Esperaheny (2:50)

But there. There is a little bit of, like, he's watching his steps. Hesitant. Yeah. In terms of how he's approaching the game. So I think that's just going to be the way it goes for Embiid. What is important here? The Sixers usually had him on a 20 minute minute restriction, played 23 minutes.

Dave Dufour (3:08)

Yeah.

Esperaheny (3:08)

So maybe slowly creeping up there, but honestly, the. The guy tonight for the Sixers and maybe the guy. He's been the guy for him all year, man.

Robinhood Advertiser (3:16)

Yeah.

Esperaheny (3:16)

Tyrese maxey. Absolutely unreal. 39 points, 10 assists, knocked down three threes, got to the free throw line 16 times in this game. I just love how in control he is. I think, like, somehow he's taken a new step forward as a pick and roll operator, as a star guard creator. He's basically everything you want from that position. And, man, he's the guy for Philly.

Dave Dufour (3:44)

Now you have to guard him at half court. You know, he's got the quick trigger.

Eric Naim (3:47)

He.

Dave Dufour (3:47)

He's not scared of the deep three. In his first four games, he scored the most points of any Sixer since Wilt Chamberlain. Whenever you're bringing up Wilt Chamberlain, usually a pretty good thing. I do want to talk about the Wizards a little bit. Who did lose the game. They, you know, they blew a lead. All right. They're not a good basketball team, but we're not going to have a lot of chances. Asked to talk about the Wizards and be super positive, like we are here in the first, like, week two weeks of season. I actually, look, this is night and day from last year for me. I. I don't remember a single game where I watched and felt so positive about so many parts of what the Wizards were doing. Like, it wasn't just, hey, oh, Alex Sar looks pretty nice.

Eric Naim (4:28)

But while Kula Bali.

Dave Dufour (4:29)

Oh, that looks pretty nice. It feels like just about every player they were putting out there, there was something happening. You know, there were no duds.

Eric Naim (4:39)

Dave.

Esperaheny (4:40)

I love this Wizards team. I actually love this Wizards team.

Dave Dufour (4:44)

It's what you wish the Raptors.

Esperaheny (4:48)

No, I'm. I'm getting it on the ground floor here for the Wizards because I think they are building a defensive identity. If you look at their front court now, Bilal Koulibaly isn't healthy yet, but once he comes back, it's Alex Saar, it's Bilal, it's Keyshawn George, who has blossomed for them as an offensive creator, pick and roll, ball handler. He's running more pick and rolls than he ever did in his rookie year. And then you have Trey Johnson, their rookie, who is this marksman, like, shooter, really, really good head on his shoulders in terms of creating and making shots. And so, like, they have a vision. There is a vision in Washington for the first time in a while, like, since John Wall was on the team. And so I agree. I think even in this moment, we can be optimistic about what the future is for Washington, while acknowledging, like, this team's probably not going to win a ton of games, they're not going to make the playoffs anytime soon.

Dave Dufour (5:43)

But, yeah, you know, but Alex Starr put up 31, had 11 rebounds, had five assists, which is very interesting to me.

Hydro Advertiser (5:51)

Right.

Dave Dufour (5:51)

Like, just stuff that they're allowing and asking these guys to do is great.

Unidentified Commentator (5:55)

And.

Dave Dufour (5:56)

And look, your guy, Keyshawn George, that. That jumper is real. Yes, that three ball is real. And if he can stretch the floor like that, playing next to Alex Starr with his ability to also then put it on the floor, get into pick and rolls with him, they're going to be fun all year.

Esperaheny (6:12)

They also, I will say, like, I think the Vets are helping them play competitively.

Dave Dufour (6:17)

Oh, of course.

Robinhood Advertiser (6:17)

Well, the.

Esperaheny (6:18)

Chris Middleton started last year.

Dave Dufour (6:20)

When Middleton and Marcus Smart came over last year, that was when things really turned around for the young guys. I mean, this is why it's important to keep the veterans around, like, even when you're tanking, you know, I mean, Brooklyn's going to probably learn they have.

