← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Colin Cowherd Podcast - Nuggets-Thunder Reaction, OKC-Timberwolves & Knicks-Pacers Predictions
00:39:22
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- [00:00]
Colin Cowherd
You're listening to an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
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- [00:35]
Colin Cowherd
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- [01:09]
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- [01:48]
Colin Cowherd
Okay, have you heard about this? Last year, Degree changed the formula for their Cool Rush deodorant and their fans rebelled and wanted the old scent back. And Degree listens. That doesn't happen often. They admitted they effed up and they're bringing back the original Cool Rush scent. They're bringing it back and it's exactly how you remember it. Cool, crisp and fresh.
- [02:06]
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- [02:08]
Colin Cowherd
Men'S antiperspirant and it's back in Walmart, Target and other stores now for under four bucks. So try and see what the fuss is about. Head to your local Walmart or Target to try the OG Degree Cool Rush for yourself. The volume. Hey, so we all make mistakes, but owning up to them is the right thing to do. So you know Degree Cool Rush deodorant, right? Well, last year they changed the formula and it did not go over well with their fans. So Degree's whole thing is it Turns up the sweat and odor protection when you turn up the effort. And good thing it does because Cool Rush fans really turned up the effort to bring the original formula back. One guy even started an online petition and degree listened. They admitted they effed up. They're bringing back the original Cool Rush scent. They're bringing it back and it's exactly how you remember it. Cool, crisp and fresh. It's back in Walmart, Target and other stores now for under $4. There's a reason it's been the number one men's antiperspirant for the last decade. It's the same reason why people were not happy when it changed. So if you've never tried it, it might be a good time to see what the fuss is about. Head to your local Walmart, Target and try the OG Degree Cool Rush for yourself. Well, we got a stinker in Game 7 at OKC, which I kind of had a vibe. In fact, I'm surprised it went seven Gordon's injury. I, I even in the winning games, I felt like Jokic was just running out of gas. Jamal Murray provided very little Jason temp hoops tonight. Yeah, I felt like, you know, they played their ass off early. But you know, from Caruso on Jokic to Murray's absence, I mean, Kayson Wallace is hitting shot just like. Okay, it's not going to be their day. I think I, I will say this. I mean, Oklahoma City was favorite. I think we both liked him. I thought it would be a. It was. I do think you kind of have to sort of. I mean, Christian Brown played a lot better. I think you do have to examine Jamal Murray. I just think in too many big games, he has injuries. In too many big games, Jason, I just don't, I just don't feel like I'm getting. He was never hyper athletic anyway. I don't know. I think, I think it's time to shuffle the deck. I think I would, if it was me, I would keep Gordon Brown for his energy. I would keep, you know, Jokic, obviously, I'd move anything else, I'd take any call. How far off am I?
- [04:32]
Jason Temp
Well, I think that there's certainly going to be a pivot coming. I think that Michael Porter Jr. Is the kind of player that I think they'll be almost certainly looking to move. They used to need him desperately as a weak side spacer. In the context of Aaron Gordon as a non shooter.
- [04:49]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [04:49]
Jason Temp
But now with Aaron Gordon really coming together as just a super well rounded, versatile role player on both ends of the floor, I think they can actually look to target more of a defensive minded wing at that position instead of a guy like Michael Porter Jr. Who's more of a shooter. I would stick with Jamal because I think there's a lot of value specifically with the continuity with him in that matchup. This is a guy who's played two man game with YIC for over a half decade and he just has such a flow with him. I think there's a conversation to be had with Jamal as it pertains to his conditioning and it's routine now that he comes into camp out of shape and he basically plays his way into shape and then suddenly right before the All Star break, he kind of, kind of starts to come together and then he'll look good in the playoffs, just not as consistently good as he can be. I mean, Colin, as bad as he was tonight, he was absolutely Brilliant in Game 6. Yeah, but it's one of those things where I think internally they're going to need more out of Jamal. But I certainly think a pivot's coming. I think the pivot's going to center around a Michael Porter Jr. Trade. That's the kind of piece that they need to upgrade. I think Jamal, I think Christian Brown, I think Aaron Gordon, I think Nicole Jokic, I think that's a championship for. I just think they need someone more along the lines of like a Herb Jones, Jaden McDaniels type at the three than they need a Michael Porter Jr. They need to anchor this group with defense. They. They need to give themselves more athleticism and pop. You could feel the difference in the athleticism in this, especially in game seven tonight, like, or today, like they're in that, that beginning of the game is so funny. On the broadcast they show all the difference in experience. All those Nuggets have played in like 20 game sevens combined and there's like three on the OKC side and they start the game and Denver goes up 21 to 10 and it literally feels like a classic young guy game seven. But then right at the end of the first quarter, Alex Crusoe checks in. They really up their ball pressure and man, did the wheels come off. It completely came off from there and they just were never able to regain control. And even Jokic, to your point, especially in that late second quarter run that OKC went on right before the half. Yeah, he just looked physically overwhelmed by how physical their guards are.
