← The Athletic NBA Daily
Loading summary
Transcript91 lines
- [00:02]
A
Millions of players, one world no lag. How's it done? AWS is how epic games turn to AWS to scale to more than 100 million Fortnite players worldwide so they can stay locked in with battle tested reliability. AWS is how leading businesses power next level innovation.
- [00:30]
B
The holidays are about family and quality time, right? But while we're carving roast beef, our dogs are stuck with dry kibble mystery meat. And yes they notice it's time to make the switch to sundaes. Sundaes is clean whole food based food made for the dogs we love.
- [00:48]
A
It's air dried and made in a.
- [00:50]
B
Human grade kitchen using the same ingredients and care you'd use to cook for.
- [00:54]
A
Yourself and your family.
- [00:55]
B
Every bite of sundaes is clean and.
- [00:58]
A
Made from real meat, fruits and veggies.
- [01:00]
B
With no kibble, no weird ingredients and no fillers because your dog deserves food.
- [01:05]
A
Made with care, not in the interest of cost cutting. And the best part?
- [01:09]
B
You just scoop and serve.
- [01:10]
A
No freezer, no thawing or prep, no mess.
- [01:13]
B
Just nutrient rich clean food that fuels their happiest, healthiest days so you get.
- [01:19]
C
More of them to share together.
- [01:21]
A
Sunday's holiday sale is going on right now. Go to sundaysfordogs.com acast50 and get 50%.
- [01:28]
B
Off your first order. Or you can use code acast50 at checkout. 50% off your first order at sundaysfordogs.com.
- [01:37]
A
Accast50 don't miss out on Sunday's best sale of the year at sundaysfordogs.com Acast50.
- [01:44]
B
Or use code Acast50 at checkout.
- [01:48]
A
Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees. Just ask the Capital One bank guy. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. He'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too. Ah really? Thanks. Capital One Bank Guy what's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.com bank capital1na member FDIC Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for November 11th, 2000 and 25. I'm Dave DeFore here with Zena Keda. Coming up, a crazy Monday night in the NBA. We had buzzer beaters, we had game winners, we had game tyings. I mean we just a crazy night. We're going to try to cover as much of it as we can. Also, Wes Goldberg is here from Locked On Heat. We're going to jump into Miami and Cleveland's crazy finish and what the Heat have done to Start the year. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, Zena. That was the longest intro I think I've ever done on the show.
- [02:59]
B
That's okay. I needed time to catch my breath. So that's good that you took too.
- [03:02]
A
Much last night, Xena. Too much stuff for us to possibly cover. Luka Doncic had 38 points, by the way. Just. We're not going to talk about it. We've got to start. We've got to start with the Detroit Pistons, the hottest team in basketball. They had the Washington Wizards on the second night of a back to back. You know what we call that, Zena? A trap game. That's right, Trap game. And man, it looked like they were gonna lose. And you know, Cade Cunningham had one of the most ridiculous stat lines that you're ever gonna see. And I don't mean this in a good way. Okay? Yeah. He was 14 for 45, Xena. 45 field goal attempts to score 46 points. He had 12 rebounds, 11 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks. Was 2 of 11 from 3, 16 of 18 from the free throw line. And this felt like a game. You know, we talk about Jalen Brunson as a boxer a lot. This felt like a fighter. In the 12th round, for the entire game, they looked beat. And it's the style of play, it's how fast and how hard they go. But for them to have pull out this game and force it into overtime, when they really look like they just had no legs until late, I. I thought it was a very impressive game. Very impressive win. And you know it. Cade. Look, he put up all these points, but we got to start with. I believe it's Dennis. Denise Jenkins.
- [04:38]
B
Dana, thank you.
- [04:41]
A
Okay, thank you. You looked it up. All right. Danas Jenkins, who was a superhero.
- [04:48]
B
Superhero off the bench, color commentary saying Dana Jenkins before this game had not scored in double figures in his career in the NBA. And then comes in and in the fourth quarter, hits three and then the fourth three to take it to overtime in a play in which he was a decoy. Yeah, he was propped up in the corner.
