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- [00:00]
Tas Melis
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
- [00:06]
Coca Cola Announcer
What a matchup we got, y'.
- [00:07]
J. Skeets
All.
- [00:07]
Coca Cola Announcer
This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rockin and the crowd lit. Chance echo drum beatin. Everybody showing that school pride. Game like this, yeah, it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that, we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere. And in ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo. No matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going.
- [00:52]
Ryan Seacrest
Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Flu season is here and the in store pharmacy has you covered with a free flu shot with most insurance plans. And as a thank you, get up to $20 off your grocery purchase. Plus it's cough and cold season. Stock up on all the season's essentials and get ready for relief with discounts on items like Hall's Menthol cough drops, Tylenol Cold and Flu, and Mucinex Fast Max products. Offer ends December 30th. Restrictions apply and offers may vary by location. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.
- [01:24]
Tas Melis
And Doug, here we have the Limu.
- [01:27]
J. Skeets
Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance. Save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Uh, Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us? Cut the camera. They see us.
- [01:44]
Tas Melis
Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.
- [01:48]
J. Skeets
Liberty Savings Fairy underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts. Good morning, sweet world, and welcome till the no Dunks podcast presented by FanDuel. It's Monday, December 22, 2025. Happy holidays to all of y'.
- [02:11]
Tas Melis
All.
- [02:12]
J. Skeets
I'm J. Skeets here in the good old classic factory and alongside me, as always, it's Tas Melis.
- [02:17]
Tas Melis
Looks good in here today.
- [02:19]
J. Skeets
Over yonder, making the magic happen. It's our old friend. Give it up for Eshawa, kid. Yeah.
- [02:27]
Eshawa
How you guys doing?
- [02:29]
Tas Melis
You're making it look good.
- [02:30]
J. Skeets
How are you doing? You are panicking a little bit. You are.
- [02:35]
Eshawa
Yeah, I'm stressed out, man. I'm stressed out. I don't know. JD's changed a lot of things since the last time I was here.
- [02:41]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [02:42]
Eshawa
Hey, but we bout to. We about to do it.
- [02:45]
Tas Melis
That's the spirit.
- [02:46]
J. Skeets
That's exactly the spirit. Apologies for everyone on YouTube. We are running a little late here. We do have one monitor that just will not cooperate with Esch and his setup. But who cares? Like, what do you think of the new digs? You hate them right now because none of it works. But what do you think of the look of it?
- [03:04]
Eshawa
Everything looks so good in here. I like it a lot. I've been seeing it piece by piece just watching the show. I have been in here for thumb war a little bit, so. But I've been on that side of things. So this is the first time me being back behind this desk in months.
- [03:18]
J. Skeets
Yeah, it is so much easier over here than what JD and now you are doing.
- [03:22]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [03:23]
Eshawa
I hope he's having a good vacation playing pickleball right now.
- [03:25]
J. Skeets
Oh, yes, yes, yes. I'm sure he is. Okay. Hello to everybody on YouTube. Hit the like button. Fresh. Come on. Subscribe to no Dunks. If you haven't podcast listeners, five star ratings and reviews. Don't you worry it's going to sound flawless to you. You're not even going to know that monitor behind me isn't fake snowing. On today's show, we got some NBA news when it comes to new rules, tasks that you may have predicted actually way back when, and some hall of Fame news. But first, let's start with some NBA weekend winners. We decided we're not doing losers today or positive Pete's here in the holiday spirit, and it feels like there's so many winners to talk about. So why don't you get us started here? Yeah.
- [04:03]
Tas Melis
Hopefully we won't just happen to mention some losers. Cause it might happen. It might happen. Let's start with the winners. Yes, the Minnesota Timberwolves are the same team every season. We question, is this team good? And then all of a sudden, when they need to, whoa. They turn it up. Usually it happens late in the season, but they're doing it a little bit earlier. They're climbing those Western Conference standings. It's getting a little crowded. So when they need to do it, they do it. They had to do it against OKC on Friday.
- [04:29]
J. Skeets
Oh, good game.
- [04:30]
Tas Melis
What a game. Yeah. Anthony Edwards helps the closer of all closers. But as I said, Minnesota kind of starts slow sometimes, and they did in this game. So much so that their head coach, Chris Finch, got so mad. He kind of wanted to, I think, light a spark under his team, and he got tossed because of it. It was a Julius Randle call as well, but Anthony Edwards kept this team going. They were so good at getting him out against OKC's great defense onto the side and those side pick and rolls to get him a little bit of space. They had other things going for them. They had no problem hitting super deep threes up top because we know OKC will trap you. And I thought Dante DiVincenzo banging home four threes really helped. Bones Highland. Bones Highland. Of all people, hitting four threes really helped. But I thought Minnesota also just did what they had to do to beat OKC. If they're going to beat OKC, you got to bully their big guys. They grabbed 18 offensive boards and they also didn't turn it over. I think by going to those side flanks a lot of the time. They only turned it over 13 times. Minnesota end up winning this game in a close one. They could have won it by more. They missed 14 free throws in this game. They only shot 33 of 47. But as I said, those guys contributing in Dante Bones Highland to get them to that point. On the other side, the Thunder were struggling. Another quiet night from Chet Holmgren. Jalen Williams, bad night. 17 points on 16 shots. Same numbers as he had versus the Spurs. And they just weren't shooting a three all that well. But it was a close game because they're that good right until the end when Anthony Edwards did the Anthony Edwards thing that stepped back on the left side against Casen Wallace, who played incredible defense right up in his face.
- [06:03]
J. Skeets
Yeah, good, Dee. Better row.
- [06:05]
Tas Melis
Yeah. And then go to the other end. Shay gets blocked by Anthony Edwards. It was a help lock. Anthony Edwards grabs the board and then a couple free throws at the other end. And then one more time. Can Shay do it? Anthony Edwards literally guards him one on one and steals it from him. So he closed it out, celebrates with his buddy Bones Highland there. So great weekend start. We'll get into their second game. But what did you make of that incredible game?
- [06:30]
J. Skeets
Like you said, you have to play near perfect basketball it feels like to beat OKC, only their third loss. They're human. They're 25 and 3. Will we start wondering if they can even hit 70 wins at some point here? But yeah, it was awesome. I love that Minnesota is like, hey, I. I think I said this a week or so ago, like they're doing the thing. Like, hey, we'll catch up later. Don't forget about us, you elite teams in the Western Conference. And like, after this weekend, obviously some big, big wins and big performances, it's nice to sort of probably consider them with your Thunder, with your Nuggets. With your Rockets and maybe the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Lakers, I guess. So. It's exciting. Just like it's great to have another juggernaut team that has been to two Western Conference finals in a row. And it's like we do forget about them at times because they start slowly. But yeah, I love the Ant takeover.
- [07:16]
Tas Melis
The Ant takeover was phenomenal. And yeah, they're. They're doing it a little bit earlier this season. It feels like they moved up to fifth in the Western Conference standings and they're not far from obviously fourth, third from second. So it feels like they're coming on. And yeah, Anthony Edwards just needs to get going. He is the guy that gets them going. But they do start slowly in games like they did on Sunday versus the Milwaukee Bucks. Again, they're down double digits at half, but they just turned it on in the third quarter. That's why they're one of the best second half teams in the NBA. Second half of each game, they are one of the better teams. They went on a run 232 in the second half. After losing Jayden McDaniels in the first half after having Anthony Edwards have a terrible shooting night overall, 7 of 24, they went on that run. Milwaukee didn't score for six minutes because they just played bully ball again. Rudy Gobert, six offensive borns after having five versus OKC Dante DiVincenzo again, four threes. TJ Shannon, a guy who you don't really consider, but they need some guard help. That's why Bones Highland is really important. That's why TJ Shannon hitting three threes in the fourth quarter. He's a, you know, an older young guy in the NBA. He's 25 years old. And then Bones Highland running over Bill Kennedy. I don't know if you saw that in the corner running over the referee. Bill Kennedy didn't help him up or anything. Just went straight to the bench. I have a question. What does he like Bill Kennedy? I want to know. We'll get to actually two players. That Trey questioned whether or not they like each other. A little later in this show. Some big name players that's. That's just a segue. Either way. Ant close it again. Even though again, bad shooting night. He goes to old school ball. That banker from the mid range. The guy will play mid range. The guy will bank it. So we're watching at the Edwards, can he grow, can he grow into a. Literally a guy that takes a team to the finals? I know we're all taking OKC in general But I have to beat four.
- [09:10]
J. Skeets
Out of seven times for sure.
- [09:11]
Tas Melis
Yeah. But as I said about Denver, even when OKC was what, whatever they were 22 and 1. I still consider Denver a legitimate threat. And here comes Minnesota to join that crew. They're really, really close to the Denver and the Houston to some that now Houston had lost an ugly game. I don't know if we'll call them a loser, but they lose to the Sacramento Kings either way. The west is tough.
- [09:36]
J. Skeets
Yeah, I liked what about the Wolves here? The second game is like, yeah, it's not pretty. And they just eked it out with the 103, 100 victory. But it's like you can have these huge games against the Thunder. You bring it, you obviously get the victory and then you can just have a massive letdown that we see that time and time again. A lot of times we do this Monday show there's a lot of teams that like split their games over the weekend. One big win and then one real disappointing loss. But that wasn't the case. They got the W. 19 and 10 is their record. And yeah, I love those Prince purple jerseys that they're rocking too. That's a good look.
- [10:10]
Tas Melis
That is a good look.
- [10:11]
J. Skeets
Likes playing in those too. So yeah, he's not going to be making a lot of like top 5 MVP ballot lists with the season he started with so far. But could he start to get into those conversations again as we go on? Yeah, absolutely, because he's still an elite talent. But Minnesota was a pretty obvious winner of the weekend, I thought, especially not only beating the Thunder, I mean that's almost enough right there. But then following it up with the.
