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A
This is an iHeart podcast.
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B
Guaranteed Human.
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C
And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show. Hey, everyone, check out this guy and his bird.
- [00:18]
B
What is this, your first date?
- [00:20]
A
Oh, no.
- [00:21]
C
We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird. Yeah, the bird looks out of your league. Anyways, get a'@libertymutual.com or with your local agent.
- [00:32]
B
Liberty, Liberty. Liberty.
- [00:34]
A
Liberty. Starting something new isn't just hard, it's terrifying. So much work goes into this thing that you're not entirely sure will work out, and it can be hard to make that leap of faith. Trust me, I know. When we started this podcast, we had next to no idea what we were doing. What if no one listens? What if we make fools of ourselves? What if no one gets it? Of course, now we know that I was right to believe in ourselves and launch this show despite all the fears and hesitations that came along with it. And it also helps when you have a partner like Shopify on your side to help. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Heinz and Mattel to brands just getting started. And get started with your own design studio or with hundreds of ready to use templates. Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store that matches your brand style. And did I mention that iconic purple shop pay button that's used by millions of businesses around the world? It's why Shopify has the best converting checkout on the planet. On the planet. It also helps boost conversions, meaning less carts going abandoned and more sales for you. It's time to turn those what ifs into with Shopify today. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com nodunks go to shopify.com nodunks that's shopify.com nodunks during Memorial Day at Lowe's Shop household must haves for less. Save $80 on a char broil performance series 4 burner grill to chef up plus get up to 45% off.
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Select major appliances to keep things fresh.
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Our best lineup is here at Lowe's. Lowe's we help you save valid through 527 while supplies last selection varies by location. See lowe's.com for details. Visit your nearby lowes.
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My name is Jessa.
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A
One of the things I love the
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B
most about working for UnitedHealthcare is that everybody matters. Every moment matters. There's a person behind every problem.
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A
I care because it's what I was put on this earth to do. I'm Ben and I work at UnitedHealthcare.
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C
I am just one piece of a larger puzzle.
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A
But every piece matters. It's more than just work.
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We want to make the healthcare system better for everyone. I care because I want to make a difference.
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A
That's what committed to care means to me. Good morning, sweet world, and welcome to the no Dunks podcast presented by FanDuel. It's Monday, May 18th to 2026. I'm J. SkS here in the Classic Factory and alongside me, as always, Tas Melis.
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B
Podcast listeners, this is for you.
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A
Next to him, it's my top shot, hot boy Trey Kirby, AO and over yonder, filling in for JD Today. Oh, look who's back. It's Ashwa kid. How y' all doing? What's up? Great to see you, man. Yeah, it's good to see you guys. Yeah, it's been a minute. JD and the family celebrating Jackson graduating today.
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C
Wow.
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A
So congrats to Jackson. Good kid graduating high school.
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C
Yeah, Jackson not surprised though. New Star wars movie coming to the theaters. We can't keep Eshawa out of here.
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A
That's right. That's right.
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C
Unbelievable.
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A
Are you excited for the little Grogu? Excited? Not. Not particularly. Happy a new Star wars is coming, sure, but this one right here could have just been on Disney plus.
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C
Oh, I keep it real in an email.
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A
Damn. Damn. Appreciate everybody joining us here. Monday on yout. If you're joining us live, hit the like button. Subscribe Share the Show Podcast listeners, five star ratings and reviews on today's show, we're going to preview and predict the Western Conference finals between the Thunder and Spurs. That tips tonight. And oh, Canada SGA is once again the NBA's most valuable player. But first, the Cavaliers finally got over the hump. We got to talk Game seven. After losing in back to back seasons in this round in the semifinals, the core of Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jared Allen have finally advanced to the Eastern Conference finals in their fourth season together. All it took was adding James Harden at the trade deadline and some hot shooting from Sam Merrill in Game 7. So the Knicks will host the Cavs in Game 1 of the Conference finals Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden on espn. We'll preview and predict that series on tomorrow's pod. But we're talking game seven and TAs. Unfortunately, this was another Blowout. I said unfortunately, because we had three pretty crappy games this weekend. When you go back to the two game sixes and then game seven in terms of just blowouts here.
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C
Yeah.
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B
What was this for Detroit? That doesn't get any worse than that at home. Game seven, to lose like that. I wish the PA announcer would have came on with a. Detroit basketball is not available tonight. I mean, that did not look like Detroit basketball at all. I know everyone on the broadcast was crediting Donovan Mitchell for his assists to start the game, but a lot of it was just bad point of attack defense or just rotating and collapsing. And so the pass was there for Donovan Mitchell. I know Donna Mitchell was feeling it. Hitting his first three from 27ft and it felt so good. I'll take one from 37ft and hit that one. He was on point. But you mentioned James Harden being acquired this game because it was so bad. You don't really look at James Harden's numbers because he has had a classic bad Game seven. Nine points over six from three classic games. Seven stuff. But.
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C
But more field goals than assists didn't matter.
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B
Turnovers, it didn't matter.
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C
Two field goals, one turnover. Harden didn't play bad. He didn't play good.
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B
No, no, I'm not. I'm not. I'm not pointing out it didn't matter, though.
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C
This was not matter.
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B
An absolute smoke show.
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A
Yeah. The Cavs, they were aggressive from the tip, too.
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B
They were. They were good. Yeah. And in your arena Game seven, you want your audience or your crowd to get into it and they weren't there. They couldn't be there. I mean, you saw shots of the crowd. Just empty seats really early. Unfortunately, in this game, they were not ready. It was just surprising. Surprising to see that. Surprising to see Cade's season, which was amazing. And like that, you can look and point fingers at J.B. bickerstaff. Maybe you should have gone to Ron Holland or Javante Green, guys who have that energy defensively. But it didn't matter. It really didn't matter. Nobody. Name one Piston that had a good game. I don't think he can.
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C
Duncan Robinson.
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B
He was literally their best player off the bench. I guess so. Yeah. Yeah, Toby, But I mean, that's the problem. Yeah.
- [07:20]
C
Tobias Harris, Jalen Duran, Asar Thompson. 17 points total. It ain't gonna work, especially when Cade is having an off game. I thought Cade let the game come to him too much. He was super passive. I thought in this one, the Cavs, to me, played great. And I think that's A huge part of it as well. The Pistons just could not keep up scoring wise. I thought they played hard enough in the first half, just not playing very well. And then in the second half as the Cavs continued rolling, Detroit really let go of the rope and it just turn into a dunk fest for Jared Allen. The nerdy Shaq out there dunking everything and then bricking away at the free throw line. I'm ready to retire. The lights are too bright meme for this guy. He showed up in two game sevens undefeated in game seven in his career.
- [08:00]
A
I do like that he's now taking on the Knicks though, where it all started. Totally, totally too bright. So we'll see if MSG is maybe too bright.
- [08:07]
C
Yeah, but I thought he was great. I thought Mobley was awesome. And Donovan Mitchell was just in complete control of the entire game. Clearly saw something in their scout where he knows the big is going to come to him. So we saw when he had his 39 point half, he shot a ton of floaters over the bigs. And this one it was when the big comes over, just drop it off to Mobley or to Allen. Sam Merrill checks in, starts hitting a whole bunch of threes. And yeah, the Harden thing is pretty funny because what an ultimate legacy series for this guy. If you think James Harden sucks, you say look at Games 1, 2 and 6 when he was sloppy Jim. More turnovers than shots made. He sucks if you think he's good. He carried him in games three, four and five, got them back in the series, then he finally wins a game seven. He's now over.500 in game sevens in his career. All because of his teammates.
- [08:53]
A
Yeah.
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C
So whatever you thought of James Harden, it's still true after this series, which I really like.
- [08:57]
B
That's true.
- [08:58]
A
Yeah, that's a good point. The Cavs were just like cash and threes in early in this game. Built the lead 6 of 13 I think in the first 12 minutes of the game. That's tough to overcome for Detroit because you had Wade hitting 1, 2, you had Sam Merrill hitting 1, you had Mobley hitting like an end of shot clock grenade that he banged home. And then you had a couple there from Mitchell as well. I mean great shooting from the Cavs on the road in the other barn and they just started there hot. It was. Shoe said it was only the second time in their last nine games Cleveland had won the first quarter. This wasn't something they'd been doing, whether in wins or losses all post season long. So to get the lead and Then to build on it. And a big part was, like, how many possessions were there where they had, like, two or three chances on said possession because they were attacking the glass. Long rebounds. It sort of looked like game six to me. Just the opposite of the teams. Like, we were talking about great rebounding from the jump from Detroit in Game 6 on Friday night. It was Cleveland in Game 7 doing that again, long rebounds and just getting all these other chances.