- [05:11]
A
Just don't move.
- [05:12]
B
Supposed to be. Exactly. Don't move. And it was a last ditch effort. Kay. Cunningham's like, I gotta get the ball in. Gives it to Jenkins. Jenkins props it up and it's in. I mean, unbelievable play for Jenkins overall. He took over that fourth quarter to even allow Detroit to be in that conversation. This is a guy that a lot of folks probably don't know.
- [05:33]
A
I don't know how to say his first name. Xena.
- [05:35]
B
Yeah.
- [05:35]
A
I'm saying.
- [05:36]
B
Exactly. Unless you're a Detroit fan, you probably had never heard of this kid. And so, yes, help Detroit get to that point. I. The fact that Cade Cunningham has now set a new record for missed field goals in a game with 31, but ends up, I mean, 46 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, takes over an overtime to be able to help his team get the win, you kind of ignore it. Like, it's a weird. It's a weird accolade now to have under your record, but you ignore it. You got the win, and now you have this win streak. Seven, eight games in a row. Excuse me, Seven games in a row for Detroit. I mean, phenomenal effort for them to pull that out.
- [06:16]
A
Yeah. They've got Chicago next, so. Tough one, tough one, Chicago.
- [06:22]
C
We'll.
- [06:22]
A
We'll talk about them.
- [06:22]
B
You want to talk about Chicago?
- [06:24]
A
We're going to talk about them in a little bit because, Wendy. Okay. Is really why.
- [06:27]
B
But okay.
- [06:28]
A
We got to talk about the Orlando Magic. The Orlando Magic had lost a few games in a row, and they needed a win. They were facing the Portland Trailblazers. You know, it was going to be interesting, Xena. The Orlando's offense has struggled, right? Like, they just don't really have the guard play that they need. And Portland has been interesting this season with the ball pressure. And so that was something we were watching. And look, it's another game. Came down to the wire, and we saw. We saw multiple big shots in this game. And I want to. Monicamara threw an absolute dime on an inbound pass to Jeremy Grant, who Jeremy Grant finishes this alley oop, sort of with a tip in through contact, gets an N1. I mean, that was such an unbelievable play that I thought we were like, okay, well, that's. That's the end of the game. We're. We're probably done here. That's what we're going to talk about, Xena. But then Desmond Bane happened and he threw up. Look, when he. When he took the dribble. So Desmond Bain on the inbound pass, less than 2 seconds left, gets the ball, he takes a dribble. And I'm thinking to myself, that's a mistake. You don't have time. You need to just turn and fire. And it turns out he gets the shot up. It's all net. And we're sitting here having a different conversation than we were going to have, because we were about to say, wow, the Orlando Magic have just completely fallen apart again. We. But this is the sort of win, Zena, that I don't know, maybe it's a galvanizer Desmond Bane. It's, maybe it's symbolic that Desmond Bane, the new guy, like hits this big shot.
- [08:07]
B
It's also symbolic that that big shot was the only three he made the whole night. And you talked about Taney Kamara being a part of that Jeremy Grant physics defying alley, you finish. But also Taney Kamara was involved in that defensive play against Desmond Bane. I mean, you could not have asked for a better contest. Straight up in his face. And Desmond Bain was just ice in his veins being able to close that out. I know Jamal Mosley, you know, gave something to Desmond Bain on the way out of that arena. Appreciate you, bro. Because things were looking real murky down in Orlando. So it was a great win to be able to pull that out against a really feisty defensive team in Portland. And also Denny Abdia. Like, we didn't even get to talk about Shaden Sharp dropping 31 points, Dani Abdia Sharp shooting 27 points. Like all of that goes out the window because Desmond Baines stood up, stood up and took care of this win. And you talk about the offense like it has been an issue of incorporating Desmond Bain and you hope that in moving forward it's not going to be just grenades or, you know, situations in which he's saving games. But you do want to see him folded into the offense a little bit more seamlessly.