- [10:33]
Tas Melis
Victory on Sunday, yeah, they're on pace for like a 54 win season which is kind of what was expected. Their over Underline was about 50, 50 and a half. So they are exceeding it a little bit. And as I said and as you implied about Anthony Edwards slow start, they are turning it on a little bit earlier this season than they have in the past. So Anthony Edwards slow start to the season. Sure. But here they come. The question is will they go and try and get a a guard help to help create and not have to rely on Dante DiVincenzo, Bones Highland and literally A. A. Conley. They they or TJ Shannon, they need one more guy probably just to help out there a little bit because they don't rely on Rob Dillingham who they they yanked this weekend from the rotation. That's the question. If they go get some other guy like a whole Chris Paul, perhaps? I think there's a chance. So they're ready. This Western Conference, man, it's a bloodbath.
- [11:30]
J. Skeets
My biggest winner of the weekend is the Sixers back court who played outstanding back to back basketball to help them go two and oh over the weekend. Starting to see Philadelphia 76ers fans tweet that Vince Carter clip where he's super emotional. He's going like. And like the caption along with it is, Sixers fans really got Maxi and Edgecomb here. A backcourt for the next decade. And you're just like, I can't believe this is our life because it's awesome right now. On Friday, Maxey scored 30, Vijay Edgecombe had 23. Philadelphia became just the second team to go into Madison Square Garden and beat the Knicks 116, 107. So those two guys, awesome in the fourth quarter, they combined for 18 points in that final frame. And then they followed it up on Saturday. Maxi even better. He scored 38 points, including seven during a key like, fourth quarter run. And Edgecombe added 26 as the 76ers defeated the Mavericks. These guys are legit. This is awesome. You see a lot of these lists, right? Like, who's got the best young squad in the league. The spurs come to mind. A bunch of other teams with great young talent. But like these two, this backcourt, I mean, they're just. The athleticism is off the charts. Maxi with his speed and his like stop and go vibe that he has. And when the threes fall and good luck guarding them. And then Edgecomb is just like a super athlete out there and it feels like he scores all his points either in the first quarter or in the fourth quarter. Yeah, I feel like I don't hear room. I mean, quarters two to three, but it doesn't matter. He sets the tone and then he ends all these games with big shots. So Sixers fans feeling pretty good. Both these wins came without Joel Embiid. You know, Paul George sat the one and they took care of business. Impressive stuff from this backord.
- [13:13]
Tas Melis
The backcourt is ridiculous. Edgecomb doing it like a rookie. Everything else running through, whether it's Maxi or Embiid, and he just plays off of them and he does it so fricking well. You could see how ready he is for the moment already. He is going to be there for a long time. The offensive rebounds, the, the hustling, just diving to the floor so you don't have to call a lot of stuff for him at all. As Joel Embiid said recently, you Got. He just has to play off of other guys. But to do it without Joel Embiid for two games is remarkable. So they got an incredible backord. They also have a great front court going. Andre Drummond can shoot threes all of a sudden, and he's old. He hit three threes against the New York Knicks, by far the most of his career. In one single game. He's hit 15 threes this season. Before the season, he had hit 18 in his career.
- [14:05]
J. Skeets
Wow.
- [14:06]
Tas Melis
It took him 13 seasons to hit 18. Now he's got 15 this season. Old dogs can learn new tricks.
- [14:12]
J. Skeets
And he's old and he is old and he plays. I think I even heard Maxi after the Mavericks win. He's doing sort of interview there on the floor, talking to the broadcast booth. And he brought up like, you know, they asked him about Drummond and his contributions. Like, look, coming in the season, I don't think we thought, like, we got old guys, Ed Lowry, Eric Gordon and Drummond, and we weren't probably expecting them to play all that much, but Drummond has, you know, obviously with the Embiid factor, and he's been awesome. And then the other big about Dominic Barlow for the Sixers. I mean, this guy used to play in the G League for the Hawks here in the Skyhawks. We saw him multiple times down at the small arena there, and he's getting an opportunity and he's bringing the hustle, and he's obviously doing the little dirty things or like, the little things to make you win games. He had an awesome play where, like, he hit the floor, grabbed the ball and, like, threw an incredible somehow pass from his, like, lying down to start the fast break for the Sixers. So, yeah, it's impressive. And in both these wins, too, Nurse, he's made the decision to end with obviously, Maxi, Vijay Edgecombe and. And then Jared McCain is starting to round into form. His shot, he still hasn't found that. That's, you know, you're waiting on that if you're a Sixers fan, but he's looking a little bit more like himself where he's, like, contributing and making these, like, you know, deflections and steals and rebounds. And he's a smart player. So with Grimes, he's struggling to score right now. Nurse has gone to McCain a little bit here with the superstar backcourt, and it's working. Like, that's a small team, but it's working.
- [15:39]
Tas Melis
Yeah. And when we were looking forward to this season, and you think of the Philadelphia 76ers maybe getting a little too old on one side. Do you think there's some young guys to that could do things? We didn't expect VJ come to be this good and we expected Jerry McCain to be part of it. So here he comes to join that those young guys. But to contribute along with, you know, the Drummond who knew this was coming. And Adam Bona, I think has been really, really key just to help out hustle as a big man and board and block shots. So, yeah, this team is becoming well rounded.
- [16:11]
J. Skeets
Yeah. Nick Nurse said about Jared McCain after Saturday night's win, he was a plus 29. Tons of poking the ball away. Tons of just making plays. Tons of getting to the free throw line when we needed a couple points. And then he said, and I like this, wait until he goes about 7 to 10 from 3 one of these nights. Because it's coming too. Yeah, probably will. One of these days he's going to pop off and then that shot will start dropping for him.
- [16:32]
Tas Melis
But yeah, because he started injured this season, that's a part of it.
- [16:36]
J. Skeets
Yeah. 16 and 11, I believe. Good for fourth in the Eastern Conference. And Maxi is. He should be an all star starter if you're filling out your all star ballots. Hard pressed to leave him off. I mean, Brunson's got to be there too, but then we'll get to him. But yeah, and like you said, Vijay Edgecombe, I think that's four straight games with 20 plus points he was going against. Cooper was the other part of it. A couple nice defensive stands. I thought on Cooper making life difficult because his athleticism is. He's just one of these guys in a league full of athletes. He sort of just leveled up on these guys. I think Liberty ballers compared to everyone else when they are playing against him look like they're wearing cement shoes because he's just so explosive. He had the one stop on Cooper, flag like great D forced Cooper into sort of a bad shot and then he just decided to grab the defensive rebound and he was off to the races. There were three Mavs back and he like just like cut his way so easily through them. They didn't put up a lot of fight. Like Najee Marshall, what the hell were you doing there? Stop the ball a little bit. But he does show like, oh my God. He's just off the charts with his speed and power and just poise too. Yeah. Hell of a rook.
- [17:46]
Tas Melis
Yeah. In a number two role for the majority of the season.
- [17:48]
J. Skeets
It's perfect.
- [17:49]
Tas Melis
Yeah. And. And it's helped out Maxi. I did.
- [17:53]
J. Skeets
Oh, Maxi loves this kid.
- [17:54]
Tas Melis
Oh, yeah, of course.
- [17:55]
J. Skeets
Every time, every interview I see brings it up. Yeah, like just how it's made his life easier. Yeah.
- [18:00]
Tas Melis
It's a shocker that the Sixers are this good, that Maxi has somebody to help him. Last year at the beginning of the season, you know, with the same scenario with them beat and Paul George, a lot of it not being able to rely on those guys. He needed somebody. Bang, you got a rookie and here he is. That's why it is surprising. But Edgecombe is totally comfortable being the number two guy. I didn't see this coming from the Philadelphia 76ers.
- [18:22]
J. Skeets
Let's do another round.
- [18:24]
Tas Melis
Yeah. And that's what. And that's why I think it segues extremely well to the Boston Celtics. I think we're sticking with teams here that are sort of in the, the second ish tier of their conference with the Wolves, Sixers, now the Celtics. I did not expect these Celtics to be as good as they are. And what scares about, scares me about them is how they beat the Heat on, on Friday night because they're down in the fourth quarter. But this team knows how to shoot threes and can somehow come back in big ways. They can make a huge swing like they did in the fourth quarter against the Heat, hitting 10 of 15 threes. Splash, splash, splash. Missoula will have those guys shooting threes as he has in years past. And they looked fricking fantastic doing that. Guys from everywhere on the floor. Jalen hit a couple, Simon's at one. Sam Houser, who we never talk about but can obviously hit threes, hit four threes in the quarter. Who go? Gonzalez. And then Derek White who's become so hot. He had a huge three point game overall, nine threes overall to swing this game. And he started the season slowly, just like he did last year. And he's coming on. He bumped up his three point percentage by two full points on Friday night. It's, it's a similar to last year. And then after the game, you know, he dropped 33, six assists, five boards, blocked four shots. Eric Spoltra on the other side said, I think he's the most underrated player in the league. Does whatever you need tonight. Obviously he showed to be a score in all the different facets. Defensively he just does so many things. He's the best shot blocking guard in the league. I don't think he's wrong. Yeah, he has been so, so good. And the Celtics back to back Saturday they played Toronto.
- [19:59]
J. Skeets
Yeah, they did.
- [20:00]
Tas Melis
And yeah, yeah, if we're going to get into losers. We're going to get into losers.
- [20:04]
J. Skeets
Raptors are lucky we're not doing an actual loser segment because they would get it.
- [20:08]
Tas Melis
No doubt. They got out hustled.
- [20:10]
J. Skeets
Yes.
- [20:10]
Tas Melis
The guys on. On the bench this time. Something again we didn't expect the Celtics to have coming into the season. Really, the depth. Luka Garza. Luka Garza grabbed nine offensive boards in this game. The. The Raptors got out hustled. And then Hugo Gonzalez, he had 10 boards, nine on the defensive end and a monstrous dunk in the fourth to seal it. A rookie. They got it all to go with Pritchard's 33 as the lead guy. Peyton Pritchard.
- [20:38]
J. Skeets
Peyton Pritchard always kills the Raptors.
- [20:41]
Tas Melis
Yeah, there's something about it.
- [20:42]
J. Skeets
Man owns them. I swear. He's like, has his best games always against the Raptors. They have no answer.