- [09:54]
B
Yeah, it was odd just to see the Pistons fight level, not be there for the defensive rebounding. And then because they're collapsing, was really late, and the rotations were really late. They weren't there. That being said, you got to give Sam Merrill, I thought, a lot of credit. His threes just weren't open because of the collapsing. He did have to put it on the floor and then hit shots. He was really, really good. I keep thinking about that question Trey asked earlier in the season. Would you rather have AJ Green in the Milwaukee Bucks or Sam Merrill? And that was the big. The big question. And I thought, I'm buying A.J. green's muscles. His rotation or his. His shot rotate or release, I should say was way above his head. So I'm taking AJ Green. But after this series and after Sam Merrill taking a freaking truck of AAR Thompson, I mean, that guy, he. Many times, Sam Merrill stepped up and was able to be physical in this series. He even missed Game 2, and that was a game that they obviously missed him. And. But he came back and was really, really, really good in this series.
- [10:54]
A
And you've seen the stats, I mean, all postseason long, Sam Merrill is, like the bellwether for this Cavaliers team. Their record is pretty dominant when he's been healthy and when he plays. And it's been more of, like, an average team when he has been out there. But he was huge. I mean, yeah, I definitely had in my notes at one point, like, wow, this is the Sam Merrill game here. Game seven on the road. Now, a lot of other guys contributed. And, yeah, back to donovan Mitchell. The four assists and zero turnovers in the first, you know, 13, 14 minutes a game. That was something because we. Again, to go back to Friday night's game, Game six, we were like, is Donovan Mitchell ever gonna get an assist again? Like, what's going on here? Like, he's not setting guys up. It's either, you know, it's feast or famine with the scoring. He was bad on Friday. He was awesome in this one. And then when Detroit tried to make the run in the third quarter, wasn't much Of a run, but, you know, got it to within 15, 17. I thought Mitchell buried any comeback hope. I thought he was great in the third quarter. Obviously looked to score a little bit more. Got to line, had 15 of his 26 in the quarter and just completely ended the game and got us into early garbage time.
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B
Yeah.
- [11:56]
A
What else from this one? Before we start, you know, talking about what the Pistons are going to do in the off season.
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C
This is a good series to look back on when you're trying to remember. Why do we always say game five is pivotal? Because this series could have been tipping the other way with the Pistons up by nine with three minutes left at home. And they blew it. Didn't score for the last three minutes of the game. Missed their last five shots, had a turnover due to a shot clock violation. Cavs come back to win in overtime, gives them two chances to win one of these last two games. And that's exactly what they needed because they turtled it on in game six, but they came back for game seven and one. So, you know, we say it literally every time there's a game five. This is a pivotal Game five, and that was a pivotal three minutes in this series.
- [12:42]
B
Totally true. Like you alluded to earlier, Skeets, a very different team from Game 6 to Game 7 for the Detroit Pistons. It's just hard to replicate that over, you know, two games. And yeah, Donovan Mitchell definitely showed up and was the best place, probably the
- [12:57]
C
five best players on the court.
- [12:58]
A
Yes. Yesterday, Game seven, pretty.
- [13:00]
B
Yeah, it was pretty easy to say that for sure.
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A
Biggest game of Donna Mitchell's career.
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C
Oh, yeah. He'd never gotten to a game seven of the second round, I don't think. And this is the best win that the Cavs have had since he's been there. That's when the Cavs have had since LeBron.
- [13:13]
A
He's coming off back to back stinkers to like, get us here to game seven. He was not good at games five or six. And for him to obviously come through here and deliver with the 26, 8 and 7 to finally advance past the second round, get that monkey off his back. I mean, this guy has been in every postseason, right? Every year he's played, he's there a lot of times in the second round. Now he gets to go to the conference finals finally. And he got some help because Mobley was great. Jared Allen, Game seven, Jared Allen. We got game six, Clay, and now we got game seven Ja and then all these other guys contributing. Max Druce energy, Sam Merrill, threes. And I'M with you that five or six of the best players last night were Cavaliers in Game seven.
- [13:51]
B
Yeah. Yeah. And obviously James Harden was not good in Game seven. But as Trey brought up James Harden helped get them here. No doubt. He was a huge part of it. So the trade worked out. They got to the conference finals.
- [14:03]
C
Well, I think that even though he didn't play well offensively, he just had a bad scoring night, if we're being honest. But he was what he ended up 2 for 9 or 2 for 10? 2 for 10, I guess. But he was deferring to Mitchell, I thought was kind of big. They were letting Evan Mobley bring the ball up as well. Harden was, like, decent defensively. He's got way more size than Darius Garland did, and that's a thing you can exploit, especially a huge Pistons team could not exploit Harden. He was hustling. He was getting offensive rebounds. He's out running guys. You know, only one turnover is huge. He set up Jared Allen for a lot of his dunks as well. So even though Harden was, like, taking a back seat, he was not bad in any way, shape or form. He knew he didn't have his scoring going, so he wasn't forcing it at all. And I don't think you could say the same about other players on the Pistons. Like, even though Harden didn't play great, he still outplayed Tobias Harris. Yeah.
- [14:48]
A
You know Tobias Harris. Did he hit a shot?
- [14:50]
B
No.
- [14:51]
A
Since, like, the second half of. Or from. Since the first half of game five, I think he maybe hit one or two.
- [14:57]
C
He was pretty bad the last three.
- [14:58]
A
Bad over this last little part. He came up short. Obviously. Cade got bottled up. I did think the Cavs were. Did just a great job, like. Of. Yeah. Really? Just, like, stymieing the Pistons action early. They were, like, stonewalling any sort of drive where they would try and get into the paint. They were. They were on a string there. They were locked in. And that's like, this is sort of the Cavaliers team, I think we thought, coming into the season, like we anticipated to be one of the better teams in the league again and in the Eastern Conference. And it just. You didn't see it for a long time in the regular season. Then they were like, let's make a drastic move and obviously flip Garland for Harden. And even then there were stretches where it didn't look all that promising. So for them here. And I don't know, what game is this for them? 96. Jesus. Yeah, like, that was some of the best Cavs basketball we've seen them look this season.
- [15:44]
B
And then on the other side, the Pistons literally couldn't score on fast breaks. Wide open, fast breaks. Just couldn't pass the ball. It was 8, 7 midway through this first quarter. And that's when the Cavs took off because, yeah, the Pistons didn't do much to get their crowd into it and couldn't score. It couldn't pass. Real funk. And, you know, Cade's long season here, whatever game it is for them, considering the. His lung, I mean, maybe that all caught up, but either way, he was not himself and the whole team just crumbled.
- [16:19]
C
It did feel like you could tell Cade wasn't himself the first two times he touched the ball. He threw that outlet pass like 10ft too long. I think it was. Harris was a streaking. He threw the OOP to Asar Thompson. Could have finished. It would have been a tough finish for Thompson. I thought it was a bad pass from Kate as well. And then, like, he was just content to get into jumpers. And it's like, this guy's supposed to be playing downhill. And part of it is the Cavs were switching things. And you heard Stan Van talking about it. He's like, they just want every Cade bucket to be one on five. And that's what they made it. They made it tough on him. But there were. I just thought there were times when he was a little passive in this game and kind of just content to stay on the perimeter when he's got to be drawing free throws and getting some buckets inside. Just wasn't there, though.
- [17:00]
A
Yeah. And then I saw Kelly Dwyer write about it here this morning. J.B. bickerstaff's sort of lineups or decisions here in game seven. You alluded to a task like Javante Green did play in all 82 games this season, and he was pretty solid. Now, his minutes dwindled in the postseason, but, you know, you didn't see him much. Ron Holland, that's a guy that played like 78 games in the regular season. But the problem was, it's like those guys maybe will give you more of a defensive edge, but you're going to be a little limited offensively with them. But then the counter is, well, these other guys that are supposed to be the offensive guys, they're not actually scoring here into my like. So I get it. He's in a tough spot. But maybe, I guess Kelly's thinking is, like, you're a defensive team first. Like, lean into that. Maybe make this the ugly, low scoring game.