Esperaheny (6:34)

$100 million in cap space this summer. Just want to throw that out there, you know?

Dave Dufour (6:38)

Yeah.

Esperaheny (6:38)

What might happen.

Dave Dufour (6:39)

You have any names?

Esperaheny (6:41)

I don't have a name at all, but, yeah, LeBron James. I don't know, whatever.

Dave Dufour (6:45)

Hey, go to the nation's capital, help them out. They could use all the help that they can get over there. Hey, The Clippers scored 79 points last night.

Esperaheny (6:53)

S. Yeah, brutal. Absolutely wild.

Dave Dufour (6:56)

They score 79, to be honest with you. Like, their offense in the second half against the warriors just was completely inept. They. They scored 30 points in the entire second half. The warriors defense has looked excellent to start the. The season, but it is not that good.

Esperaheny (7:13)

Yeah, they had. The Clippers had seven assists in this game total. Like, that's an issue. They made six threes. They didn't make a three in the second half until, like a minute left in the fourth quarter. I think old is an understatement. Their transition Defense also looks really, really bad. The warriors just kept running and running and running the Clippers to the ground. It's been a shaky start here for Kawhi Harden and the Clippers, and I think part of that is just like figuring out how they're going to be able to be a good defensive team and also the machinations offensively. If you'll remember last year they went through a lot of droughts too, where there would be stretches where they just forgot how to score. I think that still exists for this team. How they build through that, I don't know.

Dave Dufour (7:59)

That's. Every bucket is hard though, S. And this is the thing for these Clippers teams, again, it's another team that it's go beat your guy or spot up in the corner. And I just. I don't know, man. I think that's hard to do when you're playing elite defenses. You just. It is too hard to score consistently without a game plan, without, you know, bread and butter plays. Even for the. The warriors, man, they continue to surprise me. To start the year, they look great. Al Horford kind of had a rough game, but other than that, every single Warrior looked pretty good to me. Steph Curry, 19 points. Key to him. The stats right here, 26 minutes. Yeah, that's awesome. If the warriors are back to keeping Curry below 30 minutes and wins, that's going to matter come April May. Quentin Post hitting big shots. What did he wind up with from three?

Esperaheny (8:50)

He ended up with four made threes.

Dave Dufour (8:52)

Yeah, four for four for seven from three.

Esperaheny (8:54)

Honestly, the big number for Quentin Post is the eight rebounds. Like a huge number.

Dave Dufour (8:59)

His ability to actually just guard if it's a Zubots, made him key to this game. If he is going to be able to shoot the ball anywhere close to this and play defense at the level that we saw last night. Huge contributor for them come playoff time. They almost need it.

Esperaheny (9:18)

Yeah, this team, you said they surprised you. You know what surprised me right now? Their depth. Like Kaminga looks good. There's not a question mark there heading into the season anymore. Like he has a defined role and we talked about it with Marcus last week, but Pajimski looks good. Moses Moody is back in the lineup. They're still waiting on the Anthony Melton to come back. Quentin Post just came back and like is is obviously contributing, provides another stretch five. Look, this warriors team is now deep, weirdly enough. And that will help a lot when it comes to keeping Steph's minutes downs, keeping Dre's minutes down. Winning those games when those guys are resting as well.

Dave Dufour (9:54)

Yeah, it's looking a lot like the way last year was planned to look, but with Jimmy Butler and now some expanded depth. So yeah, I think the warriors man, it looks like they might be in the mix again this year. Guys stick around after the break. We have Eric Naim to talk about Giannis and his MVP type performance. Last night.

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Dave Dufour (13:43)

Giannis Antetokounmpo had a 37.8 rebound 7 assist night as the Bucks came back from a 12 point deficit at halftime to beat the Knicks 121 to 111. Eric Name covers the Bucks for us over at the Athletic this is yet another ridiculous game for Giannis to start the season. The Bucks have looked better than I think. Well, I don't know, I don't want to speak for you, but then I anticipated, I believe s better than you anticipated here early on, especially because there were so many concerns about the guard play. But some of these questions just do not matter if this is who Giannis is going to be all year, right?

