← Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective
Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective
More NBA Chaos + Embiid Return & Panic For Cavs?
00:58:43
Hoop Collective: More NBA Chaos + Embiid Return & Panic For Cavs?
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- [00:00]
A
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- [00:36]
B
Welcome to Hoop Collective Podcast. We talk about the NBA, which we're doing on Sunday evening, getting towards Monday morning. Joining us from the Xfinity Arena, I think I can't remember what it's called. It's where the 76ers play. Tonight. They played the Hawks at a game that went to double overtime, which is one of the reasons why we're potting so late is Tim botteps.
- [00:55]
C
This is 6pm Tip. I thought it was going to end relatively normally on time. Certainly looked like it was going to end normally on time when the Hawks were up by eight with 49 seconds to go. It did not. I'm going to get home very late as a result.
- [01:09]
B
Yes. And now you're in a hostage situation there. If you're watching.
- [01:12]
C
That is correct.
- [01:13]
B
Joining us from Los Angeles, where he's gone to three games in the last three days and he left, he was pulled himself away from the Pelicans Lakers game, which is going on across the street from where he's at right now is Ben McMahon.
- [01:27]
D
Howdy partners. Two and a half games. I did hear a whole lot of excuses from Bond Timps, a guy who whines and cries a whole lot about how slow I am to work. But five hours after tip. Bon temps.
- [01:41]
C
If McMahon had been covering this game, he would have written. He would have started the pot at about 1:30 Eastern Time.
- [01:46]
B
So you did file a story that for November game is very long.
- [01:52]
D
Well, true.
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C
A lot of, a lot of as I said in the lead, Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey played together for the first time this season and Joel Embiid played for the first time in three weeks. And both of those things became footnotes in the game as the game played out.
- [02:07]
B
Yeah. Well, I will say this. So the Hawks won that game. The Hawks have had. They had a good weekend. They won in Cleveland on Friday and they. We'll talk about the Cavs in a minute. Oh, things aren't going well in Cleveland right now and then they go Into Philly and and pull out a double overtime win. Jalen Johnson is just putting together an all star season. He had 41 points in this game. Made a, made two free throws to force for that. The fourth. The first overtime or the second overtime?
- [02:37]
C
It was at the end of the first overtime amid the accidental review.
- [02:43]
B
Okay, well we'll get to that in a second. So the Hawks are starting to put together some victories and they are so athletic and so long and they switch and look, they gave up 130 something points tonight because it was double overtime and Maxi had 44. But they've got some stuff going for them. But anyway, you know, we don't, you know, go over regular season little happenstances like this, but there was a weird timing thing that happened tonight. Bon Temps.
- [03:15]
C
Yeah. At the end of the first overtime, Tyrese Maxey missed two free throws. It would have put the game away after the Hawks had blown an eight point lead in the final minute of regulation when they had a chance to.
- [03:25]
B
Win the game, which that seems to be happening like every other day. Some team, why can't these team. First off, there's a bunch of guys missing free throws, star players missing free throws. Cade Cunningham, he may be having an all star season. He's missed two clutch free throws in the last week that contributed to now.
- [03:41]
C
That they wouldn't have gotten. He is having an all star season, to be clear. But he, he did miss those free throws. Tyrese Maxey is having an all NBA season. He missed two free throws of four seconds to go at the end of the first overtime that would have ice the game. Instead it was a two point game. Jalen Johnson drives on the baseline, gets fouled by Dominic Barlow, goes aligned for two. Nick Nurse calls timeout, try to ice him. He had two timeouts. He's going to call a second one after the free throws, then try to set up a play. James Capers, our friend, friend of the pod, thought Nick Nurse had called for a challenge. So he went to the, went to the scores table. He reviewed the play. Nick Nurse later said, when I asked him about it, I called timeout. I went and talked to my team. I walked back out and I said, what's going on? So he then goes to the rest and says, I never called for a challenge. I just called timeout. And the referees huddle. They then declare they decided there wasn't a challenge. And the key part of this is when they called the foul. Initially there was 0.3 seconds on the clock when they reviewed the foul, which was a clear foul and said that there was a foul and therefore it was an unsuccessful challenge. They changed the amount of time that was left from 0.3 seconds, which you barely have time to get his shot off, to 1.1 seconds, where you have time to like run a play and actually get a real shut off. But because they then said there wasn't a challenge, the time went back to 0.3 seconds. And so it acted like nothing ever happened. So after a very long delay and a very long icing of Jalen Johnson, he walks out calmly hits both without hitting the rim. Sixers don't get a shot off at the other end. Joel Embiid does a play in the second overtime. Neither does Paul George, neither does VJ Edgecomb, who also came back today from injury and the Hawks pulled away and ended up winning.
- [05:25]
B
Yeah. By the way, Paul George came back, is back from injury and he said tonight that his back stiffened up after the game or during the game.
- [05:32]
C
Yeah.
- [05:32]
B
So it's no big deal. But I didn't like hearing he looked.
- [05:37]
C
Fine after the game. But yeah, I mean, it's with the Sixers. There's always something new around the corner at all times. I thought Andre Drummond may have blown his knee out on Friday. He then was back and warming up fine and played the first six minutes of our. Of the. Played six minutes in the first quarter. Then he got pulled from the game cause he said there was some soreness in his knee. There's. There's always something with the six.
- [05:57]
B
It. There's. Yes. And then there was actually at the end of regulation, Nick Nurse called a timeout thinking he could set up a last shot.
- [06:04]
C
Wow. Nick tried to call timeout when the Hawks missed a shot with about three seconds to go and the referees didn't see it, so there was no timeout given.
- [06:12]
B
Anyway, I don't know how you felt about the way Embiid. Look, he played 30 minutes in this game. This is the first time I've watched him play since he came back. This is the second game back, right?
- [06:21]
C
First game.
- [06:21]
B
No, this is the first game.
- [06:22]
C
He was out as of 12:30 this afternoon and then he was upgraded to questionable. And then he played and he played a season high 30 minutes.
- [06:30]
B
He looked like what I expect him to look like, which is he moved. Okay. He's limited in the ground. He can cover defensively. When he gets the ball in a sweet spot, he can. He's going to be hard to take offensively. He. He was. Joe. He is 20, 25. Joel Embiid I don't know what else to say other than that was my assessment.
