Biggest Questions Following the First Weekend of the Playoffs | Real Ones

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Ringer NBA Show — Biggest Questions Following the First Weekend of the Playoffs | Real Ones

Hosts: Logan Murdock, Howard Beck, Raja Bell
Date: April 22, 2026

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Overview

This episode of The Ringer NBA Show: Real Ones dives deep into the biggest questions and storylines emerging after the first weekend of the NBA Playoffs. Logan, Howard, and Raja move series by series, interrogating moments, adjustments, and narratives while also tackling listener mailbag questions. The tone is conversational, direct, and laced with humor, insight, and the hosts' personal anecdotes and league connections.

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Major Themes and Episode Structure

• Major playoff storylines and questions after Game 1s and Game 2s
• Analytical breakdowns of each playoff series
• Player performances, team mentalities, and adjustments
• Notable quotes and insights from on-the-ground coverage
• A listener mailbag on shifting NBA truths and winning at the margins
• Personal stories and humor interwoven throughout

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Discussion Points by Segment

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1. New York Knicks vs. Atlanta Hawks

Timestamps: 02:14 – 15:38

• Knicks' Mental Focus and Experience

  • Logan questions if the Knicks have the mental fortitude to go all the way after blowing a lead and losing to Atlanta:

    "Do the Knicks have the mental focus to actually win a title?...they should make light work of an inexperienced team like Atlanta."

  • Howard: The Knicks’ core is tough, but there are persistent questions about Karl-Anthony Towns (Cat) and late-game decision-making.

    "That is a team that had incredible fortitude...but there are spots where you've always wondered...about Cat." (05:01)

• Atlanta’s Upside

  • Hawks stole a win in New York without their young core firing. CJ McCollum led with big shots despite missing crucial free throws; Kaminga impressed off the bench.

    "The concern would be...now going home, those young guns might be saying, ‘We got this.’” – Raja (08:17)

  • Logan: Atlanta’s small-ball lineups challenge New York’s size and expose defensive weaknesses in Cat and Robinson, setting up for a swing in Atlanta.
  • Emphasis on Atlanta’s raucous home atmosphere and potential for a “blowout”—which Logan playfully walks back.

    "Maybe not a blowout...but the Hawks do have more of an advantage than we give them credit for." (12:18)

• Knicks’ Adjustments

  • Need for more bench contribution, smoother late-game offense, and less predictability.
  • Critique of the final possession; debate on whether Bridges hesitated or made the right play under pressure.

    "With time ticking, he actually is a pretty good shooter in that space...I didn’t hate it." – Raja (15:38)

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2. Denver Nuggets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves

Timestamps: 15:56 – 27:23

• Gobert’s Defensive Impact

  • Logan: “This is one of the defining games of Gobert’s career.” (18:34)
  • Raja and Howard push back, noting statistical context but crediting the importance of Gobert’s defense on Jokic (1-for-8 shooting, 0 offensive boards when guarded by Gobert).

    "It’s the best solution for the problem of Nikola Jokic...but you’re not stopping him the whole series.” – Raja (20:51)

• Jokic Turnovers and Denver’s Defensive Woes

  • Discussion on Jokic’s occasional sloppiness with the ball under pressure.
  • Denver’s poor ability to contain dribble penetration—Minnesota attacks relentlessly.
  • Jaden McDaniels' viral quote on the Nuggets’ poor defense: "He just kept going…until finally he’s like..." (24:54)
  • Is bulletin board material real? Raja: “Yeah, but Denver should already be pissed about their effort after film review.”

• Minnesota’s Edge

  • The Wolves have yet to get a breakout game from Anthony Edwards, a concerning sign for Denver.
  • Return of Aaron Gordon to help defense noted.

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3. Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers

Timestamps: 27:39 – 29:01

• Sixers’ Bleak Outlook
  • With Joel Embiid out (appendectomy), the consensus is that Philly will struggle to win even a single game against Boston.
  • Depth, Maxey’s season, and rookie contributions highlighted, but not enough:

    “Without Embiid, they’ll be lucky to get a game.” – Howard (28:15)

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4. Detroit Pistons vs. Orlando Magic

Timestamps: 30:53 – 43:02

• Orlando’s Resurgence & Detroit’s Identity Crisis

  • Magic’s style is out-brawling the Pistons at their own game ("They’re out-Pistoning the Pistons" – Raja, 31:05)
  • Paolo Banchero’s decisiveness and improved aggression cited as keys.
  • Detroit can’t rediscover its regular-season identity with Cade Cunningham back, causing a pecking order shuffle.

• Jalen Duren’s Postseason Vanish

  • Duren’s lack of involvement ("only four shots") is seen as a warning flag; team needs more from him for any chance at progression.

• Orlando’s Mystery

  • Howard: “I’m more fascinated by what I’ve seen from Orlando than concerned about Detroit.” (36:15)
  • Raja: "Not knowing who they are is a problem for Detroit." (37:14)

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5. Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors

Timestamps: 43:02 – 46:16

• Mitchell-Harden Pairing
  • Raja: The pick-and-roll tandem creates difficult spacing and attacks, though ceiling could be lower than hoped.
  • Howard lampoons Raptors fanbase’s obsession with media disrespect over awards, declaring:

    “Come back when the team can actually win a playoff series.” (45:28)

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6. Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Phoenix Suns

Timestamps: 46:16 – 49:46

• Thunder’s Threats
  • Logan: “Biggest threat to the Thunder, the Suns or boredom?”
  • Raja and Howard: Suns are too top-heavy; Thunder are too professional and deep for an upset.
  • Overall, this is a “highlight tape” series for OKC.

    "Seven and eight seeds are basically cannon fodder. They're there to fill space.” – Howard (48:00)

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7. Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers

Timestamps: 49:46 – 57:26

• KD’s Health — Rockets Offense

  • Without Durant, Houston’s offense is too predictable. Lakers with LeBron can absolutely take the series if KD isn’t close to full strength.
  • “With KD out, LeBron is going to win this series. With KD in...if he's 85%+, the Rockets take care of the Lakers." – Raja (51:07)
  • Young core (Amin Thompson, Şengün) not ready to lead yet — Logan and Raja refusing to judge after one game, but voicing longer-term concern.

• Big Picture for Houston

  • Howard: Trading for KD changed the developmental timeline, and when Durant is out, the young cores’ unfinished growth is exposed.

    “You set a different template to start the season when you went and got Kevin Durant.” (55:06)

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8. San Antonio Spurs vs. Portland Trail Blazers

Timestamps: 57:26 – 61:31

• Spurs Living Up to Hype

  • Raja: Spurs are "about what I thought they'd be...they’re a problem for whoever they face." (57:55)
  • Wembanyama’s unanimous DPOY and off-court leadership praised (“Because no one should walk alone.” – Wemby, quoted by Howard, 60:11)

• Blazers Ownership Issues

  • Logan and Howard discuss the Blazers’ “cheapskate” reputation with new ownership, noting lack of playoff perks (e.g., no t-shirts, travel frugality).

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9. Mailbag — Playoff Truths & Margins

Timestamps: 61:53 – 66:09

• Listener Robert Dean asks:

  • “What truth did you have about the NBA coming into the season that has now changed or is being challenged in the playoffs?”
  • “Where do you see winning at the margins impacting these playoffs?”

• Howard’s Surprises

  • He underestimated teams like the Spurs, Suns, Raptors, and overestimated Dallas, among others.
  • Reflects on hot takes gone awry and teams’ development tracks.

• Raja on Margins

  • “Margins are highlighted more in the playoffs... closing quarters, taking care of the ball, those are huge.”
  • Notes that experienced, careful teams excel in close contests.

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10. Personal Anecdote: Raja Bell’s “Fainting on a Plane” Story

Timestamps: 66:09 – 69:52

• Raja, while being sick and traveling to see his son’s football spring game (after a minor injury), passes out on a JetBlue flight after receiving an alarming text. The hosts laugh and commiserate about parenthood, stress, and life’s curveballs.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Knicks’ loss at home:
  "I had not made that rookie mistake since I was a rookie here over 20 years ago.” — Howard Beck (03:30)
• On Gobert’s impact:
  "It was a defining defensive performance... He held Nikola Jokic when he was guarding him to 1 of 8 shooting." — Logan (18:34)
• On playoff offense:
  "It's the eight seed...that actually has more firepower." — Howard (35:16)
• On the Spurs and Wemby:
  “Last week... we gave Wemby our Magic Johnson Award, and then as if to emphasize the point, he gets asked about waiting for De’Aaron Fox and says, 'Because no one should walk alone.' Like, good lord." — Howard (60:11)
• On margins:
  "Closing out quarters, taking care of the ball… sometimes in the regular season, people fly around, but the game's not hanging on one or two possessions the way it does in the postseason." — Raja (64:14)
• Raja’s fainting story:
  "Next thing I know, I wake up and a motherfucker is on top of me with an oxygen mask." (67:13)

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Key Takeaways

• Knicks/Hawks: Atlanta’s confidence growing; the Knicks have the edge but must adjust to lineup-challenging small-ball.
• Nuggets/Wolves: Gobert made a statement, but Jokic will respond; Denver’s defense is a liability.
• Sixers/Celtics: Without Embiid, the series is nearly out of reach for Philly.
• Pistons/Magic: Orlando has found a new gear; Detroit’s stars need better alignment.
• Other Series: Cavs-Raptors, Thunder-Suns, Rockets-Lakers, and Spurs-Blazers are following expected scripts with a few open questions about development, boredom, and organizational culture.
• Intangibles matter: Experience, discipline, and winning at the margins become critical as series grind on.
• Personal connection: The hosts mix sharp basketball analysis with relatable personal stories, keeping the conversation engaging and grounded.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:14 — Knicks vs. Hawks breakdown
• 15:56 — Nuggets vs. Wolves: Gobert’s impact
• 27:39 — Celtics vs. Sixers: Embiid’s status
• 30:53 — Pistons vs. Magic: Orlando's rise
• 43:02 — Cavs vs. Raptors
• 46:16 — Thunder vs. Suns
• 49:46 — Rockets vs. Lakers
• 57:26 — Spurs vs. Blazers
• 61:53 — Mailbag: Surprises and margin talk
• 66:09 — Raja’s fainting-on-a-plane story

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Podcast Tone & Vibe

• Candid, direct, humorous, and insightful
• Mix of deep basketball knowledge, pop culture, and real-life anecdotes
• Hosts challenge each other, push back, and encourage thoughtful analysis

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Summary Prepared For: Listeners seeking a detailed but engaging rundown of this Real Ones episode — especially those wanting the best playoff insights without sifting through an entire episode.

