaker 3: point in Lebron's career. So like Buggy said, maybe you
Speaker 3: got to do something that hasn't been done it's a long.
Speaker 4: Time ago, and named Lebron the head coach. You never know.
Speaker 1: Well, look, I mean my big thing about fire the coach, which.
Speaker 2: You know, fan bases I think always go to fire
Speaker 2: the coach, and it's obviously owners go to it too,
Speaker 2: because it's easier.
Speaker 1: Than moving players around. Who are you getting instead?
Speaker 2: That has to be the answer, the question you ask
Speaker 2: yourself and the answer you have to have before you
Speaker 2: fire your head coach, because the guy who's in the
Speaker 2: job right now at least has had a couple of
Speaker 2: years experience working with these players, knowing what guys can do,
Speaker 2: you know, getting used to the job with a first
Speaker 2: time head coach, especially we saw right, we saw it
Speaker 2: happen Adrian Griffin and and look You can go back
Speaker 2: and forth every whether it was fair or not that
Speaker 2: he got let go, but you talk to people inside
Speaker 2: that organization and there were just some basic things that
Speaker 2: head coaches do that he wasn't doing. Whether it was
Speaker 2: communication with players, whether it was the way the rotations
Speaker 2: were working, you know, pick and roll stuff that it
Speaker 2: was just sort of like, oh, he needed time to
Speaker 2: get in there, right, And we've seen that with coaches,
Speaker 2: you know, Missoula and Boston at all. A lot of
Speaker 2: criticism his first year because he needed to find his
Speaker 2: way into the job. And Darvin has been in the
Speaker 2: job now for a couple of years and he clearly
Speaker 2: had lost at.
Speaker 1: Least part of the locker room.
Speaker 2: You know, Anthony Davis was pretty publicly critical of him
Speaker 2: several points in the second half of the season, Lebron
Speaker 2: James hopping up and down on the sideline, upset not
Speaker 2: getting a challenge from his own bench and stuff. It
Speaker 2: seemed like maybe they had to make the move because
Speaker 2: that's what the stars wanted. But I don't know, man,
Speaker 2: you had to have an idea of who you're going
Speaker 2: to get next, and we're all sitting here being like,
Speaker 2: I don't know this.
Speaker 1: Guy has shortcomings. This guy has shortcomings. I don't know
Speaker 1: about this guy.
Speaker 2: Maybe they pull a rabbit out of their hat or
Speaker 2: bug your idea goes forward. But I just I'm kind
Speaker 2: of amazed to sort of have them make this move
Speaker 2: without a clear direction of what they're going to do next.
Speaker 2: And to me, Tyler was never a realistic option. The
Speaker 2: Clippers were never going to let him walk to their
Speaker 2: main rival across town.
Speaker 1: So I don't know what they're going to do.
Speaker 2: I don't know what the Clippers are going to do either, though, guys,
Speaker 2: because it was another disappointing playoff exit. They're moving into
Speaker 2: this new arena. They've got Kawhi Leonard locked up, but
Speaker 2: Paul George did not sign an extension that was put
Speaker 2: in front of him during the season the way Kawhi did,
Speaker 2: and I always thought that was very interesting. And now
Speaker 2: he's got this forty eight million dollar player option he
Speaker 2: can opt into for next season and be fine, but
Speaker 2: it's most likely he will opt out. And the question
Speaker 2: is does he stay in LA where his family is.
Speaker 2: I know that's really important to him. When Philadelphia comes
Speaker 2: to drop a bag of money on his door at
Speaker 2: twelve oh one, a free agency. When Orlando comes to
Speaker 2: drop a bag of money on his door at free Agency.
Speaker 1: I don't know what do you guys think he should do?
Speaker 1: But what would you do?
Speaker 6: Well?
Speaker 5: I don't feel that Orlando has a chance at all.
Speaker 5: Philly is intriguing, obviously with the foundation they have there,
Speaker 5: but Paul George being at this stage of his career,
Speaker 5: He's in the later stages of his career. It's well
Speaker 5: known he's an LA kid. We know the love that
Speaker 5: he has for LA and one to be in LA.
