← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Hoops Tonight - New NBA Power Rankings: Knicks BALLING, Nuggets FALLING, Celtics, Thunder & Lakers bounce back
00:35:43
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- [00:00]
Erin Welsh
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
- [00:04]
Lavar Arrington
This is Lavar Arrington from Up on Game. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. It's a great time to apply for an Apple Card. You'll love earning unlimited daily cash on every purchase. That includes 3% daily cash when you buy the latest iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at Apple through this special referral offer. When you get a new Apple Card, you can earn bonus daily cash. To qualify, you must apply at Apple Co. Get daily cash Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs bank usa Salt Lake City Branch offer may not be available elsewhere. Terms and limitations apply.
- [00:36]
Nancy Glass
I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season two podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumprite became the victim of a random crime. The perpetrator was sentenced to 99 years until a confession changed everything.
- [00:57]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
I was a monster.
- [00:59]
Nancy Glass
Listen to Burden of guilt Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:07]
Valley of Shadows Narrator
On June 11, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing.
- [01:13]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
Hey, if they'll kill a cop and bury him, what are they gonna do to me?
- [01:17]
Valley of Shadows Reporter
What really happened to the missing deputy? Valley of Shadows, a new series from Pushkin Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert.
- [01:29]
Valley of Shadows Narrator
Listen to Valley of shadows on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:37]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
This is the biggest night in podcasting. The countdown is on to our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards live from south by Southwest, March 16th. We'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most inn talented creators in the industry. It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world. Creativity, knowledge and passion will all be on full display. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is. See all the nominees now@iheart.com PodcastAwards Audible
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is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award.
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Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts
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There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial@audible.com the volume. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight here at the Volume Heavy Monday, everybody. Hope all of you guys had an incredible weekend. As promised today we're going to be doing a detailed power ranking. So we're going to be doing our usual Powerings power rankings like we do every Monday, but deeper dives into each of the 10 teams along the way you guys know the joke before we get started, subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. Make sure you like this video and sign up for post notifications. That helps us a lot. And last but not least, if you want to get Mailbag questions into our Friday mailbag, drop them in the full episodes on YouTube. In the YouTube comments, put mailbag colon. Write your question. We'll get to them on Fridays throughout the remainder of the season. All right, let's talk some basketball. Starting with number 10, the Los Angeles Lakers currently plus 6,000 to win the title on Hard Rock Bet got back on track with a couple of wins this weekend in a back to back against a very shorthanded warriors team that had kind of been playing some feisty basketball. They just proved to be way too undersized on the perimeter. This Laker team this season has been so much more diligent about hunting smalls in the post than they were in the previous year. That last year, the first year with Luka, it was a lot of Luca and LeBron hunting bigs in switches. Love how much the the Lakers through their bigs have been hunting smaller defenders this season. They just bullied Golden State smalls over and over and over again, really controlled the flow of the game as they continued to get fantastic shots and the warriors just decomposed. And then the Sacramento Kings are literally the worst team in the league. So couple of wins there stays in line with the Lakers season long trend of handling the lesser teams and struggling against the better teams. The main bit of optimism if you're a Lakers fan from these last three games, centers from their big three, their Luka, the Luka LeBron Austin pairing which had struggled mightily really for the majority of the time that they've been together. Although like one important piece of context there, it's been constantly derailed by injuries. Whether it was LeBron's groin injury last year in the spring or LeBron missing the start of this season, Austin's calf injuries, they haven't really had any sort of extended stretch together to kind of figure out how to play and it hasn't looked good. The numbers have not been good. But the main bit of optimism from this recent stretch in these last three games, if you look at Phoenix, Phoenix is a a team that came into the game as a top 10 defense. Golden State came into that Saturday game as a top 10 defense. You have a couple of top 10 defenses that present certain types of issues, whether it's big, physical, perimeter defenders like Ryan Dunn or good backline defenders like Mark Williams and drop coverage looks, things that the Lakers have struggled against at times this season. The Laker offense looked really good. It flew under the radar because they were so bad in the DeAndre to eight minutes in the Phoenix game did not respond well to that whole story that came out from David Beniman last week. If you remove those DeAndre eight minutes though, the big three scored remarkably well in the Phoenix game, did so again in the Golden State game, and then did so again against a terrible Sacramento Kings team. And so in those last three games when Austin, LeBron and Luka have been on the floor together, a 1:28 offensive rating. So basically the best stretch of offense as a trio this season. I think a big part of it is again been the emphasis on posting smalls rather than hunting bigs in switches. And then to the three point shooting. 