Tas Melas (2:40)

Yes.

Trey Kirby (2:41)

Let's go.

J. Ske (2:41)

And the new voting rules.

Trey Kirby (2:43)

Let's go.

J. Ske (2:44)

We'll also highlight a few of last night's NBA action. It wasn't as great a night in the NBA as it was the night prior that. You guys broke down in great detail with Jason Concepcion yesterday.

Tas Melas (2:54)

Yeah, I was thinking maybe we should just talk about Monday night's games again.

J. Ske (2:58)

Run it back, give my opinions on.

Tas Melas (3:00)

We didn't get enough detail. Actually, we kind of pulled back.

J. Ske (3:03)

We had another entertaining Celtics Sixers game.

Trey Kirby (3:06)

Yeah, they always ended one of the best games going right now.

J. Ske (3:09)

Yeah, we'll get into that. But yesterday, Dallas Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont fired general manager Nico Harrison amid the team's disappointing start to the 2526 season Mavs 3 and 8 record. They ranked 29th in the NBA in scoring. This is just foreign territory for a franchise that damn near always finished in the top 10 in offense. When Luka Doncic was running the show, something changed. So Nico Harrison gone. There are two questions you guys reacted to this breaking news on yesterday's pod, but the two questions I feel like everybody is asking is why fire Harrison now and then what's next for the Dallas Mavericks? Which one of those two cues you want to sink your teeth into? Because you know, it is a little shocking still 10, 11 games in here. You're out of here, buddy. Nine months after the Luca trade.

Trey Kirby (3:59)

I think the present. Let's start with the present. Why now? Fans hate their team.

J. Ske (4:03)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (4:03)

That's the main reason players you've read in multiple reports from every Dallas reporter dread playing home games. Tim McMahon had the line, these people don't want us to win. You go online. Coach Cooper Flag's family is tweeting about how it's unfair that a guy like Cooper Flag has to deal with the fallout from this. He wasn't there when Luka Doncic got traded. He had nothing to do with it. But still fire Nico coming down every single time they play. Throw in this. The American Airlines Centers had a sellout streak that started in 2001. It's over. Intendance is going down. Having Nico Harrison as the GM literally bad for their brand because of the move he made last season. Season trading Quentin Grimes. Also some complicating factors. Luca's averaging 37, nine and nine for the Lakers. Anthony Davis has played five games and they're 14th in the Western Conference. But I think it basically comes down to we can't have this guy associated with our team and expect Our team, our fans, to remain fans of our team.

Tas Melas (4:58)

Yeah, there. There is a deep hatred. It's. It's sewn into the fabric. It is part of the fabric there. I just start to think, would a different achievement on the floor, as you said, Anthony Davis isn't there. Kyrie Irving got hurt in March. What is the level that they would have had to achieve on the floor to keep Nico Harrison's job? Is there a level? Would they have been able to get somewhere? Is it a championship? I don't think so. And when I talk about that, when I say that I'm weighing both sides, obviously there's going to be hatred forever because you traded.

J. Ske (5:33)

There should be. Because it's one of the dumbest trades of all time.

Tas Melas (5:35)

Oh, yeah, for sure.

J. Ske (5:36)

Period.

Tas Melas (5:36)

But how many championships does it take to offset it with these business people? They are business people at the top that would say, hmm, okay, you hate us, but our sales in terms of tickets are up, merchandise is up. So where is that? Where is that level? Is it one championship? I don't think so. I think it's two championships. And maybe you start to think about it, if Kyrie and Anthony Davis would have been able to achieve that, maybe Nico Harrison has a job because the business people say, okay, we didn't have to pay $345 million for Luka Doncic. We didn't even have to pay Quentin Grimes. What a deal that was. And now we're starting to win basketball games. We can raise the tickets as they did for the 25, 26 season. Another reason why they are going down in. In ticket sales. It's just a huge mistake after mistake after mistake. So you got to start to think it's all about the money. And would there have been a level? I think two championships may have done it.

J. Ske (6:32)

Hold on. Here's the fun hypothetical. If The Mavericks are 11 0, but the fans are still chanting, fire Nico. Fire Nico. Does Nico Harrison still have his job or not?

Tas Melas (6:41)

11.

J. Ske (6:42)

Yeah, they're perfect this season.

Trey Kirby (6:43)

Yes. He would still have his job.

J. Ske (6:45)

Okay, okay. So you're looking way in the future championships. I'm talking like right now. If they were 6 and 5, 5 and 6. Yeah, they were average.

Tas Melas (6:53)

Part of it is Kyrie getting injured in March for sure. Yeah. Their run into the play in tournament was horrendous and it ended real quick. And so the hatred continued on into the off season. But the owners coming in and not realizing, oh, we can't do this to our fans. Care about players who care about this franchise. So yeah, they messed up there, obviously, to start, and then the injuries just. It snowballed from there.

J. Ske (7:20)

Mark Stein also reported that the final straw may have been Harrison's push to get Anthony Davis medically cleared for Saturday's game against the Wizards, despite him rehabilitating his calf injury. And I guess some members of the staff apparently wanted AD to continue to rest. You're not ready yet. We've already done this once before with you trying to rush back. And that Patrick Dumont then stepped in and was like, nah, we're keeping AD out. So maybe again, final straw. I know all the Fire Nico chants are having an effect. And Dumont, in a statement, Trey said a part of it, quote, this decision reflects our continued commitment to building a championship caliber organization. Of course, they always say that, one that delivers for our players, our partners, and most importantly, our fans. And that goes back to exactly what you said. The fans hated them. They were never going to forgive them unless maybe they were 11 and oh, and winning multiple championships. But that was unlikely because they traded for a guy that's always injured, too. That's the other part of it.

Trey Kirby (8:14)

Yeah, exactly. Tim McMahon reported similar stuff on the Hoop Collective that Patrick Dumont stepped in to give his advice on the Anthony Davis return to play, which, you know, he didn't play over the weekend, didn't play last night as well. He's got a calf injury, which is pretty hilarious considering it was Luca's calf injury. That was part of the reason that Nico didn't think he was going to be a reliable guy. But in that statement from Patrick Dumont, I didn't hear him really taking any accountability. Who signs off on the trade? The big dog, Patrick Dumont. So, yeah, he sat down with Nicholas Dickinson and apologized to that guy. Didn't apologize to the fans, except for just Nick Dick. I don't know. Will this change things for the Mavericks? I think a little bit. Like, I think their fans tonight should probably be pretty supportive that Nico Harrison is no longer employed. Employed by the team. But then very soon after that, it wouldn't be surprising if the chance turned into sell the team.

Tas Melas (9:08)

Yeah, it was an incredible Monday night when PJ Washington was going to the free throw line to tie the game with three free throws, the arena went silent. He goes to the free throw line, hits it. The arena goes back to being silent. And then when he missed that second free throw, they said, oh, yeah, we're back to being normal again. Fire Nico. It just immediately changed like that. It is woven into the fabric of that city. And Nico Harrison, when he Fired his athletic staff in the summer. That was in part, I suppose, because they brought back Anthony Davis too early, and he thought Derek Lively wouldn't need surgery this off season. And they brought him back in April after two and a half months off, and he had to go have surgery. So he just kept trying to do stuff. But it is. It does fall on the owners. And that the photo op of him with Dickinson sideline was clearly just to show, oh, yeah, we're gonna fire a guy and you should love us again. I mean, that's what it was.

J. Ske (10:12)

We're learning. I've learned my lesson. This is the ironic part of all this, because usually the new owner syndrome is the owner that comes in and does way too much. And Patrick Dumont and this new Maz ownership, they sort of did the opposite. They're like, all right, well, Nico's got it figured out. Do whatever you want. Nic, you want to trade Luca? Really?

Tas Melas (10:30)

Yeah.

J. Ske (10:31)

All right. Okay. I guess so. Whatever you say, big guy.

Trey Kirby (10:33)

Should have said no.

J. Ske (10:34)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (10:35)

And they also made sure that Mark Cuban wasn't anywhere near the team that was part of the agreement that did not become part of the agreement. Mark Cuban was supposed to be the basketball guy, and they made sure that that did not happen.