- [20:47]
Tas Melis
Gotta check the stats. Peyton Pritchard vs. Toronto Raptors Pretty damn good, whatever it is.
- [20:52]
J. Skeets
Over the last couple years at least. I mean, the Celtics, look, the Celtics own the Raptors. I think it's like, it's an insane record over the last 20 games. It's like 173 or something. Like they always beat them and he's always had big games. But you're right, that was an effort. Like a disappointing effort from the Raptors. They are holding themselves like they're this good team. No, you're not. Like, you're like, maybe your talented guys can just get by on talent in Ingram and maybe Barnes, but he's more of a hustle guy too. Or he should be. Everybody else has to compete and try. You're not going to coast on talent here, guys. And they didn't in that game. They weren't much better against the Nets too.
- [21:26]
Tas Melis
They scored 81 points against the Brooklyn Nets. I thought it was the year 2001. You're a loser of the weekend if you only score 81 points. And Jack A. Pertle comes in after missing two games. He's got back problems. And they set him in the first quarter because he's got back problems and he leaves the game. And so that's scary. But also, guys just stop shooting in that particular game. I didn't think we were getting the losers. We'll just do this quickly. Scotty Barnes, specifically, Manual Quickley to start. He got better, but they weren't looking to shoot. Yeah, positive. RJ Barrett might be back. He is in pregame workouts. Blah, blah. Anyway, that was a. That was disappointing for the reps. Yeah.
- [22:07]
J. Skeets
I think the big takeaway with our winners from the Eastern Conference is the Sixers. To me, the Celtics, I mean the Magic, who did have a big Desmond Bain basically game winning layup against the Jazz in a crazy game, they won that one. They are a tier above the Raptors and I know the records may not really see much of a difference. You're like, what? No, they're there. No, they're not. They're better teams because generally they play harder is my big takeaway. So those teams are above them. They are actually like now when you're looking at the standings, it's really close, of course, but at the end of the season they will be too. I'm a little worried here about the wraps and maybe they'll make a move to try and shake things up. But yeah, Celtics, man. Yeah. They're like these guys. That's the thing. They always. They're going to come like all their guys. No matter who's playing, who's getting an opportunity, they're going to play hard. They're going to play hard and they're going to play their role. You have to play hard in this league to win freaking games.
- [22:56]
Tas Melis
Yeah. And the Raptors. I don't want to keep on bringing up Jakob Poeltl and his back problems, but it's a problem. They're thin with their bigs and if he's not playing, if he is, his nickname on basketball reference, Jakob Puddle. If he is like a puddle of himself. I mean, he's not playing. I don't like that nickname for the. But they give him this big extension. Literally. He just sat two games to preserve his back. They haven't been playing a lot because of the contra or the, the schedule. And he's hurt again.
- [23:27]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [23:27]
Tas Melis
So that is, that is scary. They're. They're a teeny tiny team. So any of those teams in the Eastern Conference can just bully out rebound when you got a Luca Garza.
- [23:35]
J. Skeets
Oh, yeah. I was going to say this should be the one limitation of the Celtics. Right. They're bigs. I mean but it's Keita, it's Garza, Shireman. Give me some other white guy. Gonzalez, you said. I mean it was Derrick White and white guys destroying the Raptors there in that first game of the weekend for them. Or second game of the Celtics, I should say.
- [23:53]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [23:53]
J. Skeets
All right, Moving on, another win of the weekend. Two guys on the Knicks. I want to give some love to Jalen Brunson and Mitchell Robinson. We'll start with Jalen Brunson because it's pretty obvious this this guy's heater that he's on the Brunson burner, the heater is not turning off anytime soon. Led the Knicks to the NBA cup win last week. He got MVP honors, rightfully so. Kept his dominant ways going here. 47.0 turnover, masterclass, let's call it that. In New York's 132 to 125 win over Miami on Sunday. That's a new career high for Brunson at Madison Square Garden in December. He's averaging over 30 points per game. He's got like a 61% true shooting percentage in December. And by the way, December, like we're like nine or ten games played here. He's just one of the toughest assignments for defenders because of his ability to just score off the dribble, if we're being honest and obviously being able to go both ways and to draw fouls and to throw the lobs to Mitchell Robinson. Just keep you on your back heels. He's on one right now. And the three was falling there against the Heat. Great game. 47.0 turnovers for a guy that always has the ball against a team in Miami who's like, they're not throwing. It's not Trey Young being put on him. This is freaking Davion. Mitchell is a good on ball defender. It didn't matter. They had to switch him up. They're like, all right, you can't stop them. Wiggins, you have a go at him? Nope, didn't matter. So to go back to that Tim Bontemps MVP straw poll, Brunson did finish fifth in that he was only on 60% of the ballots. I went and checked. I mean, you know, I think that's a little low. And I think if we did it again here, maybe this was like a week or so ago, he's probably on, you know, closer to 90, if not all 100% of the ballots, whether you slot them third, fourth or fifth because tough to obviously knock off Shay and Jokic, 1, 2. But yeah. Brunson, any thoughts on him before we get to Mitchell?
- [25:48]
Tas Melis
Well, he is the anchor for the opposing defense. Everybody is just using his gravity. Unfortunately for them to get sucked into the middle. They're always watching him at all times. And I think he's been better at passing away if he needs to, whether it's OG or Mikhail Bridges. Even though, you know, you get a quiet night from Carl Anthony Towns. Two points. Yeah, no, no big. No big deal. Crazy. But I think Jalen Brunson, maybe it's endorsed By Mike Brown, uses the other guys way more. So there's an anchor that pulls all that gravity in, but he is great at utilizing it. Understanding. All right, you're playing to step off me or step off OG to help onto me. I'm using those guys and they helped out. Just those passes. Even though. Yeah. As you said, Davion Mitchell, incredible defender. He's just using those other guys so smartly. That's why he's going to be up there in MVP voting. Who votes for MVPs? It's the media. I mean, it should just go to the other coaches, really, because they. Because they know when we're planning against a play. Playing against the New York Knicks. Regarding Brunson.
- [27:01]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [27:02]
Tas Melis
So they're trying to. Yeah, yeah. The plan is to stop him, but he's getting much better at not holding the ball as long. You know, the seconds per. Per hold are down, and that's why his catch and shoots are up. That's why the drives are up for that team. That's why the passes are up for that team. They look great. They're the best team in the East.
- [27:21]
J. Skeets
He had a very funny exchange with Alan Han after the game, too. I don't know if you saw the video on Court interview. It was very funny. You know, they're talking about the game, whatever. And then Alan Han brought up a bunch of crazy shots were made in this game. And he sort of asked him, like, what was the biggest shot and gave a couple suggestions.
- [27:38]
Tas Melis
And.
- [27:38]
J. Skeets
And Brunson sort of begrudgingly went, well, Josh Hart's like, 40 foot bomb that he hit. That was pretty amazing. And he's like, I hate to say it, you know, their hilarious relationship and because he hasn't been a great friend to me recently, you know, the crowd's laughing. And then Alan Han goes, yeah, good. Thumbs up. And Brunswick, like, was walking away, turned around. I was like, oh, that's pretty good.
- [28:01]
Tas Melis
It's pretty good.
- [28:02]
J. Skeets
Han, he had that one chambered. You could tell. But it was.
- [28:05]
Eshawa
It was good.
- [28:05]
J. Skeets
He snuck it in there. Maybe like a thumb in the butt.
- [28:08]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Josh Hart. We won't get into how the Knicks are. Or. I mean, I just did get into how the Knicks are better, but Josh Hart is so important. Oh, God, just like a fifth guy on that team to be able to shoot threes because you could collapse. Way more on Jalen Brunson last year than this year. He's grown. He's grown. I know he has good years from time to time, but he's shooting 39% from 3. It feels like he's grown. Like that bomb shot that he hit, I mean, you can rely on that guy more as a three point shooter.
- [28:38]
J. Skeets
Yeah. I mean, it's like he's their Iguodala at this point. And like, I tweeted over the weekend after watching Hart play another great game. It's like so many teams need a guy like this. We talked about it last week. It's like, the Cavs could use a Hart. The Raptors could definitely use a guy like Hart. Like, so many squads, if they don't have their own version of him, he just does all the little things. And he can shoot.
- [28:57]
Tas Melis
Now he's shooting threes, though. That's big.
- [28:59]
J. Skeets
Dollah could shoot threes there for stretches, too.
- [29:01]
Tas Melis
But Josh Hart was struggling. I mean, last year he had a shot, and he will.
- [29:05]
J. Skeets
I mean, he's. He's gonna ebb and flow. Like.
- [29:07]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [29:07]
J. Skeets
Like, he's. I don't think he's, like, it's not the prettiest looking shot I've ever seen, but you have to take it and you gotta shoot it with confidence.
- [29:14]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [29:15]
J. Skeets
And, yeah, you'll go stretches, maybe where he's a little cold, but, yeah, you can get on a heater. He's awesome. And. And honestly, it gets to the point where it's like, even those games where it's not falling, he's doing a million other things to help you win the game. He just. He takes a good team into a great team. If the three is, like, going with some consistency.
- [29:30]
Tas Melis
Yeah. And one thing I. I can't stand watching the Knicks City Edition court. They've got the.
- [29:36]
J. Skeets
You don't like it?
- [29:36]
Tas Melis
No, no. They've got the throwback to, like, their 70s.
- [29:39]
Ryan Seacrest
Yeah.
- [29:40]
J. Skeets
So the checkerboard or whatever.
- [29:41]
Tas Melis
It's a checkerboard in the paint.
- [29:43]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [29:44]
Tas Melis
But I started watching it, and I was watching with Danielle, and she said, oh, the. The blue and orange, they don't go together. And she's. She pulls out. She's an artist. She pulls out the color wheel and how the blue and the orange are opposite each other on the color wheel. And she showed me in the paint because they're using those orange transparent. Like, it's an orange transparent square.
- [30:06]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [30:06]
Tas Melis
And you put blue on it. They kind of gray each other out. And that's what happens on the color wheel. If you use opposite colors and it's gray, it's gray. She. She went.