- [17:46]
B
But, yeah, in A game seven where we do see ugly, low scoring games. That being said, you know, you see what J.B. bickerstaff in Game 6 and pointed to Sasser and more Paul Reed and Caris Lavert and it worked. So it's a tough one, but when they're. You don't have the effort. I get it. I get it.
- [18:04]
A
Yeah. It's just more. It was shocking to see the. One of the best defenses in the league all season long.
- [18:09]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [18:09]
A
Get sort of embarrassed here.
- [18:10]
C
They got lit up for sure.
- [18:12]
A
Yeah.
- [18:12]
C
If you're a Pistons fan waking up today, are you a sad boy or happy boy?
- [18:17]
A
I think overall, like, look, you're sad because no one likes that sucks. Yeah. At home, get smashed like that.
- [18:24]
B
It was all Cleveland fans in that arena. You gotta be sad.
- [18:27]
A
How many buses were there? I saw 20 and then I saw 25. They were saying, what was it?
- [18:31]
B
I got 25.
- [18:32]
A
Okay.
- [18:32]
B
I'm going with 25.
- [18:33]
A
But. But Zoom out, zoom out.
- [18:35]
B
Yeah.
- [18:36]
A
I mean, this was a great season. You're the number one seed. You did level up a little. Obviously won a postseason matchup to go to the next round. We. We set up the deadline. That's all they're doing. That's it. I mean, Kevin Herder, really. Okay. They've decided to slow play this. Sort of do what we've seen, I guess Presti and the Thunder do before. Like when we were saying you need rebounding, you need size. And they took that one year, like, let's see what we are first. And then they went and got Caruso and Hartenstein and turned into a champion team. That's sort of what you'd hope the Pistons will do here. They need to make moves. They need more shooting. I mean, they have to change this a little bit. But overall, come on, you got to be happy with this.
- [19:16]
C
You're happy, but it is a missed opportunity because I agree with you. It is similar to OKC in 2024. Kevin Herder is Gordon Hayward. I mean, like, pretty close to a T now. You know, red hair versus brown hair, but very similar out there. The difference, of course, is that first and foremost, Kate is not Shay.
- [19:33]
A
No.
- [19:33]
C
And then also there's not a Jalen Williams on the roster.
- [19:36]
A
Also.
- [19:36]
C
You don't have a million picks that you can go out and get who you need.
- [19:39]
A
So fair.
- [19:39]
C
Also, I mean, Josh Giddy at least had some believers in the Chicago Bulls that allowed them to get Alex Caruso. Is there a guy like that to trade away? If you're the Pistons, somebody like who is interesting to other teams. A Sar Thompson would be the guy you would have to look at, but he seems pretty locked in there. He's. He was very up and down, I thought in this series. His defense is awesome. His mental game isn't always there and his offensive game is rarely there. So I think that's a question mark to answer as well. Not to mention teams will get better in the Eastern Conference. I think this was a year that the Pistons really, really should have gone for it, I think.
- [20:16]
A
And two huge question marks with the Pistons this off season are Jalen Duran, how much money did this guy potentially lose? Or what deal do they agree on here? And then unrestricted free agency for Tobias Harris as well, who was was good at times in this postseason. But then disappearing act out on the
- [20:32]
B
stretch and they got a ton of cap room to spend. So if there's a free agent to come along, I mean, they basically have nobody beyond Cade that's making a lot of money under contract next year other than the Duran contract. That will happen. Duncan will under contract right now is their second highest paid player at 15mil. So this season, definitely a little bit of a disappointment not getting to the conference finals, I'm sure. Ash, when they got Kevin Herder, you're thinking, whoa, this team could be a conference finalist just like the Atlanta Hawks. And Kevin Herder starting those games right,
- [21:07]
C
Nobody thought you should have dusted off game seven. Kevin.
- [21:10]
B
Well, listen, if he was, he wasn't healthy these last two months. He wasn't playing, he wasn't part of the rotation. A lot of it. And so there was that part. I mean, he didn't look like Kevin Herder from five years ago, that's for sure. He didn't look like anything like he should have been. But they have lots of cap room. Trajan Langdon will be making some moves. But I guess what do they do with Tobias? That is a big, big question.
- [21:33]
A
What do you think, Ash? Was this a, like disappointing now season for the Pistons or. Come on, this was. Overall, this was great. And it's a stepping stone. Yeah, I mean, I think it's a good season for the Pistons. Like why. Why would it be a disappointment? I think, you know, I just, I just, I forgot how bad they were just a few seasons ago. So to be here, like they had the worst record ever for the Pistons just what, two seasons ago, and here they are at the number one seed and then with a chance to go to the conference finals and maybe a shot to go to the finals, like, this is a this is a success for them for sure.
- [22:02]
B
Yeah.
- [22:04]
A
Starting something new isn't just hard, it's terrifying. So much work goes into this thing that you're not entirely sure will work out and it can be hard to make that leap of faith. Trust me, I know. When we started this podcast, we had next to no idea what we were doing. What if no one listens? What if we make fools of ourselves? What if no one gets it? Of course, now we know that I was right to believe in ourselves and launch this show despite all the fears and hesitations that came along with it. And it also helps when you have a partner like Shopify on your side to help. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Heinz and Mattel to brands just getting started. And get started with your own design studio. With hundreds of ready to use templates, Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store that matches your brand style. And did I mention that iconic purple shop pay button that's used by millions of businesses around the world? It's why Shopify has the best converting checkout on the planet. On the planet. It also helps boost conversions, meaning less carts going abandoned and more sales for you. It's time to turn those what ifs into with Shopify today. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com nodunks go to shopify.com nodunks that's shopify.com no dunks
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- [25:43]
C
house a few years back, one of the things that caught our interest was that the sellers described the backyard as a gardener's paradise. And let me tell you, we garden hard flowers, ferns, foods, compost, raised beds, hammocks. Not necessarily guarding that last one, but chilling is very important too. The one thing we're missing though, a potting table. So don't tell my wife, but she's getting one for Mother's Day and I found it on Wayfair. Whether your vibe is modern, coastal, farmhouse or eclectic, Wayfair has options to help you create an outdoor space that's uniquely yours. Wayfair makes it simple to narrow down to what works for your style and budget. Outdoor seating, grills, major appliances, storage, patio lighting, rugs, decor, potting tables. Wayfair is your one stop shop for home. Over 20 million verified 5 star reviews help you make the right call. Real customers, real feedback. Real homes get prepped for patio season. For way less head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. That's W A Y-F A I R.com Wayfair Every style, every home.
- [27:02]
A
Let's get into some other random notes from this game 7 blowout random. The first one was the. Yeah, the buses. Dan Gilbert Hell of an owner move there. Sending I guess 25 full buses of Cavaliers fans in Detroit. And you could hear them.
- [27:27]
C
They were loud.
- [27:27]
A
They were quite loud. I mean I think they were helped out by the fact that their team was rolling and the Pistons crowd was crickets.
- [27:33]
B
But yeah, and they got uniform T shirts.
- [27:35]
A
Yeah.
- [27:36]
B
Yeah. The the dark red, the burgundy. So, yeah, they were. It felt like a Cleveland game at times, obviously, because Detroit stunk.
- [27:45]
A
Now, how far.
- [27:45]
B
That's a lot of buses.
- [27:46]
A
How far is the drive from Cleveland to New York? Is this happening there? No way.
- [27:51]
B
Right.
- [27:52]
A
That's too far. Yeah.
- [27:54]
C
That seems too far.
- [27:55]
A
Right.
- [27:55]
C
To send 25 buses. I feel like it's drivable. I don't know. Literally no idea. But tell me. Eight and a half hours.
- [28:03]
A
Yeah. The problem is it's the drive there is not the issue. It's the drive back. Right. Because, like, you're going to play a night game.
- [28:10]
C
Yeah.
- [28:12]
A
Back to the morning. If you're driving back, I don't know what it is. Cleveland to New York City is 7 hours and 20 minutes. Oh, geez. Okay. I basically just did that to New Orleans. You know, it's a drive. How many BUC EE's are between them?
- [28:26]
C
Okay.
- [28:26]
A
Probably not happening is my point. But there'll be some Cavs fans maybe flying over to New York. Oh, actually, you would need Dan Gilbert to pay for those tickets. If you've seen the prices for game one there.
- [28:37]
B
Yeah.