Trey Kirby (10:46)

Do you blame Mark Cuban at all in this for selling to a group that he purposefully said, they're not basketball people. That's why I'm selling it to them. They're good at real estate.

J. Ske (10:59)

It's weird.

Trey Kirby (11:00)

Yeah.

J. Ske (11:00)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (11:00)

It is a cheaper price.

Tas Melas (11:03)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (11:04)

Than they could have gotten.

Tas Melas (11:05)

Yeah. Right. Yeah. Their aspiration, I guess, is to potentially put a casino in with the. The. The arena. If gambling is approved or legalized, I should say, in Texas, I guess that's possible. But Cuban did think he was going to be part of the franchise, so.

Trey Kirby (11:24)

Okay, yeah, fair enough. He was wrong. But look at the way the Lakers did it. They sold to a multi cabillionaire who ensures the team is going to stay where they are. They're going to spend a ton of money and got it in writing that, like, Jeannie Buss still has a say in things. Right. Like, there are ways to do it. And the Lakers did it the right way. The Mavericks didn't do it the right way. So I think Cuban is, like, he's pretty low on the list of responsibility here, but he's probably number three when.

Tas Melas (11:53)

He does interviews as to how the actual deal happened. He talks about having it in the deal himself, that it was in there, but it was somehow removed. And it's either The NBA to blame. And. And they claim that it wasn't them. And then it's either the Dumasa blade that really literally just removed his name from that operation. But then. Yeah. Is it A monstrous burden is on Nico Harrison for saying, hey, Luca, you're God, man. Whether or not he likes Luca's workout plan or what he doesn't like that he work. Doesn't work out every day in the past because now he works out every day or just we're just wanting to make his mark. Just wanting to make his stamp. I'm being so smart in trading the guy that took the torch from Dirk Nowitzki and this franchise. Yeah, I don't know.

J. Ske (12:48)

It's crazy.

Tas Melas (12:48)

How do we make some pie? But they all are to blame.

J. Ske (12:50)

They completely underestimated, too, how fiercely loyal the fan base is with the Dallas Mavericks. They did. They took it for granted. We saw the consequences play out. I saw something that D magazine wrote yesterday. Really struck with me, stuck with me. Quote, on the rare times Harrison did show his face, he front ran scorned fans. They'll be back when we win. That was sort of his movie. The blind luck of winning the Cooper flag pick. People are finally starting to see the vision.

Tas Melas (13:16)

Great. Quote.

J. Ske (13:17)

Championships. They'll be won by defense. He kept doubling and tripling and quadrupling down on. I'm the smartest guy in the room. You'll see. We'll win multiple championships by getting off a Luka and getting back AD and who else? Max Christie in a pick. I mean, that's the other part of this whole thing we talked about at the time of the trade. So we don't need to go over it again. But it was like you did it in secret because you knew the backlash that was gonna happen. So you didn't even. You decided, Luke has got a bad work ethic. We don't wanna pay him crazy amount of money. We'll never win with him. Okay, sure. Well, then open it up. Cause there'll be 29 other franchises trying to like, fall over backwards to give you a huge trade package. And they didn't do that. They had to do it, like in secrecy with his buddy Rob Polinka on the Lakers to make it happen. Well, you're. You're, you know, you're rolling your eyes at me.

Tas Melas (14:10)

Well, I'm not rolling my eyes, but there are two parts. The money part is all the Dumonts. It's not Nico Harrison. Nico Harrison just wanted to make his stamp. That's my thing. And then he goes to the front office or to the ownership and says we don't have to pay this guy $345 million. What do you think about that?

Odoo Announcer (14:26)

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J. Ske (14:26)

Well, if you say so. Nika, you're. You're the one in charge. You're the basketball operations.

Tas Melas (14:30)

Yeah, yeah. He just wanted to make his stamp. And so. Yes. I mean, they're two separate things.

J. Ske (14:34)

Again, make your. Again, make your stamp. Okay. We're not going to be able to do this with Luka, but open it up then to every other team to get back a better trade package.

Tas Melas (14:42)

Oh, yeah, it's wild. It's wild. We're going to start talking about Anthony Davis deals. Literally the package that the Lakers were able to get. Excuse me. That Anthony Davis will get now is greater than the package that the Lakers had to give up for Luca. It's nuts. Maybe multiple picks. I mean, it's going. Going to be super close. It's nuts. Yeah. When you think about the Anthony Davis packages. Yeah.

J. Ske (15:11)

So, okay, let's get to the second question then, which is, where do the Mavericks go from here? Trey, you had a short up yesterday on the idea of, I guess, sort of blow it up or at least move off of Anthony Davis. As TAS just brought up here. Is that the next logical move to you?

Trey Kirby (15:25)

There are three phases that I really see that need to happen. The front office has to find a good gm. It's like tear down and rebuild time. Right now. Maybe that's Matt Riccardi. Apparently Mark Cuban is pushing for Dennis Lindsey to be the gm. He built the Jazz teams that won a lot of regular season games, came up short in the playoffs, but built a good team. Kind of interesting. I think that Cuban is having a little bit of a say here. Maybe Patrick Dumont should have listened to him earlier when he thought he was still involved with stuff. But that's very important. They got to find a good gm. Bob Myers is a guy that was talked about as well, but he's working for the group that owns the Sixers and the Washington Commanders. But the first personnel move they need to make is trading Anthony Davis. It won't be for another month, basically. Trade season kind of starts December 15th. Once all the players who signed deals over the summer become available. He's got a gigantic contract, $54 million. So you're going to get some sort of players back, but they need to be looking for picks because they traded away control over their 27, 28, 29 and 30 first round picks. And this team absolutely needs young talent. Around Cooper Flag, around Derek Lively. The nice thing is they do have their 2026 pick. So if you trade Anthony Davis and bottom out, guess what? You might get the number one pick again. I hope that doesn't happen.

J. Ske (16:47)

Oh my God.

Trey Kirby (16:49)

But you see the vision and it would be helpful to have a ball handler alongside Cooper Flag or who knows, a wing like Debanza another do it all kind of type like Boozer. But I mean Darren Peterson wouldn't be nice. Nonetheless, they need to draft high in this draft and start rebuilding around Cooper Flag because it just doesn't make sense to have your two biggest profile players be a 33 year old and a 19 year old. Why? It doesn't work. We just saw that with the Warriors. It doesn't work.

Tas Melas (17:19)

Yeah, especially when your other great player to make this a good team isn't playing basically all season in Kyrie Irving and they're just lacking guards right now. They're just, they're just bad out there.

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J. Ske (19:40)

So you think Anthony Davis will be moved around the trade deadline like when December 15th hits and it's like a known thing that I'm sure teams are putting together whatever deals that they want to maybe try and get this guy.

Tas Melas (19:50)

Probably, yeah. Who's operating the basketball operations now? Is it just promoting a guy from within? Is it Michael Finley taken over? Simple as that. Is he willing to pull it off? I think the hiring, which seems. Seems to be like not happening anytime soon. We're not. The pursuit of it doesn't even seem to be happening is the question. Yeah, they have to hire somebody to run that front office. I don't know. I don't know if you can.

J. Ske (20:21)

Comprehensive search will begin for a permanent replacement, according to the statement. But right now you're right. Finley and Riccardi are there. They're the interim GMs. So they'll have, I guess, decision making here with AD. Who's going to trade for AD and what will be a return? That's the fascinating part because the guy is just getting up there in age. He's injured once again, still, when he plays, he's a top, I don't know, 20 talent probably. When you consider his defense that he brings to the team. Are there any squads that you could see talking themselves into buying low, really, on Anthony Davis to try and get him in?

Trey Kirby (20:56)

Oh, there's definitely a lot of teams. Zach Lowe went through a ton of trades on his podcast. The Clippers involved. Come on home, baby. Come to Chicago if the price is right. But the Mavericks would be getting back literally, like Vuch and Kobe White and Patrick Williams. Yeah, that's a bad contract to be getting. But the price is going to be low for Anthony Davis. He's banged up. He's going to be 33 years old. He's got a big contract. So you do have to trade a bunch of players, which means maybe you're not throwing picks in there. I think the Mavericks should be looking for picks, but with his contract number being what it is, you're probably getting a bad contract back. Like I heard Zach was pitching the Raptors. Sending Emmanuel quickly like a ball handler would help but you don't really want Quickley's contract on your books. Same with a Wiggins type, something like that. I know the Heat could be involved as well, but there will be teams that are interesting or interested. Especially we give the season another month. Maybe somebody hits a rough patch in the schedule, kind of dropped down in the standings like all right, we need a jolt here. Get Anthony Davis. He's an all NBA player. I still am an Anthony Davis believer, but he's just not reliable to be on the court for more than 60 games a season.

