Speaker 1: There is a championship at stake this weekend and the
Speaker 1: seventy six ers franchise is involved. You run through all
Speaker 1: these scenarios in your head of like what the stage
Speaker 1: is going to be like, like that time when you
Speaker 1: walk out. Because the regular season game, the tournament games,
Speaker 1: those are all great, they're fun, but that moment when
Speaker 1: we're walking down the stairs and you know you see
Speaker 1: like the first finals logo and you know it's he
Speaker 1: gonna really set the mood and set the tone if
Speaker 1: we're ready for that. From the NBA two K League,
Speaker 1: seventy six Ers GC has a chance for a band
Speaker 1: here the story behind the team season on this episode
Speaker 1: of the broadcast, what's going on everyone? How are you doing?
Speaker 1: Brian Seltzer great through with you for another episode of
Speaker 1: the podcast. It's August Man craziness that you could actually
Speaker 1: say we're kind of in some ways heading into the
Speaker 1: backstretch of the offseason. I don't think that would be
Speaker 1: an untrue statement. A team that will have one more
Speaker 1: game before it's offseason win to lose, seventy Sixers GC
Speaker 1: out of the NBA two K League. They are taking
Speaker 1: on t Wolves Gaming on Saturday at three o'clock in
Speaker 1: a best of five game two K League Finals championship series,
Speaker 1: and I'm looking forward to chatting with their head coach,
Speaker 1: Jeff Terrell and one of the mainstays on the roster,
Speaker 1: Alex Steves Bernstein coming up in just a few moments. First,
Speaker 1: per usual, a reminder a call to action that if
Speaker 1: you're not yet a subscriber to our podcast, please go
Speaker 1: your favorite podcasting platform type in Sixers podcast Network that'll
Speaker 1: take you to our feed, subscribe and get fresh episodes
Speaker 1: on the regular about once a week, maybe once every
Speaker 1: ten days in the offseason, and then we'll ramp things
Speaker 1: up once again in the fall when the guys are
Speaker 1: back in Camden and getting ready for the preseason and
Speaker 1: training cap All right, this is a great story, I
Speaker 1: think seventy sixers GC second year of the NBA two
Speaker 1: K League. They are in the finals, which will take
Speaker 1: place this weekend in Long Island City. Great group of guys.
Speaker 1: They have their headquarters here at the seventy Sixers training complex.
Speaker 1: We see them around a lot. They also have a
Speaker 1: house that they all live in in South Jersey, just
Speaker 1: a few miles down the road from the training complex.
Speaker 1: And it's been a great run this season. Not a
Speaker 1: linear progression for seventy six ers GC. They started off strong,
Speaker 1: went through a little bit of a dip, they've been
Speaker 1: on the rebound and they have surged into the two
Speaker 1: K League Finals where on Saturday at three o'clock they
Speaker 1: will face t Wolves Gaming, the team they began at
Speaker 1: this season against. So I wanted to sit down with
Speaker 1: two vital members of the seventy sixers GC program. That
Speaker 1: would be NBA two K League Coach of the Year
Speaker 1: Jeff Terrell and his second year with seventy six Ers
Speaker 1: GC and stez Alex Bernstein, his second go round with
Speaker 1: seventy sixers GC as well, a key fixture on the roster,
Speaker 1: and we looked ahead to what could be a momentous
Speaker 1: moment for seventy six Ers GC this weekend. Hope you
Speaker 1: enjoy the chat. What's up guys? Great? Great? I feel
Speaker 1: a very calm, composed and mellow vibe from you guys,
Speaker 1: and we're about forty eight hours out from just a
Speaker 1: huge opportunity for you guys. So take me inside seventy
Speaker 1: six ers GC right now and what the mood's like.
Speaker 1: It's been a long week ever since we made the finals.
Speaker 1: I remember the next day we kind of woke up
Speaker 1: and we were like, damn, I just want to play already,
Speaker 1: you know, making the finals and you have a whole
Speaker 1: week to prepare. But the problem is that a lot
Speaker 1: of the teams are already knocked out, so some of
Speaker 1: them are back home in the offseason already, so there's
Speaker 1: not a lot of opportunities to practice, to scrimmage. A
Speaker 1: lot of it is more of like independent stuff, watching film,
Speaker 1: getting shots up on your own than just mentally preparing
Speaker 1: for the first Saturday. But yeah, like I said, just
Speaker 1: just a long week, long strust a week, a lot
Speaker 1: of emotions running through your mind the whole time. You know,
Speaker 1: you're nervous, you're anxious, you're excited. You you run through
Speaker 1: all these scenarios in your head of like what the
Speaker 1: stage is going to be like, like that time when
Speaker 1: you walk out, because every other time is going to
Speaker 1: be different. You know, the regulations in game, the tournament games,
Speaker 1: those are all great and they're fun. But that moment
Speaker 1: when we're walking down the stairs and you know you
Speaker 1: see like the first finals logo, the first trophy, whatever
Speaker 1: it is you see, You're going to see something that's
Speaker 1: different because of a finals appearance, and you know you're
Speaker 1: gonna really set the mood and set the tone. So
Speaker 1: I think we're ready for that. It's interesting too because
Speaker 1: you guys are playing in the same venue where you
Speaker 1: were the previous weekend. But yeah, I gotta imagine once
Speaker 1: you see the brand, Yeah, yeah, and all the different decorations,
Speaker 1: it does have to be a different feel though it is.