- [30:15]
J. Skeets
Color lesson here.
- [30:16]
Tas Melis
Yeah, she went and pulled out the magnetiles. She showed me to them. I had them in my pocket, but they must have dropped out of my butt. But in the car there.
- [30:24]
J. Skeets
And you had them in your butt.
- [30:25]
Tas Melis
Yeah. And so when you use. Yeah. A butt pocket and when you, when you put them over each other, they go gray. It literally looks. It looks yucky. There's a reason why they got rid of that court and they still don't rely on that 1970s court. This ain't the 1970s.
- [30:38]
J. Skeets
I don't mind the checkerboard, like, sort of pattern I don't love. They have like New York.
- [30:43]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [30:43]
J. Skeets
Above the three point line. I could do without that.
- [30:46]
Tas Melis
It's ugly.
- [30:47]
J. Skeets
It looks. That part looks.
- [30:48]
Tas Melis
The colors don't look good.
- [30:49]
J. Skeets
The rest of it, I gotta say. Mitchell Robinson, let's talk about him. And entering the weekend, Mitchell Robinson was 6 for 27 from the free throw line. This had me wondering on last week's podcast, why weren't the spurs in the NBA Cup Final going to a little hack a. Mitch Mala. Mitch, whatever we're calling it, you know, send this guy to the line, he can't hit a free throw to save his life. Like, see, make him earn one or two. Right. I was saying that. Well, Robinson eclipsed his free throws made in one night on Friday night, going 7 for 8 at the charity stripe in a 21 point performance against Philly. The Knicks lost that game, but great job on Mitchell Robinson at the line. I was reading about it. Guess he's been working on changing his shot at the line a lot. You won't believe this. Coaches told him to try putting some arc on his shot because that guy, he's a big dude. I get it. When you're 7ft tall, you're going to shoot it a little differently. But like, holy crap, he tries to put it through the front of the rim. So trying to get him to put a little more loft on it. Give it a chance, big man. He's apparently getting up. This made me laugh. Getting up at 10am Eastern. Okay. Jesus. We're already alive. Usually at 10am by then, but pretty funny. So he's getting in practice before the game and he's adding it like this early morning shoot around to his game day routine. So when there's a game, gets up early and shoots free throws at 10am but anyway, it continued to pay dividends because on Sunday, Mitchell Robinson went 3 for 3 at the line. So Mitchell Robinson's free throw percentage damn near doubled over the weekend. He came into Friday's game shooting an abysmal 22.2% at the line. And after knocking down a combined 10 for 11 versus Philadelphia and Miami over the weekend, he's up to 42%. Good on you, Mitchell Robinson. Keep training at 10am Eastern at the free throw line. You can get that up to plus 50%. I believe in them. They looked a lot better, but that, I mean, we're joking about it a little bit, but he's pretty damn important to their championship aspirations. Oh, yeah, we know he's a monster out there, like, gobbling up offensive rebounds. You want a guy like that to be able to play in a fourth quarter, down a stretch of a close game, but you don't want the issue to be like, well, they can just hack him, bring the game to a halt. And he just keeps missing free throws. Like, he's got to just prove that he can hit them. 50% is even enough. Right. When you go through the numbers, like, it sort of stops other coaches from doing it. If you can just knock down one or two at the very least. So that's good for Knicks fans.
- [33:18]
Tas Melis
Just wake up at a decent time and get a loft on. I mean, I'm jealous. I'm jealous. As a former night person, if Mitchell is a night person, but he can still wake up and get it done. That's the best of both worlds. My man. Congratulations. Yeah, they need him at the end of games. I thought he was going to be starting this season beside Carl Anthony Towns to provide that, the defensive backbone beside him. But number one, you got Josh Hart, you know, bawling and being respected, so you don't need to do that. But you also need Mitchell Robinson to finish games, and so that helps. Just him coming off the bench and not having to start.
- [33:53]
J. Skeets
Yes. And, yeah, because he looks exhausted after, like, two minutes. Like, he just sort of holds himself like that. You know what I mean? So he's got, like, his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
- [34:02]
Tas Melis
He's sort of like hands on his knees.
- [34:04]
J. Skeets
Yeah, he sort of walks, like, almost like with his head down, sort of like always bobbing like this. But he just comes in there and he wrecks the offensive glass for whatever, 15, 20 minutes. And if you can take away the strategy of the hack of Mitch, then you're laughing because the guy can contribute to winning basketball. So that was pretty amazing. He had a lot of free throws. That's a lot of free throws. That is for the guy that was 6 of 27. All right, one more round of weekend winners. Who you got?
- [34:26]
Tas Melis
Let's go to a quick one here. Anthony Davis likes Cooper Flag.
- [34:30]
J. Skeets
Oh, Trey said opposite.
- [34:32]
Tas Melis
Yeah. On Friday show. We watched them beat the Pistons on Thursday night and he. Trey mentioned that after makes Anthony Davis and Cooper Flag just. Just weren't showing each other a lot of love. Davis kind of wasn't giving him enough of a high five when he high fived me. It was just a. It was just a love tap. But then I saw the interview post game Thursday and as Cooper Flag is taking the question, Anthony Davis literally comes up to him and gives him a head rub. And we'll show it to you here on YouTube. You can see it. Watch Anthony Davis come from behind Cooper Flag and give him a head rub. Now that's way more affection than Trey mentioned. That is absolute love. We'll even slow it down for you here to show you.
- [35:18]
J. Skeets
Somebody gives them a nice neck machine. Naji Marshall.
- [35:21]
Tas Melis
Naji Marshall gives him a neck chi. Marshall neck chi rub. Yeah. So does that mean they love each other? I don't know. But I need. I needed to show that just so we have all the information. We gather the information and we follow. Figure it out. Do you think that's love? Do you think just a quick head rub. It's more than. It's more than a. A teeny tiny high five that that Trey was mentioning.
- [35:44]
J. Skeets
That was. That was like a. A proud older brother. Way to go kid.
- [35:49]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Yeah.
- [35:50]
J. Skeets
But not overdoing it by any means either.
- [35:52]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [35:52]
J. Skeets
I still want more from you.
- [35:54]
Tas Melis
Yeah. TR. Yeah, you could. Yeah. Definitely interpret it as that Trey mentioned that he wants Anthony Davis to take him under a wing. His wing. As an 18 year old kid. He needs somebody, isn't he? He just turned 19. Yeah. Now that might be Kyrie when he comes along. Kyrie's buying everybody golf carts on the Mavs for Christmas. But he wanted from Anthony Davis. I don't know if that's Anthony Davis being that older brother, but it's something. It's something you got your eye gotta keep a watch on what's going on. He showed cooperation, a little love. He rubbed his head.
- [36:31]
J. Skeets
Okay, good, good.
- [36:33]
Tas Melis
We needed to know, man. We needed to know.
- [36:35]
J. Skeets
I got a lot of other minor NBA weekend winners. There's still tons left on the table here. Kevin Durant talking his shit on Saturday to help the Rockets beat the Nuggets. That was a lot of fun.
- [36:43]
Tas Melis
That was great.
- [36:44]
J. Skeets
That was really fun. As they snapped the Nuggets six game win streak. And then Houston did lose to the Kings last night. That was last night.
- [36:53]
Tas Melis
Yeah, it was Sunday on a, you.
- [36:54]
J. Skeets
Know, Westbrook, great game hit A big shot. Then Dennis Schroeder hit a big shot. Yeah, it was a wild one. So Rockets probably would have got May winner of the weekend otherwise. Zion Williamson looking solid off the bench. Pelicans, four straight wins. Yeah, for them after getting another one over the weekend. So that's good.
- [37:10]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [37:11]
J. Skeets
I already brought up Desmond Bane. That was a tough shot, man. I know it's like goes in the. Goes in the play by play or box score as like a layup, but like he is flying to the rim and had to throw it real high against the Jazz. That was tough touch to do that to get that to drop. That was an entertaining game. And then on Sunday, the Bulls and Hawks combined for more than 300 points.
- [37:32]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [37:33]
J. Skeets
In regulation. They did not go to overtime.
- [37:36]
Tas Melis
I was there.
- [37:37]
J. Skeets
You went down.
- [37:38]
Tas Melis
It was incredible.
- [37:39]
J. Skeets
My God, you saw a lot of points.
- [37:40]
Tas Melis
Oh, my goodness.
- [37:41]
J. Skeets
The bulls had like 83 at the half. Was it?
- [37:44]
Tas Melis
Yeah, 283. Yeah, it was over 80. It was 82. Whatever. Yeah. They had nine guys score double digits. They move that thing. They keep on passing. They play that inside outside game. They put up points just like they put up on the Cavs on Friday. They beat him. They scored 136 on the. On the Bulls or excuse me, on the Cavs.
- [38:03]
J. Skeets
They could score winner of the weekend for Chicago. Then the Bears win. Crazy comeback.
- [38:08]
Tas Melis
I think it was a cold one.
- [38:10]
J. Skeets
Yeah. But my final win of the weekend, I wanted to give it to the Wemby Live Experience because you may have been down at the fortress on Sunday, but I was there on Friday night.
- [38:19]
Tas Melis
Right.
- [38:19]
J. Skeets
To see Wembanyama play versus the Hawks. Game stunk. The Hawks got absolutely embarrassed right from the jump. Spurs looked dominant. But it was very fun to see Wemby in person. Had good seats. Shout out to no Doug's fan. Cliff coming through with those. So I was like, I don't know, five or six rows back baseline, right by the spurs bench. Which is hilarious too.
- [38:41]
Tas Melis
Way better seats than me.
