Speaker 1: Welcome into NBA Pulster production of iHeartRadio in the NBA.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarahkustak, NBA analysts for the S Network, and today
Speaker 1: is Monday, October thirtieth. From our extraordinary core group of
Speaker 1: NBA journalists, We're joined now by NBA dot Com senior
Speaker 1: writer Sean pol And Sean was in the house. Wemby
Speaker 1: Mania continues. San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers. Victor Webbinyama
Speaker 1: continues to draw a lot of attention. But the Clippers
Speaker 1: were the one that prevailed last night one twenty three
Speaker 1: eighty three win over the Spurs. There were seven Clippers
Speaker 1: in double figures, but John first. The attention is and
Speaker 1: has been and will continue to be on Victor Wembinyama,
Speaker 1: who comes away from this game with eleven points. He's
Speaker 1: four or ten from the field, h fifty percent from
Speaker 1: the three throw line, taking six trips. From your perspective,
Speaker 1: your vantage point, seeing him up close and personal in live,
Speaker 1: what did you what did you take away from the
Speaker 1: performers last night of wembe and just how he continues
Speaker 1: to progress here in the very young young part of
Speaker 1: his NBA career.
Speaker 2: Well, I would probably say this was well, not probably.
Speaker 2: It was definitely his roughest outing of the season. It
Speaker 2: was his first time in Los Angeles, you know, playing
Speaker 2: before a really big you know, media contingent, bright lights,
Speaker 2: all that. Even though it was the Clippers, people will say, wow,
Speaker 2: you know, wait till he plays the Lakers. The Clippers
Speaker 2: are actually still pretty good, I think, as they show
Speaker 2: winning by forty. But if you you know, never saw
Speaker 2: him before, first of all, you say, oh, wow, he's tall.
Speaker 2: That's first thing of course you're going to say, is
Speaker 2: this is the guy who everyone hyped, you know, so
Speaker 2: and again you had to really keep everything about wemben
Speaker 2: Yama in perspective. Number one, he's only nineteen years old,
Speaker 2: and then number two, he still hasn't filled out his body.
Speaker 2: Now that really was a factor. It's the Clippers because
Speaker 2: right away Robert Covington on him. They tried to get
Speaker 2: really physical with him as much as the rules would allow.
Speaker 2: You know, you had a lot of help Kawhi, Leonard,
Speaker 2: Nick Patoom, his countrymen from Fronts jumped in there as
Speaker 2: well and gave him a couple elbows. So I think
Speaker 2: the Clippers were probably sending him a message about what
Speaker 2: the NBA life is really going to be like from
Speaker 2: here for the next seventy nine or so games. And
Speaker 2: you know when be Yama knew this coming in and
Speaker 2: nothing's going to happen overnight with his body, obviously, that's
Speaker 2: going to take some time. But he did show flashes.
Speaker 2: You know, he made a couple of nice moves. Russell
Speaker 2: Westbrook really jumped as high as Russell Westbrook can jump
Speaker 2: now and tried to block that shot. He didn't get it,
Speaker 2: but you could see the look on Russell's face that
Speaker 2: he blew an opportunity because players are going to be
Speaker 2: taking their shots against him. They want to dunk on him,
Speaker 2: they want to make him look bad, they want to
Speaker 2: get their highlight against him. But the good thing about
Speaker 2: this kid, women, y'am, and it keeps impressing me to
Speaker 2: this day, Sarah. He is so mature. Nothing rattles him.
Speaker 2: He could have a bad game, a bad moment, whatever,
Speaker 2: he stays even keeled. You have to like that about them.
Speaker 2: Greg pop Fitch talked a lot about that about him, saying,
Speaker 2: this kid has been a professional for a few years.
Speaker 2: He's already seen it all, just in terms of the
Speaker 2: hype and everything his parents have done. A good job,
Speaker 2: and Poppa says, I better not screw this kid up,
Speaker 2: because this kid came to me, you know, pretty much
Speaker 2: already made from a maturity standpoint. Now his body just
Speaker 2: has to mature. I think he's going to look he's
Speaker 2: going to be a typical rookie. He's going to have
Speaker 2: some ups and some downs. But I think his ups
Speaker 2: are going to just give you that impression that while
Speaker 2: he really is going to be the real deal, he's
Speaker 2: already a very advanced offensively as he could be in
Speaker 2: a running from both the Rookie of the Year award
Speaker 2: and the Defensive Player of the Year award. I don't
Speaker 2: think that's an outrageous statement to make after three games.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think the interesting part is those players
Speaker 1: around him, right, I mean, you look, Devin Vessel comes
Speaker 1: away with fourteen points, Calvin Johnson, but that's also going
Speaker 1: to be a factor game to game and even the
Speaker 1: game planning of the Clippers who were talking about, you know,
Speaker 1: seven players in double figures. A lot of what they're
Speaker 1: predicated on is how strong and good they are defensively.