Eric Naim (14:24)

Yeah, he is absolutely absurd. You know, I was talking to Doc Rivers after the game and I just kind of asked like the simple question like is this the best Giannis has ever been? Which is a crazy thing to ask considering that in the last two seasons he's averaged 30 points per game, 11 rebounds per game, six assists per game and shot over 60 from the field. First time in NBA history anybody's ever done that. And he's done it twice over the last few seasons. So I'm out here asking is he better than he's ever been before? And yeah, no, he is, he is, he is better than he's ever been before. It's outrageous. Kind of the, the way that he's able to control games right now. I know going into the season there was a lot of concerns about, you know, who's going to play point guard for this team and who's and Even if they are going to play Giannis at point guard and, you know, say that the nominal point guard isn't actually the point guard, whatever, someone else got to dribble the ball at some point. Someone else got to create something at some point. Giannis can't do it all. And I'm here to tell you, maybe he can. Maybe he can do it all like that. It's. It's just kind of been. It's been really cool. This is something that I think Giannis really enjoyed at the end of last season. Once Damian Lillard went down at the end of the regular season and then again in the playoffs with the torn Achilles. I don't think, you know, obviously it's always all about Giannis in Milwaukee, but I don't know that it's been all about Giannis to this extent. There's always been another guy, another couple guys, right? You think back to some of the big three bucks that won the 21 championship, you think to Giannis and Dame even, you think before that, Bledsoe, and just. There's always been those other guys. You can see the clear, this guy will be the number two score, this guy be the number three score. This is how it's going to work, Work. And that's not what it is this year. It's one and then two. A, B, C, D, E, F is whoever's going to be the next scorer. And we've seen that, you know, through four games, that on any given night, it could be someone new, it could be someone you're not expecting. And whoever it is, Giannis is probably putting up insane numbers on top of it, and that's exactly what he's done this far.

Esperaheny (16:42)

It feels like they're finding the right way to maximize everybody else around Giannis, too. I know you had posted on social media a couple of, like, the guard screen actions that they were running with A.J. green and Gary Trent Jr. To get those guys just open shots and open opportunities. Obviously they have two stretch, five options in Miles Turner and Bobby Portis. Like, this team is designed with Giannis in mind to kind of like dominate like they are. He is the sun in which every player revolves around, I guess, what happens when he's off the court, how do they survive the minutes when he's not playing?

Eric Naim (17:17)

That's a work in progress. You know, I think. I think one thing that, you know, I've. I've kind of tried to figure out as the season's gone on is like, you know, I think over the years, there was always A stagger partner for Giannis. Right. Like, if Giannis was going to be off the floor, then Damian Lillard was going to be in. If Giannis was off the floor, then Chris Middleton was gonna be in. Like, there was going to be someone like that. There is not that, like, clear stagger partner right now. Milwaukee. And. And I think the only thing that kind of is exist is that after last season, I think the Bucks realized that Giannis should not be playing a lot with Kyle Kuzma. And that's unfortunate.

Dave Dufour (17:54)

Unfortunate, because Kyle Kuzma shouldn't be playing a lot.

Eric Naim (17:58)

I mean, that might be part of it, too, but I think what they decided was, like, Kuzma is like a diet. Giannis is probably too strong of a Giannis, like a zero carb. Giannis, like, well, whatever. It would be like that. Zero sugar. That whole thing. Like that is what Kuz is empty.

Dave Dufour (18:20)

I think, is what we're looking for. Right.

Eric Naim (18:23)

However, however, you might want to say that that's what Kuzma has to be, where you can build the. The idea of the team in the same form, that you have a playmaking 610 player that hopefully tries to get downhill and get other people involved. And I didn't think that was something that Kyle Kuzma would really want to, like, do or buy into. But, you know, you watch this game tonight, he scores five points. He takes two.

Dave Dufour (18:52)

Free throw line.