- [38:42]
J. Skeets
Nice. Oh, really? Ok. Well, it was great. And it's just like you're at the point if you have the means to do it, like, go see him. You got to go see Wemby live because it. It is wild. 26 points, 12 rebounds. He had three assists, two blocks. He only played 21 minutes. He came off the bench again. He was a plus 29 in 21 minutes. And they started to give him some longer stints here too. He looked a little winded at times. I thought he powered through. But this guy, it's just so fun to see. And I took Nora. Nora was there, so she's going, oh, my God, this is unreal. Like, trying to, like. And you're also explaining to people like, yeah, like, he's crossing up guys and like, obviously shooting threes. And it looks natural, but it shouldn't be. And I'm like, trying to understand, like, get it through to her. Like, you can't be 74 and 75 and usually doing this type of stuff, but he can. And they just, again, they just waxed, waxed the Hawks. It was like got up to like a 30 plus lead at one point in the third quarter. And he's awesome. Go see him if you can. Like, they're. To me, it's like Curry, Jokic, maybe Luka. If you've never seen LeBron, I mean, that would be fun to obviously add them to your list that you saw on live. And then Wembanyama's there and. And there are many other great players in this league, but those to me are the ones that's like, it's a hell of an experience to see them in person.
- [40:06]
Tas Melis
No doubt. I don't remember which podcast brought up 30 front offices. If they had the choice to start a franchise right here, right now that plays a part like, yeah, Yoko, just getting older, you know, if they just had to pick one player, it's probably Wemby. Literally all 30. No disrespect to Shea, but it's probably Wemby now. Injuries are concerned.
- [40:30]
J. Skeets
Kind of guy that's 7 foot 5 that does all that. Can he stay healthy for his career?
- [40:34]
Tas Melis
Yeah, I guess the concern. I guess people question that because on FanDuel some way, somehow, they are still not the favorites in the Southwest Division.
- [40:46]
J. Skeets
You love this division more than anyone.
- [40:48]
Tas Melis
It is. They're up three games on the Houston Rockets now. They've played a couple more games, so it plays apart. But even if the Houston Rockets played those two games and they won those two games, they would still be up two games on the Houston Rockets.
- [41:01]
J. Skeets
What up with that?
- [41:02]
Tas Melis
Houston is the favorite, minus 155. The spurs, you know, aren't a big underdog, but they're a plus 125 still happening. Maybe it's because people think that they're going to be some Wemby injuries that happen.
- [41:16]
J. Skeets
But he's playing half the games right now. The good thing is the team is good.
- [41:19]
Tas Melis
Well, that's the thing. Yeah.
- [41:21]
J. Skeets
Like, Devin Vassell was on fire on Friday night. Castle was awesome. I mean, yeah, those Two. Those are two Georgia boys, actually. Yeah. They probably had a lot of family in attendance. No wonder they were balling out there Friday night.
- [41:33]
Tas Melis
Yeah. I don't know how gambling odds work, but maybe there's more people betting on the Rockets for whatever reason. I don't know. The Rockets, even though they took out the Nuggets, and it was super fun to see KD do that thing he was doing with his arms, you know. Yeah. Because you don't really see a lot of that from KD beating them for the first time this season because Denver had won the first two. But they're on this road trip, and they've lost three of four other than that, that Denver win. A couple were OT losses, and actually all three were OT losses that they've lost. So they're all close games, so they deserve to be a division winner. But if they do win it. But yeah, the Western Conference is just. Is just amazing that the spurs are literally the second seed now and far ahead of the Houston Rockets. It's tough. Okc, Spurs, Nuggets, Lakers, Wolves and Rockets are your top six. That's tough.
- [42:28]
J. Skeets
When Benyama joined an exclusive club on Friday night, too, he recorded his 100th consecutive regular season game with at least one block. Took a little while to register that one against the Hawks, though, because what's happening now is. And it's been happening for a long time, if we're being honest. But, like, guys are just terrified to even shoot when they get in there. And I'm seeing it right there, baseline, when the Hawks were shooting on that net. So many Hawks attack, and then he's lurking.
- [42:54]
Tas Melis
Oh, gosh.
- [42:55]
J. Skeets
And you just see it. They're like, nah, I'm not gonna. Not gonna take that one. I'll kick it out. And I wonder if that streak's gonna be snapped here because of dwindling opportunities. Not because he obviously can't block shots, just because at a certain point people are like, wise up. Like, not even try it. Like, he got one on Dyson Daniels, like sort of on a hook attempt, and he erase that. Another one. We just pinned it against the glass. He did keep the streak going against the Wizards on Sunday. I think he had two more there. But I do wonder if that's going to stop at some point here. He's just going to have an O block game, a zero block game, because there won't be a lot of opportunity, Especially he's only playing half the game right now. I Wonder the only two players to accomplish that feat. Patrick Ewing, 145 consecutive games with at least one block and the late, great Dikembe Mutombo that reached 116 games. So Wemby should surpass. He should. But I do think there'll be one of these games where some smart team is like, don't even shoot when he's near you, man. Yeah, maybe. Maybe.
- [43:53]
Tas Melis
Yeah, it's possible.
- [43:54]
J. Skeets
We'll see.
- [43:54]
Tas Melis
I would think, like a rebound comes and, you know, offensive rebound comes and he's just there to knock somebody's shot because he's just that good. I think he should do it.
- [44:03]
J. Skeets
I was wondering too, whether the spurs were extra motivated for that win on Friday night, seeing as they do own the Hawks first round pick next summer or. Ash, I'm gonna check in with you.
- [44:14]
Tas Melis
Yeah, we're good.
- [44:15]
J. Skeets
Okay. We're good. We're good.
- [44:16]
Tas Melis
We're good.
- [44:16]
J. Skeets
Okay. Okay.
- [44:19]
Tas Melis
Yeah, we just had a. Well, it did come up on the actual feed as well. We went red for here for a second, but we're back, baby. Okay, but we're all good. Oh, we're good. Yeah, we just had a quick little. Oh, what's going on here on the monitor? You know, the red, red screen came up, but then you drag something over to that screen and it. We're back, baby. Oh, good.
- [44:40]
Eshawa
You know, we're, we're, we're getting it. I don't know what just happened. I think it's just cuz we're over time. JD's, he's like, we got to go to break.
- [44:50]
Tas Melis
No, we don't. We. We will get there. We'll get there.
- [44:52]
J. Skeets
Yeah, let's, let's do it now. We'll take a break. When we come back, we have a lot of NBA news still to tackle, so don't go anywhere.
- [45:00]
Tas Melis
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- [45:38]
J. Skeets
I wouldn't think it'd be even near 12.
- [45:40]
Tas Melis
Yeah, exactly, because they're so slim. They are super slim. It's got everything. It's got what you need. It's got RFID blocking technology so it can't be digitally stolen. You know, that's what a modern wallet is. It's got ridge tracker card. You'll always know where your wallet is. You can track that thing. Listen, I don't got to talk it up. It's got over 100,000 five star reviews. Proof that Ridge is a gift people love to receive. It's that time. It even has 50 plus colors, sports teams, logos you can throw on there. That's a good gift. And here's a good deal. Not a good deal. Actually a great deal for a limited time. Ridge is having their huge holiday sale. Head to ridge ge.comdonks to get up to 47 off your order. That's the biggest discount they've given all year. Ridge.com dunks for up to 47 off your order. It's the biggest sale of the year. After you purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them. You tell them no dunks. Not dunks like this offer is here. Ridge.com Dunks no dunks. We did it for you.
- [46:48]
J. Skeets
We sent them to you. Ridge. The people listen to Tasmelis when he talks about his flippy flappy wallet and he wants a Ridge in his back pocket.
- [46:56]
Tas Melis
It was hard. It was hard to say goodbye to the old flapper. It was a good one. You know, like you have an old baseball glove, you want to keep it forever.
- [47:03]
J. Skeets
Oh, right, right.
- [47:04]
Tas Melis
But it's time.
- [47:05]
J. Skeets
Okay?
- [47:05]
Tas Melis
It's time.
- [47:06]
J. Skeets
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- [48:41]
Tas Melis
Yeah, yeah. I will say even though I'm a positive Pete, when it comes to a lot of things that happen around the NBA, this is sort of a start but it's not really anything like they're actually establishing that's going to change a lot because yes, now teams according to the memo have to report between 11 and 1, 11 and 1 that day. If you got a game that night, you got to report your injuries and then from that point on you have to report every 15 minutes whether or not there's a change. Because a lot of times guys warm up in, in the morning, they're questionable. Maybe they're game time decisions. So they're actually making it required that you have to report every 15 minutes. So there isn't these huge windows where the information can leak to another person and that whole thing can happen. But why, why I'm a little bit reluctant here. It's not required on the second day of a back to back according to the athletic via those memos. Now I, I, I, that's the athletic reporting according to ESPN and shams that wasn't established whatsoever. But that's, that's weird. I mean the Cleveland Cavaliers have had seven back to backs so far the season. So you're just telling me that in seven games they don't have to report that to report the problem as you mentioned, had leaked for so many times and this hasn't been implemented by any means. No, this whole reporting memo, baby, it's a, it's a memo. So it's some, some chatter that that's all this really is. And as you were saying, there's a lot of other things tanking.
- [50:14]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [50:14]
Tas Melis
And prop betting to get to but prop betting has got to be more reined in. And so according to this memo there are these ideas that it will be there's potential changes in prop betting.
- [50:25]
J. Skeets
Yeah. Let me tell you. The NBA plans to advocate for further restrictions on prop bets including how much can be wagered, limitations on under bets, reducing the number of players offered by sportsbooks. And eliminating bets that could be determined on a single play. This is all stuff when all of the rosier stuff obviously came to the forefront and all these investigations, this is like all stuff we were talking about. I remember you specifically. Even the injury reports you were saying gotta get these earlier, gotta get them more. Right now they're updated hourly like you said. In theory they might move to every 15 minutes so you can stay on top of this stuff more. But the restrictions on prop bets we talked about and it just felt like a no brainer to take away some of these unders that you could totally manipulate as a player along with nefarious people that are illegally gambling on this stuff. So that to me they will go that direction and you should, you don't. We don't need to have a prop bet on every single player at the end of the bench and stuff like that.
- [51:25]
Tas Melis
Yeah. And I know different sites do it differently. Like different sites don't go all the way down to 15 players on the roster. Which is one of these notes in the memo. Which types of players can be subject to prop bets. So John Tay Porter who was guilty of spreading information of the fact that he was going to leave games. Oh my eye hurts. Yeah, that happened. He is an end of player guy. So maybe we just get rid of Anyone, you know, six through 15, anyone who plays off the bench or whatever.