Transcript

[Cliff]

Foreign.

[Logan Murdoch]

What's poppin real ones? Logan Murdoch here, Howard Beck and Raja Bell in a few we ask a few questions about each series. Just kind of get a attempt check on every series in the postseason. At this particular point, what are the Houston Rockets going to do? Is Kevin Durant coming back? What's going to happen when Kevin Durant comes back? Is LeBron enough? Are the Pistons going to find their identity? Is Jaylen Duran going to step up? So many different questions. Are the Cavs them? Are they going to be the contenders as Raja thinks So the marathon series that's going to happen between the Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves, how is that going to play out? What do we need to look out there? Is Jokic throwing the ball away too much? Has Rudy Gobert stopped him? So many different questions. Are the Thunder fighting boredom? Are they fighting the Suns? A lot to take on and capture. Then we get to your mailbag questions. All that and more on real ones. Talk to y' all soon. Cliff Play the theme music the Ringer

[Sponsor/Announcer]

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[Logan Murdoch]

What's poppin Real ones? Logan Murdoch here live from Lolo's lair with Howard motherfucking Becky Raja Bell. What an exhilarating playoffs that we've had so far, guys. Jesus, right? Is everybody okay after last night's Denver, Minnesota game? Did we caught Our breath. Do we know what we're doing? Are we. Are we ready to pod today? Are we? Okay?

[Raja Bell]

We're fucking potting.

[Howard Beck]

Well, before you came back on, Raj and I were just comparing notes about how wrecked we were from late nights and early mornings and trying to survive it all. So, you know. Yeah.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah, man, those. Those 11pm Sleep

[Howard Beck]

ain't easy out here on the East Coast. I had to come home from the Garden.

[Logan Murdoch]

Bedtimes are really hard for me, man. I'm sorry. It's just been really terrible.

[Howard Beck]

Dragged my ass back from the Garden. Took the wrong. I. I made a rookie maneuver on the subway coming back from the Knicks game last night that I have not. I have not done this in over, like, 10, 15, maybe 20 years since I've been here. There's a thing where. And people who live here will know when you're trying to get the AC back to Brooklyn, if you're not paying attention because it's late at night, and you go, oh, here comes the train. And you hop on and you don't realize until you're dead ending at World Trade center that you got on the E train, and now you got to backtrack.

[Logan Murdoch]

Damn.

[Howard Beck]

I had not. I had not made that rookie mistake since I was a Rookie here over 20 years ago. And last night I was like, oh, damn.

[Logan Murdoch]

Congratulations. You played.

[Howard Beck]

I did. I did. That's what happens when you're tired, when

[Logan Murdoch]

I'm trying to go home. When you went to the office. Almost right. Almost. Oh, man. Do you guys want to start there? Let's start with the Knicks. Let's start with the Knicks. What we're doing here is we're going to give our biggest questions after the first extended weekend of the first round of the playoffs. Let's start in New York, where we had. We were putting together this. Doc, me and Beck and the crew, and we had a question before the game, and then we had a question after the game. The question before the game was, who is going to step up for the Atlanta Hawks? What will be needed for the Hawks to step up? Apparently, Howard, I mean, you were in the building. All it took was, you know, a curious case of the Knicks cat and off in the final minute. And my question to you is, do the Knicks have the mental focus to actually win a title? Because I feel like they're the most talented team. They have the most experience in this series, and in theory, they should make, you know, light work off of an inexperienced team like Atlanta who is talented, but yet don't seem to have the firepower, at least on paper, to. To fuck with the Knicks. But here we are. Howard, mental fortitude of the Knicks, is it lacking and how can it be recovered?

[Howard Beck]

The funny part about that question, Logan, is, and I was talking with somebody pregame about this last night about, you know, some of the Knicks teams of the last couple of years and. And one that I think everybody really gravitated to and that defined this era in a lot of ways. To the extent that this era is. Is it's still going, obviously, was that Dante DiVincenzo version, right? With Julius Randall is hurt and OG Anobi is out and it's Divo and Brunson and Hart and those guys just like gutted it out for a couple of series. Guys are dropping the. Brunson's respraining his ankle every five minutes and it looks like he's always done like, that was the spirit of this team and like, that is a team that had incredible fortitude and the core of that team is still here, right? Like, DiVincenzo and Randall are gone. Cat is here, as you mentioned, Mitchell Robinson's still here, and it's still about Jalen. Brunson and Anunobi is as tough as they come. So, like, yeah, they are physically tough, and I think they are overall mentally tough. But there are a couple of spots where you've always wondered, right. People have always wondered about Cat going all the way through all of his Minnesota years. Mike Brown taken some fire last night for leaving Brunson and Towns on the bench together for perhaps too long as the lead started to diminish. Yeah, there was still enough of a lead there to. To. To sit on to Milk when they got back and they blew it anyway. So I don't know if it's a mental fortitude thing. I will say, as far as like, the talent or experience gap between these teams, it's probably narrower than people think, because who was the hero of the night last night for Atlanta? C.J. frickin McCollum, man. And that dude's been around and seen some things and been in big playoff series and hit some big shots. And while he did miss two critical free throws, he hit the big shots that got the. The Hawks that win. Nikhil Alexander Walker obviously been in some big series in Minnesota before, getting there like they're young in some key places. Dyson Daniels, obviously, Jalen Johnson himself. And I like one of my curiosities before last night or just coming into the series was like, what's Jalen Johnson going to Be like in his first playoff series. He's, he's an all NBA guy. Probably. We'll, we'll find out probably next week what the results are. I think I had him third team, but he's not like dominant in this series. He's not taken over. It's, it's the old guy, C.J. mcCollum who's leading them right now. And that's fine, but that was what I was curious about. Would, would the young guys be able to meet the moment and right now they don't need to. CJ McCollum got him the, the road win and now they're going back to Atlanta with a, with the Split

[Logan Murdoch]

Raja. I know all one one series aren't created equal, but like, what do you see going into this as the series shakes back to Atlanta, right? Or shake shifts to Atlanta. Do you think who has the edge here? I mean, I know who has the edge on paper, but who has the edge in the series so far?

[Raja Bell]

I, yeah, I mean, I still think the Knicks have the edge. I don't know that I would be super concerned if I was a Knicks fan. Like, obviously we, we didn't want to let last night slip away and I think Howard, you know, you touched on something there, like worst case scenario for us. And maybe I'm contradicting myself, although I'm still not all the way worried is, is for them to be able to steal a game in New York without like their young guns really firing on all cylinders and being able to steal it in the way that they did, which was, you know, CJ McCollum, like, doing what he did. And then my worry would be going home like those young guns that might not have really known what it was about and maybe had some butterflies now saying, oh fuck, we're good to go. Like, we got this and that's the concern, right? Like if, if you're a Knicks fan, I tend to think that they're going to be okay. Atlanta's tricky because, you know, they, they, they. Quinn Snyder does a really good job with them offensively. They're really, really, they, they're really tough to guard. Like, I, I talked to somebody who shared with me a text of a, of a, of a coach in the league saying that like, their team regards Atlanta as one of the harder teams in the league to guard, action wise, pace wise. With what they're doing now, that might not be a sentiment that's shared across the league, but I saw the text. So like they, if they get you in their sweet spot and Play the way they want to play and that confidence level spikes, you're going to have more on your hands than you want. As a Knicks fan, I tend to think that they're going to be okay. They got to sort out late game, got to figure out a way for Cat to continue to be a contributor. They got to get their bench to, you know, chip in, in, in more of a complete way, if that makes sense. But, but I, but I tend to think they're going to be okay.

[Logan Murdoch]

I think one of the things that if I just looking at the Hawks, I've seen the Hawks in person a couple of times this season. One of the things that they do is they go extremely small. And when they do go small, that does put them in an advantage against a team like the Knicks where know, they got to have Cat on the floor. Cat isn't great in pick and roll, and they can just attack, attack, attack, attack. And if Cat's on the floor, they can attack him. And then if Mitchell Robinson's in there, they can get him into foul trouble, right? And they can really put this Knicks defense in a bind. And the, the concern that I have, it's one thing to do that on the road, but I think Atlanta, the crowd, they're going to feed off of that crowd in Atlanta, whatever the next game is. And, and when you have that and you have the explosiveness of this Hawks team, and also I got to give another shout out. Jonathan Kaminga, who balled out, he. I think he had a. What? He had 17 of 19 of his 19 in the second half. Shut up, Roger. You can get to the I told you so. I'm just going to say.