27 made threes by the big three in those three games on a combined 48%. One of the biggest things I've learned over the last several years as it pertains to star partnerships, different stars coming together to play. If you're going to get multiple stars to coexist on offense and actually be forced multipliers for each other rather than kind of like a redundancy, you know, where they kind of take away from each other's effectiveness, the, you know, law of diminishing returns, so to speak, you need to have guys that are aggressive and efficient from three. That is what allows them to play off of each other. And so one of the biggest issues that they've had in the last, you know, year or so that this partnership has been in existence is the inconsistent three point shooting. Whether it was Austin in the Minnesota Timberwolves series last year or it was LeBron for the majority of the regular season this year, you need your stars to be able to knock down threes to coexist with each other. They've started to, they've started to do so in this last three games. And then lastly starting to find some synergy with their horn sets and really any of their sets that involve all three of them in some way keeping the rhythm flowing between all of their players. I've said this for the last couple of months, but I think there's a big drop off after the top nine teams in the NBA. The other nine teams I'm hitting today, I think there's a big gap between those guys in the Lakers and the rest of the league. At number 10, the Lakers are probably the best team in that group after the top nine, but I still think there's a big gap and they're not on that level. They're most likely going to play Houston, Denver or Minnesota in round one, and as of right now, I think they get their ass beat regardless of who they play out of those three. But they have one path to least be competitive, meaning one path to at least keep the series relatively close, not embarrass themselves to give themselves a puncher's chance. And that's if their offense can reach an elite level. I'm not sold on a three game stretch, especially against teams of that caliber, even though their defenses are solid, but it is progress. I would personally be stunned if the Lakers like won multiple playoff series and made it to the conference finals. But I, I think avoiding that first round exit, at least competing, looking competitive in that first round series, or if you were to steal a first round series before losing in round two, I think that'd be a lot of momentum, a lot of positive momentum heading into what's the most important off season they've had in a long time. Coming up this summer, number nine, the Denver Nuggets. Currently plus 5:50 to win the title. According to Hard Rock Bet, Denver's just been in an absolute freefall since Jokic returned. They're just five and eight in their last 13 games, lost a couple of measuring stick games versus Oklahoma City and Minnesota over the weekend and a Friday Sunday set. Although it's worth mentioning that for extended stretches in that Oklahoma City game, they looked very good as we continued to see that dynamic of them, you know, managing to contain OKC's offense a little bit and scoring effectively in half court. On the other end, we saw some extended stretches of success, but ultimately they ended up losing both of those games. I think there's a couple of different ways to look at those two losses to Minnesota and Oklahoma City. There is a lot of reality to the idea that the Peyton Watson and Aaron Gordon injuries are particularly damaging in these matchups. For starters, they're literally your two best athletes, especially when you consider size. So like in matchups against teams like Oklahoma City and Minnesota that are especially athletically imposing, those are the guys you really don't want to be without, right? You know, and I've talked about it all year, but Aaron Gordon is really their only viable vertical spacer at the four spot. As in a guy that can like just, you know, remember in the NBA 2K games that like standing dunk metric, that's like Aaron Gordon's best trade on this team is he can just post up underneath the basket in the dunker spot and easily elevate and dunk anything off of Jokic passes. That messes with their spacing quite a bit. Also, Peyton Watson and Aaron Gordon are incredibly important to their backline defense. So when they want to do things like they did in the second half yesterday, where they're like sending Jokic up to the level to try to get the ball out of Ant's hands, you're going to be smaller and less athletic on that back line, rotating in those four on threes, ant said after the game. My four is better than your three. That's true, but it's especially true in that three doesn't include someone like Peyton Watson or Aaron Gordon to help kind of clean those things, mess clean those things up. Or like, you know, look at the Jaden McDaniels possessions where he's just going right through guards chests and just getting right to the front of the rim. Like those are matchups that would happen less frequently when you're healthy. So I don't want to sit here and act like these two games are deeply revealing or anything like that, but I think there are two issues in particular that are worth addressing and they involve Jokic and Murray. One, the turnovers. The Nuggets ended up getting, giving up over 20 points off of turnovers in both of those games, the Minnesota game in particular. Jokic and Murray were super sloppy. This was something that we've seen at many times over the years in this Minnesota matchup. Minnesota can appear to physically overwhelm those two at times. That leads to those turnovers that sparks the transition attack. You saw those transition opportunities that took place in this particular game. Minnesota torch Denver in the open floor. They had a 30 to 6 fast break point advantage. We've seen Denver multiple times over the years decompose offensively against Oklahoma City. In Minnesota, whether it's like that late first quarter stretch against Oklahoma City in game seven or game two of that series, or it's Minnesota in game the second half of game seven of the second round series in 2024, various points during the regular season over the last couple of years. We've also seen stretches where Jokic and Murray have methodically broken down both of those defenses taking care of the basketball, gotten great shots for themselves or for their teammates. So it's mostly an execution thing. I'm just saying that in order for Denver to reach their goals, they're going to need to be more consistent with those two guys against the Best defenses in the NBA, the margin for error just isn't big enough if they're going to have those kinds of decomposing moments. The second thing is Y3 point shooting. This was more prevalent in the OKC game on Friday night, but we