Speaker 1: So from the coaching standpoint, Jeff, how do you try
Speaker 1: and manage some of the emotions the moods that Steves
Speaker 1: was just talking about. Yeah, we're just going into it
Speaker 1: like it's another game. Preparing and preparation leading up. We've
Speaker 1: watched a lot of game film. We feel very confident
Speaker 1: and we're going to go in and do so. We
Speaker 1: treated as just a regular season game, just any game
Speaker 1: we've ever played, and we've done that for two years
Speaker 1: straight now, so we're not going to deviate from what
Speaker 1: we do as for preparation and stuff like that. A
Speaker 1: lot of people have asked, like, or what are we
Speaker 1: going to change? It's the best of five series, what
Speaker 1: are you gonna do? And we're just gonna stick to
Speaker 1: who we are and make them change to how we
Speaker 1: play for some of them uninitiated. I'll fill this out
Speaker 1: there to both of you because we'll have a crossover
Speaker 1: audience hopefully on this episode of the pod. What is
Speaker 1: seventy six ers GC? Jeff, what have you tried to
Speaker 1: instill on this team? From a holistic standpoint, what do
Speaker 1: you strive to have the program represent? Yeah, for us,
Speaker 1: especially coming from coaching traditional basketball and crossing over to
Speaker 1: E sports, I try to tie a lot of similarities.
Speaker 1: So our guys playing together as one of the biggest ones.
Speaker 1: We have guys that are coming in and they're probably
Speaker 1: the best players from their pro am teams and having
Speaker 1: them buy into how we play. So playing as a team,
Speaker 1: moving the ball, talking every single possession, and just having
Speaker 1: more of a family atmosphere is something that we really
Speaker 1: strive for, and it's something that we've been very good
Speaker 1: at doing for two straight years now. Yeah, to piggyback
Speaker 1: on that, when we uh when I first got here
Speaker 1: to when I got drafted to Philly. I remember one
Speaker 1: of my very first times talking with Jeff and and
Speaker 1: I went, I went into I went to his room
Speaker 1: just to introduce myself, and I knew right away that
Speaker 1: someone like Radiant was going to be definitely one of
Speaker 1: the best players on the team, which he is. He's
Speaker 1: arguably the best player in the world. And um, but
Speaker 1: I told Jeff, I remember, I told him that, like
Speaker 1: when we needed like somebody to like step up, be
Speaker 1: a leader, like be the vocal leader, I was like,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm gonna be that guy for us because I
Speaker 1: want seventi six ers GC. I want this team to
Speaker 1: have something different than every other team in the league.
Speaker 1: And I think that all of us with obviously helped
Speaker 1: from from Jeff Radiant New Deini Zds. We're a very
Speaker 1: disciplined team and we're a very fun team to the
Speaker 1: same time, though, but like Jeff said, we're a family
Speaker 1: and nobody's playing for their independent self. We're not going
Speaker 1: for accolades, we're not going for stats. We don't care
Speaker 1: about MVP, DPOY, none of that kind of stuff. We
Speaker 1: care to win the game. And if we're if we're
Speaker 1: losing the game, if we end up losing the game,
Speaker 1: but we did it, you know, with one hundred percent,
Speaker 1: leaving it all in the court and playing for each other.
Speaker 1: I could live with that at the end of the day.
Speaker 1: What I can't live with is, you know, is if
Speaker 1: we go in there and try to play selfish ball
Speaker 1: like that, that's something that we've never stood for. And
Speaker 1: we've taken losses like that, like last year against the
Speaker 1: Heat and the Semis. We lost, but we left it
Speaker 1: all on the court. We played for each other the
Speaker 1: whole time. Some things didn't go our away, but not
Speaker 1: one second did we give up. I could take that
Speaker 1: loss at the end of the day. I can't take
Speaker 1: a loss where it wasn't our game plan, it wasn't
Speaker 1: our system, it wasn't seventy six ers uc basketball. And
Speaker 1: I think that's something that our guys really get and
Speaker 1: then they understand that when you come here, you know,
Speaker 1: you're coming into a brotherhood, you're coming into a family.