[Raja Bell]

Hey, I'm not even going to say that. But like, no, you were.

[Logan Murdoch]

He was playing winning basketball. He played winning basketball. I'm just saying that. A quick shout out. But all that to say they have a. Huh? He was okay.

[Howard Beck]

Howard not get crazy.

[Logan Murdoch]

Okay, yeah, 19, 19.

[Raja Bell]

But like, Howard is. I love Howard when he gets in that.

[Logan Murdoch]

You see Howard. But like, come on, let me finish my point though. Let me finish my point though. Let me finish my point. All my point is they have a lot of athletic dudes. That really translates into exciting basketball. That translates into a raucous crowd in Atlanta, right? When you have that type of play. And I think that if those guards continue to attack New York's bigs, that, you know, that small margin could turn into a huge margin. And if the Knicks stay off their game, right? And I'm not. And I'm not. And I get what you're saying to Roger about, you know, a young team like the Hawks or maybe an inexperienced team like the Hawks trying to say, hey, man, you know, we got it. You know, we won one in the Garden. That's what the Pistons did last year, right? Like when they won in the Garden and they did well, they didn't translate that back to home. But I do believe just what they just their strategy and how they play the Hawks with their guard play, how they play pick and roll and the personnel that they have on, they have on the Knicks that are susceptible to those types of guards and those attacks. I think that, you know, this could go. It could be a blowout in game three. I just, I, I truly believe that. Maybe not a blowout, but like, hey,

[Raja Bell]

oh, I was going to say you're

[Logan Murdoch]

stamping blowout, immediate walk back. I don't know what's in this cup. Okay. I don't know necessarily what's in this cup. I'm feeling myself.

[Raja Bell]

I'm a little too, a little bit

[Logan Murdoch]

too much caffeine here. But I will say that I. The Hawks do have more of an advantage going back to the, to Atlanta than we give them credit for. Don't. Maybe not a blowout.

[Raja Bell]

Guys, relax.

[Logan Murdoch]

I'm telling myself to relax on that one. But anyways. What was your point, Ranjan?

[Raja Bell]

No, my point about Kaminga. Wasn't that like, no, I told you so or anything like that? My point and to just to contextualize it a little bit, it was in. But like my argument for him was always in, in the space of Golden State, when you watch them play, what do they look like? They lack that length and athleticism and energy. Like I couldn't figure out for the life of me. You don't have to be great. He doesn't have to be like a first team, all NBA or.

[Howard Beck]

I.

[Raja Bell]

My thing was like, on a team like that, we can't figure out how to use a team that's lacking that can't figure out how to use that was always perplexed, like puzzling. I couldn't figure that out.

[Logan Murdoch]

Well, the fact. It was also. It was a lot of different factors in there, but I think there's an offense that's catered. When you go from Golden State where there's an offense catered to one guy versus where this, this Hawks team seems like a more equal opportunity offense, you could see how Kamiga can have more success. Howard had a point, though. Howard, what's your. What I'm. Oh, I'm Fine.

[Howard Beck]

I'm not relitigating, dude. I'm not relitigating Jonathan Kaminga. And by the way, they traded him for Porzingis, who, when he was finally playing, actually looked like he's an. A perfect fit for that team. But it's a perfect fit for what they were. Not a perfect fit necessarily for what they may be, because we don't know is Steve Kerr coming back and all the other stuff. But we don't need to get into a whole, like, warriors tangent. They're not in the playoffs.

[Raja Bell]

So, yeah, it's a good point because I was about to go there with you real quick. Okay. We're not worried about the Knicks. Let me just reiterate. I'm not. I'm not worried about the Knicks. They have some things they have to smooth out. They have to smooth out late game, fourth quarter flow does, if that makes sense to you guys, like. Like the flow of what they want to do offensively. So people don't go to sleep offensively because if you put your, you know, secondary offensive weapon or, you know, to sleep and he goes on ice too early in the fourth quarter, then. Then, I mean, you better bring it home and be shooting a phenomenal percentage. If you're Jalen Brunson. Not blaming Jalen Brunson at all, but just, they have to figure that out, how they can continue to get production. You know, that's from the two of them. You. You need both of them working.

[Howard Beck]

Okay, so there's all these different things we could point to about where they got away from the Knicks and everything else, right? They blow a lead, they've got Towns and. And Brunson, the bench, everything else. But Raj, I want to ask you about the very last possession, because where I'm sitting at the Garden, way, way, way up there, but I'm. I'm at the far end of the court, so I'm seeing Bridges is going away from me as he's as. As he. As he catches the ball. And it looked to me like. Like he very much hesitated, as if he was going to potentially pull up for a three, not realizing they only need a two. And I don't know if it was that was to, like, shake the defender or if that was because he considered the three first. Then he starts to drive, then he finally pulls up because now he's worried about the clock running down. Like, that shot did not seem like a good rhythm shot to me. But you tell me, like, what you saw of Mikhail Bridges in that couple of seconds of possession. Hesitation, dribble, eventually shoot and miss at the buzzer there. Obviously, no game is about one possession, but they had a chance to win it.

[Raja Bell]

You know what I saw? They did have a timeout, right? They had a timeout.

[Howard Beck]

They did not. So there's this big. There was this huge controversy afterward because Knicks fans were flipping out. Understandably, NBC got it wrong on their scoreboard. There was no timeout left. Mike Brown had used it like a minute earlier. So there was no timeout.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, okay, Howard, that's. That's good to know because, like, I. Originally, my thing was like, look, if once, once Hart takes that bounce and I realize it's not in Jalen Brunson's hands, like, I'm hitting a timeout immediately, but, like, without the timeout in play, I didn't have a ton of problem with, with, with. With what wound up happening there. I would have liked to see if he could have got back to the middle of the floor, but he had someone kind of walling him up, and then there was a trail defender that was kind of occupying that space. So, you know, I can't fault that. Like, with, with time ticking, need to. Things are happening really quick in your brain. He wound up getting to a pull up. He actually is a pretty good, you know, shooter in that space. Like, that's one of those spots he likes to get to. I didn't hate it, Howard. I would have. If I'm being picky, picky. I would have liked Hart to keep that ball for another dribble and find Jalen Brunson. Like, that would be my only critique. But I mean, I, you know, I. He saw what he saw up the floor and he tried to advance the ball. I can't be mad at that question,

[Logan Murdoch]

though, for you typically, like, on the timeout beforehand, if, you know, you don't have a timeout, isn't there like two or three plays that a coach calls? And like, in this situation, this is what you do. In this situation, this is what you do. I don't know what happened in there. I'm just asking from 3,000 miles away, like, isn't that something that typically happens with. In a. In a huddle before a play? Like that happens 1000%.

[Raja Bell]

If we have, if we have any meaningful time on the clock, then I'm going to instruct you or coach is going to instruct you on what we're getting into with set amount of time left. The problem with that is you don't. They only had. What was that, five seconds. Yeah, you Know what I mean? So like you, you saw Jalen like cross the floor. Like he ran on like kind of a cross cut. I don't know what you want to call it.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah, well, they're double teaming him with, with Nikhel Alexander. I mean it wasn't a bad look. I mean it wasn't bad.

[Raja Bell]

It wasn't with what they could.

[Logan Murdoch]

Ball to Brunson. Exactly. They couldn't get the ball to Brunson because he was double teamed. And Mikel Bridges isn't a bad. That's not a bad shot for him.

[Raja Bell]

That's a tough one. That's a tough one.

[Logan Murdoch]

Let's get to Denver, Minnesota. And this is probably the series of the playoffs so far right now, right? Just with theater, with rivalry. This is might be one of the defining rivalries, if not the defining rivalry on the Western conference in the 2000s. But Nuggets will get Game 1. But Rudy Gobert, you know that name, very polarizing player has. He had one of the best games of his life last night in game two, which the. I'm. No, I'm serious. This is, this is. This is a bit dead serious, Roger. Don't laugh at this.

[Raja Bell]

That's one of the defining guys.

[Logan Murdoch]

It's one of the defining. It's one of the defining games of his career so far. He held Nikola Yokins when he was guarding him to 1 of 8 shooting. Yic had zero offensive rebound in 21

[Raja Bell]

minutes when Gobert was guarding.

[Logan Murdoch]

It was a pretty. It. It basically, you know, help catapult the Minnesota Timberwolves along with big shots from Dante DiVincenzo and other guys around. I don't know if you guys saw McDaniels saying that no one, no one can guard on the Nuggets. He just said my name. That was a Rajabel. That was a Rabel type of moment. That was awesome.

[Raja Bell]

Wild.

[Logan Murdoch]

But to get back to Gobert, I will start with Raja on this. How sustainable is this defensive effort from Gobert? It seems like this is going to be a long series and the Minnesota Timber rules. They're going to win, let alone stick in the series. They're going to need a huge performance and continual performances like this from Gobert.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, I mean, well, first of all, I didn't mean to throw any shade at Rudy. Like I wasn't like trying to.

[Howard Beck]

I thought you were just mocking Logan, not Rudy. So.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, I was. I was.

[Logan Murdoch]

Because he's doing too many trouble superlatives right now.

[Raja Bell]

No. Cause he had like. Well, you said best game of his career. He played 27 minutes and had like, was one from the field.