- [09:17]
A
Yeah. And down the stretch of that game, by the way, it was, it was apparent, like the half court offense not great. Paolo Banchero hit a few free throws that could have put the game away. I mean, I think that's probably something that's going to come up for him. Although I don't know, I don't know how you aren't exhausted by that point in the game with the way that Portland plays and especially with the pace that both teams were playing there down the stretch. But I don't know, huge shot, crazy shot, just amazing night even. And like we're going to talk with Wes after the break, you know, about the crazy shooting at the end of the Cleveland, Miami. But just, it just was one of these nights where it feels like everyone was on crazy pills. By the way, Grayson Allen had 42 points again. I'm just going to sprinkle in all these other things that happen.
- [10:06]
B
It's just ridiculous.
- [10:07]
A
Yeah.
- [10:08]
B
That we're talking about. We're not even talking about these games, by the way. Like, have we, have we talked Detroit yet? Yeah, we talked in that same game. C.J. mcCollum 42 points. But, like, put that to the side real quick. Yeah.
- [10:22]
A
By the way, wizards are fun. Victor women. Yama. He had 18 points in the fourth quarter. He had 38 points overall, 12 rebounds, blocked five shots. Just an absolutely ridiculous night by. By any measure, even Victor Wimanyama, he hit six threes. No one's ever put up that stat line in NBA history. And he did it in a way down the stretch of the game again in the fourth quarter. And we've talked about how he had a few rough games there, you know, when teams were getting more physical, but he did this in the fourth quarter when they needed him to. He came in, they were losing. He. He took over this game. And especially, like the last two minutes of this game, it was all Victor women.
- [11:06]
B
Yamah, guess what? I love two games now, dear. And Fox is back. Victor Webuyama looking good.
- [11:14]
A
Yeah.
- [11:14]
B
Victor Weyama coming back and feeling like he's, you know, part of this rhythm. I also love a two big man lineup. Luke Cornett was really big here. Being able to easily be the screener in their offense, roll into the basket, being able to take some defense, defense with them. I love that he was just, you know, around the basket, allowing Victor Wenyama to do his thing. When you looked at some of the shots that he was hitting in the fourth quarter, the threes that he was taking, he was playing a point forward. He was out further away from the basket, where he likes to be, right where he likes to be. And that allow Luke Cornett to handle things inside. I. I love this, too, too big lineup that they've got going on. We'll see how long they can last with it. But you missed the part that I really wanted you to hit. Victor had 18 points in that fourth quarter.
- [11:59]
A
Yeah.
- [12:00]
B
Guess how much the Chicago Bulls had in that fourth quarter.
- [12:06]
A
Okay. 19. 19. 19 to their defense. They were missing. They were missing. Okay. And still no Kobe White. Right. But this was a game. Hey, another game, though, that the Bulls, you probably wouldn't think they were going to be in, they were in it. They had a chance to win it. And. And there's a world in which if Giddy's out there, if he doesn't get hurt by DeAndre Hunter on that ankle breaker, that. That maybe they have a chance to win this game. You know, down the stretch, they did have some shots to take the lead that you could think about him getting dribble penetration on. But either way, the spurs look great. They're not even at full strength because Dylan Harper's still out Wemby again when he's got the guards around him. He looks kind of untouchable. Anything else from, from last night, Xena that I missed that we need to hit? I mean, Cooper Flag had a fantastic, fantastic game in the loss. Yeah, against the Bucks.
- [13:07]
B
But he looked good. He looked competitive. Career high. Now 26 points in that game. There were some interesting shot taking at the end of games by veterans, Giannis in that game against Dallas, James Harden and the Clippers loss to Atlanta. I mean, interesting decision making towards the end. Yes. The Clippers with their fifth straight loss. There's, there's a, there's a lot there that particularly the Clippers have to think about in terms of moving forward. They're, they're just not clicking and the connectivity is just not there, especially defensively. But so much, so much last night. But we got to get to Miami.
- [13:43]
A
And yeah, we do because that game was sick. Monday night has just set up the storylines for the week. It's going to be a fun week.
- [13:50]
B
Yeah.
- [13:51]
C
Yeah.
- [13:51]
A
All right, guys, stick around. After the break. Wes Goldberg to relive the Cleveland Cavaliers Miami Heat thriller. And that game winner from Andrew Wiggins.