did see it pop up against Minnesota a little bit, most notably in game seven of the second round series back in 2024. What ends up happening is teams that are very athletic, they get good at swarming Jokic on the roll while also rotating well out of it. So a lot of times those two man games where both guys are going downhill, they can be a little bit harder to handle as the better athletic, better defensive teams can, can just kind of load up and rotate. So Jokic makes an adjustment and his adjustment in those situations is to pop in, pick and rolls, right? We saw this a lot in, in that late game stretch against Oklahoma City, right? You just, you know, Jalen Williams is on J. Will is on the floor. He's running a deeper drop coverage against Jamal Murray, Jokic is popping and it's like actually a smart adjustment in the sense that as we've talked about, that is literally the hardest action to guard in terms of rotating is a pick and pop. If you're in a traditional drop coverage of any kind, even if it's at the level deeper drop, whatever it might be, if you pop out of it, it's a very difficult rotation to make because usually the big is containing the ball handler down by like the foul line area and now he's got to close out usually 20, 30ft across the court to a big who's popped away from the play. It's just very, very difficult to guard. So it's an adjustment that makes sense for Jokic, but it doesn't matter if he can't hit the shots. And as you remember in that game seven against Minnesota, just miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, on pick and pop threes. Down the stretch against Oklahoma City, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss on pick and pop threes. And so he's shown a propensity to go into extended slumps on that front. If he goes into one like that in the postseason, it could be a death sentence for this team because there isn't enough margin for error with how skilled the top of the league is. I've said this multiple times over the years. 45% from three, Jokic head and shoulders above the rest of the stars in this league. 30% from three, Jokic, just another top tier superstar on the same level as Shay, Luca or Giannis. They need him to find his rhythm there. He did shoot well for most of the season up to this point, so there's no reason to think he can't figure it out. By the way, super excited. I'm going to see Lakers Nuggets on Thursday. My first time going to a Nuggets game this season. Very, very excited for that one. I'm super excited to tell you guys about our new partnership with Vuori. Those of you guys who are familiar with Vuori have noticed that I've been wearing it on the show almost every day now for several years. Today I am wearing the Ponto Performance Half Zip, one of my favorites from them. It's straight up the most comfortable hoodie that I've ever worn, but it's also super versatile. It's something that looks very nice that I can wear out when I'm running errands or going to get lunch with my w. But it's also like this super stretchy, dry fit fabric that I can wear when I'm going to play basketball here in Colorado. It's cold as heck and so sometimes I get up at, you know, 7 o' clock in the morning to go play basketball. When I'm doing my warmup, I want to have something on that keeps me warm but that I can still move around in. This works wonderful for that and that really is Vuori at its core. It's super high quality clothing that you can wash a million times and it's going to hold up super well. I have items from Vuori that I've literally washed like 350 times and they still look every bit as nice as when I first bought them years ago. And then they're super versatile, high quality, attractive clothing that you can wear out informal settings, but that you also can use for everyday life in a way that will serve your needs regardless of the circumstance. They even have higher end fashion lines. Just an incredible catalog of clothing for you guys to check out. Vuori is an investment in your happiness for our listeners. They're offering 20% off your first purchase. Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet@vuori.com Hoops that's V u o r I.com H o o P S Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. Not only will you receive 20% off your first purchase, but enjoy free shipping on any US orders over $75 and free returns. Go to vuori.comhoops and discover the versatility of Vuori. Clothing exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions.
- [15:43]
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- [16:40]
Nancy Glass
I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season two podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumprite became the victim of a random crime.
- [16:57]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
Pulls the gun, tells me to lie down on the ground.
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Nancy Glass
He identified Jermaine Hudson as the perpetrator. Jermaine was sentenced to 99 years.
- [17:09]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
I'm like Lord, this can't be real. I thought it was a mistaken identity. The best lie is partial truth.
- [17:17]
Nancy Glass
For 22 years only two people knew the truth until a confession changed everything.
- [17:26]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
I was a monster.
- [17:28]
Nancy Glass
Listen to Burden of guilt Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [17:39]
Valley of Shadows Narrator
On June 11, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing.
- [17:45]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
It's an all out manhunt for John Awjay. Every search and rescue team in LA county has been called in to help.
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Valley of Shadows Reporter
Within days, tips started flooding into the sheriff's department.
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Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
They ruler around the drug scene. Was that a deputy was taken care of.
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Valley of Shadows Narrator
Is this the story of a man who just got lost in the desert? Or of a cover up inside the nation's largest sheriff's department?
- [18:10]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
A homicide captain saying, detective, do not find out if this guy's guilty or innocent. Who does that?
- [18:18]
Valley of Shadows Reporter
Valley of Shadows, a new series from Pushkin Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert.
- [18:25]
Valley of Shadows Narrator
Do you have any advice for us while looking into this disappearance?
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Ana Navarro
I wouldn't do it alone.
