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Foreign. What's poppin real ones. Logan Murdoch here out here in the trenches and these playoff streets. I'll be in the Netflix scenery next week, but got Howard, Beck and Rajabel on next where we are going to discuss everything that happened on Friday night in the NBA world. The Rockets are down.03. The Lakers are going to go to the second round with just LeBron and no Luca and no Austin Reeves. How does that happen? What does that mean for the Rockets going forward? What does that mean for Kevin Durant? What does that mean for Ma Udoga? What does that mean for the young guys? All of that. We talk a little Celtics Jason Tatum even if he's balling, does that mean that Roger's still hating? Going to figure that out. And then is Roger still hating on Rudy Gobert? And what is Jokic's legacy? Are we being too hard on Yogic? Are we being hard enough on Jokic? Then we talk a little Knicks. Sorry Ben. And then we talk a little Pistons and then we get into some real one of the weeks and we talk about the Blazers new ownership a little bit and not looking great. I think that's it. Cliff Play the theme music the Ringer
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What's poppin Real ones. Logan Murdoch here, Howard motherfucking Beck there, Raja there. We in these streets talking talk Sixers this episode is brought to you by Ben's Warehouse. What you wear depends on the occasion. Like are we talking awards, courtside seats, or just watching the game at home. At Men's Warehouse, they've got you covered with a huge variety of clothing and styles, from tailored clothing like suits, sport coats, dress shirts, tuxes for more formal events to casual clothing like polos, shirts, shorts and jeans. For everyday wear, the Men's Wearhouse experts can help you work out your look while they're on site. Tailors can guarantee your clothes Fit you perfectly. Men's wearhouse has over 600 locations nationwide. They are here and nearby. And when you're ready to love the way you look. Celtics in a minute, but let's talk Lakers, Rockets. One of the oddest games of the playoffs. Me and Howard were on the. On the zoom call Raja before you got on, and we were just flabbergasted by all the dumb mistakes. Mostly down the stretch by the Rockets, but some by the. The Lakers. The biggest play of the night, though, was Jabari Smith Jr. Inexplicably throwing the ball to Marcus Smart, and then Tate from the Rockets fouling Marcus Smart behind the line when they're down six, then they throw the ball again away, and then LeBron gets the ball to send the game into overtime, shoots another three. Raja, have you. You see a lot of terror, terrible, dare I say, dumb plays like that from bad teams, but I can't. I don't. I don't think that I've ever seen this many dumb plays from a contending team as I've seen from the Rockets. And I thought that that really did them in today. It was pretty brutal, the mistakes that they were making. What did you see and kind of take us through, you know, the basketball genius that you. That you possess and talk us through the terrible mistakes that the Rockets were making?
- [03:53]
C
No, I don't. I don't. Well, I don't ever profess to be a genius, but I don't think it takes one to diagnose what happened. Like, late in that game, that game was over. I mean, Stan Van Gundy was on the call and basically was saying what all of us were thinking was, like, that that game was a wrap. They did the two things you absolutely couldn't do, right? Like, you. The first turnover, Jabari Smith, the foul. Well, three things, right? Like, everything had to go right, you fouled. Then, you know, you get the back tap by LeBron on. On our shepherd, and then he hits the head fake, like, fade away. No dribble three. Everything had to go right. But all of that is. Look, they're not a contending team, so let's be. Let's be real about that, right? Like, so while contending teams don't do that, I don't see them in the contending team category.
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A
People are striving for a championship.
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C
Yeah, I got you. But my point would be, you know, and I've talked about it, the media has talked about it, this all gets rectified by having someone who's used to being in those situations Having the ball in their hand, conducting offense, conducting late game situations and that's what they get fucking paid to do. And you don't have that on your roster right now. And you know, there, there were a lot of guys floating around that you could have taken a swing at around the, around the deadline. They might not have been A1 players on your team, but they certainly were, were years into a career of having to run a show and you would have probably closed that game out with one of them. You don't have him on your roster. And so that happens how, and like
- [05:33]
A
me and, me and Howard were discussing this before you got on the call how, and I was more just dubious of the fact of like no matter what was who was on the floor, they were going to be bound to make these mistakes. If you watch Houston throughout the season, this is just what they do. They're the worst, their worst team in the league in club situations. This is kind of who they are. Right, but how much would a point guard change all of that? What happened tonight?
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C
I, it's, it's, I mean, I can't quantify how much a point guard changes that. It's his job to change that. That's what you pay him to do like that. They are there to organize, to orchestrate, to, to, you know, facilitate, to make sure that what a coach, it's like a quarterback, Logan, like what the coach is saying from the huddle, from timeout to timeout is coming onto the court and it's being executed to the best of our ability. They're the ones that have spent a lifetime, you know, doing that and executing that. And so, you know, I, I, I, I don't think, you know, I don't think you have to, to look very far to find the reason for why the Houston Rockets have been that all year long. It's hard to play in that league at that level, especially when you're trying to contend for a championship without a, without a true season pg. And they just don't have that and it's no knock on anyone that's there. They were game tonight like they scrapped, they fought, they clawed. They made the most out of what, what they had at their disposal. And you know, they just, they just don't have the personnel to close out the games like that consistently.
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B
I think it's as simple as that. And Roger Logan and I were, had this discussion in real time watching the Rockets just completely come unglued. And Logan's thing was like, but there's just a, like point guard or no point guard. There's a bunch of dumb asses making dumb ass plays. Basically. I'm putting words in his mouth. But that's what it was. That's what it translated, that was what
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A
my face looked like. And to be fair, in the zoom call, that's, that's my facial expressions.
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B
Every time it's fucking late, we're just like, we're gonna be talking our. And, but that was, roughly translated, that was what Logan meant. And I think like to, to a point, that's true. But, but my feeling was of Fred Van Vliet out there or, or some other steady old hand, a Mike Conley type or if you guys remember, back at the deadline or somewhere back before we got to mid season, I think I might have actually suggested CJ McCollum.
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C
CJ McCollum. What?
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A
What?
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C
Weird.
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B
And Drew Holliday, like, I don't know if they could have fit those guys right. Those are, those are big contracts. Those are hard to pull off. Easy for me to say, but like, even if you do have one of those guys, I do think it makes a massive percentage difference because it's that many more possessions and decisions that are in the hands of that guy. But yeah, eventually the ball's going to be in the hands of, of a Jabari or a Tate or somebody and, and some of these things are going to happen anyway. And some of those, some of the mistakes were defensive mistakes. So a point guard doesn't solve all of it. But I'm with you, Raja. Like, I think that that would have gone a long way toward it and I think the Rockets as an organization, this is not just hindsight. We have been saying this since fucking last summer when, when Fred Vanvliet first got injured. The Rockets aired as an organization in deciding it was okay to go into a season with a 37 year old Kevin Durant on a short window with, without having a point guard to replace Fred Van Vliet, considering how young the rest of the roster is and you were, I don't know if it was faith, confidence, prayer, whatever it was, that some combination of Amen Thompson and Reed shepherd and Alpern Shangoon and Kevin Durant were just going to be point guard by committee and we'd be fine. Like, that was a, A, a terrible premise.