- [06:51]
C
Yeah, I mean, he, he's sort of been the same guy since the first game of the season. He had that horrible game against Boston. He was 1 for 9, had four points. But ever since then, he, up until today when he had 18 points on 14 shots, he had at least 20 points in each of the next five games. His jumper looks good and he's been, like you said, he's been compromised with his mobility on defense. And until that changes and he really looks explosive moving around on the defensive end, then it's going to be an up and down process and you know, it's going to be a struggle. Like he was minus 11 tonight in 30 minutes, and a lot of that was from not being able to get to rebounds and not moving around very quickly on the defensive end of the court. But he's still a guy that the defense really respects when he's out there. He's drawn people to him. They can run dribble handoffs with him and Paul George and him and Tyrese Maxey, him and Quentin Grimes and Edge Coman, all these guys. But the question's going to be, I wrote about this in a story about the Sixers on Friday. Can the defensive mobility and can the, the trust in his knees get to the point where he can move around more fluidly and better on the defensive end? If he can, then the Sixers are really being business. And if he can't, then it's going to be a challenge to navigate that because he's been somebody that teams have been able to go at from a mobility standpoint and the Hawks had success doing that today.
- [08:21]
B
All right, well, the, I will say that the Hawks. Do you agree with me about that, their length when they go out there and they're, they basically put four or five, six foot, eight to ten guys out there that they, they seem to me to, to be able to cause teams trouble with that athleticism and length in a way that they just couldn't when, when Trey was out there. And they just keep bringing them. They just keep, they just keep inserting guys that big. It's, it's, it's really. You can see the, the thought process and what they, what they put their roster together and it seems like it's really working for them.
- [09:03]
D
Well, they put, they put a roster together to be able to protect Trey on the defensive end, and now they're getting a trial run to see what the team looks like without Trey in the mix at all. On off numbers, small sample size for Trey, but you know, like he's not a good defense player. We understand that 123.2 defensive ratings when he's on the floor and in a much larger sample size without him on the floor, it's 111.6. It is what it is. Now he's a top three pick and roll operator in the league. But the Hawks are, I would assume, in the process of figuring out would they rather move forward with Trey as an offensive engine and have to protect him defensively or looking like they, they look right now where if Jalen Johnson's looking like this, they've got some serious firepower still offensively.
- [09:58]
C
Yeah, I mean, look, and Nikki Alexander Walker, I've talked about him since the summer. I'm obviously a big fan of his game. He, he played well again today for the Hawks. But when he's out there instead of Trey Young, they're an excellent defensive team and a iffy offensive team. And when Trey is out there, they could be an excellent offensive team and they're going to be an iffy defensive team. And I, I think the question going forward for Atlanta, to McMahon's point, I, I think is less necessarily about what, what is the long term marriage with Trey Young and the Hawks. I would say, and I would say more generally, like you could see, the Hawks are building towards a future where Jalen Johnson is their guy going forward. Like he's a prototypical wing in today's NBA. Six, nine, runs like a deer, he can move the ball, he throws down crazy dunks almost every game and he fits with the overall vision of the roster. But they're not, they need to have another offensive creator with him that is good enough to have the team be also really good offensively while fitting within this bigger, longer vision that they have. So I think the question is can the Hawks find another player like that to slide in here somewhere and how do they do so? And the most obvious way they will is if they get one of the top couple picks in this upcoming draft with that Pelicans pick. And they can slot in AJ Debanza or they can slot in Darren Peterson or they could slot in one of these other high level picks. If that guy comes in and develops alongside these other guys, then they're really cooking. And that's the most obvious direct way to that happening. And if they end up with the eighth pick or the ninth pick or something, which is also very possible, we saw last year all the teams with the worst records picked from 5 to 8 or 4 to 8. You know, then we'll see what they do, whether it's in for HC or if they have Trey long term or whatever. But that I think, you know, when you look at where the Thunder are at obviously is the most obvious point on this out west with the Clippers pick. Where the Clippers are at? No, McMahon saw them yesterday against his Mavericks. And where the where the Hawks are at with this Pelicans pick, you have two ascending young teams with really interesting cores. Obviously the Thunder are way past interesting, but they also have the ability to get a true difference making player at the top of a loaded draft that's only going to supercharge where they're at. And obviously if the Thunder get that player then, you know, just forget about it. More Hoop Collective Podcast after this Lids.
- [12:25]
B
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- [12:54]
E
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- [13:24]
A
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D
I mean the league is in a panic about the Thunder having the Clippers pick. I'm serious, I'm serious about that as.
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B
Utah did lose tonight. But as we sit here right now, end of November, if you know the season ended today, which I know we're 60 games left or whatever.
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C
So the 20 games the people. It often is said though that the schedule the standings at 20 games do tend to reflect where they are at the end of the season.
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B
Just. Just as a status update.
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C
Sure.
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B
The Clippers would give the fifth pick to Oklahoma City and the Utah would give the ninth pick to Oklahoma City. The ninth pick is the highest, actually.
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D
The Kings just lost, so it would be the sixth pick from the Clippers now. Also, by the way, can I just.
- [14:43]
B
Say something about that Kings game real quick? As a quick diversion, can I give you Zach Edie's last three games?
- [14:49]
D
Oh, he's put up some numbers.
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B
The grizzlies have won three in a row. His last three games are 21 points, 15 rebounds.
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D
Saw that one.
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B
Two blocks. You were at that game in New Orleans or you saw it?
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D
Oh, I'm sorry. I think that the next. He had a huge game in Dallas too.
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B
Yeah, okay, that was 15 rebounds, 12 points. But that was a couple games before 21 and 15. He had five. Then they played in LA against the Clippers over the weekend. He had five points but 19 rebounds and two blocks. And then tonight, let me get this 100% accurate tonight. Zach Edie, 32, 17 and five blocks.
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C
Zach Eaty's really good.
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D
Yeah. Now the level of competition helps, but.
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C
Hey, 32, 17 and 5 is still 32, 17 and 5 on 16 of 20. Wow. I mean the thing about Memphis, if Memphis plays their guys like Jaws, obviously not playing right now, but if they play the rest of their guys, they're clearly better than all these other teams at the bottom of the West. I don't even really think it's up for debate. The question then becomes if you're Memphis, what do you. What is the path forward here? Do you say, well, let's get everybody back and like if they play their guys, they bring Job back. They play him and Jaren and those guys, I think they're going to be know maybe not seventh, but they're probably going to get I think to eighth in the west or at worst ninth.
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D
Not.
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C
Do they try to. Well, I think after seven, it's wide open. The point is, do they. Do they say, hey, we're just going to push forward with, with these guys and let these young guys play and build stuff up? Or do they look at where they're at and continue the conversation that Zach Kleiman started after last season when he said, look at where we're at, we're clearly not good enough. And then he moved on from Desmond Bain for a bunch of future assets. Like, I think that's a really interesting thing to watch in Memphis going forward because with how bad the bottom of the west is now that Edie's back with him and Cedric Coward and Jaren Jackson and Jalen Wells, like, they're, They're a solid team and they're. I just think they're flat out better than most of these other teams that they're playing. Who are all the teams they've been beating during this stretch?