Tas Melas (22:03)

Yeah, he's got to come back and ball before the Mavs are saying anything is worthy of a trade package coming back. I think he has to boost that trade pack trade value and he has to come back and play basketball and play it well and it's a good sign. I suppose that he may be coming back sooner than later because he is a capable basketball player when he actually plays, but he should they they should want to get multiple picks to get young. There is the San Sacramento Kings package that's out there reported by SI as a possibility which would include a couple first round picks. The 26 Kings pick, they have the spurs pick which is protected as a first round pick. They've got a Timberwolves unprotected pick in 20, 30, way back, way in the future if they get multiple picks. I think that's what you're. You're looking at to go along with players that have to come back because they have Anthony Davis's salary. Those picks plus Demar Malik, Monk, Woodwork.

J. Ske (23:01)

Okay.

Tas Melas (23:01)

Might be the juiciest. They do want to be picks wise.

Trey Kirby (23:04)

But the picks are good. They need picks more than they need players, right?

Tas Melas (23:07)

Absolutely. Yeah.

J. Ske (23:08)

So Kevin o', Connor, he had two this morning that he shared. I'll just throw them at everybody. Fake trade ideas for AD The Hawks making a move for Anthony Davis. Kristaps Porzingis coming back to the Dallas Mavericks, Newell, Luke Kennard and then future draft picks. Any chance Atlanta Hawks are making a move for someone like ad?

Trey Kirby (23:29)

As long as they don't trade the Pelicans pick from next year. I can see it happening. Porzingis is a. He's up for a contract extension, right?

Tas Melas (23:35)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (23:36)

He is expiring guys I think should be in this trade.

J. Ske (23:38)

Right.

Trey Kirby (23:39)

It's good for both sides to turn an expiring contract into a player like Anthony Davis from the Hawks side and Then if you're the Mavericks, yeah, we get Porzingis for the end of this year, see how he fits alongside Cooper. They don't really need another center. They got a billion centers right now. But if he plays well, if it looks good, the space that he provides, if that helps out Cooper, flag, sure, sign him to a deal. But otherwise you could just do a rental for a season, be bad, and then draft his replacement.

Tas Melas (24:04)

I don't see the Hawks doing it. I see them in a position right now where they're not resigning Trae Young quite yet. I think they're looking at the CBA and saying, let's just stay younger, stay quiet, a little bit more agile, and that's what they have right now. So I don't. Yeah. Would they like to get off Christophs Berz at some point? Yeah, that. That makes sense. But for Anthony Davis, I don't know. I think it's a little too. Too much of a lateral move.

J. Ske (24:26)

And then another Eastern Conference team that's dominating right now. Again, this is koc's fake trade idea. The Pistons looking maybe at the Eastern Conference landscape going, whoa, maybe there's a. Maybe there's an actual opening here. Could we get Anthony Davis? What would it take? Let's say Tobias Harris, Jaden Ivey, obviously somebody not playing for the Joy Pistons right now, but maybe a really young, talented guard and then future draft capital as well. Thoughts on Detroit seeing a possibility here?

Trey Kirby (24:51)

That's not a lot to give up, if I'm being quite honest. Maybe Ivey turns into something, but he hasn't been on the court hardly at all in his NBA career. I still wouldn't do it, though, if I'm Detroit. Let it mellow. Let's see what you got going. You're playing really well right now. You got a great big guy in Duran. There are probably other players who become available who are named Lowry, Markkanen. That would fit this team better. They need outside shooting more than they need another guy who's going to play in the lane, clog things up for Cage.

Tas Melas (25:18)

Yeah, I would be reluctant. I do see that type of team that has multiple parts definitely becoming a little appealing to the Dallas Mavericks along with the picks. Sure. But I would wait. I mean, Dennis Jenkins is balling for the Detroit Pistons. It just feels like they've got such good chemistry right now. Just keep it rolling. And yeah, they need a big who can shoot. And so whether it's Lowry, Markkanen, whether the Jazz are willing to trade a future All Star. Future All Star like 20, 26 All Star in Lowry, Markkanen, I mean, he's ballin'. That's. That's a different scenario. But the Pistons are. They gotta stay with what they got.

J. Ske (26:01)

Well, Well, I think you're right about this idea of ad's gotta get back here and how does he look and play, and then maybe those trade packages get a little j juice here. 80 is signed for next season, for this season and next season before his 27 player option and then his extension eligible next summer.

Tas Melas (26:15)

This was supposed to be. You got to pay him right away.

Trey Kirby (26:17)

If you trade for him. Basically.

J. Ske (26:18)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (26:19)

Yeah. We. He needs to be back. This was supposed to be the year he had healthy eyeballs, that he started wearing the goggles, and he was supposed to be healthy immediately. I know it's. I. I'm one of the people who say, well, he does play in a good bunch of games, but now he is honestly getting to be 33 soon, and he's missing just games after games after games, unfortunately.

J. Ske (26:43)

So Nico Harrison gone. They can now, I guess Mavs fans can start the process of building the relationship back with the organization 100%.

Trey Kirby (26:52)

That was my third phase of people who need to do something different. The Mavs fans now need to support their team. Like, this is our pick em game tonight. We'll get into it a little bit. They flex their power. They got Nico Harrison out of there.

J. Ske (27:03)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (27:04)

Now you have to support the guys that are there because, like I said, it's not their fault that Luka Doncic was traded for Anthony Davis. They got a Hall of Famer back, and it's like, oh, we hate this guy. Can you blame him?

J. Ske (27:16)

No.

Trey Kirby (27:17)

But now that Nico's gone, at least you can say, look, you guys aren't the problem. We got your back. Patrick Dumont. We'll see if we have your back. We did not have Nico's back. So let's make it a fun place for the Mavericks to play rather than them hating to come back from road trips. It's pretty depressing.

J. Ske (27:36)

Like, oh, God, oh, we gotta play.

Trey Kirby (27:38)

Another game in front of our fans.

J. Ske (27:41)

Yeah, that's terrible. The Mavs were considering home court a Disadvantage is what McMahon said.

Tas Melas (27:46)

Yeah.

J. Ske (27:47)

That's how bad it's gotten.

Tas Melas (27:48)

Yeah. PJ Washington was saying it as a member of the Mavs immediately how much it was hurting them. That was weeks after and they didn't address it. Then they raised the prices of tickets going into 25, 26. They. They didn't think about all of the aspects and took them nine. It Took them nine months. It took them nine months to do a photo op at courtside with a fan. It took them a long time. And here they are. And it ain't gonna. Because it's been nine months. It's not gonna be one trade and all is healed. It's gonna take a while.

J. Ske (28:22)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (28:22)

And that's why I thought of, yeah, maybe they start 11 0. They keep Nico Harrison's job for a while, but he would be gone by the end of the year. Unless they go out. And is it the finals that they'd.

Trey Kirby (28:34)

Have to get to.

Tas Melas (28:35)

They would have to go super far to keep Nico Harrison's job past this coming season. Because everyone hates them. Because again, they raise the prices and because they were just about the money to not pay Luca and to not pay others.

J. Ske (28:48)

You can say all the other reasons. It's because they traded their guy. This was a franchise that had Dirk's back forever. And they went through the trials and tribulations, brutal losses, first round upsets, winning MVP and getting bounced. All these things that happen with the franchise, but that was their guy and he stuck through it. And they tried to build around him, and, man, then they win the title. And everybody's like, that may be the best championship win ever of all of them because of who he went through and how long it took and all that. And they thought, I think Mavs fans were like, all right, we're doing it again with Luka. And they got to the final. This is the other part of this. It's just crazy. They were there. Okay, they got beat by the Celtics. But then to suddenly turn around like, we'll never do it with this guy who's just an all NBA guy that just took you to the final. It's just mind blowing. And I think Nico just looked at this like it is fantasy basketball and didn't take into the equation actual emotions from their fan base. It was like, oh, we'll just move off him. We'll get some. We'll get a good player in AD you'll see. I'll be laughing last, but, like, you're taking out the human element of it. And it was pretty amazing that they, like, voiced their concerns. And it did work. In addition to them struggling.