Speaker 5: I just don't see him making a move cross country
Speaker 5: to the East. It just just doesn't make sense with
Speaker 5: you know, as hard as he worked to get to LA,
Speaker 5: it doesn't make sense for him to leave it now
Speaker 5: at this stage of his career. It's obviously a red
Speaker 5: flag or a flag in general, with the fact that
Speaker 5: he hasn't signed an extension already. The only thing I
Speaker 5: can think of is, you know that that team across
Speaker 5: the street may be a threatened.
Speaker 2: You'd have to you'd have to clear so much roster
Speaker 2: space and salary, cab space, and then you end up
Speaker 2: a little bit the way Phoenix struggled a little bit
Speaker 2: at times the season of being a top heavy team
Speaker 2: with three guys and then not having the depth.
Speaker 1: That we know you need.
Speaker 2: I mean that's we go back to the Denver Minnesota series.
Speaker 2: Minnesota's got more depth than never. That's part of how
Speaker 2: they won Game one. Like you do need depth as
Speaker 2: opposed to the top heavy team money wise, and you
Speaker 2: know Lebron's gonna want his new contract this summer.
Speaker 1: I don't see PG going across the hallway, but I
Speaker 1: don't know.
Speaker 2: I mean to me, the thing with Paul George is, yes,
Speaker 2: he wants to stay in Los Angeles. He's talked so
Speaker 2: much about being an LA kid. His mom had a
Speaker 2: stroke a few years back, and she can come play
Speaker 2: and see come see him play in LA, but she
Speaker 2: can't really travel. So I know that's really significant. You know,
Speaker 2: his kids have all their cousins here like all that stuff.
Speaker 2: He does not have a title yet though, and I
Speaker 2: know how badly he wants one. And the difference with
Speaker 2: him and Kawhi Leonard is Kawhi Leonards won multiple times.
Speaker 2: He's got two finals MVPs. If he never wins again,
Speaker 2: his career not only will be set, but he personally
Speaker 2: can know that he reached the highest height and I
Speaker 2: don't know if with this Clippers team and with Kawhi
Speaker 2: in the physical condition that he is in this stage
Speaker 2: of his career, if it's realistic for Paul George to
Speaker 2: sit here and go, Nope, we are I'm gonna stick
Speaker 2: with it. We are gonna win a title. And look,
Speaker 2: maybe all this posturing is just to get the Clippers
Speaker 2: to pay him the MAX, because I don't think the
Speaker 2: extension was reported as a MAX, and certainly I think
Speaker 2: he will command them paying him the max to get
Speaker 2: him to stay.
Speaker 1: But I don't know.
Speaker 2: Is there something appealing it about Philly with Joel Embiid
Speaker 2: and Tyre Smaxy.
Speaker 4: I think it could be.
Speaker 3: But like Boogie said, like at this point in his career,
Speaker 3: he probably comfortable in LA. The sunshine is good, that's home.
Speaker 3: They moving into a new arena, so you're gonna you
Speaker 3: gotta separate the Lakers and Clippers stuff. So I think
Speaker 3: I think I think he stays in LA. They try
Speaker 3: to figure it out. They give it a go because
Speaker 3: they don't have too many options as well, Like going
Speaker 3: to Philly would be good like on paper, but it's
Speaker 3: like you really want to live in Philly like that, No,
Speaker 3: disrespectful Phely, you know.
Speaker 2: Dispect the most disrespectful thing I've ever done.
Speaker 4: I mean living in la unless you like the whole weather,
Speaker 4: like that's what I'm saying, Like I don't I don't
Speaker 4: know the city of Philly like that.
Speaker 3: I'm saying in terms of like you got the decision
Speaker 3: to be in some good weather, be home.
Speaker 4: I'm probably not dipping the crib.
Speaker 3: I'm probably not leaving a crib when when it's not
Speaker 3: a guarantee that I'm gonna win the championship if I
Speaker 3: go there, Like the teams are kind of like the
Speaker 3: same type of team other than Joel and Kawhi Leonard,
Speaker 3: then you got James Harden that could possibly come back.