- [18:32]
Valley of Shadows Reporter
Listen to Valley of shadows on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [18:41]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
Number eight, Cleveland Cavaliers currently plus 1100 on Hard Rock. Bet they've dropped three out of five. But Mitchell and Harden played in only one of those games. Harden's got a, a fracture in his thumb that he's playing through. Kind of tricky, struggling to handle the ball a little bit. And then Donovan Mitchell has a little bit of a, a groin issue. But the Oklahoma City game we covered last week, that was the one where both stars were healthy and they just ran into a defensive buzz saw early in the game. Although they reacted pretty well to that. They damn near won in Milwaukee and, and in Detroit without their star guards in Milwaukee, Kevin Porter Jr. Ended up hitting a big late jump shot that sealed the game. In the Detroit game, they really should have won. It was just a lot of mistakes down the stretch. Jalen Tyson ends up fouling Dennis Jenkins on a three pointer. Couple of possessions where they just succumb to ball pressure and give up turnovers and run outs. Just a couple. Just few too many mistakes there. Dennis Schroeder had a couple of bad turnovers, but for the most part they competed really well in those two games. The Detroit game in particular, one of the best teams in the league on the road. And it's because Dennis Schroeder absorbed usage well. Jared Allen has been hooping his ass off, put up numbers in both games. Again, they really should have won at least one of those, but it is what it is. They competed, they showed their depth. Harden made his return in the win in Brooklyn. Jared Allen had another 20 point night. He's averaging 22 points and 11 rebounds on 73% shooting in his last 12 games. He's been fantastic. Fun little three game homestand coming up for the Cavs this week. Detroit, Boston and Philly. Big key here. The health piece of it is James Harden going to be able to replicate, you know, 95 to 98% of what he usually is with this broken thumb? How, how serious is Donovan Mitchell's growing? Is this just a soreness thing or it's more of a management thing? Or is he dealing with something that could end up being lingering throughout the season? All eyes on the health of their two guards at this point. Number seven, the Houston Rockets currently plus 2250 to win the title on Hard Rock. Bet very up and down couple of weeks for the Houston Rockets. You get a nice road win in Charlotte against a red hot Hornets team. Then you have a devastating late game collapse against the Knicks. In MSG, you have this massive second half comeback. Down 19 in Orlando, Kevin Durant and Reed shepherd, go on this crazy offensive run, you come back and you win. And then you have a super disappointing loss to the Heat in Miami. I'm starting to get a little concerned about Alper and Shangun. He's been better on defense since the humiliation of being called out by his teammate and his coach. But he scored 20 points just twice in his last 11 games. His lack of short range touch has been a problem. Just 29% on jump shots inside of 17ft. Just 42% on floaters and hooks this season. Just 64% at the rim, which again, for a power player at his position, should be substantially higher. The sengun only groups, the ones that started the second and fourth quarters last night just got absolutely, or on Saturday, I should say got absolutely thrashed in Miami. Not all his fault. Some weird lineup groupings like that second shift in the early fourth quarter. Jeff Green was in the lineup for that game. Other guys were making mistakes as well. The team shot poorly in those stretches as well. So it's not all Shangun's fault. But if Shangoon could just find the way to put the ball in the basket more, like this is he has literally scored 20 points just twice in his last 11 games. If he can find a way to put the ball in the basket more, which we know he's capable of, it could go a long way towards stabilizing things for Houston. And again, the good news is, if you're a Rockets fan after all of that mediocre basketball over the last few months, you're the three seed, which is a casual reminder that everyone in the west outside of San Antonio and Oklahoma City has been struggling in various ways at various times over the last few months. So again, you're everybody, whether it's the lakers at the 6 seed or the Rockets at the 3 seed, you're two good weeks or two bad weeks away from flipping that dynamic and you're on the opposite end of it. So all of it is about keeping your eye on the prize. One game at a time, one play at a time. Keep your hands on the rope and hang on because this could get bad for anybody or get good for anybody in a short period of time. Number six, Minnesota Timberwolves, currently plus 3,000 to win the title on Hard Rock. Bet they've won three in a row, six out of seven and 11 of their last 15. So it's definitely starting to ramp up a little bit for the postseason. I thought the win in Denver yesterday was one of their more impressive defensive performances of the season. Those are those Games that I can't get out of my head when it comes to the Timberwolves, when they really turn up on defense because they're just so difficult to deal with. Like I was thinking about this when I was watching the game yesterday. Like when you put two on the ball, whether it's a blitz of a ball screen or just up at the level coverage, or you're doubling a post up or even if you're digging down on a driver or any sort of situation where the defense is loaded on the basketball in some way, shape or form, the reads are the same for everybody. The reads out of a post up double, the reads out of an at the level coverage, the reads out of a dig down on a drive. All those reads are the same for the offense. But when you get there faster, when you pressure the ball more, when you're bigger and more athletic within that aggression, it's just really difficult to pass through it or to shoot over it. Like Jokic has seen double teams that have come out of post ups a million times, but when Dante DiVincenzo, who's a very good athlete, shoots that gap, it's just faster and more difficult to deal with. When it's a lesser defensive player, when it's a lesser defensive lineup, there are some passing reads that Jamal Murray makes, some drop off passes, some swing passes where it's like, oh, I'm trying to make this entry pass but that's Jaden McDaniels long ass arm that's in the way getting that deflection or oh, Ant's tagging the roller. I'm going to make this skip pass to the weak side, but Ant is just super athletic and can stop on a dime, cut back, elevate and intercept your skip pass. I was as I'm watching the game, I'm sitting there thinking like it's not like Denver's necessarily making the wrong reads or that they're not compromising the defense like Murray and Jokic were consistently compromising the defense and drawing the defense like to