Speaker 1: You're coming into an organization that will do anything to
Speaker 1: have your back as on as you know you represent
Speaker 1: them the way. And I think that's why like ninety
Speaker 1: percent of the league wants to be in Philly. Every offseason,
Speaker 1: my dms are filled with people that are saying, Hey,
Speaker 1: bring me to Philly, like get me drafted to Philly,
Speaker 1: you know, trade me to Philly, whatever it is. And
Speaker 1: I think that's really awesome. At the end of the
Speaker 1: day to like think about it while you're just like
Speaker 1: sitting there looking at the mirror and being like, I've
Speaker 1: helped create like a dynasty a culture over here in Philly,
Speaker 1: even though like the actually seventy six of the traditional
Speaker 1: seventi six ers have always had a very impressive like
Speaker 1: resume with everything like just being able to add on
Speaker 1: to that was seving six ers. G see basketball. I
Speaker 1: think it is tremendous and I'd love to be able
Speaker 1: to say that I'm a part of it. I think
Speaker 1: it's easy for someone on the outside, and this is
Speaker 1: regardless of what sports team you follow, whatever the league is,
Speaker 1: to be dismissive of sayings like well, we play for
Speaker 1: each other and it's all a bad family. Like a
Speaker 1: lot of teams say that. But Jeff, where do you
Speaker 1: see as the season goes along and the team continues
Speaker 1: to have more and more success and advancing like it
Speaker 1: did to this championship round, Like that stuff has got
Speaker 1: to show up, right, This is probably where I would
Speaker 1: think it truly does leave its mark and make the
Speaker 1: most difference, Right, Yeah, I think that's what sets us apart.
Speaker 1: A lot of people probably do think it's cliche and
Speaker 1: stuff like that, but it's it's something that we really
Speaker 1: stand by. A crazy stat came out the other day.
Speaker 1: I saw and uh, we're the all time winning as team.
Speaker 1: I know it's here two, but we're the all time
Speaker 1: winning as team in the league. So we're forty two
Speaker 1: and sixteen. I think that we win seventy one percent
Speaker 1: of our games, and our guys treating every game like it.
Speaker 1: We don't go into every game like it's a championship,
Speaker 1: but we treat every game the same. So being consistent
Speaker 1: with how we are, how we talk to each other,
Speaker 1: how we act all during the game and then off
Speaker 1: the court, it's something that I mean, it shows. I mean,
Speaker 1: consistency is a key for us. Steeves. How would you
Speaker 1: describe seventy six ers GC style of play? What type
Speaker 1: of team are you? Guys? I remember last year and
Speaker 1: this year, a lot of the twitch viewers, which is
Speaker 1: our stream right now, we're also streaming on YouTube, but
Speaker 1: everybody in the chat love seeing seventy six or GC
Speaker 1: basketball because we're we're not unorthodox, but we're different, meaning that,
Speaker 1: like a lot of teams, struggle sometimes to put the
Speaker 1: ball in the net, and that's one thing we're very
Speaker 1: good at because obviously we brought four guys back from
Speaker 1: the year one, so the chemistry is always there on
Speaker 1: the court, and it's fun and it's fast paced, and
Speaker 1: you know, we love shooting threes. We're a Debrange team,
Speaker 1: so like Radiant Sharpshooter, he's like another like Steph Curry
Speaker 1: out there. And then ZDS, who's our actual sharpshooter. I'm
Speaker 1: always trying to set off balls for him. Always were
Speaker 1: like I said, we're always playing unselfish ball, so I
Speaker 1: don't care about my stats. As long as I can
Speaker 1: get somebody open, I can get Radio open, ZDS Breadwinner,
Speaker 1: anybody like that. That's what we're trying to do. And
Speaker 1: I think that you know, with the plays that we
Speaker 1: were running a lot last year, not so much this year,
Speaker 1: but people bought into seventy six year GC basketball because
Speaker 1: it was just so different than everybody else. Usually people
Speaker 1: were just more like pick and roll or like trying
Speaker 1: to get it to their center and the paint and
Speaker 1: then they'd go up with it. Both. With us, it
Speaker 1: was like we were always moving around, always coming up
Speaker 1: with like interesting plays that would throw teams off hard.
Speaker 1: And there were momentum swingers. At times. There would be
Speaker 1: times where we'd be tied or we'd be down in
Speaker 1: the game and we'd hit them with a play that
Speaker 1: they've never seen before, and you know, I'd go back
Speaker 1: and rewatching the twitch. Cha would be going crazy because
Speaker 1: it'd be something that they didn't think would work in
Speaker 1: two K. They thought they would only work in traditional basketball.