[Logan Murdoch]

One of the most defining. I think one of the most defining defensive performances of his career.

[Raja Bell]

Defining different than best game. So I'll, I'll give you that. Like, because I thought.

[Logan Murdoch]

Also read that. I read that from John Krasinski of the Athletic, who is one of the great writers in Minnesota. Right. He said it. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna. He's seen a lot of Rudy Gobert basketball.

[Raja Bell]

I would, I would, I would.

[Logan Murdoch]

And I saw with my eyes anyways.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, I know, but like that guy. How many years has Rudy played, man? Like you're telling me that a 27 minute performance because he was in foul trouble, 1 for 4 from the field.

[Logan Murdoch]

And, and I'm saying defensive against one of the defensive.

[Raja Bell]

He's a multiple time defensive player of the year. That's ridiculous to say.

[Logan Murdoch]

Anyway, it. It liter. Okay, all right. It literally was. It literally. Did you see what happened with how he played? This is somebody that, that has, has dominated him.

[Raja Bell]

This Dude Yokens had 60, a 60

[Logan Murdoch]

point triple double on his head this season.

[Raja Bell]

No, I've, I mean I've watched the game. Like he was really good and I'm a Rudy like fan. Like I thought he did great, but like I think saying that that's his best game is actually disrespectful to Rudy. But.

[Logan Murdoch]

All right, let's get back to the. Let's get back to how sustainable is a defensive.

[Raja Bell]

It was important. They're going to need that. Look, you have to have an answer for Nikola Jokic, like any. Whether it's Rudy. I mean, I thought, you know, Julius Randle did a pretty good job on him at times. You have to, you have to try to wear him out with multiple bodies. The length is always good to have on him because he doesn't have a lot of lift and he's not an explosive athlete. So if, if your length can stay in front of him and stay down and make him have to finish over you at the rim, it rarely works because he's so good. But it's the best solution for the problem of Nikola Jokic. Right. Like it's, it's to be long to be able to stay in front and to make him have to finish over the top with some of those, you know, phenomenally touched shots that he finishes with. And so again, not to marginalize anything Rudy did. I thought he was great in the minutes that he played him. And he's going to have to continue to have some level of effect, but I don't know that that's really realistic. Like, you're not stopping Nikola Jokic in this series over the course of however many games this goes. Like, that's. I mean, he's been doing this for too long to too many people.

[Logan Murdoch]

Right.

[Raja Bell]

Like, you're hoping that it takes its toll kind of in the way that it looked late in the fourth quarter where a lot of his buckets were short, he didn't have great lift. You know, he was kind of throwing himself on the floor and, and looking for fouls. And if you can see him in that headspace, then you've done your job. Defensively, you've got him, you know, semi frustrated. So I think they did a great job and they're going to have to continue to do that.

[Logan Murdoch]

The other part of this is just Nicola Jokic's just turnovers in general. Right. And like Nicola, as great of a passer he is, there's sometimes he just has a propensity to just throw the ball, just have dumb passes and, you know, just. I think with every player, they have just like some brain farts. And he tends to have that offensively. He's had a lot of those in the beginning of this series. So with that Raja, what does yoga is going to do better?

[Raja Bell]

Yeah. Look, I, I think he just needs to continue to fight for those opportunities. When they give him those good switches and he was fighting last night, it wasn't that he wasn't fighting, but they, they. And it, it might not just be what Jokic has to do, but it's what they need to do more as a team, which is when he doesn't have that big body on him and they get caught in those switches where, where he's around the free throw line, like, let him get a touch and, and let him really punish that. And they, they found it. Was that the fourth. Was it the fourth or the third quarter? He strung off a bunch of them like they, you know, and, and started finding a rhythm. But. But that's it. He's just got to do what he does. He's going to be fine. He's going to be fine. What they need to do is defend a little bit better. Like, they've got to keep the basketball in front. Like you. It's really difficult. Like, they're. They're not one of the better defensive teams in the playoffs. Right? Like, statistically, they're probably the worst defensive team in the playoffs.

[Howard Beck]

Just ask Jaden McDaniels. He'll tell you.

[Raja Bell]

Jada McDowell, which is wild, but. But, like, it's really difficult to be poor at protecting the rim because you don't have, like, a lot of like, real true shot blocking, but then also be poor at containing the basketball. It puts you in a really tough spot. It puts you in a really, really tough spot. And so they've got to figure that out a little bit.

[Howard Beck]

It

[Logan Murdoch]

stay on before we get to the next series. The J. Back to stay on the Jada McDaniels quote, who he looked like, you know, the Kermit the Frog meme with the hoodie on just, you know, just really just stoic and saying it was kind of scary. Like, if somebody told me that my. That my defense was ass with the hoodie and like, no laughter, just straight looking straight ahead, I'd be kind of scared. What do you think about the quote? And like, do you think that that that galvanizes Denver? Do you think that, like, yo, man, this is just what it is? I. I don't know. Like, there's a lot of dogs on Minnesota, so I. I think that they will live their raps in this regard.

[Howard Beck]

It's like three days early for me to nominate him for real one of

[Logan Murdoch]

the week, but, yeah, there might be another game between them. Like, we'll see. Like, we'll see if he can keep that, Keep that energy. We'll see.

[Howard Beck]

But the thing is, like, I. I sort of get it to a certain extent, but he just kept going. He was like, yeah, we just got to go out all their bad defenders. Like Tim Hardaway Jr. I'm like, oh, that's a shot. But okay, fine. Tim Hardaway Jr. Not a great defender. I. Then he just kept going until finally he's like.

[Logan Murdoch]

As he kept going, I was like, fair. I mean, yeah, that's.

[Howard Beck]

Aaron Gordon's a great defender. Like, man, now you're just like, that's disrespecting, disrespect. Playing with fire. Like, I don't know. I mean, I guess Raja, is Bill is built and board material real or is this like a manufactured that we do in the. No, it's real. Like, will that actually fire up Denver? It's not going to be an actual Bolton board because nobody uses Bolton boards. But, like, is somebody trotting that out in the Nuggets locker room?

[Logan Murdoch]

A coach in the group chat.

[Raja Bell]

A coach might put it up on your.

[Logan Murdoch]

On your.

[Raja Bell]

In your film.

[Howard Beck]

It would.

[Logan Murdoch]

It was in the group chat that night on the. On the team playing. It was there.

[Raja Bell]

I mean, I. Yeah, but, like, yeah, that. Howard, like when someone does that. Yeah. Look, will it make Denver and a. In a. A high level defensive team overnight for an extended period of time? No. Are they going to get a. A solid like a. To a plus effort from Denver coming out of the gates defensively in the next game? Yeah, like that's, that's going to be on the, on the minds of everybody in Denver. Believe that. Yeah.

[Howard Beck]

Yeah.

[Logan Murdoch]

It's gonna be fun, man. Let's go to.

[Raja Bell]

But like, hold up. Like, let me. Can I get back to that, though?

[Logan Murdoch]

Because it was really. Yeah, yeah. Clear out.

[Raja Bell]

No, I'm not really clearing out, but like, you have to take some personal pride. Even without the comments. When you watch that film and you're Denver and you can see that almost every possession somebody from Minnesota took that ball and said, they're getting in the paint. I mean, they were. They were literally just taking that fucking ball and getting in the paint. Like, you cannot stay in front of me. And I found myself like, not even cheering for one team or the other, getting mad at Minnesota when they shot non paint touch threes because they'll shoot them. Like Julius Randall will shoot them and I'll shoot them and they're fully capable. Like. But like, I'm like, why the fuck would y' all stop driving the ball like they. You have to be as Denver already pissed about your effort, I guess is my point. So it shouldn't take the bulletin board, Howard, because when you watch that film and see how relentlessly they were attacking your paint, you should be offended by that. Yep.

[Logan Murdoch]

And the other thing that would be scary is, and especially as you're going back to Minnesota, we have not. Haven't had an Ant game yet. We just haven't. And I would be scared going back home.

[Howard Beck]

Nuggets Watson back. Let's quickly throw that in there.

[Raja Bell]

Absolutely.

[Logan Murdoch]

Let's.

[Howard Beck]

Speaking of who can defend. Yeah.

[Logan Murdoch]

I want to break Cliff's heart real quick. Let's break Hill's heart. Let's go to. Back to the Eastern Conference. Can the Sixers avoid the sweep against Boston and can they make a stand if Joel Embiid returns? This could be a quick one, Howard.

[Howard Beck]

Cliff says he's doing just fine in all caps, which is.

[Logan Murdoch]

Which really. Which actually, you know, shows that he's doing fine. That. That's very convincing, Cliff. Then he says, go Flyers in all caps. Yeah, he's doing good. He's doing good. Well, There you go. A.J. brown's about to get traded. The Sixers about to get swept. It's. It's all bad in Philly anyways.

[Howard Beck]

I don't, Howard, I'm not a doctor. I don't know what these standard recovery times should be or is advisable on an appendicitis. But I, I don't think you can rely on the idea of Joel Embiid coming back and saving the day. And I think without him, no, like they'll be lucky to get a game. And that's, that's no shade like Maxi's had an incredible season. Edgecomb has been one of the best. He's going to end up being third in the rookie in he's going to end up being third in a rookie of the year race. That was always a two man race. And that's like, you know, like that's a, that's a great third. They've got talent. It's a good team. It's you just and Paul George has, has, you know, been really nice since coming back from that 25 game suspension. They're not hanging with the Celtics at full strength.