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C
Yeah, 100, 100%. And, and they might not fix a point guard, might not fix all of the issues, you know, especially some of the defensive ones when you can't like quarterback that and have the ball in your hands. But in terms of having the ball in people's hands that shouldn't have the ball. Immediate fix. Like, I'm not giving you the fucking ball. Like, you're not touching it on this possession, dude. Like that. I don't trust you to touch it on this possession. And so therefore, stand your ass in that corner and don't worry about this ball unless it gets kicked out to you and then shoot the ball. I would just say, look at the Lakers tonight. Like, the Lakers had real point guard play. Like, and it wasn't. It wasn't. They had real point guard play. Marcus Smart played a. Played a great, A great game. And like, just in terms of, you know, organizational leadership, not even to go, you know, I think he had probably double digit assists and he. What do you have, 20 some like, he played a great game in terms of statistically too, but organizationally getting the ball where it needed to go, calming people down who otherwise, you know, aren't calm when they're asked to play out of their role. It's just invaluable. And so, you know, I feel. I really felt for Houston. Can we, can. I don't know if you guys caught this. It's not on subject, but I was coming on here to squarely throw LeBron James under the bus. The turn. Squarely throw LeBron James under the bus. The turnover that he had, Link was back to back. And then he doesn't run back. He doesn't run back. He stands and Shangon beats him on the sprint and they get a layup like that game was a wrap and then he over, totally redeems himself. Yeah. So anyway, I just.
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Raza 21 points at 10 assist from. From Marcus Smart. Yeah, and just the three turnovers too. But I want to. I want to talk about the Lakers at some point, but I do want to keep it on the Rockets. The Rockets, who have been through a lot injury wise. I have two points on the Rockets. Then I'm gonna go to Beck, and then I'm gonna go to Howard. I'm gonna go to Beck, and then I'm gonna go to Raja. Jesus, these night podcasts be kicking our ass.
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B
We're the ones on like, late time here. You're still in the Pacific time zone.
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A
Hey, man, I just caught a flight dog. I'm tired, you know. You know, y' all know the home life. You know, you guys know what's going on here. Jesus. Anyways, let's get back on. On the rails. Anyways, the thing that I'm frustrated about with the Rockets is if you're going to go in on Kevin Durant? Go all in on Kevin Durant. You can't play the middle. And I know on paper they're just like, oh, we can get Kevin Durant for Jalen Green and Dylan Brooks. It's all good. It's fine. You know, and then we could just build up these young guys and then we can have, you know, a plan for the future and the right now. And I think that that's how the Rockets kind of played this trade deadline, right? It was like, okay, we don't need a point guard because we do have a future next year and the year after that. That's how it felt. At least I don't have reporting on it because I'm not around the Rockets full time, but that's just how it felt. And you can't do that when you push the button. If you're gonna push the button, you better just go all in. You need to make that trade for C.J. mcCollum.
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If you.
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It was. It's crazy because it was such a glaring need, right? The whole season, we were like, okay, they need a point guard. After game one against Oklahoma City, this is what they need. We needed them to get into their offense. And the second point is like, they've just gone so through so much with the injuries this season, and that is extended to Kevin Durant, Howard and violent and purposes. You know, Houston could very well get swept just because this was their best game of the series and the game they should have won and they lost it. They could win game. Game four, but it. Violence is a purpose. This is a rap. What is that going to say about Kevin Durant's short tenure? He was out tonight, but with an ankle injury, and that ankle injury had to be really bad for him not to play, like, damn near broke. It would feel like, right? I don't have any reporting on that either. I'm just like, this is your season on the line and you're not there. What is that going to. If they lose this, how are we going to look back? Howard on the Kevin Durant experience experiment?
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B
I mean, this thing is a wrap. Let's. Let's be honest. No one's ever come back from three. Oh, they're not going to be the first, and certainly not if Kevin Durant is hobbled. And we all know what KD is about. Like, the dude is. Is the ultimate Hooper. If he could have played, I'm sure he would have played. So, like, there's nothing else to read into that other than he's obviously pretty hurt. And you know, look, he's, he missed two of the first three games. And so in the, in the realm of partial defense of the Rockets and the, the youth, the lack of point guard, all that other stuff, there is a pretty big factor here of Kevin Durant missed two of the three games now and they needed him, they invested a lot in him. And so, you know, that happens whether 37 year old or 27 year old, it could have happened. I suppose so, yeah. Like, is the experiment a bust now? I mean, like whether they get swept, whether it's five, whatever it is, they're, they're going down, they're not making the second round for the second straight year, one year with, you know, Jalen Green and Dylan Brooks, this year with Kevin Durant. I, I guess the question becomes this, first and foremost, what do the Rockets starting with ownership and then to the front office and rail Stone, where do they think the problem was? Where did they fall short? Was it that their, their young guys, primarily Sengun and Thompson, didn't make enough of a leap forward? Was it, is it going to fall on coaching? Is it going to be IME doka? Are they going to look at themselves and say, you know what, maybe it was a bad gambit for Kevin Durant. Maybe it was a bad gambit not to replace the point guard when he got hurt. Like, there's always consequences. NBA playoffs bring consequences. You know, if you're a really young team on your way up, fine, sometimes you get a pass for a couple of years. If you're an older team, then you have decisions to make. And this is a team that's somewhere in the middle. And to your point, Logan, they, they did, they straddled it, right? It was like, oh, we're a little bit about Kevin Durant. He's like, you know, he's going to be the center of everything and he certainly was, he dominated that team this year. But we've also got these young guys that we want to grow into roles. So before you get to anything else, you have to decide as an organization, reflect and decide where did we go wrong? Where did this season go wrong? And is there actually a justification to running this thing back? Is Kevin Durant going to be on his, like, fourth team in four and a half, five years, whatever it's going to be. I, I, like, I, I think on
- [15:38]
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an extension, a fresh extension.
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Like, I think it's an open question. I, I, I kind of think it would be a mistake. I think you should at least give this team, like, bring it back with. Because. Because Kevin Durant's gonna be that much, you know, one more season older, maybe more ready to shift into a position where it falls more on the young guys. And another offseason of development from Thompson and Shangoon and Reed shepherd, whomever, and a healthy Fred Van Vliet, presumably back. Do you want to give that a chance first? I think. I think it.
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I think.
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I think it's an open question because this team wasn't whole partially because of decisions they made, but it wasn't whole. So I do think there's a case to be made. We should run it back with some more minor changes and have an actual healthy point guard to run this thing. And maybe the outcome is a little different and maybe another off season of development of our youth is the difference.
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Roger, what are you telling the young guys of the Houston Rockets to do this summer? Like, what do they need to do to take that step?
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C
Yeah, you know, I mean, I.
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Look, you're always.
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You're always trying to add to your game. You're always trying to work on, you know, those areas of your game that organizationally they think, you know, everyone has an exit meeting, right? Like, at least this was my experience when I was in the NBA, right? You're going to have that exit meeting, you know, that head coach, that general manager is going to sit down with you if you're under contract, kind of articulate to you how they see your role, you know, continuing to develop within the organization, and then, you know, what type of things they expect you to do in terms of building out the rest of your game so that you can take that step into whatever the next step is for you. I can't speak to what Houston wants from their young players in terms of development. It's a tough question. Logan, I think you go back to the drawing board as a player.
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You.
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You always kind of reassess what worked for you that year, what you struggled with, like, what you had to table because it didn't make the transition from working last summer to actually showing up in the games during the season.
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Like.