- [14:05]
C
Your ambition just met its match with Robin Hood. You play for the win, not just on game day, every day, locking in on every opening, beating your pr beating in again, channel that drive into your money. Robinhood puts you in control of your money. Trade stocks and ETFs, options, futures and crypto all in one platform. You can now build and execute your own trades from a desktop with the Robinhood Legends advanced tools. Or take advantage of the new Robinhood strategies with the tailored portfolio managed by a team of experts. You expect more from yourself. Expect more from your money. Get started today@robinhood.com yourmoney again, that's robinhood.com yourmoney your money. Your move. All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Options, futures and crypto trading carry significant risks and may not suit all investors. Security is offered through Robinhood Financial llc. Member sipc. Futures trading is offered by Robinhood Derivatives LLC and Not SPIC or FDIC protected crypto offered through Robinhood Crypto LLC. NMLS. ID 1702840 Not FDIC or SIPC protected portfolio management offered by Robinhood Strategies, an SEC registered advisor. This episode is brought to you by Gab. It's that time of year again. The holidays are coming fast and if your kids are anything like mine, that list is already getting pretty long. And let's be honest, some of the things on that list make us stop and think like a smartphone. I've got three boys that are all of age to have a smartphone. I'm telling you, it's something that we talk about quite constantly and there are tons of concerns around it. And that's why I was so relieved when I found Gab. Gab offers phones and watches made just for kids. No Internet, no social media and just the right features for their age. Kids want phones to feel independent and connected. As parents we want them to know they're safe. With Gab you can have both and protect them from scary stuff. With Gab's tech and Steps approach, kids get the right tech at the right time. From watches with GPS tracking for the youngest explorers to the perfect first phone with no Internet or social media to the teen phone with parent approved apps. So get ready for a Christmas morning they'll never forget the one where they get their first phone. And really, it's a gift for you too because these kidsafe phones will give you peace of mind. Visit gab.commbadaily and use the code NBA daily for a special holiday offer that's G A B B.com NBA Daily Gab Tech and Steps Independence for them Peace of mind for you As a small business owner, you don't have the luxury of clocking out early. Your business is on your mind 24 7. So when you're hiring you need a partner that works just as hard as you do. That hiring partner is linked in jobs. When you clock out, LinkedIn clocks in. LinkedIn makes it easy to post your job for free, share it with your network and get qualified candidates that can manage all in one place. I've been in a position where I need to hire many times and I never had the luxury of having LinkedIn jobs help me. As a user of LinkedIn jobs now I find it incredibly easy to find the most qualified candidates. Here's how LinkedIn jobs works. Number one post your job. LinkedIn's new feature can help you write job descriptions and then quickly get your job in front of the right people. With deep candidate insights. You can post your job for free or you can pay to promote promoted jobs. Get three times more qualified applicants. Number two get qualified candidates and at the end of the day, the most important thing to your small business is the quality of candidates. And with LinkedIn you can feel confident that you're getting the best. Based on LinkedIn data, 72% of small businesses using LinkedIn to say that LinkedIn helps them find high quality candidates and finally share it with your network. You can let your network know that you're hiring. You can even add the hashtag hiring frame to your personal profile and get two times more qualified candidates. Find out why more than two and a half million small businesses use LinkedIn for hiring today. Find your next great hire on LinkedIn. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com Athletic MBA that's LinkedIn.com Athletic MBA to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply.
- [18:45]
A
The Miami Heat are one of the teams in the Eastern Conference off to a fun start and the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers last night had everything Xena we were going nuts over our group test.
- [18:56]
B
Crazy.
- [18:57]
A
I mean, Jaime Hawkez is the big shot to send it to overtime. Donovan Mitchell hit a shot that doesn't even seem real and then an amazing inbound game winner to Andrew Wiggins. Our good buddy Wes Goldberg, the host of Locked on Heat, was in the building. He's here right now to talk about it. Wes, I know you got a new baby at home. This is a long night for you. What was it more exciting than the birth of your child?