- [28:38]
C
Dan Gilbert was probably like, well, how much is gas for all these buses?
- [28:41]
A
Ridiculous. But anyway, pretty cool for an owner to do there.
- [28:44]
C
Totally a lot of respect to him.
- [28:46]
A
Yep. What else you got from this one?
- [28:48]
C
I'll start at the very beginning. The pregame hype video was awesome.
- [28:51]
A
Yeah.
- [28:51]
C
It was common. Talking about noise, basically. And it felt like we got moments that. Real sickos. No. They even put in Zaza Pachulia. Nothing easy in there. They had Kevin Durant stepping his toe on the line against the Bucks, complete with a zoom in on his toe. I thought that was pretty sweet.
- [29:06]
A
Yeah. I'm glad you brought up the game 7 Zaza clip over the Verve's Bittersweet Symphony. That was. It got me hyped. Oh, my God. Zaza yelling at us. Nothing easy.
- [29:18]
B
Plus that drone shot coming from the rafters. That was nice. Real, real nice.
- [29:22]
A
Prime's last game of the season. They said goodbye last night because they do not have the conference finals here.
- [29:29]
B
Everybody's saying goodbye to Dirk. I didn't get that by the Dirk specifically, as opposed to the other guys. Are the other guys going to be around? I don't know. There was. There was just a lot of bye, Dirk. I mean, they were. They corrected themselves and they said, I mean, he's not going. It. He'll be back, I guess. But no, nothing specific about Blake Nash. Either way, we'll get to more of that. Announcement by those guys on Shay's MVP a little bit later. That was. That was too good stuff. I do want to note, James Harden does look funny to me, and this might just be me pointing it out, but when he gets beat on defense. On defense, sometimes he looks like he's in cement at times. Like, Kate will go by him. He did go by him a couple times in this series, and it looks like he's looking at the other side of the floor, like he's just not moving. It takes them a while to get going and get back into rotation. So that's. It's hilarious to me. If you could do a little montage of just James Harden, you kind of looking like Dylan Brooks looks at, you know, during a national anthem. Just like locks in. It's pretty funny if you're in my. My seat. Anyway,
- [30:37]
A
James Harden was on some last night with some Grifton calls too. He was doing his. I loved when Duncan Robinson did a James Harden move to James Harden in the corner three, did some embellishing on. On a three point shot and got
- [30:50]
B
the free throw the guys were doing. I mean, Mitchell was doing it to that guy with the Bugs Bunny on his shirt. I think. I mean, in the. In the front, the baseline.
- [30:58]
A
Yeah, they were talking shit to that guy. Yeah, there was one or two guys that are there. They're always there. I think even Jared Allen was saying something to them at one point.
- [31:05]
B
Oh, really?
- [31:06]
A
Yeah. Yeah. Did we have one of the quickest replay reviews of all time? When Duncan Robinson smacked Schroeder?
- [31:13]
C
That was quick.
- [31:14]
A
That was so quick. We didn't even get a shot of officials looking at monitors or talking to us. If I remember correctly, we saw the replay a couple times. Stan Van's like, no, okay, yeah, it's a foul. He hit him.
- [31:26]
C
Yep.
- [31:27]
A
It's not a flagrant. Let's go.
- [31:28]
C
That was good.
- [31:28]
A
It was very quick.
- [31:29]
C
That was a quick one.
- [31:30]
A
So thank you to that. Kyle Newbeck had this tweet. NBA home blowouts are especially soul crushing because the DJ just keeps firing up instrumentals from 2005 rap songs while your team misses its 11th consecutive thing. 3. Lot of truth to that, man. You know, I just always. I do always think a lot of people pay good money for those seats. You know, you're game seven. You're hyped. You had all Sunday, all weekend, really, after the big Game 6 win. And just a sad trombone after. You know, it is true.
- [32:01]
C
And if like sports PA guy, you got to keep yelling, Detroit basketball. You got to keep Your bits up even to the bitter end. That's sad.
- [32:08]
A
Yeah, it's like the swag surfing here in Atlanta when they were down 40. This is going. You got to do it. You got to do it. I like Stan Van Gundy calling Ben Wallace looking like a college professor.
- [32:19]
C
That was a good.
- [32:20]
A
And then eagle sand. Yeah, he's like a professor of rebounds and defense and stuff like that. Very funny. And that's about it. That's all I got from this one.
- [32:27]
C
The only other thing I had was Cade had a really funny turnover when like Jared Allen fell down and then Cade threw a pass to Jared Allen on the ground.
- [32:35]
B
Yeah.
- [32:35]
C
What happened there? It didn't look like it was deflected.
- [32:38]
B
Yeah, I don't think so. Every Cade pass, that one didn't look like it was deflected. The one that you mentioned at the beginning of the game where he tried to throw a, a left hooky to tobias Harris like 50ft. I had to keep going back. And was that Evan Mobley who poked it 40ft away cuz his, his touch wasn't on. And then he passed that one literally to Jared Allen sitting on the floor. The turnover was committed because he passed it to a guy on the floor. Cade wasn't right.
- [33:01]
A
No, I mean that's how we got to a blowout situation. Cade was bad. Not a good Cade game. And then nobody else of course helping. I mean Jalen Duran, back to nothing. Beef stoop was brutal.
- [33:13]
C
He did nothing.
- [33:14]
A
Paul Reed, the magic ran out. You know, like we like Tobias can't hit a shot. Duncan Robinson was okay like he said, but otherwise it was, it was pretty bad.
- [33:23]
B
Yeah.
- [33:25]
A
No, no, no. But good season overall. We'll see what they do. They have big decisions here as they now have shown that they are one of the better teams obviously in the Eastern Conference. Now you got to obviously get Cade some help scoring wise and, and gotta figure out how much is too much for Jalen Duran after what we just saw. He's an important piece. He was great all regular season, but I don't know that guy. You can't go like you're not going max on him. There's no possible way you are. That's how you get yourself in trouble as a franchise.
- [33:53]
B
That's right. Yeah. It takes him in the playoffs. Takes them multiple quarters to get going. And they tried to go to him in the first quarter after the timeout, JB Bickerstaff goes to him. He missed, but then he was able to get it going and getting a miss and put back. And then, you know, they forced the Cavs to call a timeout, but it didn't last long. So that is a. It's a fair question, especially with a guy who's going to get an all nb, All NBA award. I assume. Make a team.
- [34:18]
A
Yeah, I think so.
- [34:19]
B
Yeah.
- [34:20]
A
All right, well, let's hear your thoughts, everybody in the stream team on the Cavaliers dominant Game 7 win. And again, we will preview and predict the Eastern Conference finals on tomorrow's podcast. We're going to take a quick break, then we'll talk SGA and look at the West Series.
- [34:34]
C
FanDuel is giving you better payouts on same game parlays all NBA playoffs long. I heard pre show that we only have 12 to 21 games remaining.
- [34:44]
A
That's exactly right. It's either three sweeps or three game sevens. So 12 or 21?
- [34:50]
B
No, in between.
- [34:51]
C
No, in between. That'd be crazy. Anyways, with more ways to build and more value every time you play, you can stack your picks your way for every game, every matchup and every moment. From spreads to player points to threes and more, build it all into one same game parlay and go for bigger payouts. So if you're betting same game parlays this NBA season, bet them on FanDuel, please. Here's a 4legger that FanDuel has running right now. These are all point rebound assist totals for four men. Chet, 30 or more points, rebounds, assists combined.
- [35:24]
B
Going over.
- [35:25]
C
Castle 35.
- [35:27]
B
Don't know about that one.
- [35:30]
C
You better hit the glass. Castle SGA. 40 points, rebounds, assists.
- [35:35]
A
Yeah, probably.
- [35:36]
C
WEMBY 45.
- [35:38]
B
Whoa.
- [35:39]
C
Yeah. The stair steps. Wow.
- [35:42]
A
I'm gonna. Oh, I don't. That's. I'm. There's no way. All four of those hit over for sure.
- [35:47]
C
That seems pretty tough. Yeah, they're. They're stepping.
- [35:50]
B
You're stepping.
- [35:51]
C
You check Castle SGA. WEMBY 30, 35, 40, 45. That's a plus. Three three zero six. 10 bucks wins. 330.
- [35:59]
A
Okay. I mean, it pays. It definitely pays.
- [36:01]
C
That'd be a high scoring game, it feels like.
- [36:03]
A
Yeah. Yeah.