- [17:01]
B
All right, well, I got a far field. That was my fault. Let me get back to the status update.
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D
Yes.
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B
As of this moment, the Clippers would send the sixth pick to Oklahoma City. The Jazz would send the ninth pick to Oklahoma City, which is top eight.
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D
Protected, let me remind you. Go on.
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B
So the ninth pick is the best it could ever could possibly be.
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C
Yeah.
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B
And with the Sixers lost tonight, the Sixers would send the 14th pick to the Thunder. The Thunder, as of right now, would. Would get three lottery picks.
- [17:33]
D
The Rockets pick at 27, just. I didn't need to get to that draft, but.
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B
And the. And New Orleans, who's about to fall to three and 18, assuming they don't make a big fourth quarter comeback, would send the second pick to the Hawks. Oh, boy. Yeah.
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C
By the way, not often anymore you see unprotected picks at the top of the draft, let alone unprotected picks in a really good draft, let alone unprotected picks going to really good teams in a really good draft.
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B
Yeah. I would also, you know, like to say that the Thunder won tonight over the Blazers. In Portland, Shea had 26. It was a terrible performance from him. Just 26. Well below.
- [18:14]
D
He didn't get 20 until there was like two and a half minutes left.
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B
I know, it was a little drama to improve to 20 and 1. And Denny Avia had a 30 buck. Michael. God, we never talk about him.
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D
31, 1910.
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C
Danny Avi is making the all star team this year.
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B
Yeah. He's so Internet. He's an international player.
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C
Well, forget. Forget that. I don't care. I don't care what the qualifications are. He has been unbelievable for Portland. And look, as somebody who didn't like that trade at the time for Portland and thought it was an overpay, I mean, he would look awfully good for the Wizards right now. I mean, it, it's.
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D
I mean, he's been awfully good for 30 teams right now.
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C
Well, yes, but I just mean like that, that the Blazers bet right on Denny's upside on that one.
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D
Yeah, that was a good evaluation.
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B
He's averaging 26 and 7, by the way. Dude.
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D
So there's two significant developments with the Thunder recently, number one, Isaiah Hartenstein has a soleus strain, which I learned what a soleus is. Do you boys know what a soleus is?
- [19:21]
C
Enlightened muscle.
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D
It is a lower calf muscle out at least 10 to 14 days. So, you know, they get their all NBA forward back, they lose their starting center for a little bit, they keep winning. The other significant development with the Thunder is, and this is fairly shocking. Shea's had to play in crunch time in three straight games. He's played in the fourth quarter of three consecutive games.
- [19:50]
B
It's pretty close.
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D
I think it's 11 fourth quarter, sitting 10 fourth quarters playing at this point. So listen, I'm not saying they're vulnerable. I'm just saying Shay's had actually play in the fourth quarter lately.
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B
I'm here to report. I don't know how his minutes per game will be affected by having to play in the fourth quarter tonight, but coming into tonight, he was averaging 33.4 minutes a game, which would be his lowest since his rookie season.
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D
Is he averaging more points per minutes or points?
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B
The minutes he is averaging 30. Coming into tonight, he is averaging 33 points in 33 minutes. It's with. With the decimals. He's a half of a minute more than point.
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D
Okay, well, tonight's 26 and 26 points and 36. Miniature ain't gonna help. Gee, Shay, that's gonna get. Gotta get it going, man.
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B
It's really gonna slow.
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C
Our projection system, which skews conservative by the way, has them winning 68 games now two, which.
- [20:47]
D
So I actually was looking up the Thunder's late March and April regular season schedule because I've got a feeling I'm gonna have to be on the road with the Thunder on a regular basis as they're doing 70 and beyond.
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C
Or 74. Yes. I'm not joking. 75.
- [21:05]
B
I will say. Like you may say with bon times. What just said it like. Wait a minute. How could they be 20 and 1 and projected to win 68? They do have the hardest schedule left in the NBA. They.
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C
Well, and here's the other thing.
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B
Yeah. By our.
- [21:18]
C
By our projection system, they are favored to win every single game for the rest of the season. Home or road, every opponent doesn't matter.
- [21:27]
B
That's actually not that surprising.
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C
I mean it.
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D
I would say for the rest of the decade.
- [21:31]
C
Well, I just. I'm just saying, I'm pretty sure our system has never had a team favored to win every single game for the entire season.
- [21:39]
B
Well, that's probably true too.
- [21:40]
C
That's my point. Like, even when The warriors won 73 games, they were still playing a Spurs team that had one of, I think seven or eight best records ever that season. So, like, they wouldn't have been favored, I don't think, to win those road games.
- [21:52]
B
Yeah, they had to. They had to play for home court advantage until mid April till, dude, AJ.
- [21:57]
D
Debance is going to have to go to the OKC Blue to get minutes.
- [22:04]
C
It's, it's, it's a situation we really haven't seen since maybe what the Lakers and Celtics in the 80s since Len bias, maybe.
- [22:12]
D
I am not kidding when I'm telling you, like, the league is. They're looking at this going, oh, actually, what is happening. They can't believe the Thunder are going to get a mid or.
- [22:22]
C
No, I mean, the last time this, the last time this happened was, I was just going to say 2003 when LeBron got drafted and it was Matt, Jerry west sitting there and it's either going to be LeBron James or nothing. And they ended up drafted Darko at.
- [22:34]
D
The second pick and boy, are they hoping there's a Darko. And that's top six.
- [22:40]
B
So I will tell you that on the 10th anniversary of the in 2013, I've only done one oral history in my career, and.
- [22:52]
D
Oh, I've done numerous, but I'm just a grinder. Go on.
- [22:57]
B
You know, not like one that was done like, you know, the night of the game where you did an instant oral history. I've done some of those. But like, where you actually, like, spent months doing it.
- [23:05]
D
Baxter and I just won a PBWA award on one.
- [23:08]
B
Well, congratulations.
- [23:09]
D
Thank you.
- [23:09]
B
You know, that was actually Bonds house. You know, it was amazing. Jackson, I got to tell you this story. So the pbwa, the Professional Basketball Writers association, they announced their awards like a couple of weeks ago, the annual awards. And the email comes in, congratulations to award winners. And then it was like, feature whatever place McMahon did you. Did you win? Was it first place?
- [23:36]
D
First place.
- [23:37]
B
Congratulations, Jackson. McMahon's name wasn't on it. It just said winner.
- [23:45]
D
Baxter.
- [23:46]
B
Baxterhomes espn.com Congratulations, Baxter. It's great. Internal emails went out. Oh, man, Baxter, you did it again. What a great job. McMahon's name is nowhere to be. Nowhere to be found.