- [19:23]
D
You know what it was up there. Don't tell my wife, but it was.
- [19:26]
A
Like what a fun game, man.
- [19:29]
D
Unbelievable, man. I am glad it didn't go into two overtimes because I am a little sleep deprived, but it looked like it was going there after that Donovan Mitchell shot, but then point four seconds on the clock. Eric Spoelstra said after the game that he had this play on his play sheet for four years. Might be an exaggeration, but gave a lot of credit to assistant coach Chris Quinn on that one and a really cool play. I don't know how many times you guys have watched it because for me, Andrew Wiggins just darting to the rim wide open. Obviously your eyes go to him and then you have to rewatch it. Luckily I was filming it in person so I kind of have it on my phone and I'm it was a really cool way play design with Norm Powell kind of zipping through what kind of was like an elevator doors situation as a decoy. And Cleveland's defense acted like they had never seen a ball screen before and maybe they hadn't because it had been like a full regulation in overtime with almost no ball screens because of the seed offense. They reacted like they were totally confused. Wiggins gets the wide open dunk there. He said after the game too he didn't even know how open he was because he was just so focused on just trying to catch the ball and put it in the basket in the time allotted. So a really fun way to end this one. After that crazy Donovan Mitchell shot, you just thought for sure this was going into two overtimes and somehow they pulled this one out.
- [20:40]
A
Are you aware of the fact that this was the second inbound, like kind of game winner or buzzer beater of the night? Or did you see the Jeremy Grant?
- [20:52]
D
Oh, no, I didn't notice that.
- [20:55]
A
Yeah. Okay. Well, when you catch up on Orlando. Yeah. Orlando also had a bunch of crazy shots. Desmond Bain at the end.
- [21:03]
D
Yeah. Is it one of those nights in the NBA?
- [21:05]
A
It was one of those nights, Wes, when you go and catch up, you know, because you. You also host Real GM Radio, so you cover the entire NBA. When you go and catch up, you're good. Got a lot in store. It's going to be like a little bit of a gift tomorrow morning. Anyway, back to this game. Listen, the. The Heat, they've been playing fast. I think it was one of the secrets to their success in the game with the Cavs because there were times where, you know, it just felt like the Cavs couldn't keep up. Especially Jared Allen, to me, who, who didn't. Didn't look great. What do you think about how Miami has started out and what did we see in last night's game that you've seen over the course of the start of this season?
- [21:44]
D
Well, the up tempo, right? I mean, that's the first thing that jumps out. The hit ahead passes, the trying to get the ball up the floor in one pass or even after makes. That is the name of the game for Eric Spolster right now. And this is not a team for being like, they don't have an elite shot creator on the team. Norm Pal has been awesome for them. Jaime Hackers Jr. Has been great, but they don't have like a Shay Gilgis Alexander or a Giannis or a Jokic on this roster. So they have to find different ways to create advantages. And one of the things that Expostro has put together here with this system is we're going to create advantage with our speed. And there's playing fast and there's playing fast like the Heat are playing. I mean, they're breaking records right now not just for a tempo, but also for like the lack of ball screens and stuff. And I think it's really interesting that what Eric Spoelstra has decided is, you know, if we get guys involved in ball screens and we kind of do all this switching and mismatch hunting thing, we don't really have an advantage in those scenarios most of the time, especially with Tally Hero out to start the year. But maybe we can create an advantage with our tempo and if we can get our guys in space. Nine times out of 10, an NBA player is going to be able to beat an NBA player off the dribble. I mean, offense just generally in this day and age beats defense, and that's sort of the bet that SPO made. It didn't look great in the preseason, guys. I was. I'm kind of shocked how good it looks almost right away in the regular season. But something cracked. They cracked the code here. It works. I mean, at least it has worked so far. Their top 15 in offense for the first time in what feels like forever. Literally, they were in the bottom three in offensive rating in each of the last three years. This is a new team. It's not a Jimmy Butler team anymore. It's younger. It's more athletic. They want to run, and they want to distribute the ball and kind of get everybody involved here. So whatever's going on right now, it's working.