- [36:04]
C
Or a bricky game, I guess, with just like heavy rebounding numbers for these guys. They all go over 10 plus boards. That'd be crazy. More options, better payouts, all at NBA playoffs. Lying head to the FanDuel Sportsbook app to get started. FanDuel, official partner of the NBA Player Game.
- [36:18]
A
Player game. New trench coats for everybody.
- [36:22]
C
New trenchers.
- [36:23]
A
Thunder guard Shay Gilgis Alexander has won a second consecutive MVP award. The NBA announced this Last night. Well, Shams announced it first. Pissed off everybody on Prime. The now two time MVP finished with 83 first place votes compared to 10 for Jokic and 5 for Wembanyama. Kate Cunningham did get two first place votes, but Shea runs away with this in the end. Tasks going back to back like he's Steve Nash. Yeah, back in the day.
- [36:54]
B
And Steve Nash announced it.
- [36:55]
A
That was cool.
- [36:55]
B
He was the guy who got to announce it because he has been his mentor. So that, that was very cool. It was also cool to hear Blake Griffin call out shots. That was too funny. What are we doing, man? Look, it's Sunday. Shams go to brunch. You nerd. Calls him a nerd. That's pretty funny. Yeah, that was funny.
- [37:19]
C
I think he's actually the next Charles Barkley.
- [37:21]
A
Wow.
- [37:22]
C
He's outspoken but he's also willing to take it. And very self deprecating. But yeah, Shay deserves it. I thought it was funny. His little moment with Steve Nash and Dirk. Dirk asks him like 10 to 15 years from now you're looking back at these two MVPs. What are you thinking about him? He's like, probably that I used to be really nice and now I'm washed up. And Nash is like, that's exactly what it's like. Still advising him as he wins.
- [37:47]
A
So a couple things about this. SGA's raw scoring actually went down this season from 32.7 points per game to 31.1. But he scored those points far more efficiently, which is pretty amazing. 55% from the floor, 39% from 3, 88% at the line. So flirting with a. Flirting with a 55, 40, 90 line there. Sam Quinn of CBS Sports noted that the only other player to ever achieve those shooting percentages on more than 250 total shots was Kevin Durant. And Kevin Durant did it in 47 games in 22, 23. So SGA did it in 68 games and still managed to finish his season with fewer total turnovers and almost twice as many assists to that KD season. So just mad efficiency here from this guy. He's the seventh player over the last 40 years to win multiple NBA MVP awards by his 28th birthday. Does not turn 28 until July. SGA LeBron had three MVPs by 28. And then it's SGA. Jokic, Giannis, Curry, Duncan and Jordan. Having the two up to that age, pretty incredible. Just unbelievable season. His sustained success is sensational. I didn't mean that to be a tongue twister. SGA's sustained success is simply sensational. Fourth straight season that SGA finished in the top five in MVP voting and just scoring 30 points per game over four consecutive seasons. This is Jordan, Jordan esque, man. It is. And look, if he can do. If he can pull off another title and finals mvp, then he is getting into very rarefied air. Were you shocked at all that he ran away with like 83 of the first place votes? Did you think he'd be a little closer? Not really, no.
- [39:33]
C
No. He was always leading in the bottom straw polls. And you know, we do podcasts every day. People do talk shows every day, so you got to talk about something. So it makes it seem like a guy like Wemby could be closing on him during the last third of the season. Like Jokic is closing on him when he's putting up these monster lines as well. But then once you actually settle down and take a look at stuff, you're like, this guy averaged 33 a game, shooting 55% on the best team in the league. Makes sense that he would be the mvp.
- [40:02]
A
Yeah.
- [40:02]
B
I think the biggest surprise from all the voting was that Wemby didn't surpass Jokic for second. I was a little surprised by that just considering Jokic's finish to the season. I mean, they won 12 in a row to end the season, but still he wasn't himself. Even the last couple of years.
- [40:18]
A
Monster numbers were earlier in the season.
- [40:20]
B
Yeah. After the injury, he was not himself.
- [40:23]
A
And then Wemby came on late and. And they had a dominant record when Wemby was playing. So yeah, SGA gets a second and the streak continues here for an international guy winning mvp that. What are we up to now? It's a long time running now. Who's the last American player to win it?
- [40:39]
C
Harden.
- [40:40]
B
Is that right?
- [40:41]
A
Yeah, probably. Because Embiid obviously is in there. Jokic, Giannis. Yeah, sga. Yeah, I think that is right. So here's where we're at as we spin this into our Thunder spurs series preview.
- [40:50]
C
Hold on, one last thing. It's good to be just a random dude on the Thunder. Did you see everything that Jeel just Alexander gave these guys?
- [40:56]
A
We got trench coats, we got watches, custom golf bags.
- [41:00]
C
Oh, yeah, I think they got iPhone 17s as well. It was in the gift basket, which is a hilarious inclusion. But imagine being a guy like Brendan Carlson who's been like a two way player for the Thunder the last two years. He's making like, I probably made like $500,000 at his NBA career, but he's got a Rolex and an Audemars pigeon as well that he didn't have to pay for.
- [41:20]
B
Yeah.
- [41:21]
C
Just hangs out and gets a cool stuff.
- [41:23]
B
Shay didn't pull a Tom Dundon of the Portland Trailblazers and say two way guys. Nah, you don't get all the gifts. No. He was part of that video where Chet put on a trench coat that was literally like, to his butt.
- [41:35]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [41:36]
C
He said he's gonna order him another one.
- [41:37]
A
Funny.
- [41:38]
C
Chet's getting two.
- [41:39]
B
He said it wasn't even close to a jacket. I thought, was that a joke? Or maybe Chet doesn't like trench coats. Like, did it.
- [41:47]
C
Was it. Was it sewn?
- [41:50]
B
Was.
- [41:50]
C
I mean, he would be a hard guy to buy a jacket for. I did have, but it was so short.
- [41:55]
B
It was pretty fun.
- [41:56]
A
Yeah, I guess. He is getting two of the Burberry trench coats. The photo looks hilarious where Shay's in his obviously blazer and his jeans and getting the award and everybody else in trench coats.
- [42:07]
B
Yep.
- [42:08]
A
Looking like Inspector Gadget.
- [42:10]
C
Inspector Gadgets. But then also just like wearing whatever underneath. Like, J Dub was wearing pajama pants.
- [42:15]
A
Yeah.
- [42:16]
C
Okay.
- [42:16]
B
But he looked excited to go get his golf bag that says Williams on it for a second. I had a brain fart because I saw three Williams golf bags.
- [42:23]
A
Forgot Kenrich.
- [42:24]
B
Yeah. Okay. There's a couple. Jade Lynn, J Dub, who's the other one? But yeah, I wonder who plays golf on that team.
- [42:32]
A
Who's the best golfer on the Thunder?
- [42:34]
C
Why?
- [42:35]
A
They to me seem like a team that doesn't golf because they're so young.
- [42:39]
C
He's old and white.
- [42:40]
A
Yeah. Yeah.
- [42:41]
C
So he's probably the best.
- [42:42]
A
He's on the links. You think?
- [42:43]
B
Yeah, yeah, I'm definitely thinking Carlson does that too. Okay. But yeah, the cruise as Crusoe played. Okay. Who cares about their golf careers?
- [42:52]
A
Okay, let's get into Thunder spurs preview here. The most anticipated matchup of the 26 NBA play. We got it. It's arrived. The reigning champion Thunder will go up against the upstart spurs in the Western Conference finals. Best of seven series tips tonight. It's going to mark the first matchup between two 60 win teams since the Bulls in Jazz met in the 98 finals. I remember that the Thunder are a perfect 80 through two rounds. They're the favorites to win this series at minus 260 on FanDuel. But the spurs had OKC's number throughout the regular season. They took four or five games from about mid December to early February. So Ken Wemby and The spurs pull off the upset here. And I think I heard Zach Lowe say the spurs have like a 37 and 3 record over their last 40 games in which Wemby played 15 minutes or more. So they are just obviously next to unbeatable over the last half the season when Wemby's been out there playing in a decent amount of minutes. So look, this is awesome.
- [43:57]
B
It is.
- [43:57]
A
Basketball fans, if you don't have a dog in this race, you do. If you don't care if the Thunder, you know, repeat or the spurs obviously get to the finals, you were just a basketball fan. This is amazing. We got this. We were hoping for it. We thought we'd get it, and now we do. So one thing to watch in the number one versus number two seed in the Western Conference finals.