Speaker 1: But having someone like Jeff who's a traditional basketball coach,
Speaker 1: you know, in him bringing that element to the two
Speaker 1: K side of it, you know, we have a good
Speaker 1: collaboration of both. So would when we brought that twist
Speaker 1: season one and into season two, people fell in love
Speaker 1: with seventy six year GC. So we just you know,
Speaker 1: we try to keep that same energy all every year.
Speaker 1: Jeff for there are a lot of other coaches who
Speaker 1: come from a traditional backupketball background in the two K League.
Speaker 1: I think this year there's there's two others that are
Speaker 1: actually from the G League. So the Warriors have a
Speaker 1: G League coach and the Cavaliers have a G League coach.
Speaker 1: Other than that, I don't think so um. I think
Speaker 1: a lot of it is just esports guys, but it
Speaker 1: shows that it makes a difference. The Calves. We're pretty
Speaker 1: decent last year, but bringing the coach and this year
Speaker 1: they definitely got better. Warriors beat us on the turn
Speaker 1: Championship and they won the Ticket Championship and they have
Speaker 1: a G League coach. They're a very good team. I
Speaker 1: think they won four games last year. This year they
Speaker 1: went in and I mean they won two tournaments. So
Speaker 1: I think it makes a big difference having a basketball
Speaker 1: mind out there. But it also helps knowing both landscapes.
Speaker 1: So I think that's what sets us apart a little bit,
Speaker 1: is because we all know both landscapes of it as
Speaker 1: well as coaching and playing college basketball. I also played
Speaker 1: two k for four years, so it helps out as town.
Speaker 1: It's awesome, it's there. How would you describe Stee's the
Speaker 1: arc of this season? What was this season like for
Speaker 1: you guys? Getting things rolling, great success at the beginning
Speaker 1: with a tip off torn and then from there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this year was It was interesting. Losing two players, so
Speaker 1: that means you bring two new guys on from the draft,
Speaker 1: but it's scary because the one thing, like all the
Speaker 1: guy in the pool that you can draft from they're
Speaker 1: all good at two KUM, so you're not really worried
Speaker 1: about that, but you're worried about finding a good person,
Speaker 1: a good teammate, um, somebody you could live with. Obviously,
Speaker 1: somebody can just be around. And that was my biggest concern.
Speaker 1: Every time Jeff and I would talk about names of
Speaker 1: potential candidates to be drafted to Philly, we were always like,
Speaker 1: can you know, can we vibe with them? Can you
Speaker 1: just like hang out with them, go to a movie
Speaker 1: with him, like have dinner with them, whatever it is,
Speaker 1: And so in that aspect, you know, we obviously drafted
Speaker 1: to the most perfect guys for our team to fill
Speaker 1: in those spots. Breadwinner at first, I think he was
Speaker 1: very timid about our team, didn't know how to how
Speaker 1: to act, what he needed to do. And then he
Speaker 1: figured out really quick, like what his role is on
Speaker 1: the team, which has been tremendous defensively for us, helped
Speaker 1: us out someone which we probably wouldn't be where we
Speaker 1: where we are now without him on defense. And then
Speaker 1: casting a great six man, always just just happy to
Speaker 1: be here no matter what it is, always giving us
Speaker 1: his input on things, especially during games at halftimes. But
Speaker 1: that's been that's been one of the hardest parts. And
Speaker 1: then once you mesh like middle of the season, once
Speaker 1: you feel that chemistry is like strong. I knew we
Speaker 1: were gonna be okay. We we went through a little
Speaker 1: bit of a slump, but you know, just talking to
Speaker 1: the team and stuff and where everybody's mindset at, nobody
Speaker 1: was really that worried. Maybe Jeff a little bit, but
Speaker 1: besides him, like we we all knew where we were
Speaker 1: planning to be and that was in the playoffs. M
Speaker 1: But that's that's just the biggest thing I could teach.
Speaker 1: I could teach you how to play two K, but
Speaker 1: I can't teach you how to be a good person.
Speaker 1: And I think that no, no, but that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 1: Especially these guys have been playing took for so long.
Speaker 1: They know how to play two K. That's not hard.
Speaker 1: But you know, some people are raised differently than others.
Speaker 1: That's and that's how it's always going to be, and
Speaker 1: so meshing the right people together is tough. Um. We
Speaker 1: we've gotten lucky the past two years of having really
Speaker 1: good guys on our teams. Give us a sense of
Speaker 1: just how much time you guys spend with each other.
Speaker 1: Because we're here at the seventy six ers training complex.
Speaker 1: How big would you say? The room we're in right
Speaker 1: now is where six seventy six ers GC headquarters is,
Speaker 1: well maybe like fifteen vibe fifteen, I don't know, yeah
Speaker 1: or something like that. It's a decent size, I mean.