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C
And you're trying to bolster those. Those skill sets so that you have enough confidence to bring them to the table with you next year when. When live play starts. But I. I think I would go to. What Howard is saying in the question that you asked is, like, is. Is all of that going to be moot if we're in a situation where we still have to defer to, you know, a kd, if you will Right. Like, like Sengun tonight, with the ball in his hands, looked the way you would want Shingoon to look if he were going to continue to take steps into being a poor man's Jokic, if you will, I forgive the expression, but like, he made some tough ass shots. Like he was, he was really creating and scoring in a way with the ball in his hands. Out of necessity. That, that was, you know, like a step, if you will. But like, when you bring KD back, those, those, those opportunities don't exist. I'm, I'm not lobbying for, for, you know, one decision or the other. Like, but the question becomes, do you want them as an organization to continue taking steps? Because eventually, if they step far enough into stardom, they, you have to ask KD to take a backseat and I don't know where they're at. Like, they have to figure that out.
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A
They got to figure, not only figure out who they are, they need to actually choose a path. And I think that's the frustrating thing about this Rockets team. They're like the best version of what we thought the Mavericks are. We're going to be, at least in my mind, which is you're trying to just be in two worlds at once. And when you're trying to be in two worlds at once, you, you know, you basically do the splits.
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C
I would say this just real quick as far as a men goes. Like, I want, I want to see him like late in the game, he had a little hesi pull from the free throw line look kind of smooth. He's really hesitant to shoot the ball. He needs to take that step. Like, I'm just keeping it a buck. Like, he's got a lot of great shit going for him. But if he's going to be that kind of player that we thought he could be, like, he's. His skill set has to continue to develop in terms of I will shoot this thing. I'm not afraid to shoot this thing. I'm going to get him up whether they're going in or not. Like, get over the mental hurdle of I don't want to shoot it. I want to see that from him next year.
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Yeah, he's. I mean, him and the rest of the young guys for the most part this season look like they were playing on eggshells. Now, I know Jabari, I think he has a career high in points, but it still felt like when I watched him play night in and night out, it was like either KD play hero ball, you get the ball, I get the ball. We're going to play one on one. Me and Shangoon or the young guys were just kind of just fiddling with their games and not really, you know, confident in what they were doing throughout the whole season. Let's start with the, let's go back to the Lakers point of this. Raja. What have you seen from LeBron this, this series? What have you liked and what have you disliked him? What has this said about him? He's up 30 without Austin Reeves and Luca.
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C
Yeah, no, I mean, for, for the lion's share of the series, he's been fantastic. You know, he's, he's looked a little gas tonight. Yeah, I mean, you know, he's, he's manipulating defenses. He's always done that. You know, he's, he's had a lot of off ball backdoor cuts where he's, where he's getting easier ones at the rim. It's a struggle at times for him to get by capable defenders, but like, when he gets those switches with Sengoon, you know, he was able to kind of get through there and, and finish around the rim. I saw. So he's been, he's been really good. It's pretty, it's remarkable. Like, let me, let me say that first and foremost, like the, what he's, what he's doing in the series, you know, statistically, and then having them at three and oh, at that age, that many years in the league, it's, it's incredible. He was frustrated tonight late though. Like, I saw him get really frustrated with his teammates a few times. You know, I, I referenced the, the play late in the game. I think that was pure frustration, not getting back on defense and you know, they're going to get through this series. Like I told you guys last, last pod. If, if, if KD is not available, like LeBron's winning this year. I'm not worried about that. Right. But he's going to need those dudes to come back because that's too much of a workload for him. Like, he can't, he can't continue putting this out. This is heroic right now. You know, the numbers might not be 40 balls and 50 balls, like what you would have seen in his prime, but for the age that he is on scale, this is, this is heroic. Like, he is really hoping right now you don't want him to have to continue to do this for your team to be successful. If, if they're not back in that next series, then that the ride is over.
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A
Yeah, I think the r. There's a good argument to say the ride is over next series anyways, they're probably gonna play okc. And this. The. Just The. The. The. The misfortunes of the bracket.
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C
That's fair, but, like, healthy. Listen, I'm. I'm gonna tell you, like, real talk. I was sitting around watching, watching, you know, and I was. I was just watching the Lakers play, and in a weird way, everyone having to do a little bit more right now and everyone having to step up without those two in the lineup, and I was thinking to myself, like, I. Okay, so, yeah, you know, they're. They've been my favorite all year, but I was like, man, in a weird way, if you got those two back and they were really hooping, and then you got all of these pieces that had to step up and really support LeBron in these efforts through the first round, and they're hitting on all cylinders. It's kind of a different Laker team. Like, I. I don't know that I'd pick them, but it's a little. It's a different Laker team.
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A
I think the thing. The argument that I've always said for the Lakers, this one, they were whole. I mean, you. You put Luka on the floor against any team, they have a chance. It's similar to, like, LeBron 10, 15 years ago, right? Like, it didn't really matter how good the team was on the other side. Like, I still get scared of Luka. He just puts the fear of God in teams. This is what it is. Let's talk a little Celtics, Sixers. Jason Tatum is back. Howard motherfucking Beck.
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B
He is. It's actually a great segue because it allows me to bring LeBron back into this for a minute. LeBron's 41 years old and just did what he did, let his team in scoring. Absolutely insane. And it's. This is happening on the same night, like, night after night for the last several weeks, ever since Tatum came back. It's either. It's a night where we're going, how is LeBron still doing this at 41? How is Jason Tatum doing this less than a year removed from Achilles surgery? Like, we should just take a minute to step back and just, like, marvel at how incredible both these things are in very different ways. Jason Tatum, by no stretch, did any of us expect would be playing.
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A
We told him not to play. Me and Raja were like, please don't play. Don't do it.
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B
Roger was wrong.
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C
I'm still not sure it was worth it.
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B
He's gonna be like, he's gonna be holding up the Larry o' Brien trophy in late June and Brian's gonna be
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C
like, he ain't gonna be doing that. He ain't going to be doing that. Hey, Stamp, stamp this shit right now. Look, I'm looking in the camera.
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A
Cliff, Cliff.
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B
I'm just saying if he were, if
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C
he were still be like, I don't know, coming back. But Howard, that was my point the whole time. The, the only thing that makes that worth it, the risk is if he won it.
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A
That was my point.
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C
So like he's been phenomenal, but that was my point.
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B
On the LeBron of it all, our, our friend Kirk and I cannot pronounce her last name. I will just say Kirika, you. She had noted this on social media tonight. That 41 year old LeBron James, at 41 years and 115 days, is the oldest player in NBA history to lead his team in scoring in the playoffs. Passing 41 year old LeBron James of three days ago when he did it and prior to that, it was Kareem. It's just insane what he's doing. It's absolutely astounding. And it's not just the numbers he's putting up. He played 45 minutes. It's the plays he's making. It's incredible. And he's still controlling the game at, at this age, at this stage of his career with a, a, just a, like a, a team of like scraps around him right now. Like no disrespect to anybody but like Marcus Martin, deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura and Luke Kennard who's like on his like 10th team or something. Like, it's really incredible.
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A
The Rock question was about Jason Tatum though. The, the, the question was about Jason Tatum.
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B
Howard, you never teed anybody up to actually talk about the Lakers winning. We only talked about the Rockets losing. So I thought it's only fair to cover all bases here and actually give LeBron and the Lakers their praise for a minute.
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A
Fair enough.
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B
We're going to have plenty of time to not do that in the next round when they get their asses kicked by the Thunder. Sorry, I shouldn't have jumped ahead.