Tas Melas (29:54)

Yeah, right.

J. Ske (29:54)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (29:55)

They got all the way to the championship round.

J. Ske (29:58)

That's what Patrick Dumont called it. Yeah. Yeah, That's a bad sign. Yeah.

Trey Kirby (30:03)

And look, throw it in there. They lost Dirk. Like, Dirk's not a Mavs fan anymore.

Tas Melas (30:07)

Yeah, yeah, that's.

Trey Kirby (30:08)

Once he was traded, he was showing up at Lakers games. He's doing TV now. This guy was a Mavs icon and now he's like. Everybody's like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

J. Ske (30:17)

They gotta work to get people like Dirk and. And obviously their fan base just back on board. But you're right, it'll be interesting. See how they react tonight, that game, the fans.

Trey Kirby (30:26)

I think it'll be a raucous atmosphere.

J. Ske (30:28)

I sort of do too.

Trey Kirby (30:28)

Should be.

J. Ske (30:29)

I sort of do too.

Tas Melas (30:30)

Yeah. That's why I saw.

Trey Kirby (30:31)

Yeah, they had like a. I saw like a news clip. You know, all the people who were there protesting after the. After the Luca trade were back. The guys with the coffin, they were back and they're all playing celebrate good times come out. So they're gonna be happy tonight for sure.

Tas Melas (30:48)

They're winning. I'm picking them in to pick them.

Trey Kirby (30:50)

You're getting your first win tonight. You are gonna.

J. Ske (30:52)

Wow.

Tas Melas (30:53)

I think so. They should take care of business against Phoenix.

J. Ske (30:57)

Anything else here on Nico Harrison's firing and the Mavs moving forward or trade ideas?

Trey Kirby (31:03)

Cooper Flag looked great in their last game. Yeah, he really did.

J. Ske (31:06)

It's overlooked.

Trey Kirby (31:06)

Yeah. At his best game yet.

Tas Melas (31:08)

Oh, he looked awesome. Yeah. Jason Kidd was playing a point guard again, their best capable point guard. It was helping out Cooper Flag that take to the bucket with Yannis going up as high as he possibly could. Cooper just absorbing it in a late game situation and scoring. It was awesome. Yeah. And that the earlier play, as I mentioned on yesterday's show, with a couple minutes left to get Cooper at an advantage, a size advantage run in place for him with a point guard. I don't know. I don't know if what Jason Kidd was. Was doing. And I know TJ kid is all upset about it too. Hilarious stuff.

Trey Kirby (31:44)

Yeah, sure. Throw that in the mix. Why did Nico Harrison not get a real guard for this team?

Tas Melas (31:49)

Yeah. And why Jason Kidd wasn't starting even just to see how bad d' Angelo Russell was at the beginning of this series season.

Trey Kirby (31:55)

I mean, he knew how bad he was, I guess.

Tas Melas (31:59)

I guess.

J. Ske (31:59)

Should have had a player coach again. Jason Kidd should have played, man.

Tas Melas (32:01)

But Monday was an awesome game for them. It was fun. They're leading in the fourth quarter with. Because Brandon Williams was starting a point where they're playing guards. That was good.

J. Ske (32:08)

Yeah. Look, a Luca trade could have very easily set the Mavs back like a decade. But then they hit the lottery and they have Cooper Flag. That's. That's a. A glimmer of hope, right, for their future. So, like this could be somehow Way worse. But they got Cooper.

Trey Kirby (32:26)

It could be worse.

J. Ske (32:27)

Yeah, it could. It's.

Trey Kirby (32:28)

But they still set themselves back a decade. Like, I mean, you have to imagine they get back to the finals a lot quicker with Luca than with Cooper.

J. Ske (32:36)

Yeah. Yeah.

Trey Kirby (32:37)

It's probably going to be a decade until they get back with Cooper. Flag.

J. Ske (32:40)

Yeah, that's true.

Trey Kirby (32:41)

And oh, Wemby's in their conference. Oh, that sucks. Oh, no. Oh, Lucas in their conference as well, with a deep pocketed Lakers ownership group. Group who is going to spend every single dollar they can.

J. Ske (32:52)

Yeah. Yep. You're not wrong.

Trey Kirby (32:54)

Who makes it back to the finals first? The maps. Absolutely. They set their franchise back a decade easily already.

Tas Melas (33:02)

Yeah. The scary part is this ownership has a ton of money too. In Dallas, they've got a ton of money. There's a lot of money there. They just didn't want to spend it in part.

J. Ske (33:10)

A billionaire. That's actually a cheapskate. I've heard it all.

Tas Melas (33:15)

Yeah. The Lakers. I would have loved to seen a healthy Mavs team against that Lakers team game last year in the playoffs. That would have been fun to see. Kyrie and Anthony Davis versus Luca and LeBron. That would have been a good series. I think I'm taking the maps. I think I was taking the maps in that series if they're. If they're fully healthy.

Trey Kirby (33:34)

You're a Nico Harrison supporter.

Tas Melas (33:35)

Yeah, man. I'm a logical man.

J. Ske (33:38)

Free Nike shoes or something.

Tas Melas (33:41)

Not giving away anything.

J. Ske (33:43)

It gives away players. Oh. All right, let's take a break. When we come back, we'll talk about the all star game format and a few of last night's games. The NBA season's a grind. Games every night, schedules packed. Tonight, 12 games on. Dear Lord. That's why I'm fired up about the new Peloton cross training tread plus powered by Peloton iq. Peloton IQ plans your workouts, tracks your progress, even corrects your form. And with the swivel screen, oh, baby. You can go from a ride on the bike plus to a quick yoga stretch or an ab workout in seconds. I'm mixing it up with Dennis Morton for yoga. You thought Morton was only in the salt game. This guy's a yoga guy. Alex Toussaint pushing me on the tread. Emma Lovewell, crushing my core. Let yourself run, let yourself lift, let yourself flex, Push and go check out the new Peloton cross training tread plus at one Peloton decom.

Tas Melas (34:43)

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J. Ske (35:28)

All right, if you're joining us on YouTube, do us a favor, hit the like button and make sure you've subscribed so you know when we're always going live. And podcast listeners. Five star ratings and reviews. Okay, it's official. The US versus the world is finally a done deal.

Trey Kirby (35:43)

Yes.

J. Ske (35:44)

And will be the format for this season's NBA All Star Game, though it's not really a game, is it? It's really a round robin tournament of games. It's going to be played Sunday, February 15, starting at 5pm Eastern. That's right. Coming a little earlier this year, it's going to air on NBC at just about the midway point of the Winter Olympics, which is sort of why we're doing all of this. But we already knew that part. I guess the big last night was we got a little more clarification on how the teams are going to be picked. So it's basically the same as it's been in recent years, with one notable tweak. NBA is eliminating the frontcourt and backcourt position designations for players. So each ballot from fans will include five players from the Eastern Conference, five players from the Western Conference. So we're still doing that, but positions will not matter, nor will nationalities at that point. Okay. And then the 14 reserves, seven from each conference, are going to be selected by the head coaches. And then it's like we got to make the teams because there's no guarantee that we're going to have exactly 16American players and exactly eight international players that are going to just emerge from this voting. And what happens if that's the case? Like it's outweighed one way or the other. Adam Silver is just going to add players. That's all he's going to do.

Tas Melas (37:06)

Oh, absolutely.

Trey Kirby (37:08)

Ah, there's gonna be so many all stars? Yeah, like 30 all stars this year. I mean when you factor in injury.

J. Ske (37:14)

Injury. Yeah, yeah.

Tas Melas (37:17)

I mean why? Just because they need to force them in to get 16 and eight.