- [51:55]
J. Skeets
Why is there a John Tay Porter bet to begin with?
- [51:57]
Tas Melis
Right, right. And yeah, and, and currently some gambling websites don't even have those. They just have top of the roster type of guys. But I, I think some of those, the specs where it's literally like a 0.5 number of steals for Cooper flag. I noticed one. And, and there's a note here from the NBA. That's one of the things that we're looking at here. Getting rid of what it calls problem problematic bet types when it comes to over unders. I mean listen, you can get rid of over unders entirely and just go and have teams bet on when it comes to line or when it comes to wins and losses. And I know when we were discussing a few months ago you said well what about the money the NBA is happy to get money from from these prop bets. That being said, it's not like they get direct money. It's money that goes to these gambling companies. Now to get into a deal with the NBA there has to be some money exchanged at the beginning of the season. And players aren't paid directly from the bets but they do receive Bri from those, those agreements Making money off of. Right, right. So the prop bets may not be totally extinguished, but there is ways.
- [53:16]
J. Skeets
I think they will be.
- [53:17]
Tas Melis
Yeah. A maximum amount that can be wager.
- [53:19]
J. Skeets
Some of these, like, odd ones.
- [53:21]
Tas Melis
Yeah, yeah, it's odd. It is. It is all odd whether if you do just the top three guys and you say Tyrese Maxey 1 1/2 steals, like guys that are going to play. Um, I don't know. There's lots of ways around. And maximum amounts that you can bet on and that kind of thing. And there's other good things in the memo, additional things. The league plans to upgrade its education program on gambling for players.
- [53:42]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [53:43]
Tas Melis
Okay. Of course. Yes.
- [53:46]
J. Skeets
How to deal with basically, people threatening them.
- [53:48]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [53:48]
J. Skeets
And harassment.
- [53:49]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [53:50]
J. Skeets
Which.
- [53:51]
Tas Melis
Yeah, that. That was something that was happening. The Athletic had had a great survey done with all the players. What was bothering them about gambling, period. It was them being harassed by fans.
- [54:04]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [54:04]
Coca Cola Announcer
Hey, man.
- [54:05]
J. Skeets
Online. And probably in person to some extent.
- [54:07]
Tas Melis
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Exactly. Both. Yeah. Come on, man. I got you for three and a half rebounds. Get out there and play. You know, that kind of annoying thing. So. Adopting new measures to protect players, coaches, and team personnel from harassment from sports. Sports betters in general, and the ability to enhance its ability to investigate unusual betting activity.
- [54:27]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [54:27]
Tas Melis
So just getting better.
- [54:28]
J. Skeets
Again, a lot of this, to me was like, no brainer. No brainer. Yep. We talked about that. Yeah. A million people said that you should explore that. Like, it's like, if you're gonna be in bed with gambling companies, then you need to have all of these. As many guardrails as you can to keep the integrity of it as much as you can.
- [54:45]
Tas Melis
Right.
- [54:46]
J. Skeets
The one thing I'll say from the memo, the leak said it also has reviewed its policies around tanking and the incentives involved. The memo said part of the review includes potential changes to draft pick protections and changing its draft lottery rules. And that was sort of just left like that. That's leaving a lot for us to fill in the blanks in. So I don't know what the hell they're talking about here with the tanking part and how they're going to curtail it or penalize for it. That was the one thing from all of this. I'm like, what? Need to know more.
- [55:15]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Along with those additional things I said, along with the tanking, even the prop betting stuff, it is just stuff that they're looking at. And so it just felt like, here's the. All the things that we're looking at as a league office, including tanking and here's a memo. It doesn't really say anything that they're doing along with those other things, but they're thinking about it.
- [55:34]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [55:35]
Tas Melis
And that's what it is. Anyways, I want a copy of this memo.
- [55:40]
J. Skeets
We can probably get you one.
- [55:41]
Tas Melis
Well, I don't know. It should be out there. Should be public information because as I said, the Athletic reported it differently then Sham Sharanya and ESPN reported it. So why not get the details? That second day of back to back thing is weird. I get getting out there who's injured, who's playing, reporting every 15 minutes. But you don't have to do it on a second day of back to back again. The athletics edit. The ESPN didn't. It's weird, right?
- [56:06]
J. Skeets
It's a little odd. It is odd. I didn't catch that.
- [56:08]
Tas Melis
It is odd.
- [56:09]
J. Skeets
All right, our next headline here. This is fun. The Minnesota Timberwolves are hiring Kevin Garnett as a team ambassador with a plan to honor KG's number 21 in a jersey raising ceremony at the Target center on a future date. So kg's off court roll tasks will be focused on business, community, fan engagement, content development. I'm sure he'll be holding a ball no matter what he's doing, slapping it, yelling at people. But the fun part is that they are now in theory going to move forward with retiring his number one 20, number 21 jersey.
- [56:44]
Tas Melis
It's been years coming, right? Yeah, that. That's all. There isn't really much to say about this. Obviously. New ownership.
- [56:51]
J. Skeets
Yes.
- [56:52]
Tas Melis
And Rodriguez and Mark Lori is. Is. That's the big difference. It's not Glenn Taylor anymore. That's right. That's right. Because Garnett thought he was going to buy a piece of the franchise way back when Glenn Taylor was around. It didn't happen. But he went back there. He. He went back there as a player and retired there because he loved the late Flip Saunders and that connection there. So he loves the team, he loves the organization. But he didn't like Glenn Taylor and they had that. Nope.
- [57:19]
J. Skeets
He said, quote, I don't do business with snakes is the KG quote that he told the athletic back in 2020.
- [57:24]
Tas Melis
It's real George Carl type scenario. A lot of Snake. Snake talk. George Carl, head coach, but everybody calls him Snakes. You know, your DeMarcus cousins and all that. Either way, it's fitting. He is the freaking organization. I was surprised though, even as a a basketball nerd, to still to know that he still leads the franchise in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. Is that just me, Ash. Well, is that just me being stupid and. And living in the moment to know that that guy leads him in everything.
- [57:55]
J. Skeets
You're shocked because it was a while ago. Obviously. Yeah.
- [57:58]
Tas Melis
What about a cat or something? Like somebody to pass something.
- [58:01]
Eshawa
I would have thought it was been like cat or something like that. Maybe. Maybe even Kevin Love just the numbers he was putting up there for a little bit.
- [58:07]
J. Skeets
Play there that long.
- [58:08]
Eshawa
I guess you're right when you think about it.
- [58:09]
J. Skeets
But yeah. Yeah.
- [58:10]
Eshawa
How long did KG play for the Timberwolves?
- [58:12]
J. Skeets
Well, he was drafted. 95. Was traded in 077.
- [58:16]
Tas Melis
Right.
- [58:16]
J. Skeets
So.
- [58:17]
Tas Melis
Wow. 12 full season more than cat.
- [58:20]
J. Skeets
Yep.
- [58:20]
Tas Melis
Yep.
- [58:21]
J. Skeets
So that's great to see. And this is. You're right. Those. The new owners talked about like how that was a priority too. Like get KG back in the fold and obviously retire his jersey. Like it is wild when you think that his jersey is retired by the Celtics. He won a championship, so that's cool and that's amazing. And he was still great. But like. Yeah, he was the Minnesota Timberwolves. And because of the fallout with Glenn Taylor, they never got to raise that 21 of the till the rafters. Like it's weird. That's not up there.
- [58:49]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [58:49]
J. Skeets
And rightfully will be up there. All right, final piece of headline here or final news. Blake Griffin, Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson were among the first time nominees announced Friday that will be considered for enshrinement into the Naismith Memorial Basketball hall of Fame next year. Nearly 200 players and teams were on this list unveiled by the Hall. Because this is just like the big list. Right. WNBA legend Candace Parker, by far the most notable name. Right. An absolute lock is my point, to make the hall of Fame. I'd just given you the sort of key NBA guys, new guys, first 10 first time nominees.
- [59:27]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [59:27]
J. Skeets
Do you have any thoughts on Blake, Jamal Crawford or Joe Johnson? We. I know we've talked about Blake Griffin before, but.
- [59:33]
Tas Melis
Right.
- [59:34]
J. Skeets
What do you think?
- [59:34]
Tas Melis
Yeah, I do wonder if Blake gets in. I got him in. Individual accolades aside.
- [59:41]
J. Skeets
Time in though, first time ballot.
- [59:43]
Eshawa
Yeah.
- [59:44]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Right. Maybe. Yeah. I think he deserves to get in. You know, six time all star, five time all NBA. Okay. That stuff is great and all that, but he was their biggest star on social media. I know social media, who gives a crap when it comes to the hall of Fame? But social media is a big part of the NBA world. They rely on it, they just thrive on it. And the biggest guy thriving on social media as it came up, you know, in the early 2000s was Blake Griffin. He's the best dunker of the 2000s. When he was decapitating Kendrick Perkins or Mozgov or Pau Gasol, he was the biggest star. And so to me, yeah, it's, it's part of the, the culture and sports media. I think that part is part of the NBA world. I'm not saying that the NBA is a highlight league like Adam Silver said, but it kind of is. And so highlights that lived on social media and lived on Twitter. I think he gets in because of that. Does it help that maybe this class isn't, you know, top of the top NBA players when you think about history, maybe.
- [60:49]
J. Skeets
Right. There's no surefire.
- [60:50]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [60:51]
J. Skeets
Who's the one hall of Fame, hall of Fame lock here on this first time nominees are really any like obviously the returning names that are on the list. Yeah, there are some like.
- [61:00]
Tas Melis
Oh yeah.
- [61:00]
J. Skeets
Okay. Maybe like look, if Blake Griffin makes the hall of Fame, then Amari Stoudemire has to be in the hall of Fame.
- [61:05]
Tas Melis
Exactly.