Speaker 1: But the good news is that we have this facility
Speaker 1: here in Camden with at the seventy six years facility,
Speaker 1: so we could practice here and then when we go
Speaker 1: home at like eight o'clock, nine o'clock at night, if
Speaker 1: we want to scrim we have a facility there. So
Speaker 1: we have all these computers there at our home as
Speaker 1: well at our team house, so we're always together to
Speaker 1: answer a question. But and that's what's tough, because like
Speaker 1: when the season's over, like you're only with each other
Speaker 1: for six months, so you think like, oh, it's not
Speaker 1: that long, like, but once you leave. I remember last
Speaker 1: year when I left and went back home to California,
Speaker 1: I was like, damn, Like that sucks, Like I don't
Speaker 1: get to like see these guys for a while now,
Speaker 1: and like I FaceTime, you know, Jeff all the time's
Speaker 1: ds um and and that's tough, you know, I see
Speaker 1: when I see ZDS on the phone, like I want
Speaker 1: to like I like living with him. I like being
Speaker 1: around him, even though like he's little kids sometimes and
Speaker 1: he bugs when he like, um, you just that's that's
Speaker 1: why it's part of the family, and that's why it's
Speaker 1: different for us, like other teams may say it, but
Speaker 1: like that, that's truly what we are and it's tough,
Speaker 1: like leaving each other at the end of the season.
Speaker 1: Maybe the better question, Jeff is how much time do
Speaker 1: you guys not spend with each other season? That might
Speaker 1: be easier to answer because it's it's not like Steves
Speaker 1: was saying, it's not just here at the training complex.
Speaker 1: It's the house that you guys have in the South
Speaker 1: Jersey suburbs. You lived in an apartment building in Philly
Speaker 1: last year. It's constant proximity and continuity. Definitely. So last
Speaker 1: year I would say we weren't together as much because
Speaker 1: we weren't in a team house. This year, I think
Speaker 1: we're not probably not together when we're sleeping, I mean
Speaker 1: just but I mean that's what we wanted. Like we
Speaker 1: were at the Franklin last year and we were our
Speaker 1: season one team was really close. Like don't get me wrong,
Speaker 1: we were um, but it wasn't like that that that
Speaker 1: full thing that I feel like we needed. So like
Speaker 1: Jeff and I in like Radium, we're saying, like we
Speaker 1: need a team house. Like there wasn't a specific reason why,
Speaker 1: but I guess like if I had to just put it,
Speaker 1: like my thumb on it, I just say, like to
Speaker 1: get that full potential of like your chemistry and just
Speaker 1: like being a team and being cohesive, like living together
Speaker 1: is like the best thing to do. Um. And that's
Speaker 1: what's funny. It's like when we get off the game
Speaker 1: of two K at home, there's never really any time
Speaker 1: where we're like I need to get away from these guys,
Speaker 1: like I need to do my own thing. Like it's
Speaker 1: never like that, Like even if we're yelling at each
Speaker 1: other during the game, like say, you know we're having
Speaker 1: a two kay conflict, Like once we get off the game,
Speaker 1: we keep everything two kay. So once we're off, it's fine,
Speaker 1: we're like, hey, you want to get somebody, let's go.
Speaker 1: Like and I think whether you see it or not
Speaker 1: or you don't get it, like that's what helped us
Speaker 1: like reach where we are right now going to the finals,
Speaker 1: is you know, just being together and just like buying
Speaker 1: and buying in as a family. It feels like your
Speaker 1: family extends beyond just the guys on the team. It
Speaker 1: was amazing watching last weekend during the playoffs, just the
Speaker 1: turnout that you guys had, and the fan support got
Speaker 1: so intense that at some point there was a tech
Speaker 1: involving Celtics. I mean, it was crazy. That had to
Speaker 1: be a tremendous boost. Yeah, the fans, it was amazing
Speaker 1: having them out there. We haven't had that. We've had
Speaker 1: support throughout the two years, but we haven't had that
Speaker 1: many people show up and it played a huge role
Speaker 1: in us moving through both rounds. To be honest with you,
Speaker 1: they were engaged. They showed up. I want to say
Speaker 1: the second quarter of both games. In both games. One
Speaker 1: game we were tied twenty three twenty three, and one
Speaker 1: we were down twenty seven twenty three, and instantly our
Speaker 1: guys just locked in and we started taking off. And
Speaker 1: can't thank them enough for supporting us, can't thank them
Speaker 1: enough for for being there, and we can't wait to
Speaker 1: see them there Saturday as well. Yeah, it's um just
Speaker 1: to back up off that, like we know, like he said,
Speaker 1: there's at one point we didn't obviously have like that crowd.