Trey Kirby (37:23)

Yeah. So like if, if it ended up being 18American players and six international players, they're adding two international players. That takes you up to 26.

Tas Melas (37:33)

But they do that every year anyway because guys are injured. Injury.

Trey Kirby (37:35)

But then they're going to do top of that. Injury replacements.

Tas Melas (37:38)

Well, I think the injury replacements are going to be those players.

Trey Kirby (37:41)

They're going to have to have 24, they're going to have to have 16 and eight minimum to announce it. And then we've got the month afterwards where they're figuring out who's actually going to be able to play.

Tas Melas (37:51)

I think that this is stupid inflation fucking thing.

J. Ske (37:55)

I can't believe how difficult they're making this. It's so dumb task. And I know you're going to defend it and convince me now what am.

Tas Melas (38:02)

I going to defend? I don't know. I want to see a basketball game. That's all I want to see.

J. Ske (38:06)

This isn't a basketball game.

Tas Melas (38:07)

Well, that's not. We haven't talked about that yet. We haven't even talked about the game. We haven't talked about the. This, the 12 minute quarters.

J. Ske (38:14)

Just like they did last year. And it was so stupid.

Tas Melas (38:16)

Well, they're going to change. Listen, what they started with last year in that first game quarter, whatever you want to call it. That was fine. That was a fine game. Victor wembanyama was fine.

J. Ske (38:28)

12 minute game.

Tas Melas (38:30)

12 minute game.

J. Ske (38:31)

Last night basketball games were 48 minutes.

Tas Melas (38:33)

Yeah, exactly. It wasn't a game. It wasn't a game. Last year. Year when they designed that, that was supposed to be 48 minutes of games. The All Stars are supposed to come to the arena, they're supposed to sit down, they're supposed to take off their jackets, they're supposed to get introduced, they're supposed to run on the floor. They run for on the floor until the 40 point total that they had. They're supposed to sit down, get loose for three minutes because there's a commercial and then get back on the floor. That's not what happened.

J. Ske (38:56)

I know. And it started more little mini games.

Tas Melas (39:02)

Hold on. But now, but now who cares about this international world thing now that we have to select these players. All Stars are going to get selected. 24 all stars are going to get selected. Nobody cares about how they're selected. All they care about is going on Sunday at 5pm Eastern, turning on their NBC TV and they're getting all these casual fans for the Olympics and they want to see a good game. That's all they want. That's all they care about.

J. Ske (39:21)

Game. Yeah, games.

Tas Melas (39:24)

Well, that's the word.

J. Ske (39:25)

Mini games. Games. So if you're just going to end up picking the goddamn All Stars, it sounds anyway, Silver, then why aren't we just doing USA versus the world? It's pretty simple. Just do it.

Tas Melas (39:38)

Just do it. At 48, who cares? Yeah, exactly.

Trey Kirby (39:40)

Adam's pick.

J. Ske (39:43)

Silly man.

Trey Kirby (39:43)

Just pick your top 24 players. Adam Silver.

Tas Melas (39:45)

Because they think when, when the US Team A plays the world, there's only one so they don't get a teammate. That it'll be a fun 1/4 of play. And I imagine it would be again the first quarter last year with Victor Romania blocking shots and running back on to the three point line. It wasn't any worse of a first quarter than the history of NBA All Star game basketball. It was fine, but it got worse.

J. Ske (40:09)

And worse as it all went on. And part of that was the production.

Tas Melas (40:13)

I think basketball players should be able to play basketball and not sit and determine the Mr. Beast giveaway was fun or the Kevin Hart jokey jokes. And. And we're saying bye to TNT even though they're coming back on ESPN the next year.

J. Ske (40:25)

That was dumb.

Tas Melas (40:26)

That was a lot. That was a lot to consume for anybody out there. And so when they tune in on NBC as they're trying to get these casual fans that I don't know that are watching snowboarding. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Trey Kirby (40:38)

The U.S. uSA hockey game is the lead into this.

J. Ske (40:41)

Yeah, that's true.

Tas Melas (40:42)

Oh, we know what the lead is.

J. Ske (40:43)

Yeah, yeah. Hockey.

Tas Melas (40:44)

I mean, you're gonna get people sucked in. We thought that there would be some sort of hockey copy of what happened at the All Star game with the four nations like four countries actually playing. But that didn't happen.

J. Ske (40:59)

Well, we can't.

Tas Melas (41:00)

Well, no, not in one night. It would have been Friday.

J. Ske (41:02)

Powell now on the Canadian All Star team.

Tas Melas (41:05)

Well, you could have got eight. Listen, when it comes to the international players.

J. Ske (41:08)

Oh, it's no problem.

Tas Melas (41:09)

It's no problem. It's lit. I think there it's going to be not too bad. There's not gonna be too many extras. Just picked a lot of them come from the Western Conference. As far as the international goes, Jokic, Luka, Wemby and SGA from the West. Janice is probably going to be there as a starter. Those are the five starters. I'd say Yoko, Luka, 20 SGA Janice. Then comes Shen Goon.

J. Ske (41:28)

Yeah, that's six right there. That's six international locks, basically.

Tas Melas (41:32)

Yeah. And then it's how. How cute are we getting with the. The end guys? And, and listen when the fans pick up their ballots and when the also the media and players have to select.

J. Ske (41:44)

Oh my God, I just forgot about that.

Trey Kirby (41:47)

The electoral college of all star selection.

Tas Melas (41:50)

They're. They're not looking at. Well, this guy is from Montenegro. Vuch. Yeah, I'm taking him over the American player. That ain't happening. They're just picking guys and so they don't see it. The coaches who pick the reserves like they always do are not going to see the countries. They're just going to pick 12 from each side and it's going to get close. The next, the next guys will probably be some little trio of our duo. I guess it's only we're at six. Murray, Jamal Murray. Who is balling potentially. Danny Abdia y Larry Markin.

J. Ske (42:21)

Yep.

Tas Melas (42:22)

Josh Giddy. And then are we going to the Dominican for Carl Anthony Towns?

J. Ske (42:26)

Well, that one's going to be hilarious. Yeah. Cuz he's probably going to be named an All Star.

Tas Melas (42:30)

But because those guys are all West. I think the weird part, you may see US players that are a little deeper on the ballot than you'd think from the Eastern Conference, like Mikel Bridges. Maybe like somebody like that might make it so that, that would be the odd part. The international is no problem. These other two USA teams.

J. Ske (42:51)

Well, and here's the part we don't know and they don't even know yet. What about the US Players? How are they split up? That's a fair question. They said they haven't decided yet.

Trey Kirby (43:00)

Figure it out.

Tas Melas (43:02)

Do a draft.

Trey Kirby (43:02)

Why not get every format in here? We got conferences, we got us in the first world. We got a schoolyard draft. We can do it all.

Tas Melas (43:08)

Yeah. They haven't decided because it's November 11th that this was announced on TV. And when Adam Silver had his press conference at the governor's meeting, as he always does, he said that this was going to be announced the beginning of the season. It's going to be this thing on NBC. You can, you know, kind of collaborate that combine it with all the Olympics talk like it was supposed to happen way earlier, but I guess it got pushed back. You got the, the Clipper situation going on. Some other big thing going on with gambling, which happened a little later than the beginning of the year. So there's no, no excuse that they should have had this planned. As part of the schedule. Programming schedule. But I guess they had to squeeze in Michael Jordan, too, who didn't do anything last night, right?

J. Ske (43:50)

I don't think so, no. No insights into excellence?

Trey Kirby (43:52)

No insights.

Tas Melas (43:55)

Taking a break. Load management. What up?

Trey Kirby (43:57)

He's retired. He's like being a greeter at Walmart. He doesn't work every day.

J. Ske (44:03)

You said when there's this whole gambling scandal going on. I just realized, oh, this is why we're doing it. So we can bet on four games instead of one. Damn it.

Trey Kirby (44:13)

I'm getting on that third quarter line for sure.

J. Ske (44:17)

But we don't know how the coaches are going to be selected because I guess we need three instead of two.

Trey Kirby (44:22)

Do we need an international coach?

Tas Melas (44:26)

Wow.