Speaker 3: I think I think he stays with the Clippers. They
Speaker 3: run it back and see if they can make something
Speaker 3: happy with women, make something happen with trying to be
Speaker 3: a healthy squad and also going to Inglewood, Like that's
Speaker 3: gonna be good energy for whoever's on that new team
Speaker 3: to change things up. You'll feel like you're going to
Speaker 3: a new organization or a new city with separating yourself
Speaker 3: from the Lakers.
Speaker 4: So I think he stays with the Clippers.
Speaker 3: And they try to run it back and have that
Speaker 3: window of winning the championship.
Speaker 4: You never know what's gonna happen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, look, that's a team with another you know,
Speaker 2: they're an aggressive team. Steve Bomer's aggressive owner. They're going
Speaker 2: to try to make moves this summer.
Speaker 1: You know. I think Kawhi and obviously PG if he signs.
Speaker 2: I think I think they've got a lot of other
Speaker 2: roster flexibility unlike some of these other teams, so I
Speaker 2: think they can make some adjustments.
Speaker 1: I think we will see a lot of guys moving
Speaker 1: around the summer. I think Paul George is kind of
Speaker 1: the most intriguing guy. But every player I talk to,
Speaker 1: you guys are the same way, say, oh, he's not
Speaker 1: gonna leave. So uh, I don't know. Maybe we're all
Speaker 1: media people. We're just we just want action.
Speaker 3: We just want to get You got to at this
Speaker 3: point in your career, like is.
Speaker 4: The weather good? Like good on the body?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 3: I think that's a that's a big, big thing when
Speaker 3: it comes to making decisions, and if you if you
Speaker 3: ain't guaranteed no championship, it's like why move.
Speaker 5: I'm gonna take it a step further than that. Tea
Speaker 5: I mean, why leave one situation that's similar to the
Speaker 5: next possible. I mean, Kawhi is never really there for
Speaker 5: the playoffs, and neither is Joe LMB. I mean, it's
Speaker 5: not really a situation where the grass is necessarily greener
Speaker 5: on the other side.
Speaker 2: So I would say so you'd get a different Joel
Speaker 2: Embiid if Paul George was there, because part of the
Speaker 2: problem with Joelle some of it's been random injuries, but
Speaker 2: a lot of it too, has been just running out
Speaker 2: of gas in the fourth quarter. You know, big men,
Speaker 2: we know that's what happens, especially after you've been in
Speaker 2: the league for ten years, that kind of thing. And
Speaker 2: if a guy like Paul George was there to take
Speaker 2: some of that pressure off and it wasn't just all
Speaker 2: on Tyres Maxy, which as we saw at the end
Speaker 2: of this last game. You know, he had some great
Speaker 2: plays in Game six, but he couldn't be the guy
Speaker 2: he was in Game five because it's just too hard,
Speaker 2: as you've said I to do that back to back
Speaker 2: to back to back to back. If you had a
Speaker 2: PG in there, I think the pressure on Joel would
Speaker 2: be different. I think Joelle could get the kind of
Speaker 2: rest that he needs at the beginning of the fourth quarter,
Speaker 2: which every time Nick Nurse tried to do that, you know,
Speaker 2: the Knicks came in and ran up the score. So
Speaker 2: I think you'd have a different Joel Embiid if Paul
Speaker 2: was there, whereas Paul being in LA does not give
Speaker 2: you a different Kawhi Leonard in terms of the injury stuff.
Speaker 2: But I get it again, Yeah, y'all, y'all, y'all are
Speaker 2: very sure of it. So I'm gonna I'm gonna go
Speaker 2: with the guys who know right there.
Speaker 1: All right, but we got to introduce it to to
Speaker 1: three stats. Two are true. One is a lie.
Speaker 2: This is a segment we do every week and Isaia,
Speaker 2: I gotta be honest with you, Bookie and I are
Speaker 2: not very good at it. I'm just gonna put that
Speaker 2: out there.