[Logan Murdoch]

Agreed. Yeah.

[Sponsor/Announcer]

Okay.

[Raja Bell]

That was good.

[Logan Murdoch]

Okay, cool. Quick, quick. In, in and out on that one. The Ringer NBA show is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA playoffs are here and everything's on the line. Every possession matters. Every bucket swings the game and tonight is your shot to boost your bet. That's right, all customers get a profit boost tonight. So when the moment hits, your win hits bigger. Let's take a look at the slate tonight. 76ers versus Celtics. Got to take the Celtics in the over. It's tough. Blazers spurs going to take the spurs in a route. Let's take the overall points, rebounds and assists for Victor Wyama and the overall over on points for the Spurs. Rockets Lakers. Let's take the over on assist for Lebron James and let's give the Rockets the win. Lock in your bets, boost your odds and make the playoffs. Pay off with FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. Head over to FanDuel.com backslash ringer NBA to get started FanDuel play your game must be 21 years and older and select states or 18 and older in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Opt in required bonus issued if non withdrawable profit boost tokens have a gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org backslash chatincenetic this episode is brought to you by McDonald's. Fill up like every day is game day with the under $3 menu at McDonald's a Sausage McMuffin for just a dollar fifty. And when it's time for lunch, grab a McDouble for only 250. MC Value gives players, fans, and everyone in between more action for less. A sauce McMuffin is basically official breakfast of tip off day in my opinion. Get even more value with McValue. Only at McDonald's. Limited time only. Prices of participation may vary. Prices may be higher for delivery. Let's go to Detroit. Orlando. Two questions here. Can Detroit find a supporting cast? And can the Magic actually pull off this upset? What the hell is going on with the Magic Raja?

[Howard Beck]

Jesus.

[Logan Murdoch]

I didn't know this team was alive. I didn't know that they. They just woke up, they got their ass kicked and embarrassed, and then they just beat the shit out of the. The Hornets. Your Hornets. I'm sorry. I apologize. And then they come here. They're a completely new team.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, I. I mean, I don't know, you know, but Paulo and company are, Are playing at a level. They are out. You know, it's, It's. It's weird because, you know, of the teams stylistically that Detroit may have wanted to avoid, it probably was the Magic, like, and the way they play, they play similar to them. Like, it's a. This is a street fight now. Like, you know, if you're. If you're a brawler, you'd rather fight. Like, you don't want to fight another brawler. Right. You know what I mean? Like, you want to fight somebody that you're brawling would be foreign to, but, like, the Magic are. That's what they do, too. And so they're. They're out pistoning the Pistons. They're beating them up on the glass. They're beating them up in points in the paint, you know, and they've got to. Detroit's got to figure that out. But it's. It. This one could get interesting because you're asking me if Orlando could beat them. Yes, they could. And I was. They definitely could. And I was, you know, one of the people I don't know two months ago telling you that I thought Detroit, you know, this was pre Jason Tatum and what the Celtics were going to look like when he came back. But I thought they'd have a legitimate shot at the East. But Orlando could beat them, like, if they live in this dog fight and Detroit can't figure out a way to. To kind of, you know, take care of some things. Yeah, they could lose to them.

[Logan Murdoch]

One of the differences that I've seen from Orlando going back from that Sixers game till now, Paolo's a lot more decisive. I mean, in that game against the Sixers, he was. I don't know if he was. The moment was. I don't think the moment was too big for him necessarily. He's played in big moments before up until this point. But, you know, he was settling a lot, wasn't getting to the cup as much. Now he's just, I'm going downhill and I'm getting my shots. It's fine. This is what I'm going to do. And then you see Jared Suggs jumping for loose balls. You're seeing that energy. You're seeing just a completely different team. They got punched in the mouth, and I didn't know that they were going to respond how they were going to respond after that Philly loss, but they have. They're kind of on a roll. Like, it's weird when you have. Two things can happen when you have. When you have a couple days off, like a very small break in between the playing and the playoffs. Right. Either it is. I mean, I remember this with you in the Sixers Raja, when you guys are playing the Lakers, you only had a couple days going into that Finals. Either you go in tired like the Suns have against okc, or you going with just an adrenaline rush. And I think the magic was just gone in with that adrenaline rush. And you're kind of seeing that. And it's coming at a time, Howard, when I don't know if the Pistons know who they are right now. Right. Because, you know, the Cade injury happens. They have to take on a new identity to stay afloat and continue to get that one seed. And now Kate is back, and they're kind of having an identity crisis here where, you know, guys who are getting shots are necessarily getting those shots anymore. And it's coming at a time when, you know, the Pistons depth isn't what you. What it should be at this particular moment. I don't know what gives, though, Howard.

[Howard Beck]

It's hard to poke holes or criticize a team when they've won 60 games and have the best record in their conference. Right. And that was the Pistons this season. And they did it with a basic formula of great defense and tough as hell and a single offensive engine in Cade Cunningham. And you're gonna, you know, spray the ball around and other guys will get some open shots, but you really have one chief creator. And. Yeah, no, you know, not. Not diminishing what Dennis Jenkins was able to do this season. It's been a revelation with him not diminishing what Jalen Duran has done in the evolution of his offensive game. But Cade Cunningham is where everything begins and ends. You can win 60 games in this league with that formula and look really dominant based on your record. And then you get to the playoffs and the Magic, despite their record, despite them, you know, being like this close to being not even a playoff team, they're tough as hell defensively and they have more offensive weapons. Those offense, like, their offense isn't always cohesive. Right. Like, I, I, I saw more people

[Raja Bell]

that can do something with that ball.

[Howard Beck]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the, the strange thing about this is it's the eight seed, the one that was like, you know, had to come in through the plane and lost its first playing game. That's the one that actually has more firepower. And it's always just like the question for the Magic has not been, do they have enough talent?

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[Howard Beck]

Talent there was like, is it cohesive talent? Do they like the coach or not? Are they going to be consistent? Are they going to be healthy? Right? Like, but you can't put everything on health. There's more than just health that has held the Magic back this season. And they looked ready a week ago to just like cash out where like they just seem miserable that maybe not even with just the coach, maybe with each other. Like, it just didn't look like a team that wanted to hang out anymore, ready to go home, let the chips fall where they may, let the trades happen, the firings happen, the hiring of a new coach, whatever. It was going to be where this comes from after that, beating Charlotte to get in and then beating the Pistons in game one. Like, I don't know what the hell to make of the magic of this. I'm more, I'm absolutely more fascinated and puzzled by what I've seen from Orlando in the last week than Detroit. Am I a little concerned for the Pistons? Yeah. But I'm more fascinated by, I Don't know who the Orlando Magic are.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah, that.

[Raja Bell]

And, and, but, but, but Howard, that, that is, you know, as crazy as it sounds, like that's a problem for Detroit.

[Howard Beck]

Yeah.

[Raja Bell]

Because they don't, they probably don't know who they are either. Do you know what I mean? Like, when I know who you are, I have answers. Or at least theoretically, I think I have answers for it. But when you're, When I don't know what you are, like, that's, that's problem.

[Howard Beck]

To Logan, To Logan's question. Raja, though. All right, this is who the Pistons have been all season. They're a Cade powered team. When you get to this stage and it's a playoffs, right. There's no personnel moves to make. There's. There's nobody coming in from, from, you know, down the hold who's saying, oh, by the way, I'm a 25 point game score. I can create my own shot like you. There's nobody to turn to. It's just who they've got. So where does that go if they can't get going? If or if Kade does not have enough room to operate? Like, is it Dennis Jenkins? Is it Jalen Duran? Is it Tobias Harris? Like, is. Is. Do they have another gear?

[Raja Bell]

It's a good question, Howard. Like, so Tobias had 17. He got up 15 shots. You know, Kate, Kate, Kate had 39 on 27 shots. Where, where I see like, Jalen Duran only had four field goal attempts. We've. We've got to figure out a way to your question. Like, yeah, there's another gear to be had, but we got to figure out, you know, it might not be a high end offensive gear because to your point, they don't have a ton of like, you know, offensive ways to play or people to play through. But whatever we do have in terms of offense and Jalen Duran is one of those pieces, we've got to maximize that to go along with Cade. Right. Because if he's not producing and we're already limited offensively, I don't care what Tobias Harris does or Jenkins does. We. We got a problem. Like, right? So, like in the space of. And we always talk about it, the playoffs, dudes have to be dudes. Like, so I'm penciling in Cade for any number between, I don't know, 20 something and 30 something. And then I need Jalen Duran's production to be at a minimum, you know, 18, something like that. We need those.

[Logan Murdoch]

We can't shoot four shots. We can't shoot four shots.

[Raja Bell]

Logan. That's My point, we can't do that. So is the gears. Is it a high gear? No, but we do have another level if we can figure out how to get him some offensive touches.