collapse on them. They were seeing the right opening, just Minnesota's so fast and so physical that it can overwhelm them sometimes. And that honestly is what makes me so high on this Minnesota team. There's just another level of physical imposition with them. The transition attack has been super impressive. They had 34 transition points yesterday in Denver. Their bench groups with Bones, Highland and IO Dasuno did an amazing job running off of misses and turnovers and getting layups in the open floor. Ant brings a little bit of that element, especially as a three point shooter. Nas Reed in that early fourth quarter stretch, those quick little little moves that that little hesitation drive to the right where he drew the foul on Cam Johnson for the and 1. Just a disgusting Euro step into a lefty floater in the lane that put them up 12 in the early fourth quarter. Amazing fourth quarter run there from Nasrid. Hit a big pull up three in that stretch as well. Big swing like I know we already talked nuggets, but it's funny. Cam Johnson has just been an absolute nightmare. I'm not ready to give up on him because I do think he can shoot way better than he has been shooting. But there's no way to look at that as as of right now than other than a big disappointment. But there was a huge swing in that game where they get a transition three for Cam Johnson off of the right wing. He misses it, Nas Reed goes down and hits a contested pull up three in Cam Johnson's face. Turned what should have been a I shouldn't say should have been, but if you hit the open three and miss the contested three it's a four point game. You missed the open three, you hit the contested three, it's a ten point game. Huge swing in that game from nas Reed. Jaden McDaniels just repeatedly bullying his way to the rim over and over again. Didn't even hit a three yesterday but just was controlling the game as a driver and as a bully ball player. I continue to think the Wolves have a fastball when they're at their very best that is every bit as good as the top teams in the league. That's why I'm so high on them as a championship contender. They are the fourth best record in the league against teams in the top 10 in point differential, second best record or second best point differential in the league within those games against teams that are in the top 10 in point differential. Number five, the Boston Celtics currently plus 1100 to win the title on harder rock. Bet they had a disappointing loss in Denver last week where their offense fell victim to the same deep drop coverage that they had been using to great effect against some of their recent opponents. But they bounced back with wins against the Nets and the Sixers. One of Jalen Brown's best games of the season against Philly. He went for 278 and 8, but the star of the game was Nemis Kaeda. It went for 27:17 in three blocks. Just feasting on rolls and cuts. Not the best Andre Drummond game that I've seen Him play. Mimi just absolutely whooped his ass. But he showed some nimble footwork on rolls where he had to like work around defenders and go up and under for some tougher layups. Just showed some, some impressive hand eye coordination for his position. Made a couple of huge plays at the rim. Late in the game he kind of went to a post up and he tried to turn over his left shoulder and lost the ball. But he scrapped it out in front of everybody and rose up and got an and 1. Had a huge offensive rebound put back dunk off of this kind of bizarre sequence where the ball went carrying off the backboard right into his hands. And then one of his three blocks was a huge one late in the game. Six point game, just two possession game, couple minutes left where he gets Tyrese Maxi on a switch in the left corner and ends up timing it perfectly, rising up and blocking him on a pull up three. Just a hell of a game for one of the great success stories of the Celtics organization over the last few years. And then one last thing I want to talk about with the Celtics, Baylor Shireman, I was fascinated. You know, Reggie Miller can drive me crazy sometimes. But he kind of had an interesting point when, during the game when he was talking about how like Baylor's playing through this, this, this finger fracture and essentially his whole thing is like, I got my starting spot. I am not an established NBA player. If I decide to sit out and rehab this thing, someone could take my spot and the entire league could look me behind. You never know. You literally never know. But Baylor's probably going to get another shot. No, but again, as a player, when you've got something that you fought your entire life for, I respect the hell out of a player. Just deciding, I'm going to find a way to keep this spot as long as I can. And one of the things with Baylor Shireman is he brings a lot of aspects that, that the, the Celtics have had kind of like varying elements of from that swing forward spot where like they've had some bigger, more athletic players, but maybe they're more inconsistent on offense. Baylor Shireman brings like a more refined offensive skill, but he's still a very good rebounder for his position. He's become a very good anticipatory defender. Meaning like he's very good at picking the angle to beat a defender to offensive player to a spot and absorb that contact. And as a result, because he brings that combination of like shooting offensive skill, making reads in the driving kick, but also good size that can guard multiple positions that's learned how to be a better anticipatory defender and a great rebounder for his position. He grabbed seven rebounds per 36 minutes this year and he pops off the screen as a relatively big player on the wing as well. And as a result, he's turned into one of their better on off guys this year in plus minus. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock bet. Florida's sportsbook march is here and that means college basketball takes center stage. The stakes are rising, the shots are falling, and now's the time to hit the hardwood with Hard Rock Bet. With hoops on Every night, every night is a shot to build the same game parlay and score a major bucket. If you ever miss tip off of that big game, don't worry. Hard Rock Bet lets you live bet all game long from the first bucket to the final buzzer, so you're never too late to find a winner or grab that player prop that you had circled. Sign up today and double your winnings on your first 10 bets. Max $50. That's right. If you would have won a hundred bucks on your same game Parlay, make that 200 bucks. The hard Rock Bet Sportsbook app is the only legal sportsbook for whenever you're in Florida. And it's also live in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado and Michigan. Coming soon to more states too. Plus, Hard Rock Bet offers new promos daily, so whenever you're listening, just open up the app and check out what you've got. Any day of the week, download the Hard Rock Bet app and make your first deposit.