- [23:24]
B
It definitely feels as if the team that we were looking in the preseason felt like the team that we saw when Jimmy Butler was off the floor. Not a ton of organization, not a ton of intentionality in terms of you've got the ball or we know where we're going with things. And so I was a little concerned coming into this season for Miami in terms of have they flipped the switch? Looking at this game, this game feels like a marker, like a delineation, particularly because the last six times that Miami had played the Cleveland Cavaliers, they took an L. The last two times they played the Cleveland Cavaliers, they lost fifth by 55 points and by 37 points. Like, these were big, big losses. To do this without Tyler Herron, without Bam Adebayo, feels like, okay, put some respect on Miami Heat for sure. But now it also puts a spotlight on is this enough? Do they have enough pieces? And I'm curious, how do you really turn the page and say, yeah, we're doing something different and it's enough to sustain us to be contenders. What would you say the Miami Heat really need right now to continue on this, on this trail of progress?
- [24:39]
D
I think, first of all, you need to see what this looks like when Tyler Herro comes back, first and foremost, before you make any sort of major decisions about the roster or even in the system. Right. I mean, we've. We saw Cleveland go to zone a little bit in this game, and we've seen some opponents do that recently to Try to slow down this attack, right? Because in that zone you're going to have two guys typically in those corners. And a lot of Miami's actions start with the corners. You know, they kind of have that wheel that goes round and round. Well, that wheel can't go round and round if you got two guys planted in the corner trying to stop that wheel from turning. And it's worked to different degrees. It hasn't worked so much to the point where Miami's lost a bunch of these games, but you're starting to see the scouting reports catch up. I thought Cleveland's defense early in this game, not so much later in this game, but I thought they were doing a really good job of kind of getting back in transition. Like they had clearly scouted this Heat offense, but they do need another dose of, I think, playmaking and scoring. And Tallahiro and Tyler Hero thrived last year, made an all star game mostly as a pick and roll guy. And as we know, they're not running much pick and roll now. I think you can look at this in two ways. When Hero comes back, it's either, hey, like he's just not going to run the pick and roll and we're going to find other ways to unlock his talents, which I think, you know, as a pull up three point shooter, I think he's one of the best in the world. I think there's a lot of room for him to grow or at least a lot of low hanging fruit there for him to kind of just grab and go and get those quick early in the shot clock threes. I think he can find kind of another level of efficiency in that way. But also maybe they do run a little bit more pick and roll.
- [26:04]
C
Right.
- [26:04]
D
Like, I don't, I don't think.
- [26:06]
B
Right.
- [26:07]
D
Yeah, I don't think SPO is sort of like against anything. I think he's very willing to kind of experiment and figure things out. So we haven't seen this team at full strength, which is kind of crazy, I mean, even before Bam went out. Now especially with Bam out, but you're seeing a lot of growth from the young guys as they get these reps. Jaime, guys, junior has been amazing. Khalil Ware had maybe his best game in a Heat uniform in this one. Jovic has been sort of up and down, but had a career night the other night. So, yeah, I think they want to kind of see what this team looks like. And Spo, you know, this ain't it, right? Like, he's got stuff up his sleeves. He's got the counters. He knows what's coming and that'll be exciting to kind of watch as he kind of continues to coach this team.
- [26:46]
B
Hell, we saw that last out of bounds play. Like that's enough evidence for you if you don't have any. But I'm curious. You're talking about. Yes. Injecting Tyler Herro's pick and roll, playing an open space, going downhill. I'm not necessarily too worried about, you know, what he's going to be doing. I'm more curious about how does that fit with Norman Powell? Because this is the guy that has come in from the Clippers and taken, I'm not going to say the throne, but he's taken a comfortable seat as a top scorer on this team. 33 points last night against Cleveland, averaging 23 on the season. Like he looks comfortable in, in this kind of chaotic offense that's rolling right now. But we know that when he was at the Clippers, he also came off the pick and roll, but he was also more an off ball player. Right. So now with a Tyler Hero in the mix, I'm very curious as to how that's going to look because we know Jaime Haz, they've been able to play the roles right around a Tyler Hero. They've done that before. But this will be new for Norman Powell to be able to play those two together. What are your thoughts on how they'll. They'll mesh.