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A
Rose after dark, baby. Roger. What? Have you thought about Tatum's play?
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C
No. He's been fantastic, man. Like, and in fairness, like, he, his path back to being like really, really good offensively has been more seamless than I thought it would be. What percentage he is of himself, like, I don't know, but he's figured out how to make whatever percentage of himself he is work really, really well. So it's remarkable. I definitely did not see him hitting the stride that he's hit like this seamlessly and this quickly. You know, the, the Celtics just have, you know, now two people, three really when you throw in Peyton Pritchard down the stretch and you know, you know they can really, really hurt what probably four. But like they now have weaponry where late in a game, you know they have multiple people that can hurt you, you know, specifically with the ball. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in ISO situations just getting to the shots or the spots that they want to get to to get those shots. So it's been pretty cool. I will just reiterate again. It was never about whether Jayson Tatum was going to look good or not. That was not the argument. The argument wasn't whether or not he would play good basketball. The argument was whether if you weren't going to beat a team in that Western Conference, if the risk was worth the non reward of not winning a championship. And I'm telling you now, I'm still not sure about it. He looks fantastic.
- [28:03]
A
Word up. I. I do want to. This, this is probably was I think the most entertaining series of the night. You know the. Right now the. The Blazers are playing the Spurs. As of right now it is 4743. The Blazers are up, but the Sixers are still very much in the series. Right. And I think that, you know, one of the, the highlights that I want to, you know, highlight is Paul George, the OG who I think is finally just kind of in his role. We'll talk about the Celtics and we'll continue to talk about the series. I think this will be a longer series but I do want to highlight Paul George here because I think that he is really kind of in the perfect fit and, and scenario and type of game that he should be in, right. Where he doesn't have to have the lion's share of the points, but he can, he can. He had a lot of shots where he just kind of calmed the team down, right. Everything's going fast. He, he, he really just steadied their offensive flow. And then also one of the things that I saw is these Philly guards can really attack Boston's bigs. And if I am Nick Nurse, I am just running film of all of the possessions that you saw the guards against Vucevic because there's Vuce of. It's just basically throwing himself in circles here. Raja, what have you seen from the Boston's defense and like how do they like how do they solve that con, that front court conundrum, right? Because they do have, they put Vucevich in there for spacing and all those things and then they put Keita in and that kind of messes up their Boston spacing, but it gives them a better defensive flow. Except when he gets into foul troubles. Like how did, how did, how does Boston square that? And if you're Philly, what do you see that you can do to continue to be in the series?
- [29:50]
C
I mean, that's, that's, that's the cat and mouse game. You know, any coach is playing with his roster. You know, that's the game within the game of using, you know, your personnel in timely ways. So like you're going to, you're going to roll voodoos out there and, you know, yeah, you might give up some things defensively where those guards can get you and kind of pick and roll and, and, and you know, get after him in a way that, that might not be to your benefit defensively, but on the flip side of that, he's facing the floor and cash and threes, right? And then, you know, when that dynamic becomes too much and, and they, the, the, the negative outweighs the positive, then we got a flip. So they're no different than any other team as far as, I mean, I mean, as far as the way they have to manage their situation there between their offensive, more productive lineup and then maybe their, you know, defensively more desirable lineup. As far as the Sixers go, like, you know, they're, they, they, they're a tough shot making team. Like I thought Paul George did a really good job to your point down the stretch, not just making shots, but creating out of pick and roll. You know, he had a few little dumps to Andre Drummond late in the game where Andre Drummond was able to catch and dunk and he's just really calm in the pick and roll and he's kind of stretching it, getting in there deep, making that big make a decision and then he's dumping it off. But those guards like Edgecomb didn't shoot it great tonight, but they've, they've got to make shots in Joel Embiid's absence. You know, those, those bigs that can really play and produce, they're equalizers. They, they do, they do things for a team that puts you. That's like a security blanket. You know, their free throws, attempts that are baked into that, their play, they're more high quality shots because they're around the rim and they're bigger, you Know, hopefully they're not settling for a bunch of threes, but like, there are things that they do that equalize you offensively without them. Like those guys, they have to make shots and they have to make tough shots. Some nights they, you know, they, they did a bit late in the game. It got them back into the game. But like, if they're not going to be able to do that consistently, and that's a difficult thing against a very good defensive team like Boston. You know, they're, they're, they're just going to be game, if you will, but you're probably going to come up short. And then late in the game, they didn't close well. Like, Boston closed that game. Like they had possession after possession, whether it was Jalen or Jason Tatum. Even when, even when they sprayed it to Peyton Pritchard and he hit the little quick head fake escape dribble for the three. Like, they closed well, the Sixers. The Sixers. Maxi and them, they did, they didn't close. Great.
- [32:32]
A
What do you. What are we learning about the Sixers back?
- [32:37]
B
What are we learning about them? I mean, they're caught between. Right. I mean, they don't have their highest paid player. I don't even want to call him their best player. He's their most accomplished player. We're, we're learning what we already was. We saw season basically, which is that Maxine and, and Edgecombe are, are they the most explosive backcourt in the NBA? They're, they're obviously in the conversation. I'm trying to think of like, who we would even put next to them. And it's going to be an incredible one two punch for years to come. Assuming they keep them together. You know, they'll eventually have to deal with concerns about like, you know, size and defense and all the other stuff. When you have like, you know, two really great guards who do a lot of this, you know, some of the same things. And it's enough, it's enough to keep them in games right now against a really great Celtics team. And look, they, they attacked the living out of uch down the stretch. I don't know. Were you guys. So I was flipping back and forth and I think Logan was too. Raj, I don't know if you had one game on or the other. This is what's tough about the first round when these games are on simultaneously and then we were coming straight to the podcast. Why wasn't Keda in there? Was there any reason for that? I think he had more foul.
- [33:49]
A
He was in foul trouble.
- [33:51]
B
But it was the fourth quarter and at that point, the fourth fouls don't matter. At that point you're, you're putting your. So I don't know what that was about and I haven't. Again, we're, we came right to the microphones. So I don't know if that was a question to Missoula or if there's something else that we missed along the way, but, but you know, they, they were killing V and those guards will, will do that to you.
- [34:13]
A
It's. I, I think this series can go to the distance just for like, it's the perfect, it's the perfect scenario of their glaring weaknesses on both sides that each team can exploit. And I just don't know what gives. It's probably going to be end up being just the championship acumen of Boston like we saw tonight, right where they're just even for most of the game and then Boston comes out on top. But I just don't know because I think the Sixers are very much in this series and you know, they've shown they can win on the road and they show that they can attack Boston's bigs, which is a huge, huge asset even before Tatum's injury. That was something that they had to figure out post Porzingis. So we'll see what happens. Let's take a quick break and we're going to talk Jokic Legacy. This episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime. Ever find yourself scrambling to grab that special something for a last minute party, a spontaneous date, or even an impromptu game night at home? That's when prime same day delivery swoops in that essential item you thought you'd missed delivered. The plan saved the win secured because with prime same day delivery, you can grab it and go before the moment passes you by. Same day delivery.
- [35:19]
C
Delivery.
- [35:20]
A
It's on Prime. Visit Amazon.comprime to find millions of items delivered fast available in select areas. Terms apply. Okay, we are back. This is for Roger Bell, who was hating on Rudy Gobert last pod. So what, what, What?
- [35:44]
C
What was the writer's name again? What was the writer's name?