- [06:58]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, no, I mean, it was like a 14 to 2 run and they were getting up the floor and I think, I think I've said this before. I think the first round should be five games. I think it was. That's what it was in MJ's era. And I think the pace is faster. I think the athletes are bigger and stronger. I don't like the NFL going to 18 games eventually. I just, I think we should. I don't. That doesn't do it for me because I think athletes now are. They're training year round, you ask. More bodies break down. But I think, you know, I think we're going to end up, you know, we're ending up with really good coaching staffs with okc, Minnesota, Indiana and the Knicks. That's what we're ending up with. And I think, I think we're ending up with, I mean, between Halliburton and Jalen Brunson and SGA and you know, I mean, ant, obviously I feel like the Eastern Conference feels much different than the Western Conference. In the Western Conference. I just love the construct of the rosters. I mean, if you look at Minnesota, it should not be this good. Rudy Gobert's an offensive hole at times. Conley's six years past his prime. Ant is a superstar, a developing superstar. Julius Randle was never a good playoff performer and struggled the first month or two with the T Wolves. But I see this roster, I see the athleticism, I see the size. Great GM came from Denver. And I see a staff that just gets everything out of its players that like, coaches them hard. It's almost like Spoelstra coaches them hard, has no problem barking. But I feel like I'm getting every player's best game. And with Oklahoma City like Sam Presti, I feel again, I just think there's just so much energy and so many guys that can do high end rotational players. So in the west you can touch on this. I just think, I think it's really good coaching. Obviously two of the top four or five stars in Ant SJ, but I think it's really good coaching, really good GMing, really nice rosters with a variety of options to throw at teams. Big energy, youth. And just. It just. There's so many levers for both coaches to pull in the West.
- [09:16]
Jason Temp
Yeah, it's, you know, depth is the recurring theme that I see for sure in the sense that the Pacers have three, four, five guys that they lean on in substantial roles off the bench. Same with Oklahoma City. Same with Minnesota. You're getting nas Reed, Dante DiVincenzo, Nikhil Alexander, Walker. These teams just have wave after wave of talent. And even with The Knicks, like, the Knicks don't have the depth in terms of like playing an eight or nine man rotation, but Mitchell Robinson is like a legit sixth starter for them and so is Deuce McBride. I think Deuce McBride's a very good backup guard, and so I think that's part of it. Having like a rock solid seven that you can count on, I think makes a big deal. I mean, to, to your point, Colin, literally, we got into the start of the second quarter and David Adelman inexplicably leaves Jokic and Murray off the court at the same time. And we got to see a little bit of Denver's bench there for a minute. It wasn't pretty. And so I think de. I think depth is a significant part of it. There is an interesting trend, Colin, towards offense and late playoff success. Two, two years ago, Denver is the first team that's not a defending champion, that was not a top 10 defense to win the title. Last year we had three top five or three top 10 offenses, two top 10 defenses. This year, all four teams in the final four are top 10 offenses, but only Oklahoma City and Minnesota are top 10 defenses, which I find really fascinating. The offensive side of the floor is becoming more important as the coaching staffs and the defensive schematics have made it so that groups like that Denver group can actually defend pretty well when they're engaged and they're playing hard. And so what's really becoming important is do you have the scoring talent to actually put, put the ball in the basket in these tight, competitive environments?