Speaker 1: They're not there every week, um, and we don't expect
Speaker 1: them to be. But season one it was tough because
Speaker 1: like a lot of people, especially here at the facility,
Speaker 1: we knew, like we know, the seventy six years love us,
Speaker 1: but a lot of people didn't fully grasp what this
Speaker 1: league was, how serious to take it, um, what do
Speaker 1: we need from them? Stuff like that, And um, season
Speaker 1: two has been like a huge I don't even want
Speaker 1: to say turn around. I just want to like, after
Speaker 1: season one they realized like what we are as a team,
Speaker 1: and I think, you know, the sevent six years they
Speaker 1: also fell in love with us that like we're trying
Speaker 1: to do exactly what they do for the traditional team
Speaker 1: and that's what we're trying to build here. And so
Speaker 1: they you know, bought in completely and supported us like
Speaker 1: so well, and being at that game or being at
Speaker 1: that playoffs I think really showed that. And once, like
Speaker 1: Jeff said, once we saw that they were all there.
Speaker 1: It's fun playing for people, and it's fun playing for
Speaker 1: a crowd, um, And usually you know there's always a
Speaker 1: crowd in New York, but having your own crowd there
Speaker 1: in seventy six or colors like it's something else. And
Speaker 1: every time we get a bucket, they're going crazy. Every
Speaker 1: time we get a stop, they're going crazy. And apparently, yeah,
Speaker 1: things got so crazy that it pissed off one of
Speaker 1: the Celtics players and he got a technical and that
Speaker 1: was a momentum swinger right there. So it's like having
Speaker 1: that environment there at the finals this week, it's going
Speaker 1: to be crazy. So if you're from Tea Wolves Gaming,
Speaker 1: that's got to be something on your mind, right Definitely.
Speaker 1: I think it definitely something that they'll think about because
Speaker 1: our team as a whole, they talk regardless, like our
Speaker 1: guys are going to talk to the other team and
Speaker 1: let them know. Trash talking is a big part of
Speaker 1: it's a huge part, and it's a huge part. And
Speaker 1: I think having our fans there, that's something that we've
Speaker 1: played against it before, so we know what it's like
Speaker 1: to be on the other side and not have a
Speaker 1: ton of people there at tournaments and stuff like that,
Speaker 1: and it plays a role. They're allowed, they're in your
Speaker 1: head like it happens. We have a guy, a mature
Speaker 1: group that can get through it, but not every team's
Speaker 1: like that. So I think our fans will play another
Speaker 1: huge role for us talk to us about T Wolves Gaming,
Speaker 1: the team that you guys faced coincidentally and ironically enough
Speaker 1: to start the season. There's some subplots and storylines connecting
Speaker 1: both clubs give us a rundown to what T Wolves
Speaker 1: Gaming is all about. They're a very good team. They
Speaker 1: wouldn't be here if they weren't. They made a great
Speaker 1: trade during the mid season and got another guy from
Speaker 1: Miami point guard, but he's playing their their small forward role,
Speaker 1: so they have two guards on their team that can
Speaker 1: make reads, make plays. They move a lot, they talk
Speaker 1: a lot on defense. They're a very good team. I
Speaker 1: think I really like our match up with them. Before
Speaker 1: the playoffs started, we told, we talked, we saw the brackets,
Speaker 1: and we said, you know, like, if we can get
Speaker 1: the t Boys in the finals, I'd be awesome, And
Speaker 1: it happened. We have to obviously go take care of business. Now.
Speaker 1: We love our matchup with them. We're beyond prepared for him.
Speaker 1: We know what they're gonna do, but now we have
Speaker 1: to go out and handle business. So I'm excited. There's
Speaker 1: no other team I'd rather be with. I trust them,
Speaker 1: and we're very excited for Saturday and there's a close
Speaker 1: connection right on their roster. Yeah, one of our Season
Speaker 1: one players, Feast, my duo last year, he was our
Speaker 1: power forward. So you know last year when he was
Speaker 1: on seventy six years, you see, meaning him had to
Speaker 1: be on the same page down low. You know, if
Speaker 1: I was helping on off of his guy, he was
Speaker 1: helping off my gut whatever it was. And meeting him
Speaker 1: are really close last year. Unfortunately, you know, I know
Speaker 1: what the storyline looks like, and I'm sure they'll say
Speaker 1: it in the videos, you know, on Saturday, you know Feast.
Speaker 1: You know, they might even say we traded him just
Speaker 1: to make the drama even worse. But it wasn't anything
Speaker 1: like that. We we loved Feast. He was great for us.