Speaker 1: Ty Lou his ability to be able to be strategic
Speaker 1: in scheme, and so I think for wim bin Yama.
Speaker 1: There certainly will be with any rookie ups and downs,
Speaker 1: but how it is that the complementary players around him
Speaker 1: are able to contribute on a night by night basis
Speaker 1: to free things up for him as well, and even
Speaker 1: like a true point guard or a point guard that
Speaker 1: understands how do you organize and best run the offense
Speaker 1: facilitate for him. I think there's a lot of aspects
Speaker 1: with this, and with the attention to your point that
Speaker 1: it is going to be fluid, But over all, the
Speaker 1: fact that you've got a mature young player and an
Speaker 1: individual like him who understands that and has a disposition
Speaker 1: to handle this at the professional level, I think is
Speaker 1: something where the optimism and the hope for what he
Speaker 1: will become will continue. The flip side of things, Sean,
Speaker 1: you got to see this Clippers team, and I think
Speaker 1: they've always been this on paper. What will they look
Speaker 1: like with their health with if they're healthy, when they
Speaker 1: have potentially players available, and it showed between Kawhi, Paul George,
Speaker 1: what Russ looked like. You got some contributions off the
Speaker 1: bench from Bones Highland, Norm Powell. What did you see
Speaker 1: with the Clippers in terms of their aspirations to be
Speaker 1: titled contenders this season.
Speaker 2: Once again, Well, the most amazing thing about the Clippers
Speaker 2: right now, no one has missed a game because of injury, Sarah. Really,
Speaker 2: that's really we'll.
Speaker 1: Throw what three games in?
Speaker 2: Is that?
Speaker 1: Is that where we're at now?
Speaker 2: Look, we're like, oh Kwi is good, Oh Russell Westbrook's good,
Speaker 2: Paul George is good. I mean, really, when you look
Speaker 2: at the Clippers, that's first and from us. Interesting you
Speaker 2: say that, sir, because their next two games are back
Speaker 2: to back. They played for Orlando at home and then
Speaker 2: the Lakers at home. That Laker game is a pass
Speaker 2: TV game, and you know how the NBA feels about
Speaker 2: stars sitting out national TV games. So I think this
Speaker 2: is the first big test for against San Antonio. This
Speaker 2: is the first big test for the Clippers. Are they
Speaker 2: going to have a full line up on the floor
Speaker 2: for forty eight hour forty eight hours back to back games.
Speaker 2: So then we'll see this team, which is sort of
Speaker 2: like the poster child for the player participation participation policy,
Speaker 2: how the Clipper is going to respond. As far as
Speaker 2: on the court, I think they they played pretty well.
Speaker 2: I mean, look, they didn't look really great in their loss,
Speaker 2: but their first their two wins have been relatively easy. Uh.
Speaker 2: You know, Kawhi looks good. You know, Paul Jeorges looks
Speaker 2: good in Spurts, Russell Westbrook looks good, the you know,
Speaker 2: the supporting cat looks good as the team shout town
Speaker 2: the lane. I really want to see how they play
Speaker 2: against the Lakers. I really want to see how they
Speaker 2: play once they really get on the road and have
Speaker 2: a string of games. But I would probably say, so far,
Speaker 2: so good. I just keep going back to the health
Speaker 2: with this team, and you know, Paul George and Kawi
Speaker 2: lernd this. I think we got year four together. You know,
Speaker 2: are they going to be there in April, in May,
Speaker 2: and maybe if they make it that far in June.
Speaker 2: You know, let's really judge them. They judge them then,
Speaker 2: because we really haven't been able to judge the Clippers
Speaker 2: accurately since that time. One guy's been out, both guys
Speaker 2: have been been out, and it really hurt this team
Speaker 2: at the end. So let's see them over like a
Speaker 2: couple months, you know, wish them good health. I think
Speaker 2: they'll play very well. I don't know if they're among
Speaker 2: the elite of the elite. But that will tell us
Speaker 2: a lot about this team and where it might be headed.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, a couple teams trying and are among the
Speaker 1: elite of the elite out in the West met last
Speaker 1: night in Sacramento. The Kings and the Lakers went into overtime.