- [11:02]
Colin Cowherd
You know, it's interesting. There's a. There's a real change in the league, and I think it's one Adam Silver, the commissioner wanted. I don't think it's a coincidence that Halliburton and Brunson are, are high IQ EQ floor generals. You know, five years ago it was, let's get three really good players together. And I think Adam Silver looked at that and just thought that's, that's not what we want here. Like, that's just eliminating a half to 60 to 70% of the teams. And you're getting the basketball that Adam Silver wanted. Physical playoff basketball. No dynasties with multiple aprons. You know, you can't have a stacked roster. Even Boston, they cheated the code a little bit for a year and then they looked really old this year. Like, once we move off, probably poor Zingis or a Horford or a Drew Holiday, Boston's going to face what everybody else does, right, with new ownership. So I think it's the, it's the, it's what the league wanted. And I got to tell you what I really like about it. I love point. I, you know, nothing against wings MJ and Kobe, but I like point guard driven basketball. I love smart point guard play. I always love Chris Paul where you. Everybody gets touches. I went golfing this morning very early in burbs in Chicago and we started talking about Jalen Brunson and we were all sports fans and we were all like, yeah, I watched them at Villanova. I didn't see that. I watched them at Dallas. I didn't see that. But I think in a, you know, you know how you and I talked about certain players when the league went three heavy guys like Dwight Howard or Tristan Thompson. It's like, man, you can't have them on the floor. It's almost like Adam Silver has moved basketball into Brunson and Halliburton, which is, it's not, you're not going to have the, you're going to have these rosters that aren't all star studded. They're rotational players, they're role players. So intelligence, everybody getting touches, pacing becomes huge. Like I look at Brunson now and I'm like, I feel like the league's kind of built for him in Halliburton. It is, it's 28 points isn't necessary. It's, it's when you, when you don't have a top heavy roster, Jason, and you actually have seven guys that can play eight guys and you get them all touches. I don't know, I just, I watch the league and I don't feel like the Knicks and the Pacers are outliers. I'm like, no, they're my, they're my favorite two teams right now in the league to watch.
- [13:34]
Jason Temp
I think you're absolutely onto something here, Colin. I think what we're seeing is offensive minded stars that are able to create advantages and then these deep rosters of talent living off of that advantage. Essentially like as the game has modernized, there's a lot of really similar jobs on offense. Like a backdoor cut is a backdoor cut regardless of what type of athlete you are. If you're attacking a closeout, it's the same for the Pacers as, as it is for the Knicks as it is for the Nuggets. If you're making reads in a four on three slipping out of a ball screen because they put two on Brunson or they put two on Halliburton, it's the same reads In Golden State, as it is in Indiana, as it is in New York. And so what happens is you can as a gm accumulate these types of talent, these two way players that can attack closeouts, make reads, play defense, you know, all that kind of stuff. And all it becomes is, do you have a guy, a singular force that can constantly bring two to the ball or make the right reads to generate that first closeout. And then from there it's a flow sport. It's all about the, the aggregate talent on the floor capitalizing on that advantage. But Tyrese Halliburton is succeeding because he's one of the best advantage creators in basketball. Brunson does it a little bit more of a lean towards scoring, but yeah, I mean, keep an eye on this series. In this matchup in particular, the Pacers have been able to hold Brunson scoring down a little bit by constantly putting two on the ball. This will be a series where we're going to see a lot of Siaka or excuse me, OG Anunoby and Mikhail Bridges and Josh Hart looking to make plays. It, it is a very interesting directional change for the league in this offensive theme that we're talking about. This is why guys like Luka are so valuable. This is why guys like Nicole Jokic are so valuable. When you have somebody that's like, got to throw multiple pieces at this guy, all of a sudden there, these really achievable roles appear for role players. And those are the kinds of guys that good GMs are picking up all over the league. To Sam Presti's credit, he's got like eight of these dudes that can defend multiple positions, knock down a catch and shoot three, drive a closeout, make a read or grab a rebound. And so as a result, they, they just, they just come flying in. It's like, good. Oh, good job. You finished the J Dub and Dort phase. Here comes Kayson Wallace and Alex Caruso for your next shift. Have fun with that. They might actually be better at it.