- [35:46]
A
What was his name? John Krasinski. The Goats. Okay. We're gonna put some respect on his name.
- [35:52]
C
I don't know you, bro. But like I will go with Logan. And then the year they go, I'm gonna, I'm gonna defer to them in that. But like that was crazy. That was that man's best game ever. That's still crazy to me.
- [36:03]
A
Go ahead. Okay. Anyway, he is holding Yoke is a 7 of 26 on the floor with three assists and four turnovers. Can you speak on the performance that Rudy Gobert is. Is put the display that he is putting on, especially like late, he's been. It's wild. I don't know of a player that's so good at the thing that he is supposed to be good at becomes such a punchline for the thing that he's good at for. You know what I'm saying? Like with the. The defensive acumen and then you get to the playoffs and he just becomes his punchline. He's a great defender, but we've seen this like in the backstretch of his career where he's having this type of performance. It's pretty cool.
- [36:40]
C
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, is. He's a punchline for people.
- [36:42]
A
Like, I don't know.
- [36:44]
C
I won't be tapped.
- [36:45]
A
People.
- [36:45]
C
People be hating on Rudy.
- [36:46]
A
Go bear. Okay, okay.
- [36:48]
C
All right. Well, look, Rudy's hooping, man. Rudy has not just defensively, like they're giving. Like Rudy's touching the ball and flipping it behind his back for people coming off knocking.
- [37:03]
A
He sees Jokic and he's like, come here.
- [37:05]
C
He's like, no, look, passing off of the Euro. Like, Rudy's in his back bag a little bit. As, as far as defensively, look, he. Yic is. Yic is a tough, tough, tough cover for anybody. Rudy in the past, I think got in, got into some foul trouble messing around with. With Jokic. Like, he's done a really good job of really keeping his hands off of him. Like, you can, you can see it. There were a few plays last game where he had him around the free throw line. And you know those good offensive players, if you keep like, you know, if you keep a hand on them, they'll find that hand and kind of go through it. And you know, they're into your body, they're getting you into foul trouble. Like, Rudy's doing a good job of like touching and then his hands are off. He's really, really like long. And I talked about it last pod like joker. If you're going to say he struggles with anything, it's going to be like probably finishing over real length if you stay in the play, right? Like, he makes some phenomenal shots and he finishes over everybody.
- [38:07]
A
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- [38:38]
B
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C
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- [39:05]
C
Learn more at goallinandwin.com Percentage wise, it's probably the the lesser of the two evils, making him finish over real length when you're not taking yourself out of the play. And I think Rudy's just kept himself in the play way more often in this series than he than he probably has in the past for various reasons. Some of it, some of them like getting into foul trouble by by being too physical and some of it probably just, you know, biting on too many of the fakes and the other kind of like kind of quirkiness to Jokic's game and he, and he hasn't done that to a large extent through, through, through two through two through through the three games.
- [39:43]
A
Howard, I want to go to a media let's just get in our media bag here. Let's get in our narrative bag. So typically when y struggles we have I, I feel this is just a feel thing and I'm sure you're going to get me back on track here because that's what you do. You the og. But it feels like when Jokic fails in this these types of situations when he has a bad game, we don't really get on him like we get on other centers that are as good as he is or as historically great as he is, right? Like when David Robinson plays like against Akeem olajuwon in the 95 Finals or the 95 Western Conference Finals. Excuse me. We got on him when Bill Walton took Kareem's lunch. We get on him right when Shaq gets dominated by Akeem Olajuwon, we get on him. We are not I don't feel like we're keeping the same energy for Jokic when he, when he fails. Right. Like I feel like if this Was Giannis or if this was going on, we would be like, what the hell is going on? Right. I think we're like giving Jokic more of the benefit of the doubt. Am I off base on that? Or does it, does it feel like we're not taking him to task in the way that we should?
- [40:54]
B
I think there's a portion of the broader NBA community that is jumping on him every chance they get and have been the ones who, who never wanted to accept that he might be the best player on earth in the first place. And so I think, I think there, I think that conversation is out there. If the question is should, is there enough criticism coming at Jokic in this series or should he be getting more criticism? I mean, like, it's not been his strongest series so far. They are down 2 to 1. He did just have, you know, a rough game, but like, nevertheless, like game one of the series, 25, 13 and 11, game two, 24, 15 and 8, 20, game three, 27, 15, only three assists bad for him. It's not like he's not doing his thing. He's shooting terribly by his standards. Cause this is a guy who has like broken every record we could ever come up with for efficiency in the way he scores. It's never just that he scores a lot and he, and he's, he doesn't usually put up like the monster scoring numbers, but whatever he does do, whether it's 25, 30, 35 and sometimes 40, sometimes more, he always does it like with like effective field goal percentage of like 600 or something. So when he's not efficient, it is glaring. When his shot's not falling, it is glaring and it is glaring. Right now, I don't know that we're like, if they lose the series, Logan, then maybe it's a fair question about whether or not Jokic gets enough of that backlash. The other thing I'll say is like some of the bigs you were referencing from the past, some of the, those all time legends, David Robinson, Shaq, those are at moments where they did not have championships. And I think that does insulate you a little, right? If we're talking about like the discourse capital.
- [42:36]
A
Well, Kareem did have the championship when he got, when he got Bill Walton, he was on the Lakers at that point point. So yeah, he ain't had the Bucks
- [42:41]
B
championships, but like the David Robinson example, the Shaq example, these, they were not made men yet. And there were still doubts for various reasons. Different, different ones for each of them. And I think once you've got it. Then some of that, you know, some of that falls away. Some of those doubts fall away. You're. You're a little more insulated against it. And I think Jokic having won a championship in multiple MVPs, it's not that that means he doesn't ever have to reprove it again. It. It just means, I think, you know, he's going to get a little bit more benefit of the doubt. The other thing is, like, listen, he has struggled a little in this series, but, like, the Nuggets have struggled, and they, you know, Jaden McDaniels wasn't wrong about their defense. And now their best defender, Aaron Gordon, who for some reason, Jaden McDaniels put in that speech, and I don't understand why still.
- [43:25]
A
But, like, Aaron, he was on a roll. It was just like he was on a roll. Sometimes you just be talking, and you'd be talking your. And you might just say the wrong person, but you stand on it.
- [43:32]
B
Aaron Gordon's now out, and. And Peyton Watson has yet to play. Like, their two best defenders, their two most important defenders are either out or, or, you know, one. One had been out and the other one is out now. They got a lot of their issues bigger than just whether or not Jokic can get off shots over Rudy Gobert.
- [43:49]
A
Yeah. What have you seen from Roger. What have you seen from the Timberwolves as a whole? Right, because it's not like, it's not like Anthony Edwards is shooting the lights out, right? Like, it seems like more of a. Of a team effort to beat the Nuggets in this way. Right. What have you seen from. What has impressed you about the Timberwolves?