- [24:02]
C
Missing.
- [24:04]
B
And then like, you know, like in the middle of the night, like, the email came out.
- [24:08]
D
No, you're exaggerating. I will say I found out. I found out that the awards were announced and Baxter sent me a text to apologize and say that he'd Emailed the PBWA head honcho to get things right.
- [24:20]
B
So I will say this. Let me say two things about awards. One, I was stripped of an award a couple of years ago.
- [24:28]
D
I don't blame you.
- [24:29]
B
A very high profile. A very high profile award. You know, not the Pulitzer, but, you know, very high profile. I won't say what. A higher profile than professional basketball writers awarded. No offense. No offense. I've won. You know, I don't.
- [24:44]
C
I don't mean no offense.
- [24:45]
D
No, no offense. I've got a shelf full of those that.
- [24:48]
B
That did sound so pompous. And I want to. I want to apologize.
- [24:53]
D
I don't want to apologize.
- [24:54]
B
You are. But it doesn't matter.
- [24:57]
C
The head just swells.
- [24:59]
B
I won this award. I was named this award publicly announced.
- [25:03]
C
The award was named after him. How about that? What award? The head just keeps getting bigger.
- [25:10]
B
Don't worry about it. So I'm worried. And it was for, like, feature stories of a certain length. And the word was announced publicly, blah, blah, blah. And then, like, I never, like, got any, like, honor. Like, I never, like, got the award or, like, you know, there's. I think there's like some sort of banquet or something. You go to window.
- [25:37]
C
Window. Knew that somebody had to be having him there to fed him. McMahon. There couldn't be a. There couldn't be a. A reason why he wouldn't be invited to a banquet in his honor for an award game day.
- [25:48]
D
They should have had chicken parm on the menu.
- [25:50]
B
Clearly, I had chicken parm tonight. I made it.
- [25:52]
C
What are we doing? What are we doing with this story? What are we doing?
- [25:56]
B
Anyway, when the story. Then when the rankings came out, I wasn't in there. It was just gone.
- [26:05]
D
Oh.
- [26:06]
B
And so I call, you know, I called my boss.
- [26:09]
C
So he banged the table. Where is my award?
- [26:12]
B
So I called my editor, and I was like, hey, what happened to my honor?
- [26:19]
C
What happened to my award?
- [26:20]
B
And they were like, oh, no one talked to you about this?
- [26:25]
D
So what happened to it?
- [26:26]
B
Somebody had gone in and counted the words in my story, and I was like, 30 words, too. It was like, you know, stories of a certain length that I was 30 words too long.
- [26:36]
D
Well, that's fitting because this story was at least 30 words too long.
- [26:40]
B
You got that right. The story was.
- [26:45]
D
Where I started.
- [26:46]
C
He just did an oral history of how he didn't get.
- [26:48]
B
No, what I want to know is who. Who went in and checked it?
- [26:53]
C
Who screwed me?
- [26:55]
D
Where are they?
- [26:56]
B
I mean, obviously I was. I was ruled ineligible. Who.
- [26:59]
D
Who is second place who is second place?
- [27:01]
B
I don't remember it.
- [27:02]
D
Was it Baxter because he's on top of those awards.
- [27:04]
C
It doesn't. It doesn't matter because he didn't win it. So he blocked it out of his mind. Gone. It doesn't exist. Hold on.
- [27:11]
D
I want to know why you brought up oral histories in the first place before I got you a sidetracked.
- [27:14]
B
Sorry. So I did this oral history.
- [27:18]
C
I called Jerry west back to him again.
- [27:21]
B
Ten years on. I called Jerry west to do the 10 year anniversary story of the 2003 draft lottery. And Jerry West's ire frustration about not being able to draft LeBron James had not dulled in one decade. And if you remember that situation was if the. The pick was top one protected. If the, if the Grizzlies got the got one, they got LeBron. If they got two, they got nothing. And it was because of a draft pick from five years earlier when they were in Vancouver.
- [27:55]
D
Wasn't Otis, Otis Thorpe.
- [27:57]
C
Otis Thorpe trade. Yep.
- [27:58]
B
And he said some words with curses around them about how they could not have that pick more protected. He. I fairly. I didn't speak about it again to him before his death, but I'm fairly certain he passed away still furious.
- [28:17]
C
I mean, I have no doubt knowing Jerry West a tiny bit. I have no doubt that that was the case based off of how he thought about things.
- [28:25]
B
Anyway, he could have drafted Darko. Okay, so.
- [28:28]
D
Or Dwyane Wade.
- [28:30]
C
Well, it's a. Carmelo, Carmelo, Chris Bosch.
- [28:33]
B
Nobody, you know, everybody pretends like, you know, they, if they had the second pick, that they would never have picked Darko.
- [28:40]
D
Yeah.
- [28:40]
B
No way would I have ever picked him. They said everybody.
- [28:44]
C
More Hoop Collective podcast after this.
- [28:47]
F
Transform your home during blinds.com cyber Monday super sale. Get up to 50 off site wide plus huge doorbuster deals on popular styles. Go DIY and do it all 100 online. Or choose white glove service with expert design help and professional installation. Both backed by Blinds.com's 100% satisfaction guarantee. Blinds.com Cyber Monday Super Sale is here. Save up to 50% site wide and get a free professional measure. Limited time offer rules and restrictions apply. See blinds.com for details.
- [29:22]
B
All right. Well, the team that did win the 2003 lottery lost their third consecutive game on Sunday night to the Celtics, where Peyton Pritchard put up 42. I will say in the fourth quarter of this game, to start the fourth quarter, I counted there were of the 10 players on the court between the Celtics and Cavs, I think maybe seven of Them would never have seen the floor in any meaning in any real game in the fourth quarter of, you know, when the game was closed last year because like these teams are so like the look of a Cav Celtics game is so different. Having said that, Jordan Walsh was beating the Cavs to loose balls up and down the court first through fourth quarter and the Cavs after the game. Donovan Mitchell did not talk to reporters.
- [30:11]
D
Oh.
- [30:12]
B
Which, you know, Donovan has sort of prided himself on being the voice of the team in good times, bad and sort of taking accountability.
- [30:22]
D
That's telling. That silence speaks volumes.
- [30:25]
C
It's very telling.
- [30:27]
B
Yes. And sort of the guy who was sort of giving the state of the team address after the game. I wasn't there. As far as I could tell by reading the coverage was second year forward Jaylon Tyson.
- [30:41]
D
That's not his place to be. I mean that's, honestly, that's on the vets. That shouldn't happen.