- [15:54]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, no, I, and I, and I, and I, like, I mean, I don't think, you know, I think the league would do better if it's okc. Well, actually Ant Edwards, probably Ant against the Knicks. Would be really good to have ant go for 42 in the garden. You know, it's fans always root for the home team. So when the Knicks win, you know, the fans are going to say, we told you so. I think a really fascinating team though is the one that lost. And we see this a lot in the NBA. The end of dynasties. That's not the case because the Celtics were never a dynasty. But I do feel like I felt when Denver won, I thought, oh, here come the Spurs. And then they weren't. And then I thought when the Celtics won, I thought it was going to be like a three year run. And then they weren't next year, obviously, without Tatum, Tatum is fine. If he misses four games, two games. When he misses the season, you can just, it's just a different ball game because Jaylen Brown can be a little hot and cold offensively, you know, Boston. And again, there's so many smart front offices in the NBA. We all, we both kind of agree they're going to get rid of some kind of expensive older guys. Do you think, do you think they'll go big game hunting in Boston?
- [17:07]
Jason Temp
I don't think they'll go big game hunting right away. I think it's got to be more of a big picture, two year kind of window to make this sort of transition because, like, essentially you could take all of next year. You own your own draft pick. So, like, you could be bad. And that could lead into more talent coming in through the draft. There's the ability to offload young, like older role players in hopes of bringing back younger role players. So, like flip a Drew Holiday to a team that needs a better player right away. Like, for instance, like I would be calling Dallas and I would see what I could get for Drew Holiday. Like, okay, we need a center. So they've got Daniel Gafford and P.J. washington. They, Cooper Flag is literally going to be playing the forward next to Anthony Davis, next to Derek Lively. Maybe we can turn drew holiday into PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford. Now I got a four and a five that could both start in this league that are 26 years old instead of 34 years old like Drew Holiday is. I think, I think those are the kinds of moves they'll be looking to make. And then it's essentially going to be just asset accumulation in hopes of being able to pivot around Jason Tatum in that following season. But this is the challenge, Colin. I mean, the Raptors win, they lose Kawhi, then they end up losing the next season, right? The Lakers win, but then Anthony Davis and LeBron get hurt. They make a tweak. They can't repeat. The Bucks, they don't pay PJ Tucker, Chris Middleton gets hurt. They can't repeat. The warriors, they, Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins both fall back to what they're normally like the, the Nuggets, they can't pay Bruce Brown and they can't pay Kentavious Caldwell Pope. Suddenly they are second tier contender. The Celtics. You these windows look long but OKC is going to have to pay all these guys, right? And it's only a matter of time before suddenly it's Shay and J Dub and some lesser level talent around them. And all of a sudden it's going to be a harder game.
- [18:59]
Colin Cowherd
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- [20:02]
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- [20:32]
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- [21:38]
Colin Cowherd
And when you drop in, your squad.
- [21:40]
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- [22:41]
Colin Cowherd
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- [23:29]
Jason Temp
Here we go.
- [23:29]
Colin Cowherd
Steve's got a trunk full of groceries.
- [23:31]
Jason Temp
And no one to help him.
- [23:32]
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Oh, that's tough.
- [23:33]
Jason Temp
Jim looks like a five trip load at least.
- [23:35]
Colin Cowherd
He grabs the first bag, the second bob.
- [23:38]
Jason Temp
It looks like he's trying to do it all in one trip.
- [23:39]
Colin Cowherd
He shimmies the door open, steps over the dog.
- [23:41]
Jason Temp
Oh, and he stumbles. Oh, right into the kitchen without missing a beat. Jim, now that's a man who eats.