J. Ske (44:27)

Do we? Yes, we do. And we don't know how the player pool of award money, I guess, will be distributed either. But they're still figuring it out. They don't know is the problem.

Tas Melas (44:35)

Thiago Splitter's my international coach.

J. Ske (44:37)

Oh, yeah. He's got a good chance. He's got a really good chance.

Tas Melas (44:40)

Yeah. That is hilarious.

J. Ske (44:41)

Jesus. Oh, my God. Anyway, at least it's on earlier.

Tas Melas (44:46)

I mean, the most painful part is all the people who talk about it in the media for these. For these months prior. Right. Because for fans, when they look at the teams and even when they select, they're just going to pick 24 players. Well, I mean, yeah, like, that part.

J. Ske (45:02)

Is so silly because then Silver is just going to be like, oh, we need two more Americans. All right, Mikhail Bridges, you're in. I mean, that just takes. That really diminishes, like the All Star selection to me a little bit. I'm sorry.

Tas Melas (45:18)

Well, we'll see, we'll see. But maybe the names I just said, the international team, obviously, pretty freaking great. There's going to be 16American players. It just depends on how they're all selected. So how it all breaks down from east to West, I don't know. I don't think it'll be that bad. I think there will be a couple injury replacements that are literally.

J. Ske (45:32)

Do you like, hey, we need him.

Tas Melas (45:33)

We need this guy. Guy from the state of California. I mean, from America. Like, you know, anyway.

J. Ske (45:38)

Do you like the positionalists aspect to this? That's interesting because, you know, I guess it's getting overlooked a little bit. It's like, who cares? Today's Wemby's a point guard.

Trey Kirby (45:48)

The best guys are gonna get voted in.

J. Ske (45:50)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (45:50)

It doesn't matter.

Tas Melas (45:51)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (45:51)

Wembley's gonna make it. Yoko is gonna make it. They're not making it because they were centers.

Tas Melas (45:54)

Yeah, yeah, I, I, I agree. That was the only question for Vincent Carmelo yesterday because it went pretty fricking fast. That was the only question and Vince didn't like it. He just wants it, I guess. Traditional and, but, but, but Jokic is making the frickin team. I mean, Wemby's making the frickin team. So what does it, what does it really matter? I don't think it matters in this situation. Maybe if it's 10 years ago and DeAndre Jordan and Rudy Gobert are the only centers, then maybe. But not anymore, right?

J. Ske (46:24)

Okay, well, let's hear your opinion on the USA versus world format here. At least what we know now. Things still to be determined.

Trey Kirby (46:30)

They better let my guy Lethal Shooter do something.

J. Ske (46:34)

Okay, fair.

Trey Kirby (46:35)

I like him better than Mr. Beast. I like him better than Tristan Jass. I just saw him shooting hoops through a windmill. Gigantic like, like a turbine.

J. Ske (46:46)

That might be old, isn't it?

Trey Kirby (46:47)

I don't know.

J. Ske (46:48)

Yeah, I had seen that one, I think.

Tas Melas (46:49)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (46:49)

Who knows, man? Yeah, yeah, he'll shoot through anything. Yeah, I'll see him do it live.

J. Ske (46:53)

Yeah, put him on the team Silver. He's American.

Trey Kirby (46:57)

International or American, I don't know.

Tas Melas (47:01)

He was playing. He was shooting with somebody famous recently too.

Trey Kirby (47:04)

He was just in the Clippers gym doing something, knocking him down. He's got a nice jumper. He understands.

J. Ske (47:13)

Absolutely. Well, I'm sure we'll have more to say about this and I'll get angry again. But we'll get to actually filling out our ballots at some point. Later year. It's a little too early even for us. Okay.

Tas Melas (47:25)

Okay. This was Franz's year, man. Oh, it ain't gonna happen now. Yeah, he's life. He could have easily. If he was balling, he could beat out an idea, maybe. You know, a giddy.

J. Ske (47:40)

Definitely feels Jamal Murray's chances feel strong right now. Nuggets playing well. He's having his best start. Gonna need a, gonna need another Canadian in there. Another international guard. Oh God, this is so funny.

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J. Ske (48:19)

Lenovo.

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J. Ske (49:59)

Okay, let's talk briefly about last night's games. Is there one game worth mentioning from last night that you wanted to address?

Tas Melas (50:06)

Well, the Toronto Raptors are 6 and 5 baby. Better than the Boston Celtics 5 and 7. I just like, you know, getting in on the standings there. I think this the thing to to look at to watch basketball wise, the John Morant painful situation in Memphis remains alive. I mean he has not performed since that game with the Lakers where he clearly wasn't trying the second half. Five games shooting 28% last night, 16% the game before, 35, 31 and 31. Those five. As Trey pointed out while we were doing our substack chat, the turnovers are horrendous. But the whole season now is looking very much like the Jimmy Butler scenario. For the first few months last year he is shooting 35% from the floor, you know, 47% floor, not from three. From the floor, 47% as an advanced shooting percentage. That's, that's, that's bad. It's like watching him play. You could see how he, you know, wasn't going at every single potential lane or space or trying to get around doubles as much as he used to. So it's. It, is it the question, is this a Jimmy Butler scenario where Miami says, okay, we gotta, we gotta right cut the cord here? I think it's too soon to say that because I don't know what the package is. Five or six games, what's the package coming back? Okay, he's not a decade, He's a decade younger than Jimmy Butler. I mean he's, it's a big difference, I think, to say, hey, we're done and we're not getting much back. It all depends what's coming back. Does he have to play better? Are they just going to withstand it? Because there is that possibility. If it's just bad packages coming back to Memphis, he is playing. Maybe you just hold on till the end of the season. I think that is a possibility.

Trey Kirby (51:51)

Yeah. I feel like something's going to change. They're on a big road trip right now playing some Eastern Conference teams and if it goes poorly, you could see them moving on from the coaching staff because that's easier to do before we get to trade season. But jaw just didn't look good. I think part of it was New York had a pretty good defensive plan. They were blitzing him quite a bit. He got a bunch of assists off similar plays that he did have turnovers on. But it comes down to the fact that he's playing like he's a jump shooter. When he comes around a screen, he's looking to shoot a mid ranger or a three pointer and he's just not a shooter. John Morant gets downhill and gets in the lane and that's not happening right now. Some of the turnovers were absolutely brutal. Some of them were just a. The other guy dropping the pass, you know, maybe he's throwing a little bit too much mustard on it. But he doesn't seem to be completely locked in here. They're down by like what, 25 points at the end of the third quarter. He's just jolly smiles and clapping. Felt very sarcastic to me.

Tas Melas (52:46)

Yeah.

J. Ske (52:46)

And the Knicks, by the way, I mean they continue their sizzling start here, their offensive start under Mike Brown. I think they're seven and oh now at home. Perfect there this the, the final score. 133, 120. That looks sort of way closer than the game Actually was. It was a blowout and Grizzl sort of did a fake ass comeback. But Knicks are on fire right now. They're feeling good, they're rolling. Yeah, for sure. But the John Moran, if you're actually watching the games and watching his possessions. Yeah, his body language is brutal right now. So.

Tas Melas (53:16)

Yeah, doesn't want to get in the lane, doesn't want to finish at the rim.

J. Ske (53:19)

His defense is non existent. I mean, yeah, there's those two. Yeah, it's like all these times where he could be trying, doubling down, whatever. He's just sort of just standing watching, watching you guys figure it out. Yeah. What about you, tk?