[Logan Murdoch]

See, that's the thing that. That the Pistons. The conundrum that Duran has been throughout his career in Detroit, right, which is he has all the physical attributes, but I think the players around him have constantly had to be like, bro, just. You know how it is when the big dude at the park, where you're like, yo, beat a big dude at the park. Like, ball out. Go get those rebounds. I don't want. I remember I was talking to Jenkins when I was in Detroit, and he was talking about how he constantly had to tell Duran, like, last season, yo, man, I don't need you to go up with that soft shit. I. I need you to play back. We need you to be a guy. We need you to be a dude. And I think that we're. They're needing to remind him of, like, who the hell he is at this point. And he had a similar postseason last year where, you know, he would show, you know, spurts of being dominant during the regular season, and then during the postseason, he would, you know, be missing in action. And that's the reason why he didn't get the extension offer that he wanted to, and they couldn't come together with an extension. Then he puts in, you know, this most improved player type season, and now we're at the. Where we are last year, right, where he's only putting up four shots in a game. He needs a dominant 30 and 17 type of performance that we've seen in. During the run when Cade was out. He needs to figure out himself, and if he wants to be that dude, he has to be that dude. Roger, you're making a face. What is it.

[Raja Bell]

It. No, I. That was just wild that I wasn't making a face at you. I was making a face at someone on his team saying they had to tell him to go up strong with the ball.

[Howard Beck]

That.

[Logan Murdoch]

And he wasn't the only one, by the way. He wasn't the only one. Zer Thompson has had to do it, you know. Yes. Bicker staff has had to take him to the side a few times. So. Yeah, it's been a. Yeah, yeah.

[Raja Bell]

That's concerning. I wish I had. I don't have the stats from what he's done against Orlando this year. I'd be interested to know, you know, because I'm wondering. He's a real physical dude. Like, he's a physical offensive player. And like I said, you've met a very similar version of. Of team across from you now, and they're physical as well, and they. And they've got some big bodies. So I, you know, I wonder if that factors into his ability to find shots and produce against them. But, like, I don't have his stats from the season, but, yeah, to whatever degree he can, you know, channel the. The dude in the. In the regular season and last year's regular season, he needs to find that. And the hope from an organization would be that you take that step, that last year's playoffs were just a step in your growth as a player, and that we are not going to have the same, you know, issues coming into next postseason. So, you know, for him, I hope. I hope they can figure it out. But if. If he can't figure out a way to produce and go down swinging, like, maybe. Maybe you play poorly and you don't shoot a great percentage. And at the end of the series, we're like, Jalen Doran needed to make more shots and be more efficient for them to win. But at least in that space, you're. You're trying to fill the category that we need you to fill, you know, and so, like, I've spoken about this before. I don't want to come into a playoff game as the fifth starter or the sixth man or even the fourth starter and have a lion's share of the shots heaped on me. Like, that's because you won't shoot them now. You know, I'll take some shots because I like to shoot, but I guess my point is you don't really want to be in that space where your dudes are like, yo, we don't want the ball. That's not where you want to be in a playoff series.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Let's go to another series. Cleveland, Toronto. Raja, what excites you about the playoff partnership between Donovan Mitchell and. And James Harden? And what. Is there anything that gives you pause at this particular point in the series at all? I mean, they're up 2, 0.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, they're up 2. Oh, I. I see them. Yeah, I see them cruising. I. I look, I like. I like the pairing of those two and what they can do in pick and roll and what it unlocks for other people on the floor when. When you have to account for how good both of them can be in pick and roll. I like that. I am not sure that the ceiling is exactly what I thought if everything worked out, it would be. I'm not sure. But so far, so good. I like it. And for that reason, like, you can really space the floor and just let those two kind of work in space, especially pick and roll with James Harden. And it does things spacing wise. When you can get that right, that makes it really difficult on defenses to make the proper rotations and to get where they need to get to run people off the shots.

[Howard Beck]

Yeah.

[Logan Murdoch]

Howard, you got any thoughts on this series?

[Howard Beck]

No, other than. Other than Toronto had this big chip on its shoulder. I don't even mean just the Raptors. Raptors fans have this massive chip on their shoulder. This. This is like when you spend too much time on social media. The amount, the amount of whaling after the defensive player, after all the finalists were announced for all the awards by the NBA the other night, the amount of wailing about Scotty Barnes. This. It's criminal. NBA media. What are you talking. What are you thinking? Like, what. Why do you hate us?

[Logan Murdoch]

I'm sorry. Victor Wyama was the greatest defensive player we've seen in two, three decades.

[Howard Beck]

There was a lot of. How is he not third? Are you telling me he can't even be third? And it's the. The NBA media is not paying attention to Toronto. Doesn't like, like you would think. Like, we have all just. We all have sworn off like maple syrup moose.

[Logan Murdoch]

I. I don't know. I don't know if you've seen the new. I don't know if you've seen the news lately, but like, people from Toronto, sometimes they tend to sue when they don't get their way. You know, like, it just, it's. It's something that's going. I love Toronto. I'm just saying.

[Howard Beck]

Raptors fans, very, very sensitive about respect, lack thereof. Whatever. Your team is down 20 now to the Cavaliers. You're. They might well get swept. And I don't want to hear any more fucking complaints on social media about Scotty Barnes or anybody else being disrespected. Come back when the team can actually win a playoff series.

[Logan Murdoch]

Hey, man, the fact that they've gotten to succeed, you know, with that.

[Howard Beck]

It's fine.

[Logan Murdoch]

Good.

[Howard Beck]

It's fine. They had a very nice season. They've got some very good players and with a very low ceiling.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah, there we go. Look at us. Might not be able to get it. Get into Toronto.

[Howard Beck]

I love Toronto, but they get.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yo, man, listen, Listen, man. I love Canada. I love. I love. Shoot. I love your policies. I love everything that you are doing right now. Just saying, like, we would love to

[Howard Beck]

have your health care system Frank would

[Logan Murdoch]

love to have it, but I'm just saying. Hey, hey, listen. This is basketball, bro.

[Raja Bell]

Relax.

[Logan Murdoch]

Oh, shit. Okay, let's go to, let's go to OKC Phoenix really quickly. This would be really easy. Biggest threat to the Thunder, The Suns or boredom. Roger Bell.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah. No, I am not disrespecting the Suns. I'm not going to disrespect the son. OKC is like, they're going to be tough for anybody. They're, they are well rounded basketball team. They have been for a long time now. They've, they've, you can play and be in games with them for long stretches of time and they'll just run away from you and hide when they feel like they want to. So, you know. Yeah, I, I. Phoenix, you got in. Everybody's happy about that. But like that's, you know, tickets need to start being made for, for summer destination. Yeah.

[Logan Murdoch]

Hawaii is like a five hour trip from Phoenix. That'd be cool, you know.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, like I, hey, you know, what's

[Logan Murdoch]

your favorite Hawaiian island, Raja?

[Raja Bell]

Have you been me?

[Logan Murdoch]

Well, you're a Caribbean guy. I don't know if you've been to Hawaii. I have, I have.

[Raja Bell]

I like Maui a lot. I mean I didn't, the Big island was cool. I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do on the Big Island. Waikiki was, was touristy when I went there in college and stuff like that. I had fun there too, but Maui was probably my favorite.

[Logan Murdoch]

Okay. Kauai is great as well.

[Howard Beck]

We did, we did the Big island last summer. We did the Big Island.

[Logan Murdoch]

Big island is great.

[Howard Beck]

Loved it. It was, it was awesome. And we, and we swam with the mana race. That was cool.

[Logan Murdoch]

You should send that, that recommendation to Devin Booker and Jaylen Green. No,

[Howard Beck]

I, I, listen, I, I say it all the time. Seven and eight seeds, with all due respect to Orlando, who may upend this premise, but 7 and 8 seeds are basically cannon fodder. They're there for like, just to fill space until the 1 and 2 seeds get to the second round. Most years the Magic, if they could pull off that, that upset of the Pistons would be, I think the fifth team in the 21st century or fifth team since we went to best of seven, first round from the best of five, which was 2002 3ish range. It doesn't happen often. Seven and eight seeds winning and yeah, I'm, I'm, I think this, this is a nice tune up for the thunder. Jalen Williams is getting right again. And this is all Just about them keeping a rhythm. And then the good thing for them on the boredom question, like, they're so professional, they're so methodical. I just don't even think it seeps in. Like, I think they'll be fine.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah. This is what we used to call Raja when I, when I played football. This is a highlight tape game. This is the highlight tape series and we get your highlights up for college.

[Raja Bell]

I hate, I hate saying that, but I know, I've been there. Yeah, I know those games. Yeah.

[Howard Beck]

When was the last time you were cannon fodder in a first round Cannon fought?

[Raja Bell]

Oh, my last, My play. My last playoff series. We snuck in and played San Antonio.

[Logan Murdoch]

Oh, yeah.

[Raja Bell]

And we're promptly swept. I was, was golfing most days at that point right after shoot around. So it didn't really.

[Howard Beck]

You knew what was coming.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, it was. Oh, yeah, we got, we got rolled in that one. But yeah, that was. And that was the only time I think I was in the playoffs in that type of situation. Howard. I either didn't make the playoffs with teams or I was on teams that were actually viable playoff teams.

[Logan Murdoch]

Speaking of tough, let's talk about the situation the Houston Rockets find themselves in. As we tape right now, it seems like Durant is playing, but Durant had a knee injury and that totally upended everything the Rockets had planned offensively, even when he. The announcement was just right up, maybe 90 minutes before the game. And it's completely upended the, the game plan for Houston and Raja. It, it spoke to a concern that I've had for them, you know, pretty much all season, which is like, when Durant is out of the lineup, who is their go to guy? They don't really have many shot makers. They have, you know, Reed shepherd, but I don't think he's a guy that's going to carry you offensively throughout a series. And The Lakers have LeBron James, and even at a older LeBron James, he is a hub and can definitely dictate an offense. And then they have the, the Rockets are so predictable offensively that you can kind of corral them without Durant. And they are pretty predictable with Durant in there. But the, the, the question that I have is how much trouble are the Rockets in at this point? And could the Lakers. Is LeBron at a stage where he could pull this off?