- [61:05]
J. Skeets
I made a short on this once. Their careers are damn near identical to the point where it's almost creepy. Blake and Amari rookie of the year winners. Six time all stars, five time all NBA selections. Similar points per game and rebound numbers over a pretty similar amount of time in their careers. Played for beloved teams that came up short, be it the Lob City clippers or the 7 seconds or less Suns next level athletes. All the dunks again. It's really wild how similar they are. So if one makes it, I feel like the other one has to make it in my opinion. And Amari is among the returning eligible candidates. That's why I asked you. Oh, you sure Blake is like a first time hall of Fame put him in. I don't know because Amari wasn't.
- [61:49]
Tas Melis
I know it's pretty close. They're so similar when it comes to the resumes.
- [61:54]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [61:55]
Tas Melis
But when it comes to the social media highlights, that's a, that's a different nature.
- [61:59]
J. Skeets
Poor Amari was playing when there wasn't Twitter.
- [62:01]
Tas Melis
It's too early. Yeah, well, yeah, it was before his time, but the guy who capitalized, who thrived on it, was thriving on it. So. Yeah, that's why I wouldn't leave him off the other guys. I guess I didn't mention right away Crawford or Joe Johnson.
- [62:18]
J. Skeets
I would say has almost a zero percent chance. Yeah, I would. Maybe 1%, 5%. It's very low.
- [62:25]
Tas Melis
I can't disagree.
- [62:26]
Eshawa
You don't think he gets some just for his six man Success, I mean that's the most.
- [62:31]
J. Skeets
Only thing you can. Only thing you can go on that. He's one of the best six men of the year players of all time. I mean he won. He's a three time NBA six man of the year winner. He finished top five another three times. So he had a stretch there. Well, he of course was one of the best. Here's my biggest takeaway with Jamaldo for like not putting him in the Hall. He did not have really much playoff success.
- [62:53]
Eshawa
Right.
- [62:54]
J. Skeets
And in fact when you go and look at the numbers, like he actually was worse in the playoffs than he was in the regular season. And it's not like he was the most efficient scorer to begin with in the regular season. Like the guy was a highlight. The guy could fill it up in a hurry. He had 50 point games for like four different franchises. But he didn't shoot the hell out of the ball. Like it's low percentages, low three point percentages. He was like a volume shooter.
- [63:13]
Eshawa
Right.
- [63:14]
J. Skeets
That's what you want from a six man, like come in, no conscious fire away. You're going to win some games, maybe you'll shoot us out of some other ones. But in the playoffs, like tell me a Jamal Crawford playoff moment for one. Literally.
- [63:26]
Eshawa
Literally not one you can't.
- [63:28]
J. Skeets
He shot 38% in the postseason. Like it's not good. Like sub 40 for a guy that's whole thing is scoring. I guess I just haven't.
- [63:35]
Eshawa
I just asked a question just because I've heard you guys talk about the hall of Fame all these years and you always say some of these guys can get in because can you tell the story of basketball without him?
- [63:44]
J. Skeets
Right. Yeah. Right.
- [63:45]
Eshawa
And with him as a six man, there's only a few people you think of as like, oh yeah, six man guy, you know. So I was just curious like if we thought he gets in. But you know, this, this class. I was looking at the list the other day. I think Malika announced it.
- [63:58]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [63:58]
Eshawa
And like I saw Sheldon Williams on here. I saw Brandon Roy in this list.
- [64:04]
J. Skeets
Yeah. Like what do we do? The list is huge. Like I said, it's like 200 people interesting across the teams as well. Yeah.
- [64:12]
Tas Melis
Brandon Roy would have got there if he wasn't hurt, I think. But he didn't play. Sheldon Williams, where did that come from?
- [64:18]
J. Skeets
I mean college success.
- [64:20]
Eshawa
That's what I was curious about. I saw. Was it a Bomone Jones tweet? And he said who's that last name? And I to go like rewind the Video and look at the bottom of the list and it said Sheldon Williams.
- [64:29]
J. Skeets
Didn't Sheldon Williams. Wasn't he married to Candace?
- [64:31]
Eshawa
He was married to Candace Martin. Still for the life of me don't understand that one. But I'm not going to get into that today. But yeah, Sheldon Williams.
- [64:38]
J. Skeets
Yeah. That's weird.
- [64:39]
Eshawa
Crazy.
- [64:39]
J. Skeets
I don't know. I don't like it sounds like I'm shitting on Jamal Crawford, but I just don't think he's that. To me, at a certain point you have to have a cutoff for these things. I don't have him in the hall of Fame.
- [64:49]
Tas Melis
Right.
- [64:49]
J. Skeets
But like I don't. I'm not going to have Lou Williams in the hall of Fame. Yeah, like you said, like notable six man of the year winners. Like who else are you throwing on that list?
- [64:57]
Eshawa
I mean, those two guys come to mind. It's those two and then Ginobili. But Ginobi's in, right?
- [65:00]
J. Skeets
Yeah, and.
- [65:01]
Eshawa
But he won championships and he was like the greatest six man. But how many did he win and then how many did Lou and.
- [65:09]
J. Skeets
Well, I think they both won three each. And I think Ginobly only won one.
- [65:12]
Eshawa
See, that's what I mean. So like he's got some awards like these. This is different. It's unprecedented when it comes to six man because we've got MVPs and like defensive player of the years. But a six man award, you don't see people winning that multiple times. And these two are, you know, top three greatest six man of all time. Like maybe that gets them in.
- [65:30]
Tas Melis
Right.
- [65:31]
Eshawa
I feel like arguing that over even Taz's argument for Blake because I don't know Blake and Joe, like Joe Johnson, I don't know why he's on this list.
- [65:39]
J. Skeets
Joe Johnson I think does have a better chance than Jamal Crawford to make.
- [65:44]
Eshawa
It just on scoring points.
- [65:46]
J. Skeets
Seven time all star. Yeah.
- [65:47]
Eshawa
Yeah.
- [65:47]
Tas Melis
Okay.
- [65:48]
J. Skeets
Yeah. Seven time all star. He only made one all NBA team, so it is a little weird. So he was helped out by the Eastern Conference and all that. I think Basketball Reference has Joe Johnson like a 50 chance to make it.
- [65:58]
Tas Melis
Wow.
- [65:59]
J. Skeets
By the way, I have Jamal Crawford at a zero percent chance.
- [66:01]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [66:01]
J. Skeets
To make it.
- [66:02]
Tas Melis
I think Blake. Blake was also at like a 50% chance. Just like Joe Johnson. Joe Johnson to me though is. Is going to go the way of like a lamarcus Aldrich, an incredible player when he played, scoring a lot of points. But you know, the whole. Can you tell the story of basketball and will he be remembered? I don't know. I don't know. I mean, yesterday when we went into the Hawks game, kids were getting Jalen Johnson jerseys. That's when I brought up, oh, Joe Johnson's been nominated for the hall of Fame. And, and my friend Phil said, well, yeah, it's also great that that's probably the most common NBA last name in history. Johnson. You can just keep wearing that.
- [66:40]
J. Skeets
Williams or Johnson.
- [66:41]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Listen, far as the six man goes, there isn't a six man wing of the hall of Fame. And I think that that plays a part. Like if there was, then it's different. Right. But.
- [66:52]
J. Skeets
Well, they're just to begin with is a funny concept. It's like, like, I think it's important, it's vital. But it's also saying you're not good enough, like to start or we don't want you to start because of maybe defensive limitations or whatever. Like when I'm like. It's sort of funny when you think about it.
- [67:08]
Eshawa
Yeah, yeah, it is.
- [67:10]
J. Skeets
You're not even. Yeah, you're not even good enough. Or we want you to come off the bench. We prefer you coming off the bench. And it's a skill. It's a hell of a skill.
- [67:18]
Tas Melis
In a current, current six men. I think, I think of Jason Terry as a more prominent guy who made more of a mark in the playoffs. You know, he won it with the Dallas Mavericks because he was super important and came out and performed even though he didn't win as many as, as these guys. Lou. Angel Crawford. But I couldn't do it. I didn't put Jason Terry in even though the guy was, the guy was a bucket as well. You know, you got to be a multiple time all star.
- [67:48]
J. Skeets
If you go through the list of six of the year winners, there are not a lot of hall of Famers.
- [67:53]
Eshawa
Right.
- [67:54]
J. Skeets
Like, I know Kevin McHale was at one point coming off the bench very early. So he turns into a Hall of Famer. Like who else? There's not a lot. There's no, I guess, you know, that's for sure.
- [68:06]
Tas Melis
That's.
- [68:07]
Eshawa
It is the most famous one okay?
- [68:08]
Tas Melis
I think so.
- [68:09]
Eshawa
So, yeah.
- [68:10]
J. Skeets
This is curious. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's interesting. Yeah, I did see. Speaking of six man of the year winners, this guy won two of them. I don't even think his name was on the list. And he was a little upset on Twitter. Detlef. Shrimp. Not even on this like 200 plus people list to be eligible. That is a little weird. He was a good player. I don't think he's going to make the hall of Fame. But his like whole thing was like not even be on this nominee list. Weird to me. Yeah, but he wasn't.
- [68:38]
Tas Melis
Long career. Yeah. Somehow he got into my algorithm as well. Because he was on those Portland trailblazers that almost knocked off the Lakers in that conference finals as the Lakers went to their three peat. What a team. We just got fed that algorithm of Rasheed Wallace, Steve Smith. Arvid is a bonus. What a fricking team that was. So I went down that way. But yeah, six men don't make it. And I guess not. I guess you're right. It's a vital spot. But you should probably be like top 3, 4 player on your team kind of thing, you know? Yeah, exactly.
- [69:11]
J. Skeets
And if you're not, then you need to be like ginobly where it's like, oh, you have massive playoff success and are winning a ton of championships and you're a part of the reason why, whether you're starting games or just ending them. Like he was. Yeah, like there's levels to this thing.
- [69:27]
Tas Melis
And a gold medal in the Olympics knocking off the U.S. that was obviously monstrous. No. 4. And he could have easily been starting and playing way more with the Spurs.
- [69:38]
J. Skeets
Yeah.