- [30:25]
Nancy Glass
I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season two podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumprite became the victim of a random crime.
- [30:42]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
He pulls the gun, tells me to lie down on the ground.
- [30:46]
Nancy Glass
He identified Jermaine Hudson as the perpetrator. Jermaine was sentenced to 99 years.
- [30:54]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
I'm like Lord, this can't be real. I thought it was a mistaken identity. The best lie is partial truth.
- [31:02]
Nancy Glass
For 22 years, only two people knew the truth. Until a confession changed everything.
- [31:11]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
I was a monster.
- [31:13]
Nancy Glass
Listen to Burden of guilt season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [31:24]
Valley of Shadows Narrator
On June 11, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing.
- [31:30]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
It's an all out manhunt for John Ajay. Every search and rescue team in LA county has been called in to help.
- [31:36]
Valley of Shadows Reporter
Within days, tips started flooding into the sheriff's department.
- [31:40]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
The rumor around the drug scene was that a deputy was taken care of.
- [31:46]
Valley of Shadows Narrator
Is this the story of a man who just got lost in the desert? Or of a cover up inside the nation's largest sheriff's department?
- [31:55]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
A homicide captain saying, detective, do not find out if this guy's guilty or innocent. Who does that?
- [32:02]
Valley of Shadows Reporter
Valley of Shadows a new series from Pushkin Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert.
- [32:10]
Valley of Shadows Narrator
Do you have any advice for us while looking into this disappearance?
- [32:15]
Ana Navarro
I wouldn't do it alone.
- [32:18]
Valley of Shadows Reporter
Listen to Valley of shadows on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [32:24]
Ana Navarro
I'm Anna Navaro and on my new podcast Bleep with Anna Navarro, I'm talking to the people closest to the biggest issues happening in your community and around the world. Because I know deep down inside right now we are all cursing and asking what the BLEEP is going on. I'm talking to people like Julie K. Brown who broke the explosive story on Jeffrey Epstein in 2018. These victims have been let down time and time again for decades and decades and decades by local law enforcement, by federal law enforcement, by administration after administration.
- [33:01]
Valley of Shadows Reporter
The Justice Department through I think we
- [33:04]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
counted four presidential administrations failed these victims.
- [33:09]
Ana Navarro
Listen to Bleep with Ana Navarro as part of the My Cultura Podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [33:24]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
Number four the New York Knicks currently plus 1500 to win the title on Hard Rock bet what an incredible defensive performance by the Knicks in Madison Square Garden yesterday. They completely boxed in San Antonio's guards. Steph Castle was like legitimately struggling to get to his spots, which is something I haven't seen very often from him this season. I give OG an Adobe and Josh Hart a lot of credit for that. They did an amazing job. Victor women Yama scored 25 points but the Knicks turned him over seven times by just being super physical on his base and swarming him on his drives as a team. The Knicks forced 22 turnovers and scored 24 points off of those turnovers was one of the biggest differences in the game. Again Steph Castle Dear and Fox Dylan Harper. None of their guards could get anything going. Just a really impressive defensive night from the Knicks and Jalen Brunson was great all game. Mikhail Bridges was killing the spurs with his weak side three point shooting in general all game. I thought the Knicks did a great job of skipping the ball across the court when the spurs loaded up. So really impressive like early possession passing game from the Knicks. This is something they've been way better at all season anyway compared to last year, but especially yesterday. They generated 23 unguarded catch and shoot threes yesterday. That's super impressive against one of the better defenses in the league. Muhammad Diwara did an amazing job staying aggressive even though he missed some of his early looks. He got 13 threes up yesterday. I saw a stat from Nate Duncan saying it was the most threes per minute ever in the history of the league. Minimum. I think it was like minimum 10 minutes played or something like that. But he ended up hitting four of them, made a couple of huge defensive plays. He blocked Steph Castle on an ISO drive. That was one thing that kind of stood out to me in this game, like because Steph has had so much success getting to his spots. He did struggle against some of the bigger, stronger forwards and I thought that was such an interesting thing to keep an eye on as we head into the postseason and teams try to figure out how to game plan for Steph. But Dara was plus 18 and 15 minutes yesterday. Carl Anthony Towns didn't have a good statistical game. He had some turnovers against San Antonio double teams. But I actually thought Cat was really good for the most part in this one. He's a bit of a matchup problem for a Spurs team that's light at the forward position. The spurs started Steph Castle on him and they were switching pick and rolls and the Knicks ended up getting a lot of good looks early in the game on the ensuing double teams because they'd screen, Cat would get dear and fox on him and they'd either throw to him in the post, he draw double, or the double would come before the pass and they'd skip it across the court. They tried all sorts of things. They tried not switching it, they tried scram switching it to get Wemby to take Cat as he'd run down to the post. And the spurs made a lot of mistakes in