- [23:47]
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- [23:48]
Colin Cowherd
With 15 grams of complete protein in each cup. Oikos Triple Zero can help build strength for every day. Oikos stronger makes everything better. And now for our next segment, whiskey business. Yes, whiskey business. Brought to you by Green River Whiskey, the official whiskey of the Colin Coward podcast. You know, here's something else, and this is another shift which I think is great for basketball. I think with the Nil, more players will stay an extra year in college or go to college. So I do think when they enter the league, they're more ready to play. I mean, we've had a lot of Jalen greens over the last 10 years, like guys that are talented, but you just see in three years, you know, like, like get some polish. But if you, if you play, you know, for Bill Self or Hurley for even one year and maybe two, I'm not saying you're a Villanova guy, but you're ready to play in the league. And I, and I do think the growth and explosion of NIL money actually helps the NBA. I think Adam Silver's always known there's, you know, it's a little bit of a liability. First of all, you want more tape on a player. So fewer players are busts. Like NFL GMs have such an advantage. They got three and four years of tape. And you're kind of guessing because college basketball coaches often control the offense. So you're like, is he a good decision maker? What am I getting? But you're going to get a couple years of tape so you have a better evaluation. And I think you're going to get more mature players. They're just more refined because I think college coaching and the college environment, we talked about this March Madness, you know, conference championships, those are intense NBA feeling like environment. So I actually think basketball is in a really good place. I think, you know, baseball right now is so lopsided, you know, where it's just like Dodgers are throwing out like eight all star level players. They're going through massive injuries and it doesn't matter. But I think basketball is in a really good place. And I think, you know, I think if. When you start looking at the market, I don't think markets have the levers they used to like. I like watching OKC play. I'm fine with it. And I've been kind of market sensitive in my life as a broadcaster. I always kind of looked for the bigger, more interesting markets. But I, I don't know. I like watching Indiana. I like okc. I don't have a problem with. So I'm, you know, I think the league would, you know, we all know if New York faced Ant, it would probably be the win. I will say this part of me thinks Minnesota. I, you know, they always say styles make fights. Like, I've gone to a lot of boxing matches and I have to watch two rounds to get really comfortable. I'm not sure I don't have strong senses on the series. I like the experience of Minnesota and the coaching staff. I think Oklahoma City should win, but I'm not sure. And I think, I think Indiana is better than the Knicks. I just, I just think they have more depth. I think they. Again, they. I think. Let's talk about that. I think Indiana and Carlisle has more lineups to throw at you. He's got a little more dexterity. That's, that's my interpretation. You.
- [27:02]
Jason Temp
Yeah, they are. They have like six different dudes that could go for 20 plus points on any given night. And they are. They play with such pace and they play with such energy. The reason why I like the matchup with the Pacers versus the Knicks. They, the, the Pacers don't have a single player in this postseason. Colin. That's averaging over 35 minutes per game.
- [27:23]
Trust and Will Advertiser
Wow.
- [27:24]
Jason Temp
On the Knicks, Mikhail Bridges and OG Anunoby are both averaging over 40.
- [27:28]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah.
- [27:29]
Jason Temp
All five starters are over 35 minutes per game. They lean on a whole lot of the, the, the heavy minutes for their core five guys. What the Pacers do, as you've seen so many times already in this postseason, is you got them. You got them. You're up 13, you're up 14, and you feel, you feel like you're in good shape. But the problem is, is like, they make one layup and then they pick you up full court again. And then they do it again, and they do it again. And every time you turn it over, they run it down your throat again. And they play with so much pace and so much energy, and they literally never let go of the rope. In the Knicks, as we've seen a ton of times in the Pistons series and even in the Celtics series, they can have really sloppy nights where they get undisciplined and I think they'll pay the price against Indiana in this matchup with that. Also, like, to your point, I think the Pacers are just playing really good basketball right now. They're peeking at the tail end of the season. They've been go. They've been playing like this for, for the last couple months. Really, they've been really cooking at this level. Tyrese Halliburton is playing every bit as well as Jalen Brunson, just in a different way because he's more of like a Steve Nash than he is a, a legit on ball scoring guard. Siakam is is has a lot of similarities to OG Anunoby. Aaron Neesmith is literally averaging 15 points a game in this postseason and he's knocking every three down off the he shoot over 50% on open threes in this postseason run. Andrew Nemhardt is just a playoff gamer who can do a little bit of everything. Miles Turner is shooting like 45% on threes in this postseason. Like they are just everyone's playing super well. They go like eight, nine deep. They never stop coming at you. I have a feeling this is the last thing I'll say about it. It kind of reminds me, Colin, of the, of the Gold warriors back in the day where they play such a unique style that there's like this shock and awe phase at the beginning of each series where it's like you're used to playing a certain type of team and then all of a sudden here come the warriors and they're running Stephen Clay through a million screens and it's just bizarre and they catch you off guard and they go up 20 in the series and all of a sudden you're fighting upstream. The Pacers jumped the Cavs in Game one and that was. I know Garland didn't play. That's a good Cavs team that was at home. They got punched in the mouth by the Pacers because they just, they were not ready for the way they played and the same thing happened to the Bucks in the first round. So like I look at it as a kind of series where Indiana probably steals Game one and then New York is fighting upstream against a deeper team that never stops playing hard, that never plays their main guys big minutes and I just think it's going to be too much for them to overcome. I do think the Knicks have a chance, but I would make the Pacers a decent favorite.