- [27:50]
D
Yeah, I mean, before Hero got hurt, I remember talking with this team in Vegas and they were sort of right after the PAL acquisition and they were pretty bullish on what they could do as a backcourt together. And I think they knew, like, yeah, we're not going to be really a team with a true point guard out there. It's going to be kind of everybody by committee here. And so there was going to be room for Pal and for Hero. I think there's a lot of room for more shot making on this, on this offense. I mean, as great as these games are and as up tempo as they are and as fun as they are, this is still not like one of the top 10 offenses in the league. Like I said, they're just above average. There's a lot. They're just playing fast, right. They're not necessarily making a ton of shots, but if you replace some of these Simone Fontechio and Drew Smith and maybe even some of these Davion Mitchell minutes, which to me, that's the guy that I'm more concerned about than Norm, frankly, is what happens with Davion when Hero comes back because he kind of kicked out of the starting lineup because he's been really important for them as sort of a fastball. But I, I think there's going to be room there. And, and Norm, to your point, like he's played off like his, one of his superpowers. Other than to me, what makes him great in this offense is the quick decision making. We know that coaches always talk about.5 ing, shoot, dribble or pass in half a second. He's like point two ing out there. He's so fast with these decisions. And it's such a great fit for this offense that tends to also fit anywhere. And he's had a great career playing next to Kawhi in two different locations. Playing off of James Harden, he's talked about this like, I'm not worried about Norm whatsoever. Regardless of who's involved in the offense.
- [29:15]
A
How do they get more out of bamboo? Because that's actually, that's the thing that's missing. You know, you mentioned Cleveland going to the zone and, and they immediately missed Bam in my opinion. Right. Bam flashing to the nail, being able to make the pass to the cutters. He's great at that. But he doesn't score enough consistently. You know, the three ball is he, you know, it's. We're going to call it a project, right? Like, let's be graceful. It doesn't really create like he, like he did a few years ago, like the mid range games, just not there. How do they find a way to unlock his offensive game so that this team can actually be a top 10 offense? Because that, that really is going to be the trick.
- [29:54]
D
Yeah, that's kind of what I was alluding to when you got Tyler Hero back. It's. It's not only to get Tyler Hero involved but to get more production from the center spot in general. It's not just Bam, you're absolutely right. But it's also Khalel. I mean he had a great game tonight, but it's really just kind of tippins for him. It's offensive rebounds and that's sort of where he's kind of gobbling up points right now. But you could use more lobs to wear. You can use more lobs to bam. They don't like. Davion's okay at throwing that, but Tyler Hero is really the guy that has the chemistry with those two guys that he's already established. So that might be a way to do it. I think it's also worth noting that within this offense There are very strict rules, Right. Like, you got a space in a certain way, you got to cut through in certain ways. We talked about the wheel, all that stuff, right? Bam's kind of the only guy who's allowed to freelance. Yeah, he's really the guy that you're just saying. Yeah, your spot really is the mid range. That free throw line jumper. When you need to go get it, go ahead and get it. And I think that's Eric's pollster empowering Bam, who's the team captain, obviously, to kind of do his thing. But they also realize that you got. You're going to have to get him going offensively for as great as Bam is defensively, everybody's got to eat some food, right? And Bam's got to be able to have something on his plate. So I think that's the key there. But yeah, I think when Tyler Hero comes back, maybe that's when you start to layer in some pick and rolls. If not, I do still think that with Bam and where you could still space them, I think there's a lot more stuff to be done with some of that baseline dunker spot stuff, it still feels like that's kind of right for. To exploit a little bit more.
- [31:17]
A
We.
- [31:17]
D
We saw that again late in this game against Cleveland. Maybe that's another spot too.
- [31:23]
B
You know what's interesting, we talk about Bam and we're saying, like, let's get some more out of him. Like, he's averaging 20 and 8, right? Like, it's not a. It's not a bad situation here that you know what he's providing. I. Is it more? So when you guys ask, like, you want more out of Bam, is it more points? Is it more. More seamlessness within the offense in terms of just easy buckets? Like, what is it that you're looking for out of Bam that you want?