Speaker 1: It was a thriller. Seven is the King's pulled away
Speaker 1: with a win. Deer and Fox with thirty seven points
Speaker 1: added eight assists. Kegan Murray was really strong with seventeen
Speaker 1: off the bench. Malik Monk out to Morrow lines up
Speaker 1: the scene. He ended up having twenty two points and
Speaker 1: he was really special in overtime. Lebron James and another
Speaker 1: masterpiece twenty seven to fifteen and eight seventeen for Dangelo Russell,
Speaker 1: twenty for Torrian Prints. A lot of big numbers as
Speaker 1: you can see with that game and with let's first
Speaker 1: start with the Sacramento Kings, a team that was bounced
Speaker 1: in seven games in the first round by the Golden
Speaker 1: State Warriors. They come back with a lot of their
Speaker 1: core pieces, but Deer and Fox is the showcase of
Speaker 1: that one. How do you see this Sacramento team really
Speaker 1: stacking up against some of the best here in the
Speaker 1: Western Conference.
Speaker 2: Well, I saw how they stacked up against the Words
Speaker 2: and not too pretty. Basically the game before they played
Speaker 2: the Lakers Steph Curry. You know, really we had what
Speaker 2: forty one points against him and this game off of
Speaker 2: the game seven last spring when he scored fifty points.
Speaker 2: So ninety one points the Steph Curry and back to
Speaker 2: back games. You know, I think the one thing about
Speaker 2: the Sacramento Kings when you look at them, Number one,
Speaker 2: did they catch the league by surprise a little bit?
Speaker 2: Last year? You know, they had a great year, not
Speaker 2: taking taking nothing from them, but you know, the Lakers
Speaker 2: weren't completely healthy, the Clippers weren't completely healthy. You know,
Speaker 2: when those teams had been better than Sacramento last year,
Speaker 2: had they been healthy, probably whatever, we could play that
Speaker 2: game every year. So and I'm not going to, you know,
Speaker 2: shortchange the Sacramento Kings. Mike Brown has done a great job.
Speaker 2: Some bonus Darren Fox were All Stars last year. Malik
Speaker 2: Monk was terrific off the bench, and I think that's
Speaker 2: the way it's going to shape up so far this year. Fox,
Speaker 2: what an incredible game. This guy just proved last year
Speaker 2: how good he is in the clutch and then you know,
Speaker 2: against the Lakers, he basically shows out player on the floor.
Speaker 2: With that he shares with Lebron James and Anthony Davis.
Speaker 2: Bots oh Man, quick, Sid Drible got it to go off.
Speaker 1: The rings is still looking for him.
Speaker 2: Very good positive sign for the Sacramento Kings. That's a
Speaker 2: tough place to play for visiting teams, and so look,
Speaker 2: I just think that they have to have a next
Speaker 2: step mentality. You know, now we can win fifty games.
Speaker 2: Now we can go beyond the first round of the playoffs,
Speaker 2: provided we don't meet step Curry the game seventies course,
Speaker 2: fifty points Sarah. So I think that's the way they
Speaker 2: have to look at themselves that this is a good
Speaker 2: young cores. We're growing and we just happen next take
Speaker 2: the next step, and suddenly whenever teams see us on
Speaker 2: the calendar, they're not circling it anymore, saying we don't
Speaker 2: have to play our starters against him, or we can
Speaker 2: wrest some guys against them. No, we have to play
Speaker 2: hard against the Sacramento Kings. As far as the Lakers look, Ron,
Speaker 2: it's mostly positive signs of Lebron James and Anthony Davis.
Speaker 2: I would probably say that there's red flashing signs with
Speaker 2: you know, like Austin Reeves, Gabe Benson, Rory Hatchamura. I mean,
Speaker 2: these were the guys who got contract extensions last year
Speaker 2: or signed in free agency, and we haven't really seen
Speaker 2: that much from them. You know, Austin Reeves has played
Speaker 2: on Team USA. You know, that's a long summer, you
Speaker 2: know for him, and you know, look it's a short
Speaker 2: sample size. You know, he could come out and have
Speaker 2: a fantastic game, you know, next next night out, but
Speaker 2: he's it's been slow for him, it's been slow for
Speaker 2: the supporting cast. And because of that, you know, the
Speaker 2: other night, Lebron James had to play the entire fourth
Speaker 2: quarter of a game and they had to win against
Speaker 2: the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers don't want to put him
Speaker 2: in that position. That's why they want to manage.
Speaker 1: His menut Sean so much for the minutes limitation thirty
Speaker 1: nine minutes last night as well, so when they when
Speaker 1: they need them to win, it's tough to teach him
Speaker 1: on the bench under a thirty minute mark.
Speaker 2: He's got to play.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but you said at Austin Reeves with five points
Speaker 1: two points for gave Vincent off the bench early early
Speaker 1: here in the season is we're picking things apart, but
Speaker 1: it is going to be fun and interesting to watch.