Speaker 1: Just so happened. You know. That's how the Cookie Crumbles
Speaker 1: expansion team came in. They took him from us, and um,
Speaker 1: but that was okay. And I told him when he
Speaker 1: got taken from seventy six ers that you know, as
Speaker 1: long as you're in this league and you're competing, you're
Speaker 1: doing what your love, that's all that matters. Like I
Speaker 1: don't care where you are. But like I told him,
Speaker 1: I said, I don't because that was at one point
Speaker 1: where he told me like if I'm not in Phili, like,
Speaker 1: I don't know if I want to be in the league.
Speaker 1: And I told him like, no, like you need to
Speaker 1: do what you love like no matter where it is.
Speaker 1: And obviously he's in the finals. I we texted each
Speaker 1: other right after we both made the finals and we said,
Speaker 1: like how proud we were of each other. So there's
Speaker 1: no bad blood there at all. I'm excited to play him.
Speaker 1: He's a great teammate, he's a great player, great ambassador
Speaker 1: of this league. But um, no, they're a good team.
Speaker 1: They're definitely not the same team that we played earlier
Speaker 1: in the season. But then again, we're not the same
Speaker 1: team that that we were in the beginning this season.
Speaker 1: We're way different, um, and we've really found our groove.
Speaker 1: They say that, you know, the league saying that they're
Speaker 1: the hottesteam in the the league right now. Yeah, sure, they
Speaker 1: got the longest, they are the most hot wind streak
Speaker 1: out of all the teams. But right now, you know,
Speaker 1: we're clicking on all cylinders, radiance going crazy. Everybody had
Speaker 1: a key part in this playoffs to make us get
Speaker 1: to this where we are now in the finals, and
Speaker 1: I think that's what that's what separates us. I do
Speaker 1: like our matchup. We've been watching a lot of film.
Speaker 1: We know what we gotta do. Now, what's going out
Speaker 1: there and executing. Hey, Jeff, what makes Radiance so good?
Speaker 1: He was second in MVP voting. Why is he perhaps
Speaker 1: the best player on the planet. I think he's, without
Speaker 1: a doubt the best player on the planet. I say
Speaker 1: that a lot, but I truthfully mean that, not being biased.
Speaker 1: But he puts in so much work it's ridiculous. He
Speaker 1: will go practice, We'll play for you know, five or
Speaker 1: six hours, then he might go get some food and
Speaker 1: then he's back on two k's. He'll play till five
Speaker 1: in the morning sometimes and he'll just be practicing. And
Speaker 1: he knows every combo that he can do with his player.
Speaker 1: He knows the ends of it, outs of everything that
Speaker 1: has to do with two K. His IQ is very very,
Speaker 1: very very good, and he's an unbelievable scorer. Radiant's biggest
Speaker 1: weakness I think from season one was leadership, and it's
Speaker 1: something that he went from being about a two or
Speaker 1: three until he's probably about a seven now. And I
Speaker 1: told him in the offseason, I said, Radiant, if he
Speaker 1: can get to a five, I think we can win
Speaker 1: a championship. I just need you to get to a
Speaker 1: five as a leader, and I mean, he's surpassed that.
Speaker 1: He's been a great teammate. He's talking a lot more,
Speaker 1: calling out more stuff, and it's a testament to how
Speaker 1: well he's played this year. So we began to wrap this.
Speaker 1: How about you want offer something I was just gonna say,
Speaker 1: Radiant skills, no doubt, like best best in the world.
Speaker 1: I think that the thing that I noticed that separates
Speaker 1: him from any other point guard in this league is
Speaker 1: he puts his teams in position to be successful. He
Speaker 1: puts his players. So like all those times you've seen
Speaker 1: Zds get threes, anytime you've seen you Daney score at
Speaker 1: the corner, whatever it is, that that's all starts with
Speaker 1: the Radiant putting them in that spot. And then you know,
Speaker 1: doing like what Jeff said, like his comblo dribbles whatever
Speaker 1: it is to get Radiant open, which means you have
Speaker 1: to help. So then he passes to you and lets
Speaker 1: you succeed. And that's something you that's very hard to
Speaker 1: find because, like I said, we're very unselfish team. And
Speaker 1: there's a lot of point guards out there, a lot
Speaker 1: of teammates out there that will try and just go
Speaker 1: get that bucket on their own because they want that
Speaker 1: stat but not him. So you know, being able to
Speaker 1: put others in front of you first, even if you
Speaker 1: are like maybe not the most vocal guy that he's
Speaker 1: very quiet, dude, And at one point in Jeff's right,
Speaker 1: he wasn't you know, that much of a leader. But
Speaker 1: this year he's stepped up a lot and helped out,
Speaker 1: Like there's only so much I can do vocally to
Speaker 1: like try and tell my team, like what I think
Speaker 1: we need to do and stuff, because I don't have
Speaker 1: the ball in my hands. You know, he's our point guard.