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, without, without kd, without kd.

[Logan Murdoch]

And there are any troubles with KD back in the lineup? Is it, is it over with? What KD is in the lineup? Is the series over with K. With

[Raja Bell]

KD out of the lineup, LeBron is going to win this year. That's going to happen. If, if KD is in the lineup, They got game one. There is a world that they could figure out, you know, especially if KD isn't all the way healthy. And that knee, like, I think I heard deep bone bruise or something like that in his knee, like those continues. Yeah, those can be painful and stop you from elevating on your jumper in a way where you're not making shots to the tune of what you're used to making them. Like, if they're in that world. Absolutely. I tend to believe though, if, if, if Katie is healthy and really playing it, you know, at, you know, an 85 plus percent version of himself, I think the Rockets are going to take care of the Lakers. Unless the Lakers were to get, you know, another, another one of their kind of facilitator playmaking shot makers back. But if that weren't the case, I would, I would definitely take KD and them to win the series minus KD though. LeBron's gonna win that series.

[Logan Murdoch]

The, the thing is though, and this speaks to. Remember last year we talked about Amin Thompson and we talked about just this young core, right? They are talented, but I. You were concerned that Amin wasn't ready to take the leap necessarily yet, right? And no shade to him, but like, he's just early in his career and, and, and isn't just there yet offensively. But the other thing that I'm concerned about is like Shangoon for everything that all the lesser that he provides. He hasn't shown up either as like that dude. He purports himself to be that dude until it's time to be that dude. Are you disappointed in both of those guys right now? Like, because in, in theory, they should be the leaders when KD is out, right?

[Raja Bell]

Yeah. Yeah. I'm not disappointed. I'm not disappointed. I mean, it was one game, you know, I'd have to reserve feelings of disappointment for watching you over the course of a series. And if you never, you know, step into the, into the light and, and get done what you need to get done for us, then I, then I might be able to say that. But not right now. The, the, the amen of it all. I, I just wasn't sure. I was, you know, kind of anxiously waiting to see what he came out and looked like this year to see if he had taken that next step. But it was really early in it where I thought I saw like, okay, we probably didn't take that, that next big step. Offensively, there were probably some, some smaller steps that he took, but you didn't take that big step into ball in hand offensive. You know, I can get my own shot off the bounce. I'll shoot these like, you know, the shot feels comfortable and that's okay. Like, that he's still a young player. That responsibility wasn't heaped on him this year, you know, like draw a comparison to like, Cooper flag, right. They're different players. But because Coop had to do it this year and, and, and was able to kind of play through all the bullshit, whatever mistakes he made, the bad nights that he had, and just figure it out on the fly. Like, you come out on the other side of that with a belief in your ability to do it. Now, you might not be efficient yet or all the way effective in a way that would promote like winning on a high level yet. But like, as a player, you're like, okay, you know, this is what they need me to do. This is, this is the role I gotta play. I gotta figure it out. And you tend to do that if you're of a level of player. A man hasn't been afforded that opportunity yet, and that's okay. So I'm reserving judgment and then disappoint. Too early for that.

[Logan Murdoch]

And that was also the concern, Howard, that I had just for, you know, we talked about this a couple pods ago, just about the lack of maturation from the young guys, right? Like, they just didn't take a step this season for whatever reason. And I think that's being exposed right now by the Rockets if, if the worst case scenario happens for them again, it's just one game. And it seems like Durant is going to be back tonight, Tuesday, as a result, recording. But if everything goes bad, how do we look at this Rocket season?

[Howard Beck]

There was a calculated gamble by this organization in making the move that they did for Durant, right? Because a year ago at this time, it's, they're coming in as a young team making their playoff debut. You know, you know, they lose to a veteran warriors team, but you saw the outline of this good young team with a lot of talent, a lot of high end lottery talent that you could see maturing into something. You go and you get Durant to accelerate things or maybe even take a little pressure off them. But you, you changed, you changed the plan and you put these guys, I'm not saying it, it stunts their growth, but I, you, you do reassign roles in this case. And so now what Happens, Durant's out and now it's like, okay, all that growth we wanted from Shingoon and man Thompson. I'm not saying there hasn't been some, but like, you put a lot more responsibility on them in a really critical moment. Game one of a series against LeBron freaking James. And yeah, the Lakers are, are shorthanded, no Luca, no Austin Reeves. But it's a, you, you, you set a different template to start the season when you went and got Kevin Durant. And I like, I think that, that, that is part of this. Right? There's a big picture piece of this where it, you know, would Amend Thompson, Reed Shepherd, Sengun, Jabari, would they all be more prepared for this moment and, and comporting themselves differently if they'd had a full season where it was still just the young core and not grafting on the hall of Famer toward the tail end of his career? I'm not double, I'm not second guessing it. I'm not saying it was a mistake. I'm just saying that's the reality of what we just saw in, in some respects last night or, excuse me, a couple nights ago. I would say on the, on the positive side, quick math here. Shangoon Thompson and Reed shepherd combined for 21 of their 24 assists. Like that is encouraging because you want all those guys to be guys you can play through, who can create for themselves and for teammates, not just try to do it all themselves. Like, I think that aspect of it was encouraging. But yeah, listen, man, you decide to remake your team around Kevin Durant when he's not there, this is what's going to happen. And, you know, let's hope Durant is, is healthy for them or able to play the rest of the series. I think that changes everything for them. You know, the, the Rockets should have the edge in this series as long as the Lakers are still down two of their three best players.

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah, we. We'll see what happens. I'll reserve every takes for, you know, the next episode. I want to go too, too all for it. I've already said enough hyperbole on this episode. Let's do one more series. And then we have Mailbag. Let's talk about San Antonio versus Portland. Raja, is this spurs team as potent as you thought it was going to be or even more so?

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, no, they're. They're about what I thought they were going to be. I think, you know, they showed you exactly who they could be multiple times this year. Big, big stages, you know, against former, you know, the Reigning NBA champions. Like, they, they. When they come to play and they're firing on all cylinders and, and feeling good about it. They're a really, really dangerous ball club. I did tell you. I thought there was a world in which they could come out potentially and not be sharp. That did not happen in game one. So, like, good for them. But no, I. I don't. I don't know that they're any more potent than I thought. They're a very, very dangerous basketball team. Like, they are. They're a problem forever. They face.

[Logan Murdoch]

Raja, you've played playoff series in San Antonio quite a bit. Have you ever seen it? That turn in that building?

[Raja Bell]

No. The Fiesta Colorway was awesome. It was.

[Logan Murdoch]

It was crazy.

[Raja Bell]

It was crazy.

[Howard Beck]

Distracting. Is that maybe winding.

[Raja Bell]

I don't know. I've never seen it, like, in person, but it was. It was wild to see on tv. And that place is a. That's a really cool place to be when this, when the spurs are good in playoff time. Not just in the building, but around the Riverwalk. Like, when you're grabbing dinner and shit like that. Like, it's a really cool place to be. They love their hoops down there, so, like, it's exciting for them. It's exciting for the town. It's a great place when basketball's. When basketball's thriving down there.

[Logan Murdoch]

What are the spurs showing you, Howard?

[Howard Beck]

They are living up to all of their hype. And they're not. Like, the moment is never too big for them. It's certainly never too big for Wemby. They just continue to impress. We got the news last night, of course. Wemby, first ever unanimous defensive Player of the Year. Well deserved. There's way more to come for him on that. Last week, the PBWA organization that I am currently heading made him our Magic Johnson Award winner for being a superstar who is great with the media. And then, as if to kind of emphasize that point, he got asked the question the other night about he had waited for Dear and Fox to go off the court. And he was asked, why did you wait for Fox and Wemby, without missing a beat, just says, because no one should walk alone. Like, good Lord.

[Logan Murdoch]

He's.

[Howard Beck]

He's like, too good to be true.

[Raja Bell]

He's.

[Howard Beck]

He's a reporter's dream. He's a great fucking quote. He's an amazing player. He's going to win a lot more DPO wise. He's going to win some MVPs. He may. Dom. We have a rule with the PBWA. You can't win any of our media awards in consecutive years. So that's not to have anybody hog at all because otherwise, I don't know, Wemby might walk off with like five consecutive Magic Johnson awards, but no, the spurs have been awesome. This is another one where. Yeah, I don't expect this to be a very long series. I love what Portland has done this season and they've got a promising future if their owner doesn't cheapskate them right off the map.

[Logan Murdoch]

Have you heard those news? Have you, have you heard about that, Roger?

[Raja Bell]

What's that? Sorry, Just.

[Logan Murdoch]

Just the Blazers being cheapskates. Have you, have you, have you heard the news of the Blazers being cheapskates?

[Raja Bell]

No, they.

[Logan Murdoch]

They don't want to pay for a late checkout for their, their employees on the road and they didn't want to bring their two way players on the road with them.

[Howard Beck]

They're not doing T shirts at the playoff.

[Logan Murdoch]

They're not doing T shirts.

[Unknown Sponsor Voice]

What?

[Logan Murdoch]

Yeah. Yeah, they're being. They're being cheapos right now.

[Howard Beck]

Yeah, the new owner.

[Logan Murdoch]

So far the new owner's not a good. Not a good look.

[Raja Bell]

That's not the way to start your tenure there.