- [44:13]
B
Well, OKC just trying to get Victor Wembanyama moving around as much as possible is what I'm watching. Because that is the whole goal. Get Wemby away from the paint, have to go for three point shooters, but also just the cutters. All the speed that OKC is going to have and the depth that they have 10 guys on their roster playing 10 plus minutes so far in the postseason and now you got a Jalen Williams back who's going to start A.J. mitchell, guy who averaged 19 points per game can just come off the bench. And so that factor of just trying to get Wemby as tired as possible with a team that is extremely well rested. No Casey having a week off because you look at the Numbers in those four, four wins that are 4 and 1 against OKC, Wemby didn't block a lot of shots. He only blocked six blocks in those five games that he played. Now he played some fewer minutes, but still he was scoring. The point is just to get Wemby moving as much as possible because that is the goal against the San Antonio spurs. You have to to tire him out offensively as well. Because as OKC is ready for this. They have been prepared. They had. They. Yes, they had two playoff rounds, but they also got a week off in between each. They're waiting for this conference final. So they plan the whole thing. And so I think the whole plan is Wembanyama getting gassed if they can.
- [45:32]
A
And in a lot of those regular season matchups, Wemby would play against or he'd be put on the Carusos of the world, the Dorts of the world. So he could just roam and it was like, we will see if you can beat us from distance. We had the One game where caruso was like 2 for 12 from 123 point attempts. Big part of it. He's wide open. He's got to take him. You got to shoot them. But I'm with you. I mean, I. Look, will we see Wemby on Chet? I hope so. I think there'll be some matchups. But I don't know why the spurs would go away with what was working in the regular season. Putting Wemby on one of those non shooters. So he can just roam everywhere, eyes everywhere, everybody else be aggressive on the perimeter, all our young athletic guards. And he'll be back there, obviously, as the insurance factor. So I think we'll see more of that too. But I get your take on what they got to do to Wemby to tire him out. And will Wemby's minutes here finally increase in the postseason?
- [46:22]
C
Yeah, I mean, they haven't had him need to play a whole bunch of minutes. That's going to be exciting for me. The big thing to watch here is best player in the world. Status is up for grabs in this series because at first I'm thinking, wow, Chet versus Wemby. What a cool matchup of rivals. Guess what? Wemby's past him. Like, it's not even a question between these two guys anymore with how good Wemby has become on the defensive end combined with his offensive skills as well. So you got to look at the next logical rival for Wemby, and it is sga, two time mvp, best team in the league, defending champion, awesome player. He would be the best player in the world right now, but Wemby is right on his heels. You can make an argument that he was the best player in the league the last third of the season, maybe has been the best player in the league when he's been on the court in the playoffs as well. I think whoever wins this series going into next year, we're saying that guy's the MVP favorite and he's the number one player in the world. And I think either team could literally take this. Like, I can give him, the Spurs a huge chance in this because they have Wemby.
- [47:21]
B
Yeah, for sure.
- [47:23]
A
One thing I'm watching is can the spurs survive OKC's physicality? Because you know, this team likes to claw, grab hold the whole concept of they're not going to be able to call everything we can be physical. We have a million guys that we can just keep rotating into. We'll never tire that way. OKC leads the playoffs with nearly 23 points per game off. Turnover. So the spurs, like any matchup when we talk about the Thunder, the other team, in order to win 4 out of 7, has to take care of the basketball, cannot be sloppy with it, cannot give up those easy fast break transition points to the Thunder, where suddenly they just rip off the 12, 0, 14, 0 run and you're suddenly, you're in a daze and calling a timeout like, what the hell happened? We just turned the ball over three times and it's, you know, Wallace and Caruso and Dort and SGA and J Dub and all them screaming the other way. So that's huge. All that ball pressure, hold on, protect that rock. And I think they can. Like, I think the spurs, even though these guys are young, they play with a physicality to them as well in Castle and Harper and Fox. So, I mean, like, look, it's different. You know, Minnesota had one, let's say good perimeter defender and Jaden McDaniels because Ant was definitely limited. I didn't. Wasn't really impressed what he got brought defensively in that last series. But OKC has, I don't know, four or five a lot of good defenders. So I'm excited to see, because the spurs guard play is a big reason why they're here and like, ahead of developmental sort of progress here and why
- [48:51]
B
they beat OKC 4 out of 5 games. Even though they weren't turning over the Thunder a ton, they were running a ton. And the fast breaks, whether it was off makes or misses from okc, a free throws. They had one guy bring up the ball as fast as possible. One of their guards, whether it was Castle, whether it was Harper or whether it was Fox, and they would pick their matchups and say, we can go right hard right at them. And that's why they won't. They won because of their guard play. You look at Wemby's stats throughout those four games. In the five games they played, I mean, he averaged 20 points per game this season versus OKC minus one quiet game, whereas even he was even quieter. So that's. Those are the numbers. We talked that FanDuel line like he's not going to score a ton. I don't think. I think it's those other guys that you have to rely on because they match the turnover scoring from OKC with just running the heck out of it. And we shall see, we shall see what Chet can do versus Wemby. This is a big series for Chet in that regard because Wemby has owned him to some degree. But Chad Is having his best playoffs of his career and this is awesome.
- [49:59]
C
On offense.
- [50:00]
B
He's been so good on offense. There's a lot on his shoulders that he's ready to. I'm sure he's ready to go up against Wembley even though they won't be matched up. You're going to get Wemby to guard Hartenstein to start, you know, just to be able to roam and not have to go to a three point shooter. But Chet's got a lot to play for.
- [50:18]
C
Castle is, I think, hugely important in this series as well. He's kind of been foul happy, I think, during the postseason so far. He's fouled out one game of each of the first two series that the spurs played. He's been in foul trouble a bunch of other times just because he plays so aggressively and play so physically. They need him to help try and wear down Shay Gildrich Alexander. They need him to be efficient on the offensive end as well. It wouldn't be surprising to see the Spur or the Thunder do something similar to what the every team does where it's like, okay, Castle, we're going to give you wide open jumpers. Like how many jumpers that he have against the timberwolves in Game 6. He was not going to down right away. That was huge. But you got to do it against this Thunder team because to beat the Thunder, you got to make threes. So they need him to keep his head and to be able to play at playoff level while being able to stay on the court as well.
- [51:07]
A
How do you think San Antonio plays sga? Do you think? We'll see what the Lakers did and just a bunch of double teams on them like the spurs did to Anthony Edwards, where they sort of trap and then recover because they're so athletic out there and you got Wemby behind you. Is that the game plan? Do that again with SGA just in the ant roll.
- [51:26]
C
Probably not right away, but eventually they'll get to that, I imagine.
- [51:30]
B
Yeah, yeah. I think they do start one on one, but they'll pick their spots with their doubles. Yeah, yeah. Not many of them.
- [51:37]
A
All right, let's go to X factors here in the Thunder spurs matchup. Start with you, Trey. Who's big X factor.
- [51:42]
C
I think Julian Champagne is going to be big in this series. Only went 7 for 25 from 3 against the Thunder in the regular season, but he's shooting 45% from 3 in the playoffs. I think he could be a potential Jalen Williams defender and that's like a matchup. I'M a little concerned for the spurs for. Because they don't have a great sizable wing like Jalen Williams. And he says he's very healthy coming into this one because they got so much time off. Like, it feels like the Thunder play basketball for a week and then just chill for 10 days. Play basketball for a week and then we can relax for 10 days and everybody put on a trench coat and have a good time. But I do think Jalen Williams can be a tough matchup for the Spurs. Maybe Carter Bryant will have to play on him, but I think Champagne Vassell, to a lesser extent, will be the same. But yeah, I do think that Champagne is going to have to make open threes because it feels like the ball will probably find him a lot. I think if he shoots from the corners, he's probably 100% and above the break, it's like 30%. I don't know if that's true, but that's what it feels like in my heart.