Eric Naim (18:53)

He got to the free throw line, which is always important. And then on the other end, before the game, Doc Rivers is like, I'd ask about, hey, you know, in previous years, you'd have Brook Lopez try to cover Cat, and by the end of the game, you're just like, well, you know, we can't do that anymore. Like, it's gonna have to be Giannis. And I was like, oh, what's it gonna be like to have Miles? And he's like, well, yeah, you know, we have Miles and we have Giannis, and, you know, we have Coups, too. And I just went, what Cruise? Like, as a. Oh, okay. And to Kuz's credit, I mean, there is, you know, that second half stretch where the Bucks are just putting together stop after stop after stop. They hold the Knicks to 40 points for the entire second half. For the entire second half after giving up 45 to them in the second quarter alone. And it's Kuzma getting underneath Karl Anthony Towns, not letting them move them, keeping him out of the paint and frustrating him. And it's just a sequence that I didn't know Kyle Kuzma was going to have that level of buy in, right? Like, this is a guy that in Washington got to take every shot that he wanted, didn't need to care a whole lot on the defensive end. And now all of a sudden he's in a game where he takes two shots, he's going to stand up Karl Anthony Towns on three straight isolation possessions. Like, that's a thing that he's going to do. That's a level of buy in. And I think for when you look at this team, that's the whole thing. Like, the other night, they go to Cleveland, they're down three of their top eight through injuries and sickness, and they lose to the Cavs. And, and the Cavs have injuries, too, but they lose to the Cavs in Cleveland. But after the game, Giannis, like, made it very clear he's used a great Kevin Garnett quote to. It's going to be a bar fight. Every night is going to be a bar fight. Every, every, every, every. Every night will be a fight. When you play us, that's how we're going to win. And, and I think, you know, some people with everything that happened in the off season and the constant rumors about Giannis were like, oh, he's saying that the team isn't good enough, or he's saying that, you know, they don't have enough.

Esperaheny (20:58)

And it's like, that's grasping at straws. Wow.

Eric Naim (21:01)

No, it's not like he actually likes being the oldest guy on the team. He likes having the most NBA experience of any player on the roster. He likes being the oldest guy in the starting lineup. He likes having young guys around that are ready to fight for every single loose ball. And that's what it's been this season. And I mean, through four games, obviously you can't make any, you know, sweeping declarations, but, man, he's having fun out there. He likes the way that they play. He likes that everything's built around them. They. They're shooting more threes than they have in previous years. Like, they're shooting as many threes as they used to do. Bud was around, and they're just playing hard. And that has not always been the case for the Milwaukee Bucks. You know, they start 2 and 8 last year, and it's everyone trying to tell you, ah, don't worry about it. We'll be good by the playoffs. Like, it's fine. Like, we got all this talent. It's going to be okay. Don't worry. Like, we're going to be fine. And that is True. Like, they were fine. They did make the playoffs. But that's not an ethos. That's not like a standard, that's not an identity. Like, saying we have enough talent, it's going to be okay in the end is not something you can rally the troops around. And this year, it's like, the only way that we are going to be able to compete is if we play as hard as humanly possible every night. And that hasn't been the case for a Milwaukee Bucks team in a number of years. And I think Giannis really loves it.

Dave Dufour (22:28)

And Doc Rivers didn't even have to ban beards or anything weird like that. Let's talk about the guard rotation for these guys because, like, that was a concern coming in, right. Who's going to dribble? That isn't Giannis. No. Kevin Porter Jr. For right now, but it doesn't matter. Ryan Rollins looks excellent, career high in the game last night, and I think Cole Anthony off the bench, that's a great role for him. You know, a guy who is willing to shoot, he can get to the basket. But I. I want to talk about Ryan Rollins a little bit because there might be a little bit of found money here. He really is a perfect fit next to Giannis.

Esperaheny (23:04)

Found money in Milwaukee for the first time in how long?

Eric Naim (23:07)

Ever? Yeah, Yeah. I mean, I think. I think the Bucks would argue AJ Green as well, and we can talk a little bit about him.