[Howard Beck]

Dude.

[Raja Bell]

Not. I would advise against all of that.

[Logan Murdoch]

Don't.

[Raja Bell]

Don't. You don't want the label as cheap in ownership.

[Logan Murdoch]

You don't want that scared money don't make money. We'll talk about that maybe with the. On the. When the Blazers get eliminated. If and when. Okay, real quick before Roger gets out of here because he's already kind of squirming. Cliff, we got a question. Right? We have a. We have a question.

[Cliff]

We do got a question. We do got a question. All right. This is from Robert Dean, fan of the show Robert Dean. What up, Beck? Good afternoon. Real ones. Raja, Logan and Howard. I appreciate the good pod to step work and clean and so much more too. What truth did you have about the NBA coming into the season that have now changed or are being challenged in the playoffs? This is also the time of the year where teams that know how to win at the margins excel. The Thunder epitomize this. The Nuggets have the savviest player in the game. While Celtics breathe that type of consistency. The rest of the pack seems to lack that. Even the Knicks, despite the Josh Hart effect. Where do you see this being exploited the most? And how do players adjust in the playoff intensity? Be well and much. Thanks Robert Dean. So Beck, that is for you. What up, Beck?

[Logan Murdoch]

Beck be getting all the questions, man. I don't Know how I feel about it.

[Howard Beck]

I'd like to think this is for everybody. People just like, what up, Beck? It's, it's just a greeting.

[Logan Murdoch]

This is like the fourth what up Beck? On the subject line. They don't ever give no love to me and Raj. It's crazy. Anyway, go ahead back. Clear up.

[Raja Bell]

Hey, listen, just. Just to be clear, my bad. I'm okay with it.

[Logan Murdoch]

Oh, okay. All right.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah. I mean, if anybody listening, I'm fine.

[Howard Beck]

Appreciate it. Robert Dean. Thank you. His first question was about like, you know, truths about the league or about the NBA coming in the season to changed or being challenged in the playoff. I mean, I take this to mean like all the. We were probably wrong about back in October. That has proven to be unfortunate impressions. Like I, you know, listen, start with the Celtics. I thought they'd be like a.500 team at best. We all were thinking gap year. I thought, if you guys remember I said that I thought the Pacers of the two of them were going to be the team that overachieved. Like I thought Rick Carlisle team, they still got Siakam. They got all these guys who were in the finals, whatever, like, all right, blew that. I totally underestimated the Spurs. I underestimated, underestimated the Suns, the Blazers, the Raptors, the Hawks, the Hornets. So there you go. There's a long list of teams that I at least shorted. I will say in my defense, I also did not believe all the hype around Dallas. Like the idea that Cooper Flag was going to make them a top four team coming out the gate seemed far fetched. I was right on that one, at least. I did not believe in Orlando. I felt like their hype has been kind of outpacing who they are. There's a bunch of shit I had wrong back in October, if that was the question. The winning at the margins stuff, I'll throw it over to Raja on that.

[Raja Bell]

I don't know if I have a great answer for that. Maybe it's just late in the pod. I don't know sometimes. Hey, listen, we might need to do fucking mailbag if you want good answers for me at the beginning of the pod. Right. You know what I mean? But listen, typically, yeah, margins, you know, are, are highlighted more in the playoffs. Like I was watching last night's game and, or, or specifically the, the, the Minnesota Denver game last night and what I was kind of intently watching and I thought was interesting was the closing of quarters how one team would have like, you know, it happened multiple times, had a really nice quarter going and had either really gained, you know, and chopped into a lead and then lost that or had, you know, kind of paced out and should have been up 10 going into a quarter the next quarter, but didn't close the last two minutes of that quarter. So it was like a three point lead. Those are. Some of the margins become important, like closing out quarters, you know, taking care of the ball, treating, treating those possessions like, like, like with the value that they deserve to be, you know, looked at with. Sometimes in the regular season, people kind of flying around, you're loose with the basketball. The game's not hanging the balance of one or two turnovers in the way that it does in the postseason. And so that becomes really important. Logan, you were making the point about, about, you know, Jokic, you know, earlier, earlier in the pod and, and, you know, I, I don't know. He didn't, he didn't have a ton last night. But the point is when you have your guys with the ball that are making all those plays, you know, they, they've got to be responsible when they're doing that because give away too many of them and that has swung the opportunity for us to win the game. And so, yeah, the teams that typically drill down on those tend to be the better, more mature, more experienced teams anyway. But it certainly is highlighted in the playoffs. Like, it's, it's just, you know, it, it, it, it. The games become closer, the margin for error is slimmer, and you've got to be on your P's and Q's that

[Howard Beck]

much more before we get out of here. I throw one bonus question to Raja that was outside of the mailbag. It's a quick one. Our buddy Adi Joseph, longtime sports writer, sports editor. I'm not sure where Adi is right now. He was at CBS Sports for a long time, but he hit me on blue sky. How is Diaz leg?

[Raja Bell]

Addy? Thanks for asking. Yeah, dude, Dia's good, man. Dia, you want to hear a real embarrassing story? You guys want to hear an embarrassing story?

[Howard Beck]

If it's okay with you. It's your family, man. Like, I don't want to.

[Raja Bell]

So look what happened to Dia. Let me, let me, let me tell you what happened in the practice before the spring game. Dia was rolling out to his left on a sprint out and he went to throw a ball and his left leg kind of got outside of his body. And a player on the team was, was running full speed down and put his knee right into the side of Diaz, like, calf shin area. So he's got a really deep contusion there on the side of his leg. That. That made it pretty much impossible for him to play in the spring game two days later. But he's fine, so that let me.

[Logan Murdoch]

He's good.

[Raja Bell]

I should have said that up front. What happened to me, and I'll tell this story is we're. I told you, I've been sick since we. We. We got off the last pod, right? So I wake up Thursday morning, we're all going out. I feel like shit. I'm all gassed up on, like, Advil, cold and sinus and whatever things I can put together to, like, get me through this plane flight to get out to Austin because he's going to play in the spring game on Saturday. So as we're in the air, my other son text all caps. By the way, Howard called DIA now. And I'm like, what? So I'm like. I text like, dude, I'm on a plane right now. I can't call him. Is everything all right? The next sentence, this full text is, he got hurt at practice right here. I. The next thing I know, I wake up and a motherfucker is on top of me with one of those oxygen masks. I didn't pass down on the plane. I faded on the plane. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Only time I've ever faded in my life. But I faded on a JetBlue plane. And, like, they had to have ice on my neck and all kind of. I remember, like, immediately when I read the first text, getting, like, a hot sensation. Like I was sweating. And then when I read the second text that he got hurt. Just put me over the top, dude. So in retrospect, was dehydrated, clearly had probably, you know, a bunch of cold medicine in me. And I just got really bugged out when I read that, so. Not funny, but funny.

[Howard Beck]

Yeah. Turns out you were in worse shape than dia.

[Raja Bell]

Turns out, shaped India. Yeah. His legs okay, though, man. But it was. It was disappointing because he. I think he had a really nice spring from what we could gather from people out there, and he wanted to show that off in a way that was going to be public because most of their practices aren't, and he just wasn't afforded the opportunity. But, hey, that's life, you know?

[Howard Beck]

Yeah, yeah. No, no, to everybody, family members, everybody else, do not text in all caps unless it's actually, dude, like, what are you doing, man? Especially with us old folks, we don't know how to interpret texts like that.

[Raja Bell]

Yeah, man. Like, that's crazy. But anyway, yeah, all's well that ends well, man. We're both fine. So thanks for the question, though. I appreciate that.

[Logan Murdoch]

You gonna make me cry on this fucking podcast, Roger?

[Raja Bell]

Jesus. No, it was wild. It was wild. I was so embarrassed. But, like, so the. The pilot comes on the plane. Like, no, I mean, it was. It was. It was really scary because my wife's calling for, like, a doctor, and, like, it was crazy. But, like, they get on the PA and they're like, everybody, like, the passage. They start cheering, and I'm like. I'm, like, looking around, like, please stop cheering. I just want to go home. Like, stop cheering. For me, it was just mortifying. But, like, yeah, dude, it happened. So, like, what you going to do?

[Logan Murdoch]

I have no words.

[Howard Beck]

No words.

[Logan Murdoch]

I'm sorry. Jesus Christ.

[Howard Beck]

Sorry. This is everything we discussed.

[Raja Bell]

Let's get out of here.

[Logan Murdoch]

Give me a good. Give me a hug.

[Raja Bell]

We're. We're good. We're good.

[Logan Murdoch]

Give me a hug.

[Raja Bell]

I don't need a hug, man. You're making it even weirder now, brother. God damn.

[Logan Murdoch]

Jesus Christ. All right, all right. That's been another edition of Real Ones, and I think that's what you get on real ones mailbag, gmail.com, too.

[Raja Bell]

Real.

[Howard Beck]

Real Ones.

[Logan Murdoch]

Mailback. Yeah. Okay. All right. I love all my guys. I hope they're safe. Jesus. Okay. All right. All the shits.

[Raja Bell]

Bye.

[Logan Murdoch]

Bye. Must be 21 years and older and present in select states. For Kansas, an affiliation with Kansas Star Casino, or 18 and older and present in D.C. kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY RESET. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.orgorgchatincenecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org In Maryland, Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelpma.org or call 1-800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-HOPE NY or text Hopeny in New York. For Louisiana, call 1-877-770-7867.