- [30:48]
B
But he was basically calling himself and his own team out for lack of focus issue. So the cavs are now 11 and 9. I'm sorry, 11, 12 and 9. And they are, you know, fairly banged up. They announced today that Larry Nance is going to, you know, friend of the show is going to be out three to four weeks with a calf injury.
- [31:08]
C
Jared Allen.
- [31:09]
B
I did not get that. I should follow up on that. Jared Allen is going to be out for another week or so with a finger injury. He's been battling it on and off. Darius Garland is back, but not playing very well.
- [31:22]
D
Yeah, minus 27 today. And you mentioned Pritchard getting 42. Those are pretty directly related stats.
- [31:28]
B
I have to say, like one of the big things I mentioned this to Bontemps, you know, watching Garland on Friday against the Hawks, he was bothered really significantly by the Hawks length. And then I watched Maxie tonight and Maxie just blew through it. He just, just ran around it and you know, seeing, you know what I'm saying? You know, Darius is a guy who plays at speed and in my view, amateur eye. He didn't have the quickness of his on his feet to have explode and he just, he couldn't, he couldn't deal with the length.
- [32:08]
C
Well, he's also a lot lighter than Tyrese Max.
- [32:11]
B
Right, but I'm talking about with his foot. With his foot.
- [32:14]
C
Right, but, but even if he has his speed, he doesn have the body strength to deal with the bigger guys.
- [32:20]
B
He's been a multi time all star.
- [32:22]
C
He's, he's a very good, he's a very good player.
- [32:24]
B
What I'm saying is he's playing, but I don't think he's right.
- [32:27]
C
Well, he probably isn't right, but at the same time, like the league is trending away from guys, really small guards like Darius Garland, like, whether it's John Moran or Trey Young or him, like, they're all really talented players, but the league is going towards bigger, more physical players. And we started the pod talking about how big Atlanta is across the board. Tyrese Maxey and Donovan Mitchell are not six, seven guards, but they are big, physical, you know, use their bodies to get in the lane and attack guards. And you know, the concerning thing to me, if I'm a Cavs partisan, like our guy window is, Donovan Mitchell is scoring 30 points a game, shooting a career high 50% from the field. He's never shot better than 48 in a season. He's only done that once. He's only shot over 56 or 46 one other time. And he's currently shooting 39% on over 10 three point attempts per game, which is crazy efficiency. And he's doing it playing 34 minutes a game, shooting a career high 20.8 attempts a game. Like, Don is putting on a show almost every night and the Cavs are eking out these games. And like the Sixers, who have dealt with a ton of injury issues, the Cavs are dealing with a ton of injury issues as you just laid out, Brian. And on top of that, I don't think we can really expect the Cavs to stop dealing with injury issues because these are all players, whether it's lonzo Ball or DeAndre Hunter with his knee or Dean Wade who's constantly banged up. Jared Allen has been in and out of the lineup at times. Blair Nance, our friend of the pot, has dealt with injuries. Garland, you mentioned he's had reoccurrences of this toe injury. Like, I think it's. I think the safe assumption is the Cavs are going to be continuing to deal with guys being in and out of the lineup or just out. They still don't have Max Drus coming back anytime soon.
- [34:22]
B
Sam Merrill has been out a lot of the year. He's actually. That's actually hurting them.
- [34:26]
C
Yeah, like he's. He's a good player too. He isn't. He's not there. They, you know, they obviously lost Hydrome free agency. Lonzo has been in and out of the lineup, coming off the bench. Like right now, the Cavs are in seventh in the east with Donovan playing like this and with A ton of injuries. Like, I think it's fair to start to wonder again, we're a quarter of the way into the season, like, is this going to be here where the Cavs are somewhere in the five to maybe even play in range in the East? And while if the Cavs are healthy in April, I think they would certainly feel like they could go beat anybody if they're down in that kind of range. And they got to have three series on the road and, you know, either dig their way out of the plane or have to start in the six seed and start on the road. That's going to be a much different road than they're going to. They're going to have to go through the what we thought it was going to be at the start of the year when it was them and the Knicks in theory atop the conference, fighting for the one seed.
- [35:17]
D
Well, and Orlando got off to that slow start. They passed the cavs. They've won eight to 10. You know, Atlanta's playing well, Miami's playing well. Raptors are starting to sink like a stone. Two straight games. Actually though, the Raptors, since RJ Barrett's gone down, that's been a pretty significant blow. But obviously they got off to a great start. Yeah, I think we all thought that the Cavs were pretty solidly penciled into a top two or three seed and that's going to be an uphill climb.
- [35:48]
B
Well, they have a friendly schedule for the rest of the for December, for the most part until Christmas Day. They go on a three game road trip to New York, Houston and San Antonio starting on Christmas. But they have a friendly schedule relatively. And you know, they have a, they have a back to back Sunday, Monday, and then they have a back to back on Friday and Saturday and then they don't have a back to back for a few weeks and I think they get some off days. So, you know, a lot of focus in Cleveland. Whenever I'm. There's only two topics to talk about in Cleveland. One issuer Sanders and the second one is Evan Mobley. People are very, very focused on Mobley. You know, people want to, you know, lay the blame at his feet because he is not having a great offensive season. His numbers are okay. They're comparable to where they were last year. His efficiency is down. Mobley is kind of like, he's kind of like what I've said to him. He's kind of like a race car on offense and he's kind of like a pickup truck on defense. On offense, you really need to have everything calibrated. He's got to be in the right lineup with the right responsibilities, with the right mindset, with the right defensive matchup. And if you get all that aligned, he's good. But there's a lot of stuff that happens, and the Cavs do a lot of stuff to try to try to get him going defensively. Doesn't matter who, doesn't matter who he's guarding, doesn't matter where he's on the floor, doesn't matter anything. He just makes defensive plays. You know, they lost in Atlanta on Friday, and that was a good game. Both those teams. You know, there was, you know, some good playing, playing back and forth, but there was a stretch in the game where he. He made four or five consecutive plays on defense that totally turned the game around. He's still absolutely complete playmaking difference maker on the defensive end of the court. And what people in Cleveland want is they want that same level of dominance on the offensive end. Well, that just may not be who he is.
- [38:03]
C
Well, if that's not who he is, then he's probably not a guy who should be getting a 30% max. Like, that's the, you know, like that. Well, I'm just saying, like, I mean, I think it's fair to think Evan Mobley can grow beyond where he is right now, but, like, you know, if he stays right where he is right now, he's probably somewhere in the same category of, like, Jaren Jackson Jr. Right, who's another guy who, for his up and like, he's had some brilliant moments, but he's also a guy that, you know, is he 100% a 30% max guy?
- [38:34]
D
Well, I think Chad Hoan is a fair comp and took Thunder got chad on a 25% max.