Trey Kirby (53:32)

Well, you mentioned it. The most exciting game last night was Celtics 76ers. They've already played three times this season and every game has been a one possession game. I did love Tyrese Maxey in the post game interview. Said, feels like we've played them a hundred times since I came into the NBA. The Celtics and the Sixers play all the time, but it was the Justin Edwards show. He had 22 points, five threes, had 13 in the fourth quarter. I loved Maxi getting him that second three after Edwards had just hit one. Maxi drives in the lane, chucks it out to him. Edwards swishes it. Crowd pops. Vijay Edgecombe had a crazy shot. Kawhi Leonard style bounce up in the air. That was cool. And then Kelly Oubre won it with a tip in after Justin Edwards finally missed the shot, took the game winner. But nobody on the glass for the Celtics. Nice tip for Ubre. The most interesting game to me though. Thunder stomped the warriors, led by 36. Never close after halftime. And the warriors right now feel like they are teetering on the edge. They're 6 and 6. Haven't beaten a good team since the opening week of the season. They have six straight road losses. Throw in the fact that they lost to The Nuggets by 25 on Friday. Nuggets and Thunder. These are the top two teams in the NBA, not just the Western Conference. That shows you how much farther down in the pecking order the warriors are. Also didn't like what I saw from Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler in their post game press conferences. Draymond is saying, we're not committed to winning. Everybody has personal agendas and if you don't get rid of your personal agenda, maybe people get rid of you. Jimmy is saying, you got to be honest with yourself. So everybody's like, who are they talking about? Kaminga's struggling hard right now. It might even Be Kaminga. It might be Brandon Pajemski. They got him coming off the bench and he thinks he's the third best player on the warriors and is playing with no confidence. Kaminga's turning the ball over all the time. Draymond is turning the ball over all the time. Didn't matter. The Thunder had 20 turnovers. They won by 30 points. Even Draymond said that. So I don't know. Warriors looked very old in that game against the Thunder. The torch has been passed but it feels like the light is fading. If you're the warriors, you just see them running on down the tunnel. That thing is barely a flicker. They got to figure something out right now because the warriors do not look good.

Tas Melas (55:49)

Yeah, I think it was the. The lack of Steph effect and just his trickle down effect over this these last couple or last week really until he came back yesterday was clear to me that, that he just needs to be out there. And he tried out there. He was had an illness that he came out first possession. He's doing classic Steph stuff. Just running that circle and getting a bucket on the first session. But he just looked gassed and Casen Wallace was doing a great job.

J. Ske (56:14)

Locking down was all over him.

Tas Melas (56:16)

But he only played 20 minutes. He didn't look right. So we can see if he. If he starts to get it going. But he's going to play in a back to back against the spurs tonight. I mean they have to get. Get it together on the road here for a six game trip. That was game number one. Maybe Steph just being around helps out.

J. Ske (56:35)

Could they be a team desperate enough to make a move for Anthony Davis with the very small window left for.

Trey Kirby (56:42)

Who do they have to trade to $54 million kaminga.

J. Ske (56:46)

Jimmy I guess makes like basically the exact same. But I doubt they do that. Yeah. I don't know who it would take to get there. But they convince yourself they'd be a team that would. I mean he would help when healthy. That's a whole other part.

Tas Melas (57:00)

Yeah. A team that feels like they're one piece away would make the most sense.

J. Ske (57:05)

Yeah. Are they. Is the. The question I just wanted to address the Jazz beating the Pacers. 280 points were scored. Probably hit the over. I didn't see what the over Underline was on FanDuel last night, but Ace Bailey is starting now for the Utah Jazz. Second game. I thought he looked solid. I know they're playing the Pacers but 20 points from him. That step back three looks comfortable for him. We know He's a bucket and he hit like three in this game. That was like, ooh, that was a nice separation he created there. A couple on Siakam, obviously a lengthy guy. Pretty good defender. So Ace Bailey, you know, he might be starting from here on out for the. For the rest of his career with at least the Jazz.

Tas Melas (57:49)

The highlights were good. Yeah, he looks great on a cool court.

J. Ske (57:53)

The Pacers. Pacers are that bad.

Tas Melas (57:56)

They're very bad.

J. Ske (57:56)

They're that bad that the Jazz are scoring 152 on them. Holy crap.

Tas Melas (58:01)

Yeah. I mean, Lowry continues to be awesome. He dropped 35. But on the other side, yes. I guess this is the year Pascal Siakam doesn't make the All Star Game.

J. Ske (58:10)

In an international year, this could have been his year.

Odoo Announcer (58:14)

Brutal.

J. Ske (58:15)

All right, pick them up. We've alluded to it. We know what it is. Phoenix, Dallas. What's the line?

Tas Melas (58:21)

The Dallas Mavericks are favored by one and a half points at home. All their fans will be there probably, and they'll probably be cheering. So this feels like the time for me to break my over this month.

J. Ske (58:36)

Here we go.

Tas Melas (58:37)

As I said, 0 for 7. Oh, it's amazing. It's amazing.

J. Ske (58:40)

We haven't said that many times in the history of this show.

Tas Melas (58:43)

No, never. I don't think. I don't think we've ever seen it.

J. Ske (58:45)

I had one garbage start once, but I don't even think going seven, seven. That's a lot.

Tas Melas (58:50)

And if you want it, whoever's breaking down the numbers out there, I'm not asking anybody to do this, but I'm sure many of these losses were by half a point.

J. Ske (58:59)

You lost some back breakers ended up.

Tas Melas (59:01)

Being the last 10 seconds.

J. Ske (59:02)

I think half of them, at least four. Yeah, four. The seven bulls for sure. Mavericks for sure.

Trey Kirby (59:07)

Just remember, off the top of my head, those ones.

Tas Melas (59:09)

Yeah, those.

J. Ske (59:09)

That.

Tas Melas (59:11)

Oh, Mavericks. The Spurs. The spurs won. Spurs did. Was. Kelly Olenick did it when he got that offensive rebound.

J. Ske (59:19)

That's why. That's why it's impossible for you to go over in the month. It's like. Like this. The improbability.

Tas Melas (59:26)

Well, Phoenix going into Dallas, all this stuff going around Dallas. Phoenix is playing. They were pretty good basketball.

J. Ske (59:32)

No, absolutely. That's why I'm taking them.

Tas Melas (59:34)

Well, yeah. That's why you're comfortable taking. You just. You see a win with the Phoenix Suns.

J. Ske (59:38)

I see a win with whatever you're not picking.

Tas Melas (59:41)

Yeah, Sons. Sons can lose by one, which would happen if you happen. Mavs got to win by two.

J. Ske (59:49)

Cooper, game winner tonight.

Tas Melas (59:51)

Yeah. Hilarious stuff. Cooper game winner.

J. Ske (59:55)

Fans are going insane in the aac.

Tas Melas (59:58)

But I do think this is the best version of the Mavs because Jason Kidd has decided to play a point guard who's pretty capable beside Cooper flag. So that's why we got the best Cooper Flag game on Monday against the Bucks. So that's why I feel comfortable. This is the best Mavs we've seen. I don't know if Nico convinced Kid. Hey, man, don't play your point guards. It's the Cooper time. I don't know what happened, but J Kid is locked in. He's listening to everybody. He's listening to his son, TJ Kid. They gotta play.

J. Ske (60:27)

What was this TJ K Kid thing? I didn't even watch it. I couldn't bring myself to watch. It started. I don't watch.

Trey Kirby (60:32)

I don't. I don't like to watch something where there's a blurred out background like he was doing some sort of zoom thing. He had like a. You know, so don't see my background.

J. Ske (60:42)

What was he saying?

Tas Melas (60:44)

Well, he. He had a four minute video of him basically promoting. It's a teaser for his new podcast or it's videos, online videos where he's going to be talking to a camera or something. So it's a four minute video. Video. But what was going around was the 45 seconds. He took a break from promoting his video to fake a call.

J. Ske (61:05)

Yes.

Tas Melas (61:05)

He's like, oh, hold on. He goes, the camera.

Odoo Announcer (61:07)

Hold on.

J. Ske (61:07)

Okay. It is fake. I want. I wanted to clarify.

Tas Melas (61:10)

It's gotta be.

J. Ske (61:10)

Otherwise why would it have been posted? Yeah, he did a fake call to.

Trey Kirby (61:15)

Call out his dad.

J. Ske (61:16)

It has to.

Tas Melas (61:17)

It has to be because it doesn't take any breaks. Because you can tell by the acting. There's a. Oh, yeah, I know it's tough there in Dallas. It's gonna get better. Yeah, you're right.

J. Ske (61:25)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (61:25)

There's this. There's not enough. There's not enough pause for the other guy to talk. It's just. Okay. Yeah. And then he continues to talk. Yeah. It had to be fake. It had to be. I'm guessing.

J. Ske (61:35)

So it's actually. I mean, he's thinking, I'll do this fake call with my dad about the math.