those interchanges that led to good looks. We'll talk about that when we get to the spurs here in a few minutes. But again, I thought overall Cat was a lot better than his box score looked yesterday. Even had a nice little impressive driving baseline dunk against Steph Castle in the early second half. Just a really impressive win where the Knicks gave a lot of problems to a legit championship contender on both ends of the floor. I like the Knicks fastball this year so much better than last year and it Shows in the numbers. Last year the Knicks were so bad against teams in the top part of the league outside of that Boston series obviously last year they were 17th in their record against teams in the top 10 in point differential, 12th in their point differential in those games. This year they have the second best record in the NBA right now behind the Detroit Pistons at 10 and seven against teams in the top 10 in point differential. And they have the fourth best point differential in those games. So much, much better resilience against the top teams. Why? Improvement defensively across the board and a more equal opportunity offense that's built on driving kick early in possessions. That's generating a lot more spot up opportunities which are some of the most efficient opportunities you'll ever generate in the half court in the NBA. Just better on both ends of the four, making them better against the best teams. And here's the thing, you match up really well with San Antonio and you've consistently given them issues. Even the one you game you lost was a game that was very competitive. And then you handled them in the in season tournament, you handled them yesterday. So like there's a real chance San Antonio makes it out of the West. That's a pathway that could benefit New York. You can imagine if New York could somehow pull out of the east and San Antonio makes it out of that bloodbath of a West. If you're a Knicks fan, you got to feel really good about your chances to win the title there. Number three, the San Antonio Spurs. Currently plus 800 to win the title on Hard Rock Bet. The most disappointing thing about this particular game was the offense. Like their defense got cut up, but it was a lot of mistakes that I think they can clean up. A lot of transition defense mistakes like guys not getting matched up and giving up layups and dunks in transition were just like simple execution errors. We talked about all those switches involving cat. There were a lot of like just basic execution errors like the scram switch with Wemby trying to take Cat. Julian Chimpani's slow on his rotation to the rim. They end up giving up a cut for an easy basket. A lot of like bot switches on interchanges with Cat where Cat would get slipped downhill into the basket or someone else would because they just would be hesitant to switch or not knowing exactly what they want to do in those situations. I think they can execute a lot better on defense. I'm less concerned about their defensive execution when they get to the postseason. So that I don't really think too much about what concerns me is that the offense did look a lot like what I think the Knicks will see at times in the postseason. Teams will get physical with Wemby and force him into turnovers. Like I expect Wemby's first playoff run to be a relatively high turnover one as he adjusts to the physicality. It's kind of what I expect him to average more points than you think just because of how many easy ones he can get around the rim in the flow. And then I expect him to be somewhat turnover prone like that. That's more or less what I expect to see in the postseason. I do think the young guards will have playoff games where they struggle to solve the puzzle of what the defense is trying to do. The trump card they have is the spurs have a veteran all star guard who can run, pick and roll and raise their floor in these situations. And dear Fox had seven points and that was really my fear with the spurs when I would talk about them as a playoff team. Their most reliable half court offense will be playing through a guard who may or may not even be a top 30 player in the NBA right now. Is that a death sentence? No, of course not. I'm not about to jump off the spurs bandwagon because of one loss. They have tons of opportunities over the next couple of weeks to prove that they still have that top tier championship upside. They're at Philly tomorrow. Then they have this home stand where they play Detroit, the Clippers, Houston, Boston, Denver and Charlotte. So many opportunities to make this loss a distant memory. But that's the kind of thing that I just see in my head, like what happened in that Knicks game. That's the kind of thing that I see in my head where it's like a certain type of matchup that can provide bigger physical defenders for their guards, rim protection, that sort of thing. Like they really struggled in that Mitchell Robinson group in the late first quarter, for example, that really shut down their offense as the Knicks kind of overcame that initial run from San Antonio. Like I'm just a little worried about it. Not a death sentence. Can't wait to see these next couple of weeks and how they respond. But I was a little disappointed in their offense yesterday. Number two, the Oklahoma City Thunder, currently plus 140 to win the title on Hard Rock Bet. One clear and defining characteristic of the last week, that Shay Gilsas Alexander is back and that he looks amazing. The Thunder actually racked up several really impressive wins without any of their top three guards. Their defense has been super impressive. We've had offensive contributions from guys like Casen Wallace and Jared McCain that have helped fill the void. But who cares about all that. Shay is back and he looks fantastic physically and that's the key. Getting wherever he wants to on the floor. He looked super explosive with his first step and on his counters in that Denver game, even at a poster dunk against the Mavs. And Max Christie Yesterday in his first two games back 33, 7 and 7 with just two turnovers per game, looks absolutely locked in and ready for the stretch run. And then