- [44:08]
C
Yeah, what I, What I've seen is like, they. They are. They are taking the fight to Denver. You know, we. We talked about. I think it was game two, how they just did not settle and they just keep putting. They. They kept putting their head down and trying to get to the rim. And I felt like there was kind of a turning of the tide in terms of attitude in that game. Not, not that. Not that they weren't trying to take the fight to him in game one, but, like, but, man, but. But that home court, when they hit. They hit the floor for game three, and both teams were struggling to make shots. Like, nobody was really hot early in that game, but, man, Minnesota, you could just tell by the energy with which they were playing with and the attitude that they were just going to just be in attack mode all game long, that there was no fear. Not. Not that Not. Not that you would expect them to have fear, but, like, I don't know if I'm articulating this well, but, like, they were. We're tougher than you is what they're saying. That's what they feel. You can see that by the way they're playing. Like, we're tougher than you. We're more physical than you. We got more dog in this than you do. Not that I necessarily am saying that, but that's the attitude with which they're playing. And, you know, make no mistake about that. Like, that, that, that is. That is felt by the team, that you're doing that, too. And you got to really sit there and have some real hard conversations with each other in the locker room, in the film session, at breakfast, because you're on the road. Like, hey, man, we just got our fucking ass whooped. Like, these dudes are really trying to punk us in here. Like, and you. And if. If you can't do that, you go get your ass whooped again. Because that's how Minnesota feels right now. Like, it's written all over them. It's the way they're attacking them. Like, they feel like they are the tougher, more physical, more. More doggish team in. In this series.
- [46:01]
A
They take on the personality of Ant, who is not scared of anyone. I mean, I think Ant is one of those guys, especially right now, like, where he. He's not a made man because he hasn't won a title, but he's not scared. And in the way. In the way that, like, a lot of players quiver at the sight of Jokic. He's not one of them dudes. And I think that, like, the rest of the team is taking on that attitude and just also being carefree, right? Like, you got the glasses on. He got the Braves hat on at the end, at the pressers. Like, he's just slow motion all the time, in a good way, right? He kind of takes on that attitude. So I'm excited to see what this series goes to. Let's talk a little Knicks Hawks. Rajid, before we talk about that, do you want to get your shit off about Jonathan Kaminga?
- [46:44]
C
Man, I'm not going to go.
- [46:45]
A
You sure you don't want to get your shit on? That was for the group chat. That was for the group chat. Okay.
- [46:49]
C
That's for the group chat. I would just say again. Let me say again for the pod.
- [46:53]
A
Okay.
- [46:54]
C
If you. If you will, I would like to resubmit for debate.
- [47:00]
A
Okay.
- [47:01]
C
Now that maybe, just maybe, you guys could have Found a way to bridge the gap there and try to develop the dude.
- [47:12]
A
Only because.
- [47:13]
C
Only because, again, and I think this is important, specific to Golden State. When I watch them play, there is not another human being walking around on that roster that has that type of length, athleticism, skill set, combination. And to, to think that you guys couldn't, at minimum, like, try to, like, figure that out is just bananas to me. I'm not saying that he's first team, all NBA, or second or third, for that matter. I'm just saying in a world where you lack athletes and wings, you guys couldn't figure out how to, like, develop that a little bit. Like, I find that crazy. And he's not, he can't be a complete. Because guess what's he doing right now?
- [47:54]
A
He, I will say my experience.
- [47:56]
C
He's coming. He's coming.
- [47:57]
A
He's not a Bird. He's not a Bird.
- [47:59]
C
Yeah, he's coming off the bench, like, playing mean, meaningful minutes. So, like, I, I just find that hard to believe. And I will, I will always find that hard to believe. Sue me.
- [48:09]
A
I don't think they could sue you for that. I'm sorry, I don't, I don't think they could. I don't know what the grounds would be, but. Okay, Howard, statutes.
- [48:18]
B
God damn it. We got to get Raja for this. Look, there's got to be something in there somewhere. California code 6.9. Ah, there it is.
- [48:27]
A
Howard, do you want to b, break Ben's heart about the Knicks right now? He text us before the, the pod. Do you want to, like what the is going on with the New York Knicks? I, I, I, I've watched. I, I follow a lot of New York media. They have, they're putting the Knicks in a pack right now, and I'm like, damn, it's only two down, two one. All the newspapers are kicking the Knicks ass. Maybe this is New York, but what's the vibe over there?
- [48:48]
B
Well, the tabloids are going to do what the tabloids do, and much to my chagrin, I'm not going to name names. I don't want to get into this. Much to my chagrin, I have seen some of my media brethren now going at each other, and I don't like seeing it. It's, it's, it's way beyond the tabloids, though. Like, the tabloids do this, and this is what, what you do every, Everybody's either the greatest ever or they're a disaster, and you gotta burn it down. And that's just the, the way it goes. I'VE been here for over 20 years, and that's just the way it. It goes. But, like, if you scroll social media, Knicks fans are. Are just melting down about this.
- [49:23]
A
They're only down 2:1. Jesus.
- [49:25]
B
They want. They want. They want Mikel Bridges gone yesterday. They're ready to throw Mike Brown overboard. Carl Anthony Towns. Like, they just. It's. This is how it goes, man. Like, this is just. That's just the New York sports experience. And it's not just here, like, Philly's like that. There's some other places like that. That's part of the fun of it. You know, there's. There's no middle ground here. There is no.
- [49:46]
A
Doesn't seem like fun, Howard. Doesn't seem like much fun.
- [49:49]
C
Can. I mean, let me just ask, like, real talk, like, before you throw Carl Anthony Towns out with the bathwater, can you give him the ball a little bit? Like, just. Can we experiment with that a little bit? Just give him the ball once in a while, see what he can do with it.
- [50:07]
B
I'm laughing because it's true. I'm laughing because part of the discourse that I've seen on social media has been about, like, also the. You know, Towns needs to demand the ball. Towns needs to go get the ball. Towns into. There's a little bit of that kind of stuff.
- [50:19]
C
Okay.
- [50:19]
B
But also, I. I hate that I'm laughing about this because it's. It's really juvenile, but there's a series of. Of videos, I'm sorry, I don't remember the account name, where the guy's just interviewing Knicks fans and asking for their Carl Anthony Towns impressions, and they're all doing some version of these. Like, come on.
- [50:39]
A
Come on, man.
- [50:40]
B
It's funny, but it's bad. He's a good dude.
- [50:43]
A
Why do we do him like this, bro? He's a good dude.
- [50:46]
B
Towns is like a punching bag, man. And, like. And, like, he can go out and drop, like, you know, 25, 15 with three blocks or whatever in the next game. They could win it, and he'll still be like. And I mean, they'll celebrate him in the moment, but, like, as soon as he slips, he's just. He's just one of these guys who just, like. He's a magnet for it. Yeah, listen, they. They could easily be three and. Oh, right now, that's what you say when a team, you know, loses fourth quarters or loses last minutes or last seconds of fourth quarters. And that's it. It's certainly true. And that's a lot of that, is on them for their miscues. They trailed for almost the entire game in game three, you know, game two, they lost at the end. Game three, they came back and could have won it and still lost it at the end. It's not going to surprise me in the least if they win game four and then come back to New York for a game five where they have to win two out of three. With two of those games at home, I thought this would be a longer series. The Hawks are really good. They are not your average six seed. They've been a completely different team since about mid season or certainly since post All Star break. They made some key personnel changes, not just acquiring Rajabel's favorite player on earth, Jonathan Kuminga.
- [51:58]
A
No, you know, that's lamelo. Ball. Relax. You know, ball. It's close.
- [52:04]
B
Neck and neck.
- [52:05]
C
Like the island of Misfit. What do they call it? Misfit Toys.
- [52:08]
B
Island Misfit toys. I like those guys.
- [52:09]
C
Guys, I like those guys.