- [38:41]
C
Yeah.
- [38:41]
D
You know, super max.
- [38:42]
C
Well, and look, we just talked about all this.
- [38:44]
D
For now, there's no supermax.
- [38:45]
B
Oh, that's right. You're right. That's right.
- [38:47]
C
And we just talked about all these. We just talked about all these guys who were out for the Cavs, Right. If there was a time where Evan Mobley was going to get 16, 17, 18 shots and be like the guy on offense, it would be right now, right? He's taking one more shot a game, and that's because he's taking one more three a game and he is getting a couple more free throws a game, but he's shooting 60% on free throws, which he's always been somewhere from 65 to 72%.
- [39:13]
B
I will say this like, you know, part of the Reason why his efficiency is down is because he's taking more mid and longer shots. I don't know how you explain a 13% free throw drop because that's, that's weird.
- [39:25]
C
It's a. I mean, it's a, It's a fairly small sample size. If he hits a few free throws in a row, that'll go back up some.
- [39:32]
B
But. No, but he's never underlines what's going on.
- [39:34]
C
Well, but he's also never been like, he, he's got 66, 67, 72, 72. So, like, it's not like he's an 85% free throw shooter either. So, you know, like, I do think it's fair to be disappointed in him offensively this year because I think if you'd have come into the season and said the Cavs have all these injuries, Darius Garland's out, all these guys, you know, Max Drus is out, Stan Merrill is out. Like you would say, all right, this is a good time for Evan Mobley to really take a big step forward and take on that offensive load and take some of the pressure off of Donovan Mitchell.
- [40:08]
B
And that's what they wanted him to do and he hasn't done it to do it. That's right. Yeah.
- [40:13]
C
I don't think, I think, I don't.
- [40:14]
D
Think Evan Mobley, I don't think he's 27 points on 11 of 17 shooting against the Celtics was the reason the Cavaliers lost. I hear what you're saying. Bigger picture.
- [40:22]
C
Yes. I would just.
- [40:24]
B
He has been playing a little bit better efficiency wise over the last and.
- [40:28]
D
His efficiency is not terrible. He's shooting 50% from the floor, 38 from three.
- [40:32]
B
Right. But it's still the lowest of his.
- [40:34]
C
Career by several points. And I would just say that is a good looking stat line against the Celtics. The Celtics also started Xavier Tillman at center and are basically playing all wings otherwise. So, like, he better have 27 points against the Celtics. And typically in the past, I mean, the Cavs did shoot 52 threes today, but. And I obviously didn't see this game, but we saw in the series where they beat the Cavs a couple years ago that Joe Missoula has never really been worried about Evan Mobley getting shots inside at the rim. And like he'll leave with live with him getting dunks and not give up open threes. Cavs to go 20 for 52 from three and lost in this game. So it's not like they didn't hit threes. But yeah, like, you just want to See more from Evan Mobley on offense. I think that's a fair criticism and especially in light of all these injuries. Like, yeah, like if he's getting 17, 18 shots a night, like, yeah, that's probably where he should be. Not at 13 and a half. Like, Cavs just need him to do more than that. It's part of why they're in the holder.
- [41:37]
B
Well, I would just say that Jordan, even though Evan Mobley had 14 rebounds and Jordan Walsh had 11, Jordan Walsh showed more interest in going after loose balls than anybody on the Calves roster in this game.
- [41:48]
C
Jordan was six offensive rebounds. He spent a couple years not really playing. He, he's really earned a rotation spot on this team. And, and by the way, Peyton Pritchard, like you said, 42 points, 15 for 22 from the field, 6 for 11 from 3. It remains amazing that it was not long ago, a couple years ago that Peyton Pritchard was not really playing, was ready to get a trade out of Boston and has instead turned himself into a, you know, obviously core guy for this group going forward is on an awesome contract and it has just become a phenomenal piece for them. Like that's a, that's a big time, big time game. Especially on the second night of a back to back after playing Minnesota yesterday. That's awfully impressive, by the way.
- [42:34]
B
I, I. Because the Cavs have been so terrible at boxing out. The basic act of boxing out. I've actually been teach them.
- [42:42]
C
Teach them some.
- [42:43]
B
No.
- [42:43]
C
Some box out.
- [42:44]
B
No, I don't teach, I don't even, I don't teach anybody anything. I've been looking at the NBA box out stats. They're actually not as the Cavs are in the bottom 10, but they're not.
- [42:53]
D
You know how to party.
- [42:56]
B
Who do you think?
- [42:57]
C
You know, there's panic in Cavs corner.
- [42:59]
D
Stephen Adams leads the NBA box out.
- [43:01]
C
You know, there's, you know, there's panic in Cavs corner. McMahon when, when window is going to the box score. Stats on NBA.com not box break things down or box out.
- [43:10]
B
I'm sorry, what NBA team leads the league in box outs?
- [43:15]
D
It's not the Rockets.
- [43:16]
C
I would have guessed it was the Rockets because they get all these rebounds. But the Rockets are up there. But Denver because of Jokic.
- [43:25]
D
I don't know.
- [43:25]
C
No, I'm not studying who's boxing out.
- [43:28]
B
Let's put this way. What team tends to just do things the right way and makes the, you know, Thunder. No, they're not even anywhere up here.
- [43:38]
C
Oh, I don't Know who is leading the league in box outs? I'm not studying.
- [43:41]
B
Also the team that's got the number one defense. Who's got the number one? I'm not expecting you to know this.
- [43:45]
C
I'm just the number one defense.
- [43:47]
D
Flexing his knowledge.
- [43:48]
B
Who's got the number one defense in the NBA in the last three weeks?
- [43:52]
D
Oh really? Not the Thunder.
- [43:54]
C
Not the Thunder.
- [43:55]
B
Maybe it's last two weeks the Thunder have number one and everything. But this team slicked back.
- [43:59]
C
Now we're just making up the heat.
- [44:00]
B
The heat? The heat of the number one defensive team in the last 10 games and they're the number one box out team.
- [44:05]
D
Sure, you love a good box out.
- [44:07]
B
Yeah, sure.
- [44:08]
D
I actually I have loudly in a gym smacked the floor and yelled at kids for not boxing out on multiple occasions to where my yelling McMahon the IT department once tried to chastise me and I said if those little bleepers will box out then I won't have to yell about it.
- [44:26]
B
All right, who's last in box outs from a team?
- [44:29]
C
The Nets. The Wizards.
- [44:31]
D
Yeah, I was going to say that. Good guesses.
- [44:34]
C
Nets, Wizards, Pelicans.
- [44:35]
D
I don't know.
- [44:36]
B
I'm not going to do it. The. The Lakers.