- [31:50]
A
For me, I'm looking for consistent creation, right? He, like, they are missing a person in that spot that can create for other guys, make things easier for the offense. I mean, you know, like his DHO game, it's. It's not a real threat, in my opinion. And part of that, right, and. And part of that is because that mid range jumper just isn't there. So it's, you know, 28 is great, but numbers, like, they don't really lie to you, but they can mislead you a little bit, you know, And I do think that, I mean, while he's a good and very effective player, that there is a little bit more meat on the bone with Him. And part of that is that offensive creation that he's missing.
- [32:30]
B
How he folds in.
- [32:31]
A
Right, right.
- [32:32]
D
I think that's part of it too. He does kind of feel left out in the rest of this offense sometimes. He is like, to your point, the numbers are good. I actually think that we're a little too hard on Bam in general. And like he's literally elite at everything and merely very good at scoring. And it's just like we always are always asking for more from this guy. But, you know, I think that there's. There's instances where. And we haven't seen him play with where a ton of. And I'm wondering if after the wear kind of gets more reps here, if SPO leans into that lineup a little bit more. They were starting obviously for a little while and then they went away from it. But when they do that, Bam is able to attack smaller guys. And those isolation possessions, there's a ton of those. I mean, that's the entire office. I mean, there's a ton of those available in this offense. I'd love to see him kind of in that Pascal Siakam type role, you know, where he's constantly being like, just trying to bully like a 6 foot 8 kind of undersized forward instead of having to go against 7 footers all the time. Because Bam's handle is okay. It's not great. I think there's definitely room for it to improve. So, yeah, he's got maybe the athleticism to get by 7 footers who are in front of him, but he doesn't necessarily have the handle to do it. But when he's bullying younger guys, then all of a sudden he becomes a big. Comes a real big.
- [33:45]
B
Bam.
- [33:46]
D
Yeah, exactly.
- [33:47]
A
Okay. To be fair though, Team usa. Bam's got Team usa. Steph Curry, he's got Team usa. Kevin Durant, you know, that's why he.
- [33:54]
B
Can play the three.
- [33:55]
A
Bam is like, hey, if we can just get Miami Heat Tyler Hero out here, maybe we can get something done. I agree with you, Wes. He and Wear, I think where unlocks a lot for him. And then when Tyler Hero's out there, that's a three man kind of pick and roll option combination that you. You probably get some stuff done. Guys, that's going to do it for the show. Thank you to Wes Goldberg. Guys, go and check him out. Locked on Heat does a great job covering the Heat, but also real GM radio. I was a guest on the show last week. I had some pretty good rants, especially about bringing over European coaching styles. And how that might not work in the NBA. So go and check that out if you're if you're curious about that. But thank you very much Wes for hanging out for Wes Goldberg and Zena Keda. I'm Dave Dufour and this has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us. Introducing Family Freedom from T Mobile. We'll pay off four phones up to $3200 and give you four free phones, all on America's largest 5G network. Visit t mobile.com Family Freedom.
- [35:19]
C
Up to.
- [35:20]
A
$800 per line via virtual prepaid card typically takes 15 days. Free phone via 24 monthly bill credits with finance agreement example Apple iPhone 16128 gigs $829.99 eligible trade in example iPhone 11 Pro for well qualified credits end in balance due if you pay off early or cancel. Contact Us Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees. Just ask the Capital One bank guy. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. He'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too. Ah, really? Thanks, Capital One Bank Guy. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capital1.com Bank Capital One NA Member FDIC hey, it's Adam Grant from Ted's podcast Work Life, and this episode is brought to you by ServiceNow. AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. That's why it's no surprise that more than 85% of the Fortune 500 companies use the ServiceNow AI platform. While other platforms duct tape tools together, ServiceNow seamlessly unifies people, data workflows and AI connecting every corner of your business. And with AI agents working together autonomously, anyone in any department can focus on the work that matters Most. Learn how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people at ServiceNow.
- [36:41]
B
Com.