- [52:12]
B
But like getting C.J. mcCollum, like no small thing, right? So they're not your average six seed. And this is a really good team. They're young, they're long, they're athletic, and they could just go, get out, push the pace and stick it to the Knicks. So, yeah, there's all kinds of other, you know, subplots here. Like is Mitchell Robinson playing enough? And are they, are they leaning on, on, are they, they give Mikhail Bridges too much latitude before finally benching him the other night. That starting lineup has had terrible advanced stats going back to last season, too. And Tibbs stuck with it, Mike Brown stuck with it. There's, there's a lot to pick apart here potentially. But I think the bottom line is they're playing a really good Hawks team. I, I, I don't think there's any huge embarrassment to being down 2:1 on a couple of, of very tight games in games two and three. And again, the narrative could change very swiftly if they win game four tomorrow or I guess today. By the time people listen, it's coming at some point.
- [53:14]
A
I gotta say, man, Atlanta is on fire. Have you seen the social clips and shit coming out of Atlanta? Raja, have you seen what's going on? Bro? Bro. Raja. Okay, okay, then I'm gonna tell you, Raja, they had a little boozy doing the jump dunk thing.
- [53:32]
C
Yeah, like the trampoline.
- [53:33]
A
The trampoline thing. He doesn't even get close to the room, but it's amazing, bro. Like, everybody's pulling up. It's Atlanta, bro. It's Atlanta. It's. It's been great. I kind of want to take a flight. You try to go to Atlanta real quick, catch a game.
- [53:48]
C
Yeah. I mean, listen, I tell you what, Atlanta is one of those. They rarely do you hear people be like, yo, Atlanta fans are awesome. But when they're good, great building.
- [53:57]
A
And they. Not only when they're good, when they love the team, because there's a distinction there. Right? Like, because the teams good and they don't necessarily like vibe, they vibe with this team. And it is. It's. It's a sight to behold. We need to go to Atlanta before we go to R1 of the week. I do want to talk about one more matchup because I've been. I been dying to get Raj's reaction to this series. Magic Pistons. Did you see the game, the last game that they played where the Magic just. They have their offense and it just shuts off. And didn't the Pistons go like a 37 to 3 run in third quarter? The Magic.
- [54:37]
C
Maybe my least favorite series to watch, abs.
- [54:40]
A
Absolutely. But my least favorite team to watch that I've decided is the fucking Orlando Magic. Because I don't know which team I'm going to get. I don't know which team I'm going to get. I don't know if they're going to just, like, they're going to get up off the mat or they're just going to just, like, fold. Like, I have no idea. And I hate watching them play basketball more than the Rockets, which is a lot.
- [54:57]
C
Yeah.
- [54:58]
B
I don't.
- [54:59]
C
There you go.
- [55:06]
A
What the.
- [55:06]
C
What are we doing? I don't. Listen. I don't. I. That's a series, you know? Like, what if I find myself, you know, having to, like, pick. I. I don't love watching that series, and I don't have any feel for it, if that makes sense. So, like, even when I do tune in in a weird way, like, I'm. I'm watching and I, you know, I get a gut in some of the games. Like, I'm sure all you guys do. Fans do. You're watching the game and you're like, oh, this. You know, I kind of. I kind of feel what's going to happen. Even if it's a comeback or something like that, that series, I'm. I never really know what's about to happen next. I have no feel for that.
- [55:38]
A
In a bad way. You don't know what's going to happen. It's just. It's. It's a frustrating watch because both Teams are frustrating, Howard. They're both frustrating in their own way. Like the Detroit. I'm just like, okay, can anyone other than Cade step up, please? During, like, can you. Can, can we, like, can you unleash? Because we know you're the biggest dude on the floor. We know you have it in you, right? And then with the Magic, it's like, well, shit, are you guys going to be the greatest team I've ever seen or you guys just going to fold when someone, you know, flinches at you? Like, I just, it's, it's tough. Damn it, Ross. You just made it depressing. You talked about it. You talked about. We were just talking about how great Atlanta was and we just. Now we just get to this.
- [56:16]
C
My bad. But like, you know, in a weird way, like, in a weird way, I don't know if you're going to feel me on this, but, like, when I was to go back to the Knicks, like, what I was going to say. Howard's the one point that the Knicks fan that you talked about is there are times where I will, I will say I said, give him the ball, cat, but there are times where he really will accept just not, not like, like being open in a way where even I'm like, yo, man, you gotta fight. You gotta fight that three quarter front dude. Like, you gotta, you gotta fucking step across his foot and, and get that ball. And he'll just accept kind of getting pushed out. So that's a real thing. But they just feel disjointed offensively. The Knicks, they feel really disjointed offensively. And then, you know, to, to just go back to the other series. Like, those two teams to me, at times feel really disjointed offensively.
- [57:05]
A
Like, talk about the Magic and the Pistons.
- [57:07]
C
The Magic and the Pistons. Like, you know what I'm saying? I don't know if you guys feel me on that, but like, no, for sure.
- [57:12]
B
On every. Yeah. Orlando has always. This is just who they've been. Right? Like, it's, It's.
- [57:17]
C
Yeah.
- [57:17]
B
ISO heavy. There's no real kind of synergy between the players. There's no real catch breeze and they can't shoot.
- [57:25]
C
It's a hard watch sometimes. Like, you know, and they're not enjoyable. Yeah. So anyway, the right window treatments change everything.
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B
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C
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B
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B
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- [58:03]
A
All right, let's get you guys ready to get to ruin of the week. Let's get to ruin of the week.
- [58:09]
B
Logan's the real one of the week for wearing a tower record shirt. A chain. A chain. A chain that. That went bankrupt when Logan was like, seven.
- [58:17]
A
Yeah. Thank you. I thought you were great.
- [58:18]
C
Did they go bankrupt? That was the sh. That was the back, bro.
- [58:21]
A
I remember one time I used to go to the one at emeryville and my mom always tells this story. I was. I was acting a fool in tower records. And I don't know if anybody knows this, but, like, will downing, he used to be a singer. He was like. He was. Happened to be in the tower records because he had a show that night in oakland somewhere. And he said, like, in his, like, his deep singer voice, you better pay attention to your mama, boy. It's like. Oh, okay, okay. My bad, Mr. Mr. Black man. I apologize. Was that your advice? Because I appreciate that. However, is that your real week?
- [59:03]
B
No, I just. I just. I needed to. I needed to shout out the tower records here, which is funny because it is on the same day that I'm wearing my. From the rock and roll hall of fame, my. My spindle shirt from the. The 45s. And Logan actually knew what that was.
- [59:14]
A
This is.
- [59:14]
B
This has usually been, like my rorschach test. Like, when I was working at bleacher report with, like, the youngest staff I'd ever been around. And if I wore this shirt in the office, that was the test. Like, how many people actually knew what this was? And, like, 95% of them had no idea.
- [59:28]
C
Hey, how.
- [59:28]
A
Whenever you come to my house, bro, I got to show you my vinyl. I got a vinyl player at the crib. Yeah, Nice.
- [59:34]
B
I'll get out there eventually.
- [59:35]
A
I mean, I got a couple 40 fives too, baby. Let's go. I know what I'm talking. I know a little bit.
- [59:39]
B
Yeah. Respect. So what are you saying?
- [59:43]
A
You too, Roger. You can come look at the vinyl as well, but you don't ever come out here.
- [59:47]
B
That would require Raja getting on a plane to California.