- [44:39]
D
The Lakers. That's interesting.
- [44:42]
B
What player leads in box outs?
- [44:45]
C
What are we doing? What are we doing with box out stats?
- [44:48]
D
Stephen Adams. Is it not?
- [44:49]
B
Zach Edie.
- [44:50]
D
Zach Edie.
- [44:51]
C
Well sure, that makes sense.
- [44:52]
D
He's got a. He can box out a lot of folks.
- [44:56]
B
All right, so I'm just saying, dude.
- [44:59]
D
Have you seen Zach Edie's calves? He's got redwoods.
- [45:04]
B
So does Stephen Adams. He's. They're both men have large legs, they're hard to move. Zach Eaty was taught if you box somebody out there not gonna be able to get around you. That's how you get all these rebounds. All right. It helps to be 7 foot 3 or whatever. He is 7 foot 4. I don't know how tall he is. Before we go. The spurs played the Wolves on, on Sunday night. Aunt edwards with his fifth consecutive 30 point game which he's needed because the, the, the Wolves had two terrible losses last week and then they went in and played a competitive game but lost to Oklahoma City by the way.
- [45:44]
D
Point guard Anthony Edwards, according to Chris Finch.
- [45:48]
B
Well, he doesn't have much else to. Although I will say sometimes in late game situations recently he snuck Mike Conley out there.
- [45:57]
D
Well, and that's the thing. Mike Conley is 38 years old and you know, father time is landing some punches And Conley just can't come to the rescue and he can't play a lot of minutes and he can't do what he used to do when he is on the court. So like when they came to OKC, kind of the definitive play of the game was DiVincenzo getting stripped by shade. Half court turns into a go ahead layup and the, the Wolves never regain the lead like they, the, the Wolves have a point guard problem and you know Ant is a lead guard, he's not a point guard. And that's where like you asked about earlier, why do teams keep blowing leads? So I can tell you, in the case of the, the Wolves, it is a lack of a point guard and some pretty low IQ plays.
- [46:47]
B
Well because not having a point guard tends to lower the IQ of your whole team, right?
- [46:52]
D
Correct.
- [46:54]
C
Minnesota was 0 for 7 against 0 and 7 against teams of winning records for the last two days too, where they escape with a win in Boston and then they beat the Spurs Sunday night.
- [47:02]
B
Boston was one game above.500. But still it's Boston just beat in Cleveland. Yes.
- [47:09]
D
The one thing I'll point out about the Wolves is they were 8 and 10. They got up to an 8 and 10 start last year and ended up in the conference finals. So, you know, I don't. We'll see if they can get things figured out. But they've got some things to figure out.
- [47:21]
C
Point guard. The point guard thing is going to be an issue and I think the loss of Nikhil Alexander Walker hurts like they, they could really use him. They don't have him. Like we've talked about, the Rob Dillingham experiment has not worked. They have not. They've known they needed a replacement for Mike Conley for years now. That's why they went and got Dillingham. And I think that's something I'm, that's something I'm going to be watching between now and February 5th. Is do, do the Wolves do something to address that position on their team and if so, what is it?
- [47:54]
B
Well, just in general, I think the Wolves, you have to look at the Wolves. Are they going to be a buyer? They're hard up. They don't have much apron space. But they do have, you know, some contracts that they could move if they wanted to and they have young players.
- [48:08]
C
Who do they, who do they have to move?
- [48:10]
B
Well, Dante DiVincenzo's contract is movable. Mike Conley's contract is movable. Yeah, I guess Nas Reed, you could.
- [48:18]
C
Probably move, you know, like not sure about that.
- [48:21]
B
One, if, if hypothetically they've got a number of young players that they could offer up. I mean if they, if they want.
- [48:28]
D
It, if hypothetically, if they were going to get in for one of these possibly on the market max point guards, it's probably going to have to be either Julius Randall, Jaden McDaniels or Rudy Gobert maybe or like a Dante DiVincenzo Nas Reed combo. And my point is to get in that kind of thing. It's like you're plugging one hole and another one spouts open.
- [48:55]
B
Right.
- [48:56]
C
And I just don't think they could turn Nas Reed into anything right now personally.
- [49:00]
B
But I would be. Nas did have a good, a decent game today. I would be surprised if they do do that. I think they may be looking, you know, non max player type acquisition but.
- [49:14]
C
Well, Tim Connolly likes to swing big.
- [49:17]
B
Yeah.
- [49:17]
C
So I don't know. I just the point guard position in general. I, I'm curious that that is one specific team and one specific position I'll be watching for the next two months. Does Minnesota try to do something to change that dynamic on their team?
- [49:31]
B
Did you see that? Ant talked about how he's had to change his free throw routine because of what Mark Cuban said on.
- [49:38]
D
Yeah. And Cuban, I think it was on road trip and with.
- [49:41]
C
I didn't see this at all what happened.
- [49:43]
D
So I mean Cuban was snitching for sure but it was like. And blatantly violated. It was a blatant lane violation. Every time he shot a free throw, every time he used to shoot a free throw he'd step over the line like by like a wee bit by like a foot.
- [49:57]
C
Like I did. I did see. Yeah, that I saw.
- [49:59]
B
And he didn't. He wasn't stepping over the line to get a, an edge on the rebound. His just his form. Yeah, he would just step over the line. And Cuban said on road trip in that and it was in September he said that, you know, it's. He told the league it's a violation because a couple years ago, which it was. Do you remember this? I don't.
- [50:22]
D
I don't remember. I guess Ant hit a couple. I don't remember the game. He hit game winning free throws against the Mavs and must have been home because Cuban didn't go on the road anymore. And Cuban was I'm sure pleasantly reminding the referees that that's a lane violation. That's what he said on the, on the podcast list. But my favorite part was Anne said yeah, I had to change my form because some Famous guy, went on a podcast or Instagram or whatever.
- [50:49]
B
Yeah, yeah. He was like, I think he used to own the Mavericks. I think that's what he said. But like, that sounds like, you know, according to what Ant said, the league came to him and was like, hey, we're going to start calling you if you don't change it.
- [51:01]
D
So he said, I mean, honestly though, it was like he was. His foot was like a foot in the pain after Letter of the law, they called middle school.
- [51:13]
B
All right, well, last year he shot 83%, 84% on free throws, and this year he's shooting 82%.
- [51:20]
D
Well, then I would say it hasn't hurt him too much.
- [51:23]
B
Yeah.
- [51:23]
D
And I think Ant is probably strong enough to where he can shoot free throws without falling, keep his feet stationary. I think that guy who's built like a freaking outside linebacker probably has the strength where it shouldn't be an issue.