- [29:54]
Colin Cowherd
Well, I think my, my take is if the Games are close late. I love New York shot making ability. I think they're really good. I think they, I think they're very physical. They're well coached. They make sh totally unselfish. But it's Brunson's team. I think if you told me there were three, you know, three 12 point games in the series, I'd take Indiana. Indiana can wear you out. But I think those, I think my of the entire playoffs if I had one kind of wow. It was Jalen Brunson and the Knick shot making in multiple games against the Celtics. A good defensive team like wow. And it really Jason, it really made me look at the Knicks differently from through a different prism. I really felt all year go get Giannis, go get Durant. You need a big piece. And I'm like, no, not really. I think you need a piece. I don't think it's a huge piece. I thought Bridges. Oh, geez. Just big and physical and again the league now is said we're going to let guys like Ode the league said stylistically is playing right into what the Knicks do. I think they need, I think they need. You know, Cat doesn't defend Mitchell Robinson. You don't trust offensively. I feel like if you could morph and get a, you could get. Listen, didn't we talk about Isaiah Hartenstein column?
- [31:18]
Jason Temp
It was Isaiah Hartenstein. They should have just made some sort of salary dumping trade with Julius if that's what they were going to do and just picked up Hartenstein because he would literally be perfect as the two ways a fulcrum for this team.
- [31:30]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, no, he is. That's exactly right. But I, I, I, I don't look at the Knicks as needing a big swing. And a credit to the front office, the executive suite, which was impatient for years the Knicks have made like Mikhail Bridges. I like the move. And then halfway through the season I'm like, that's a lot of firsts for Mikhail Bridges. And then you watch in the playoffs you're like, like, oh shit. No, this works. He, he's a really, really good player and he, and he fits their culture.
- [32:01]
Jason Temp
So yeah, they, the Knicks, it came together in the right way for them late in the season. It started with a couple of different things and mostly it comes down to me. The conversation we were having earlier, which is all season long when I watched the Knicks. I'm like, why are they bad on defense? They've got three really good, they've got three really good defenders on the floor all season and, and like, and by the way, like, Mikhail Bridges wasn't very good on defense this season. You know, Brunson and Cat were dismal most of the season on defense. In this postseason, McHale has turned into one of the better point of attack guys in the league. OG and Anobi's literally been flying around like Prime Kawhi making plays. And Jalen Brunson outside of game five against Boston has been very good defensively in this playoff run. And so what's happening is they're leveraging a higher level out of themselves defensively and they've been a great offense all year long. And so it's really coming together in that way. I just worry to me, I just think the Pacers are a little bit better. I just think they're a little bit better on defense. They have a better rim protector, they're a little bit better on offense, they're a little bit deeper. That to me, is what it comes.
- [33:06]
Colin Cowherd
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- [34:46]
Jason Temp
I think the, the. I think the physicality plays a big role. I think you're right. I think, I think that the depth is giving you the ability to withstand physicality. I mean, right. Ultimately, like Denver. Denver blew this series in game four and game five when they had fourth quarter leads and all their stars looked exhausted down the stretch. While the Thunder stars looked fresh and they were able to make plays. The younger, more athletic, deeper team just came on strong late in the game. I think the second thing that the physicality has done, which has actually been pretty interesting, is do you remember, Colin, over the previous few years, how we just had so many blowouts where like, it just felt like teams would go back and forth like blowing each other out. And I think one of the things that the increased physicality has done is it's made it really difficult to shoot threes because everyone's legs are cooked. And like, even in this game seven, you see like, no, no one's stepping. Like there's a whole lot of games where teams are shooting 20 from three and it's just a bloodbath. And I think that's dragging the games down into like, like everything's finishing every, every. You're looking at the clock and it's 93 to 93 with eight minutes left and, and it's causing for a lot of great games.