Speaker 1: Producer Nate cooks up.
Speaker 2: He tries to stump us. He usually succeeds. I don't
Speaker 2: think either of us have a very good track record.
Speaker 2: But you're gonna save us.
Speaker 1: You are the one. I know it. You're gonna You're
Speaker 1: gonna do it. So let's see. Two of these are true.
Speaker 1: One is a lie. Uh, Timberwolves lead the league in scoring.
Speaker 2: During the playoffs. That's one stat. The Nuggets lead the
Speaker 2: league and assists per game during the playoffs, and Brunson
Speaker 2: leads the league in postseason scoring as an individual. So
Speaker 2: those are three stats. Two of them are true, which
Speaker 2: is a lie. I t am gonna let you go first.
Speaker 4: The liar is Minnesota. The other two or true.
Speaker 1: I think that was very certain, bug, he has certain.
Speaker 4: I just played against the Timber one.
Speaker 3: I don't think they would scored like that.
Speaker 4: Look, that's that's what I'm going with. The other two
Speaker 4: is true. You picked that's true, right, yeah? And one
Speaker 4: this fall?
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, okay, all right, but what you got.
Speaker 5: I was actually gonna roll with the same answer, all right.
Speaker 5: I mean, obviously we know how the Nuggets moved the basketball,
Speaker 5: so that could definitely be a factual thing in Brunson
Speaker 5: has been on a terror as far as scoring. But
Speaker 5: I feel like I feel like we had this up
Speaker 5: once before and I was wrong.
Speaker 1: Hm hmm, this is okay.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm gonna stick with the same answer. I'm gonna ro.
Speaker 2: Here's my question for producer Nate. Are you saying they
Speaker 2: lead the league in scoring in terms of total points
Speaker 2: or points per game? Okay, so he's saying points per game.
Speaker 2: I was gonna say that would make it very easy
Speaker 2: since it was only a four game series.
Speaker 1: I was trying for a loophole.
Speaker 2: Guys, I was smart the question, all right, I thought
Speaker 2: it might be the Nuggets answer that to me is
Speaker 2: the one that I'm not sure about. But I'm gonna
Speaker 2: I'm just gonna go with the group. I'm gonna say
Speaker 2: Timberwolves to producer Nate, are we all wrong?
Speaker 6: Or what?
Speaker 1: What do you got?
Speaker 3: Ha?
Speaker 1: I should have gone with my first instinct. Damn it?
Speaker 1: All right?
Speaker 2: All right, So the Pacers lead by three more assists
Speaker 2: a game than the Nuggets. Man, I'm influenced too easily
Speaker 2: by the crowd.
Speaker 4: Right, damn yeah?
Speaker 1: You have you had.
Speaker 6: Wed?
Speaker 1: I love it, guys. I love the two of you together.
Speaker 2: It's so fun to have the Boogie and I T
Speaker 2: Show revived.
Speaker 1: It's great. I love you all when who play together.
Speaker 2: I love it now, Isaiah, Seriously, we're so thrilled to
Speaker 2: have you joining us more often. And I mean, I
Speaker 2: can't wait to see what you can do in the
Speaker 2: league next year, but for now, you're with us. So
Speaker 2: you guys out there, you can catch all episodes of
Speaker 2: bully Ball in the DraftKings Network. You can catch us
Speaker 2: on the All the Smoke Productions YouTube channel. You can
Speaker 2: find us wherever you get your podcast. Rate us, review us,
Speaker 2: say nice things.
Speaker 1: We like that. We pay attention to the comments. It
Speaker 1: t We'll see you soon.
Speaker 2: Nice to be back in Seattle, and boogie keep tearing
Speaker 2: it up in Taiwan. He's in his playoffs, so you
Speaker 2: got to playoffie before we go.
Speaker 4: He already knows what to do.
Speaker 3: He already knows what to do.
Speaker 4: Don't win it all.
Speaker 6: Absolutely, absolutely appreciate you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love it all right, guys, see you next week.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 4: Appreciate y'all.
Speaker 6: Alright. Hmmm