- [52:37]
B
Yeah, it feels like when it comes to Jalen Williams, like he'll be fine coming back from a long time out because he had to do it multiple times this season and I think he got better each time he had to return because the last one he did really, really well. So to me, the X factor are X factors on OKC side, all those guys off the bench because you know they're going to bring so many of them. So Caruso, can you just bump and grind Wemby just to wear him down here every single possession, give him a little knock, give him a little push to see if Wemby can be hurt. Or A.J. mitchell, can you come and just drop some points like you need to when Jalen Williams sits or whoever. Kayson Willis, can you hit some shots? He missed 16 of his 21 threes versus okay, this season, Jalen Williams. I wonder if the J will can get played off the floor a little bit. I doubt it. But you know, they, they have size spurs do with Luke Cornett over Jalen Williams. Jalen Williams was fine in their series this year, but those guys plus the Jared McCain, like, if, if those guys can all chip in, that's what OKC does so, so well. So it's, it's the collective for me.
- [53:47]
A
The Thunder seem to be looking in the mirror here when it comes to roster depth and athleticism because the spurs can match them a lot of these guys and I'm excited. I even think we're going to have weird X factors in this series, like maybe even potentially like Kenrich Williams or Harrison Barnes, like there's going to be a play or two here from one of these coaches where they're going to like the 10th or 11th guy in some cases just to see what they got. But my big X factor, you guys already brought them up. But Chad Holmgren, I think Chet Holmgren has to play well for the Thunder to beat the spurs here. Four out of seven games. They ignored him in the regular season matchup. Wemby just ignored him. The team ignored him. And Chet did not hit threes. He hit two three pointers in four games. And he also, you know, to quote a pretty cool podcaster, I know he wiped his ass. Wemby did inside. He got crushed by this guy. So Holmgren averaged 10 and a half points per game on 39% shooting versus the Spurs. His body language was bad. His confidence did look a little shook. Wemby was in his head or whatever. He's been great in the postseason though. But he was playing a Suns team that had no centers and then, you know, they're playing the Lakers team there. And that was fairly easy too.
- [54:56]
C
Yeah.
- [54:56]
A
So this is different. I hope he's up for the challenge here and again I hope we get a couple fun little one on one matchups between the two seven footers. But I think Chet's huge in this. In addition to shooters on the Spurs, A.J. mitchell and like, I just can't wait to see like which random guy does have a huge quarter here because there's like Isaiah Joe who's sort of like, he could. You could tell me he doesn't play at all in the series or dag. Not's like, well, let's see what he can give us.
- [55:24]
B
Yeah.
- [55:24]
A
And then it's like, oh, he splashes three threes and it's like, okay, here we go.
- [55:27]
C
Yeah, I mean, I think that's the same with McCain. It's like he didn't play at all for the in the sun series because Jalen Williams was healthy. So, you know, Mitchell will go to the bench. He'll take the Jared McCain minutes. But McCain was awesome in their last series against the Timber Wolves. I would want them or. Who do they even play? The Lakers, I guess. Yeah, I would want him on the court, but he might not be. But he's also the kind of guy that he could not play for two games. You'd throw him in for 12 minutes in the second quarter. He goes 4 for 4 for 3, you know. So I think the spurs like have to win the bench minutes.
- [55:57]
B
Yeah.
- [55:58]
C
Kind of like that means Keldon Johnson to me is a hugely important player as well. He's been very up and down, mostly down, very inconsistent. Just seems like maybe his game doesn't translate perfectly, but sometimes it can.
- [56:12]
B
Yeah.
- [56:12]
A
Carter Bryan, I think is going to play in this series again too. The rook. I mean, obviously just for pure athleticism alone. But you're like, don't turn it over, kid. You know, pressure on him here in these bigger games. But he's going to play.
- [56:24]
B
There's a guy named Aaron Wiggins who might play.
- [56:27]
A
I mean, that's what I mean. It'll be fascinating to see who they dust off here in this series because of matchups or what they see or the opening on the floor. Yeah. What they can give them.
- [56:36]
C
So biombo series for you guys?
- [56:38]
A
No, I think I'll draw the line there. Like, look.
- [56:41]
B
No Kelly. No Kelly.
- [56:43]
C
I think we're seeing those socks. I can't wait to see what he brings out.
- [56:47]
A
Well, you got conference final socks.
- [56:50]
B
I think he will change it up.
- [56:51]
A
Yeah. Oh, wow.
- [56:53]
B
Yeah, because we've got the ankle list. Then we had those ugly black things he was wearing. What were those things? I mean they were like a pull down cut.
- [56:59]
C
His socks.
- [57:00]
A
Yeah.
- [57:00]
C
So they were shorter.
- [57:01]
A
It looked like they looked frayed.
- [57:02]
B
They were afraid. Yeah. Yuck. Yuck. He's gonna wear actual socks if there's a blow up.
- [57:11]
A
Yeah. I think to me, to me the spurs are playing nine guys, but maybe 10 because I do think Harrison Barnes, I do think he's gonna play because he played well against OKC in the regular season too. So I think he'll. That'll be their 10 guys.
- [57:23]
B
And then it sounds like you're taking the spurs, baby. The depth is just really, really important. As much as maybe the casual fan doesn't care about that. It is really important. I think OKC does have the depth advantage here. But Harry Bow. Harrison Barnes might come, hit a mid range shot, might hit a three point shot, might set up a lob for Devin Vassell like he did in the last round.
- [57:46]
A
He.
- [57:46]
B
Yes, he will be important, but does the age matter when it comes to the young guys? Forget Harry Bo. But a Carter Bryant or I mean Dylan Harper, probably not. Probably doesn't matter.
- [57:55]
C
That guy versus Mitchell. That's cool.
- [57:57]
B
Yeah.
- [57:58]
A
Let's hear your prediction for this Western Conference final series that everybody wanted.
- [58:02]
B
I'm going with the depth of this Oklahoma City Thunder. I think AJ Mitchell does match Dylan Harper off the bench and I think that's really, really important because of how Many guys they have behind AJ Mitchell. I'm taking the Thunder and six.
- [58:16]
A
Okay. TK are you going Spurs?
- [58:19]
C
Thunder and six is honestly to me like the smart pick, the wise man's pick. So I'll take the spurs in six.
- [58:26]
A
There you go.
- [58:26]
C
They got Wemby. Hey, look, nobody else has.
- [58:30]
A
Wendy, I think you are right. It's going to be fun to see this best player in the world sort of battle here. Not that they're on each other, but SGA is the two time reigning MVP and they are the defending champs. And he's been. Well, he was awesome in the first round against the Suns. Quieted in the second round but making all the right plays and it's like okay, yeah, we'll play. We'll play obviously with an advantage because you're putting two on me. That's okay. And A.J. mitchell obviously boss him into sort of that second scorer. But I think like, I don't know, SGA seems to. He needs to probably get back to the 30 point per game sort of level here in this series. Having some big monster scoring games I think. And then there's Wemby and the Wemby factor is awesome. Does it. Do his minutes go up? What type of stat lines are we looking at? Does he embarrass and own Chet again here? You know, is his three ball falling? There's that part of the equation. Does Caruso or dork get. Get under his skin and frustrate him? Is he throwing another bow for all we know? It's. It's fun. I'm going Thunder, but I'll go Thunder and seven. I mean we asked for this all season long. They've already played. They already played a five game series which the spurs did win four to five though AJ Mitchell didn't play in a lot of those games and he should be big off the bench. But I'll go Thunder and seven. Home court advantage. Tough place to play. The experience. Yeah, I feel like this one's kind of a lot of people picking Thunder. A lot of people picking Spurs.
- [59:48]
C
57% of the stream team is choosing the Thunder.
- [59:52]
B
Okay.
- [59:52]
C
See the Spurs.
- [59:53]
A
Wow. Okay. Wow. Okay.
- [59:56]
B
Love it. Love it. It does feel like a coin flip in. In a weird way. Even though these two teams are great, it wouldn't be surprising to see the spurs win.
- [60:04]
C
Yeah. That. It doesn't feel like a coin flip to me. I think OKC is kind of clearly the better team, the more experienced team, the deeper team. But they don't have Wemby so they do have a great chance and it wouldn't be shocking to see the spurs actually take this and it's going to be competitive for sure.
- [60:20]
A
So let's hear your predictions in the stream team or if you're watching this a little bit later, probably clip this out. Let's hear it. Who do you got winning this series? How many games? Who's an X factor? Things to watch for all that good stuff. Starting something new isn't just hard, it's terrifying. So much work goes into this thing that you're not entirely sure will work out and it can be hard to make that leap of faith. Trust me, I know. When we started this podcast, we had no next to no idea what we were doing. What if no one listens? What if we make fools of ourselves? What if no one gets it? Of course, now we know that I was right to believe in ourselves and launch this show despite all the fears and hesitations that came along with it. And it also helps when you have a partner like Shopify on your side to help. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Heinz and Mattel to brands just getting started. And get started with your own design studio. With hundreds of ready to use templates, Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store that matches your brand style. And did I mention that iconic purple shop pay button that's used by millions of businesses around the world.