- [51:37]
B
He said, you know, I'm a professional basketball player who shoots 200 free throws a day. I can fix it. Like, it's on me to fix it. Like, he wasn't. He wasn't whining. He just. He was answering why, if that. Why he changed his free throw form. And that was why.
- [51:51]
C
For as much as we've talked about the Wolves, it's worth mentioning the spurs had a hell of a week going to Portland. Yes, Portland's down, guys, but so were the Spurs. No Victor, Stefan Castle, among others. To go to Portland and win and then to come from behind after being down 18 in Denver on Friday to win and win their group in the cup was awesome. And there is now at least a chance that Victor Wembanyama will be back for Lakers spurs in the cup quarters, which would be awfully juicy and could potentially set us up. Assuming the Thunder get another win at home against the Suns, who to their credit, played them extremely well Friday night and have acquitted themselves very nicely of late. Either Thunder spurs with Victor healthy or Thunder Lakers with Luca and LeBron and co against the champs in Vegas would be pretty fun.
- [52:44]
D
Not bad at all.
- [52:46]
B
They're 5 and 2 since Victor has gone out, including this loss.
- [52:52]
D
And Darren Fox has been able to get his feet under him.
- [52:55]
B
And there's probably was the star of Friday night.
- [52:59]
C
He couldn't miss the other night.
- [53:01]
B
I think he had to.
- [53:02]
D
And he's gotten going a little bit. He got off to a bit of a slow start.
- [53:04]
B
Keldon Johnson off the bench, has had some. They've sort of, you know, Dylan Harper come back. He said he hasn't been great. He had a decent game on Sunday. But they've been spread, they've been getting contributions from up and down that lineup.
- [53:16]
D
The spurs have pretty good depth. Julian Champagne is a quality rotation player. That player, you know, they have developed. Luke Cornett was a nice signing as a role player. Ideally he's playing 16 minutes a game behind Wimby, but you know, um, Kelton Johnson is. Dude, Kelton Johnson's having a great year. He's, he's a reserve now, but in 24 minutes he's averaging 13 points and shooting 57.8% from the floor and 6.6 rebounds, a third of which are on the offensive end. Like he, he's having a really nice year. The spurs have some, some real depth and you know, we'll see come trade deadline. The spurs have traditionally not been an aggressive mid season trade team, but they were last year and they are equipped to do so again.
- [54:06]
B
Yeah, I want to see what their schedule is coming up ahead of the, ahead of the cup game because I thought it was favorable, but I'm not finding it to my fingertips right now. But yeah, the, the, the cup, you know, the, the, you know, every year the Cup's only three years old, but we've seen teams go into the cup and that experience has helped them. Two years ago it was, you know, Indiana last year. I do think it helped the Thunder to a certain extent.
- [54:37]
D
Really? Because all I heard was them whining about how they had a long east coast trip right afterwards.
- [54:41]
B
Well, whatever they, they, I think it taught them some things, you know, especially when they lost that, that title game, cup title game. And you know, there's a couple of candidates for that this year. You know, Toronto. I think this could, you know, Toronto is a team that's, you know, just now beginning to start to feel itself and you know, I think they have an opportunity to play in the cup and you know, playing some meaningful games and do something that that group hasn't done together. I definitely think that could be the case for San Antonio. They haven't, they haven't played a game like this before.
- [55:14]
D
Tell you what though, you, you don't want to win that little ribbon, okay, because the old Lakers and Bucks have didn't exactly. I wouldn't say that, you know, the elimination success carried over into the playoffs for them.
- [55:28]
B
Well, when Indiana made the cup final, none of us thought they were going to be in the, that's true. In the conference finals and we did think the Thunder would be there. But I do think it also was beneficial.
- [55:38]
C
There's something to playing in games with real stakes, even if it's low stakes and it's not the NBA Finals. And, you know, for Orlando, for Toronto, for a Knicks team that's still getting used to a new coach, even though they were in the conference finals last year. Phoenix, I mean, it's been an awesome first six weeks of the season for the Suns. Like that game Friday night. They fought like hell in that game. It's really impressive. Jordan Knott's done a phenomenal job. You know, they're playing well.
- [56:02]
D
A lot more. It's a lot more fun to be a Phoenix sun and a Phoenix Suns fan this year than it has been the last few years. It's much more fun to be scrappy overachievers than epic underachievers.
- [56:11]
C
Well, it's a lot more fun to watch them play. I mean, it's just. It's just a totally different vibe. So they, like, they've been. And certainly, like you said, I mean, especially if they can get Victor back. Like, you know, to have Victor going up against LeBron and Luca in one of these cup quarterfinals would be great. We'll see if it's on the actual court or not after they couldn't play on the Laker Court on Friday, got shipped out. But. But yeah, it's. It should be a pretty good set of quarterfinals and we'll see who ends up in Vegas a couple weeks. Yeah, maybe I'll see McMahon there again.
- [56:41]
D
Maybe I'm. We'll see about that. You know, we got. We got Mac 10 versus Michael country right. In the. In the other west semifinals. I don't know. I think that whoever wins that one might advance.
- [56:56]
B
You're looking for.
- [56:57]
C
You're not going. You're not going there. You're not going there with the old Thundercats. If they get a double, I will.
- [57:02]
D
Do as I'm told.
- [57:04]
C
Ooh, interesting.
- [57:06]
B
He's just a soldier.
- [57:07]
D
I'm just a company man.
- [57:09]
C
Just a company man. Yeah.
- [57:10]
D
As I said, my contract extension. I'm like the Dwight Powell of the Mavericks or Dwight Pal, vspn. Great company man with remarkable longevity.
- [57:20]
C
Yes, you're definitely a company man. That's what first thing people think of you is that you're just a company man who just never, never steps out of line at all. Never.
- [57:28]
D
Listen, I wear ESPN gear publicly, frequently, unlike some folks on this podcast. Send me all the espn.
- [57:36]
B
You got the spurs scheduled. Memphis, Orlando Cavs, Pelicans. So I don't know. I thought Memphis and Pelicans were easier than maybe. Or at least Memphis. I thought that they got to deal with a winning streak there.
- [57:47]
C
They're skipping by Cavs corner.
- [57:48]
D
Huh?
- [57:49]
B
Well, that's not looking so. That's not looking so hard at the moment. So. We discussed that. All right, that's enough. Get up. Up 95 there, Bon Temps. You'll be home by 3am yeah. All right. Thank you to Bon Temps. Thank you to McMahon. Thank you to Jackson for staying up late past midnight on the East Coast. Thank you for listening and watching the Hoop Collective and for getting through the Thanksgiving holiday with us. We will talk to you later this week.
- [58:15]
D
Adios, amigos.