- [35:47]
Colin Cowherd
This is a great point because, And I, and I think you're right on, because I was talking about this the other day as we were preparing for a show. I'm like, man, just. There's a lot of bad three point shooting nights. And I couldn't quite pinpoint it, but I again, I think when you get into tush push basketball and it's just leaning on each other, teams are tired and it brings the offense down. And I think that's a great point. In fact, what it also creates is when you're not hitting threes, you tend to, you realize it, the coaching staff knows it. Longer the series goes, you start shooting fewer. One of the things I never liked about three point shots is you can box out all you want. The rebounds are long and weird and you can't. And so you can have great positions, but when you're playing a more, you know, a more physical game inside the arc, you run like traditional fast breaks. You get, you know, a four foot carom. You get it. The outlet. So the aesthetic of the fast break, like OKC did it about six, seven times over a five minute stretch. Oh, it looked like old playoff. It looked like old college, high school, old 70s NBA fast break. Here's the point card. Two guys in the wind, wings fill in a guy's backpedaling, finished with dunks. Three point shooting. So weird. And to me, I don't like the idea of you miss and a ball carom's 20ft out to the corner, it stops play, you come back up. I think I really do. This is a cliche, but it's giving me a little bit of a college feel and a little bit of an old NBA feel. And I've said this for years, I like the layered basketball more than three point shooting basketball. And I think your point's great is the, that the more, you know, the unintended benefit. I don't know if they thought about this, but the more physicality, the lousy your three point shooting and the less you scheme up three point shooting, you're scheming up baskets. It feels like to me.
- [37:50]
Jason Temp
No, absolutely. I think, I think in general it's a better version of what old basketball looked like. It's physical, it's ugly, but you have the impressive skill level that we have in the modern NBA and so it's kind of given us the best of both worlds. But I'm super excited for, ok, see Minnesota, I'm with you in the sense that I have almost no feel for it because Minnesota was a team that was much better than their regular season looked. If you talk to any Timberwolves fan all season, they were like, we just weren't playing as hard on defense as we did last year.
- [38:20]
Colin Cowherd
Right.
- [38:21]
Jason Temp
Minnesota's a little bit. Minnesota has some more veteran guys than you'd think. Like Julius is a vet, Rudy Gobert is a vet, Mike Conley's a vet. Like they're, they're, they've got some guys that have been around for a little while and so they just kind of took it easy through the season. Oklahoma City, everybody not named Caruso in their rotation is 26 or younger. They've just been going crazy all 82 games. And so they're two. There are two teams that I think OKC is probably not as good as they looked in the season. Minnesota's better than they looked in the regular season. Two great defenses, both anchored by both rim protection with Chet and Rudy Gobert. And two big looks with Nas Reed as well as Isaiah Hartenstein. Elite on ball guard with size that can shoot over the top like, like Ant and Shea. Just which one of them makes more jumpers? Over the top. Huge part of this series because guess what? There's not going to be a lot at the rim for either team in the series. Role player shooting you. We, we just watched Lou Dort and Kason Wallace and Alex Caruso take a bunch of threes. It's going to be Jaden McDaniels. It's going to be Julius Randall, Nikhil Alexander Walker, Dante DiVincenzo. I do think there's a real like veteran experience advantage for Minnesota.
- [39:31]
Colin Cowherd
Yes.
- [39:32]
Jason Temp
But Oklahoma City also has home court advantage and they're probably just a little bit deeper, a little bit faster. So it's, it's, that's going to be a fun one, Colin. And what, what it like if we had to have the new guard for a playoff quarter. Final Four. These are pretty interesting series. The Knicks and Pacers kind of hate each other. They've played each other in the playoffs before. Shavers Ant is literally the battle of the two best guards in the league right now. I think this is going to be an entertaining quarter or semifinal.