Speaker 1: He and he stepped up this year by being a leader,
Speaker 1: and that's another key why why we're here right now
Speaker 1: in the finals. I know every team at the start
Speaker 1: of his season probably expects to go the distance, make
Speaker 1: to the finals. When the championship, when do you think
Speaker 1: you knew this is? For each of you guys, what
Speaker 1: do you think or when did you feel like you
Speaker 1: knew that you really had a shot to get to
Speaker 1: this stage? And what have you enjoyed the most about
Speaker 1: the year. For me, to be completely honest, was on
Speaker 1: draft night when bred Runner fell to nineteen. He was
Speaker 1: a top five projected pick. He's unbelievable, and for him
Speaker 1: to follow that far with the four guys that we
Speaker 1: had coming back right then, I knew it was a
Speaker 1: it's a championship or bust. My favorite part of the
Speaker 1: season honestly goes back to tip off, which is crazy,
Speaker 1: but I think that's the first time that bred came
Speaker 1: in as such a highly talented player. He's so talented,
Speaker 1: but that's when he really like became part of the family.
Speaker 1: Leading up to there, there's some struggles with us like
Speaker 1: rolls and like, hey, is this really for me? And
Speaker 1: stuff like that, but he bought in and I think
Speaker 1: that's what changed our season around, with him understanding how
Speaker 1: we are as a team, how we talk, how we act,
Speaker 1: how we played again other and um, that was my
Speaker 1: favorite moment of the season. Yeah, he's right with bread winner,
Speaker 1: how how far he came. There was a lot of
Speaker 1: talk like if this league was right for him because
Speaker 1: he's leaving three kids behind right now, and that's tough
Speaker 1: to do. Nobody can just pick up that pick up
Speaker 1: and leave for that long um, Jeff does that too.
Speaker 1: Radiant does that too. But you know he was indecisive,
Speaker 1: and I promised him. On draft night, I called him
Speaker 1: and I said, if you buy into this system and
Speaker 1: you just do what you need to do for this team,
Speaker 1: I guarantee you like you're gonna make enough money, You're
Speaker 1: gonna you're gonna be able to provide for your family.
Speaker 1: You're gonna prepare like a better life for them. And
Speaker 1: I said, I should need you to just buy and
Speaker 1: just listen and just do your thing, man, And that's
Speaker 1: exactly what he did. But I told them we were
Speaker 1: going through a slump that I was talking about earlier.
Speaker 1: And I told the team, I said, if we get
Speaker 1: through this, I promise you no team wants to see
Speaker 1: us in the playoffs. And if you if they let
Speaker 1: us in the playoffs, and I said, we have no
Speaker 1: problem like being able to find a way to get
Speaker 1: to that championship. And you know, proud of my guys
Speaker 1: for for getting through that slump and you know, putting
Speaker 1: us on a wind streak to get us to the playoffs.
Speaker 1: And right when we made it, I knew, like everybody
Speaker 1: was so excited, but it wasn't like excited like hey,
Speaker 1: like we're in the playoffs. It's like it was more
Speaker 1: like we were excited, like damn, they really let us in,
Speaker 1: Like now it's time to go crazy. And that's exactly
Speaker 1: what we did. We had two sweeps in a row
Speaker 1: in bow series and now we're here awesome Saturday, starting
Speaker 1: at three o'clock, best of five game series in the
Speaker 1: finals against T Wolves Gaming. Jeff Terrell two K League
Speaker 1: Coach of the Year Alexander, Steves Bernstein pleasure fellas best
Speaker 1: of luck, thanks for representing the old franchise and company
Speaker 1: and all that, and it's it's been an awesome ride.
Speaker 1: Hopefully there's one more great moment. So much, you know,
Speaker 1: Steve's touched upon this during the interview, that the traction
Speaker 1: and the following that in just less than two years,
Speaker 1: the NBA two K League has generated and seventy six
Speaker 1: ers GC has generated so amazing and it's awesome that
Speaker 1: at this juncture of growth, you're seventy six ers GC
Speaker 1: battling for a title on Saturday against T Wolves Game.
Speaker 1: Can't wait to see how it shakes out. Sounds like
Speaker 1: a reasonably confident group based upon what coach Jeff and
Speaker 1: Steve's we're talking about. You can stream the championship on
Speaker 1: YouTube and Twitch, and you can follow at seventy six
Speaker 1: ers GC on social. All right, I think next week
Speaker 1: on the pod, we're gonna speak with Trey Burke, one
Speaker 1: of the newest members of the seventy sixers. Love that
Speaker 1: acquisition by Elton Brand. We'll get into his backstory little
Speaker 1: bits as we continue our off season coverage here on
Speaker 1: the broadcast. See you