Alex Caruso, man, like he straight up stole that Denver game. They probably lose that game without Alex. His defensive playmaking down the stretch. He stopped a key fast break late with a steal, his timely spot up shooting hit a couple of massive catch and shoot threes. Arguably the best role player in the league. One of the crazier stats I've seen this year is that the thunder are only plus 8.5 per 100 possessions according to cleaning the glass. We remove garbage time plus 8.5 net with Alex Caruso off the floor this year, which is obviously very good, but it's not earth shattering when Alex Crusoe's on the floor. This year the Thunder are beating the living out of everybody there. Plus 21 points per 100 possessions. Number one, the Detroit Pistons currently plus 1500 to win the title on Hard Rock. Bet the Pistons are just a winning machine. Man, we talked about their loss to San Antonio last week. They responded with three straight wins, a win over a Thunder team that had been really feisty without their star guards. As we mentioned, Cade had a really nice bounce back game after the travesty against the Spurs. They steal a game against the Cavs thanks to debilitating ball pressure down the stretch that caused Sam Merrill and Dennis Schroeder to decompose with some ugly turnovers that led to transition opportunities. And then Danish Jenkins drawing a foul and a three point shot sent that game to overtime where they closed it out. And then when Cade fouled out, they needed someone to give them some buckets late. Tobias Harris was able to go to that little right shoulder fade along the left baseline. That shot that he loves so much hit a huge one that iced the game against the Cavs. And then Tobias carried that momentum over in the Magic game where he briefly took over the offense in the mid fourth quarter when Cade took his rest, hit another right shoulder fade. He loves that shot off the same spot on the left block and a nice driving layup out of a ball screen that helped put things away. How about 23 points for Tobias Harris in the win on the road in Orlando. Jalen Dern was also a monster protecting the rim down the stretch in this game. Caught a lot of like those in between sequences where people would drive at him and someone would also be cutting and his size would just be imposing enough to kind of shut down both of those. A lot of those like two on one advantages for Orlando around the rim that did not end in baskets. Rematches with the Cavs and the spurs on the road this week. A couple more measuring stick games. The Cavs will almost certainly have at least James Harded, maybe Donovan Mitchell as well. So different challenge there. And the San Antonio game in particular I have my eye on because Cade was so, so, so bad in that first one. And as we talked about on the show, it was really his first opportunity to even attempt to solve the Victor Wembanyama puzzle. That's a really hard puzzle for anybody to solve. I'm just curious to see Cade's response after a bunch of film, after having a couple of really good games after that, I'm excited to see how he responds on on the road in San Antonio against that same Victor Weminyama problem. All right guys, that's all I have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show. We'll be back tomorrow with some game reaction. I will see you guys then.
- [44:00]
Nancy Glass
I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guilt Season two podcast. This is a story about a horrendous lie that destroyed two families. Late one night, Bobby Gumpright became the victim of a random crime. The perpetrator was sentenced to 99 years until a confession changed everything.
- [44:21]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
I was a monster.
- [44:23]
Nancy Glass
Listen to Burden of guilt season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [44:31]
Valley of Shadows Narrator
On June 11, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing.
- [44:37]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
Hey, if don't kill a cop and bury him, what are they gonna do to me?
- [44:41]
Valley of Shadows Reporter
What really happened to the missing deputy? Valley of Shadows, a new series from Pushback and Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert.
- [44:53]
Valley of Shadows Narrator
Listen to Valley of Shadows on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [45:01]
Keep It Positive Sweetie Host
This Women's History Month. The podcast, Keep It Posit Sweetie, celebrates the power of women choosing healing, purpose and faith. Even when life gets messy, love is not a destination. You have to work on it every day. Keep it positive. Sweetie creates space for honest conversations on self worth, love, growth and navigating life with grace and grit, led by women who uplift, inspire and tell the truth out loud.
- [45:25]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
I have several conversations with God and I know why it took 20 years
- [45:30]
Keep It Positive Sweetie Host
to hear this and more. Listen to Keep It Positive sweetie on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. The human body is a beautiful machine
- [45:40]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
and keeping it running means understanding how it actually works.
- [45:43]
Erin Welsh
Which is why this podcast Kill you is doing a multi part series on sleep, what it's for, why our bodies don't follow neat rules, and why modern life is not helping.
- [45:51]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
When you consider what we know about sleep in humans, there's one rule that
- [45:55]
Keep It Positive Sweetie Host
comes out we are predictably unpredictable sleepers.
- [45:58]
Erin Welsh
We'll continue exploring how the body works with a multi part series on digestive function.
- [46:02]
Podcast Narrator/Host (Hoops Tonight or similar sports analyst)
So listen to our newest series which runs January 20 through February 17 with
- [46:06]
Erin Welsh
new episodes every Tuesday from the Exactly Right Network. Listen to this podcast will kill you on the ice iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.