Dave Dufour (23:16)

Well, okay. If you think that shooter that just stopped missing is found money, then yes.

Eric Naim (23:23)

Yeah. No, I mean, it depends what you're into. It depends what you're into. I personally, I think it's good. But no, with Rollins, I think one thing that has stood out to me since he's been in Milwaukee, and it stood out from the very first time he played a game, was he has a 6 foot 9 wingspan. And when he plays, you probably think it's like a seven foot two wingspan. I mean, he gets his hands on everything. Going into the game tonight, he was the league leader in deflections. It's not always great to trust the hustle stats from NBA, but, yeah, no, he's the league leader in deflections. And when you watch him play, you're like, oh, yeah, he just gets his hands on passes, you know, as they're closing out the game tonight, Jalen Brunson was a little bit, like, iffy from a body perspective, but it's two plays in a row where Rollins is able to get a deflection on a pass. He's able to poke away Brunson dribble and, you know, leads to turnovers throughout the game rather than clean pocket passes. Rollins is getting his hands on a ball and it goes into the air and then it's not a turnover, but it slows down the Knicks offense. And you can just kind of see how much of a pain he is to play against that, no matter who the guard is. Like, they're gonna. Jalen Brunson was great tonight, right? 36 points on 25 shots. He's freaking awesome. But, like, it was not fun. Like, Ryan Rollins was on him the entire game, and I think that part was cool. But I think offensively it's really been fun to kind of just watch him blossom. I thought it stood out to me that when you watched him shoot before every game, he was. He wasn't quite AJ Green, where AJ Green's never missing and shooting like 30 footers. But it was like, man, this dude never misses and he's only kind of figured out more ways to use that length. Offensively, I think he's gotten better at extending the ball very far out on his drives where, you know, he'll put it all the way out, use that entire wingspan and bigs don't touch it, and he finishes at the rim. He's been aggressive.

Ollie Advertiser (25:26)

He's.

Eric Naim (25:28)

He just finds a way to, to kind of make things happen. He's got a little wiggle. And I will.

Dave Dufour (25:33)

I will say, listen, I. I'm an old school Ryan Rollins guy. I thought him and Patrick Baldwin Jr. Were going to be a really good pick and roll combo coming off the church for the Warriors. Right. Like, I, I just. Yeah, I thought that was going to help with the, the two timelines thing. So for me, it's kind of like, it's nice because I did all this scouting on this guy and he's finally getting a chance to show some of this stuff. Especially, man, he looks taller than he is. I had to go back and check his. His basketball reference just to check his height because his arms are just so freaking long. Like, he just plays big.

Esperaheny (26:03)

It's a little Rondo Ish. And how long he is, you know. Yeah.

Dave Dufour (26:08)

Find that kind of vision. That would be incredible.

Eric Naim (26:10)

You know what, that's a great name to bring up. Rajon Rondo, because you know, who's a little lobby. Coaching consultant. Milwaukee box. Yeah. Rajan Rondo. Rashan Rondo's around. Yanis was. Giannis was talking after the game ton about how since. So Rondo. This is the second year Rondo's doing it. Rondo has been a little bit. Has been around a little bit more than he was last year. He's still trying to be a good dad and be there for his kids, like high school athletic events and stuff like that. So he doesn't want to do full time coaching yet, but he's been around a lot. And essentially what Giannis said was, early last year, he told Rollins, like, if you want to be good, just follow that guy around. Wherever Rondo is, just follow him around every day. If you have a video clip, watch it with him. If you have a question, ask him. If you just want to have a conversation, make it with that guy. If you, if you talk to him and spend your time with him, he is going to help show you the way. And, you know, Giannis had said like, hey, we lost in Cleveland. But when I got on the plane, you know who is sitting in one of the front rows sitting next to Rajan Rondo watching film? Ryan Rollins. Like, that's the type of stuff that I think this is a league of what, the best 400 basketball players in the world. Everybody here has got talent. Everybody. If you give them an opportunity, they can make something happen. But the big thing, all the sellers are gone. But when, when you get that opportunity, you got to do something with it. And not only do you have to do something with, you have to put in all the other work. And In Rollins, like A.J. green, those, those are just workers. And again, it speaks to the ethos of this team at large that that's what they're doing. Like, the greatest underdog story of all time in the NBA is probably Giannis, right? Like, to go from 15th in the draft, kid, nobody knew.