Speaker 1: And to your point, how this continues to progress with
Speaker 1: their usage of Lebron James and you know there's a
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of conversation about usage, Sean. In
Speaker 1: one of those usages they're they're looking to get back
Speaker 1: on the floor for the Philadelphia seventy six Ers is
Speaker 1: James Harden. He was in the building. He did not
Speaker 1: play last night for the seventy six Ers, but he
Speaker 1: was in the building. We will get to that right
Speaker 1: after the brand Welcome back to NBA Pulse. Sarahkustak joined
Speaker 1: by Sean Powell. And Sean, We've we've been discussing the
Speaker 1: Western Conference, but in the Eastern conferen friends, I think
Speaker 1: there's some clear delineation of who a lot of us
Speaker 1: expect to be up towards the top with the Milwaukee Bucks,
Speaker 1: with the Boston Celtics, but the Philadelphia seventy six Ers
Speaker 1: are a team. Continue to keep your eyes on in
Speaker 1: the ceiling for them, it is so high, but there
Speaker 1: are a lot of X factors, one of those being
Speaker 1: James Harden. So Philadelphia comes away last night with a
Speaker 1: one twenty six to ninety eight win over the Portland Trailblazers.
Speaker 1: Joel embiid another monster game thirty five points, fifteen rebounds,
Speaker 1: seven assists, as for Tyres Maaxy as well with twenty
Speaker 1: six points.
Speaker 2: Patsy the baseline that tops swishes.
Speaker 1: A lot of the conversation was about James Harden. He
Speaker 1: was in the building, he was on the bench. He
Speaker 1: is expected to practice with the team on Tuesday. Nick
Speaker 1: Nurse discussed it a bit in just saying, all signs
Speaker 1: are positive by all accounts, the conditioning and the ramp
Speaker 1: up that they feel like he still needs is taking place.
Speaker 1: From your perspective, what do you see with this James
Speaker 1: Harden situation and how you expect it to continue to
Speaker 1: play out.
Speaker 2: I don't think anything has changed. I think James still
Speaker 2: feels the way he feels. Look, is he going to
Speaker 2: go back on his his his summertime vow to never
Speaker 2: be associated with you know, with the team led by
Speaker 2: you know, Daryl Morey, you know, I mean, if he
Speaker 2: plays then he wasn't being completely accurate, But again he
Speaker 2: risked some financial penalties. They risks more history of reputation
Speaker 2: if this keeps up. I mean, look, I think in
Speaker 2: certain situations, the love of the game has to take
Speaker 2: over any other emotion. The love of the game. This
Speaker 2: is why you're hear it to play basketball. So when
Speaker 2: you when you come back and you play basketball, things
Speaker 2: tend to take care of themselves. But you got to
Speaker 2: play basketball first. And you know, how is Joel and
Speaker 2: be feeling about this? You know, this is your guy,
Speaker 2: this is your team. This is a guy you wanted
Speaker 2: to be aligned next to. The guy that helped you
Speaker 2: lead the NBA and assists last year, the guy you
Speaker 2: helped get the MVP Award. This is a team that
Speaker 2: needs you, you know, to try to the throne. The
Speaker 2: Milwaukee Bucks, spots of Celtics, Miami Heat, whoever else is
Speaker 2: going to be your main contender in the East. And
Speaker 2: again that's just me. James Harden is wired differently. I
Speaker 2: think we know this, Sarah. I don't know if he's
Speaker 2: going to continue holding this grudge, but he was in
Speaker 2: a building, he was on the bench. But until James
Speaker 2: Harden seems something played, the storyline is always going to
Speaker 2: be James Harden. And how long this is going to
Speaker 2: keep up?
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think you say for love of the game,
Speaker 1: that's one and also two for love of your teammates.
Speaker 1: And I think that's the aspect is you continue to
Speaker 1: watch the seventy six or team. This is a team
Speaker 1: that does have the pieces and the potential to compete
Speaker 1: for a title. And so that's where when you've watched
Speaker 1: how they come out in the early part of the season,
Speaker 1: how they've played, the growth of Tyres Maxie, a lot
Speaker 1: of factors that you wonder what it could look like
Speaker 1: if they do get a James Harden similar to who
Speaker 1: they saw last season leading the league in in you know,
Speaker 1: and assists. But overall, I think to your point that
Speaker 1: there's a lot to figure out, and a lot of
Speaker 1: it does rest on what James ultimately decides and what
Speaker 1: his ultimate goal is out of this and how he
Speaker 1: is playing this situation, and also what the seventy six
Speaker 1: ers are are willing to do or concede. So something
Speaker 1: that we will continue to keep our eyes on, as
Speaker 1: we do always shone with with the rest of the
Speaker 1: league and across the league. We appreciate your time, safe
Speaker 1: travels to you. I know we're going to be talking
Speaker 1: with you soon. Michael c. Wright will be joining us
Speaker 1: with some early early MVP conversation this Friday, but we
Speaker 1: will be talking to very soon.
Speaker 2: Once again, I'm looking forward to it's Sarah as usual.
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