- [69:39]
Tas Melis
But he was not.
- [69:40]
J. Skeets
To wrap this up. I do think Blake eventually makes the hall of Fame. Just like I think Amari will. And I do not think Jamal will. And I do not think Joe Johnson will.
- [69:49]
Tas Melis
You take Amari William as well.
- [69:50]
J. Skeets
Yeah, because like I said, if Blake eventually gets in, then I think you gotta put him. That's my thinking on it. Like how do you differentiate the two? To me, yeah, they're pretty damn similar. All right, that's some news. Let's get to Woah of the Night, sponsored by John Horn. So it's Hornboy of the Night. Yeah, John Horn reached out last week. Hey, I want to sponsor Woah, boy, we got you Horn. Hornboy of the night is what he wanted it to be called. So Horn, Hornboy of the Night goes. That I guess unusual honor goes to Knicks captain Jalen Brunson, who we talked about earlier in the show. 47 points, perfect at the free throw line. 11 for 11. Hit a bunch of threes. Two he had eight assists, added three boards. But 47 into Garden. That is his, like I said, high in Madison Square Garden. Which then got me thinking, what's the all time high for a Knicks player in Madison Square Garden? It's got to be mellow, right? Probably mellow. 62.
- [70:49]
Tas Melis
Yeah, I think so.
- [70:51]
J. Skeets
Will Brunson beat that?
- [70:53]
Tas Melis
What about.
- [70:54]
J. Skeets
I Probably say no. Probably say no.
- [70:56]
Eshawa
He said the highest for a Knicks.
- [70:58]
J. Skeets
Player in the Garden is what it was.
- [71:00]
Eshawa
Or highest for.
- [71:01]
J. Skeets
Well, what's. I said, what's the highest for the next player in the Garden?
- [71:03]
Eshawa
Oh, for now, I think it's mellow. Yeah, it is mellow.
- [71:05]
J. Skeets
But Brunson was. This is his high in the match. Madison Square Garden now 47. Could he get. Does he have a 50 burger in the Madison Square Garden under him? Probably. Yeah, that. Yeah. But not 60. 62. Damn. I doubt that. All right. Congrats to the horn boy of the night.
- [71:20]
Tas Melis
Yeah. The name gets even weirder tomorrow. Somebody's already paid for tomorrow. Wanted to sponsor. Whoa, boy. Tomorrow. Well, I don't know if it's weirder. We'll see tomorrow. What? Everyone thinks it's a weird one, though.
- [71:30]
J. Skeets
Tune in for tomorrow's W. Boy, the night, which is already sponsored.
- [71:33]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [71:34]
J. Skeets
Lining them up now.
- [71:35]
Tas Melis
They're lined up. They're lined up. Till our next show after tomorrow's show, December 29th. There's another one. There's another one.
- [71:43]
J. Skeets
Okay.
- [71:44]
Tas Melis
Thank you so much.
- [71:46]
J. Skeets
Pick them.
- [71:47]
Tas Melis
Let's get some pickums.
- [71:48]
J. Skeets
Yeah, I had a loss there on Friday night. So did Trey, because we had the Hawks and you took the Spurs. So Trey and I are battling here tasks at the bottom of the standings. You're 12 and three. You're fine. Trey, seven and eight. I'm five and 10. So we're starting to run out of games here in December because, obviously because of the weird break here with schedule, but where we going?
- [72:07]
Tas Melis
Dallas going into New Orleans where they're facing a team that has won four basketball games in a row. It's pretty incredible. The Pals have won four in a row. So it's a very close line. The Pals are favored by one and a half. I'm comfortable taking them. I'm excited to take them. And so are you.
- [72:24]
J. Skeets
Yeah, well.
- [72:25]
Tas Melis
Well, Trey's got to take the Mavs. He's got no choice.
- [72:29]
J. Skeets
Small line, tough one to pick. Both teams are at least playing a little bit better. But yeah, I'll go. Pels riding this little wave.
- [72:36]
Tas Melis
It is incredible. This Pels is Zion coming off the bench still. And in the last game, he had 29 off the bench against Spacers, where they had 66 off the bench in total. The Pals. Who knew Coming on here, I. It's. I almost wanted to make the Hawks a loser of the weekend because the Pels are getting good and the Hawks are getting the Pels draft pick. This comics now oh, the Hawks had.
- [72:59]
J. Skeets
A bad weekend for sure.
- [73:00]
Tas Melis
They sure. They sure did.
- [73:02]
J. Skeets
They got smoked by the spurs and gave up 150 plus to the. To the Bulls.
- [73:07]
Tas Melis
Yeah.
- [73:08]
J. Skeets
Now the Hawks and then that part.
- [73:09]
Tas Melis
Like, could have a great. Still have a great draft pick, but because the Pals aren't like, you know, they're not making the playoffs right now, but they're still ahead of a bunch of teams or they're coming, you know, coming in line with a bunch of teams. So it'll be fun. Anthony Davis also going to play his old team in New Orleans tonight, so it should be a fun one.
- [73:28]
J. Skeets
Okay. Is that one on? League Pass test.
- [73:32]
Tas Melis
Let me. Click. Click. I don't know. I'm unaware.
- [73:35]
J. Skeets
Well, I bring that up because we got a Little League Pass.
- [73:38]
Tas Melis
Oh, that. That was your segue. Damn. Yeah, Damn. No, you did.
- [73:42]
J. Skeets
Man 3 of the alley open. You just watched it go over.
- [73:44]
Tas Melis
Yeah. Yeah.
- [73:45]
J. Skeets
That's a nice pass. I should have jumped and got that.
- [73:46]
Tas Melis
Well, yeah, I should have. Yeah. But I wanted to. I wanted to talk about the Clippers as a loser of the week. Zubots is out for. For weeks.
- [73:54]
J. Skeets
Clippers wax the Lakers, man, and they're.
- [73:56]
Tas Melis
Still a loser of the weekend. Ty Lu said we just got to go 35 and 20 the rest of the season. Yeah. And then Zubots gets hurt. Yeah, that's for several weeks. Anyway, let's get to that League Pass subscription, because we've got a good deal. We don't say this very often. We're not messing around. We can get you a real good deal. We also have a QR code coming up on your screen on YouTube.
- [74:19]
J. Skeets
QR code still a thing.
- [74:21]
Tas Melis
They're hot. They're good. I love them. We'll also have a link that we can throw in our YouTube description and on Twitter. But League Pass subscription, if you scan over on your QR code or you click the link, it's only 79.99 the rest of the way. And I don't know what you think, Skeets, but League Pass has improved.
- [74:38]
J. Skeets
Oh, my God. Don't. Yeah, I'm at the point. I just. Don't talk about it. Don't jinx it. This is the best it's ever worked for me.
- [74:44]
Tas Melis
It has. It is. I love their resume feature. You know, when you kind of click to another game, you come back to that game. You can just click resume. So you just jump right back in like it's a freaking TV show. Fewer dropouts and League Pass subscribers can watch on prime video. You can lick Link your account and watch on Prime Video. That's pretty cool. That's. I know. Con. Canipple preseason was. I heard that the NBA is going to be on Amazon. Probably said, whoa, now my family can watch. I don't know. Maybe that's a sign. That's a tell for a great gift for the knipples.
- [75:20]
J. Skeets
Maybe the knipples could use the QR code that we just had up there. What'd you say, 80, 79.99 the rest of the season.
- [75:26]
Tas Melis
Yeah, it's pretty solid.
- [75:27]
J. Skeets
That's not bad. Not bad if you love basketball, and I'm sure you do if you're watching this show or listen to this show. So take advantage of that or. Yeah, makes a great gift, too. All right, we'll call it there. Ashley, you did it, man.
- [75:37]
Tas Melis
Got there, man.
- [75:38]
J. Skeets
I think we're still live on the air, so that's good. That's all that matters.
- [75:41]
Tas Melis
We are.
- [75:41]
Eshawa
Let's go. Let's go.
- [75:44]
J. Skeets
Ash, you're here tomorrow with us.
- [75:46]
Eshawa
Yes, sir.
- [75:47]
J. Skeets
That'll be the final show this week in the Factory. I do plan on doing something on the 26th in the yard, maybe recapping the Christmas Day games. But we'll see when we get later on in the week here. But we'll be here tomorrow. We'll try and get that one monitor that we couldn't get working going.
- [76:05]
Eshawa
Oh, we're cooking tomorrow? Oh, yeah, we are cooking.
- [76:07]
J. Skeets
Okay. Okay. You haven't been here in a while and things. The biggest thing is things changed. That's the JD like, switched up everything.
- [76:15]
Eshawa
The entire studio is different. So.
- [76:17]
J. Skeets
Yeah, there's a lot more going on over there.
- [76:19]
Eshawa
Yeah, but we're gonna be fine tomorrow. Don't worry about it. I'm gonna fix it up right after this show.
- [76:23]
J. Skeets
Okay, well, we will see you guys tomorrow at 10am Eastern here on YouTube live. And obviously flipped into a podcast after that. Until then, Clipper Bros turn up. Love you guys.
- [76:35]
Eshawa
Awesome.
- [76:36]
Tas Melis
Thanks for joining us. And remember, we didn't go through Losers of the weekend. That's how positive we are on this show. In a weird way.
- [76:45]
J. Skeets
We did.
- [76:46]
Tas Melis
Yeah, we did. But I. I think you can call the Kings loser of the weekend even if they want. But demonte Sabon is out another month. Maybe that's a good sign for them. Maybe they decide. All right, we gotta blow this thing up. What are we gonna do here? The Charlotte Hornets with a lamella ball, scored 86 points. What is this? What is this? Dell Curry on the floor? Was this 1995? Anyway, that's about it. That's all. I just wanted to added that in.
- [77:13]
J. Skeets
Okay, Brace the day people.
- [77:19]
Tas Melis
Foreign.
- [77:32]
Ryan Seacrest
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- [78:03]
Coca Cola Announcer
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- [78:05]
J. Skeets
All.
- [78:05]
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- [79:19]
Tas Melis
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.