Dave Dufour (28:10)

Everybody, right? Like, wrapped in.

Eric Naim (28:19)

So now the Disney movie is this year's team at being the underdogs and everyone putting in that work to, to kind of get them where they want to be.

Esperaheny (28:26)

Extending those two, by the way, A.J. green and Ryan Rollins, huge part of the front office. Just mention it.

Robinhood Advertiser (28:32)

Yeah.

Ollie Advertiser (28:32)

Sorry.

Dave Dufour (28:32)

Quickly, before we let you get out of here. I know it's late. First impressions of the Knicks. New coach, new system. Same old, same old, same old.

Eric Naim (28:43)

I mean, so I think what's, what's fun about them is the pace is different. I think you're seeing Jalen get off the ball more willingly, which I think is like a really nice thing for him. Not that he can't just have the ball all the time and be awesome. I just think you needed. You needed him to do more. And you're always going to need him to do more and to get him to do more, you have to have them do less. Right? Like, you can't have him bring the ball up all the time. You have to get them off the ball and, you know, send them off some picks, have some different actions. So I enjoyed getting to see that where it. He had to work hard going up against rounds. But like I thought by the end of the game he was going to be in a good position. If he didn't, I think maybe tweak a hammy. We'll see what MRIs or imaging could be groin.

Dave Dufour (29:33)

Not quite sure.

Eric Naim (29:34)

Yeah, some soft tissue injury in there. Hopefully it's not bad. But no, I thought that was nice. Mikhail Bridges going in the lane, shooting at the rim. That was not a thing he did last year. He was just not willing to do it. I thought him getting downhill more like to see him have a 24, 11 and 6 game on, 8 of 16 shooting, that's a, that's a really solid development. So I, to me, those were like the two major things that stood out. Was Brunson getting off the ball, willing to get it back more, move more pace, and then just Bridges looking more like the guy that I think he can be. And obviously with the way it kind of ended last year, I think that was going to be a major priority for whoever took that job. And I think Mike Brown, at least for one night, the one night that I got to see it did seem that, you know, Bridges was able to do a little bit more.

Dave Dufour (30:28)

That's definitely the guy they. They were hoping to get with all those picks.

Eric Naim (30:31)

For sure.

Dave Dufour (30:33)

Eric, name guys. Go and read them over at the Athletic. He's going to be covering Giannis over the course of the what is going to be a ridiculous season where Giannis is obviously chasing an mvp. I mean, it just, you can smell it right now. I think he's going to be in the mix for that.

Ollie Advertiser (30:48)

Oh, yeah.

Dave Dufour (30:48)

So go and follow Eric over there. Oh, you got one thing to say.

Eric Naim (30:52)

I will say to plug old shows, when I did the Athletic NBA preview with Xena, one thing I had said was if everyone is going to talk about how bad this Bucks team is before the season and how there's no talent on the roster and then they manage to be the number four seed. I don't want to hear the narrative change up. I don't want to hear all of a sudden that you guys all believed in everybody that's on the roster.

Esperaheny (31:19)

I talk your talk, Eric.

Dave Dufour (31:20)

Watch that. Ryan Ron was going to make the all star team or something crazy so.

Eric Naim (31:24)

That we just like we need so don't don't turn it around. If so, then that means the big fella needs to be in the conversation for the mvp and that would be his third MVP become that'd be pretty sweet.

Dave Dufour (31:39)

Yeah, go and read him at the Athletic For Esperahenny and Eric Naim, I'm Dave defour. This has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.

Unidentified Commentator (32:11)

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