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B
World.
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B
warning. This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Hey there. It's Velo Plus. So much more soft and comfy. It's like a pillow for your mouth.
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A
Ah, that's better. Velo the more comfier nicotine pouch.
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B
Get more now. Underage sale prohibited Nicotine Pouches Filo plus is a synthetic nicotine product website and offers restricted to age 21/ Copyright 2025
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C
MBI Inside you there are two wolves. There's the wolf who loves moving their body and then there's the wolf who loves lounging. And buddy, they're howling for viori.
- [62:51]
A
Oh
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C
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- [65:03]
A
of the night Sponsored by David for his two and a half year old daughter Amelia. David wrote in Amelia is too young to watch or listen to you guys, but I was just so proud of her this week for pooping in the toilet for the first time ever I wanted to share it with everyone. I know you just did. I doubt I will ever be as pleased to see a turd in a porcelain bowl again. Okay, a little too much David. That's okay. Not only that, she went three more more times in the same afternoon, all dead center of the bowl. Okay, now way too bang.
- [65:34]
B
Yeah.
- [65:35]
A
Breen poops here. Four afternoon poops. Maybe she's trying to join the tweet of the week army. Oh, good save. You're back, David. Thanks as always for the daily classics. Listening to you guys banter always puts a smile on my face and helps balance out the stress from potty training. So David coming through with the Whoa Boy sponsor, You think he had to run that by his wife for his partner?
- [65:56]
B
No.
- [65:57]
A
Hey, I'm thinking of sponsoring Amelia's potty training on a basketball podcast.
- [66:03]
B
Yeah, plus it's about stat lines. So he gives us the stats of one one plus three poops right in the middle, the approximation of where it went. And we got a poop emoji and an email. I had to include this.
- [66:16]
A
Hey, it's great work.
- [66:17]
B
It's great work.
- [66:18]
A
Well, I'll tell you who wasn't poop last night. Evan Mobley. That's your Whoa boy. Scored 21 points to go with 12 boards in the game seven win. Seven to 10 from the field, six assists, two steals, two blocks. This guy, in order for the Cavs to beat the Knicks, he's got to play like he did in game seven. Yeah, that to me, is when. Wow, Mobley is jumping off the screen, playing with force, contributing on both ends. You just, you know, he's there and he is making an impact. And it was, you know, overall he got better and better as that series went on against Pistons. And I think he's got to maintain that level for them to be the Knicks, who are the favorites in the Eastern Conference finals. But good game from him. Very good game for him will be.
- [66:58]
B
He missed some free throws, but that's okay.
- [66:59]
A
Well, that was the best defense the Pistons had last night at the free throw line, man. I think Stanman said that night they were clanking things.
- [67:07]
C
28 for 44 could have been still massacre.
- [67:11]
A
Yeah, I know. It should have been like a 40 point victory. All right, we'll call it there. Esh. Forgot to ask you when we were doing it. My bad. Who do you have in. In Spurs. Thunder. I'm taking the Spurs. Okay. Seven person. Seven.
- [67:27]
C
Whoa. Wow.
- [67:28]
A
Haven't had any repeat winners in a while. This is the NBA parody era. And like Trey kept saying, they got Wimby, man. I'm just.
- [67:36]
B
It's the Wemby era.
- [67:37]
C
Bromby era.
- [67:39]
A
Do you think. Does everybody here think this is our actual NBA Finals?
- [67:43]
C
Yes.
- [67:43]
A
Yeah.
- [67:43]
C
Whoever.
- [67:44]
A
Whoever wins this is just winning the championship for sure. Like the Knicks and Cavs. Like, I don't think they have a chance against either. Okay, test.
- [67:51]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [67:53]
C
Yes.
- [67:54]
A
They will be the heavy favorites coming out of this.
- [67:56]
B
Well, there already are. They already are. I mean both teams from the east, way down, right in the odds to
- [68:03]
A
win the whole thing. Yeah, that's fair enough.
- [68:05]
C
Knicks can make it interesting.
- [68:06]
B
Oh, yeah. I mean, it's got to be the next. It's got to be the Knicks.
- [68:10]
A
It's got to be the Knicks. Knicks. Well, the only thing the Knicks or Cavs need to hope happens here is like these two teams just destroy each other in a seven game series. Very true. There's an injury or two to both side. Whatever. A depleted team. Maybe for one of them.
- [68:22]
B
Yeah.
- [68:23]
A
To pull it off in the finals. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We will talk Cavs nicks tomorrow. We'll preview that and make our predictions. So join us at 10am Eastern. Hit the like button. Subscribe podcast listeners. We love you too. Five star ratings and reviews until tomorrow. Clipper Bros. You heard it here first.
- [68:38]
C
Have a great time. Turn up.
- [68:40]
A
Love you guys. Awesome.
- [68:41]
B
Thanks for joining us. And remember, you got to be on the Chattanooga Lookout for quick camera switches with the new man operating the board over there. Trey had a quick look. If he started our show with us on YouTube. You had to look over because Ash got him. Ash got him with the switch.
- [68:59]
A
Ash, Ash, go to Trey solo for a second because let's get a good look at this. This new hat. This guy's rocking here. Look at that. What is this? The Chattanooga Lookouts.
- [69:07]
C
This a. This a Chattanooga Lookouts road cap. They invented the eyes emoji. They. They came out with this in 1993. It was like 30 years before emojis.
- [69:19]
A
Okay, that's pretty cool. Yeah, I mean, it's a cool cap.
- [69:21]
C
It's a great cat.
- [69:22]
A
I like it.
- [69:22]
C
I like, like if you read a Sports Illustrated for Kids back in the day, you knew about the Chattanooga Lookouts. That and the Carolina Mud Cats.
- [69:29]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [69:30]
C
Is that what the name Another one was?
- [69:31]
A
Sounds right.
- [69:32]
C
Yeah, it has like a catfish on theirs. Durham Bulls. But nowadays everybody's got a wild logo in minor league baseball. You don't have normal teams anymore? No, they were playing the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.
- [69:43]
A
What? What is that?
- [69:45]
C
Apparently it's a kind of fish because this is the Miami Marlins farm system and all their teams are like the giant carp. The Blue Wahoos.
- [69:54]
A
Right.
- [69:55]
C
The big bass boys.
- [69:56]
A
Oh, that's cool.
- [69:57]
C
Things like this. But yeah, I like to have a hat. It's got eyes on it.
- [70:00]
A
It's a nice hat, man.
- [70:01]
C
Thanks.
- [70:02]
A
How was Nouga?
- [70:04]
C
I love Chattanooga. I'm a. I'm a fan. If I can go for two nights every three years, that's a perfect cadence for me.
- [70:12]
A
Wow.
- [70:12]
B
I love it so much, I'll go every three.
- [70:15]
A
I thought you were gonna say every three months. But no.
- [70:17]
C
Hey, I never been there that long. Okay, but every time I go, the aquarium pulls me back. Taz, I thought I was going to the children's museum. Nope. Next thing I know, I'm touching sturgeons at the aquarium.
- [70:29]
B
That is nice. Yeah.
- [70:30]
C
Beautiful, ugly prehistoric fish.
- [70:33]
B
Get to touch them, though.
- [70:34]
C
Yeah, get to touch them. They haven't changed since the days of the dinosaurs. And I'm thinking maybe they should, because.
- [70:39]
A
Yeah, gross. There's a new dinosaur just dropped. Did you see that?
- [70:42]
C
Another one.
- [70:43]
A
Yeah, I know.
- [70:44]
C
What?
- [70:44]
A
You know, I was rolling my Chattanooga lookout eyes. Get out of here. Big dino. Just making up new dinosaurs, us all the time.
- [70:52]
C
Don't get me started on the axolotl. Where did this thing come from? And now everybody knows what the axolotl is. They're selling axolotl hats at the aquarium.
- [71:00]
A
This is. See, this is what I'm saying, man. So I'm saying they're just making it up. Pushing merch, man. That's all they're doing. All right, we'll see you guys tomorrow. Embrace the day, people.