Tas Melas (61:41)

Well, it's not from his dad. It's just from some guy talking about the maths and his dad. Well, I don't know why he's not playing point guards.

J. Ske (61:47)

Okay. But he's doing that because it's going to drum up interest in said TJ Kid podcast coming to a network near you, I guess that's what we think. How's the noggin looking?

Tas Melas (61:57)

It's got a hat on. It's tj. He's got his own logo. Tjk.

J. Ske (62:04)

Nice.

Trey Kirby (62:05)

It does look cool, his logo.

J. Ske (62:08)

He's grown into his head, though.

Trey Kirby (62:10)

He looks a lot like Jason. He's kidding.

J. Ske (62:13)

Like Jason.

Tas Melas (62:16)

But, like.

Trey Kirby (62:16)

I mean, look, I only watch clips of player podcasts. You're not watching TJ Kid podcasts.

J. Ske (62:22)

Okay.

Trey Kirby (62:22)

I appreciate hearing the. The backdrop of it, though.

J. Ske (62:25)

Sure.

Tas Melas (62:25)

Yeah. It's all the. The clips. That's all you need, all the clips.

J. Ske (62:29)

Do you think his first guest should be dad or Nico?

Trey Kirby (62:33)

Well, Nico would be a pretty good guess.

J. Ske (62:35)

Be pretty good. Very good. Get.

Trey Kirby (62:37)

I can't believe he did a fake call. That's actually awesome. Start doing that.

Tas Melas (62:43)

Well, yeah. That's the only reason why you got. Got publicity.

J. Ske (62:46)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (62:46)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (62:48)

All right.

J. Ske (62:48)

Fascinating. 12 games on tonight, and, yeah, Dallas has to win by two for Tas to snap his losing streak here, which is getting pretty legendary.

Tas Melas (62:58)

Yeah.

J. Ske (62:59)

In the no dunk starters basketball Jones streets.

Tas Melas (63:01)

I'm out there evaluating goatees to see whose goatee I can emulate.

J. Ske (63:08)

TJ Kid have one. He feels like a tag that would have one.

Trey Kirby (63:11)

He's had one.

J. Ske (63:12)

He's got.

Trey Kirby (63:12)

He's got a scruff going on here. Probably feels like it at some point.

J. Ske (63:18)

Absolutely. All right, coming up later today, Bulls are back, week three. Hey, TK's awesome bulls rewatch of the 7210 bulls on playback. That link in the show notes. 3pm Is that correct?

Trey Kirby (63:33)

3Pm Three games on today. Orlando Magic, Shaq and Penny.

J. Ske (63:37)

Nice.

Trey Kirby (63:38)

Horace Grant Revenge Game 3D. Dennis Scott. We got the Cavs. Our first repeat. Then the New Jersey Nets. No Jason Kidd, but you got Armen Gilliam, Kenny Anderson, the Hammer.

J. Ske (63:50)

Oh, Kenny Anderson. One of my favorites.

Tas Melas (63:52)

All right.

Trey Kirby (63:53)

That's cool, though, man. I. I gave credit to whoever this person is who put these up, saying they do a good job with these replays because you're not just getting some.

J. Ske (64:02)

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, but, like.

Trey Kirby (64:04)

They included Chris Dudley airballing a free throw.

J. Ske (64:06)

That's great.

Trey Kirby (64:06)

That's awesome.

J. Ske (64:07)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (64:07)

That's the stuff I want to see 30 years after the fact.

J. Ske (64:10)

Yeah, okay.

Tas Melas (64:11)

Keep it up.

J. Ske (64:12)

I was gonna ask you, do you know the results of the games heading into your rewatch?

Trey Kirby (64:18)

I could easily find it out. Yeah, I know, but now I'm trying to keep it. Trying to keep it fresh.

J. Ske (64:23)

Like, I actually like to know ahead.

Trey Kirby (64:25)

I mean, I assume they're gonna win Most of them.

J. Ske (64:26)

Well, they did go 72 and 10. But have they lost the game yet?

Trey Kirby (64:29)

Undefeated still.

J. Ske (64:30)

Okay. I was wondering when they lose their first game. Yeah, yeah. Find. Okay. You might find out today with Trey. If they lose one of these games in week three of, they also don't.

Trey Kirby (64:38)

Have the score bug up for the majority of these games. I don't remember that from the 90s. That feels like an 80s thing to me. But now you watch the game, the score's up the entire time.

J. Ske (64:47)

Yeah.

Trey Kirby (64:48)

Not the case.

Tas Melas (64:49)

No.

Trey Kirby (64:49)

On wgn, you really didn't really focus. That's awesome. You got to pay attention. They should go back to that.

J. Ske (64:55)

You had to score the game at home. Like you're watching baseball. Yeah.

Trey Kirby (64:58)

It's a lot of writing.

Tas Melas (64:59)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was just gonna say, my daughters see a score bug disappear, usually now because of. There's an error in the truck. Something's going on, and they ask, where is it? Where is it?

J. Ske (65:14)

They're so conditioned.

Odoo Announcer (65:15)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tas Melas (65:16)

That's just the way it is.

J. Ske (65:17)

Yeah.

Tas Melas (65:17)

Yeah. But I say maybe AI will produce one for us. Let's just wait. Maybe AI will jump one. Yeah.

J. Ske (65:22)

So that's at 3pm on playback. And then later tonight. Yeah. You're jumping on playback? Yeah, for a lot of these games, I guess.

Tas Melas (65:29)

Yes. Playback is encouraging what they're calling playback's big day. Because we want to prove that the future of sports belongs to fans and creators, not behind paywalls.

J. Ske (65:42)

Okay.

Tas Melas (65:43)

So let's break NBA viewership records across playback. YouTube, Twitch Kick, and X Kick.

J. Ske (65:51)

What the hell is kick?

Tas Melas (65:52)

Kick? TJ Kick. What is podcast? Yeah, they want. They want some affordability for games. Nice. I suppose that's what they're promoting, but just fan watchability. But as you said, Trey, there's just. There's games upon game. There's 12 games. Yeah. The Knicks Magic. It's an interesting one. Hey, I'm interested in. I'll tune into Wizards Rockets. I don't can. This could be Cam Whipmore's revenge.

J. Ske (66:20)

Oh, wow, wow, wow.

Tas Melas (66:21)

That dunk against Jalen Dorothy was awesome the other day. There's lots of good games.

J. Ske (66:25)

So what time tonight? Seven. Seven.

Tas Melas (66:28)

I'm a seven man. Once the games start, I'm ready. I don't want to just wait.

J. Ske (66:33)

Okay.

Tas Melas (66:33)

But we'll go early. Yeah.

J. Ske (66:34)

All right. Again, playback link in the show notes. Go join our no Ducks room. That is for free. And you can hang out with Task tonight working the remote control. All right. We will see you guys tomorrow. We're gonna have a special guest tomorrow. Until then, Clipper Bros. You heard it here first.

Trey Kirby (66:48)

Have a great time.

J. Ske (66:49)

Turn up up. Love you guys.

Trey Kirby (66:51)

Awesome.

Tas Melas (66:51)

Thanks for joining us. And remember, we're not on kick now. There's some people on the Stream team asking, are we on kick now?

J. Ske (67:00)

Never heard of kick.

Tas Melas (67:01)

What's a kick?

Trey Kirby (67:02)

How do you spell it?

Tas Melas (67:03)

Just regular kick.

Trey Kirby (67:05)

Wow. That makes it hard to search kick platform. We'll be on it by tomorrow.

J. Ske (67:10)

Wow. We're joining kick. You heard it here first? No.

Tas Melas (67:14)

Maybe.

J. Ske (67:18)

Find out tomorrow whether or not we got on kick. Did we see Clifford Bros.

Tas Melas (67:23)

Yes, we did.

J. Ske (67:24)

All right. Embrace the day people.

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Lego Star Wars Promoter (68:00)

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Odoo Announcer (68:05)

Or both.

Lego Star Wars Promoter (68:06)

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Lenovo Announcer (68:36)

Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line.

Tas Melas (68:41)

But first.

Lenovo Announcer (68:55)

There the last one. Enjoy a Coca Cola for a pause that refreshes.