- [59:50]
C
I'm not trying to get on any planes in the near future, man.
- [59:57]
B
You. You. I'm first, Logan.
- [59:59]
A
Yeah.
- [59:59]
B
You're saying yes, I'm Getting. I'm getting. This is like a twisted version of it, this one. It's just. It's just because it's been on my mind. Tom Dundon. Dun Dun. The Portland Trailblazers new owner. Not real in any good way, but dude's being true to himself. Not only has he been apparently cheap as hell by every report, by every outlet, mostly in Portland and beyond. Portland's done a fantastic job. The media there and ferreting out of this stuff. He is not paying for their two way players to go on the road in this series.
- [60:34]
C
He.
- [60:35]
B
They're not. I, I don't know. Like the game is on while we're recording now, by the way, Scoot, Henderson's having a great game, but they were not going to do the T shirts at their home games. They were forcing some of their staff to check out early so they wouldn't have late checkout fees. All this. And when Jason Quick from the Athletic reported on this earlier in the week and spoke to people who were, I guess, close to Dundon or had some, some sense of, of who he is, what they basically conveyed to Jason Quick was that he doesn't give a shit that everybody's criticizing him over this. Like he doesn't care about the criticism. So like he's basically cheap and incredibly tone deaf. So real one of the week to the guy for being real to himself, which is apparently to be cheap and tone deaf. Great way to introduce yourself to a new city whose beloved basketball franchise you just bought. And then on top of that, Adam Silver. Like that Adam. Adam was at something. A Bloomberg thing maybe. I don't know. He does these panel discussions sometimes. He was interviewed somewhere recently where he got asked about it and Adam's response was, oh, no, I'm sorry. It was a, it was another podcast on another network. And Adam's response was basically, Tom Dundon knows what he's doing. Whatever, whatever our opposite of real one of the week is, Adam gets it this week for basically, for basically just like just blindly defending the new owner. I had more than one person this week say to me, like, do. Did the end of this happens often. What would David Stern have done in a situation like this? Because all of the cheapness and all the reports about the cheapness are overshadowing this magical breakout season and this, this playoff series that they're, that they're, you know, they're very competitive in. You know, obviously Wemby's out tonight cause of the concussion and was out the other night when they won that game. But like they should be celebrating all this. And Thiago Splitter should be celebrated instead of getting reports that the new owner is trying to like, shop for new coaches behind his back while he's still coaching. Like, all of this is a disaster and the league has to step lightly on these things. But like, my God, don't just let him off, though.
- [62:39]
C
I'm sorry, can I. I want to ask a question. Like, so you're saying that on a road trip in San Antonio for the playoffs, the staff has to check out by like the 11 or 12 o'
- [62:52]
A
clock checkout time, so there's waiting outside.
- [62:55]
B
Yeah, that was the result.
- [62:56]
C
Sitting in the fucking lobby or like, yep, yep, yep.
- [63:00]
A
Get your ass out. Get your.
- [63:02]
B
He's cutting in all the dumbest places. You spend four and a half billion or four plus billion to buy a team and you're cutting the kind of stuff that's going to save you a couple thousand here and there.
- [63:11]
C
Like, that's what I, I read, I read, I read some people defending him, I guess. What's he on? The Carolina. The Carolina Hurricanes or something like that? Yeah, yeah, he owns that too. And like they, like he whipped them and he whipped that into shape real quick and different. Different Demo Dog. Like, they're completely different. Like people you're dealing with in the NBA. You. Ain't nobody going to want to play for y', all, bro.
- [63:35]
B
I was about to ask Raja, coaches and players, scouts, everybody, are they. Is anybody going to want to go there if they're hearing this?
- [63:40]
C
No, no, no, not on that.
- [63:42]
A
Not if they love Portland. But it ain't that that much.
- [63:45]
C
Not. Not if that's the vibes. Not. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Portland's a cool place too. Let me do my real one or. You got it.
- [63:53]
A
Logan, go ahead.
- [63:56]
C
I'm going to. Yeah. So NFL draft, obviously, rounds two and three were tonight, but last night we had a hometown kid go first overall. Fernando Mendoza. Went to your Oakland Raiders or, sorry, Las Vegas Raiders.
- [64:14]
A
You were on a great role. You were on a great role.
- [64:18]
B
Vegas, Inglewood, where we are for the streets.
- [64:22]
A
Okay, The Raiders
- [64:25]
C
hometown kid. But like a cool story, man. Like everybody probably knows it by now, but not the most highly heralded recruit, you know, wasn't like the, the poster boy for, for high school quarterbacks or anything like that and just kind of worked his way. Has a great attitude about it, you know, really family oriented. Like, I, you know, I really had to think about, like, if I had had a draft night and I didn't really have an opportunity to go to a green room. But, like, the number one pick rarely stays home, right? And celebrates, like, at home with his whole family. And Buddy was like, yo, these are my people. I'm going to be in Miami when this happens. I just. I like the way he approaches it, man. I like what he stands for. So for me, real one, that's what's up.
- [65:11]
A
He bet. I hope he's good. We.
- [65:13]
C
We.
- [65:15]
A
That. That.
- [65:16]
C
I don't. I don't know. But, like, right now, real one.
- [65:19]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Shout out. Shout out. Silver and black, baby. I got to give a real one of the week to a friend of the show, Monica McNutt. I was watching. I don't know what game I was. Probably was the Knicks game, but she's a State Farm commercial with Mike Breen. What the. That's crazy. That's so cool. I. So tight. That's so cool. That's the reason why. Shout out to her.
- [65:44]
B
That's it.
- [65:44]
A
You know? And, you know, State Farm has sponsored our pod before, so. And sponsored our live show, so shout out to them. But Monica McNutt, friend of the show, one of the great people in this industry. You know, there's a lot of, like, shit birds in this industry. You know, there's a lot of weirdos. She is not one of them. She's always been thorough, always been cool. She's been a guest on the pod. Maybe she'll be a guest on the pod again, hopefully sometime soon. But she's kicking ass, bro. I'm so happy for her. And that was tight. That was tight. That was really cool. So Monica McNutt, ruin of the week, and obviously friend of the show. That has been. Anybody got anything else before we get out of here? I know. It's like, you know what? Midnight for you guys. I mean, I want to go to sleep.
- [66:26]
B
If we. If we go long enough, eventually I'm going to ask you to, like, start naming, like, who you think. The birds in our industry, since you're just, like, you know, throwing shade anonymously at this point.
- [66:36]
A
I meant the entire industry. I don't mean, like, just the journalist. I mean, like, the entire media industry apparatus.
- [66:42]
B
Ah, I see. Okay.
- [66:43]
A
All right. You know what I mean? And also, that ain't my type. I'm not about to do it.
- [66:46]
B
We don't need to get any punchier than we already are. Yeah, we don't need to throw out any more. I've already said too much on this pod.
- [66:53]
A
Yeah, yeah, you've. Yeah, exactly. Anyways, that is another edition of real ones Real ones my bag@gmail.com real onesmail bag gmail.com real ones mailbag@gmail.com we'll see you next week. Tuesday I will be back in my normal setup. Netflix. Do not be mad at me. I love you. See you guys next week. All the shits. Bye. Must be 21 years and older and present in select states. For Kansas and 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 1-888-789-97777 or visit ccpg.orgbackslash chat in Connecticut 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 HOPE NY in New York. For Louisiana, call 1-877-770-7867.