- [40:02]
Colin Cowherd
All right, Jason Temp hoops tonight. Little shorter version as we get ready for the conference finals. I'm just going to watch the, I'm going to take Indiana and OKC just because of depth and the coaching options. I don't feel great conviction. I feel, I think this is ants moment. Ants knocked a lot of good guys out of the playoffs. I mean you start looking the last two years has knocked a lot of legends out of the playoffs. I but it, it's not just an SGA thing. When you're watching them annihilate Denver in transition and in the paint, I'm like, Jesus, it's just all, it's a 10 player, I mean 10 rotation. That's just unheard of.
- [40:51]
Jason Temp
Yeah, I, I, I think I lean slightly towards Minnesota right now. I think think the thing I keep coming down to is J Dub and again I'm going to watch a bunch of film and I'll make my pick when I do my series preview tomorrow morning. But J Dub was super inconsistent in the series. Julius Randall's been fantastic in this postseason run.
- [41:09]
Colin Cowherd
Jesus.
- [41:10]
Jason Temp
I even think I trust, I think I trust Nas Reed more to score the ball than Chad in terms of over the top shooting and stuff. I think I, I think I trust Minnesota's experience. I, I'm leaning just slightly that way at this point in time.
- [41:23]
Colin Cowherd
Yeah, Randall's been a revelation and I think it was funny I talked to Chris Finch off the air about him. I said, what do you make of this? He's like, he'll get there. He's not there yet. This was like three months ago. He's like, he's going to get there, but we're asking him to do other stuff. He's become a much better distributor. I mean, his assist numbers are up. So it's like. And he's hitting three point shots. So yeah, it's funny. Two Nicks, the shot making of Jalen Brunson and really a revelation in Julius Randle are my two sort of. Wow. I can remember when Julius, Julius Randall was a Laker, it was becoming a three ball league. And I can remember going to a Laker game saying, God, this guy's just a bit. He's a house. Like this guy is. His body is like a 38 year old man. And thinking to myself, and I remember the Lakers were cool on him because he didn't shoot threes. And I'm like, yeah, but I'm getting like 18 and 8. He defends. He's always got a smile on his face. Like, I know, don't like, God, if he's not an NBA player, like, what is the league? Remember when they said Zach Edie wouldn't fit? And you're like, no, no, Zach Eddie's fine in the NBA. Like I remember going to a Laker game, watching him and thinking, dude, he's, he's, you know, he's just really consider. His energy is great, you know what I mean? Just like he just, he wasn't a pretty player. He was really old school. So. I always love when a guy's coachable and coaches coach hard. I think Minnesota's done that with a couple of players. Like they coach hard and the players are, they digest it, they consume it and it's. I don't know, I think that, you know, when, when, when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving said we don't need a coach, I'm like, guys, really, come on, give me a break. Like, like the great players all want great coaching. Come on.
- [43:06]
Jason Temp
Yeah, the, the Julius Randle piece too. He's just so physically imposing. Like he's a much better athlete than he gets credit for. I mean, I know, I know LeBron was 40, but he kind of kicked LeBron's butt athletically in that series a few times. And like he, he ultimately that's to me what makes him a good playoff player. I thought his playoff struggles originally were a little overblown because he was just injured. He was like either playing through an injury or had just returned from an injury and was clearly out of rhythm. He had a long Runway this year and was playing great right when he like he was playing great when he got to the postseason. And he's a decent passer who legitimately can battle for position and make little short jump shots in the lane that is is going to help an NBA team in the playoffs. Like it's get like he just has a, he has a skill set that's kind of built for this environment and I actually think he's defended really well in this postseason and the one guy that I was really worried about him defensively was Steph Curry and he got out of that matchup because of an injury. So it worked out pretty fine for him.
- [44:02]
Colin Cowherd
First time in NBA history we will have seven different champions in a seven year stretch and I'm here for it. Jason Temp Hoops tonight as always, thanks watching for buddy.
- [44:13]
Jason Temp
Good to see you Colin. See you next week.
- [44:17]
Colin Cowherd
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Colin Cowherd
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- [47:53]
Colin Cowherd
You're listening to an iHeart podcast.